Unbroken Season 1

Chapter 2 Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?

“…Give me a chance to prove to you that you’re Unbroken, too…”

The pickup truck slowed down as it pulled in front of a large house with immaculately kept flowerbeds trimming the walkways and outlines of the building. The sleepy little neighborhood was kept in much the same way; each house stood out from the one next to it by the varieties of color and landscaping techniques that was utilized in their development.

“Last as usual, just like the birth order,” C.C. muttered unconsciously as she saw Randi’s Durango and Terri’s Cherokee parked next to each other in the driveway, with Brooke’s 300Z parked in the grass. The young woman smirked knowing that her older sister had to have caught some grief from their parents over her impromptu parking space. That’s when C.C. decided parking on the street would be a lot safer.

“Well, we’re here,” the driver announced as she maneuvered into the next available parking spot on the street. “I’ll warn you now that dinner in this house usually tends to get a little,” C.C. winced looking at the space as she backed into it, “Well…very…um…interesting.”

“Interesting?” Sam looked to her left and smiled. “Come on, what can be so bad?”

“One never knows until these dinners are over.” Slamming the truck’s gearshift into park, C.C. turned off the ignition and unbuckled her seatbelt. “There we go,” she turned to the blonde beside her, “time for you to meet my family. Think you’re up for it?”

Nodding her head, Sam opened the door sliding down from the seat. She then turned, shaking her long blonde hair into place, and looked back in at her roommate. “Guess it’s now or never, eh?”

“You got that right.” The driver smiled and got out. Her long legs carried her swiftly around the vehicle and soon she was side by side with the blonde. “Don’t worry, you’ll fit in. Just act like you belong.”

The blonde woman just smiled politely and followed C.C.’s lead to the front door. Sam envisioned all sorts of scenarios as to what was inside the house before settling on the one that had been bugging her for the better part of the week. What’s interesting will be trying to figure out which one of them is gay before they tell me. Okay, Sammy girl, get that gaydar working!

Approaching the front door, C.C. noticed the serious look on her new friend’s face. “Don’t worry. It’s not like we start fires or anything in the dining room.”

“No fires. Well that’s good to know.” Sam let her mind come back to the conversation with her roommate.

“Yeah, we stopped that after burning Mom’s favorite table cloth,” C.C. amended as she opened the front door and walked through it announcing her presence to everyone in the house by shouting in Ricky Ricardo style voice, “Honey…I’m hooooooooome.”

“Burned the table cloth…” Sam muttered under her breath as she poked her head, cautiously into the doorway of the house. “Why did I ever agree to this?” The next thing that the small woman felt was C.C.’s hand grabbing hold of her, pulling her further into the family’s home. It took Sam’s short legs their full length running strides to keep up with the rest of her body. The fast paced entry causing her to see nothing but blur as she passed the simple décor of the surroundings. Before she knew it, they were standing at the end of the hallway watching everyone in the kitchen helping to prepare for dinner.

“Hi guys!” C.C. greeted her family as she walked in, noticing that Brooke was sitting on the kitchen counter with her head in her hands. Considering the woman’s slumped posture, C.C. could only wonder what their mother had been giving her older sister grief about now.

A matriarchal looking woman in her late fifties turned around and swept her youngest child up into a hug, as only a mother could do. “Hello, C.C. How’s my little girl doing today?” She asked as she kissed the wincing half-girl, half-woman on the cheek.

The look on C.C.’s face was priceless as she ate up the attention. Anyone that walked in could tell that this sister was the baby of the family.

Sam looked over to the other women in the kitchen and recognized Terri as she stood near the sink cleaning vegetables, while another older version of the cookie cutter mold was slicing them up for the salad.

Looking up from their chores, they noticed that C.C. had walked in. With a disgusted look on their faces, they turned to each other and began singing out in unison, “She’s ba-aack,” their notes slightly off key.

The annoyed young woman rolled her eyes at her other two sisters and held up one choice finger in their direction. “Excuse me, talk to the finger cause the face ain’t worth the hand!” She turned her attention back to her mother and answered the question. “I’m fine, just fine, mom.” She hugged the woman in a gentle manner and once she knew that her mother couldn’t see her gesture, she made sure the finger sticking up was the middle one.

