For some reason I felt like being a lot more descriptive than usual in this chapter, I hope you guys like it but make sure to let me know if you don't! Also, reviewer (thanks as always for your review, seriously cannot express how much I love getting them!) I did think about them having twins and haven't for sure made up my mind about it yet, but I think realistically Andy would end up on bedrest for a loooong time if they did and that would kinda suck. But like I said, not sure yet what I'm gonna do :) Anyways, enjoy!

–The Reunion–

It felt strange to be back at her parents' house – it being so very different from her own. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, the whole house no bigger than a third of her own square feet-wise. It was old furniture with even older decorations being thrown together into something that resembled a home, the tape of some outdated war movie always stuck in the VCR in the den, the whole place got cleaned once every other week by their Nigerian house cleaner – the only black person Andy's parents had regular interaction with.

At seventeen-years-old it had felt like a true home instead of a different military base every two years at most, but at forty-three it just felt suffocating. When she laid back down in the same bed she had laid in all those years ago, and closed her eyes, she could almost hear her father shouting at the neighbors over the fence to keep their damn cat off her parents' property. Now though, Spotty was long ago buried and decomposed under their back porch, the neighbors from back then had also found a new home in a graveyard. Andy had never been allowed a pet when she was a child; the only thing coming close was a stray cat she had affectionately called Gomer who she hadn't even had the time to say goodbye to when they left Germany to move back to the States.

Despite everything pointing to the contrary it wasn't the same house that she had now returned to. She had heard the new neighbors' kids jumping on their trampoline in the backyard, their German Shepherd dog laying just a couple feet above its predecessor, drinking in the last daylight on the back porch. Her father was watching the same movie yet again, shouting the exact same commentary, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his wife never let him leave the house alone again, too afraid that he wouldn't be able to find his way back home.

It was depressing. And her mom's comments about Lu hadn't helped one bit. Liz' reaction to Lu's arrival hadn't been all that surprising, just disappointing was all. Andy's parents had send her to one room and Lu to another, figuring that considering the time the awkward conversation that was bound to happen could wait until the next morning. And it had been a relief, Andy wasn't ready to have that conversation – with her father included – after their long drive up, either. She needed time to break the news that despite his anger all those years ago about a girl crush she had had, it hadn't deterred her from doing something about her attraction to Lu. Andy couldn't imagine it going well.

She was just wearing panties and a tank top, ready to go to sleep beneath the dusty, flannel blanket when there was a soft knock on the door. Lu slipped inside, making sure to close the door slowly so as to not wake Liz nor Andrew up. ''Hey,'' she said, leaning against the door. She had assumed that Andy would have no problem with her sneaking into her room, but she also know how quick Andy was to obey her parents.

Andy pulled her blanket up to her chin, wishing she hadn't come here, before patting the pillow next to her and inviting Lu in. Just as she had discussed with Milo things at home weren't perfect yet – the sleeping schedule needed to be figured out before she stepped on anyone's toes – and Andy was sure other problems would arise soon enough, more than enough kinks that needed to be worked out. But it was better than living under her parents' scrutiny, having to hide her love for the woman slipping between the sheets next to her.

''I feel like a teenager sneaking around like this,'' Lu said, pulling the covers over herself. She could tell Andy was distracted and softly tapped her on the arm, ''hey, have you figured out what you're going to tell your mom and dad at breakfast?'' She was well aware that Liz had asked Andy to keep their relationship a secret from Andrew, but subtlety had never been their strong-suit, there was no way Andrew wouldn't notice.

''At this point I think lying is my best option,'' Andy said. She laid back on her back, staring up at the ceiling. It didn't have anything to do with her feelings in regards to Lu or their relationship, it was just a need for not having World War III break out in her family and keep the peace until a few years from now when both her parents would be safely in the ground and she could live without judgment from them.

''You really think that's your best bet?'' Lu asked, sitting up against the headboard. She knew that it was probably the easiest way out and she had always told Andy that she was more than okay with them keeping their relationship a secret from Andy's parents but from what Andy had told her when they were in Puerto Rico it had sounded like she was ready to tell her father.

''I just think it would be easier,'' Andy sighed. ''My whole life my father ran the house like boot camp,'' she said, ''he tells you to take out the trash, that's what you do; he tells you that liking girls is wrong, you definitely don't fall in love with one. You don't disobey an order from General March, especially if you're only a colonel.''

