© 2024 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

All Aboard Andi's Dream

Chapter 20

All Aboard Andi's Dream

Doctor Lucero Reyes stepped into room number 425 without looking up from his clipboard. "Congratulations! Your DNA test came back and the federal database says that you are Lieutenant Colonel Paul L. Jarecki United States Air Force, retired." Lucero finally looked up from the clipboard and saw Wonka laying on the bed with Paul. Wonka was panting happily as Paul gently petted the chocolate lab. "Uh, where did the dog come from?"

Paul hugged Wonka tighter to his side and said, "him? We've been pals for a long time, haven't we, buddy?" Paul rubbed Wonka's head, but Wonka glared at Doctor Reyes. Wonka decided that nobody was going to separate him from Paul again and he glared like the young resident like he was a threatening porterhouse, and if he made the wrong move, Doctor Reyes was going to find out what Wonka can do to a porterhouse.

"Well, he can't..."

"Wonka is a trained, registered support animal and he's my protector. This dog took a bullet for me," said Paul with stern authority. "He stays, or I go. That is your choice, doctor."

"What is going on out here?" demanded Andi, as she stepped out of Paul's bathroom. She was wearing her VA lab coat with Doctor Adrianna Roberts embroidered over her pocket, which contained pens, a thermometer, and an otoscope (that small flashlight/magnifier for inspecting ears, nose, mouth). She had her stethoscope around her neck, but she also was carrying Danny, who was now wearing a fresh diaper. She handed Danny to Paul and whirled on the young doctor. "I asked you a question, doctor." Andi's years of teaching students, interns, and residents were kicking in.

"I was telling Mister Jarecki that the dog..."

"That's DOCTOR Jarecki, if you don't mind. He and I have earned the title. And you? I'll try to keep an open mind." She snatched the clipboard out of Doctor Reyes's hands and reviewed it. It was Paul's DNA report from the FBI. She took her pen and after several loud clicks, she circled where it said in his military profile "Doctor of Cardiological Sciences," and handed the clipboard back. "The dog stays."

"But hospital policy..."

"If he was blind, would you force him to tie up his service dog outside of the hospital?"

"No, but..."

"Then why can't a soldier with PTSD keep his service dog?"

"Ma'am, it's hospital policy..." started Doctor Reyes.

"That is: 'DOCTOR, it's hospital policy,'" snapped Andi. "Or aren't my achievements as a pulmonologist equal to yours because I'm just a woman?"

Doctor Reyes looked like he was just punched in the nose. His eyes were open wide in shock and his jaw moved up and down, but nothing came out. "I asked you a question, Doctor Reyes!" she snapped with that tone of voice that brought back Lucero's terror of failure that marked his undergrad years.

Just then, an older doctor in a lab coat that covered his three-piece suit entered. "Doctor Roberts, I see you met our resident Doctor Reyes. Your opinion?"

"Doctor Armondo!" said Andi in shock. It truly was Doctor Sinclair Armondo, her administrator at Colorado University! He's the man that gave her so much time off until she resigned her position to marry Paul. "So good to see you again, sir. This is a bit of a shock!"

Doctor Armondo shrugged and said, "Last May, we had three feet of wet, heavy snow in Denver, and my snowblower wouldn't start. I said 'Enough!' and I took the offered position down here." His name tag read Hospital Administrator. "So, what do you think of our newest resident, Doctor Reyes?"

"Doctor Reyes and I were just becoming acquainted. I'll work up a professional opinion for you, Doctor," said Andi.

Doctor Sinclair Armondo stepped up to Paul's bed and gently petted Wonka's head. Wonka lowered his head and rested with the contented smile that Labrador Retrievers are famous for. He obviously realized that Doctor Armondo was on his side.

Doctor Armondo took a flashlight and checked Paul's pupil reaction and muttered, "much better. And that's quite a dog you have here, Doctor Jarecki." He ran a finger over Wonka's support animal vest. It came from the Save-A-Vet foundation, a nonprofit that retrains military and police dogs to be support dogs for veterans. "You're a veteran too, boy?"

"He was a drug dog for the Buffalo PD, whose handler died. Doctor Jarecki's sister-in-law heard about Wonka and paired them together, and now Wonka is Doctor Jarecki's assistant," said Andi.

"I still don't know if I will forgive Doctor Jarecki for stealing one of my best doctors in Colorado," Doctor Armondo said with a playful smile at Andi. Then, turning back to Paul, he held his stethoscope up. "May I, doctor?"

"By all means, sir."

Doctor Armondo listened to Paul's heart. "Good! So much better than last night when we first met." Then he listen to Danny's heart. The tiny boy actually smiled as the stethoscope touched his chest. "When was he born?"

"November, at the height of a lake effect blizzard," said Paul. "He's the first baby I ever delivered," he added with pride.

"Ah... you never forget your first... and you get to keep him! Bonus! You and Doctor Roberts do good work, Doctor Jarecki." Then he turned back to Andi and said, "Doctor Jarecki is looking much better. But what about Doctor Reyes? Forget professional opinion, Doctor Roberts. What is your personal impression of Doctor Reyes?"

"Brash, cock sure, arrogant. He'd make a good surgeon with that attitude. As for a medical resident, he could use work on patient relationships, especially with veterans with PTSD," said Andi.

"Sadly, we could all use that, Doctor Roberts. Doctor Jarecki, Wonka, thank you both for your service." As Dr. Armondo left, he patted Dr. Reyes on the shoulder and quietly said, "The dog stays."

"Doctor Armondo," said Reyes, and he followed the hospital administrator out into the hallway. "Doctor Armondo, the dog!"

Sinclair Armondo looked down at Lucero Reyes and said, "Doctor Reyes, what is it that has you so worked up about that dog? Is it the dog? Or is it that Doctor Roberts gave you a spanking in front of a patient?"

"Who does she think she is?"

"She's your patient's wife, which can carry more weight than just being the patient. We are not just treating a drug addict here; we are treating an entire family. Doctor Jarecki was held captive for two weeks and his kidnappers injected him with various and sundry opiates to keep him quiet. Thank God they used opiates because the fellow who pulled him out of the swamp where he was left to drown was carrying NARCAN."

Lucero Reyes nodded. Narcan is a miracle, but it only works on overdoses of opiate drugs. "I wasn't briefed on any of this!" said Doctor Reyes. "I was off when he came in last night. All I was told was that he had overdosed, was probably addicted and his identity just came back from the DOD."

"Doctor Reyes, you're a resident. You're still learning. You need to interview every patient and learn the things that you weren't briefed. Do you think that drug overdose and drowning was the entire story? You could have assumed that was a suicide, and that would have led you off in the entirely wrong direction. He was kidnapped, which means you have a whole new kettle of fish to deal with. You must discover everything because the charge nurse is only going to give you enough information to get you pointed in the right direction, but not enough to plan out a treatment. That's why I assigned Doctor Jarecki to you. He's smart, so pay attention to him, but also to Doctor Roberts. She was one of my best teaching doctors back in Colorado."

In Paul's room, Paul was gazing fondly at his son, who lay cradled in his arm. Wonka leaned across Paul and licked Danny's foot, causing the tiny boy to squeal and kick. "When did Wonka start tasting children and when did Danny start squeaking?" asked Paul.

"Just now," said Andi. "I've never seen this before. Wonka has done nothing since he was shot. He barely ate most days."

"My poor old buddy," said Paul and he patted a cheerful dog. "It's time for me to take care of you from now on, buddy. Maybe let you chase a chicken or two."

"You let him chase chickens?"

"It keeps the chickens on their toes." Paul looked around to see if anyone was listening, then whispered, "He just chases them. He doesn't know what to do when he catches one. One peck and he's done." Andi laughed heartily, joined by a squeal from Danny who chimed in for no reason other than it felt good to squeal.

"Excuse me, Doctor Jarecki, Doctor Roberts," said Doctor Reyes. "I should apologize. I was not aware of your situation and I failed to gather the correct information to prepare a method of treatment."

"Yes, you did. But I see you took Doctor Armondo's advice and returned for a second try," said Andi.

"I uh... I didn't..."

"Don't worry, he did the same thing to me when I was a resident at Colorado University," said Andi. "He was head of Pulmonary."

"So I'm not alone," said Doctor Reyes.

"Oh no," said Andi. "When a doctor has been admitted, he sends in every intern and resident in the hospital for abuse. It's called Training. Right Doctor Armondo?"

"Dead on," chuckled the hospital administrator from the doorway where he was observing Doctor Reyes. He turned and left, knowing that Doctor Reyes was in good hands.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" asked Doctor Reyes.

Paul sighed deeply. He knows for a fact that Andi will not help him unless he starts to talk about Frank Rosetti. The problem is that Paul doesn't clearly remember what happened. He remembers that nasty old mini-van. It was so decrepit that he felt unclean just being in it. Just the thought of being in that wreck made him want to walk into his dealership and lock himself in a new car and let the scent of a new car purge the memories of that old piece of shit Mopar.

"We had just come back from a party, and I helped Andi and Danny get in the house. I went back outside to put the van in the garage when I was jumped. I remember seeing four guys. Three jumped me and one just stood in my garage watching while the other three pulled a canvas bag over my head, then someone shot Wonka and they stuffed me in a minivan. I remember thinking that the one that was just watching was Oliver Linwood, but he's been in prison since the fifteenth."

"Then what happened?"

Paul pondered for a moment, but finally said, "I tried to escape. I almost choked a man to death, but a guy with a Russian accent stuck a needle into my neck and it knocked me out. When I recovered, I found that I was in the sleeper cab of a semi. John would have loved it. He always wanted to know what was in a sleeper. They had a microwave and a tv and an upper bunk like a Pullman Sleeper."

"Then what?"

"They would let me out to relieve myself, eat, drink, then we'd go back, and I'd get drugged again. I remember I couldn't breathe. I..." All he could remember of that was Melony yelling at him to fight, then it got easier to breathe, "then I woke up here."

"How are you feeling right now?" asked Doctor Reyes.

"Awful. Nausea, stomach cramps, tremors, chills... I'm restless and agitated. I'm in withdrawal, aren't I?"

Reyes nodded and said, "Yes, you are." There was no way to word this to make it any prettier than it was, and being a doctor, Paul knew. He merely wanted confirmation.

Paul winced. After two weeks of being shot up with different substances, his body wanted more. Paul knew he was getting different concoctions of drugs. He could tell the difference by the way that it made him feel. He remembered one that was almost a burning sensation. He was sure that was morphine because he's heard that description from patients. Another made him warm and dreamy. That must be heroin. Paul felt like he became a walking encyclopedia of opiates. "How long is this going to last?" he asked.

"That is hard to say, but since you weren't a long-term addict, we don't expect it to go past three days."

"Thanks," moaned Paul.

"We can give you methadone, which will help with the cravings."

"I don't have cravings for heroin," said Paul. "If anything, I'm craving steak, a nice big baked potato with butter and sour cream. I want a taco salad in a crunchy bowl, and a cake, that green pistachio cake Andi makes for the girls."

"Have-Summore Cake," said Andi. Nana Olsen taught her to make that years ago. It's made with pistachio pudding and has whipped cream frosting. If she didn't keep an eye on Paul and the twins, they'd eat the whole thing in one sitting.

"Yeah, that stuff," said Paul. "I'm hangry."

"Sadly, your sleep schedule is going to be disrupted also," said Dr. Reyes. "The best thing I can suggest is something like Tylenol PM to help restore the sleep cycle." He turned to Andi and said, "Did I miss anything, Doctor Roberts?"

"I would suggest a pulmonary workup. He inhaled half a swamp. I'm worried about damage to his vascular system and a potential for infection from the swamp water."

"Will do," said Dr. Reyes, and he went to the small computer terminal in the room and ordered a full cardio-vascular work up. "You're going to be busy tomorrow."

"He's going to be busy today, too. The girls will be out of school soon and we're going to do a family zoom call," said Andi.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Sandy and Madeline were pinging off the walls all day in school. Their papa was coming home! They still had a police escort because Miss Julissa wasn't sure that all the bad guys were locked up. They sailed through math and for some reason, their policeman was surprised at that. Julissa Tanaka didn't give him a heads up that they were advanced students in a highly advanced class.

