Linka wakes up first and is a little embarrassed to find that she has fallen asleep on Wheeler, which prevented him from getting up to move to the couch to sleep…not that she minded sharing. She kind of likes how it feels. Safe. Secure. Comfortable.

"Mornin'," Wheeler mumbles.

"Hey…sorry. I trapped you here last night."

"'Trapped' is not how I felt."

She blushes.

"We should get up before your grandparents do."

Wheeler looks at the clock and sees it's nearly 8am.

"Umm, they've probably been up since 6 or 6:30."

"Oh."

"It's ok…Pap was already assuming we'd be sharing…and Gram won't remember 15 minutes after she finds out," he says sadly.

"Wheeler…"

"I know, that was terrible, but it's not untrue."

"The bottles of water are in my bag. Did you decide whether or not you wanted to try it?"

"Yeah, if you're willing to give up one…thanks for that by the way…again. I thanked you last night, but you were asleep."

"Sorry," she says guiltily.

"No problem. Just meant I didn't have to sleep on the couch. Can we not say where the water is from or what it's supposed to do though? I don't wanna get their hopes up. Let's just see if we notice a difference."

"Ok," she agrees.

"I smell bacon. Let's go see if there's any breakfast left."

They exit the guest room and join Wheeler's grandparents in the kitchen.

"Good morning," Don says. "Rather early for you isn't it, Jay?"

"Yeah, I've been getting up earlier than usual on this trip. Don't want to keep Linka waiting. She usually has our day all planned out on this world tour vacation."

"You can sleep in now…we do not have any plans today," Linka offers to him.

Wheeler's grandmother looks at the two young people in her kitchen.

"Jason?"

"Yeah Gram. Good morning."

"Betty, you remember Jason stopped by yesterday afternoon with his friend, Linka. They are in town for a few days and are staying with us."

"In the same room?! That is unacceptable, Jason Wheeler!"

"Betty, they're adults. Times have changed."

"We weren't sharing a room at first, Gram. Linka wouldn't let me take the couch so that's where she was sleeping last night when you came down for a glass of water…remember?"

"I never came down for any water. Don brought me a glass."

Wheeler sighs.

"No Gram, you came down, saw Linka, didn't recognize her, and got upset. When we went back to bed, I was gonna take the couch and let Linka have the guest room, but we were talking and fell asleep. Totally innocent."

"You may be able to fool your mother with that story, but I know better."

Wheeler doesn't want to argue with her, so he just looks at his grandfather and shrugs.

"Sorry Gram. I'll take the couch from now on."

"And you, young lady…you should be ashamed of yourself. You are going to get a reputation. What would your grandmother think?"

"Umm…she really likes Wheeler…she would probably be happy," Linka replies honestly.

"Well, we'll just see about that. I'll ask her the next time I see her in church. And why are you talking with that ridiculous accent? Do you think this is a joke, Trish?"

"Gram, this isn't Trish…this is my friend from the Planeteers, Linka. She has an accent because she's from Russia."

"She's a Communist? You know how President Regan and the FBI feel about that. You're going to end up on a watch list for associating with her."

"No, Gram! They don't have communism anymore."

"Come on Betty, let's let the kids have breakfast. It's time for the Morning Show. I know how much you like watching that."

"Yes, that young man on there is delightful. He reminds me of a younger version of you."

As his grandmother is ushered away by his grandfather, Wheeler rests his elbows on the table and buries his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry," he says to Linka.

"Stop apologizing. I know she is not herself."

"She keeps thinking you're Trish."

"Good, she can keep thinking Trish is the trollop who would have the nerve to share a bed with her grandson under her roof!"

Wheeler laughs.

"Trollop? Is this the 40s?"

"Would you prefer I say 'slut?'"

Wheeler nearly chokes on his coffee.

"Actually, yeah. I like it when you're loosened up."

"I am sure you do."

"Did you just use innuendo?" He asks, shocked.

"Nyet," she says innocently.

"Uh huh…so, anything special you want to do today?"

"I was thinking we would just hang out here. Give your grandmother a chance to get used to having us around."

"Even if she keeps thinking you're Trish?"

Linka shrugs.

"Maybe she will eventually remember who I am and why I am here. Especially after she has some of that water. Do you not want to see if it has an affect?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go take her a bottle now. You can have the shower first."

