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  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Hi, Jen, hi, Matt,” Emily said, as she pulled up in her parents’ Mercedes.

  “I’m glad you’re driving the Mercedes,” Matthew said. “I was worried that Jen would have to sit on my lap.”

  “Funny,” Jennifer said, as she gave Matthew a slug on the shoulder.

  “Why do women keep hitting me?” Matthew asked.

  “Guess!” Jennifer said.

  “Matt, I assume you have Brea’s gift with you.”

  “Yes,” Matthew said. “I wouldn’t forget that.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Since Brianna’s grandparents in Italy couldn’t be here, they want to have the big birthday party for her when we get there,” Mrs. Winthrop said. “Since she has that coming up, we’re just having this little get-together now.”

  “Oh, you mean she gets two big days,” Jason whined.

  “Girls are special,” Brianna said.

  “I agree,” Emily, Jennifer and Alex, each added.

  Mrs. Winthrop ignored the antics and continued, “In keeping with the Italian theme we’re having Veal Parmesan, so everyone, let’s go into the dining room and be seated. We’ll open presents and have cake after dinner.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Everyone already saw what Grandfather and Grandma got me,” Brianna said, flashing her tennis bracelet.

  “Very nice,” everyone agreed.

  “Open mine first,” Hanna yelled.

  “Okay,” Brianna replied.

  Hanna handed Brianna a small box. Brianna shook it a few times, “What is it?”

  “Open it!”

  Brianna opened the box. “Oh, earrings.” She showed everyone a pair of simple gold studs. “They’re very pretty,” Brianna told Hanna.

  “Thanks. And Mommy says I can get my ears pierced on my birthday,” Hanna said.

  “Oh, so is this a hint about what I should get you?” Brianna asked.

  “No…” Hanna said, as she blushed.

  “Here, open mine next,” Alex said, as she handed Brianna a flat package.

  “What is this?” Brianna asked. She flexed the package, “It’s paper.”

  “Open it.”

  Brianna opened the package and pulled out a calendar. Her face fell a little as she said, “I already have a calendar.”

  “Yes, but not one with a car for every month. That way you can decide which car you want for your next birthday. And look here, it has the date circled when you need to get your driver’s permit,” Alex said. “We wouldn’t want you to forget that.”

  “Not like someone we know did,” Emily said.

  Alex gave Emily a mean look. “Oh and look, it also has a circle on May 8th, which, by the way, is the only Saturday you have off in the next two months. That’s for our spa day at La Costa.”

  “Oh, I really like this calendar,” Brianna said, hugging it to her chest.

  “Okay, okay. Open mine next,” Jennifer said. She handed Brianna a present that looked like a large book.

  “You got me a book?” Brianna asked, looking at Jennifer askance.

  “Open it, silly.”

  Brianna tore off the wrapping to expose, “A book?”

  “Open the book.”

  Brianna opened the book. Inside was a felt-covered tray with three rows of hooks.

  “See, it’s for your earrings. So you can look scholarly to everyone, but have a nice place to put all your earrings. They hang up, so they don’t get tangled. There are four separate compartments, so you have plenty of space.”

  “This is perfect. I’m always having to untangle them when I take them out of my jewelry box.”

  Jason handed Brianna his present. “Here, do mine next.”

  “I guess we all know what this is,” Brianna said, as she started to unwrap what was obviously a tennis racket. “Oh, a new Head Graphene Pro racket, I was just looking at one of these the other day!”

  “I know, and I just knew you were going to buy it and mess up my gift,” Jason said. “Fortunately, you didn’t have your credit card with you.”

  “Thank you,” Brianna said. “It will help me beat you next time we play.”

  “Twice, you’ve won just twice,” Jason said.

  “It’s a trend,” Brianna said.

  “Be nice, you two. And while we’re on the subject of tennis, open the gift from Daddy and me,” Mrs. Winthrop said. She handed Brianna a small box.

  “More jewelry?” Brianna guessed, as she peeled the paper off. She opened the box. “Tickets to the US Open!” she squealed. “Really?”

  “Yes, and we have reservations at the same hotel the players stay in,” Mrs. Winthrop said. “And of course we’ll stay through the Junior U.S. Open to watch you play.”