At the beginning of class, the teacher opened with simple exercises "to wake up our math minds" and they went around the room, one child after another. The teacher held up a flash card with a quick equation on it like 7-3= and the child that was next would shout out "Four!" then on to the next child. They went around the classroom twice and it was lightning fast. The last card was for everyone. A larger card showed 3+8(4-2)-7= and Skip immediately came up with 15, but Madeline jumped up as all her classmates were writing out their calculations and shouted, "Twelve!"

"Very good, Madeline, but we raise our hands in class."

"Sorry," said a blushing little blond, and she eased back into her chair.

Skip realized he forgot the order of operations or PEDMAS. PEDMAS means Parenthesis, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction and they must be done in that order to get the right answer. Instead of starting with 3+8 Madeline started with 4-2 then multiplied that with 8, added the 3 and subtracted 7. Detective Skip Morris, with a master's degree in criminal justice, was taken to school by a six-year-old.

And that was just the beginning and Skip completely lost track of what was being taught. Luckily, he was being paid to look out the windows and monitor the classroom door. After class, they headed out into the hallway. "You actually understood that math?" Detective Skip Morris asked as they tugged him along to their next class. Math was his best subject in school, and he didn't understand most of what the teacher was teaching. It had something to do with numerical relationships in differing numerical bases.

"Uh huh," said Sandy. "Calculations in base eight."

"Octal mathematics," fumed Madeline. "It's baby math." She was angry that they wouldn't let them advance more than 3 grades to a math class that fit their capabilities.

The twins tugged their escort faster into their English class, where they had completed Charlotte's Web and were starting a new book. The first reader was a nervous looking young boy. He looked to be twice as old as the twins, which was normal. Being preemies, they were roughly the size of a four-year-old, and this being a second grade English class, he was almost eight. He stood up and began to read. "Chapter One: An Unexpected Party. In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit..."

The Hobbit? Skip realized he read that as an eighth grader in middle school, this was second grade! The teacher saw the shocked look on his face and chuckled. He wondered if Julissa had been startled when they read Charlotte's Web. He followed the adventures of Bilbo Baggins (the kids thought it was a cool name) three paragraphs at a time. The kids read out loud until the dwarves took over Bilbo's home, at which point the class ended. It was time for lunch and the detective had a desire to re-read There and Back Again.

After class was over, the twins dashed off, almost losing their police escort. It was pizza day at the cafeteria, and Yi allowed them to have school pizza for lunch. The sound was a cacophony of youthful voices as they competed to out-shout each other. The lines for the cafeteria kitchen were long, so Skip could tell that pizza was the favored lunch. He didn't see any child carrying a sack lunch from home. There was so much going on in front of him it was hard to keep an eye on the twins and keep an eye out for a threat to the twins at the same time.

Sandy and Madeline held court in the cafeteria. Skip was told by Julissa that Andi was worried about the twins socializing because they were so close to each other, but here they were, queen regents in a court room of adoring jesters. They were surrounded by laughing children that were their age, but quite often, a much older student would edge into the crowd seated around the twins and ask a question or thank them for help with their schoolwork.

Skip was overwhelmed by the constant movement, the noise, and the smell, that unforgettable smell of school cafeteria pizza, orange slices, and milk.

"Come on!" demanded the twins, and they headed for the cafeteria door. At the door, they stopped and whirled around and Sandy demanded, "Did you take your tray and dishes back?"

"I didn't have lunch," said Skip.

"You should always have lunch!" demanded Madeline. "It's healthy."

"I'll remember that tomorrow," said Skip as they led him to their last portion of the day, kindergarten. He walked up to the teacher and said, "Hi, I'm Detective Skip Morris. I am on Sandy and Madeline's protection detail."

"Angela Zimmerman," said the kindergarten teacher with a smile as she shook the large young man's hand. "I hope we won't have a repeat of the other day."

"We don't think so. Doctor Jarecki has been freed and is recovering in a Jacksonville hospital."

"That's incredible!"

"Sandy and Madeline will be talking to him on Zoom after class."

"They must be excited."

Skip chuckled. "They always seem excited to me."

"True, you just have to figure out what they're excited about." She then clapped her hands, "Ok kiddos, let's settle down. Sandy? Madeline? Would you like to introduce your guest?"

Sandy and Madeline stood on either side of the detective and Madeline said, "This is our detective. He gets to shoot someone with his phaser if they're bad guys."

Suddenly, all the kids in the classroom started shaking and chanting "bbbbbbbbbbb." Skip looked over at Mrs. Zimmerman, who just shook her head.

"Sandy, Madeline. Tell your classmates his name and a little about him."

"This is Detective Morris," started Madeline.

"His first name is Skip," said Sandy.

"Like skip rope!" said Madeline brightly, which caused Skip's cheeks to heat up. He was sure they could tell he was blushing.

There was a long pause while the twins thought about something to say about the detective. Finally, Sandy said, "He's black."

After a pause to consider a salient point, Madeline happily added, "Not like Aunt Macy." She was talking about skin tone. Aunt Macy's skin is very dark, like dark chocolate. Skip's skin tone was lighter, just like their cousin Katarina. Having made that point, the twins fell silent in thought.

Finally, Sandy added, "And he's got a phaser like Miss Julissa and he shoots bad guys!"

"bbbbbbbbbbb."

"Sandy!" said Mrs. Zimmerman in a scolding voice.

"Sorry..."

Jonathan raised his hand and asked, "Is he a Buffalo Bill?" The entire class perked up. The cult of adoration of the Buffalo Bills football team even reaches kindergarten. The people of western New York are addicted to the Buffalo Bills, the fanbase even has a name, they call themselves the Bills Mafia.

"No, I am not a player for the Bills," chuckled Skip. "But in college I played safety for LSU." That meant nothing to the students because Buffalo is not a college football town. "And I've met some of the players for the Bills." Skip was immediately a hero. He met a player for the Bills! Skip didn't mention that he hangs out at a nightclub that a few of the players visit and, like many members of the Bills Mafia, Skip goes to the Bills open training camp and was able to meet a few players there.

He was suddenly swamped with questions from students who wanted to know more about the Bills, especially their quarterback, whom Skip never met. "Can Josh Allen really throw a ball and hit a mountain?" one child asked. There was an ad on TV with the Bills quarterback throwing a football at a distant mountain and causing a snowslide. Josh Allen was the one Buffalo Bill that any kindergarten student would know.

"I'm positive he could hit a mountain," said Skip. He just didn't add "if he was standing on it."

It took Mrs. Zimmerman a few minutes to restore order. The twins and their classmates spent the rest of the day perfecting the use of scissors and library paste in their artistic endeavors, crafting paper dolls and clothes out of different colors of construction paper and putting them in a setting. They soon had a couple of construction paper pieces of artwork that showed their whole family back together with mom, papa, the twins, Danny, Wonka, and Jolie. The only actual difference in their works was the color of choice they used for the background and clothing. They both included a Christmas tree and spent a lot of time decorating it with crayons.

"Ok! That's time!" said Mrs. Zimmerman. "Put your stuff away and get ready to go!"

"KAY!" cried the twins, and they put their art in their backpacks and dashed for the door.

"Wait!" called Mrs. Zimmerman. "Coats and boots!"

"Kay," said the twins sadly. They took off their sneakers and stuffed them in their lockers that were in an attached room, then pulled their coats on and carried their boots to the classroom so they could sit down and pull their boots on. Melissa and Sandy swapped their right boots, so that each was wearing a solid red boot on one foot and a Unicorn snow boot on the other.

"Why did you do that with your boots?" asked Skip.

"For poppa," said Sandy. A year ago, Paul dressed Madeline and Sandy to play in the snow. One had a green hat, coat, snow pants, mittens, and boots, the other was all red. Paul mixed everything up and the girls were a mixture of green and red and enjoyed it. It drove the OCD part of Andi crazy, so the twins only mix up their clothes when their poppa was involved. Then, with their knit caps half pulled on and their coats unzipped, they grabbed their backpacks and dashed for the door, dragging their scarfs behind them. "Sandy! Madeline!" called Mrs. Zimmerman, but the twins were in the hall, battling the crowd and running for the main door.

"Oh no," groaned Skip and he raced for the hallway, but the crowded hall was a nightmare for any protective detail. He could track their movement in the crowd of students that were taller by the way that kids were being shoved aside by an invisible force that moved through the crowd. Then Skip saw them, a large older man and a short middle-aged woman.

The twins squealed as the man said, "I got you finally!" and they were scooped up out of the crowd.

Skip was fighting through the waves of children and reaching for his pistol when Sandy squealed "Unka Gus!" followed by "Aunty Lucy!" from Madeline. Skip finally caught up with Gus and Lucy as they zipped up Sandy and Madeline, tied down their hoods, put on their scarfs and put their mittens on. "Your mommy made these all by herself," said Lucy. "You should wear them."

"Sandy don't like mittens because she can't pick her nose with them on," said Madeline with an evil grin.

"Why would you say something that mean?" asked Gus.

"It's true! She's got a cold, and all stuffed up..."

"Enough," chuckled Gus. He raised four righteous, rowdy girls and he could picture Lisa, the youngest, saying something like that about any of her older siblings. Not twenty years ago, when she was Madeline's age, she would say it NOW. "It's cold out, keep your hats and mittens on or you'll be sick when pappa gets home. And say thank you to Detective Morris."

"Thank you, Detective Morris," said the twins, then Sandy, feeling feisty, said, "Why did we thank him?"

"For not shooting you," said Skip. Then he added, "bbbbbbbbbbb!"

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Don Bowerly's radio talk show isn't heard on the radio outside of Buffalo, but it is on the web, and his shows are becoming very popular as podcasts. One of his podcasts was making the rounds. Aleksei Yevgeniy Markov was being visited by a lawyer he's used in the past, Casimir Vescovi, who brought an audio recording device containing a recent podcast. "Listen Alexi, you'll understand..." said Casimir, and he pressed play. The distinctive voice of Don Bowerly could be heard as he interviewed a guest on his radio show.

"While we were out, the new mayor of Springville, New York, called. Doctor Jarecki, Madam Mayor, congratulations on your sweeping victory."

Then Andi Jarecki could be heard on a phone call. There was a bit of background noise. It sounded like she was in a moving car.

"Thank you Don. It was a crazy time, but we did it. I want to thank my wonderful sister-in-law Macy Jarecki, who stuck by me through thick and thin, and Veronica von Köster, who trained me on these interviews, then set them up for me, and all those wonderful volunteers who helped us get the word out and the money in. My campaign was 100% voter funded and Veronica helped us raise the funds as well."

Bowerly responded, "Ah yes, Veronica. Smart, beautiful, a wonderful woman."

"And her future husband is sitting right next to me. Josh is my driver because I'm so nervous I can barely hold my phone," said Andi in response.

"And why would you be so nervous? You won your very first election. It's all behind you now."

"Vhy are you bothering me with this?" demanded Aleksei. "I haf other thinks to be doink."

On the recording an excited Andi cried, "Because they found Paul! We are heading to the hospital to see him now. I can see the building in the distance."

"Is it over? The manhunt is done..." The assistant turned off the recording.

"If you don't want to hear it, I'll understand."

Aleksei's heart sank, and he felt a churning in his bowels. For the first time in his life, he felt fear. That bastard should be dead! He pumped him so full of heroin that he should have died of an overdose before he hit the water. NONE of Aleksei's kidnapping victims survive, NONE! "Turn back on, please," demanded Aleksei Markov. Only Aleksei could make the word 'Please' sound like a death threat.

"Ok, there's only just a little more that you need to hear."

Again, they could hear Andi. She was clearly excited. Aleksei didn't know it, but as Andi was speaking, Josh was pulling into the University of Florida North hospital where Paul was admitted. "Yes, it is. Paul is free. I don't know his condition, but he's free and his kidnappers are now in prison. I want to thank Special Agent Colella of the FBI and his entire team, Detectives Klafka, Gaulin, Tanaka, and Morris of the town of Concord, for their diligence and my ex-husband Frank for providing the information that led to the kidnapper's arrest."

The legal assistant hit rewind and then play again.

"... of the town of Concord, for their diligence, and my ex-husband Frank for providing the information that led to the kidnapper's arrest."

He hit rewind and play again.

"... diligence, and my ex-husband Frank for providing the information that led to the kidnapper's arrest."

Again.

"... my ex-husband Frank for providing the information that led to the kidnapper's arrest."

"I'll give you three guesses who her ex-husband Frank is."

