“I know.” Terri tried to hide her smile; “I’ve been noticing how you act around her, trying to hide it from us. I was hoping that you weren’t hiding it from yourself, too.” The physician turned to look at her sister. “You’ve got it bad. I never thought that I’d say this, but my big sister is in love. And I think it looks great on you… love, that is.”

“I love her. I am totally, hopelessly in love with her…” Brooke’s thoughts trailed off. “It shows that much, huh?” She looked at Terri for the truth.

“I can tell, Brooke,” Terri confided, “I’m so happy for you. Everybody needs to have someone to love. I’m glad that you’ve found yours. I imagine that Sam feels the same way?” The woman watched as Brooke smiled exuberantly. Terri laughed, then looked up to the sky, “Okay, enough said.”

The chirping of Brooke’s cell phone broke the Kodak moment that the two sisters were sharing. “Hang on Ter,” Brooke’s attitude turned to one of total business as she grabbed the phone and held it to her ear, never glancing at the numeric display. “Brooke Gordon here.”

Terri watched as her sister’s whole demeanor softened and she knew immediately that Sam had to be on the other end of the phone. She sat there, looking in the other direction, trying not to listen in on the one sided conversation.

“Hey, I was just thinking about you.” Brooke grabbed Terri’s hand and her attention, showing her a beaming smile. “I love you. I’m always thinking about you.”

Brooke waited her turn, then whispered, “You,” flashing a big grin. “I don’t know, what would you guess?”

“Nope,” the musician shook her head after a moment. “No game, I love you and you’re stuck with me.”

Terri stole a look in Brooke’s direction only to see her sister blushing as she listened intently.

“Uh… not with my sister sitting next to me. You can whisper it in my ear later.” Brooke’s smile grew bigger as her face turned a deeper shade of red. “So… I was thinking.” The tapping on her shoulder momentarily distracted her and Brooke looked up to see Terri motion toward the house and give a little wave before getting up. Brooke nodded, then reached out, squeezing her sister’s hand, then letting go of it as she continued with her phone conversation. “What are we gonna try for first, boy or girl?” She paused only a few seconds before laughing, “Gotcha!”

Terri opened the door and looked back at her sister, seeing her truly happy and smiled. “Yeah, you’re in love, Sis. It’s very evident if you only look,” she muttered under her breath as she stepped back into the house.

“What’s evident?” C.C. asked, meeting Terri inside the door. The brunette watched as Terri motioned with her head to Brooke outside. Moving to the door and seeing the phone in Brooke’s hand, C.C. nodded. “Guess she’s talking to Sam, huh?”

Terri clapped her younger sibling’s shoulder and smiled. “I’d give her a minute or two before I’d interrupt her.” Terri winked, leaving C.C. standing there by the door.

Curiosity always being a huge part of C.C.’s nature, she stood silently at the door, grabbing every little tidbit of information she could, trying to imagine Sam’s side of the conversation.

“Smack me… why? I was just continuing our discussion from earlier.” Brooke paused then replied, “I’m just thinking about forever with you and all of the wonderful things that go along with forever, that’s all.”

Brooke took in a deep breath, then spoke reassuringly, “Darlin’, anything that comes along our way will be wonderful as long as we’re together.” Brooke nodded silently as she listened to Sam. “If that’s to be… then yes… even a baby… or two. I love you so much.” Brooke sighed, “I miss you too Darlin’.”

C.C. noticed the slight slump to Brooke’s broad shoulders and she listened even more intently.

“I wish it were Friday too, Sam.” Brooke nodded, “Our weekends are always special.” The woman became silent for a moment, then whispered into the receiver, “Soon, Baby, I promise.” The dark-haired woman tightened her lips together as she listened. “I love you,” she offered back in hushed tones. “Good night, Sweetheart.”

Brooke ended her phone call, then stood up, putting the phone back onto her belt. The musician stood there for a moment, then brushed off her jeans, and started to turn to look back toward the door.

“So… ah… where are you off to now, Sport?” C.C. came out onto the porch.

The tall woman shrugged, “I guess back home. I don’t think I can handle being around Randi right now.”

C.C. nodded in agreement, “Hmm… guess I couldn’t entice you to go to the dorm, could I?”

“Sure, I guess you do need a ride back.”

“Ah… not exactly.” C.C. grinned, as an idea came to her mind. She held up one finger to a very puzzled Brooke, then opened the door and leaned back inside, “Hey, Terri? Can you give me a ride to class in the morning?”

