For Jesse's birth date, I used Charlie Schlatter's actual birthdate from IMBd.org.

As far as I know, the President's Committee is purely fiction.

(Chapter 20. November 22. Malibu.)

Olivia wiped away more tears of laughter and continued her story. "...and there was Spike, chasing Mr. Snowy; and Pauly chasing Spike; and Mama chasing Pauly with a broom in her hand taking a swing at him every other step; and Daddy chasing Mama, trying to dodge the broom on the back swing, telling her Pauly was a grown man and she oughtn't be beating him. And in the middle of it all was little Olivia screaming 'Mama! Daddy! Pauly! Stop that awful dog before he kills my bunny!' And that's how my brother Pauly got his last spanking when he was twenty-one years old."

Mark and Carol roared with laughter. Steve shook his head in wonder, saying, "I can't believe he'd do that to you."

Carol raised an incredulous eyebrow and said, "Oh, really? Do the names Nibbles and Whiskers mean anything to you?"

Steve held up a hand and said, "Hey, now. That's different. Your gerbil got away from me. I was using the cat to find him."

Mark nodded, "Oh, yeah, I remember that. Carol kept Nibbles in her room, and you lost him in the garage. Tell me, how did the little guy get so far away from you all by himself?"

Steve reddened slightly and said, "Gerbils can run faster than you might think."

Carol gave him a love tap on the arm and said, "Yeah, especially when you sick the cat on them."

The little group had been happily sipping tea and telling stories since lunch when Mark looked at his watch and said, "Well, it's five o'clock. I have a few last minute things to get ready for dinner. Amanda and Jesse will be here within the hour."

Both Olivia and Carol moved to get up and help him, but he motioned them back to their seats and said, "No, girls, it's all right. I've got it under control. I'll call you if I need you."

After Mark left, Carol poured another round of tea and asked, "So, Olivia, why would an intelligent, gifted young woman like you hook up with a bozo like Steve here?"

Olivia wrinkled her brow. "Is this where you start grilling me on my intentions concerning you brother?"

Carol held up a hand and said, "No, no. It's clear to me that you and he make each other happy." She glanced at their hands, which had been intertwined almost all afternoon. "I'm just curious what you see in him."

Olivia grinned mischievously and said, "I'm not really sure myself."

"Sure about what?" Steve heard Amanda ask behind him.

"What she sees in Steve," Carol said.

The women greeted each other, and Steve seized the opportunity to make his exit. "I think I hear Dad calling me." He took his walker and got up slowly. He gave his sister and Amanda each a peck on the cheek and gave Olivia a more lingering kiss and said, "I'll leave you girls to your gossip. Good to see you, Amanda. Are the boys inside?"

"They sure are, and they're looking forward to seeing you."

"Great," Steve said as he went inside. "I've been waiting all day to hang out with them."

As Steve closed the door behind himself, Carol, Amanda, and Olivia put their heads together and continued their conversation.

"So, Liv," Amanda said, "Carol has a good question. Why Steve?"

"Yeah," Carol said, "and what were you two doing out on the beach alone together all morning?"

"Carol! Amanda! I'm shocked! Don't you think you're both getting a little personal?"

Amanda said, "Yeah, but since you're the only one among us who has a personal life right now, we're allowed to ask."

Olivia blushed, sighed and said, "Ok, but don't either of you ever dare repeat this. Steve doesn't know that a few days after we met, I finally remembered what happened that first night."

Carol and Amanda nodded.

"Ok, ok, get on with it," Amanda urged.

"Well," Olivia began, "you're both going to laugh, but I was first attracted to him because he reminded me of a Great Dane puppy."

Carol and Amanda looked at each other and howled with laughter, and Olivia had to chuckle, too.

"You can't be serious!" Amanda insisted.

"You fell for him because you thought he looked like a dog?" Carol asked in disbelief.

"I am serious," Olivia told Amanda, "and I didn't say he looked like a dog," she continued as she looked at Carol. "I mean, think about it. We met at the hospital charity banquet. He didn't want to be there. He felt out of place, and he was wearing a tuxedo." She looked at Carol again and said, "I know he's your brother, but you have to admit he looks good in a tux."

Carol nodded her agreement, and asked, "But where does the Great Dane come in?"

All three women dissolved in laughter again.

"A Great Dane is a big dog, right?"

Amanda snorted another laugh and Carol nodded.