Aleksei roared in anger. He fought against the chains that held him to his seat in the prison chair of the Athens, Georgia prison. "Vhere is Rosetti?" Aleksei demanded.

"He's in Upstate. And he wasn't alone. Linwood sang too."

"I vill kill zem!" roared Aleksei.

"Do it quick Aleksei, because you're not getting out of this one alive yourself."

"Vat do you mean?"

"Jarecki, he wasn't just some car dealer, he's a big time cardiologist for the VA and he was running for public office. His wife took over and ran in his place and is now an elected government official. One of her best friends is Judge Atherton."

"Bullshit!"

"How many times have I told you to check the job out FIRST! Linwood's dad got nabbed smuggling whores and drugs into the US, and Jarecki was part of the sting. This was a piss-poor revenge plot, and you got used like a fifty cent tampon. Atherton is going to use that election to convince the justice department to try you and since you dumped the body in Florida, she's going to try you there and impose the death sentence. Because Florida still has the death sentence, she's already convinced New York to let Florida take first crack at you."

"He didn't die, they can't..." sputtered Aleksei, but his legal advisor interrupted him.

"You tried to kill him. The intent was there. That's all they need. You, my friend, are toast, and there isn't going to be a senile old fool riding to your rescue to pardon you. Oh, and one more bit of news for you..."

"Vat now," groaned Aleksei.

"It's your truck driver buddy, Sprague."

"Da, Rick Sprague. Vat about him?"

"He's pissed that the feds impounded his truck because of you. He told the DA everything, including the intentional fentanyl overdose that you gave to Sal Carboni and Theodoro Viola. Their murder is being added to your list of greatest hits."

"You are my lawyer. What are you doing?"

"Lawyer? No. Not even a representative. This is a courtesy call. A certain Mister Richard Sprague paid me a hefty retainer for my services, and for me to represent you would be a conflict of interest, seeing as he is bringing suit against you."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

The Jarecki house was a madhouse, so many people wanted to watch the zoom call and maybe get a chance to say hi to Paul. Friends, neighbors, and co-workers were there. Several managers from Jarecki Motors were there, as was the COO Min Zhong Sun. Much of the church board had shown up and they all love Cholly, but the little orphan was terrified because so many people wanted to pick him up.

For his entire life, it was just himself and his drug addict maman in a one-room hovel. Her only source of income was doing odd jobs for a man that Cholly didn't like. His maman called him Monsieur le Maire. (Mister Mayor) Then one day his mother lay down to sleep and he couldn't wake her up. For days, he cried and tried to wake maman up. Then the grumpy woman that his maman called "Madame Salope la Propriétaire " (Mrs. Bitch Landlady) took him out in the cold to his new family.

Suddenly Cholly was engulfed with something he's never experienced in his life: love. He wasn't just welcome; he was adored. Everyone in the church considered Cholly their grandson, or their nephew, and they wanted to touch and hug him, which frightened him, and the adoring people had to learn to approach Cholly gently. Church was one thing. He was always near his cousins Sandy and Madeline, who supported him, but this crowd at the Jarecki house waiting for word from Paul was overwhelming.

He ended up in Macy's arms in tears. "C'est bon, mon amour, (It's ok my love) Ils t'aiment (they love you)" but he clung to her and hid his face in her shoulder. To the crowd, Maman Macy said, "he is OK. he's just overwhelmed. He'll be fine when the girls get here."

Poor Cholly. His real name was Chamonix Lévesque. Official records showed he was born in Springville immediately after his mother moved to the US from New Caledonia. His mother, abandoned by the man that promised her a wedding ring, took her anger and hate out on her newborn son. When Cholly was having a bad evening, when memories of the pain and abuse woke him in his sleep screaming, Macy wondered what kind of animal would treat a child this way. Being a pastor, she knew, but she didn't want to think about this darling boy being raised by a monster. Cholly can't get into a bath alone because he's been scalded in the past. The scars of the whipping he received from a lamp cord were finally starting to heal, and the painful scars from horrific diaper rash that he probably experienced his entire brief life were also starting to heal.

Cholly's tears break Macy's heart, but his laughter lifts Macy's spirits, and he is so adorable when he carries his huge Newfoundland puppy around, and it's almost too big for him to lift. It makes her want to scoop up her little man and never let him go. Macy once worried that her love for Cholly would overshadow her love for Katarina, but instead it showed Macy that she has the capacity to love and care for both of them, something she never thought possible.

As soon as the twins came in the house, returning home from school, Cholly's tears dried up and he squirmed to be let down. "Get your coat on, Cholly!" sang out Sandy. "It's time to walk the puppies!" Madeline helped Cholly with his coat and they went to the big kennel near the kitchen bathroom and let the Newfoundland puppies Jolie (French for 'pretty') and Chiot (French for 'puppy') out of their kennel.

The puppies bounced and yapped their joy at being set free. Cholly was knocked down twice by Chiot, who was overjoyed to be reunited with his boy, and since it was Chiot knocking him over, Cholly felt it was excusable to be knocked down and laid on the floor giggling while Chiot licked his mouth. "Come on!" cried Madeline, and the puppies dashed out the dog door, followed by all three children who fit through the dog door.

They laughed and played, tossing snowballs for the huge puppies to catch. They raced through paths worn into the two foot deep snow playing keep away from the dogs, then pulled Cholly around on the sled. They were completely unaware that the paths they ran back and forth in were originally cut by the kidnappers who stole Paul, and the police who tried to piece together the story. "Let's go to the park!" cried Sandy, but Yi, who was watching from the back porch, nixed that idea.

"Stay in the back yard!" Yi cried.

They played for nearly a half hour when Macy called them back inside. They were reluctant to return to the house, but Yi reminded them they're going to talk to papa soon. They got their boots and coats off and looked around. The house was almost empty. It was just Macy and John in the kitchen. "Where did everybody go?" asked Madeline.

"They're downstairs. We're going to talk to your dad on the laptop and they're going to watch on the big TV downstairs. Come on..." They led the three children into the parlor, where Grandma Heather and Grandpa Harold waited. Harold was setting up the connection on the laptop. The laptop was on the coffee table in front of the couch and the twins snuggled up between grandma and grandpa and Cholly crawled up on Harold's lap.

Soon they could see something on the laptop, and the twins were confused. It was someone who looked like their dad laying in a hospital bed. Wonka was laying next to him and Danny was in his arms wearing his Buffalo Bills onesie, and their mom was sitting next to him... but it wasn't papa! He was pale and drawn and he had bruises on his face and he was so skinny. That couldn't be papa! The twins hurriedly began chattering with each other in their private language that Andi called Twinbabble, and Cholly joined in with his pidgin-French. Then all three children started crying.

"Papa!" wailed the twins, their little hearts broken that their father was so brutally abused. "Papa!" the three were inconsolable as they reached out to the monitor and wept and chattered in Twinbabble. Downstairs, the group watching Paul's huge digital projector were shocked as well. They were warned that Paul took some abuse while in captivity, but this was unexpected.

"Sandy, Madeline, use your words," said Andi sternly.

"But papa!" cried Sandy.

"Paw!" emphasized Cholly.

"Papa... don't hurt," whimpered Madeline, as if her words would heal his wounds.

"I'm ok," said Paul. "Just seeing you two makes me feel better."

"Papa is ok," said Andi. "He's in the hospital and the doctors say he is getting better and we will be home soon. Now tell papa what you did in school today."

"We started reading a book," said Sandy. "About a guy that has hairy feet and dwarves."

That caused Paul to laugh. "Are you reading The Hobbit? That's my favorite book."

"I don't like it," said Madeline with a pout. "The dwarf guys are mean and they eat all Bubo's food."

"Bilbo will be fine," said Paul. "He has a big adventure and gets to meet an elf princess. He even meets a dragon."

His words cheered up the twins, and they started talking in Twinbabble until Andi warned them about using their words again. "Is it a yellow dragon?" asked Sandy.

"He's gold," said Paul.

"Oh, that's not yellow," said Madeline,

"His name is Smaug," Paul added. "And he's very mean."

"Then he's not a real dragon," said Madeline.

"Real dragons are nice," said Sandy. Paul and Andi looked at each other trying to figure out where this bit of logic came from, but by then the twins were off on their own tangent and they chattered about Julissa and Skip, ending with "bbbbbbbbbbb."

The twins, having run out of things to talk about so they were pulled on to Heather and Harold's lap along with Cholly. "They've been so good considering everything that's gone on..." said Heather. But she almost said it. She almost revealed the worst part of the weeks without Paul. They agreed with Andi before she and Josh left that there would be no mention of the attempts on John's life and the attempts to kidnap the twins until the police spoke with Paul.

"Son," said Harold, "I am proud to call you that. Not because of the houses and businesses and all, but because of the way you love our Andi and our twins..."

"Grandpa!" said Sandy as she patted Harold's leg.

"Grandpa!" parroted Cholly, and he patted Sandy's leg for good measure.

"The local detectives are on their way down there to give you a preliminary briefing and an update on ongoing investigations," said Harold.

"Is there anything you're not telling me?" asked John.

"I will be honest and say that there's quite a bit we're not telling you," said Harold. "Some things you don't say over a zoom call with the neighborhood watching, and some things you don't say because we don't have all the details. But there are several policemen headed your way who will give you the details they won't give us."

"So, you're saying that you won't answer my questions?" asked Paul.

"Won't, can't, forbidden to, all of the above," said Heather. "I'm sorry, honey. There's so much that we don't know. The police are still piecing it together."

Paul looked like he was going to explode, then his features softened. "You're right. It's been hell on everyone, and Zoom isn't for everything. When is the housewarming party?"

Heather breathed a sigh of relief. One day they closed on their dream house and the next there were things happening that they didn't believe could happen in Springville. "We're not even going to think of that before you get back," said Heather. "Just get healthy and come home safe."

Next came John and Macy. "Thank you so much for watching my family," said Paul as Macy visibly lost the fight against tears. "Now stop, I'm alive and hopefully it's over."

"It is over," said John. "The detectives are planning to talk to you tonight and your PR team is working out your schedule right now," He turned the laptop so Paul could see Veronica working on her laptop at the table with Paul's COO Min looking over her shoulder.

Paul was about to ask if there was any way that he could avoid the VIP treatment when Macy broke into tears. "It's ok, I look worse than I feel," said Paul.

"Je suis vraiment désolé, c'était tellement terrifiant!" wept Macy through the tears (I'm so sorry but it was terrifying!)

"Did you get that?" asked Andi, who still wasn't used to her sister-in-law's use of French.

"She said it was scary."

"The church board misses you," said John. "And poor Gus and Josh both feel responsible."

"How can they be responsible? This had nothing to do with them."

"It's displaced guilt," said Macy. "It happens to everyone."

"Well, I can't psychoanalyze everyone," said Paul. "When they catch the bastards that did this, they'll talk." Then Paul softened. "How are you doing?" he asked his brother.

"Fine..."

"Connerie," Macy muttered under her breath. Most people listening to the call didn't catch that, but Paul caught it. Being an avid hockey fan, he often sits in an auditorium that was half full of Canadians. From that experience, Paul's vocabulary of French obscenities is vast and impressive. And to hear beautiful, sweet Macy, pastor and psychologist, say "Bullshit" in her native tongue was shocking.

"Is there something you would like to add, Macy?"

"Saperlipopette! (A more polite Connerie) It was not fine! We were traumatized!" Macy almost shouted. "Our congregation is shattered! We gather for support and succor rather than the lesson..."

"Isn't that what a church is for?" asked Paul softly.

"It is," said John. "We just don't like to do it because we have a reason. It's easier to support each other when life is easy."

Paul realized that something was going on. Macy was in tears. It was those tears a woman has when the time to be strong is over and she's allowed to enjoy an emotional melt down. And was his brother wearing makeup? Yes, he was. "Where did you get the black eye?"

"How..."

"I tried the same thing when I got popped by Windecker's gestapo," said Paul. "Did you borrow Andi's make up?"

"Yes," said John sadly. Macy's makeup was far too dark for him. Yi worked on John for about twenty minutes but Paul saw through it. "A couple of park cops tried to evict Amelia Hernandez, and I went over to ask a few questions and the park cops didn't like it."

"They put him in jail!" cried Macy.

"Julissa got me out the next morning," said John.

"I didn't know where you were. I thought you were kidnapped too!" she wailed.

