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PARANEHO PRIMOS NORTE, THE RANCH, EASTERN VIRGINIA
PARANEHO PRIMOS NORTE, THE RANCH, EASTERN VIRGINIA
The days at Paraneho Primos Norte passed into a glorious routine. Not much new and exciting happened, and the absence of dramatic events grew to be a sweet drink to be savored by the Robeles and Gemarro families. Juan wrecked his third HumVee in a steep ditch long before he temporarily abandoned his dream of learning to drive. He had even arranged for a Driver's Manual written in Portuguese which he had been nervously studying. Everyone, especially Nicole was grateful and relieved when the young Brazilian became enthralled with horse riding, an undertaking for which he was far more adept.
He raced himself or some off duty Marine at every opportunity, thundering nearly naked across the wide open spaces. Both he and Jesus had finally laid aside their now famous Brazilian fatigues in favor of essentially the fashion of their childhood, shorts and sandals. Neither had received a haircut since the fiasco at Hernando's. Jesus' fatigues were held in reserve only for the weekly trips into Washington for the news conference. There were still ten to fifteen thousand reporters waiting for their chance every week in the lottery pool.
The military affairs staff, what was left of it after its ranks were reduced by marriage, had dutifully selected a second lieutenant from their own company, a young man named Lt. Escharrio who seemed to be a reasonable and good natured sort. His arrival had introduced a modest discipline in the lives of the four remaining, although all the duties of the office were usually completed by 9 AM. The lieutenant wasn't comfortable fraternizing with Jesus and His party, so he spent most of his days in the library of the new recreation center studying for his law school entrance examinations.
Escharrio did make an exception to attend an informal coffee with the now legendary Victor Santos during one of the counsel's rare visits. The Brazilian attorney had come to attend the opening of the new facilities.
The construction was completed ahead of schedule. The entire "hospitality" facility was a work of architectural excellence which had attracted world-wide attention. Santos had contracted a very famous Italian design firm, and the result was truly remarkable. The gigantic free standing dome over the swimming pool accented the spires of condominiums up the hill which served as quarters for Marines and Secret Service personnel. The whole affair looked more like a fantastic sculpture than living quarters. Each of the units enjoyed a private balcony.
The sole agricultural success of the ranch was the chickens. Brenda had insisted on having chickens, and what had begun as a modest flock had mushroomed into a productive undertaking capable of providing fresh eggs and chicken to all the ranch's residents. The original birds had been a gift from a neighbor. The whole bunch had been quickly shipped to Langley for quarantine and poison testing.
There had been no subsidence in the number of threats arriving in the operations room.
Both Brenda and Nicole began to swell as their pregnancies progressed. Predictably, each became even more beautiful to her husband in the process, bathed in the serene glow of impending motherhood. Names were discussed. The standard joke was that the children would be "Marzilians" -- half Marine and half Brazilian. The remainder of the military affairs office, Mark, Peter, Cindy and Maggie filled in as an extended family. All of them had decided to finish their enlistment, but babies were a constant and welcome possibility.
As Brenda's identity gradually leaked to the press, it had little impact on her life on the ranch. Her parents and younger brother, however, were having trouble adjusting to the Secret Service contingent around their home in Texas. They moved into a spacious condo at the "Hospitality" facility for relief. Soon Nicole's mother joined them. Jesus and Juan considered them all to be treasures, much more grandparents and uncles than in-laws.
General Tower, however, may have changed the most. He began to appear out of uniform more frequently although he maintained an even more rigid security around the property. The ranch was an electronic quagmire for any infiltrator. The General even encouraged some of the Marines to ride as guard sentries on horse back. The Secret Service agents envied this. The discovery of the month came when a supply officer happened upon regulation Marine uniforms, long since fallen into disuse, which were designed for horse mounted duty. General Tower joked that the men looked like they were reporting to 'Black Jack' Pershing.
He rode horses with Juan, and taught everyone who was interested how to fly fish. Everyone was interested including the mothers to be. He was rapidly moving into a position of loving grandfatherhood and even began to take a gentlemanly interest in Nicole's mother, Beth Ramsey.
The entire group became an extended family. The ranch became a happy oasis away from the political mayhem which was raging more and more everyday through the country.
He raced himself or some off duty Marine at every opportunity, thundering nearly naked across the wide open spaces. Both he and Jesus had finally laid aside their now famous Brazilian fatigues in favor of essentially the fashion of their childhood, shorts and sandals. Neither had received a haircut since the fiasco at Hernando's. Jesus' fatigues were held in reserve only for the weekly trips into Washington for the news conference. There were still ten to fifteen thousand reporters waiting for their chance every week in the lottery pool.
The military affairs staff, what was left of it after its ranks were reduced by marriage, had dutifully selected a second lieutenant from their own company, a young man named Lt. Escharrio who seemed to be a reasonable and good natured sort. His arrival had introduced a modest discipline in the lives of the four remaining, although all the duties of the office were usually completed by 9 AM. The lieutenant wasn't comfortable fraternizing with Jesus and His party, so he spent most of his days in the library of the new recreation center studying for his law school entrance examinations.
Escharrio did make an exception to attend an informal coffee with the now legendary Victor Santos during one of the counsel's rare visits. The Brazilian attorney had come to attend the opening of the new facilities.
The construction was completed ahead of schedule. The entire "hospitality" facility was a work of architectural excellence which had attracted world-wide attention. Santos had contracted a very famous Italian design firm, and the result was truly remarkable. The gigantic free standing dome over the swimming pool accented the spires of condominiums up the hill which served as quarters for Marines and Secret Service personnel. The whole affair looked more like a fantastic sculpture than living quarters. Each of the units enjoyed a private balcony.
The sole agricultural success of the ranch was the chickens. Brenda had insisted on having chickens, and what had begun as a modest flock had mushroomed into a productive undertaking capable of providing fresh eggs and chicken to all the ranch's residents. The original birds had been a gift from a neighbor. The whole bunch had been quickly shipped to Langley for quarantine and poison testing.
There had been no subsidence in the number of threats arriving in the operations room.
Both Brenda and Nicole began to swell as their pregnancies progressed. Predictably, each became even more beautiful to her husband in the process, bathed in the serene glow of impending motherhood. Names were discussed. The standard joke was that the children would be "Marzilians" -- half Marine and half Brazilian. The remainder of the military affairs office, Mark, Peter, Cindy and Maggie filled in as an extended family. All of them had decided to finish their enlistment, but babies were a constant and welcome possibility.
As Brenda's identity gradually leaked to the press, it had little impact on her life on the ranch. Her parents and younger brother, however, were having trouble adjusting to the Secret Service contingent around their home in Texas. They moved into a spacious condo at the "Hospitality" facility for relief. Soon Nicole's mother joined them. Jesus and Juan considered them all to be treasures, much more grandparents and uncles than in-laws.
General Tower, however, may have changed the most. He began to appear out of uniform more frequently although he maintained an even more rigid security around the property. The ranch was an electronic quagmire for any infiltrator. The General even encouraged some of the Marines to ride as guard sentries on horse back. The Secret Service agents envied this. The discovery of the month came when a supply officer happened upon regulation Marine uniforms, long since fallen into disuse, which were designed for horse mounted duty. General Tower joked that the men looked like they were reporting to 'Black Jack' Pershing.
He rode horses with Juan, and taught everyone who was interested how to fly fish. Everyone was interested including the mothers to be. He was rapidly moving into a position of loving grandfatherhood and even began to take a gentlemanly interest in Nicole's mother, Beth Ramsey.
The entire group became an extended family. The ranch became a happy oasis away from the political mayhem which was raging more and more everyday through the country.
