Chapter 45

Bright, early morning sunlight beamed down on the tall figure placing bags in the trunk of the red convertible. Lex gave the last bag a gentle shove, wondering how in the hell they were able to get them in there to begin with. I thought she sent most of her stuff back with the movers - we didn't have this much stuff before, did we?

"Everything about loaded up?" small, strong arms circled her waist from behind. "Frank and Jeannie should be out to say goodbye in a few minutes." Amanda pulled the tall woman close, burying her face into the broad back.

Lex stood up straight, then turned slowly. "Yep…that was the last of it." She wrapped her arms around the blonde and grinned. "Although we may have to pay freight charges for all the luggage." Leaning down, she placed a tender kiss on Amanda's mouth. Her own mouth was quite sore, and the two of them sported similar bruises on their faces. We are definitely a matched set, Lex thought to herself as she ran a gentle fingertip along the smaller woman's jaw. "Did you run a final check for any missing underwear?" she teased, seeing her lover blush.

"How was I supposed to know that you threw them behind the chair? I swear Sophia giggled for hours after finding them." Amanda grouched, remembering the note from Beverly that stated that she needed to keep better track of her 'unmentionables', so as not to distract the rest of the household staff. Looking up, she saw Lex trying not to smile. "Stop that." She commanded. "You're going to make your lip start bleeding again." She raised a small hand and ran her thumb lightly across the bruised lip. "Maybe you need a stitch or two."

Kissing the thumb offered to her, Lex shook her head. "Nah…it'll be okay." She was about to prove her point when a voice echoed across the cool, still morning.

"You two never seem to get enough, do you?" Jeannie teased, walking through the door with Frank. "Guess it'll just be us seeing you off…Mother is upstairs with a migraine, and Father is on an overseas call."

Amanda stepped away from Lex, and embraced her older sister. "It's probably for the best, anyway. Thanks for everything, Jeannie…I really appreciate how you've accepted Lex." She felt a twinge of sadness at leaving.

The auburn-haired woman held her sister tightly. "I'm just glad you finally found the person you've been looking for, Mandy…" realizing that this was probably the last time she'd see her little sister for quite a while, she murmured, "I know you probably won't be coming back to this house any time soon," If ever, her mind supplied, "but Frank and I have plenty of room, if you two would like to come and visit."

"Thanks, Jeannie…" Amanda pulled back a bit and glanced back over her shoulder. Seeing the rancher give a nod, she smiled. "Next vacation you two get, why don't you come out to the ranch with us." She asked, feeling a large kernel of pride at that statement. Our ranch… I think I really like the sound of that.

Lex stepped up and grinned. "Yeah…we've got quite a bit of room ourselves…" looking over the two sister's heads, she winked at Frank. "And I won't even make you muck out any stalls."

The big man stepped forward and pulled Amanda into a fierce embrace. "Take care, Mandy…we'll try to stop by and see you two real soon, okay?"

Amanda felt her heart surge with love for her brother-in-law and dear friend. "That would be great."

"What are your plans around Christmas?" Lex asked, shaking hands with Frank. Seeing the happy look on Amanda's face, she mentally patted herself on the back.Good one, Lexington. You just might figure all of this out yet.

Frank looked over at his wife, who shrugged. "Well, I was planning on hiding…" he winked at the rancher. "Why do you ask?"

Lex put her arm around the tall man, and escorted him over to the two smiling sisters. "Well, since it's gonna be Amanda's first Christmas out at the ranch, I thought maybe you two would like to join us…I'm hoping to have a houseful."

Amanda looked over at her partner with adoring eyes. "A houseful, huh?" She stepped away from Jeannie and nearly flew into the older woman's arms. "Anyone I know?"

"Well - you, me…Martha and Charlie…your grandparents…the Wades…" Lex glanced over at the other couple. "And of course Frank and Jeannie, if they're willing."

Jeannie laughed, then pulled her sister away from Lex. "I don't know about Frank, but I'd love to be there!" She wrapped her arms around the dark-haired woman and laughed. Feeling the strong arms pull her close, she whispered into the nearest ear, "Thank you, Lex. I've never seen my sister so happy." She pulled back a bit, then kissed the blushing woman on the cheek. "Welcome to the family, Slim."

Lex sighed, then a smirk crossed her face. Ah, what the hell. Seeing Amanda grin too, she kissed Jeannie full on the mouth. "Thanks, sis." She almost laughed out loud at the deep flush covering the woman's face.

Frank laughed so hard, he had to hold on to Amanda to keep from falling down. "Damn, Lex…you trying to kill me?" he saw his wife begin to stalk towards him, and raised his hands ineffectually against her attack. "Honey, wait!" he chuckled, as Jeannie slapped at him.

"Sorry, Frank…but any woman who pinches my butt gets a kiss." Lex teased, allowing Amanda to snuggle close. She pulled the younger woman towards the car. "I hate to kiss and run," she winked at Jeannie, "But our plane leaves in about an hour and a half…"she allowed her lover to get into the car, still giggling. "We'll make up an extra spot in the barn at Christmas for y'all, okay?" Lex ducked as Amanda's sister tossed her shoe at her, laughing.