"Damn it," muttered Paul and he watched his brother and his wife clutching each other and weeping. They included Cholly and Katarina in their hug. "If I had been elected, I could have done something about this."

"The new mayor will take care of it," said Andi. "Trust me."

"Windecker? He's the cause of most of our pain," said Paul.

Just then, Wonka gave that whimper that said he needed to go outside, so Andi took Wonka's leash and walked him to the door, handed the leash to Josh who then took Wonka outside into the Florida weather. Paul still hasn't seen his friend. He's been sitting outside the room guarding Andi and Paul. They didn't know yet what the status of Paul's kidnappers were, they still haven't spoken to the police.

When Andi got back to the Zoom call, John was saying, "Nobody told you?"

"Told me what?" said Paul. "I really don't know if they did or not. I don't remember much before this morning when Andi came in with Wonka and Danny." Paul was feeding Danny from a bottle as the twins' faces appeared over John and Macy's shoulders. They had gotten bored and somehow climbed on the back of the love seat.

"Mommy won," said one of the twins. They were both wearing glasses, so Paul couldn't say who said that.

"What did mommy win?" asked Paul.

"You should tell him," said Macy. "Otherwise, he's going to wonder what Veronica and Josh are up to."

"Tell me," said Paul as he burped his son.

"There was one more day to file for candidacy and we had to do something," said John. "So, I announced to the congregation that I was going to run for mayor."

"Kenny pointed out that the pastor was restricted by the church bylaws and couldn't run for public office," said Andi. "We had all those signs that said, 'Vote for Jarecki,' It was me or Macy and she didn't say anything, so I said I would do it. We got a bunch of stickers that added Andi and slapped them on existing signs and added Adrianna to some others. Veronica started making calls and next thing I know, I'm doing interviews at the village hall and even at the dealership."

"At the dealership?"

"She was there for meetings anyhow," said Macy. "She did a good job keeping the company on course."

"You ran the dealership?" asked Paul.

Andi nodded happily, but Macy contradicted her. "She's running the entire company," said Macy. "She told Min to do what needed to be done, and she took the heat from anyone that complained."

"So, you were running the family, running a multimillion dollar business, and running a campaign?" asked Paul.

"I mostly sat with the FBI agents, waiting for a ransom call. It was Yi and Mom keeping things normal at the house as much as possible, and it was Min and Macy running the company. They just pushed me forward when there were questions. Veronica ran the campaign. She had so much fun doing it that I actually got caught up in the fun. Next thing I know, I won!"

"Oh baby, I'm so proud of you!" said Paul as he hugged Andi.

"I actually found out on the way down here this morning. I was on a plane, so Veronica arranged interviews for me. I did a statement for the news and an interview with Don Bowerly as Josh drove me here from the airport."

"Josh drove you here?" asked Paul.

"Hey man, she had a dog and a baby and a bunch of luggage and no idea where she was going," came Josh's drawl from out in the hallway. He stepped into the room leading Wonka, who hopped on the bed and resumed his position of sleepy guard dog.

Paul gave Andi a warm, congratulatory kiss and tried to convince Danny to join the kiss. "Did Windecker try to stop you?"

"No, he left me alone for some reason," said Andi. The implication that he didn't leave others alone was lost on Paul. When she pushed him away from the congratulatory kiss that would have led to much, much more if they weren't in a hospital in front of a zoom call, they looked and saw Lucy and Gus on the screen.

"Oh God, it's good to see you," sighed Paul. Paul was a gregarious fellow. He had a smile and a handshake for everyone and genuinely liked many people. But people he considered friends, people he felt comfortable enough with to open up and have a true, deep conversation, were few and far between. He could count his genuine friends on the fingers of one hand: Andi, John, Macy, Gus, Josh... and Wonka. Paul was happiest when he could have these friends around him and since being kidnapped after the Andelon party, he was adrift without them.

Once upon a time it was just John and Macy he could call friends. They rescued him from the downward spiral he laughingly called his "military career." But when he moved to Springville and brought his parents with him for a couple of years, the family was together. Katarina and Cecil, Paul, John, and Macy. The old farm he bought out on Trevett Road became his oasis, and Gus helped him build his cabins, one by one. First His and Andi's, then the kitchen/bath (since renamed Yi's Place), the princess cabin for the twins, then John and Macy's. Somewhere in there Josh, another battered veteran, bought the land across the street, and a quiet friendship bloomed.

"Thank you for not dying," said Gus with a big smile.

"It wasn't even a consideration," said Paul. "How was the honeymoon?"

"We're here to talk about you," said Lucy.

"Why? You know all about our honeymoon," said Paul. "You were both there... watching." Paul's statement earned him a poke in the ribs from Andi.

"I showed her Brooklyn," said Gus.

"I'm sorry," said Paul with a look of shock on his face. "And you're still married? That's love!"

"When were you ever in Brooklyn?" asked Andi.

"Oh, about three years ago John, Gus, Josh and I went to see a New York Jets, Buffalo Bills game..." started Paul.

"It weren't even in New York! It was in New Jersey," called Josh from the hallway. "The Jets are like the Harlem Globe Trotters; they never play a home game!"

They talked a bit more with Gus and Lucy, who apologized for enjoying their honeymoon while Paul was held captive. "No, don't even think like that," said Paul. "Your love is a gift from God and you should celebrate it every chance you get. Anyone that would complain about your honeymoon happening while I was..." Paul chuckled, then shrugged,"...otherwise engaged is being completely unrealistic."

"Who would say that?" said Andi.

"Oh, there're all kinds out there," said Paul. "Life doesn't stop for everyone while someone is having a problem... or is kidnapped."

"I can't help but feeling like it wasn't right," said Gus.

"That's because we're friends. We worry about each other. We'll get over it," said Paul. "I want a full report on your honeymoon when I get back. And Lucy, I want to break out of here fast. We have an inaugural ball to plan. Can you be my PCP so we can continue treatment?"

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Julissa Tanaka had been in and out of Florida many times when she was an investigator for the OSI, but she's never been to Jacksonville. Jacksonville was a Navy town, Mayport Naval Station on San Pedro Island, Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS JAX) just south of downtown Jacksonville, Blount Island Command Marine Corps support facility north of Jacksonville, and Kings Bay Submarine base just across the nearby Georgia line meant that there wasn't a reason for an Air Force investigations officer like Julissa to go there. And there was nothing there that would entice her to go there. Not football (gawd no!) not baseball either. Even though she loves Triple A ball more than major league baseball, she just couldn't bring herself to watch a ball game played by a team named 'The Jumbo Shrimp' unless it's T-ball.

As they changed planes in Atlanta-Hartford airport, Special Agent Frank Colella came up behind Detectives Klafka and Tanaka. "Detectives, we'll be on the same flight together to Jacksonville." He handed them manilla envelopes that were thick with documents.

"Why am I here?" demanded Julissa. "I have a business to run. Where's John Gaulin? He worked with my colleague on the case. I was a protection detail."

"You're a detective," snarled Agent Colella.

"I have more chickens in my jurisdiction than people. Why am I here?" Julissa demanded. Then she looked through the documents in the envelope. What she saw shocked her. "What didn't you guys fuck up? Holy shit..." then the reason came to her. "Ohhhh... I get it... you want me to smooth things over with the new mayor after your predecessor fucked up so badly?"

Special Agent Colella said, "No, of course not... I need you to smooth things over with the mayor's husband, the rightful mayor."

"First, he's not going to see it like that. He didn't want the damn job, but somebody had to get Windecker out of there. Second of all, he's not the rightful mayor, he wasn't elected. If you think that Doctor Jarecki will walk around with a chip like that on his shoulder, you've underestimated him and his entire family." Julissa's angry glare was kryptonite, and Frank Colella realized he had made the right choice in bringing Julissa with them. He needed someone with balls on this trip.

"Paul probably did not expect the mother of his children to do it," grumbled Julissa. She flipped through a few more pages.

The more she read, the worse it got. She knew something big was up, but what? Why? One rich kid whose dad gets popped running whores and drugs seeks revenge and... She started counting the soldiers they nabbed, at least three that tried to kill John on one occasion, two that tried to shoot him from a distance but were popped trying to kill Macy, another 5 that tried to get the girls, three that nabbed Paul and add Sprague the driver that's fourteen... For what?

Julisa read the reports from the different agents and the statements made by the captured would-be hit men who mostly kept quiet. It all added up to one thing: somebody laid out a lot of money to retrieve something, and at the same time someone else used that action to exact retribution on... on Paul? What did Paul do?

Julissa read the statements with increasing anger... the two actions interfered with each other... or was it one action with two aims? Or more? Was Paul dirty? Was somebody near him dirty? Then an icy chill ran down the detective's spine... was it Andi?

So much happened to everyone else in the family: two murder attempts on John, one murder attempt on Macy, two kidnapping attempts on the twins, Paul successfully kidnapped. But Andi? Nothing happened to her. It all happened around her. If those soldiers were successful, Andi would have been alone with Danny, sitting on a mountain of cash and cars. Fifteen successful car dealerships, two homes in Florida, an enormous yacht, a cabin and prime real estate out on Trevett Road, the house of her dreams and nothing to tie her down. She's as free as a bird.

What the hell...

"Let's GO Tanaka!" shouted Agent Colella.

Shit! They were boarding the plane. She dialed Skip's number, and it went to voicemail, so she dialed home. Her call was answered by the goofy, too cutesy voice of her husband, Ayato. "What's up honeybuns?"

"I don't have much time and I can't get Skip. I need you to do some cop work for me." She gave Ayato the list of things she needed done and got on the plane. She had no worries that he would get her request right, and get word to the right people. He's got a mind like a steel trap. He'd be a brilliant detective too, but he refuses to get out from behind his bar. That's his dream job. Fifteen drunk hunters can come in and shout their orders all at the same time, and Ayato will get each one right.

He needs to get the orders that Julissa gave him right or the wrong person will go to jail.

As the cops winged their way to Florida, Paul was fading in exhaustion, and it was late. Andi started to get into bed with Paul, and Wonka was getting excited and prancing around on the bed. "Wonka, rest," said Paul. Wonka relaxed and lay down, then placed his head on Paul's chest and sighed contentedly as Andi, with Danny, climbed into bed next to Paul.

"What was that about?" Andi asked as she and Paul kissed gently.

Paul pulled the bed table over the bed and opened the laptop and made his Zoom connection. "Not sure. Wonka didn't like that last FBI guy." FBI Special Agent Corbin Vaughan Cavanaugh was in his room late asking question after question that Paul couldn't answer because he was drugged so much he remembers little of the ordeal.

"Hi babies!" called Andi, as the twins and Cholly appeared on the laptop. They were sitting with John and Macy on the twins' bed.

"Hi Wonka!" cried Sandy and Madeline, and when Wonka didn't respond, they switched to daddy.

"Hi girls, are you ready for your story?"

"Uh huh!" they nodded furiously. Life wasn't the same without poppa reading a bedtime story. Even though they read beyond a second-grade level now, a story at bedtime with poppa is the only way to end the day.

Paul opened the book that Andi brought and began to read an ancient Polish fairytale. "The Good Ferryman and the Water Nymphs." The twins looked up in expectation. There's not enough nymph stories as far as they were concerned. "There was once an old man..."

"Start it right!" demanded the twins.

Paul chuckled. It was a game he's been playing with the twins since their first story together. He restarted the tale. "Once upon a time there was an old man, with three sons. They lived chiefly by ferrying people over a river; but he had had nothing but bad luck all his life..." And the girls actually stayed awake all the way to the end of the ancient Polish folktale.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

The next morning, Paul was wheeled back from the pulmonology lab where he was given test after test and he was exhausted. He hated sleeping alone and Andi took Danny and Wonka back to her room in the hotel next door last night. Even the handful of Tylenol PM he took didn't help.

It was a tough day for Paul. As soon as he was back in his room, the Nassau County Sheriffs had questions about how he got himself thrown into Tompkins Landing. It's a loop of a canal that comes out of the swamp and has a few alligators, forms a few little islands, but other than that, it's too shallow to launch anything but a rowboat there. Just about any time a road gets next to a waterway in North Florida, that spot is called a landing.

Then the FBI took over, asking question after question, and all the same questions that the uniformed cops asked. The uniformed cops were smart enough to know that people have their limits. The FBI agent in charge acted like he wasn't aware of that fact and continued to ask the same question time and time again. "How did you escape your captors?"

