CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

A few weeks had passed, and Mike and Andrea had settled into a routine. They slowly made the house a home, getting things to decorate. They fully stocked the kitchen and got some things for the living room.

All the while attending to their duties as the command team of the Nathan James. The engines had been properly fixed, with the help of the new XO. The hull was in pristine condition now, and everything was looking up for their next deployment.

During the second week, Andrea was gone for most of it as they took the Nathan James out for rigorous testing. Mike made the best of his week alone working with Tom getting his and Rachel's wedding planned.

There had been some buck to their asking to use the deck of the Nathan James, but Tom Chandler and Rachel Scott's celebrity status helped grease the wheels. They would be able to use the deck the night before the ship left.

With everything moving along Mike was feeling happy. Andrea finally came home, and Mike couldn't be happier. She was barely in the front door when Mike wrapped his arms around her and hauled her into his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Miss me, Big guy?" she asked, her voice muffled against his shirt.

"You have no idea," Mike breathed out. He pulled back and crashed his mouth into hers, kissing her passionately.

"I missed you too," she said when they finally broke for air. They spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch cuddling and talking. Mike stroked his fingers up and down her shoulder.

"Tom wants to talk about the wedding tomorrow."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, plan the final touches. At that little restaurant around the corner from the hotel."

"Okay. Are they having a reception?"

"I asked Tom that very question, and he said no."

"Then we should throw one for them. There's a hall just down from the docks. Big enough to host the entire crew."

"Let's do it," Mike said as he squeezed her into a hug.

"Consider it done," she said with a smile. The next morning Andrea had called the hall and reserved it for the evening of the wedding. With that all set up they set about their day.

Mike was in his assigned office at the hotel. He rounded up some of the Nathan James crew and told them about the reception plan and told them to get on it planning it. The crew was excited and left to recruit more crew members and to get the job done. He also double checked with some of them that they had gotten the invites that had been distributed to the crew.

Mike was happy to learn that everyone had received one already. He kept his eye on the clock, he wanted to get out of the office on time today. Half an hour before he was intending to leave, Andrea showed up in his office.

"Ready to kick off, Captain?" Andrea asked. Mike smiled at her. He checked the time and grinned.

"I suppose I can leave a little early. Ready?"

"Whenever you are," she replied. They left the hotel and slowly made their way towards the restaurant Tom had said to meet at. The found a booth and sat next to each other facing the door.

They talked a little as Mike draped his arm around her shoulders. She smiled up at him and he leaned down and kissed her lazily as she kissed him in return. Someone cleared their throat and they split apart and smiled; Mike felt a laugh escape.

"Pretend you didn't see that, Admiral," Mike drawled out as he looked up at Tom. Tom shook his head at him as Andrea gave a sly smirk. Mike knew Tom wouldn't say anything about it.

"Just keep it quiet on the ship," Tom sighed as he slid into the other side of the booth.

"Good to see you, Tom," Andrea said with a warm smile. Tom smiled back at her.

"Back at you, Andrea. How's life treating you?"

"Pretty good," she answered as she looked at Mike. Mike felt his insides warm a little more. Tom nodded. Before anyone could say anything, Jeter joined them at the table.

"Sorry I'm late," he said quickly as he dropped down next to Tom.

"Nope, I just sat down myself," Tom answered him. Mike smiled. "But let's get down to business. Russ, you'll oversee the ceremony?"

"Of course," Russ said emphatically with a vigorous nod. "Who are you having stand with you?"

"Well, Mike's my best man, and my dad, I haven't picked a third because I thought you, but I'd rather you officiate."

"And Rachel?" Russ asked nodding slowly. He was taking notes on a small notebook.

"Kelly Tophet, Kara Green, and Ashely. Which is why I feel I need to pick a third."

"Cutting it close," Mike quipped. Tom shot him a 'shut up' look that made Mike chuckle.

"Maybe I'll ask Andrea to stand with me," Tom said with a smile, looking at her. Mike grinned and slipped his hand into hers under the table.

"I'd be honored if you asked," Andrea replied with a smile.

"Consider if a formal invitation, then, want to be a groomsman…woman? I'm not sure what to call it," Tom said with a confused look on his face. Mike and Andrea both laughed as Russ contemplated what Tom had asked.

"I'd love to be a grooms…woman," Andrea said with a flashy smile. Tom returned it and smiled back at them.

"Wedding party complete," Tom said with a nod. "What else?"

"Are we doing a rehearsal the night before?" Russ asked. Tom looked at Mike and Mike cringed.

"I'm not sure we can get clearance for that. They weren't exactly happy to sign off on the wedding itself," Mike replied. Tom nodded slowly. It had taken Tom putting pressure on things. Mike still didn't know what Tom agreed to for this to happen.

"We can do it at the house then, dinner afterward," Tom replied.

Okay. You have the marriage license?" Russ asked. Mike watched Tom reach into his pocket and pull out a folded-up piece of paper. He unfolded it and smoothed it out before placing it on the table in front of Russ.