***

***

***

***

***

*

Lex took a panicked breath as she boarded the plane. C'mon, Lexington, you can do this… it's no different than the last time, she berated herself, as she felt a cold chill run down her spine. She allowed Amanda to take the seat by the window, so that she could stretch her long legs out in the aisle of the plane. Sitting down, she felt a small hand grasp hers and hold on tightly.

"You doing alright, love?" Amanda looked up into the unusually pale face, her heart aching for the upset she could feel from her partner.

"No problem." Lex gave her lover a tiny smile, then took a deep breath as the flight attendant closed the door on the plane. Breathe, dammit… she listened as the air conditioner pumped oxygen into the plane. See? You're not gonna suffocate, so just get over it, idiot! The rancher mentally chastised.

Amanda pulled a large hand towards her, until she was able to cradle it against her chest. Kissing the knuckles, she whispered, "It's okay, Lex." She forced the older woman to look at her. "Look at me, honey." She waited until the rancher complied. "Listen to my voice, okay? It's just you and me…" Amanda felt the plane begin to taxi down the runway, but Lex was totally transfixed on her. "Have I told you about the time that I accidentally locked Jeannie in the trunk of the limousine? Mother nearly had a cow…" she told her partner about the tale of two young girls, playing hide and seek, and of the complete embarrassment of a well-to-do woman that had sent her driver to meet an important artist at the airport…only to have the artist greeted by a crying girl in the trunk of the expensive limousine.

The story took up almost half of the flight, with Amanda embellishing it several times to make it last. When she noticed blue eyes disappearing under heavy eyelids, she finally just snuggled up against the tall woman and closed her eyes. Lex smiled lovingly down upon the blonde head. Poor thing… this week has been a real bitch for her…maybe I can do something to make up for that. She allowed her head to lean onto the blonde one next to her, and closed her eyes.

"Ma'am? The plane has landed…" the lovely young flight attendant gently jostled Lex's shoulder, trying to wake her up.

Lex opened her eyes and noticed the empty plane, and the young woman smiling down on her. "Umm…thanks…" she gave the woman an embarrassed smile. "We'll be out of here in just a second."

The uniformed lady smiled. "No real hurry. I just wanted to make sure you didn't have another flight to catch." She was folding up a blanket from a nearby seat. "If you need anything, just let me know." She gave the rancher a knowing grin, then moved down the aisle.

Oh, boy…good thing Amanda slept through that…"Sweetheart?" Lex whispered gently. "Amanda, we've landed…" she kissed the head that was snuggled against her, using her free hand to brush the blonde hair away from blinking eyes.

"Mmm…" Amanda leaned up and placed a kiss on Lex's mouth. As she stretched, she realized where they were. "Oh! Did you say we've landed?" she blushed. "I was having the most incredible dream." She released Lex's hand and rubbed her face.

"Obviously." Lex smirked, standing up and stretching. Her back cracked several times as she raised her arms over her head and leaned backwards. "Damn…I hate sitting for that long." She noticed her appreciative audience. "See something you like, ma'am?" Lex teased her partner.

Amanda stood up, running a hand through her disheveled blonde hair. "You could say that…" she caught the look from the flight attendant. "And I don't think I'm the only one, either." The younger woman smiled, then wrapped her arms around the rancher and squeezed. "But she'll just have to be content to enjoy you from a distance, 'cause I'm not sharing."

Lex chuckled. "Fine by me…" she enveloped the smaller woman in a fierce hug. "I love you, Amanda." She whispered, as she buried her face in the fragrant blonde hair.

"I love you too, Lex." Amanda pulled back and smiled brightly. "You ready to go home?" Then she frowned, a little. "Um, would you mind too much…"

"If we went to see your grandparents first?" The rancher smiled. "I was just going to suggest that." She carefully guided her lover down the narrow aisles. "Let them know you survived, and then we can tell them that you've going to be moving in at the ranch." As they left the plane, Lex turned back towards Amanda, who was about half a step behind her. "I enjoyed your story, by the way - forgot all about the plane."

Amanda hitched her purse up on her shoulder, then took an extra step to be directly next to the taller woman. "Really? Thanks…sorry I fell asleep on you, though." She looked up into amused blue eyes. "What?"

"Don't feel bad…I fell asleep too. The flight attendant had to wake me up after the plane was already empty." Lex looked around, trying to read the signs. "Where the hell do we pick up the damn luggage?" She spotted a map of the airport and walked over to check it out. Spotting her destination, she shook her head. "You've flown quite a bit, right?" Lex asked her partner, as they made their way to the baggage claim area.

"Yes…although the last time I was so worried about Grandpa Jake, I don't remember much of the flight - Jeannie and Frank had my car sent to me by truck." Amanda followed the long legged rancher, struggling to keep up. "Why do you ask? Hey, honey…you want to slow it down to at least a reasonable jog?"

Lex stopped and turned around. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I keep forgetting that not everyone can cover as much distance as I can." She waited for a moment until the smaller woman caught her breath. "Anyway, I was just wondering…why do they seem to make you walk all the way to the other side of the damn airport to pick up your luggage? Especially since they won't let you carry much of it with you? Seems rather ridiculous to me."

Amanda laughed. "I think travelers have been asking that same question since the first commercial flight, love." She wrapped her hand around Lex's upper arm. "C'mon…we're almost there." She led the smiling woman through the milling crowds.