  “Thanks, Daddy and Mommy. I can’t believe it.”

  “Maybe you’ll be able to play some warm-up games with a few of the pros,” Mr. Winthrop said.

  “Yes, and I can get plenty of practice before my tournament,” Brianna said.

  “Now my present,” Emily said, handing Brianna a small box.

  “Now this had better be jewelry,” Brianna said, as she opened it.

  “Cool, aquamarine earrings, my birthstone. They’re perfect, and I have just the place to put them.”

  “Now mine,” Matthew said, nervously, handing Brianna a larger box.

  Brianna tore the paper off and opened the box. “Oh, how lovely.”

  “Let us see.”

  Brianna held up the silver pendant with an aquamarine jewel in it. “Did you two coordinate?” she asked, looking at Matthew and Emily.

  “Not exactly,” Emily answered. “Matt asked my advice, so I knew what he was getting you, and I thought matching earrings would go nicely.”

  “Thank you, thank you, everyone. These are so nice. I even like Jason’s gift.”

  “Nice,” Jason said. “Next year I’ll get you sweat socks.”

  “Son, you do realize that can go both ways,” Mr. Winthrop said.

  “Oh, I guess I’ll make sure to outdo myself next year,” Jason said.

  Hawaiian Interlude

  “Oh Hi, Tyler. You slumming it today?” Matthew said, as Tyler and Emily walked up with their lunch trays. Tyler usually either ate lunch off campus or at a table surrounded by other football players.

  “No, and consider yourself smacked upside the head. I’d do it myself, but I need to protect my arm,” Tyler retorted with a smile.

  “We’re here to discuss spring break with you guys,” Emily said.

  Matthew looked around, “Just me here now.”

  “I know, silly, the others should be here soon. We got cuts into the front of the line, so they’re behind us somewhere.”

  Matthew just nodded. Tyler, being the star quarterback of the school team that had just won the state championship, never had to wait in any lines.

  “What’s up about spring break? I thought we were going to Mammoth for spring skiing.”

  “Just wait until everyone gets here,” Emily said.

  Matthew bit into his PB&B, peanut butter and banana, sandwich. “Mmm, this is really good. Tyler, you should think about switching, it’d be much better for you than that hamburger and fries will be.”

  “Keep it up, squirt. Just remember paybacks are hell.”

  “You two play nice,” Emily scolded. “Here they come,” she pointed to Alex, Jason and Brianna as they carried their trays toward the table.

  “Hi, Em,” Alex said, “I see you and his lordship are gracing us with your presence.”

  Matthew snorted, as he tried to stifle a laugh.

  “Alex, be nice.”

  “Wait, I kind of like being called his lordship.”

  “You would.”

  Brianna sat next to Matthew and scooched up against him. “What’s he doing here?” she whispered.

  “Emily wants to talk about spring break.”

  “What’s up?” Jason asked.

  “Well,” Emily paused for effect, “My parents h
ave offered to take all of us to Maui for the break. They have a house lined up in Kaanapali, and it’s right on the water.”

  “I’m definitely in,” Tyler said. “Some surfing and snorkeling sound better than skiing.”

  “I’m sure we’re good,” Jason said. “I’ll check with Mom right away.”

  “Yes, and ask them if they want to come,” Emily said. “We need to get a head count right away. Matt, what about you… and your mom?”

  “She has to work, she wasn’t going to Mammoth with us so I’ll bet it’s the same. But I’m sure she’ll be okay with me going since she said I could go skiing. I’ll check tonight.”

  “What about the munchkins?” Brianna asked.

  “Hopefully, no munchkins. Unless Hanna is coming, Sonja is going to spend the week at Gran’s.”

  “She’s not making a fuss about that?”

  “No, she’s got a little friend up there who does whatever she tells him to. She loves to go visit and boss him around.”

  “Kids,” Alex laughed. “I’m sure I’ll be able to make it, and a warm beach sounds great.”

  “Brea, do you want to check and see if Jen wants to go? She begged out of Mammoth, but Hawaii might be different.”

  “Definitely,” Brea said. “I’ll call her right now. And Jeffrey, if he can come?”