''What about a full-bird colonel?'' Lu asked with a quiet giggle, straddling Andy and looking down into her eyes. ''A full-bird colonel,'' she leaned down and kissed Andy on the cheek, ''a brilliant doctor,'' the other cheek, ''a great mom,'' her lips brushed against Andy's, teasing her before pulling away again, she leaned down and whispered, ''a wonderful lover,'' she finally kissed Andy deeply.

Andy pulled away and snorted, ''even then.''

''Don't you think lying would be disobeying him?'' Lu asked, pulling away a bit. She figured phrasing it like this would go over better than outright asking Andy to go against what she had been taught from the moment she took her first breath.

Andy swallowed hard, ''I think he'd prefer me lying over me telling him that we're together.'' It made her sad but she knew in her heart that it was the truth. And not just her father but her mother too. Barbara Elizabeth March (née Jones) may never have been a terrifying general whose rule was law, but she was a tough as nails army nurse who had no qualms about sharing her opinions on what was sin and what wasn't, about how her daughter should live her life and what she shouldn't do.

Lu could see this was upsetting Andy and wrapped her arms around her, ''I'm sorry,'' she whispered, burying her face in Andy's neck. Lucky wasn't exactly the right word she would choose to describe the fact that she had really only had Marc to come out to and that he had taken it relatively well, but it certainly felt easier than dealing with parents like Andy's.

''It's okay,'' Andy said. It wasn't, but she could for now put her feelings aside, dealing with her parents could wait until the morning. She flipped them over, ''let's just focus on you.''

The school gymnasium still smelled the same – the scent of sweaty gym shoes mixing so well with teenage boys' enthusiasm when spraying deodorant – and Andy could tell they had tried to make it look similar to how it had been in the late seventies as well. The old principal had long ago skipped town with his mistress who he had started sleeping with on the annual ski trips and there were other changes as well. The school had gone through quite a few renovations and though Andy had graduated before the start of the disco era, the disco ball hung center-square didn't feel all that out of place.

Though Andy didn't have any particularly good or bad memories from the school – the only two things making the place memorable was that this was where she had walked the stage and received her diploma, and the boy she had partnered up with in chemistry class – anything would beat spending one more moment with her parents. She felt like she had regressed in age in the less than 24 hours she had spent with them, like she was once again a teenager who was only allowed to say ''yes, sir'' and ''yes, ma'am'' and other than that dread the moment they would search her room for anything she wasn't allowed to have.

''I can't believe this is your old high school,'' Lu commented, looking around at the unfamiliar faces and wondering who Andy could have possibly been friends with, ''I can't even picture you as a teenager.'' She had seen pictures of course but still.

''It was different back then,'' Andy said, picking up her name tag and writing one for Lu, figuring it was best she do it herself since no one could read Lu's handwriting.

Lu could feel Andy's hand at the top of her breast, smoothing down the name tag and she looked down, ''getting handsy already huh?'' She asked, smirking at Andy who looked away embarrassed, ''no, I like it.'' She pulled Andy a bit closer. She wasn't sure how Andy wanted to go about their relationship at the reunion, with Andy being the only one of the two wearing a wedding ring there were bound to be some questions if she introduced them as a couple, but Lu wasn't sure Andy would even introduce her as her girlfriend at all.

''Keep it in your pants, Delgado,'' Andy said, her hand on the small of Lu's back as they walked to the bar, ordering some drinks before simply hanging back. She looked at the people around her, some looked vaguely familiar but none really stood out and she wondered why she had come here at all. The drama with her family, the fact that once she had left this school she had never once looked back, it just begged the question why.

''So which of these guys did you make out with back in the day?'' Lu asked, drinking her cocktail through a straw as she looked up at Andy.

Andy looked away, though she couldn't help but giggle a bit, ''Lu…''

''Oh come on, I'm sure you spent some time beneath the bleachers with a cutie,'' Lu said, ''come on, spill.''

When Andy finally looked back at Lu her eyes landed on the guy who had just walked in. Her face fell a bit before smiling again, ''just him.'' She could see Lu follow her gaze before looking back at Andy, clearly unhappy. ''I didn't know he was going to be here, he never mentioned it,'' Andy said, watching Les walk towards them. He was wearing a simple suit, his hands in his pockets… he looked a lot better than the last time she had seen him, the sun in California doing him good.