"I don't know," said Paul for the fourth time. "I woke up in a helicopter!" He was getting angry with this one agent... Corbin Vaughan Cavanaugh.

"What's the last thing you remember before waking up in a helicopter?" asked Special Agent Cavanaugh.

"Going to sleep, not in a helicopter."

"Mister Jarecki, we're just trying to get to the truth," said Special Agent Cavanaugh. His tone of voice was suddenly sweet and reassuring. "Mister Jarecki?" but Paul just turned to face him with a tired expression on his face.

"I think I'm done talking to you," said Paul. "I've had it up to here with your veiled threats and your disrespect. You may leave now."

"I'm not done asking questions," fumed FBI Special Agent Corbin Vaughan Cavanaugh. "When did you realize that you were no longer in New York?"

"On advice of counsel, I decline to answer any more questions until a member of my staff is present," said Paul.

"Mister Jarecki!"

"Wonka, guard," said Paul. Wonka sprang to his feet and stood over Paul's prone body and eyed FBI Special Agent Corbin Vaughan Cavanaugh with evil intent. One word from Paul and Wonka gets payback.

"Don't make me shoot your dog," said Cavanaugh, reaching under his blazer jacket.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" came a familiar voice. Paul looked, and it was Julissa.

"Julie, darling! Are your sales off with me down here on vacation?" Paul taunted, but Julissa wasn't paying attention. She was glaring at Special Agent Corbin Vaughan Cavanaugh.

"I will be conducting the questioning," said Julissa. "You have been relieved."

Cavanaugh glared at her, then said, "Let's see how Washington feels about this."

"We know how Washington feels, which is why you are not on this case," said Julissa.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she demanded as two more agents stepped into the room and motioned to Cavanaugh to follow them out.

Julissa pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed facing Paul and she scratched Wonka's ears as the dog smiled and sighed over the attention. "This is big, bigger than anyone realized," said Julissa. "The details are just beginning to come clear, but from now on the only cops you speak to are me, Charlie Klafka, and Special Agent Colella. Charlie will be keeping an eye on Andi, and I'll be your protection detail, along with Special Agents Colella and Wonka."

"Why, what is going on?" demanded Paul.

"There was a drug and slave smuggling deal going on that a car salesman busted up," said Julissa. "It was a bit bigger than anyone expected, even involving FBI agents."

"Like Cavanaugh?" asked Paul.

"Ask yourself, why would the director of the North-East region of the FBI be investigating a kidnapping in Western New York that ended up in a swamp on the Florida Georgia state line?"

"He never presented his bonafides to me, so I assumed he was legit," said Paul. "Then he started hammering me with question after question, over and over..."

"He wasn't trying to find out the truth, he was trying to replace it," said Julissa. "Did he talk about Andi at all?"

"Not directly. I would tell him something that happened to me and he would say, 'while your wife was comfortable in the house you built,' or something like that," said Paul.

"He was planting suspicion because he was going to arrest Andi."

"What?" shouted Paul.

"Wonka, comfort!" ordered Julissa and Wonka snuggled up close to Paul, resting his head on Paul's chest. If he could purr, he would be the perfect comfort animal. She's seen Andi order Wonka to comfort Paul before dropping bad news on him and Julissa decided to see if it would work. "Ok, there's no pretty way to say this, but Agent Cavanaugh was getting ready to blame it all on Andi and then let the press do his dirty work."

"That's ridiculous. How would anyone believe that?"

"There's a lot you haven't been told," said Julissa as Josh entered the room and Frank Colella pulled up a seat next to Julissa. Josh stood at Paul's other side and petted Wonka. "A lot of things have happened and none of them have been directed at Andi except for a little political smearing by Windecker."

"What things have happened?"

"Ok, I just want you to know that everyone was eventually caught and is in prison," said Frank Colella.

Confused and anxious, Paul turned to Josh and said, "What happened?"

His friend patted his shoulder and softly said, "Everyone is ok, that's the most important thing ol' buddy."

"What fucking happened?" Paul demanded firmly, which raised a protesting groan from Wonka.

Julissa decided on a manner of telling Paul that would keep the anger to a minimum. She held up a picture of two guys slumped over a table in a diner. They looked like any two drunks that passed out after a long night at the bar. "This is Sal Carboni and Theodoro Viola. They're two of the scumbags that kidnapped you. We believe that Sal Carboni shot Wonka."

"Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber," muttered Paul.

"What?"

"Oh, that's Andi's nicknames for those two jackasses... She's talked about them. They were constantly coming over and demanding that she make them dinner when she was married to Frank. I hope to god she doesn't have to deal with them again."

"Nah," said Julissa and held up a photo of the two on a coroner's slab. "They've had their last meal. Fentanyl and coffee. We believe that Aleksei Markov gave them a little something to calm their nerves. It's his MO."

"What else?" said Paul.

Julissa held up a photo of three men being taken away by cops from Gus's wood shop. Two were sitting up on stretchers, the third one was lying flat and his head bandaged as he was being wheeled through the snow on a stretcher. "The upright assholes are Nicola Bianco and Val Brunetti..."

"Them were mine," said Josh with a grin. "Got 'em with BB shot in the legs."

"They were the world's worse lookouts," said Julissa. "The one laid out flat is Fredo Berti. He was in the woodchop to shoot John when Gus took a practice swing with his shalaylee Billy Baroo and convinced Fredo to lie down."

"They were going to kill John?" Paul gasped.

"He never noticed," said Josh. "John was so worried about you that he didn't believe us when we told him he was a target."

Julissa held up another photo. It was two men being led away by cops, a big burly looking white guy and a small black man. "This is Issac Tennison and Adam Stein. The white guy is Adam. They're a pair of professional snipers, and it appears they suck. They took two shots at John coming out of Didomissio's workshop and missed with both shots. One shot went through the wall and hit Lucy's chair, which really pissed Gus off."

"How did you catch them?" asked a shocked Paul.

"Lucky break. Someone called in to report two guys with a rifle set up across the street from John's house. They were trying to kill Missus Jarecki that time," said Frank.

"My Macy?" Paul almost screamed.

"I wouldn't put it past these assholes to kill the babies, too."

"Katarina? Cholly?" what color there was drained from Paul's face. The thought of Cholly being killed by a sniper after suffering so much, then finding a loving family, was unfathomable. "Does John and Macy know?"

"John knows that he was the first target," said Julissa. "He knows nothing about Macy being targeted. We briefed him that we caught the guys waiting for him to come home, which was also true." Julissa looked at Josh, hoping he would say 'that's enough,' but he didn't. Julissa produced another large photograph. This was two men being led out of Zoar academy in handcuffs. "This is Yarik Melnik and Lazar Markov, a cousin of your friend Aleksei Markov. They were apprehended, trying to get to the twins at the Zoar Academy. I had the pleasure of tasing the shit out of them."

"Thank you for that," said Paul. He was now shaking... was it the withdrawal from the drugs or the anger burning in his soul that was making him shake?

The last picture was a picture of the front of the Zoar academy. Lights flashed as cop cars and ambulances clustered around. Paul could see Kenny and Yi kissing. Each one held one of the twins, and behind them, the cops were shoving one man in a cop car as two stretchers were being loaded in ambulances. In the background, there were more lights and an ambulance at St. Aloysius church. The scene was horrific to Paul.

Agent Colella said, "This is when we realized we had a big problem. This was just 2 days after you were kidnapped. Three operatives worked their way into Zoar Academy and if it wasn't for Yi-jin Carlson, we probably wouldn't be sitting here today."

Paul's throat went dry and his bowels felt like they were going to expel everything he ate for dinner. "What happened?"

"The twins had a bad day at school and Yi went there to pick them up when these three jamokes went into the school and claimed that Andi sent them to get the girls. As they tried to break into the office where Yi and the vice principal and the girls were, Yi opened a window and put the girls outside. As she was getting out, this guy," and Julissa held up a picture of someone who had a blank, almost lobotomized look on his face. "This is Flip Roosa. Yi had a handheld taser and stuck it under his jaw and gave his brain a fifty thousand volt enema."

Despite his terror and horror, Paul had to laugh at Julissa's term "fifty thousand volt enema." That's what the crude language used by cops and soldiers is for, to round off the sharp edges of life and make the bitter parts more palatable. He also felt some pride in giving her that taser for her birthday. "Then what?"

"As Yi carried the twins across a snow-covered field, the brains of the outfit," and she held up a picture of someone that Paul would expect in a police uniform. Clean shaven, hair in regulation length, a flash of intelligence in his eyes. "This is Darcy Garfield. He realized that their rental Toyota sedan wasn't going to do the job, so he ran next door and yanked Father Juan out of the church van. Then he and Dino Pesce hopped in the van and grabbed the girls and Yi and stuffed them in the van." Julissa held up a picture of a greasy-looking thug. Dino Pesce.

"Then what?"

"Dino shot Father Juan, and they took off across the field behind St. Aloysius, but they hit a ditch and stopped. That's where Yi pulled out her taser and put Dino and Darcy into a vegetative state. Concord PD was able to get the girls back safe and sound."

A million things went through Paul's mind as he digested the horror story. Father Juan! Paul loved Father Juan. If Paul hadn't converted, Father Juan would be his parish priest. "Wait, you said that this was when you realized that you had a problem? Wasn't my kidnapping enough?"

Special Agent Frank Colella turned red in anger. "Dino Pesce is an FBI agent."

"What the fuck!" demanded Paul.

"Frank Rosetti told them to make Andi suffer. The plan was to kill your brother and his family, the twins, and maybe some close friends, then blame it on Andi saying that she wanted all the money," said Agent Colella.

"She already has all the money. All our accounts are joint accounts. She's even an officer in the company."

"You know that, and she knows that," said Julissa. "Nobody else does. The press would go crazy with the implications, and a lazy press is a dangerous press."

Josh held Paul's shoulder and his deep southern voice rumbled, "Relax, it gets worse."

"Worse? How worse?"

"Well, for one, Miss Mayor promised the person who finds you a million bucks, and she brought her checkbook..."

"Well... I can't overrule the mayor's promises," he said with a hint of a smile. Then Paul looked at Frank Colella and asked weakly, "Is it over? How safe are we?"

"I don't know. From what I can tell, is that there're multiple interests involved. From what I dug up was that Oliver Linwood's son Oliver the third kicked it all off. The little fucker wanted revenge; I can dig that. He's worth tens of millions of dollars; you take over, and he's worth ten dollars. He comes up with a hair brain plan and contacts Frank Rosetti and suddenly he's got funding and bodies to carry this off. Not from Frank, but from a few of his buddies. But the money man behind this was looking for something. I don't know what, but they put the only man in Springville they owned on the job of recovering it."

"Samael Windecker," said Paul.

"Bingo," said Frank Colella.

"Who is the financer?" asked Paul.

"That name... even I didn't get the name," said the FBI agent.

Paul sat in his bed, his head spinning. John, Macy, Sandy, Madeline... they could all be dead now if it wasn't for Gus, Julissa, and Yi... why? Why did this happen? The spinning became a hurricane of pain and sorrow. "Can I have a few minutes?" asked Paul. Julissa and Frank nodded, then stepped out of his hospital room. Paul looked up at Josh and said, "I'll call when I need you buddy, ok?"

"I'll be right outside if you need me," said Josh and he stepped outside.

Not long after that, Andi finished her interview with the Buffalo CBS affiliate via the local Jacksonville affiliate. This was news that might even make the national feed: small town woman elected mayor on the eve of her kidnapped husband's return. Now she's in Jacksonville with her hubby, nursing him back to health. When she mentioned to the Jacksonville reporter that she ran for mayor because her husband was kidnapped during his mayoral race, fuel was added to the fire.

She stepped into the room to find Paul clutching Wonka and weeping uncontrollably.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

The next day, Paul slept until nearly 10:00 AM. Tired of having a ravaged sleep cycle, he took a small handful of Benadryl fortified Tylenol tablets. Liver be damned! Paul was tired of sitting up at night waiting for the next needle to come along and knock him out with a potent cocktail of opiates and... He woke up with such a start that it terrified Danny and Wonka. It was a start driven by a memory.

Andi was sitting in the recliner next to him, Danny at her breast and laptop open, looking at her schedule for her first weeks of mayoral duties. "Are you ok?" she gasped.

"That toxicology report. I need to see it."