"Good," Jeter said as he skimmed the document. He nodded slowly. "Looks in order. Reception after?"

"Yes, I have a hall rented just down from the docks," Andrea said. Tom looked up at them, his face showing he was a little stunned. "Me and Mike's treat for you and Rachel. It's the least we could do."

Tom was nodding at Andrea and then shifted his glance at Mike. Mike could see the gratitude in his friend's face. "Thanks guys," Tom said his voice catching a little. Mike and Andrea nodded in unison both smiling.

"And don't worry about any of the reception stuff. I have the crew on it," Mike added. Mike watched Tom swallow as he fought the tears in his eyes. He nodded with a smile on his face.

"All right sounds like it's all in play. Invitations went out?"

"Yes," Mike jumped in. "The crew received their invites already."

"And that's all we're inviting…well besides Tex and his daughter Kat, but I haven't heard if he's going to come or not," Tom said a hint of disappointment in his voice. Mike cocked his head to the side, a confused look on his face.

"I figured Tex would love to see you guys get hitched."

"There's a sticky point in the relationship there," Tom said.

"The whole rejection by Rachel thing?" Mike asked. Andrea elbowed him and Mike grunted. "What?"

"Try a little tact next time," Andrea said out of the corner of her mouth.

"What? Tex and Rachel aren't here, what's the issue?" Mike shot back rubbing his ribcage. Andrea just shook her head at him.

"Sometimes you're just a big oof," Andrea whispered, and Mike smiled.

"What'd I do?" Mike whined again. Tom was laughing at them.

"It's okay, and it's not really the rejection part. But sort of. Tex was…is…in love with Rachel so it's probably hard to see her with me. There was a point when he asked my intentions but at the time…Darien was still alive and well…circumstances kind of changed over time," Tom said thoughtfully.

"He had to see Rachel always had eyes for you," Andrea said without thinking. Her eyes went wide when she realized her slip and she covered her mouth. Mike took his revenge and elbowed her in the ribs, but he really felt like laughing. She glared at him, so he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Try having some tact, next time," Mike said in a mocking voice and Andrea shoved his shoulder lightly.

"Shut up," she said with a small laugh. Tom smiled at the two of them. But Mike could see he was still a little confused by their statements.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked, and both Mike and Andrea gave him incredulous looks. Now Jeter was laughing, causing Tom to glance at him. "What?" Tom asked and Mike could see the man was completely lost.

"Are you serious? Man, men are dense," Andrea laughed out as she shook her head. Mike gave her a shocked look and Jeter laughed again. "Especially you," Andrea said sweetly to Mike, causing him to laugh in response. He then shook his head.

"Are we going to ignore what you said?" Tom asked. Mike was dumbfounded and was laughing harder. He was trying to control himself so he could speak.

"Are you serious?" Mike asked, using the same phrase Andrea had just used. "I guess you were too wrapped up in saving the world to see what was going on."

"I mean I did have a lot going on," Tom said defensively, and Mike couldn't stop the next round of laughter from overtaking him. Andrea was shaking her head in awe now.

"Dr. Scott had a big crush on you from the beginning, Admiral," Andrea said with a smile. "She just knew you were married, and she wasn't a home wrecker."

"Wait…what?"

"It was pretty obvious, Tom," Mike replied with a shrug. "But you had blinders on. I know you'd never stray from Darien when she was alive."

"I guess I didn't…makes sense now," Tom said thoughtfully. He blew out a hard breath.

"How is Tex anyway," Jeter asked. "I heard you helped hire him."

"Yeah, the president thought I should be in charge of hiring a good chief of police. Tex popped into town, and I figured he'd be trustworthy. He took the job. He's all settled in been working for a week now."

"Good to hear he's settling in," Jeter replied.

"So do we have everything squared away?" Tom asked bringing the conversation back to where it started.

"I think we do," Jeter replied with a smile. "I look forward to officiating this in a few days."

"Thanks, it means a lot to us. All of this," Tom said, looking first to Jeter then to Mike and finally Andrea.

"Our pleasure," Mike said as he leaned back and draped an arm across Andrea's shoulders. They wrapped up their get together and said their goodbyes. Andrea and Mike headed towards their home.

When they got there, they went up to their bedroom and Mike settled himself on the bed, stretching out a little. Andrea joined him shortly and they cuddled on top of the covers.

"So, you never told Tom you told Tex to get in touch with him about the job?" she asked quietly.

"No, I didn't and apparently neither did Tex."

"Doesn't sound like it. I'm glad you said something to Tex. He and Kat live two blocks over from here."

"I saw that. I think this is going to be a great little neighborhood."

"Are you ready to deploy in a few days?"

"As ready as I'm going to be. I'm just glad you get to be by my side the whole time. The week was brutal."

"I know," Andrea replied as they worked themselves under the covers. Mike held her in his arms as they both drifted off to sleep.

To Be Continued…