“That is so grade school, C.C.” The eldest sibling cast her eyes to the ceiling and shook her head of long brown hair, letting it dance gracefully about her shoulders. On one of her sways, the woman brought more of the room into her sight, immediately catching the young blonde woman with her eyes. “Who do we have here?” The tallest of them all asked as she turned completely around from the sink and noticed the small blonde woman standing in the doorway.

The fact that C.C. was slighter built than her sisters didn’t stop her from demanding their attention. She walked over pulling her roommate into the center of the kitchen. “Everybody,” she vied for their attention over the garbage disposal that Terri quickly shut off as fast as she did to turn it on. “This is my roommate Sam. Sam, this is my mother, Mable Gordon.”

The smaller woman with gray tinged hair was pointed out and Sam found herself smiling back at her politely. Before she knew it, she was jerked in another direction.

“You’ve already met Terri.” C.C. waved her arm as if to dismiss that sister entirely. “The nitwit standing next to her is my sister, Randi.”

Sam noticed an air of superiority rolling off this woman, as if she was in total control of everything about her. Hmmm… The blonde found her eyes lingering over the form and not paying attention to a word that C.C. was saying.

“And last but definitely not least, the lump sitting on the counter is my sister, Brooke.” With the introductions done, C.C. stood back and waited to see what would happen.

“Hello, dear.” Mable offered her hand to Sam.

“Huh, oh,” the blonde turned toward Mrs. Gordon and immediately shook her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you. We’re glad you could join us for dinner today. Please, have a seat and make yourself at home,” Mable offered, as she gestured towards the kitchen table.

“Thank you for having me.” Sam’s voice was soft and her manners polite; so different from C.C.’s.

At the first sound of Sam’s voice, Brooke lifted her head to see from whom the melodic sound had come, moving slightly to get a better view around her tall sisters obstructing her view.

“Welcome. I’m Randi.”

Sam watched as the tallest of the sisters extended her hand in greeting. The woman was easily over six feet tall with long brown hair just a shade lighter than the rest of her sisters. Her eyes were a soft brown that seemed to twinkle when she smiled.

She’s confident, that’s for sure. I wonder… Sam could tell that she had a no-nonsense way about her. The blonde eyed the woman carefully as she shook her hand in greeting. “Thank-you. It’s nice to meet you.” She’s gorgeous! Sam wondered if this could be the sister C.C. had mentioned when she told her that one of them was gay.

Randi smiled and motioned Terri over with her head. “This here is my kid sister, Terri.”

Rolling her eyes at Randi’s description, Terri snapped back a tease readily. “Yeah, bite me, old lady. We’ve already met.” She then offered a hand to Sam as well. “Hi. It’s nice to see you again. Glad you could make it.”

The blonde smiled at the thought of actually knowing someone else here besides C.C., and was glad that Terri had stopped at the dorm that first day.

Sam studied the two siblings side by side. They looked and acted no different than one another. There was nothing happening here. Great, gaydar shutdown and I still have another sister to meet. She had wondered, after Terri had left the dorm the other day, if the scrub clad sister could be the one C.C. mentioned. Why was C.C. being so secretive about it with her anyway?

“Thanks. It’s nice to see you again as well.” Sam tried to steal a peek in the last sister’s direction but couldn’t quite see her through the small crowd that was forming a human wall around her. Damn, what did C.C. say her name was? Sammy girl, you’ve got to pay more attention when meeting new women in the future.

There was a moment of uneasy silence resulting in everyone slowly turning to look in Brooke’s direction.

Finally sensing that something was wrong, the woman with long dark hair who was sitting on the counter looked up. “What?” Brooke asked, as she noticed her mother motion her off of the counter with her eyes. Brooke jumped down and walked over by the rest of her family.

Letting her eyes follow the woman until she stopped next to her sibling, Sam noticed that she was almost as tall as Randi, but not quite. There had to be an inch or so difference between them.

Standing with her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face, C.C. waited for Brooke’s reaction. For a second, she wondered if her sister had actually given any thought to their conversation a couple of days earlier. Now, with C.C. standing the closest to her, the youngest sister was the only one who heard the slight gasp from Brooke as her eyes met Sam’s for the first time.

The sulking woman stood dumfounded, the only word she could form at that moment was her own name barely louder than a whisper as she extended her hand. “B…Brooke.”

“Sam,” was the quiet reply as she took the offered hand into her own. I wonder if she is the one?

