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curly, blonde hair. Her sweet demeanor only added to her beauty.
    Danielle was the one who had trained me and shown me around the airport. As a part-time administrative assistant for the customer service department, she had been with the company for a long time and knew the ropes. She was quiet in general, but in a one-on-one situation she would tell you her whole life story with little hesitation. Danielle liked to talk, but she was also a great listener. After she trained me and I got my bearings, I managed to show how much I was needed there. In a short amount of time, I was promoted to the position of administrative assistant to the general manager, after which they promoted Danielle to full-time administrative assistant as well. If we had time, we would meet for lunch and would help each other out when one of us was busier than the other. With her selfless heart, she never worried whether I was out to take her job. Her main concern was always making me feel welcome.
    Gary, her husband of fifteen years, worked on the ramp as ground crew. Danielle and Gary had gotten married against their families’ wishes when they were eighteen. They had made it a point to get their educations before they started to have children. From what I had seen with my own eyes and heard from Danielle, they were the envied happy couple. Gary was a nice, quiet man, though his large physique was a bit intimidating. He was at least six foot five, over two hundred pounds of sheer muscle. Big boned, he looked like a football player. He wore a crew cut that was already graying and had a mustache and goatee also sprinkled with white hairs. Gabe, their son, looked just like Gary. He was very tall for his age, almost as big as me, his head already reaching my shoulders.
    It felt great to make more friends, and I couldn’t wait to introduce this great couple to my cousin and her husband.

Chapter 7
    Red Rover, Red Rover
    I felt a warm body climb into my bed to snuggle, and I turned around to look at the clock. It was six o’clock in the morning and time to get up. Lucia curled into a little ball against my chest and went back to sleep, so I stroked her hair while I relaxed with her for a few moments.
    When I was sure she had fallen back asleep, I got up and made my way to the bathroom. In a rush, I washed up so I could make myself a cup of coffee.
    I popped a pod of butter toffee-flavored coffee into my Keurig, heated some milk in the microwave, and pushed the button to start the flow for eight ounces of water. That coffee maker had become a favorite of mine, because it could make a cup of fresh java within a minute. There were no more pots of coffee wasting away just to be thrown out after they burned from sitting all day.
    The coffee was ready at the same time as the milk, and I put in a packet of Splenda. The first sip was always the best. Taking my cup, I padded my way to the balcony to relax outside for a few minutes of me-time before everyone woke up.
    I was flipping through a magazine when someone opened the sliding glass door. When I turned my head over my left shoulder, I saw Lori carrying her own cup of coffee outside. She stepped over to the lounge chair next to mine.
    I smiled at her and said, “Good morning.” I was so happy to have her here.
    Lori sat back and lay her head on the back of the chair. With a tired sigh, she said, “Morning,”
    I laughed. “What’s the matter? You didn’t sleep well last night?”
    She shook her head. “No, no, I did. I’m just not a morning person and still a bit jet-lagged. Oh, and Chris left around five this morning. Your dad picked him up so they could get us a good spot at the park,” she said, and I nodded.
    “Cool. My dad knows the whole routine and where we like to camp out for the day.”
    I considered their fatigue and the long day we had ahead of us. Fireworks wouldn’t start until eight that night, and we’d be cooking, eating, and drinking all day.
    “I hope Chris can last the whole