"Most of the drugs have cleared your system by now," said Andi, as she looked in her folder. She produced a copy of the report that the lab generated from several samples of Paul's blood.

The list was a list of the substances found in his blood, starting with heroin, but that wasn't what he was looking for. "There! Look at the bottom four," said Paul and he handed the report to Andi.

"Sodium thiopental, midazolam, flunitrazepam, amobarbital, scopolamine... it's a cocktail from hell and I'm sure that's why your sleep cycle is so messed up."

"No, it's not a cocktail. I remember each injection feeling completely different. Most made me sleepy and loopy," said Paul.

"Well yeah. The first three, sodium thiopental, midazolam, flunitrazepam, they're all used as anesthesia," said Andi. "That's how they kept you under control."

"It wasn't for control, it was an interrogation," insisted Paul. "When you go under anesthesia, you really have no control over what you say, so anesthesia can act like a truth serum, and I remember that damn Russian asking questions. He was looking for something. Look at the last two, amobarbital, and scopolamine. Amobarbital, also known as sodium amytal... if you got your pharmacological education from pop culture, what is sodium amytal?"

Andi racked her brain trying to remember references on TV for sodium amytal... She remembered it clearly from the Schwarzenegger movie True Lies... it was also in Law & Order SVU and several spy novels. "A... a truth serum?" asked Andi.

"Yes, and scopolamine has long been considered a truth serum," said Paul.

"They ain't no such thing as a truth serum," said Josh as he walked into the room with two garment bags and a shoe box tucked under his arm.

"We know that, and you know that, but that moron rooskie that was pumping me full of drugs didn't know that," said Paul and he thumped his forehead with the heel of his hand. "What were they asking me? I can remember him asking over and over, but I can't remember what he was saying."

"Don't sweat it, big daddy," said Josh. "It will come back when you least want it to." He hung the garment bags up on the bathroom door and opened them. Inside were USAF uniforms.

"Oh no, last time I wore one of those, I was taken prisoner," said Paul.

"Honey, the folks that found you were airmen," said Andi. "Colonel Jarecki should show some decorum when he says thank you. Right Sergeant Gravely?"

"Yes ma'am," said the gunner as he pulled his ribbon and badge covered blues out of his bag. "Gotta show them what a fightin' man is all about, right, doc? Let's put a sparkle in the young boy's eyes." Josh was clearly under the impression that the rescuers were a couple of young airmen in their late teens. Ten minutes later Josh came out of the bathroom fully dressed in his blues. He studied Paul's jacket as Andi trimmed Paul's beard. "Who put this together for you?"

"I don't know. I faxed his DD Form 214 to Moody AFB uniform sales, and they set up his uniform and overnighted it down here," said Andi.

"Moody? They should know better than this," said Josh as he removed the ribbon rack from Paul's uniform and put the ribbons in the correct order, then centered the rack properly over the left pocket and attached it properly. "Three ribbons out of order and they were nearly a quarter inch off," grumbled Josh.

Andi shook her head. They looked perfect to her, but if Josh says they're a quarter inch off, they're probably exactly a quarter inch off. She helped Paul out of the chair he was in and they put his jacket on him and adjusted his tie. "You have a thousand ropes hanging off you, but we'll get you inspection ready," said Josh as he started picking 'ropes' from Paul's uniform. Some 'ropes' he had to trim with a huge, razor-sharp knife that he always carried. The 'ropes' he was talking about were tiny bits of thread hanging out from each seam from the sewing process. Ropes seem to infest every new uniform and are the Drill Instructor's favorite prey.

"Let's get this over with," sighed Paul.

"You don't want to meet the kids that saved your life?" asked Andi.

"I don't want to put them out... one of them is supposed to return to Colorado but is stuck down here because of me," groaned Paul.

"I've been stuck in worse places," said Josh.

"Name two," grumbled Paul, who really wasn't sure where he was. He's never spent any time in the extreme north of Florida.

"Bummfuk Africa, Innyarbuty, Saudi Arabia, Bhuttwype, Pakistan..."

"It's not that funny," Paul scolded the laughing mayor elect.

"I like this area," said Andi. "People are nice."

"Of course we're nice. Ain't no Yankees here like down in Orlando or Cocoa Beach," said Josh who was born and raised 40 miles north, just across the Georgia border. "We call that area 'South Jersey.' This is still God's country."

"You can give me a tour when I get set loose," said Paul as Andi pushed a wheelchair up behind him. "I can walk," he insisted.

"You can walk in the Physical Therapy room where there are pads and undergrads to catch you," scolded Andi. "Sit!"

"Yes Doctor," said Paul as he and Wonka sat at her command. There was a tap on the door and Veronica poked her nose in.

"Is everybody decent?"

"Hell no," said Josh, out of habit. Only then he realized who it was that said that... "Hell no, ma'am!" he grinned, and he pulled his fiancée into his arms. "What'cha doin' down here, Nica?"

After a long, loving, reunion kiss, she said, "I came to watch Madam Mayor do her thing. And Anthony wants pictures to prove you're not passed out on a beach with a dozen empty Corona bottles lying around." Anthony is Veronica and Josh's friend and employer.

"He knows me so well," grinned Josh as Veronica ran her fingers over his enormous collection of ribbons and badges. That is one positive thing to say about the Air Force: they recognize the efforts their fliers put in.

"You're going to wear this when we get married, Effy?" asked Veronica. Veronica and Josh have private names for each other. His real name is Ephraim, so she calls him Effy, and he calls her Nica. They rarely use these names in earshot of other people. It's their private way of saying, "I love you."

"I don't know, I was thinking..."

"Let me rephrase that," said Veronica. "Effy, you're going to wear this when we get married," she demanded with a sweet smile.

"Yes ma'am. Happy wife, happy life."

Doctor Armondo tapped on the door and said, "they're ready for you in lecture room 1." Then he noticed the uniforms, especially Josh. "I did not expect a room full of heroes."

"Hero? More like a target," groused Josh.

"Doctor Armondo," said Andi, "This is my campaign manager, Veronica von Köster. Ronnie, this is my old boss from back in Colorado, Doctor Sinclair Armondo. He's now the administrator here." They shook hands, then everyone prepared to go.

"Wonka, come," said Paul, and Wonka dove off the bed where he was sleeping next to Danny, and stood at Paul's side as Paul put the leash on the dog's service dog harness. Veronica scooped Danny up from the bed and they were ready to go.

"We are off," said Josh and he pushed the wheelchair through the hallways with Wonka walking proudly at Paul's side. They were led by Dr. Armondo, Andi and Veronica.

They entered a lecture hall used for lecturing interns and residents and were greeted with the murmur of dozens of voices. As Paul was rolled onto the stage, the room was filled with applause. There were newsmen and cameras, and cops from all jurisdictions that were involved. A policeman with four stars on his collar was the master of ceremonies. His look of shock and awe told Paul that he was impressed by Josh's awards.

Paul looked around at the crowd and noticed a military officer there. He was wearing a midnight blue uniform with Space Force collar brass. Being the only person seated on stage, Paul felt self-conscious and rose to his feet with the aid of a cane that Andi insisted he use. They were introduced to the crowd, and the applause returned. "Where's my heroes?" whispered Paul.

"They're here. They'll be out in a few minutes," said Veronica.

On stage, the chief of the Duval County Sheriff's Department introduced Detectives Charlie Klafka and Julissa Tanaka, Trooper Sandra Lusher representing the New York State Troopers, FBI Agent Frank Colella and so many others that worked in the man hunt. "Are they ready?" asked the top cop.

"This is why I'm down here," Veronica whispered to Andi as she raised her phone to record the next few moments on video.

"May I introduce the men who saved Doctor Jarecki and brought a happy conclusion to this man hunt, United States Air Force Staff Sergeant retired, Phillip Budreau and United States Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Michael Donovan and their families." The two uniformed men and their wives, one wearing a Space Force uniform along with their five children, stepped on stage. As they did, the lovely black woman in the Space Force uniform looked at Josh and shrieked, "REDNECK!" and raced across the stage and threw her arms around Josh.

"Roxy? Wedge? Oh, my God!" Josh was completely stunned, as was Roxy. The three friends hugged tightly. For Wedge and Roxy, their last memory of Redneck was a broken man being loaded on a bus he didn't want to ride, as his career ended years before he wanted it to. To the side Veronica watched and smiled, a tear of joy collecting as her fiancé reunited with friends he talked about constantly. "Who are these little people following you?" gasped Josh.

"These are our boys, Wayne and Patrick, and daddy's little angel Vanessa," said Roxanne as Josh scooped the tiny girl out of her arms.

"Don't worry, Josh is our baby whisperer," said Paul as he strolled up and shook hands with Michael, Phil, Roxy, and Wendy. "This is my wife, the mayor of Springville, New York, Doctor Andi Jarecki, and this is her campaign manager..."

"Thank you, colonel, but ah kin introduce my own fiancée," said Josh with mock anger. "Wedge, Roxy, this is the woman of my dreams, Veronica von Köster."

Roxy shook hands with everyone, and when she got to Veronica, she peered at the baby Veronica was holding and tickled Danny's chin. "Redneck, is there something you're not telling us?"

"He's ours," said Paul quickly, as Veronica blushed. As the eight shook hands, Paul and Andi said tear filled thankyous.

"Phil, are you ok?" asked Andi.

"It's just... I get winded... have to relax..." said Phil, panting.

"He got a breath of hydrazine in the Persian Gulf and is down to 40% lung function," said Wendy.

"After this, you and me. I want to do a full workup on you," said Andi in her 'doctor voice.'

"Ma'am, I appreciate the gesture, but I can't get Wendy's hopes up," said Phil. He knows they don't have the money for a lung transplant and full aftercare, and he doesn't want to break Wendy's heart again. She's been through too much hell.

"We will be proud to talk after, Mrs. Mayor," said Wendy firmly. Then she whispered to Phil, "Didn't Grandma Noah tell you to listen to people today?"

"I thought she was talking about Roxy," whispered Phil.

The crowds of people and news cameras were forgotten as the veterans and their families huddled and talked. Julissa went over to the group to get them back on track, but she was drawn into the conversation and ended up laughing and chatting with everyone in the small crowd. Eventually, the Space Force officer came up to Paul, who was introducing Wonka to the children. "Colonel, we want to have a military award ceremony. Would you do us the honor of being part of the presentation?"

Paul was never a commander in the USAF. He ran several surgical units, but award ceremonies were always conducted by the Hospital Commander so he never got to present a subordinate with anything more than a letter of appreciation. "It would be my honor... general." Damn! At first, he thought those stars were part of the glitter of the new Space Force uniform.

It took Veronica to straighten everyone out and get them in line. Finally, the general stepped forward and said to the assembled onlookers, "Good Afternoon, I'm Major General Stephen Purdy, commander of Launch Delta 45, Patrick Space Force Garrison. A few days ago, I received a call from the governor of our fair state and he asked for my advice, then he invited me to Jacksonville. I met the people involved only too briefly. This is one of those stories that makes you wish you came in during the opening credits and not after the hero puts his gun back in his holster. For those of you that don't know, Senior Master Sergeant Michael Donovan is the first sergeant in the three twenty second airlift squadron at Buckley Space Force Base where his wife, Chief Master Sergeant Roxanne Donovan is the senior enlisted advisor for Space Base Delta 2. Chief Donovan and her family came home for vacation with Roxanne's family, and they went to visit Chief Dawson's best friend from school. Is that right?"

"Yes it is, sir," said Roxanne.

"While Roxanne and Wendy caught up, the guys took their boys fishing in the Okefenokee Swamp. Did you catch anything, boys?"

"A whole bucket of catfish!" cried Noah, who was with Patrick, Wayne and Vanessa petting a happy but obedient Wonka.

Chuckling, General Purdy stepped next to Paul, and they faced Wedge and Phil. Josh stood at the lectern and read the document in front of him.

"Citation to Accompany the Award... On January sixteenth, while on leave with his family, Senior Master Sergeant Michael A. Donovan was navigating the headwaters of the St. Mary's River with Staff Sergeant Retired, Phillip Budreau. As they approached Tompkins Landing, they observed two men throwing what they thought was a rolled carpet into the waterway. When they got to the object, they saw it was moving, and both sergeants jumped into the water to rescue the victim. After pulling the victim to shore, Senior Master Sergeant Donovan started CPR and got the victim breathing. Staff Sergeant Budreau examined the victim, and he was showing signs of a drug overdose, and administered NARCAN, then at the risk of his own life Staff Sergeant Budreau administered his own oxygen to the victim which saved the life of Lieutenant Colonel Retired Paul Jarecki."