She couldn’t believe how blue Brooke’s eyes were when she locked gazes with the woman. Everyone else she had met in the family had brown eyes of one tone or another. Yet, Brooke’s were so incredibly blue. She hoped she wasn’t staring but, deep down, she knew she was.

Brooke never made the motion to move away, it was as if she was transfixed in time and space.

Both Randi and Terri glanced over to each other, raising matched eyebrows at each other, while C.C. stood pleased with herself as she watched Brooke and Sam meet without saying anything more than their respective names.

“I’m starving. Is dinner ready?” The deeper voice came from the man now entering the kitchen.

Sam and Brooke let their thread of contact go as the center of attention now turned to the man standing over by Mable. Sam watched as he placed a soft kiss on his wife’s cheek and smiled.

“Just about Henry. Randi, Brooke, why don’t you two set the dining room table.” Mable was now directing everyone’s attention.

Randi and Brooke nodded their heads in agreement and went to do as they were told, proving that their mother was still able to control the family, even after they were grown women.

Sam watched Brooke go about her chore. Lost in the last few moments, she wondered just how long they would have stood that way if someone had not have walked through the kitchen door and distracted them.

Mable turned Henry around towards the young blonde at C.C.’s side. “Henry, meet C.C.’s roommate, Sam.”

The older man looked at the small girl in front of him. He smiled warmly at her as she looked up at his tall frame. “Want me to lean over a bit so we can see eye to eye without you getting whip-lash?” He teased, leaning down some. “Hello. I’m Henry. It’s nice to meet you.” He held out a hand to Sam who took it, amazed at how softly the man wrapped his large hand around hers and shook it.

“It’s nice meeting you too, sir,” Sam said politely, looking up into friendly brown eyes.

“Chase, why don’t you give your friend here a tour of the place and then we’ll all sit down to dinner,” Mable offered.

Doing as her mother directed, C.C. gave Sam a modest tour of the home. By the time they had finished, dinner was on the table.

For the amount of chattering and carrying on that was present in the kitchen earlier, dinner itself was a rather quiet affair. Sam had absolutely no idea why C.C. had felt it important to ‘warn her’, as she had put it.

With the main courses of the dining experience over, Sam waited for the right time to speak up. “Thank you very much for dinner, Mrs. Gordon. The pot roast was delicious,” Sam complimented as she placed her napkin on the table.

“You’re welcome, dear, anytime. And, thank you. I’m glad you liked it.” She turned her eyes away from Sam to look at her husband who was at the opposite end of the table. “Henry, would you clear the table for dessert?” Mable asked her husband.

“Of course, Dear,” Henry replied as he stood and began to clear away all of the dinner dishes.

“Need any help, Dad?” C.C. offered as she watched her father make his way to every woman seated at the table.

Henry rolled his eyes at his youngest daughter before replying, “You know better, Chase.”

Sam felt as if she were missing something. Although she thought it was great that Mr. Gordon was waiting on his family, hand and foot, she still found it a tad unusual.

Terri noticed the look of confusion on their guest’s face and offered to explain. “Don’t worry about Dad, Sam. We girls and Mom get together for Sunday dinner at least once a month. Dad’s only been allowed to join us for the last couple of years. He complained about having to eat TV dinners while we were having a wonderful home cooked meal, so Mom made him a deal: he could stay and join our dinners but he had to wait on us.”

I wonder what my dad would do? Sam considered her father as she went from one face to another of all the women seated at the table.

Henry did as his wife asked of him and before long, returned with a stack of plates and an apple pie. Mable addressed her daughters on the topic they had been discussing earlier in the day. Henry placed the dessert in front of his wife and then continued to serve the remaining women at the table.

“Thank you, Henry. Come on, girls, someone has to know of a nice woman for your sister. You know, one that could settle her down a bit?”

Brooke groaned as she placed her glass back on the table. Once you got their mother started on something, she never let it go. “Mom, I really don’t think that’s necessary.” Brooke really did not feel like having this discussion now.

“Nonsense. What kind of girl do you like, Brooke? What catches your eye?”

All Brooke could do was look at her mother, speechless at her choice of topic for an after-dinner conversation especially with company present.

Sam let a smile cross her face and the barest of twinkles grace her eyes. Well, I guess I know which sister bats for my team, now.

“Well, I don’t think it’s the butch kind,” Randi offered as Terri nodded her head in agreement.

