North to Alaska

"First, we have a nice cup of very hot tea and then...we wait."

"We wait? That's it? Just sit around and wait?"

"Pretty much. I guess you could say it first and run the risk of scaring Gabe off. Otherwise you wait for him to say it."

"Oh, no. That is not gonna happen," she said. "My heart is pounding out of my chest, Lindsay! I can't stop thinking about him and I've never had that problem before." She was reaching for her phone and Lindsay's eyes opened wide.

"Oh, no. You are not calling him! Are you?" she asked. She watched her punch in the numbers then said, "Oh, my God. You are! And you're gonna tell him..."

"Gabe? Hi. I know you just left and everything, but I can't stop thinking about you and there's something I have to tell you or my head...no, my...heart is going to explode." She looked at Lindsay then said, "I..."

Lindsay could hear Gabe's voice through the speaker, "I love you, too, Maya."

Maya turned the phone and looked at it in her hand, shocked at having been beaten to the punch. "Hey! I was going to tell you that!"

"I know," he replied. They could tell he was smiling by the way he spoke. "I almost said it before I left, but I wanted to give you time so you could let it sink in. You know, now that your shields are down."

Maya still hadn't spoken and for the first time Lindsay could ever remember, she saw tears in her sister's eyes. "I love you so much," Maya said as her voice broke from the strain of all the emotion that had built up.

"I love you, too, Maya," he said again. "I'll come back this evening and we'll do something, okay?"

Lindsay was still expecting the old Maya to say something like, "Oh, we're gonna do something tonight, that's for sure."

Instead, she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt and said, "Okay. I can't wait to see you." Gabe said he couldn't wait, either, then said goodbye.

"He loves me," Maya said, her eyes wet with tears. "I'm...I'm love, Lindsay. Oh, my God. I'm really in love with someone!"

Lindsay stood up then hugged her sister. "Isn't it just the greatest feeling on earth?"

"I don't know. Sex is pretty damn great," she said but not in her normal, confident way. "But this may even be better. Oh, my God. I'm actually in love!"

Lindsay had to wait until late that Sunday night before Grant told her. They'd had dinner at his place, a second glass of wine, and Leif had been tucked in after reading him two bedtime stories. They were sitting on the couch holding hands and kissing when Grant touched her face and said, "I still can't believe you're with me."

"No, I feel like I'm the lucky one," she told him.

"But I'm well, I'm a lot older than you and yet here you are...with me."

"There's no place else I'd rather be," she told him truthfully. "I've always been attracted to older men. I've just never been..."

She stopped and when she did, Grant lifted up her chin and said, "I'm in love with you, Lindsay. Crazy, head-over-heels in love."

She smiled happily but before saying it back got very serious and said, "I hate to say this, but you lost the competition this time."

"I what?" he said starting to get very concerned that's not what she'd intended to say or even worse, that she didn't feel that way about him.

"You lost," she said very directly. "Yeah, you see, this morning Gabe already told Maya he loved her. Oh, yes. I was there and heard it myself. She called him and was going to say it first, but he said it before she did. So...that round goes to Lieutenant Moore, Colonel."

"Bastard!" he hissed in feigned anger. "I may have to send him to Kuwait for six months."

"Don't you dare because you'd break my sister's heart and then...I might not love you anymore." She finally smiled then said, "I do love you, you know. And I love Leif so much."

Their next kiss turned into a repeat of the previous night, the only difference being Lindsay getting up very early to get home so she could avoid Leif seeing her like that again and get ready for work then pretending all day in the classroom that nothing had changed.

It was almost 2pm when Lindsay saw someone out in the hallway delivering flowers. Her door was open and some guy was definitely carrying long-stemmed, red roses. She didn't know whether to be happy for Maya or feel sorry for herself when he knocked on her sister's door. Maya saw Lindsay almost as soon as she saw the flowers. She signed for the delivery then said, "I wish these were for you!"

"No, you deserve them. I'm so happy for you," Lindsay told her sincerely. Even so, it would have been nice if...