The muffled reply came floating out on the air, “Yeah, why?”

“You’ve got a guest staying with you tonight,” C.C. answered her sister, turning back to Brooke. “I don’t feel like sleeping in the dorm tonight,” she grinned, then closed the door. “I think the room is going to be a little too noisy.” C.C. pulled out her dorm pass card and offered it to Brooke, just as Terri came to the door.

“What’s up, C.C.? Did Brooke leave without…” Terri stopped short, seeing the exchange going on, staying just out of sight.

“Terri,” the brunette glanced back at the door as she called out, “I’m staying the night.” Then she turned back to Brooke, “I think you could use a night in the dorm every once in a while,” C.C. winked at her sister. “Just don’t break my bed, huh?” She cautioned in a hushed tone so only the tall woman standing next to her could hear it.

Brooke’s eyes lit up. “Really… you’d let me stay there?”

“Go on, have some fun.” She shoved the card into her sister’s hand. “Consider it my way of saying I approve of Sam… okay?”

“Well, I’d hope you approve… you set us up.” Brooke smiled, first taking the card, then her youngest sister, giving her a hug. “Thanks, C.C. I love you, Sis.”

The brunette embraced her sister with a beaming smile, “Yeah, I did set you up?” She relished their closeness for a moment, then pushed her sister away saying, “I think you would be wise to get over to that dorm before Sam thinks it’s me trying to crawl into bed with her.” C.C. shrugged, “Sorry, she’s not my type.”

“Thanks,” Brooke held up the card, pointing to C.C. then looked over to the woman who was now standing at the door, “Bye Terri, and thanks.”

“Bye, Brooke.” Terri called out to the figure running down her sidewalk.

Terri came out of the house to stand next to C.C. as they watched Brooke jump into her Jeep and peal out into traffic without ever looking.

The physician cringed as she heard the squealing tires of the Jeep in conjunction with the screeching brakes and blaring horns of the traffic that had just avoided near collisions. “Where’s she off to in such a hurry?”

“The girlfriend’s, where else?” C.C. grinned as she turned to look at Terri. “She’s about to experience a little bit of heaven in a 2×4.”

Brooke sauntered down the hall until she stood before the door to the room that her sister shared with Sam. Pulling the key card from her pocket, she quickly slid it in and out of the door, waiting for the little green light to come on. “Bingo!” She whispered, tapping the glowing green light and opened the door.

Once inside, she was met by the soft glow coming from the small candle garden that was neatly arranged on Sam’s bookcase above the head of her bed. Brooke looked around the room for the woman of her dreams, only to come up empty. The incandescent glow shining through the crack of the nearly closed bathroom door drew her attention as the only place left for the golden haired woman to be. The sound of running water and the soft, slightly off key rendition of an old Anti-Zero song brought a smile to Brooke’s face, while at the same time, reached out to her like a siren’s song.

Forgetting the layout of the small room, Brooke stepped to the right, nearly toppling over the chair at the desk. Her reflexes prevented the chair from crashing to the floor but the quickly muttered curse in doing so broke the silence of the outer room. “Damnit!” She stood frozen after righting the chair when the singing stopped.

“Hey, C.C., can you throw me a towel. I forgot one,” Sam called out from the shower, then went right back to singing.

Energized by the thought of seeing her lover naked and wet, Brooke eagerly closed the door, making sure that it was locked. There would be no interruptions once they started their delicate dance of love. Brooke willingly grabbed the towel that she found lying on Sam’s pillow and headed toward the shower with it, as an impish smile slowly came to her face.

Brooke reached inside the doorway of the bathroom, her long sinewy fingers searching desperately for the light switch. Finding it, she silently flipped the toggle to the off position, throwing the room into virtual darkness.

“Damn it! There goes that light again,” Sam cursed. “Well, at least I’m almost finished this time.”

The tall woman was finding it hard not to giggle as she completely moved into the room, stealthily removing her own clothing piece by piece. When she had nothing left but her jeans to remove, Brooke opened the shower door and held out the towel for Sam to take.

“Hey, thanks,” Sam reached for the towel. “You’re home early. I wasn’t expecting you until later. Did you have fun?”

No, but I’m about too, Brooke thought as she peeled off her jeans and boxers together.

“C.C., I’ll be out in a minute,” Sam called out over the sound of the spraying water. Then she felt the rubbing on her back, recognizing it as the soapy washcloth she had been using. “Hey! What the…”