''Andy,'' Les acknowledged, leaning in and kissing her cheek, ''Dr. Delgado,'' he extended his hand to her, shaking hers. They had never gotten along all that well after the abuse and lying on his part that had ended his marriage to Andy, he just hoped that she had passed along the news that he was in therapy now so that they could at least be friendly for the extent of the evening. ''What a surprise,'' he said.

''Only found out at the last minute,'' Andy said, ignoring the fact that he was more than likely referring to Lu being there. It felt strange seeing him, it had been close to a year since the last time and it was so unexpected. The school was bringing back memories from the start of their relationship, sneaking around behind both their parents backs, meeting up beneath the bleachers like Lu had guessed.

Les could see Andy and Lu exchanging glances and smiled, ''the girls already told me about you two.'' It had been a surprise at the time but looking back it had been obvious to him when thinking about Andy and Lu when they had first moved to Philly – though they had had trouble getting along there was an instant chemistry.

Andy sighed in relief. ''How's California?''

''Good, good,'' he said, looking away, not ready to share his news yet. ''We can talk about that later, I'm gonna,'' he motioned towards a group of guys that had gathered, recognizing some of his old friends.

''Yeah, okay.'' Andy had never had trouble making friends but she felt incredibly out of place, Les was really the last thing connecting her to the school, to have him walk off as well… Her gaze was drawn to the entrance and she couldn't look away.

Les followed her gaze, a knowing smile forming on his face. His hand landed on Andy's arm, trying and failing to get her attention, ''say hi to her for me.'' He said, taking it as his cue to leave.

''Sure, sure,'' Andy responded, not even noticing he had gone.

''Who is that?'' Lu asked, stepping up next to Andy.

''Sarah Ricci,'' Andy said, looking at her. She still looked the same as she had back in high school, long black hair, olive skin, tall, still dressed in all black. Andy turned back to Lu, ''do you remember that little crush I told you about a while ago-''

''Yeah…'' Lu said, a wide smile spreading on her face, ''that is her?!'' A thousand images had flashed through her mind at the time about what kind of girl could have possibly awoken those feelings in Andy but this wasn't entirely it. She looked at the woman, remembered Andy saying her name, ''I guess Nick wasn't the only Italian you were attracted to.''

''Lu…'' Andy sighed, ''please tell me we won't have to get into that here.''

''I was just kidding,'' Lu replied. She looked away from Andy and back at Sarah, ''she's coming over here.''

Once again Lu had managed to drag Andy out of a very concentrated moment and back to herself, but now Andy looked back at Sarah, seeing that Lu was right, ''what do I do?''

Lu laughed, ''oh come on, you're a fully grown adult, you're not a teenager anymore, just go talk to her.'' It surprised her what effect Sarah had on Andy and she couldn't wait to meet her, wondering what about her had been so captivating to Andy.

''Sarah!'' Andy couldn't help but sound excited. They had spent some time together back in high school but had never been too close, and then one day they had simply stopped talking to each other, Andy couldn't remember why. She had hoped but not expected that Sarah would be there, for some reason even more than twenty-five years later she still seemed too cool for this sort of thing.

''Andy!'' Sarah mimicked Andy's excited tone before frowning at her, ''hi…''

Andy smiled at her, unsure of what to say. She could feel something poking her back and looked over to see Lu looking at her expectantly, ''uh, this is…'' she suddenly realized she hadn't thought through how she would introduce Lu, she wasn't sure how a lesbian relationship would be received by her former classmates, sure most of them held the same views as her parents.

Lu leaned in a bit, ''Lu,'' she reminded Andy jokingly before turning back to Sarah and introducing herself.

''I know your name,'' Andy said, looking at Sarah as well, ''this is… my partner, Lu, Dr. Lu Delgado.''

''A doctor, huh?'' Sarah asked, clearly impressed, ''you caught yourself a big fish. To think I've been shacking up with a plumber…''

''Andy's a doctor too, a much bigger deal than me,'' Lu said, feeling like she needed to impress Sarah and just wanting to boast about her girlfriend, she didn't often enough get the chance to do that.