"And you must be Lindsay Rollings," he same man said as he handed her a dozen roses. "I had to go back up front for the second dozen. Can you sign here, please?"

The cards were identical and as the sisters kept on eye on their kids, they stood in the hall and read the cards. "To the new love of my life. I truly do love you..."

Maya said, "Gabe," while Lindsay supplied the name of the man who loved her.

"P.S. This is another draw."

Maya gave her a look and Lindsay explained about the competition thing. "Looks like Grant is making sure not to try and upstage Gabe or vice versa maybe."

Maya had tears in her eyes again then said, "Gee, I'm sure glad I thought of taking a teaching job in Alaska, aren't you?"

Lindsay was close to tearing up, too, but that made her laugh. "Right. And thank goodness I agreed to tag along. "

Maya smiled and said, "I knew you couldn't resist. After all, if not for me we'd have never met these great guys, right?"

Lindsay moved her roses to one arm and hugged her sister. "Great idea, Maya. Thanks for twisting my arm."

"Hey, anytime. What are sisters for, right?"

Both classes 'ooed and awed' when they came in with their flowers. Out of nowhere, Leif said, "My dad loves Ms. Rollings." There were several confused looks from other kids. "No. He does. For reals!"

Lindsay was blinking away tears as fast as she could. "Well, Ms. Rollings loves your dad, Leif." She walked over and knelt beside him and said, "And you know what? She loves you, too." She touched his nose then stood up and said, "And...I love every single one of you, too!" pointing each boy and girl in her class.

That evening, Lindsay thanked Grant for the beautiful flowers then said, "I know you can't take off from work to come get Leif every day. I also know he's big enough to ride the bus. But I would love to take him home when I leave and you could come pick him up whenever. Then he wouldn't have to hang out there in aftercare until five o'clock."

He put his arms around her and said, "You don't have to bring my son home to get me to come see you, you know. In fact, there's pretty much nothing else you need to do to make me want to be with you all the time."

Lindsay smiled and kissed him and said, "I have to admit I feel the very same way. I love teaching, but I find myself watching the clock all day just waiting to leave knowing I can see you."

"Try being so smitten the Wing Commander has to ask you the same question twice."

"That doesn't seem that bad," Lindsay said.

"Unless it happens three times in the same one-hour meeting. Then it's not so great. But I can't help it. I can't get you off my mind." He kissed her then said, "Even worse, I don't want to get you off my mind."

Both couples began spending nearly every evening...and night together and virtually the entire weekend. The weather grew progressively colder as September passed, then October, and soon it was time for Thanksgiving.

The five of them got together at Grant's and spent the day cooking, talking, telling stories, and doing quite a bit of kissing in between.

After the meal, Grant said, "I know most families who do this do it before dinner, but I was thinking maybe we could each take a moment and share something we're thankful for with everyone else."

There were no voices of dissent so he asked Leif to start. "What are you thankful for, buddy?"

"I'm thankful for all of my toys and that Santa Claus is coming in one more month and I'm thankful you love Ms. Rollings." There were 'ahhs!' from the girls before Leif said, "You know why?" Everyone shook their head and the little boy said, "Because I love her, too!" as he ran and jumped onto her lap.

Maya went next followed by Lindsay who both mentioned each other, their parents, and most of all the wonderful men in their lives. Lindsay especially mentioned Leif and blew air bubbles on his neck making him laugh loudly.

"Okay, it's the guys' turn," Maya said.

"Yes, it is," Grant began. "Well, to tell you the truth, we kind of collaborated on this."

He looked at Gabe who said, "That's true, but it doesn't make it any less sincere or heartfelt."

"They're up to something," Maya said leaning toward Lindsay.

"Oh, yeah. They're in cahoots. No doubt about it."

Grant said, "Lindsay? You remember me mentioning how everything is a competition, right?"

"I remember," she told him. "In fact, you wanted to win so badly you were thinking about sending Gabe out of the country."

"He what?" Maya said in mock indignation. "I'd kill him!"

Everyone laughed before Grant got very serious. "As it turns out, we decided to forego the competition. That's how you both ended up getting flowers at the same time."

