Go Baby Grow

Chapter 64 – Meet the Sister

Thursday, June 25

Adam parked his pristine Lincoln Navigator in airport's parking lot. He opened the door behind the driver's door for Julie and proceeded to the passenger door to open Tessa's door. As she hopped out, Adam hugged her and grinned happily. For many years, he imagined that his children would all know one another. Soon, that reality would begin to come true.

"You're happy," Tessa acknowledged gently as her cheek rested on his chest.

Adam hummed peacefully and kissed Tessa's forehead, "I am."

Julie waited on the driver's side of the Navigator, trying her best not to stare at the lovebirds. As she gazed at her shoes, her mind was distracted by all of the sadness she was feeling. If anyone had asked her to explain her feelings, she had no idea what she'd say. She wasn't overwhelmed or devastated by one simple issue or experience. Instead, she was feeling the weight of the multitude of changes, surprises, and confusion swirling in her midst. If she was truly honest with herself, the heaviest portion had to do with Ryder. She was so embarrassed by her actions at the beach on Wednesday night. She'd been so certain that both of them were on the same page and ready to take some initial steps in starting a romantic relationship. When he gently and lovingly clarified his stance, she was horrified about having tried to kiss him. On one hand, she hoped to never face him again; deep down, she yearned to talk to and hug her best friend so she could sort out her next steps.

When her phone sounded a text alert, she was thankful for the distraction and breathed a sigh of relief. The relief was short-lived when she saw that Ryder had sent a message that stated, Umm… tomorrow. The goodbye thing at the base. Should I still plan to attend?

You don't need to, Julie replied.

With a huge exhale, Ryder responded, That's not what I meant. I want to be there. Asking if you want me there.

As Julie read his message, which would necessitate a lengthy exchange or conversation, Adam called out, "Let's go, JJ. Turn the phone off and put it away."

Picking up my sister. Will be in touch, Julie typed back quickly. She pressed the 'off' button and threw her phone into her bag.

The trio walked quickly through the airport as Adam's long strides set the pace. Tessa giggled and pointed out, "It's not a 5K, Adam."

"I'm eager to see her," Adam grinned as he grasped Tessa's hand.

Tessa pulled his hand up to her lips and kissed it. Letting go, she suggested, "Then you run. Julie and I will walk." She peeked at her watch and mentioned, "Her plane doesn't land for another ten minutes, Darling."

"She charmed her way to a First Class seat. She'll be one of the first ones off the plane," Adam emphasized as he kept the same speed.

"Of course she did," Tessa chuckled. Stepping closer to Julie, Tessa continued, "Hannah is quite the charismatic negotiator. Your father keeps telling her to become a Public Affairs Officer instead of a pilot."

Julie's shoulders fell unconsciously. Attempting to use an indifferent tone, Julie sought to confirm, "She wants to be a pilot…"

"That's her dream and plan," Tessa smiled, unaware of Julie's disappointment.

Julie and Tessa reached the waiting area and found Adam pacing with eager anticipation as he waited for Hannah's arrival. Observant as always, Julie noted Adam's singular focus. Wondering if Adam would notice, Julie chose a seat in the middle of the waiting area and leafed through a magazine someone had left behind. As she went through the motions of turning the glossy pages, she wished she was somewhere less public. Meeting her sister for the first time was peculiar enough. Doing so in a highly public setting added to the discomfort.

Approximately thirty feet away, Adam leaned to the side. Julie tried not to laugh – he seemed to be hoping to see around a corner. While he was a talented and intelligent man, his apparent goal was impossible. After studying his options, he paused and selected the spot where he remained until Hannah arrived.

"Is this the best view?" Tessa teased with a soft smile as she grasped Adam's hand.

Adam glanced over and winked, "I believe so." He turned each direction and questioned, "Where's Itsy?"

"Sitting down," Tessa informed him without any concern.

"She should be over here," Adam pointed out with melancholy disappointment.

"Or where she needs to be," Tessa advised. "This might be overwhelming for Julie, Adam."