"And Steve is a big guy."

"Well, Liv, you're the only one in a position to know about that," Amanda said in a suggestive tone.

Olivia blushed crimson and said, "We have not gone down that particular road yet. If we had, I wouldn't tell you about it, and I would thank you to stay out of the gutter."

Amanda waved her hands in the air and said, "Yeah, yeah, continue."

"Back to the Great Dane analogy. Great Danes are beautiful animals, too."

"If you say so," Carol said as she collapsed into giggles again.

"And Steve sure looked fine in that tux. Actually, he looks fine in just about anything."

"He is handsome, but don't let him know I said it," Amanda agreed.

"Well, puppies are kind of awkward, too. Clumsy and goofy and tripping all over themselves because their paws are too big for the rest of them."

"Ok, and what does that have to do with my brother?" Carol asked as she started to giggle yet again.

"At that dinner," Olivia explained, "Actually during the cocktail hour before dinner, he looked so uncomfortable. He was tripping all over himself trying to avoid these two old, old ladies who were hitting on him. He was trying real hard to get away from them without embarrassing himself or hurting their feelings."

"I remember that," Amanda said. "The Byrd sisters. They're two old- fashioned spinsters with tons of money. They give the hospital a generous donation every year, and get plastered at the charity dinner. That wasn't the first time they had taken a shine to Steve."

Olivia laughed, "Poor guy. Anyway, someone eventually distracted them, and then Steve just stood there, relieved, but trying not to attract anyone else's attention. He looked like a kid at the prom who's afraid to dance with his date because he just doesn't know where to put his hands."

All three women started to laugh again. When she caught her breath, Carol asked, "So, you're saying you took pity on him because he acted like a nervous teenager. Is that it?"

"Not at all," Olivia said firmly. "I was amazed that such an attractive man would be alone and that he would seem so self-conscious. It aroused my curiosity."

"Among other things, I'm sure," Amanda added.

"Guttersnipe," Olivia said blushing again as she started to giggle uncontrollably.

Just then Steve opened the sliding glass door and asked, "Hey, Gigglefits, the boys want to know if they can play with your turkey."

Olivia started to laugh harder and buried her head in her arms. For a long time all she could do was laugh. When she finally caught her breath, she said, "I don't know, babe, are you busy?"

Steve smirked at her and said, "Touché. Seriously, is it ok?"

"Yeah, Steve, that's fine." Looking at Amanda, she said, "Your boys are so polite. They're two of the nicest children I've ever known."

"Well, thank you, Olivia."

Carol asked, "Gigglefits?"

The three women had long ago gone beyond acting silly and they all broke down in laughter once again. "I could explain it," Olivia gasped, "but then I'd have to kill him." They continued laughing for quite some time, but slowly came around to a more serious vein.

"So, that's what got your attention," Carol said, "what kept it?"

Olivia became quite serious, and a soft smile lit her eyes. "Oh, lots of things. There's his compassion and kindness, decency, strength, gentleness, determination. When we talk, he listens to me like I'm the only one in the world. He laughs at my jokes. He's a terrible poker player." She giggled a bit. "And a fantastic kisser."

She nodded to herself and said, "He's a perfect gentleman. It is the Great Dane thing, after all."

Carol and Amanda chuckled.

"No," Olivia insisted, "hear me out. Steve's one of the good ones. He's a good man with a good heart, and that makes him like an oversized puppy. He just doesn't fit in a world full of small-minded people who don't care who they hurt or how badly they hurt them. I'm lucky he hasn't already been taken."

Carol reached across the table and patted Olivia's hand. "If I had any doubts about your intentions, Olivia, they're gone now. You and my brother are going to make each other very happy some day."

Olivia gave Carol's hand a gentle squeeze and said, "Thanks." It had been a long time since she had felt as close to anyone as she did to Steve and his family and friends. She could never to explain to Carol how much her words of acceptance meant.

The women continued chatting about inconsequential matters for a while before Mark finally called them into the house for dinner. The table was loaded with good things to eat.

"My goodness, Mark. Aren't you quite the chef?"

Steve, who was already seated at the table said, "Oh, Dad loves to cook, Liv. It's usually pretty good stuff, too."

The table was somewhat crowded, but everyone eventually got situated. Before they began, Mark asked, "Steve, Carol, remember when you were kids and we used to go around the table and let each person say what they were thankful for?" He looked around the table hopefully as Steve and Carol nodded. "I'd like to revive that tradition, if no one has any objections."

