AN: Thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own original characters and the plot of this story.
Chapter 6: Familial Responsibilities
Her nap upon arriving home was blessedly dream free. Of course it also lasted a lot longer than she wanted it to. Andi woke at 2pm to the sound of her mother yelling from the garage that she would meet her at the party and not to be late. Of course the party was set to start in 30 minutes and she still had to shower and dress. Obviously she was going to be late.
Racing to the bathroom she showered in record time, dried her hair and then ran around her room grabbing items of clothing as she went. Seeing that the party was set to start in 15 minutes and it would take 20 to get there if traffic cooperated, she ran down to the garage in her underwear and hoped into Axle's driver side while pulling a black tank top over her head.
"Let's go, Axle! You drive, I'll finish getting dressed." She rattled off the address and focused on her clothes.
"I can't believe I overslept. Mom's gonna kill me." Reaching into the pile of clothes in the passenger seat as Axle continued driving towards their destination, Andi pulled out a slightly wrinkled green shirt and pulled it on over the spaghetti strapped top she was currently wearing. She then pulled out a nice, dark washed pair of jeans. Carefully maneuvering herself, she was able to slip into the clean pair, all the while still seated in Axle. Finally, she pulled out a pair of decent heeled black ankle boots, the nicest pair of shoes she owned and slipped into them. Checking herself in the flip-down mirror, running a hand through her hair to make sure she looked alright, She was still fidgeting 30 minutes later when Axle came to a stop and parked in front of a large brick house.
"How do I look? Ok? Or like I just rolled out of bed?"
"You look fine, Andi. I'm detecting quite a few body signatures in the house, you should go."
"Lovely. Alright, I'm gonna try to leave as early as I possibly can, but I doubt that will be any time soon. So, if you want, you can head back home or to the base and come pick me up later."
"That's alright, Andi. I will wait for you here. Enjoy your party."
Andi snorted. "Not likely." She sighed as she exited Axle and patted his hood. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
Entering the house, she was welcomed warmly. Smiling, she gave her cousin a hug and then joined her mother by the couch.
Her mother raised an eyebrow in question, waiting for a reason for her lateness. Andi shrugged, having no excuse. Her mother then rolled her eyes and gestured for her daughter to sit down next to her. She did.
It wouldn't end.
She had been sitting on this damn couch for three hours making small talk with people she hardly knew and there was no end in sight. To make matters worse, from her seat, she had a perfect view out the front window of the house to the street where Axle was parked. Freedom was so close and yet oh so far away.
She flinched slightly as someone elbowed her in the side. Turning to her left, she glared at her mother who was frowning at her daughter. Leaning over, she whispered in Andi's ear.
"If I have to stay, you're going down with me."
Andi smiled then. It was nice knowing that her mother was suffering just as much as she was. Mrs. Hammond was all for supporting her niece, but not even she could keep a smile on her face after hours of making small talk with people who didn't even particularly like her.
After Andi's parents had started their software company and begun to make quite a bit of money, they had made it perfectly clear that there would be no mooching off of them from others in their family. They were happy to help with financial problems, but they refused to buy their siblings or their children any unnecessary extravagant items, specifically a boat for her uncle. They made it clear that much of their money was circulated back into the company, as well as given to charity. After this revelation, relations became a little stressed in the family. Personally she admired her parents for standing up to her family, and was proud of all they had done.
And yet, knowing that her mother wanted to leave just as badly as she did gave Andi a strange form of pleasure.
One hour later, Andi was mentally running through the new code she wanted to write for the Autobots' base computers to improve productivity for the core processors when she realized that someone was attempting to get her attention. Turning to her left, she found her Aunt Rita and next to her, her Aunt May. The two women had finally managed to corner her alone. Andi had been both expecting this and dreading it. Her Aunts Rita and May were two of the worst busy bodies she knew.
"So Andrea, how have you been? Your mother tells us that you have been busy lately. Doing what?"
"I'm good, Aunt Rita. I've been working a lot lately." She pasted a fake smile on her face.
"That's right, you were offered a job by the government, right? Some kind of computer something or other."
"Computer programming, Aunt May."
"And what does that entail?"
"I'm afraid that's all I can say about that, Aunt May. It classified, you understand." That should stop that line of questioning.
"Of course, dear. So you'll be heading to college soon. Where will you be going?"
That was a sensitive subject. Now that Andi had a full time job for the government which would be available to her for the foreseeable future, she felt there was little reason to go to college right away. It would be a waste of her time, taking away time from her work. She would be living on the base once it was finished, managing the Autobots' computer systems. There would be little time to go to classes and no way to get there.
However, her parents, who didn't know the details of her work with the government but knew that she would be moving out soon, refused to even hear any talk of not going to college. So, they had reached a compromise. Andi would take online and interactive classes until she achieved her Bachelor Degree in Computer Programming and Systems Analysis. She would be able to take the classes from home and the base, allowing Andi to still work as much as she needed.
Yet, knowing her Aunts she figured lying wouldn't hurt.
"Nevada University. I'll be double majoring in Computer Programming and Systems Analysis."
"That sounds nice. Are you excited?"
Andi refrained from rolling her eyes. Everyone asked that question. "Yeah. I'm looking forward to it."
"That's good." The inane chatter continued on for some time until Rita and May were pulled away by Andi's cousin Lisa.
Yet another hour later, and the party was finally coming to a close. Five hours. What kind of bridal shower lasted for five hours? All the food had been eaten, gifts had been given and opened, and conversations had slowly come to a close. The sun had set some time ago, and slowly but surely, the guests were trickling out the door.