"Okay..." Lindsay said. "And...?"

"And," he said looking over at Gabe who stood next to his commander.

"And, since we're both crazy in love with you," Gabe said.

"We wanted to do this together."

The both reached into their pockets and when the sisters saw the tiny boxes, they stopped laughing and talking...and breathing. "Oh, my God," Maya said as Gabe knelt in front of her on one knee as Grant did the same in front of Lindsay.

"I don't know what I did to deserve to find you, Lindsay, but no matter how you came into my life I will be forever grateful. I've never been happier in my life and this little man and I love you with all our hearts. And we're asking you to marry me and be Leif's new mom. Lindsay Rollings? I love you. Will you marry me?"

She was covering her face with her hands and unable to stop crying. "Will you?" Leif asked not sure why she wasn't answering.

"Yes! Yes, I will marry you," she told Grant accepting the ring. She hugged Leif and said, "And nothing would make me happier than to be your mommy. I love you both so much!" Grant put his arms around both of them and they hugged as Gabe proposed to Maya with the same amount of passion. She too, was crying and barely able to say 'yes' when Gabe finally popped the question.

There were shrieks of joy, hugs, and a comparison of rings.

"They're different cuts but both one carat," Grant said. "We couldn't risk upstaging the other so we kind of worked this out, too."

"We want to leave the exact day up to you two," Gabe said, "but we're both more than willing to go to Denver if that's what you want."

"Or we'll pay to fly your parents up here next summer."

"Can we wait that long, Maya?" Lindsay asked.

"I think so," Maya said. "Summer is an eternity away up here, but as long as we can keep getting together like this, I think that could work."

"Yay for summer!" Leif said pumping his fist in the air causing everyone to laugh and offer him a high five.

The winter was even more brutal than either of the Rollings sisters could have imagined. It was sort of like a kind of well-managed hell on earth where people survived one day at a time thus proving how adaptable human beings can be.

The sisters not only learned that valuable lesson which they chalked up to the adventure of moving to Alaska, but they also learned that love can burn brightly (and even hot) no matter how dark or cold it might be. That love and passion sustained them not only through the winter but through a spring that was almost as bad as winters were in Denver.

Lindsay never seriously considered living with Grant before marrying him, but what really surprised her was that Maya never once asked Gabe to do do. He had become this kind of stabilizing force in her life. He'd given her a reason to mature very quickly and to take a longer look at life and what was really important like family and...having children.

As far as children went, Lindsay wanted at least one more. She already loved Leif like her own, and he now considered her his mom even though she would never be his mother. Grant not only wanted another child himself but he knew Lindsay very much wanted to experience pregnancy and giving birth. Having at least one more child was an easy decision. Maya, on the other hand, at least at this point, wanted two and possibly three, something neither she nor her sister could have imagined just a few months ago.

Summer finally made its appearance as the icy cold turned to a frosty chill and then a pleasant warmth as the last snow melted and leaves began turning green. Grant was on terminal leave and Gabe took two weeks of leave when they all flew to Denver for their weddings. It was no surprise to anyone they'd agreed to being married on the 4th of July which is, of course, Independence Day for all Americans. It was not only patriotic, it just felt right.

Between the four of them, there were over 300 guests from all of the families to witness the happy couples exchange vows. Both Air Force officers wore their uniforms as their beautiful brides walked down the aisle in gorgeous white gowns, their father offering each of them one of his arms. But the person who really stole the show was seven-year old Leif Hendricks who, dressed in a little tuxedo, served as the ring bearer for both couples.

After the four of them spent a week in Niagara Falls, courtesy of one Mr. Rollings, who'd also gladly footed the bill for the grandest wedding of the season, they were back in Denver sitting around talking when Mr. Rollings asked, "So...what's next for the four of you?"

Lindsay, who was sitting very close to Grant with Leif right beside her said, "Well, considering how we have another year left on our contract—and especially since Grant is getting his dream job—it looks like we'll all be heading back."

"Right," Maya said. "North to Alaska, the land of the midnight sun, where dreams come true."