They all watched as Brooke’s face turned redder by the moment. Only one question remained on their minds: was it due to embarrassment or anger?

“No, the butch type would be way too much competition for Ol’ Brooke.” C.C. sat back in her chair and offered her thoughts on the subject.

Randi looked over to the object of their conversation, giving her a once over with those soft brown eyes of hers. “Well, with a build like that, she’s no Karen Carpenter but she would give Chyna a run for her money.”

The youngest sibling placed her fork on the table and looked up, confused. “What do Chinese carpenters have to do with this?”

Terri laughed at her sister as she replied, “Before your time, C.C.”

“Actually, C.C., Karen Carpenter was a great drummer.” Sam decided to jump into the conversation and leaned into the table as she looked from her roommate to Terri and back again.

Brooke lifted her head and arched an eyebrow in the girl’s direction. “You’re familiar with drummers?” Brooke asked.

“Oh yeah. I love hearing great women pound out the beat of their hearts. I’ve listened to music all my life. The women drummers never get any fame.” She emphasized that statement with a firm shaking of her head.

“So, you like women drummers, Sam?” Terri asked nonchalantly as she took a bite of her apple pie, her brown eyes darting briefly to Brooke then back to her plate.

“Yes, I do. Very much. It’s amazing to watch how much strength they have when behind a kit…I mean a drum set, yet they can still be so graceful as they play.”

“Well, maybe some women drummers don’t get any fame because they’d rather not have to deal with the hassle that comes along with it. They’d rather just play instead,” Brooke offered.

Sam turned her gaze to Brooke. “Well, let’s just say that they never get the credit they deserve. They just seem to fade into thin air. Like ghosts in the night,” the blonde held her fist up in the air and opened it as though she was releasing something into the air. “They are there for a minute and gone the next.” The young woman let her gaze go off into the distance as if she could see them all waiting to be plucked from the heavens.

Brooke was speechless at how emotionally Sam spoke on the subject.

“My, my… I see we have a little poet in our midst,” Henry commented. “Maybe some of that will rub off on our C.C. during the next year or so.” The man winked at his daughter as he brought the coffee cup to his lips.

“But you know… I have to admit that the best drummer, male or female, in my book was…”

Sam was interrupted as Henry jumped up from the table, having spilled his coffee on his shirt. “Oh, damn, excuse me. I’ll be right back.” Henry made his way out of the dining room, leaving his coffee cup and wiping the brown spot on his shirt with his napkin.

“Honey, there are some clean shirts folded on the dryer,” Mable called after her husband then turned back to her daughters. “Now, come on, one of you has to know of a nice girl for Brooke. How about you, Sam? Are you single, available or interested?”

Sam’s face turned an impossible shade of red as she realized that her own sexual preference was now being drawn into the conversation. The girl turned looking to her roommate and then back at the matriarch. At the same time, the sudden turnabout caught Brooke in mid swallow and she choked on her iced tea.

The older woman sensed the action on the periphery of the table. “What? She’s not too young for you is she, Brooke?” Mable asked her flustered child.

“Well, ah… no, Mom, it’s not that. It’s just…”

She was cut off as Mable addressed Sam again. “Do you have any experience, dear? But then again, if you don’t you can be molded just like their father. I must admit that he has quite mastered the art of curling his tongue…”

“Mom!” All four daughters yelled in unison at their mother.

“What?” she asked them innocently then turned back to the blonde, unscathed. “So, Sam, tell me, what kind of women do you like?”

Sam was saved from answering the question as Henry reappeared back into the dining room and took his place at the head of the table, wearing a clean shirt.

“Dad, can you roll your tongue?” C.C. asked her father as her sisters glared in her direction.

“Why?” he asked, clearly confused.

“Oh, nothing. Just something Mom mentioned that I was wondering about.”

“Dad, you don’t have to answer that one.” Brooke arched her eyebrow and gave her sister a look that told her to be quiet. “C.C.,” she warned through a clenched mouth.

“What?” The youngest daughter tried to defend herself. “It’s a perfectly innocent question. I was just wondering if the tongue rolling gene is an inherited trait.”

C.C. was cut off as her mother placed a hand on her arm. Mable turned to the other side of the table where her other daughters were seated. “Don’t think that I don’t know when you girls are trying to change the subject on me. Brooke, I asked you a question.”