Almost pouting, Adam responded, "But I want us all together."

"Go tell her that… nicely. With a loving tone," Tessa suggested. "Don't order her."

"I wouldn't do that," Adam lowered his brow with disbelief while Tessa worked to maintain a poker face. Of course you'd never order her to do something, Dear. What could I possibly be thinking? Tessa laughed internally.

Adam walked over and crouched down in front of Julie. A magazine provided a thin wall between them. Running his index finger along her index finger that was holding the magazine, Adam surprised himself when a tone of true compassion and gentleness emerged. "Itsy, I'm missing you over there."

"Really?" Julie responded with surprise before she could consider her response.

"Yes, really," Adam nodded subtly. He eyed the seat next to her and inquired, "May I sit by you?"

"Dad, you know you want to be over there," Julie, unconvinced by his efforts, pointed out with a tender scoff.

"Only if you're there too," he responded with reassurance. He eased into the chair next to Julie and bounced his leg up and down anxiously. He gazed over at Tessa, who was smiling at him proudly.

A loud shriek suddenly emerged from a petite 5'4" busty blonde with perfect makeup. Her enormous Navy backpack seemed larger than her body. She was dressed in a khaki button down shirt and slacks and wore black shoes. She held her folded khaki garrison cap in her hand and ran at full speed toward Tessa, "Mmmmmooommmmmyyyyy!" Wrapping her arms tightly around Tessa, Hannah smiled and rocked Tessa from side to side.

Julie's first thought was, Oh. My. God. Tell me I'm not related to her.

"That's Hannah," Adam said with joy. "Come on, Itsy." He pulled Julie's hand, dragging her toward the noisy reunion as he uncharacteristically ran across the open area. After releasing Tessa from the embrace, Hannah jumped up and down like a four-year-old needing the bathroom. Her joy was beyond evident. When Adam and Julie reached the other two, Adam dropped Julie's hand. He picked up Hannah and twirled her in a circle. Julie barely noticed her father as an ear-to-ear smile took over his face.

He set Hannah down and put his hands on her shoulders, immediately inspecting Hannah and her uniform. "You're looking fit," he nodded with approval. "Belt buckle and shoes are properly shined. Where's your t-shirt?"

"I'm not wearing one, Daddy" she smirked.

"Isn't that a required article?" Adam quizzed somewhat seriously.

Hannah laughed, "Only if your Daddy plans to fry you." Julie knew that 'fry' meant to turn someone in for a violation and thought to herself, Can I fry you retroactively when I arrive in Annapolis? I'll take care of that for 'Daddy.'

"Tell me about this ribbon," Adam requested as he pointed to the red and yellow ribbon on the bar above her breast pocket that held various colors and awards.

"That one? I think that's for Most Adorable Plebe," she roared and flirted.

Adam playfully frowned and recited the meaning of the other ribbons, "National Defense Medal, Rifle qualification, pistol qualification. Wait - Sharpshooter?!"

"I was sooooo close to Expert. I'll earn it next year," Hannah declared with confidence.

"Back to the red and yellow one…" Adam pressed.

"Brigade," Hannah clarified. "It's like the ribbon given to every kid so everyone in the brigade feels like a winner."

"Good girl," Adam praised. Julie listened from the periphery and forced herself not to gag or roll her eyes. Adam's tone sounded as if he was preparing for a new career as a kindergarten teacher, and Hannah ate up the sound. Meanwhile, Tessa looked on with a goofy grin as Adam and Hannah interacted.

Spotting Julie over Adam's shoulder, Hannah's perfect brown eyes widened. Her voice heightened in pitch as she squealed, "Is this my sister?!" Hannah raised both shoulders toward her ears impishly and offered a toothy grin.

Adam turned to his side and enveloped Julie into the group by placing his arm around her shoulder. "Yes, this is Julie. Julie, Hannah."