"Spasiba. I think I would also like to look into possible clinics in America. May as well try while we are here."

"Really?"

"You sound surprised. You think I should not?"

"No, I don't think that at all. I just thought you were pretty discouraged after the last time, and I wasn't sure you'd want to continue…I'm glad you decided to not give up. And you're right. We might find something here that they have''t tried yet over in Europe. Get a start on the research. Once I've gotten my shower, I'll help, and we'll make a plan."

"Ok, sounds good. Thank you again for doing this with me."

"Anytime Babe."

Knowing that the only thing standing between them is her infertility, she's determined to do everything she can to make it a non-issue.

Linka heads for the guest room to gather her things for the shower while Wheeler goes into the living room to join his grandparents.

"Here Gram, I brought you some water…it's from France. We got it during our travels," he says as he twists off the cap and hands it to her.

"Thank you," she replies as she takes a sip. "Tastes just like our water. I hope you didn't pay too much for it."

"I don't know. Linka bought it and wanted to share with you."

She nods and pauses for a moment.

"Who?"

"My friend Linka. She's also a Planeteer with me."

"A what?" She asks, her confusion evident on her face.

"Planeteer…remember, the group I was recruited to join?" He reminds her.

"You're in a gang?! I knew it! I told your mother she should leave Brooklyn and bring you here with her to stay with us!"

"No Gram, it's not a gang. Me and four other kids, well, adults now, we work to save the planet from pollution and polluters."

"Like an environmentalist, Betty. You know…the tree huggin' type o'people," Don tries to explain.

"Oh, that's nice dear," satisfied with that answer and taking a long drink from her bottle of water.

"Where have you gone on your trip?" Don asks.

"We went to Argentina and learned how to Tango. Then did a safari in Africa. Japan was next. We did some skiing there and had a great view of cherry blossoms and snow-capped mountains from the hot springs there. Then we went to Russia and visited Linka's brother and Grandma. After that, it was France, then Sweden to check out the Northern Lights, England, and now here we are."

"That's quite a vacation. And what is it with you two and avoiding your parents?" Don inquires.

"Huh?"

"You aren't planning on seeing yours, which is a mistake I think, and Linka didn't see hers. Just her grandma and brother."

"Oh! Linka's parents died when she was young and was raised by her grandparents until her Grandpa died. The only family she has left is her brother and Gram…oh, and an Uncle who works in the Russian Embassy in DC. She hasn't seen him much though since her cousin died. They were close, but since Boris died, she hasn't been back to DC to visit her uncle. Work just keeps us too busy."

"Maybe you should go see him while you are on this trip? Seems now you have been given time," Betty offers.

"Yeah, maybe. If Linka wants to…I don't want to be the one to suggest it if she's not comfortable going there…DC holds a lot of bad memories for her."

"Is that where her cousin died?" Don asks.

"Yeah…we watched him die."

"Damn shame how much crime goes on there…and I'm not referring to the politicians!"

"Will you show us pictures from your trip, Jason?" Betty requests.

"Yeah, sure. I've been uploading them to Linka's laptop. I'll bring it out so you can see after I get my shower," Wheeler says, glad that his grandmother is expressing an interest in his travels.

"So why don't you tell us more about Linka…your friend," Don teases.

Wheeler's smile widens, as it normally does when he is talking about Linka.

"She's the whole package. Beautiful, smart, athletic, very competitive by the way, she can play video games and can even beat me at them…sometimes," Wheeler gushes.

"Sounds like the perfect match for you," Betty says.

"Tell her!" The Planeteer exclaims, causing his grandparents to laugh.

"So you DO like her more than a friend?" Don probes.

"Gram said it…she's perfect."

"She's definitely a looker," his grandfather says with a wink.

"Yeah, she is…but the crazy thing about her, the thing that makes her unlike any other hot girl I've ever met, she's even more beautiful on the inside. It's like she doesn't know she's gorgeous, and if you tell her, she gets shy about it."

"Add 'humble' to her list of qualities," Don says.

"Yeah. Honestly though, we'd be here all day if I had to list them all."

"She sounds lovely, Jason. Will we ever get to meet her?" Betty asks.

"Yeah Gram. She'll be here soon."

"So when you plannin' on tellin' Linka that she's perfect?"

"I have…plenty of times. She doesn't believe me. She thinks she's flawed…that there's something about her that's a deal breaker, and that I won't be able to accept it."

