Cammie woke up from her nap irritated. The doorbell was ringing, and she really didn't feel like answering. Then she heard Bex shout, "Cammie, open up this door right now!" Cammie grudgingly got up, a blanket wrapped around her, and answered the door. Her three best friends were standing on the other side, looking annoyingly perky. She glared at them as they came in. Macey was carrying a shopping bag, Liz had a tin full of something, and Bex had DVDs. They came in without a word. Cammie watched them set up, her ankles sore.
Bex observed Cammie while setting up the DVD player. She seemed tired, both physically and mentally. Bex knew Cammie's Circle encounter still haunted her. She had yet to tell anyone the details about it. Bex could see the fear in her best friend's eyes. She wished she could help Cammie in some bigger way, but she couldn't do that if Cammie didn't tell her anything. Bex decided she just be there for her friend and the kid. She chuckled at the irony of Zach and Cammie's relationship. The most dysfunctional couple out of all of them had been the first to get married and have a kid. Bex still wasn't sure how Cammie cured Zach of his fear of commitment and managed to keep him tied done, but she definitely admired it.
Cammie laid on the couch while everyone else set up. She was tired and starving. Liz came and sat down by her feet. Cammie looked up. Liz's eyes were understanding but concerned.
"When are you going to tell him?" she asked Cammie softly. Liz knew Cammie couldn't keep this secret forever. It'd be obvious to everyone soon enough, and Zach had the right to know. She knew Cammie was scared that Zach would leave her and not come back just like her dad. To quote a Taylor Swift song, she was a flight risk with a fear of falling. Cammie had always been afraid to fall because she never believed anybody would be there to catch her. Many spy children grew up with the idea that you had to pick yourself up or stay on the ground. Liz, having grown up in a normal family, was completely free of this. She had always depended on her friends through thick and thin.
"I don't know," Cammie whispered, her voice vacant. She was afraid to tell Zach because she didn't what he'd do. Her friends always said that part of the reason Cammie loved him was because he was unpredictable. This didn't make sense to her at all. She had dated Josh because he was normal and had the life she craved. Cammie had always wished her family was normal; that she had two parents with normal lives. That was the non-spy part of Cammie. The spy Cammie knew that she did have a family, an unconventional one at that. There was her mom, Aunt Abby, Joe Solomon, and all the teachers at Gallagher as her parents, aunts, and uncles. All of the Gallagher Girls were her sisters, especially Bex, Macey, and Liz. Jonas, Grant, and Preston were like her brothers. (Macey had married Preston shortly after Cammie married Zach. Their wedding had been at the White House.) So, if you really though about it, Cammie had a huge close family.
Liz looked at her upset friend and reassuringly responded, "Cammie, Zach's not going to ditch you. The guy's crazy about you. Jonas told me that he wished you would give him whatever you're giving Zach to make him so lovesick so that he could test it in the lab." Cammie laugh whole-heartedly, even though she'd heard that joke so many times. Nobody believed Zach changed himself; they all knew it was Cammie.
Bex gasped. She had heard Cammie laugh. It was a miracle. "Liz, what did you give her?" Bex teased. Liz smiled; Macey came over and sat on the couch.
"Okay, what should we watch first?" Macey asked, holding up three movies. Cammie studied the covers: Grease 2, Glitter, and Showgirls. She wondered who picked the DVDs and decided it must've been Liz; she had the worst tastes in movies out of any of them. Cammie always opted for the classics, like Funny Girl and The Philadelphia Story. Bex loved action movies and horror films, like The Dark Knight and Rosemary's Baby. Macey was the romance and friendship movie fanatic; her favorites included 27 Dresses, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, She's the Man, and Sleepover. Liz somehow always managed to love whatever movies bombed in the box office.
"Do you mean which torture do I chose first?" Bex asked sarcastically, narrowing her eyes at the movie selection. If it had been her turn to get movies, she would've gotten The Village and Robin Hood. Robin Hood had something for everyone: romance for Macey, a new twist on a classic for Cammie, and the fighting for herself. Liz would've hated it, but Bex expected her to.
"Yeah, Liz, do we really have to watch these? Seeing Grease 2 once was painful enough, and I don't even want to think about the other two." Cammie begged with a pout. Liz gave in and didn't force them to watch the movies. The girls sat in a circle, two tubs of ice cream in the middle. They talked as they ate. Bex mentioned that Grant was moving into her apartment. Everyone screamed and did a happy dance. Liz talked about the new scanner contacts she was working on, and the girls immediately called dibs. Macey revealed the biggest news of all.
"Preston has to go campaign in Hawaii, so he offered to take all of you guys with us! All expenses paid!" she told her friends excitedly. Everyone sat in shock for a moment, then jumped up and down.
"When?" Cammie asked curiously, her eyes full of joy. She knew this would be the perfect time to tell Zach.
"Tuesday!" Macey energetically replied. She hated going with her husband on the trail and stayed home most of the time, which didn't endear her to voters. Macey could care less, but Preston's manager required her to make at least five appearances month. Preston, knowing how much she missed her friends on the trail, offered to take her friends with them to Hawaii. It worked out perfectly, because Macey was also secretly Preston's security decal, so she'd have back-up.
"Love you!" all the girls shouted at Macey, pulling her into a huge group hug. After a hour of excited planning, the girls left for their homes. Cammie watched them each pull out of her driveway. She went into her kitchen and turned the lights off. Cammie went into her bedroom and slipped into one of Zach's old shirts that she slept in.
She turned off the lights and looked at the clock: it was 11:00 PM. Cammie usually went to bed at midnight, but the baby in her stomach was making her tired. Cammie closed her eyes and drifted to a peaceful sleep.
Zach came into the house around 11:20, earlier than he had expected to get home. He saw that all the lights were off and went into the bedroom. He found his wife sleeping peacefully, clutching a pillow. Zach smiled at the sight; it been a while since Cammie had slept that calmly. He changed into pajama pants and tried not to walk her. He slipped under the blankets and put his arm around his wife. Cammie instantly moved closer to him. Zach's mind drifted into dreamland.