Chapter 32

After they polished off the pizza, three of them began carrying things to the Escalade. Harriett had been sent to the kitchen to box up any food that was left there. AJ had insisted that she take it home to her family. He had shown her what he planned for dinner and added they would get breakfast on the road; she was to take every thing else, even cleaning out his deep freeze. She was sure the Admiral had only given her the task to keep her from lifting heavy things in her condition. At least doing this job she felt more useful than if he'd only allowed her to sit and watch.

Long before Bud and Harriett were willing to admit that the work was done and it was time to say their good-byes', it became fact. AJ and Mac were also reluctant to let the pair go. All four of them knew it would be longer than they wanted before they saw each other again, but there was talk of the Chegwidden's returning to Virginia for Thanksgiving or Christmas. With promises to call and email, the newlyweds finally saw their friends off.

The Escalade was loaded with the exception of the very last minute things. They had dined on a pan of lasagna AJ had in the freezer and then did the dishes and packed them away. All that was left for them to do was to get a good nights sleep so they could be on the road first thing in the morning.

AJ watched as Sarah made a slow tour of every room in the house. She was so quiet and pensive that he finally asked, "Darlin' what's on your mind? Are you regretting the decision to take the promotion and transfer?"

"No…not really," she answered slowly, and then she turned to him with an odd look on her face. "It's just that for so long, I've thought of this as 'your' home and now it's been 'ours' for such a short time…but whenever I've pictured you 'at home' all these years, I've pictured you here. I guess I'm just having a hard time picturing you 'at home' anywhere but here."

"It seems I need to remind my beautiful bride of something," he replied, taking her by the hand and leading her into the bedroom. Placing her in front of the mirror on the back of the closet door, he stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. "Sarah, from the moment you said that you'd be my wife, you became my home. There's an old song from an Elvis movie called 'Home Is Where The Heart Is', well my heart belongs to you and anywhere you are is 'home'. So from now on, whenever you want to picture me at home, I want you to see yourself…alright?"

Smiling as the tears of happiness slid down her cheeks, she was too choked up to speak. Placing her hands over his on her shoulders, she nodded and he understood that he'd never have to tell her that again. She now knew that to AJ 'home' was where love resided and she was going to make sure that he always saw that as her!

They made love slowly and tenderly that night before bed. Then in the morning could not pass up one last chance to have each other in AJ's awesome shower. Locking the door for the last time, they walked towards the Escalade arm in arm. Calling Dammit to join them they were on the road just as the sun was coming up.

Even though they stopped several times for food and gas along the way, and made sure that before they were too tired to pursue 'honeymoon activities' they stopped for the night. They still found themselves pulling into San Diego late Thursday night.

They checked in at the base because they were going to stay there until they found a house to purchase, and called the realtor first thing in the morning so they could start the house hunting. The woman had a hard time believing that a newlywed couple truly wanted a five or six bedroom house, but she showed them every one that she had on her listing book. It was Sunday afternoon when they pulled up at an old Victorian home that both of them felt said 'home' to them. The inside needed some work, but AJ was handy and was looking forward to doing the work himself while Sarah was at work. They made an offer and by Tuesday morning knew that the house would be theirs.

To be continued….