"They contacted emergency services and assisted the rescue helicopter with a difficult and dangerous landing on a tiny nearby island, then ferried the emergency responders to the location of the victim, and then helped the responders get the victim back to the helicopter, all the time not knowing that they just saved the victim of a kidnapping that started a nationwide manhunt. The actions of Sergeants Donovan and Budreau reflect credit upon themselves and the United States Air Force and they are hereby awarded the Governor's Medal of Freedom."

When Josh finished reading, the General turned to Paul and said, "Colonel, would you do the honors?" He whispered the instructions in Paul's ear, and for the first time that day, Paul smiled.

"I would be proud to, sir," and the general handed Paul a medal on a ribbon that Paul placed over Wedge's head. As he adjusted the medal to hang properly, he whispered to Wedge, "I know this isn't worth any points toward promotion, but I'm sure your commander will scare up a Meritorious Service Medal soon." Paul handed Wedge a framed copy of the citation and they shook hands, then saluted.

"Yes, sir!" said Wedge softly. He just now discovered that Paul, the man he rescued, was a kidnapping victim. All this time, they figured he was a homeless junky with connections. Maybe even wanted in a murder or something.

Then Paul stepped up to Phil and whispered, "Sergeant, you and I need to talk. How about dinner after this?"

"I... uh..."

"My treat."

"Yes, sir!"

After they saluted and stepped back from each other, Andi stepped up to Phil and then Wedge and handed each a nine by twelve inch envelope and gave each man a kiss and said, "Thank you for saving my man's life."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Dinner was at Lobster Tod's, an intimate restaurant on the St. John's river. It wasn't a fancy place, but it was welcoming and they set up a triclinium table large enough for all the participants of the ceremony. The couples were trading stories of how they met. "Wendy and Phil have been together since the third grade," said Roxie. "They're the most normal of us."

"Ain't nothing normal about our engagement," said Phil.

"What do you mean?"

"We went camping on Halloween and came out of Trader's Hill engaged," said Wendy.

"What's unusual about that?" demanded Roxie. Trader's Hill was a common spot for lovers to go camping on the soft riverbank sand. There's something about camping on a warm night among the cypress trees, a warm river right there to skinny dip in under a full moon... often the girls came out of Trader's Hill pregnant.

Phil and Wendy looked at each other and smiled. Something happened that they weren't talking about. "Guess you're right Roxie."

"I found Andi in a snowdrift," said Paul.

"I found Ronnie sitting in a parking lot," said Josh.

"I found Roxie standing in my bedroom," said Wedge.

"WHAT?" laughed Wendy Budreau, Roxie's best friend from childhood and high school.

"Well... he used my shampoo!" insisted Roxie.

"Calm down, spaceman," chuckled Wedge as he kissed Roxie.

"Wingnut," she responded.

"Guardian!" insisted General Purdy, who was listening. Space Force members don't like being called spacemen; they want to be called Guardians.

"Oh, you guys are playing for Cleveland?" asked Paul, causing General Purdy to groan.

"Y'all ain't gonna git a break," chuckled Josh. "Ah'd jus suck it up and accept Spaceman. Cowboy used to be an insult, and now it's a badge of courage."

As the staff laid out a buffet for them at a side table, Andi whispered to General Purdy, who nodded and stood. "Before we have lunch, Colonel Jarecki, could you lead us in saying grace?"

Paul slowly stood, so many things roared through his head... he didn't know if he could do it properly. He turned to Andi, who had Danny in her arms and she recognized that look; he wanted to hold his son. She stood and transferred Danny into his arms, and handed him a bottle. "You need to do it," she whispered and kissed her husband, then sat down. She was right. He felt abandoned by God and everyone else, and then at the darkest moment his eyes opened and there was Phil Budreau.

Danny began nursing at his bottle when Noah Budreau cried, "Hey! We haven't said grace, and he's eating!"

That gave Paul everything he needed. A realization filled his heart. "Noah, babies don't say grace... they are grace."

"Huh?"

"Fourteen months ago, I had nothing. I had a big six bedroom mansion that I spent over half a million dollars rebuilding and modernizing, and it was empty. I had ten automobile dealerships and the sweetest mustang you'll ever see. I had millions in the bank... and I had nobody. Fourteen months ago, I said goodbye to Josh as he drove off to work, leaving me in my cabin. I couldn't take the loneliness anymore and I prayed that God would end it all in the coming storm, and he did. Three miles up the road, a young doctor and her twin daughters were stuck in a snowstorm and they prayed to God for salvation, but instead He sent me."

Noah had never seen snow except on Christmas specials on TV, so he was immediately interested and Paul continued. "When Andi and I needed salvation again, he sent us all these law enforcement officers, and good people like you and your daddy Phil and Patrick and Wayne's daddy Wedge. God gave me so much stuff, but none of it is worth one more moment with Danny in my arms. I can now hold my little boy and my life is complete. I can't thank any of you enough, so I'll thank God for this wonderful meal and my new friends. Can I get an Amen?"

"AMEN!" shouted Wayne and Patrick. The AMEN! was their favorite part of Sunday school.

"Let's dig in," said General Purdy, whose wife Marilyn had joined him and she found it refreshing to have lunch with a room full of people that were not stuffy officers looking for an excuse to be offended. As they ate, Paul introduced the general to the detectives, Charlie Klafka and Julissa Tanaka. "Julissa, is there anything that Ayato needs for the bar?"

"What do you mean?" she asked as she tried the lobster bisque.

"Glassware that says Worzil's Bar and Grille, or something like that."

"People will just steal them."

"Then sell them," said Paul. "How about five bucks a glass, and only three bucks a refill."

"Our pints are two fifty. What we need more than anything is the beer cooler tuned up. That's all we need."

"Let me take care of that for Ayato. He's been a good friend throughout all this. Do not get weepy," Paul scolded. "I've been friends with Ayato for a long time, and you're right, the beer is getting a bit warm."

"Oh, fuck you," said Julissa and she leaned over and gave Paul a kiss.

"What was that all about?" asked General Purdy.

Andi quietly said, "Julissa is a retired OSI investigator, and a retired town detective, and their bar is their dream job. She came back from retirement to help find Paul. We can't give her a reward, but her husband, our favorite bartender, could probably use some help with their business. I can't help as mayor, but Paul can as a friend."

"Wait until the twins tell you about my phaser," Julissa told Paul.

"Phaser?"

"I was terrified that these kids would be shattered for life if I shot someone with my taser, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I dropped two perps that were trying to get into the kindergarten class and the kids loved it! I turn around and they're all shaking and dancing like the twins taught them."

"Perp? Kindergarten? Taser?" asked Marilyn Purdy.

"It got ugly while Paul was gone," said Julissa.

"Best thing my Ronnie did was help Miss Andi run for mayor," said Josh. "It helped keep her mind off the insanity."

"Not when my girls were almost kidnapped twice," said Andi.

That's when Phil started wheezing and gasping for breath. "It's ok..." he gasped. "Just need oxygen..." and he unraveled his canula and opened the valve on his tank. As he did that, Andi and Paul moved their chairs to either side of Phil and Andi started digging in Danny's diaper bag and she drew out her stethoscope.

"You, take the blouse off," said Paul and Phil took off his uniform jacket while Wendy and their daughter Katy looked on with their faces painted with worry. Andi had Phil breathe as deep as he could, one deep breath after another as she listened to his lungs. When she was done, she began looking up something on her phone. "You can put your blouse on," said Paul.

"What was that?" asked Wendy.

"Andi is an excellent pulmonologist, and she has a VA clinic back in New York," said Paul. "She studied under Doctor Armondo; the fellow that's in charge at the University hospital where we were just at."

"We can't afford to go to New York for treatment," whined Phil. "That guy in the Gainesville VA hospital is a dork, but at least we get mileage." Wendy and their nine-year-old daughter, Katy, remained silent, but they looked terrified.

"You can afford the travel, you just don't know it yet," said Paul as Andi began a conversation with someone on the phone. "Come here, Katy," and Paul collected Katy close to him. "You know that you will probably find someone and fall in love and get married someday, right?" Katy nodded nervously and Paul continued. "Wouldn't you like your daddy there to dance with you at your wedding?"

"Uh huh," she said softly.

"Well, if your daddy listens to Danny's mommy, you'll have the finest wedding any young lady in St. Felix ever had," said Paul. "And your daddy will dance at your wedding and maybe even your daughter's wedding."

"Ok," said Andi into her phone as she wrote some information on a notepad. "Thanks, Kathia." She hung up her phone and handed the page she wrote on to Wendy. "You have an appointment for ten AM Thursday at Fernandina Beach Respiratory and Sleep Medicine. I want Phil on oxygen 24/7 until then, and Doctor Cantillo will give a more thorough examination and a sleep study. She will also write you a referral to the Mayo Clinic here in Jacksonville for a full vascular evaluation."

"I... we can't afford that. We're on Medicare," said Phil.

"Show me your id card and your Medicare card," said Paul. Phil pulled out his cards and handed them to Paul. "This one pays almost everything," said Paul, holding up Phil's Medicare card. "Usually about eighty percent." Then he held up Phil's military ID. "You are retired and fully disabled. This covers everything else, including medications. You just pay a delivery fee."

Phil and Wendy looked at each other in shock, then Andi said, "You didn't get much of a briefing when you were discharged."

"I wasn't conscious," said Phil.

"They never said anything to me," said Wendy, so relieved she could cry. "Will they cover a lung transplant?"

"Oh yes, at the Mayo, not at a VA hospital," said a smiling Paul.

"I don't know," said Phil. "We have no insurance. If something happens to me, you lose everything. There's nothing for you and Katy and Noah. If I just take it easy, I have ten years left." He took his wife in his arms and she burst into tears. The thought of life without the man that has been part of her life since she was eight years old was too much to bear.

Their sorrow was too much for Andi, as well. She hated getting patients who were never briefed properly, or just didn't understand what they were briefed on when they were released from service and didn't know enough to ask questions. "We can help," she whispered to Paul. "Right?" but Paul was confused. He felt that there was something missing.

Meanwhile, Josh and Veronica weren't paying attention. They were talking with Roxie and Wedge and making plans for a future get-together. Maybe at Wedge's retirement ceremony. They were looking at the Governor's Medal of Freedom and reading the fancy citation along with the hand-written letter from the governor apologizing for not being able to free up the time and be at the ceremony, but said, "If I know Paul, you will be at one of his house parties in Jupiter in the near future, I'll see you there!"

"House parties on Jupiter? I didn't think anyone could get that high," said Wedge.

"Y'all just silly. Personally, we held out for the yacht cruise," said Josh as Veronica leaned on his shoulder. She dreamed of relaxing in the warm sun and a dip in the turquois water of the 'Obamas' as the twins informed her. Josh dreamed of her doing the same thing... topless. "That reminds me, guess who we're going on a cruise with next month!"

"The president?" asked Wedge. He was totally befuddled by everything that has happened since meeting Phil and Wendy.

"Squeaky!" He was greeted with confused looks. "Don and Lanh Campbell? From Kunsan?"

"Oh, my god! How are they doing?"

"You remember squeaky and her Mach 3 vocabulary. I think they're doing well. They've got a dairy farm, and they're both doctors. She's a speech pathologist and is hoping to land a job at the university in Bemidji. He's a doctor of education and makes his money writing books."

"How did you guys hook up?" asked Roxie. Don used to work for Roxie and she loved them, even though Lanh was living in the dorm with Don illegally.

"In Colorado, Don was Andi's patient and they still keep in touch. I was at their house when Squeaky called just before Christmas. Andi invited them on their boat and I blackmailed Paul to invite us along."

"How long have you two been engaged?" asked Roxie.

"Officially, twenty-two days," said Josh.

"It seems so long ago," said Veronica. "Show them!"

"Thanks to you and Andi it's all over the internet," grumbled Josh and he scrolled on his phone until he found the video that John took of him dancing with Veronica and finally proposing.

"The Redneck is a romantic," sighed Roxanne.

"I'm just surprised that the redneck can dance," said Wedge.

"Hey hey, enough with that redneck stuff. I come from exactly twenty-five miles north of y'all."