  “Of course,” Emily said.

  “Matt, will you take my tray back?”

  “Sure.” Brea gave Matthew a kiss as she grabbed her phone and headed toward her next class.

  “Em, we’ll need to go buy new swim suits. How about Wednesday?”

  “Sure, and we can go by the dive shop and get new snorkeling masks.”

  “What? We were going to a movie on Wednesday,” Tyler interjected.

  “We can do a movie anytime,” Emily said. “We’re leaving on Friday so we have to get the shopping in right away.”

  Tyler rolled his eyes at Matthew and Jason.

  “Hey, my girl dumped me so she could call her girlfriend, so don’t look here for sympathy,” Matthew said.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “What do they think we are, bus boys?” Matthew complained.

  “Come on, you always volunteer to take the trays back since our class is right next to the cafeteria,” Emily said. “At least Alex stacked them all up for us.”

  “Yes, that’s unusual for her.”

  “Well, she’s learning. What’s up with Sayid?”

  “I don’t know. He’s seems to have something happening, but it seems to be all about money. He’s been moving it around, selling stock and other assets to raise cash. He’s putting it all in various trading accounts.”

  “How do you know how he’s raising the cash?”

  “Remember, I checked out his phone.”

  “Oh, you never said you got in,” Emily said.

  “Well I did. I sent the info to Caruthers, and now I sit in on her morning briefings. They fit nicely between my morning workout and getting ready for school.”

  “I guess it is convenient, not having to drive into the office,” Emily joked.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Bye, Mom, see you in a week,” Matthew called out, as he carried his suitcase down the stairs. ”We’re leaving directly from school at two o’clock.”

  “Goodbye,” Mrs. Brandt said. “Are you sure you don’t want to take Jessica with you? She’s an excellent swimmer now.”

  “Har, har.”

  “Bye, Matty,” Jessica said, as she hugged Matthew’s leg. “Do I get a present?”

  “Sure Jessie, I’ll bring you something from Hawaii. What do you want?”

  “A trip to Hawaii!”

  “Oh clever, who helped you with that one?”

  “Nobody,” Jessica said, while looking at her mother.

  “Now just come back safe.”

  “And bring me a hula skirt,” Jessica added.

  Matthew waved again as he rolled his suitcase out the door.

  “Hi, Matt,” Jennifer said, as Matthew got to the curb.

  “Oh hi, Jen,” Matthew said, looking confused.

  “Brea said you guys would take my suitcase so I don’t have to worry about it at school,” Jennifer clarified.

  “Ah, that makes sense. I’ll watch it for you if you want.”

  “Thanks, that’s my ride coming now. See you at the airport later.”

  “Definitely.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  Jason drove up and parked beside the jet, it was a Gulfstream VI that was owned by Mr. Stevenson through a charter company.

  “Bags over here.”

  “Yes sir,” Matthew replied, as he pulled his and Jennifer’s bags out of the back.

  “Hey, Jeffrey.”

  “Hello, Mr. Brandt,” Jeffrey replied.

  “No Mr. Brandt stuff outside the dojo,” Matthew said.

  “Sorry, force of habit.”

  “Hi, Jeffrey,” Brianna said, as she got out of the car. “Where’s Jen?”

  “She ran into the plane as soon as we got here.”

  “I’ll see you inside,” Brianna said to Matthew, as she turned and went up the stairs into the plane.

  “This is a nice plane,” Jeffrey said. “I was just looking around it. I can’t believe I’m getting to fly on one of these.”

  “It is amazing,” Matthew replied. “I still can’t believe how lucky we are that we have friends like the Stevensons.”

  “You’re right about that.”

  “Speaking of them, there’s Mr. Stevenson.” Mr. Stevenson had just walked around the nose of the jet. “Mr. Stevenson, this is Jeffrey McArthur. Jeffrey, Mr. Stevenson.”

  “Hello son, just call me Walter,” Mr. Stevenson said.

  “Yes sir,” Jeffrey replied.

  “And this must be our final group of passengers,” Mr. Stevenson said, motioning to a van that was just pulling up. Once it parked, six sailors wearing dress uniforms got out of it.

  Matthew ran over to the van, “Can I help with your bags?”