Pouncing on Julie with enthusiasm, Hannah squeezed her younger sister and became teary. "I have waited so long to meet you, little sis!" The choice of words was especially poignant since Hannah was a full six inches shorter and was acting as if she was many years younger than Julie.

Julie thought sarcastically, Yeah, I've been waiting so long too - ever since I found out about you a few days ago. Now let go of me, Power Puff Girl.

With a calm corrective tone, Tessa suggested, "Let her breathe, Hannah."

"Oh, Mom!" Hannah teased. She grabbed Julie's hand firmly and began peppering her with questions as the two followed Tessa and Adam to baggage claim. Rather than answer each question, Julie forced a smile as Hannah talked non-stop. Occasionally, she'd pause and emphasize a particular inquiry then wait for an answer. In those instances, Julie decided to provide the briefest response possible.

At baggage claim, Adam asked Hannah how many bags she had checked and taunted her when the answer was three. A whole bag for makeup and hair product, perhaps? Julie mused internally. So far, she was far from impressed with her new sister. Julie was certain that Adam would be weighed down with all of the bags, would turn and then expect Julie to help. As the luggage began to circle around on the claim belt, Julie was dreading her imagined scenario coming true.

To her credit, Hannah pulled each bag off the belt and insisted that Adam not carry any of them. She expertly attached two bags to a wheeled suitcase and pulled them along behind her. In fact, she wouldn't even let Adam carry her large backpack despite his repeated insistence. Making note of Hannah's self-sufficiency, Julie remained unimpressed but decided she was willing to cut the bleached blonde a little slack.

As Adam and Hannah loaded the bags into the back of the Navigator, Tessa climbed into the back seat in order to give Adam some father-daughter time.

"Mom, no," Hannah insisted as she approached the door. "I want to sit with my sis!" Tessa stepped out and Hannah jumped in with a goofy smirk.

Oh, yay, Julie grumbled internally. At the risk of incurring Adam's wrath, Julie pulled her phone out of her purse and turned it on. The initial power sound gave her away, and Adam loudly cleared his throat. Sighing, Julie turned the phone off again and placed it in her purse.

Hannah picked up on the subtle exchange. She leaned over, causing Julie to brace herself for another hug. Instead, Hannah whispered, "You can use my phone."

"Thanks," Julie smiled softly. Well, that was nice. She began to type a commentary to Ryder about the last thirty minutes of her life, then caught herself remembering that Hannah would be able to see the text since it was on her phone. Deleting the words, Julie shook her head and handed it back, explaining quietly, "I thought I knew the number, but…"

Appearing almost disappointed, Hannah tucked the phone back into her backpack and slouched into the back of the seat. She placed her hands on her military bun and pulled out two bobby pins. Then she grabbed and loosened the bun until her beautiful bouncy hair fell over her shoulders. With a pleased sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair and loosely styled it.

"That's always the first thing I want to do," Hannah shared with Julie. "Pull my hair out of that tight-ass bun and let it fall." Without response, Julie nodded.

Adam parked the Navigator at the swanky lakeside restaurant and stepped out. He turned and saw Hannah's hair and gave her the death stare that Julie knew all too well. Julie looked on, curious to see what would happen to the Princess.

"Hannah," Adam grumbled. "If you're in uniform, you're in uniform."

"Daddy, nobody here knows Naval Academy codes for women's hair when dressed in khakis," Hannah pointed out with a reasonable explanation.

Adam folded his arms and growled, "I don't recall opening a debate. Fix your hair or stay in the car."

Ha ha ha ha ha, Julie thought as she remained seated in order to have the best opportunity to hear the interaction. She was so thrilled that she had chosen to wear her own hair down for the outing. Unaware of the cat-ate-the-canary grin on her face, Julie jolted back to reality quickly when Adam snapped, "Julie, go with Tessa, please."

"Oh…of course," Julie sputtered as she re-entered reality.

As she and Tessa walked toward the entrance to the restaurant, Julie heard the door to the Navigator slam closed. She peeked over her shoulder to spy Adam screaming at Hannah at the top of his lungs. Had Hannah simply been listening and taking in his verbal punches, Julie might have pitied her. However, Hannah's face was as enraged as his as the two bellowed back and forth.