They all indicated agreement, so Mark said, "Well, we always used to start with the youngest. CJ, that's you."

Everyone joined hands as the little boy looked at the counter loaded with desserts beside him and with a shy smile said, "I'm thankful for the pumpkin pie."

When everybody laughed, Steve leaned over and whispered to him, "Me, too."

Mark said, "Dion, you're up."

Dion looked across the table to Amanda and said, "I'm thankful for my mom."

Amanda smiled and blew him a kiss.

The adults were at a loss as to who went next. It was either Olivia or Jesse, but they weren't sure whom, and no one could think of a polite way to ask. Finally, Jesse volunteered, "I guess it's me."

"Are your positive?" Steve asked. "If we're going to revive a tradition, we better get it right. You two need to work this out."

Ever practical, Olivia said simply, "May fourteenth, sixty-six."

Jesse laughed and said, "No kidding? You beat me by two weeks. May first, sixty-six. You're next."

Olivia said, "I'm thankful to be spending this holiday among people who make me feel so welcome, not just today because it's special, but everyday."

"I'm thankful you didn't make me ask your age," Jesse told Olivia with a laugh, "and that I have so many people who love me."

"I'm thankful that I have all of you here so my boys can know what it's like to have a real family," Amanda said.

Carol said, "I'm thankful that Daddy made arrangements for me to fly down here so I could see my big brother."

Steve gave her a slight nod acknowledging so many feelings he simply couldn't express. Then he swallowed hard and squeezed Olivia's hand, seeking reassurance. Feeling her squeeze back, he said, "I...I'm thankful just to be here to enjoy this."

There were general sounds of agreement as Mark beamed at them and said, "As the oldest and most certainly the wisest, it is my privilege to say grace."

They all bowed their heads and he began. "Lord, it has been another year full of joy and sorrow, tragedy and triumph. We thank You for the opportunity to gather here today and celebrate all that You have done for us. Our odd little family is growing, and we are grateful for the joy and humor brought to us by our newest member. She's been a delight to us all."

Olivia felt Steve squeeze her hand again as Mark continued. "We all thank You especially for Steve's remarkable and continuing recovery, Lord. We can all see now that You were taking care of him that terrible night."

This time, Olivia gave Steve's hand a gentle squeeze. "As a father myself, Lord, I would like to say I am most thankful this year to be spending this special day with all my children, those of my heart, as well as those of my blood."

Mark wrapped up the blessing, "Bless this food, Lord. May it to nourish our bodies as well the fellowship we share nourishes our spirits. Amen."

Everyone said, "Amen," and began passing around dishes of food. Amanda smiled at Mark, and said, "That was beautiful."

The meal was delicious and enormous, and the adults sat at the table lingering over coffee and dessert for several hours. As Dion and CJ slumbered soundly in the guest room, everyone moved to the living room and whiled away the evening making plans and telling stories when suddenly Jesse fixed Olivia with a glare and said, "You lied about your age!"

Olivia laughed and said, "Did I?"

Hammering a fist into his palm, he said, "I *knew* something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. Now I know!"

Steve asked, "Well, would you care to explain it to us?"

Looking at Olivia, Jesse said, "You presented two times at a conference I attended my second year of med school. You had spent a year in Europe on that Presidential Blue Ribbon Committee on Health Care Reform, and you'd spent a year practicing in Pennsylvania. Your presentations were about health-care reform and some orthopedic research you were doing."

"So?" Amanda asked.

Jesse turned to include everyone in his gaze. "Don't you see? My two years left in med school," he said as he held up two fingers, "plus her two years already out of it," he held up two more fingers, "make four years." He turned to Olivia again and asked accusingly, "You're thirty-nine, aren't you?"

Olivia smiled and said, "Nope."

"Come on, Liv. Admit it. You got caught lying about your age."

Olivia grinned. "You're right that two and two make four, Jesse, but sometimes they also make twenty-two. I'm not four years older than you, I was four years younger than my colleagues, and I wish you hadn't found out."

"Huh?"

"Jess, I graduated high school at sixteen. I went into a six-year combined premed-med program that summer, graduated med-school at twenty-two instead of twenty-six like normal people, joined the President's committee, and started my own practice at twenty-three."