“Yeah, Brooke,” the pediatrician glanced from Sam to their sister, “what is your type? That way we can all keep an eye open.” Terri offered.

Brooke sighed heavily as she wondered if she’d ever make it out of the house without her mother going back to this topic. She looked over at Terri and answered, “The non-nosey kind. You know, the complete opposite of C.C.”

“Hey, I’m not nosey. I just like to be in on the news. Enquiring minds want to know,” C.C. defended herself as Sam just sat back and snickered quietly over the whole situation.

“Yeah, well inquire somewhere else, Sis. This tabloid is keeping its secrets.” Brooke shot back, her eyes glaring an undisputed warning.

“Now, girls…” Henry felt it was time he tried to calm down the situation.

Brooke and C.C. both looked at their father and apologized without hesitation. “Sorry, Dad.” The phrase sounded like one that was well rehearsed over time.

Mable looked down at her eldest daughter who was sitting on Henry’s right side. “Can’t you find someone, Randi?”

“I did. I married him and gave you three grandkids.” The confident woman answered without missing a beat. Randi really wasn’t in the mood at the moment to joke around. She’d had a rough week in court and was getting tired of the petty squabbling going on between her sisters.

“I don’t think she means for you.” Terri chastised her oldest sister.

“The lights are on but nobody’s home,” C.C. teased unmercifully to which everyone, including Brooke, laughed at the comment; the only exception being Randi.

“You know, I think we’ve heard enough from you C.C.” Randi was trying to calm her temper, which was on a rather short fuse by now. It was easy for anyone who had been around her a while to know. There was the telltale sign of uncontrollable twitching at the corner of her mouth. Unfortunately, all Randi needed to see was C.C. replying by blowing kisses at her and the sparks were flying as the charge was set off.

Randi jumped up from the table almost knocking her chair over, as she started to lunge for C.C. on the other side of the table.

Hearing the noise, Brooke sprang out of her own chair to step in front of the angered woman, stopping the ensuing massacre. Their youngest sibling could be a pain in the ass but Brooke, in all honesty, adored her.

Now, Terri got up and grabbed Randi from behind to halt her from attacking her sister. “Hey, I’m here for a family dinner, not work. Besides if anyone’s gonna pound her head in, it should be Brooke.” Terri leaned out from around Randi and winked at her blue-eyed sister. “She’s got more experience there.”

“Yeah, Mom, can I borrow the table?” Brooke asked with a twinkle in her eyes as she made a motion to step up on the seat of her chair.

Calmly wiping her mouth with a napkin, C.C. looked over at Sam, shrugging her shoulders. “Welcome to the Gordon family dinner. Complete with floor show entertainment.”

The young blonde just shook her head and giggled, not ever remembering having so much fun at a family function of any sort.

“Okay, everyone sit down now.” Mable slightly raised her voice, “I said now!” The older woman’s eyes roamed the room as she paused momentarily to gaze at each of her offending children, driving her message home on an individual basis as needed.

One by one the grown women shyly turned around to look at their mother and sulked back over to their appointed seats, without a word.

“I can’t believe all of this commotion over a simple question to which I still have not received an answer.” Mable seemed insistent.

“What was that question?” C.C. asked as Brooke threw a dinner roll at her.

Mable reached over, grabbing Brooke’s offending hand in hers and waited for her daughter to meet her gaze. “Brooke, honey, we’re all just trying to look out for your best interests.”

“Interests?” Brooke’s blue eyes became narrowed with anger. “You think that I can’t find a… a…” the pinned down woman stuttered.

“Well, there you have it. She doesn’t even know what to call it,” Terri threw in, casting her eyes to heaven above. “No wonder she can’t find one.”

“Don’t worry about it, Brooke. I think Mom’s just trying to say that you’re a little uptight and you need to get some,” C.C. stated compassionately then turned as Terri laughed and gave her a high-five across the table.

“A mate…” Brooke started as she glared at her sisters, one by one around the table, saying a different definition to each one, “A life partner… A lover.” She finished as she stuck out her tongue at C.C. in defiance.

“Well, her tongue is out but did she inherit the gene to roll it?” The baby of the family pondered as she placed her index finger against her chin and looked up at the ceiling as if in thought, unscathed by the gesture.

“I can…” a soft voice offered in the silence of the moment.

Everyone was surprised to hear the confession from Sam and focused their attention on her.