Andi's eye searched out her mother and found her helping to clean. She waited until her mother turned towards her and then caught her eyes. A raised eyebrow was all she needed to relay her question. Her mother sighed, rolled her eyes and then nodded. Andi did a mental happy dance as she stood and made her way towards the front door, waving to her mother as she went. At the door, she gave her regards to her cousin and promised to see her in a few days at the wedding.
It took everything in her not to take off running towards Axle once she made it out the door.
She sighed gratefully as she settled into the driver's seat.
"Home, Jeeves."
"Who's Jeeves?"
Andi chuckled. "Nevermind, Axle. Let's just go home. I'm beat."
"Someone beat you?" He sounded frantic.
"No, Axe. I'm tired. Yeesh, we're gonna have to work some more on your understanding of human expressions. You've been here long enough, you should know those by now."
"There hasn't been much time for that, Andi."
Andi sighed and settled herself deeper into her seat. She rubbed Axle's steering wheel lightly. "You're telling me, big guy. I've barely had enough time to eat and sleep. We haven't had much time to sit back and relax have we?" She paused as she contemplated something. "Think we could request a little time off from Optimus? Personally, I'm in need of a little vacation. Maybe we could get away for a week or something."
"Where would you like to go?"
"I don't know. Northwest? Maybe the coast? Somewhere secluded enough that you'd be able to stretch your legs. What do you say?"
"That sounds nice, Andrea."
"Yeah, it really does."
Silence reigned for the rest of the trip home and by the time the two arrived, Andi was just about asleep. Axle woke her when they approached the driveway and she took notice that her father's car was in the garage. He must have arrived home from his business meeting while Andi and her mother were at the party.
Stepping out of Axle, she headed out of the garage towards the house. "I'll be back Axe, just want to say hello to Dad."
Stepping in the kitchen from the back door, Andi was met with the sight of her father routing around in the fridge. On the counter behind him was a loaf of bread, several different types of lunch meat and a jar of peanut butter. Upon her entrance, he turned to her, two jars of pickles and olives held in his hands.
"What, they don't feed you at those big corporate meetings?" she joked.
"Hey, kiddo!" He set the jars down and pulled her into a bear hug. "How was the party?"
"Hey, Dad." She returned the hug. "Well, I still have all my limbs and mom didn't kill anyone, so pretty good, I guess."
"That bad, huh?" Her dad chuckled as he released her.
"Next time I'll go to your meeting for you and you can be interrogated by the family."
"Yeah, no, I'll pass, thanks." He began assembling his sandwich. "Where's your mother?"
"She'll be home soon. She was helping to clean up when I left." She scrunched her nose up as she watched her dad spread the peanut butter on the bread and then stick several slices of pickles and olives on.
"Great." He finished his construction and took a giant bite out of the sandwich.
"Oh that's gross."
"Everyone's a critic." He shrugged in answer. "Want a bite?"
"No. No, thanks. I'll pass."
"Your loss." He leaned back against the counter as he continued eating.
"So how did the meeting go?"
"Fine. Boring. The usual. Unfortunately, it looks like your mother and I will be heading out of town again in a few days."
"What about the wedding?"
"We'll be there," he finished the last bite of his sandwich. "We'll have to leave that night, though. After the reception. You gonna be okay by yourself for a week or two?" He went to the sink and poured himself a glass of water.
"Of course. Always am." Her father frowned and Andi wondered why. "What's wrong?"
"It's just…you shouldn't have to be okay with that. Sometimes I feel like I've done wrong by you all these years. Leaving you here while your mother and I travel all over the place for work. It doesn't seem right."
"What? Dad, what are you talking about? I'm used to this. I understand how important your work is and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"It's true work is important, but you know that you're so much more important than that, right? Nothing is more important than you. You know that right?"
"Of course, Dad. You've always been there when I needed you. I know you love me. What brought this on?"
Her dad sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "I don't know. I think I'm just tired. And old. I've been thinking about retiring in a few years. Spending more time at home."
Andi smiled. "That would be nice, Dad. But don't do anything until you're ready, okay?" She walked over and gave her dad a hug and kissed his cheek. "In the meantime, get some rest. I'm gonna get to bed, too."
"Alright, sweetheart." He kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."
"Night, Dad." With that, Andi left her father in the kitchen with his own thoughts, and made her way to bed.
Her dreams that night were overrun by warfare. Cybertron blazed red hot with fires that had overrun nearly half of the planet. Former friends and comrades turned on each other and bots fell left and right to the destruction. As each bot fell Andi was overcome with information. Name, classification, affiliation, personal history. The facts raced through her mind and she retained every piece of information she was given.
For the next three nights her dreams focused on the war between the Deceptions and Autobots. After the first night she accepted the horrors that she witnessed as having already happened, therefore there was nothing that she could do to change the outcome. She braced herself every night before bed and woke every morning feeling saddened and tired. She never felt completely rested following a night full of high definition surround sound history. But she dealt with it as it came and kept Ratchet and Optimus updated on her condition.
Soon the weekend was upon her and the wedding she had been dreading for months now seemed like a blessed distraction.
AN: There you have it, a little look into Andi's personal life. The fun truly begins next chapter and I'm excited to get this fic moving along. The stage has been set so now the adventure can begin. It's my birthday on Monday and then the preparations for our Holiday festivities begin so this will probably be the last update until after the New Year. I might be able to post the next chapter before the 1st, we'll see. If I don't update until next year, I hope you all have wonderful holidays and a happy new year!