"Oh, wow! You were young, then, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Olivia agreed in an unhappy voice, "and I wish you hadn't figured it out. I thought I'd finally put that 'Doogie Houser' crap behind me."

"Wait a minute," Mark said, almost in a huff. "You had some remarkable accomplishments, why didn't you want people to know? You should have been proud of what you had done."

"Oh, I was proud. I still *am* proud, but after graduation, I had a devil of a time getting a job. In med-school, it wasn't a problem. It was a teaching hospital and people were used to seeing young doctors, but when I went back home, it was another story altogether. I was twenty-two and looked like I was seventeen because I was under five feet tall, had freckles, no figure, and wore braces. The next youngest doctor in the county was still twenty years my senior, and nobody wanted to be treated by Pippi Longstocking."

Jesse laughed, "Pippi Longstocking?"

"Let me show you." Olivia went into the closet and got her wallet out of her purse. She took out and handed around a couple of photos. "I was twenty-two in the first one, and twenty-three in the next. The first was taken at Penn State homecoming, and the second was at the White House reception for the Blue Ribbon Committee."

In the first picture, she stood on a huge log between two young policemen who were standing on the ground. Even with the added height log gave her, she was still shorter than both of them, and her hair hung down in two stiff red braids that curled up at the ends. She wore navy blue sweat pants that said, "Nittany Lions" down the leg and an oversized white sweatshirt with a lion's head emblem on it. Her mouth glittered with metal as she grinned at the camera, and she was reed thin. In the next picture, she wore a simple but elegant blue suit and stood on a stage with an older woman and a man in a U.S. Navy dress uniform. Her braces were gone, her curls were pulled up in a tidy pile on top of her head making her look taller, her figure had more curves, and she wore glasses that gave her a more mature, intellectual look.

Steve laughed, "I can't believe the difference. So which one is the real Olivia Regis?"

Olivia shrugged and said, "Both of them, and me, now. What you see is what you get. I changed my attitude when I changed my looks. What I saw in Europe taught me a lot. I grew up literally and figuratively while I was there."

"Literally and figuratively?" Amanda asked.

"I finally hit my last growth spurt. I grew three inches that year and gained twenty pounds. I suddenly had height, hips, and boobs for the first time in my life. I'd say that's figurative."

Everyone laughed.

"I also learned a lot, and it made me more mature."

Steve said, "I want to back up a bit. I have a question about when you and Jesse were talking about the president's committee."

Olivia and Jesse both nodded.

"President of what?"

Olivia said, "The United States."

Steve laughed, "Oh, is that right?" Then he saw the same look she gave him when she told him about driving across the country in her Corvette to clear her head after a rough week in Baltimore. The smile ran from his face. "Did you meet him?"

"Yep."

"Shake his hand?"

"Uh-huh."

"So, all night I've been holding the hand that shook the hand of the President of the United States."

"Yep."

"I may never wash it again."

Olivia pulled his hand up to her lips for a kiss and said, "I'd rethink that if I were you, or this hand will never hold the hand that shook the hand of the President again."

Amanda asked, "How did a twenty-two-year-old new med-school graduate get on a Presidential committee?"

"One of my professors knew him in college. The President asked him, but he'd already made plans and didn't want to change them. So he recommended me to represent the interests of the working class and the President took his suggestion."

With mock anger, Steve said, "So, you're one of the people responsible for the HMO disaster we have today, huh?"

With some indignation, she said, "Don't even go there! I was one of three dissenters on the committee. Our opinions were condensed to a one-page appendix at the back of the report. Nobody ever heard about the potential problems we found until the laws were passed and the systems were in place. Then we started hearing all these horror stories about patients dying while they waited for approval from their HMO doctors for necessary tests and procedures. I believe you had one of those cases here, didn't you?"

Mark nodded, "Yeah, more than one."

"Well, now, every time the current President or some legislator steals a suggestion from that appendix of our concerns, he sounds like a genius and is hailed as a new advocate for health-care reform."

Jesse laughed and said, "That's the way it always is with politicians."

"I tell you," Olivia continued her tirade, "that whole experience nearly turned me into a socialist. Some of the countries we visited paid outrageous taxes, and they didn't have the level of health care available that we do here, but anyone who's sick can see a doctor."

"But isn't there a terribly long wait most of the time?" Amanda asked.

"For non-emergencies, yes," Olivia agreed, "sometimes the wait is ridiculous, but there are places in this country where you can't get an appointment with your regular physician for weeks. God help you if you need to see a specialist."