“See?” Sam rolled her tongue without thinking about it, right in Brooke’s direction. “I haven’t figured out quite what to do with it yet but, I’ve got the gene.”

Brooke merely raised her eyebrow in reply as C.C., Terri, and Randi started laughing and cheering.

“Henry, I need some more coffee. Would you mind making a fresh pot?” Mable asked of her husband as she tried to keep a straight face.

“Sure thing dear,” he smiled and got up from the table, heading toward the kitchen. “I could use a refill, myself. Would anyone else like something while I’m up?” he asked politely.

“Yeah, Dad…” the young woman said, waiting for her father’s full attention, “Look in Mom’s cupboards out there and see if you can find Brooke a honey.” C.C. requested as she grinned at her father.

“Keep it up there, Cjersti Chase, and you’ll find something,” Brooke threatened her sister.

“Ooh, elaborating on the initials are we? I’m so scared.” The girl mocked a shiver, then held her hands up in front of her face as if she were frightened.

“Girls,” Mable warned them, then paused to collect her thoughts. “Terri, do you know of anyone for Brooke?”

Terri rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Actually, Mom, my patients are all a little too young. That is, unless she’s into jail bait.”

Brooke smacked the sister sitting next to her lightly on her arm as an answer. “Thanks a lot, Ter. I don’t think so.”

“Ow, you brute.” Terri couldn’t help but tease her sister.

“Randi? How about you? Do you have anybody in mind?” Mable addressed her oldest daughter who was finally calm from the earlier excitement. She thought to herself that Randi was under too much stress at work as Henry returned with a fresh pot of coffee and began to refill the cups around the table.

“No. Actually Mom, they don’t allow conjugal visits where anyone I know would end up.” Randi rested her chin in her hand and thought for a moment. “But if she hooked up with one of Terri’s patients…” she thought for a moment then continued. “Nah, she’d have to like the name Big Bertha anyway.”

Mable looked last to her youngest daughter, to which C.C.’s face lit up with delight as she plastered the most devilish grin she could manage on her face.

Brooke began to protest. “You’re going to ask someone who I’ve bounced on their head more times than I can count to find me a partner? You have got to be kidding.”

Never giving her mother the chance to respond to Brooke, C.C. answered the unspoken question. “Well, I could look around but, do you really think that she could keep up with a 20 year old for longer than a night?”

Terri had just taken a sip of coffee. Hearing C.C.’s question, the woman could not control the liquid from coming back up and out her nose as she laughed. “A night?” She snorted then coughed. “A whole night? How about a quickie?”

Brooke, by this point, was more than a little aggravated. Terri, Randi, and C.C. laughed again at their sister and the torture she had endured since walking into the house earlier in the afternoon.

“Excuse me, I have never slept with any of you, thank God” Brooke shook her head in disgust. “And not just because that would be considered incest. I have better taste than that.” Brooke’s face was serious now, her head cocked forward slightly in challenge to what she was about to say. “Nor have you ever met someone that I have had any form of relations with, so you have no reason to doubt my capabilities.”

“Well,” the older woman fretted, “there was that one time at camp…” Mable began but was cut off by Henry.

“Mable, please. Honey, leave well enough alone.”

“Sex, Mom. She means having sex in a relationship.” Terri clarified.

“Oh well, forget camp then, unless…” Mable stopped and looked over at Brooke, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“What, Mom? Unless what exactly?”

“Well, didn’t you get to be friends with that one girl from…”

“Friends, Mom… not lovers. Could we drop the subject, please? I’m sure we’re making our guest uncomfortable.” Brooke looked over in Sam’s direction, apology written all over her face.

Sam laughed. “Hey, I’m fine. Besides it’s kind of refreshing to see such an open family.”

“You’re going to fit right in here, kid. Bring her back some time, C.C. I like her.” Terri looked across the table and grinned at their guest.

“Well, I’ll tell you what, Sam, if you ever wanted open, you came to the right house. Hell, if they were any more open, I’d have to have them all arrested for indecent exposure,” Randi elaborated as she winked.

Brooke got up from the table and stretched her arms high over her head in frustration. “Well, now that this dinner has been all about me and my love life, maybe the next one can be about someone else… Randi?” She looked at the sisters on either side of her, “Terri?”

“Hey, what about me?”

“You don’t have a life yet C.C., and if you keep it up I might not let you,” Brooke pointed out, smiling as she did so. It was time that someone else in the family got teased.