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Julie and Tessa were seated at a table by the window, and Tessa immediately ordered and quickly received a martini.

"I hope you don't mind me asking…" Julie began. She'd never seen Tessa drink and, surely, Tessa knew Adam was a recovering alcoholic.

"If I drink?" Tessa smiled warmly. "Every now and then. I know your dad has been dry for the last six years."

"Oh. I forgot that you two have known each other so long," Julie nodded uncomfortably and turned her attention out the window as she sipped on a soda.

Tessa studied Julie's seemingly vacant expression. "Julie?"

"Uh huh?" Julie responded without looking.

"What other questions do you have for or about me?" Tessa wondered.

Julie looked at Tessa, unsure how to respond. Then she spotted Adam and immediately checked her posture to ensure she was sitting up straight. Adam approached the table with his best fake smile and mentioned casually, "Hannah stopped in the Ladies' Room." He spread his napkin on his lap, glanced at Tessa's drink and grasped her hand. He desperately wanted to down that martini. In addition to being absolutely furious with Hannah, he was beginning to feel antsy about the wedding.

"Julia?" Adam sounded in the tone of voice she was most accustomed to hearing.

"Sir?" Julie responded dutifully.

Adam raised his chin slightly and requested, "Please go check on your sister."

The words threw Julie for a momentary loop. My who? Oh… sister… right. Hannah. The pretty girl. F #$. "Sure," Julie grinned. As she stood, Adam stood, then Julie proceeded to the restroom.

Julie anticipated finding a sobbing mess of a sister in the bathroom. She suspected that Adam had driven Hannah to tears and that Hannah was unable to collect herself. Instead, when Julie opened the door, she encountered a steaming, brooding female version of Adam attempting to pull her hair into a tight bun without a brush.

Hannah glared at Julie in the mirror, warning, "Don't say a word."

Shaking her head and backing up a step, Julie disclosed, "Dad sent me in to check on you. I don't want to be here."

"Nice," Hannah growled.

"I didn't mean…" Julie attempted to dig herself out of the hole she'd created. "I'm… I'm sorry."

"Do you have a brush?" Hannah sighed.

"Yeah," Julie nodded, digging in her purse. "Here. What else do you need?"

"What else do you have?" Hannah asked with the first hint of a softened tone.

Laughing, Julie opened the top of her purse wide and listed, "A granola bar, a few bucks cash, a nail file, pen…"

"Anything hair-friendly?" Hannah chuckled with slight shock.

"Like a bobby pin?" Julie suggested as she held up three of them.

Hannah sighed with relief. "Yes, like a bobby pin."

Julie found herself staring in the mirror at her sister as Hannah fixed her bun with precision. Initially, Hannah blew off the stare. When it continued, Hannah inquired, "What?"

"Huh? Nothing," Julie shifted nervously.

"Are there any strays?" Hannah questioned.

"No," Julie confirmed. "Well… except right there."

"Can you fix it instead of pointing at it?" Hannah smiled with disbelief, accustomed to her friends at the Academy helping one another with hair challenges.

"Fix it? Like, touch your hair?" Julie confirmed with anxiety.

"Is there a problem?" Hannah asked with a slow tone. Hannah was beginning to conclude that Julie was a strange bird.

"I'm not much of a girly girl. I… I've never done hair," Julie feebly tried to explain.

Hannah held up a bobby pin and Julie grabbed it, sticking it in Hannah's hair so that the stray hair would remain tucked in. Julie pushed the pin into Hannah's scalp until she flinched. "Ouch! You weren't kidding," Hannah laughed. "You need girl lessons."

Grimacing, Julie reminded Hannah, "I was raised by our father." Gritting her teeth and widening her mouth, Hannah offered an expression of horror as she walked to the sink to wash her hands.