"She into girls?" Don asks.

"NO! Pap! I swear, you have no filter!"

"What? It's what the kids today are doing."

"They were doin' it in your day too, it was just kept quieter," Wheeler laughs, shaking his head.

"Is it the Russian thing?" Don assumes, making Wheeler chuckle some more.

"Nah, not that. I think at first that mattered to her, like she thought we'd be too different…and we are. Very different actually. But none of that matters because there's a lot of things that we have in common too."

"Opposites attract," Betty says.

"That's what they say. I think it's true. We kinda balance each other out. She can be my serious side when I need it, and I can be her laid back side when she needs it."

"That's good. Things work when they're balanced," Don says.

"Yeah they do," Wheeler smiles and nods.

They sit there a little while longer watching TV until Wheeler hears the bathroom door open and then the guest room door close. He takes that as his cue that it's his turn.

"I'm gonna get a shower now. I'll be right back."

Once he's left the room, Betty turns to Don and says,

"I hope it works out between them."

"Me too. His face lights up when he talks about her just like mine does when I talk about you," the old man says as he leans in and kisses his wife on the cheek.

"I think it's time we gave him that thing we've been hanging onto for him," she says with a smile.

"I think so too," he smiles back.

The door to the guest room is still closed so Wheeler knocks.

"Come in," Linka calls from within.

When he does, she gasps and covers her eyes,

"Bozhe moy, Wheeler! Put some clothes on!"

"My clothes were in here! That's the problem. I didn't want to put my dirty clothes back on after I'd just showered. I'm wearing a towel, calm down," he laughs.

Calm down. Easy for him to say, Linka thought. Has he no idea how perfectly cut his body is?!

Even though her eyes are shut, Linka can still see him, the image forever seared into her mind…not that she's complaining. She now knows what it's like to have those toned arms wrapped around her. She wonders how something so strong can be so gentle. His broad, sculpted chest, firm and yet the best pillow she's ever had.

"Ok, you can look," Wheeler says.

"Do you have clothes on, or are you just saying I can look?" She giggles.

"Open your eyes and find out…if you dare."

Linka slowly uncovers her eyes to find that Wheeler was half telling the truth. He has yet to put on a shirt, but he has put on his jeans. He hasn't buckled his belt, so the jeans were riding low on his hips, the top of his red boxers exposed. Even though he has jeans on, seeing him now has her just as flustered than when he walked in wearing nothing but a towel. He could be a model.

"Disappointed?" He teases.

Wheeler notices something is up with her but doesn't realize it's his physique that has her at a loss for words. His teasing turns to worry.

"Did something happen? Did Gram say something else to you?"

"Nyet, I never went out there. I did not want to cause any problems for her."

"Oh," Wheeler says, rubbing his hair dry with the towel. "I had a good talk with her and Pap earlier. Talked about the Planeteers; where you and I have gone on our trip…they want to see pictures so if you wanna pull up the file folder on your laptop, we can show them."

"Da, sure. So she seemed interested?"

"Yeah. She asked when she'd get to meet you."

"Did you tell her she already had?" She asks.

"No…I just said she'd get to meet you soon."

"So you were talking about me?" She raises an eyebrow at him to put him on the spot.

"Well, uh…yeah. Umm, Pap asked."

"I see. And did Gram drink the water?"

"Yeah, she had more than half the bottle gone by the time I left for my shower."

"Good. I guess we shall see," she says. "I have the slideshow pulled up. Once you finish getting dressed, we can show your grandparents."

"Oh, so I guess that means you want me to put a shirt on?"

"Were you not planning on it?" She asks.

"Aren't you hot? They have their thermostat set at 77 degrees…I don't know what that is in Celsius for you, but it's not cool!"

She does the math in her head and then answers him.

"It is 26. We live on a tropical island…after that, 77 seems cool."

"I'm just hot by nature I guess," he says, as he pulls a sleeveless shirt over his head as a form of compromise.

"Da…that must be it," she smiles and rolls her eyes.

He balls up his wet towel and throws it at her, which she catches with one hand.

"Whatever, smartass! You ready to go back out there?"

"I will be as soon as you hang up this wet towel," she scolds.

"Yes dear," he sighs as he walks over to take the discarded towel from her.

To Be Continued…