  “We’ve got them,” one of the sailors said. “We all have just one duffle each.”

  “Okay, just set them by the rear hatch,” Jason said. “Jack, our co-pilot, likes to stow them himself.”

  “Yes sir,” the sailor said, and they grabbed their bags from the back of the van and carried them over to the plane.

  “Good afternoon,” Mr. Stevenson said to the sailors. “You have rows two through four, the right pair of seats.”

  “Thank you, sir. We really appreciate this,” Petty Officer Simons said, and shook hands with Mr. Stevenson.

  “Walter Stevenson. Good to meet you. And don’t worry about it, there’s no reason for the seats to go empty. I assume you’re heading back to work.”

  “All of us except Petty Officer Kahani. He’s going home for leave; he’s stationed here in San Diego,” he pointed to one of the other sailors.

  “We’ll do introductions once we’re all on board. Take your time, we’ll finish boarding in about twenty minutes.”

  “Thank you, sir. We’ll stretch our legs a bit before the flight then.”

  “Good idea.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Okay, let’s get introductions out of the way before we take off,” Mr. Stevenson said. “My wife, Elizabeth, up here with me. And starting at the back, my daughter, Emily, her friends Alex, Brea and Jennifer.” Each of the girls stood up and waved as her name was called out.

  “And their special friends, Tyler, Jason, Matthew and Jeffrey. And of course our pilot, Norm Washington, up there in the cockpit. Jack Winters, our co-pilot and steward, on my right. Now why don’t you sailors introduce yourselves, and if you don’t mind, let us know what you do in the Navy.”

  “I’m Chief Petty Officer Paul Simons,” said the first sailor. “I’m stationed aboard the Guided Missile Cruiser Port Royal as a weapons specialist. And I’ve heard all the jokes already.”

  “I’m Petty Officer Bill Davenport, I’m also stationed aboard the Port Royal. And I am a ra
dar technician.”

  “I’m Petty Officer Charles Langston, I’m stationed aboard the Attack Submarine Santa Fe as a torpedo specialist.”

  “I’m Petty Officer Mark Mason, I’m also stationed aboard the Santa Fe as a sonar technician.”

  “I’m Petty Officer Kelly Kahani, I’m stationed aboard the Aircraft Carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which is stationed in San Diego. I’m an aircraft mechanic. I’m on leave to visit family.”

  “I’m Seaman First Class Marquetta Visconti, I’m stationed at Pearl Harbor Headquarters, communications.”

  “Thank you for that, and thank you all for your service. Buckle up, we should be airborne in a few minutes,” Mr. Stevenson said.

  “Thank you, sir,” Jack Winters said. “While you have the mic, do you want to do the safety procedures as well?” he added with a laugh.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  Within a few minutes of takeoff, Matthew had reclined his seat and was deep into his book, The Debs of Bletchley Park and Other Stories. Cryptography was his new hobby now that his mother had put a kibosh on working part time as an IT technician. It was one of the few times he had bought a real book instead of an e-book, but the equations and tables in the book didn’t come out very readable on his Kindle. He was seated in row four across the aisle from Seaman Visconti who was in front of Brianna and Jennifer. The two girls were chatting away about something or other and not paying attention to anyone else. Jack had given him a bottle of water without asking, knowing that would be what he wanted, as he worked his way down the aisle taking drink orders.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “I need to use the head,” Petty Officer Langston said, as he stood and waited for Seaman Visconti to get up to let him by.

  Matthew looked up, and when Petty Officer Langston turned toward the back of the plane, he interjected, “Sir, the ladies have designated the rear lavatory as ladies only, would you mind going to the forward one?”

  Petty Officer Langston shook is head a little then smiled, “Not at all, thanks for looking out for me.”

  “No problem.”

  Seaman Visconti sat down and picked up her book again. “External Graph theory,” Matthew said, “I’ve got that one at home.”

  Seaman Visconti gave Matthew an impressed look, “Aren’t you in high school?”

  “Yeah, but math is a my favorite subject.”

  “Tell the truth, you’re a freakin’ genius,” Brianna said, giving Matthew a soft slap on the head. “He just goes to high school for the girls.”