The two made their way back to the table. Tessa and Adam were eating their salads and a fresh glass of wine sat before Tessa. As soon as the daughters sat down, the waiter brought their salads and took entrée orders.

As if her hobby was to annoy Adam, almost-20-year-old Hannah asked the waiter, "What are my beer choices?" From memory, he recited the selections as Adam's jaw tightened. Hannah knew that Adam would not make a scene and also knew the waiter at such a fancy restaurant would not card her. When he concluded the list, Hannah inquired, "Hmm… Berliner Weisse?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the waiter nodded, affirming the restaurant offered the unique, effervescent German beer.

With confidence, Hannah ordered in perfect German, "Ja, Berliner Weisse ein rotes mit schuss bitte."

The waiter looked at Julie with anticipation, expecting an eloquent order. Uncomfortably, she sputtered, "Oh… I'm good with Coke. Yeah… soda's fine."

Much to Julie's surprise, Adam began speaking to Hannah in German and Hannah reciprocated. Julie couldn't tell if they were fighting or if German simply sounded angry. Rather than make eye contact, Julie returned to gazing out the window. When she saw Tessa's hand lightly patting Adam's, Julie figured a fight was afoot.

Interrupting, Tessa suggested, "Han… tell Julie about the ECAs at the Academy.".

Hannah whipped her head to her left to look at Julie. Her tone became chipper and she asked, "What ECAs interest you?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Julie hesitated. She knew that there were multiple extra-curricular activities from which to choose, but hadn't spent much time considering her options.

"There are 70," Hannah pointed out, as if to say she was not willing to recite the list. "Sports, journalism, language clubs, music and theater, church groups."

"I play basketball," Julie volunteered.

Interrupting, Adam clarified, "You're on the Varsity Team, Itsy Bit. ECAs are different."

"I haven't decided about that for certain," Julie offered timidly with reluctance and a tinge of fear.

"Of course you have," Adam scoffed. He had decided. To him, that meant that Julie had also decided.

"There's the Spirit Team – Cheerleading. I do that," Hannah inerjected.

"Not really my thing," Julie mumbled, attempting to hide her distaste for cheerleading.

"Do you like writing? Singing?" Hannah wondered.

Julie smiled, "Both, actually. And some version of youth group sounds great."

"I'm in the Protestant church group and also in the Pipes and Drum Corps," Hannah shared. Smiling with charm at Adam, she explained, "I'm a dancer in Pipes and Drums – pays tribute to Daddy's Scottish heritage." Adam forced a grin, which Julie read as If I could slap you right now, I would.

The rest of dinner was pleasant but stilted. The food was exquisite. To Julie, the food more than balanced out the forced and formal dinner conversation that followed the German brawl and ECA discussion. The ride home was silent. When everyone entered the house, Adam suggested that Julie show Hannah the guest room.

"Where's your room?" Hannah inquired as she set her bags down and began to tear off her uniform. Her slacks were thrown to one corner of the room and her shirt to another. Her bra, shoes and socks were strewn about. The freedom of not having to keep her space up to specs was freeing. With only panties remaining, Hannah began digging in to her bags and found a plebe t-shirt and a pair of shorts. She insisted, "We need to go shopping tomorrow. All my civ clothes are at my mom's house. I refuse to wear Naval Academy crap while I'm here."

"We can do that in the morning," Julie agreed. "There's a thing at the Base at noon – a little goodbye party. Then the wedding."

"Right," Hannah affirmed. "And we absolutely, positively have to take you to get waxed." Julie was about to ask for details when Hannah walked to the top of the stairway wearing the t-shirt and lacy panties and yelled, "Mom? Did you bring clothes from home?"

"Yes, Hannah," Tessa called back. "Already in the drawers or hung in the closet, honey."

Adam walked to the bottom of the stairs, bellowing, "Could we communicate face-to-face Miss Hannah?" He looked up to emphasize his point and added, "For God's Sake, Hannah. Put some clothes on."

Julie chortled in the guest room. Perhaps Hannah would be fun to have around after all.

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