"OK, I get it. Of course you feel guilty. It's your project, it's in trouble, and you're not taking care of it. Christ, Perry, is that all? I would have been disappointed if this wasn't worrying you. Let's go to Florida then." "What?" She kissed the tip of his nose. "Take me to Florida, let's meet your friends." "But..." Were they moving in together or something? He was totally smitten with this girl, but that was *fast*. Even for Perry. "Don't you need to be here?" "They can live without me. It's not like I'm proposing to move in with you. I'll come back here after a while. But I'm only doing two classes this term and they're both offered by distance-ed. Let's just go." "When?" "After the hospital. You need a new cast, stinkmeister. Roll down your window a little, OK? Whew!" The doctors warned him to let the new cast set overnight before subjecting it to the rigors of a TSA examination, so they spent one more night at Hilda's place. Perry spent it going over the mailing list traffic and blog posts, confirming the plane tickets, ordering a car to meet them at the Miami airport. He finally managed to collapse into bed at 3AM, and Hilda grabbed him, dragged him to her, and spooned him tightly. "Don't worry, baby. Your friends and I will get along great." He hadn't realized that he'd been worrying about this, but once she pointed it out, it was obvious. "You're not worried?" She ran her hands over his furry chest and tummy. "No, of course not. Your friends will love me or I'll have them killed. More to the point, they'll love me because you love me and I love you and they love you, too." "What does Ernie think of me?" he said, thinking of her brother for the first time since they'd hooked up all those months ago. "Oh, hum," she said. He stiffened. "No, it's OK," she said, rubbing his tummy some more. It tickled. "He's glad I'm with someone I care about, and he loves the ride. He's just, you know. Protective of his big sister." "What's he worried about?" "Just what you'd expect. We live thousands of miles apart. You're ten years older than me. You've been getting into the kind of trouble that attracts armed cops. Wouldn't you be protective if you were my bro?" "I was an only child, but sure, OK, I see that." "It's nothing," she said. "Really. Bring him a nice souvenir from Florida when we come back to Madison, take him out for a couple beers and it'll all be great." "So we're cool? All the families are in agreement? All the stars are in alignment? Everything is hunky and/or dory?" "Perry Gibbons, I love you dearly. You love me. We've got a cause to fight for, and it's a just one with many brave comrades fighting alongside of us. What could possibly go wrong?" "What could possibly go wrong?" Perry said. He drew in a breath to start talking. "It was rhetorical, goofball. It's also three in the morning. Sleep, for tomorrow we fly." #