''That's not true,'' Andy said, looking over at Lu, wondering if she really felt that way. She shook her head, trying to find a way to move past the moment. ''So… a plumber, that sounds… interesting.'' It really didn't but from what she remembered she was sure Sarah would find a way to make it interesting.

''She really wasn't.''

''She?''

''Yeah, Tina. I bought her a ticket for this reunion but then she dumped me so… if you were looking to sneak someone in here, just let me know,'' she joked and smiled at the two women in front of her and wondered if she was just so submerged into the gay scene that she had taken the term ''partner'' the wrong way or if there was another reason they seemed so surprised by the mention of Tina.

There was a silence.

''Nobody comes to mind,'' Andy said, desperate to find a way to break the silence and cringing at herself the moment she had said it.

Sarah looked back and forth between Andy and Lu, ''you two are a…'' she couldn't say the word couple, too afraid she was wrong and they would get upset. ''I mean, I know you are a…'' she didn't dare say that word to Andy either, knowing her family and if her parents were anything to go by… yikes.

''I am what?'' Andy asked, frowning.

''I'm just saying… we did make out that one time,'' Sarah said, putting her hands up.

Lu gasped before laughing, faking offense, ''I thought I was the first woman you ever kissed,'' she said, giving Andy a slight push.

''You are,'' Andy assured her, ''we never did anything, you must be thinking about someone else,'' she shook her head at Sarah, trying desperately to think back to what she was referring to but her memory came up blank.

''Yes we did,'' Sarah looked at her in disbelief, ''I can't believe you don't remember…'' she sighed, ''it was around homecoming, Jimmy Driver threw a party, you had beer for probably the first time, got a little drunk, and then out by the pool you kissed me.''

Flashes of a drunken haze long buried came back to Andy and she tried to piece it back together, ''I vaguely remember you being there.'' She definitely remembered Jimmy Driver, the first boy at this school she had had a crush on, she remembered the pool, she remembered drinking beer after beer thinking it wasn't affecting her until they all did at once, and slowly but surely the memory of Sarah being there came back to her as well.

Though there were many kids from affluent families at the school, Jimmy's parents were some of the richest. The mansion he lived in was frequently used as a party place when his parents were out for the night, only his little sister would come out of her bedroom a couple of times during the evenings, complaining to her big brother about all the seniors hanging around.

Andy remembered the big backyard that was clearly being maintained by gardeners, the stone-lined pool, a lounge chair with Sarah in it. Walking over to the cooler and grabbing a beer, throwing it back to get some courage and then walk – or stumble – over to Sarah and sitting next to her even though the chair really only had room for one. Andy remembered leaning in and whispering something in Sarah's ear before giggling, but she couldn't remember what had been said.

Most of the night after that was a blur, although now that she had been reminded, Sarah in her yellow dress was clear as day in her mind.

Andy was relieved that when they got home her parents had already retired to their bedroom, the last thing she needed was to get into it with them now. They had hung around at the reunion for some time, but had agreed to meet Sarah for brunch the next morning to really catch up. Les had called during the cab-ride home and they had agreed that he would come for dinner at her parents' house the next day.

She walked out of the bathroom in her pajamas, climbing into bed next to Lu, they weren't even pretending to sleep in separate bedrooms anymore. She kissed Lu's neck, her hand moving up Lu's nightshirt, but Lu just felt stiff in her arms. When Andy pulled away she could see how pale Lu had gotten, looking down at her planner in front of her. ''What is it?'' Andy asked, sitting back on her heels next to Lu.

Andy's words felt like getting snapped out of a trance. ''Do you remember what we did a few weeks ago?'' Lu asked, swallowing hard, feeling like an idiot for bringing this up, sure that it was just her imagination making her paranoid, ''in my office… with Milo there…''

''How could I forget?'' Andy asked. She had thought back to that night many times, especially during rare moments late at night when she was alone. Considering how their previous time making love had gone she had expected the worst but it had been some of the best sex they had ever had.

''You went down on me,'' Lu said slowly, Andy nodded, ''with Milo's semen still on your face…'' she took a deep breath, ''do you think it's possible that-''

Lu looked away and Andy looked at her questioningly, wondering if this was really going where she thought it might be. She didn't want to make assumptions because it was right down ridiculous, ''do I think what?''

She couldn't say the words. ''Andy, I'm late.''