"But, Olivia," Mark said, "you can't blame the HMO's for that."

"Maybe not, Mark," she conceded, "but at least socialized medicine would make the same services…and inconveniences… available to all Americans. People needing medical care wouldn't have to go into debt, and catastrophic illnesses wouldn't bankrupt them. We doctors could treat patients without some corporate bean-counter hovering over our shoulders making sure we practiced cost-effective medicine."

Mark sighed and said, "I hate to sound like a bean-counter, but I have sat in on more than my share of budget meetings and I have to tell you, a hospital is a business, and if we go out of business, things are only going to get worse."

"I know, I know," Olivia said dismissively, "but do you realize some HMO's won't, or at least wouldn't, pay for medically necessary procedures for patients under a certain age because statistically they would live long enough to need to repeat the procedure before they died and it would cost the HMO double the money?"

"No kidding," Jesse said in dismay and asked, "So what are the patients supposed to do, suffer until they're old enough to qualify for the procedure?"

Olivia was on a roll, now. She shrugged and said, "I dunno, but for some of them, waiting that long would cause more expensive complications in the long run, costing both the patient and the HMO even more money. That's only the half of it, though, Jess. That same HMO wouldn't pay for a hip replacement procedure for a seventy-eight-year-old patient I had. She was a competitive senior swimmer. Statistically she should have died before her premium payments matched the cost, so they wouldn't cover it."

"So what happened?" Mark asked with some interest.

Olivia grinned, "We talked to her pastor, and the church took up a collection to help pay for supplies. I matched their contribution and got several of my colleagues to work pro-bono. Davis volunteered to help with her rehab through his high school vocational program, and she competed for eight more years. She won five national championships. Now she volunteers to teach swimming at my old high school. She's ninety-one years old, and in better health than most of us."

Mark laughed out loud, as the photos of Olivia finally got around to him. "I'll bet you were quite a firecracker back home, especially when you came back from Europe with all your socialist ideas."

Olivia smiled humorlessly and said, "They wanted to put me away, but they needed my skills. At the time, there were only about a dozen doctors in the county, and two of them were veterinarians."

Studying the picture of Olivia at twenty-two, Carol asked, "So, have you always had a thing for cops?"

Steve felt Olivia stiffen, but she said, "They...uh...they were friends of mine for a long time."

Amanda said, "Were? Not now?"

Olivia looked at Steve for help, and he just shrugged. "Steve knows all about it," she said. "I don't want to talk about it today, but he can tell you sometime."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the group. Olivia looked at her wrist and realized that she hadn't found her watch yet. Still, she said, "It's getting late, and I'm scheduled to work in the morning. I better go."

"Olivia, don't go," Amanda said. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Please stay."

Olivia shook her head and said, "It's not that, Amanda. I promise. It really is late. Past ten o'clock, and I do need my sleep." Taking Steve's hand again, she asked, "Walk me out?"

He nodded and laughed, "After that meal, I need the exercise."

She helped him up, and Mark handed him the walker. Olivia said her goodbyes and told Carol, "I want to put the 'Vette in the garage, so I'm leaving you the jeep. Lord knows no one would try to run off with it. If you're too embarrassed to bring it over tomorrow, I'll just take a cab here when I get home from the hospital and pick it up."

Carol laughed and said, "I think I'll survive the humiliation of driving it over to your house."

"Ok, I hope I get to see you before you go back to Portland, Carol, but even if I don't, have a safe trip."

"Yeah, Liv. Thanks. It was nice meeting you."

Steve and Olivia stood out in the driveway for several minutes. He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand and asked, "Are you sure you want me to tell them?"

She nodded at him in the dark and said, "If you don't mind, yes. They're my friends and I want them to know, but it's just so hard to talk about it. You don't have to tell them tonight, but if they ask, it's ok."

She leaned into him and kissed him gently. He pulled her close and deepened the kiss. She giggled. He moaned. Without pulling away, he said, "We have to get past first base soon, Gigglefits, or I'll never survive."

He felt her lips grin against his. "You have the key to my place. We won't be interrupted there. Maybe I'll even relax enough to stop laughing."

"Oh, I haven't forgotten about the key, but I think I might miss the giggles."

"Then you'll just have to keep me entertained."

She climbed into the Corvette and waited until Steve made it safely back into the house, then she started the engine and went for a drive.