“Yeah, Chase. And what life you do have, it’s not like you’re ever quiet long enough for anyone to wonder about it,” Terri added as she stood up and joined Brooke by stretching. They looked to their oldest sister down the row, knowing that a memorable comment would be forthcoming. Randi never was one to disappoint.

“Yeah, C.C., you’re barely out of a training bra,” Randi chimed in.

Brooke was enjoying the fact that someone else was on the receiving end of everybody’s teasing. “Yeah, I hear she stopped wetting the bed just last week. You’re in luck, Sam.”

“Well, at least my juices are flowing,” C.C. shot back.

“Can we cook with your juices? Then again, why bother? There’s apple juice, orange juice…” Brooke began ticking them off on her fingers as Randi cut her off.

“I heard it was Kool-Aid.” Randi stood up and joined her two sisters.

Brooke chuckled, and then offered, “Capri-Sun… Well… maybe not. That has a sharp, pointed end to the straw.”

Terri threw up her hands in exasperation. “Great, just what Chase needs, something to poke her and suck her dry.”

Opening her mouth to protest, the youngest brunette stopped to think about it. “Ooh…Naughty!”

“Yeah, you think so? Just don’t go running with it in your mouth.” Brooke looked over at C.C.

“Yeah? Well, at least I’d have something in my mouth,” was her quick retort.

“GIRLS, ENOUGH!” Henry was becoming quite aggravated at the behavior of all four of his daughters, especially in front of company.

Mable looked over to Sam and reached a hand out to her which Sam willingly took. “It’s not always this bad dear, really.”

“Nope, sometimes it’s worse,” Brooke admitted, then smiled and winked when Sam looked up at her to see if she was serious.

“Well, Mom, thanks. Dinner was great but I need to get back to the hospital.” Terri said as she walked over and hugged the older woman. “Sam, it was… ah… interesting to say the least. Please, come back and join us again.”

“Yeah,” Brooke seconded readily as she waited in line. “I have a session at the studio in an hour so I need to go set everything up.” The blue eyed woman hugged her mother, depositing a kiss on the older woman’s cheek as she did so. “Thanks for dinner, Mom. It was great.”

“You’re welcome,” Mable said as she stood with one arm each around Terri and Brooke, looking somewhat short compared to her daughters.

“Thanks again for dinner, Mrs. Gordon.” Sam began. “I think I’m going to enjoy having C.C. as a roommate this year.”

“You can have her!” Randi, Terri and Brooke all offered at the same time.

“Hey, at least I have someone to sleep with,” C.C. countered as she stuck out her tongue at Brooke and Terri.

“Excuse me. I’m married, thank you very much. I have someone to sleep with that I can actually have sex with,” Terri defended herself.

“Yeah, but not on duty nights at the hospital. What is that on call schedule this year, Terri… every other night?”

Terri grumbled out her answer. “It will get better. Besides, when was the last time you got some, Chase?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” C.C. placed an arm around Sam’s shoulder. “So, roomie, what’s it going to be tonight…” she paused, wiggling her eyebrows for effect, “…blondes, brunettes or redheads?”

Sam looked up to see the tilt of Brooke’s head as she studied her, waiting for her answer. “Definitely, brunettes,” Sam answered, noticing a slight wink and the subtlest of upturn to the corner of Brooke’s mouth.

“It was nice meeting you, Sam. Please don’t let her warp you too much. You seem like a nice girl just the way you are,” Brooke admitted as she walked over closer to her, the attraction being too great to stay away.

“Well, some things just can’t be helped.” Sam could feel the heat of a blush start as she tried to conceal her embarrassment.

“Oh yeah? Such as…?” Blue eyes looked at her intently.

Sam just smiled at Brooke as C.C. tugged on her arm and asked, “Ready to go?”

Sam looked at C.C. “Yeah, I’m ready.” The roommates moved toward the front door with C.C. in the lead.

It wasn’t more than a step or two before Sam decided to answer. She turned to Brooke and began to walk backwards to the door, “Maybe next time we can talk about that. Bye, Brooke.”

Brooke nodded her head and smiled. “Okay, next time.” The woman’s shoulders sank slightly as the blonde left her sight, the smile fading from her face. Brooke thought for a moment before resuming her steps to the door. Well, if there was any highlight to tonight’s dinner, I’d say that it was Sam.