Veronica noticed the envelope that Andi gave to Wedge. It was still unopened. She whispered that fact into Josh's ear and he noticed that Phil's envelope was unopened too. "What did the world's shortest mayor give you fellers?" asked Josh.

"I don't know, a happy-gram or something like that," said Wedge as Roxy folded the metal 'bunny ears' up and opened the envelope.

She pulled out a hand-written letter from Andi thanking Wedge for his quick thinking and skill at CPR. The next was a certificate from the office of the Mayor of Springville, NY thanking him officially. A handwritten post-it note said "This certificate is a draft. I will send you an official certificate after my inauguration. The attachments are real."

"What attachments?" asked Wedge. There were two documents held behind the certificate by a paperclip. One promised 'name your price' on a lease on any Ford vehicle from Jarecki motors. "So ten bucks a month on a new F-150 with all the bells and whistles?" asked Wedge.

"No," said Veronica, who helped Andi draft the deal. "The fine print says a minimum of $25 per month and you have to carry full coverage."

After Wedge got over his shock, he turned to Roxie to show her the certificate. "Honey? What do you think? An F-250? Maybe we can get it in... honey?" But Roxie was looking at the other attachment. Her big brown eyes were wide and her jaw was moving up and down, but nothing was coming out. But soon it finally came out as a piercing scream that startled everyone in the restaurant.

"What?" asked Wedge. He knew his wife enough to know this was a scream of joy. With shaking hands, she showed him the bank certificate that showed an account open in their name with a balance of five hundred thousand dollars. "This can't be right," he gasped.

"I never lie on a banana-gram," said Andi, as she paused from trying to comfort Wendy. Wedge and Roxie showed the gifts that Andi and Paul gave them to the assembled crowd. The house that Roxie and Wedge agreed on was now theirs. They might even get themselves a boat because they have a relative out in the Okefenokee to visit.

While Roxie and Wedge made their plans, Andi realized Phil had never opened her letter. She handed Wendy the envelope and said, "Open it, it's for the both of you." Moments later, Wendy's tears of fear turned to tears of joy as she saw the bank account with the money that Andi promised. She threw herself at Phil and peppered his face with kisses.

"You two are going to be ok," said Paul.

"You didn't have to," said Phil. He looked angry. It was that old southern independence rising to the surface. Help when it's not called for is an insult to a southern man. "We can't accept something like this..."

"This is not a gift," said Paul sternly. "My wife made a promise that she would pay one million dollars for my return, and we don't go back on promises."

"You've done so much for us," wept Wendy, covering Phil's mouth with her hand. "You gave us hope."

"Your husband gave me my life back," said Andi. "I want to return the favor. We want to help you, so don't be afraid to call. Even if it's just for a box of diapers." The shocked look on Wendy's face told Andi she just let the cat out of the bag.

"How did you know?"

"It's a mom thing," said Andi, as she hugged Wendy. "You and the kids are coming to visit us in Springville as soon as possible."

"What about me?" asked Phil.

"I said all the kids," said Andi with a laugh. It felt so good to laugh. This hellscape she was stuck in since December twenty-ninth was over. Andi hugged Wendy, who had been worried sick about telling Phil about the baby, and now she knows it's going to be ok. Everything will be ok.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Frank Rosetti was out of the loop. Except for the occasional visit from Oliver Linwood, he didn't know what was going on. He liked it like that; it was quiet and he could continue reading and preparing his defense. He had plenty of time; he was planning to raise legal hell, claiming that he was blackmailed into his plea. Then came that horrible day that he saw Judge Nicoleta Atherton on the other side of the screen and he knew everything was coming apart. Maybe Paul wasn't dead, but he was gone and Frank knew Markov had him. He knew the operation was successful in nabbing Paul. As for killing John and the twins, he didn't know. She didn't mention anything like that.

What Frank didn't know was how big the entire operation had become. Frank told Oliver Linwood III to work with Aleksei Markov, but Oliver couldn't afford Aleksei, so young Mr. Linwood contacted the man that his father worked for, a moneyman that they just called The Senator. A normal person wouldn't ask for financial help from a man that you know made much of his money through human trafficking and importing drugs into the United States, but Oliver Linwood II and Oliver Linwood III weren't normal. They wanted to rise to the position of The Senator. They wanted to be the man who doled out the money they raked in through crime and extortion, yet keep a civil public profile. They wanted to be leaders in society, yet at the same time, prey on society.

He remembered the look on Judge Atherton's face as he discussed his revenge. She was shocked at his callous disregard for Paul, John, and the twins' lives. "Look, I've seen a lot of people in your position from my time on the bench, and they all have one thing in common... they don't realize how close they came to having it all."

"Even if she comes up with the money, I'm not going to see any of it from in here," said Frank. He was hoping Linwood could squeeze a hundred and fifty million dollars from Andi.

"That's not the all I was talking about," said the judge as she rose to leave. "Maybe I can show you."

A day later, an envelope arrived for Frank, an envelope full of photographs. There was no note, but each photograph was numbered on the back, each had a quick description in the judge's flowing handwriting and each said, "look at what you missed." The first one was Andi peering through the clear plastic side of the preemie incubator at the two tiny lives that were fighting for survival inside the incubator. Hooked up to wires and tubes, the tiny creatures looked terrified, and they were holding hands. The next photo showed a nurse holding the twins in the crooks of her arms. They were so tiny! Then came a picture of Andi sleeping in a waiting room. She was released from the hospital but the babies remained in the preemie ward, so she spent all of her time in the hospital for months.

The pictures became a review of the lives of Sandy and Madeline. A photo of the twins sitting in a shared highchair with Andi holding a spoonful of baby food over their heads and they were both looking up, mouths open like baby birds. Their first steps came at the age of two, but they were so tiny they looked like one year olds. One day they just got up and walked, their faces split with huge grins of accomplishment. Photographs of Grandpa Harold reading bedtime stories, the twins in their shared bed, hanging on every word he said. Then the setting changed, sitting on a cabin floor petting a brown dog while watching a fire in a glass sided wood stove like it was the super bowl. The twins building an army of tiny snowmen while Andi was behind them on a tractor. A picture of them and the dog at the base of the biggest Christmas tree he's ever seen, then pictures of the twins on a beach collecting seashells in their buckets wearing only a pair of shorts.

He studied picture after picture, their first day at school, holding their new brother, covered in flour and sugar making Christmas Cookies, playing with their big black fuzzy puppy, and then holding each other as they wept over a loss... the loss of their father.

Frank reviewed the photographs every night and slowly, but surely, fell in love with the young ladies that could have been his daughters. The sheer waste of it all, the missed chances, the unused joy, the love that was lost forever. That bitch was right. He had come so close to having it all and he threw it away. And for what? For booze, cards, and a string of sluts. He couldn't bear to look at the pictures anymore, but he dared not review them each night. There might be a detail he notices that he missed before.

"What do you want, Rosetti?" said the guard as Frank flagged him down.

"I want to talk to Father Delaney."

"I'm sure we can arrange it. He's dead," snarled the guard.

"Who's the catholic chaplain now?"

"Father Armando."

"I need to see him, I... I want to say confession."

He expected the guard to make fun of him, but the guard just nodded. Two hours later, a short Hispanic priest with an air of an Asian heritage about him entered his cell. "Buenos dias," said the priest. "I am Father Héctor Armando, and you are Franklin Rosetti?"

"Just Frank, father." Frank couldn't believe he was doing this, but somehow there was comfort in the old ways. "Are you Puerto Rican?"

Father Armando smiled. Asking that question was actually a good sign. Frank was thinking of something other than himself. "I'm from Manila on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. How can I help you, my son?"

Frank suppressed a laugh. He was probably old enough to be this guy's father. "Those girls there," he pointed to a series of photos on the desk. "They're my daughters... but we never met. Their mother is wise, and she's kept them away from me. I mess up everything. I try, but I ruin everything I touch. I'm never going to talk to them, but someday, if there's a chance, I want to be able to greet them without terrifying them."

"It can't be that bad, Frank," said Father Armando.

"I tried to kill them, Father." Frank was silent for a long time. He stared at the floor, unable to meet the young priest's gaze. "I tried to kill their mother, and when that failed, I had their step-father kidnapped and I tried to kill them just to hurt their mother. I didn't realize..." He looked sadly at the picture of his baby birds. "I had it all... and I threw it away."

"Sometimes we're tempted by short-term desires and blinded to what is most important to us."

"They're not really mine," said Frank with a sigh. "Their father is a Russian gangster... I whored out my own wife to pay my gambling debts... Her new husband... he found out and just asked me to sign a document that said that the girls aren't mine. He could have thrown me in prison a year ago, but he prayed for me..." Frank stared at the picture of his baby birds, his eyes filling with tears. "Does this look like God answers our prayers?"

Father Armando didn't sound angry. He sounded disappointed, which was much worse. "Oh, Frank... this truly is bad, but there is forgiveness!"

"I don't think there is any for me," said Frank.

"There truly is, if you want it. The home life of mom, dad, and twin daughters is probably not possible, but when you learn to forgive yourself, you will be able to meet them with your head up high. Maybe even dance at their wedding."

"Ya think so?"

"That is totally up to you. Will you confess your sins and perform your penance?"

"Yes," said Frank with an enthusiasm that surprised him. Father Armondo nodded and Frank began. "Forgive me father for I have sinned... it's been over twenty years since my last confession." There was no reaction from the priest but a nod, so he continued with his confession. When he was done, he felt like an enormous weight was lifted from his shoulders.

"Here is your penance. I will come by every day and we will talk. And when you're ready, I want you to write a letter to each of your daughters explaining how you are going to atone for your past behavior and hope they can forgive you. Don't forget, you are talking to children, you have to use simple, plain language. I will stop by every day to see how you are doing and when you have the letters ready for your children, I'll collect your letters and deliver them."

"Deliver them? Not mail them?"

"What do you think their mother will do when a letter from a prison arrives for each of her daughters? I'm sure that giving them the letters will be the last thing on her mind." When Frank sadly nodded in agreement, Father Armondo said, "I've done this before. Don't worry. I'll talk with their mother and see what we can arrange. Baby steps! Concentrate on the letters first."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Andi and Paul stepped off the jetway at the Buffalo International Airport, Andy was carrying Danny and a baby bag, and Paul was leading Wonka. Josh and Veronica followed, with Josh pushing a wheelchair. "Are you sure you don't want to sit down, big daddy?"

"You're not fast enough," said Paul. "I want to see my girls." Then he tickled his son under his chin and said, "Do you want to see your sisters?" Danny looked up at his dad, a bit confused, but Wonka knew what he was talking about. "Why do I have to wear this damn uniform?" complained Paul.

"Because I didn't think to pack you a jacket. Hopefully Yi got my text and brought your parka," said Andi.

"Wasn't I wearing that when they nabbed me?"

"I think you were," said Veronica. "I think you put it on over your uniform when you left the party."

"Damn, I loved that parka."

"I will get you another one," said Andi.

"Nah, I stole that one from Uncle Sam twenty years ago. They don't stock those good old Army Air Corps designed parkas anymore." They finally entered the main terminal and there was a crowd of people that were waiting for the people that flew up from Florida. Among the crowd was an Asian woman in a chauffer's uniform holding a sign that said "Mayor Jarecki."

"Min? Why are you dressed up like Bruce Lee?" asked Paul as he hugged his second in command at Jarecki Motors.

"I'm dressed up like Kato in the Green Hornet," said Min, who was falling in love with the campy spy and superhero shows of the 1960s. "The super chauffer."

"That was Bruce Lee, ma'am," said Josh. He wanted to make fun of her, but he may come to her looking for a job someday, so he held his tongue. They collected Andi's bags and headed out to find a huge six passenger limousine waiting for them.

"Something new Kato?" asked Paul.

"When I go to New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles I see limousines everywhere," said Min in her Chinese accent. "Why not us? Jarecki Motors is giving car service a try."

"I like it," said Paul as they climbed into the back of the limo. "How many cars have we invested in this idea?"

"Seven, six Lincoln town cars and Black Beauty," said Min as she closed the doors of the stretched limo and got in to drive.

"This is nice," said Andi, as she ran her fingers over the fixtures. It was truly a luxurious car and even Wonka was impressed. He could sit at Paul's feet and not be crowded. He could lie down if he wanted, just like in the family van. "No bar?" asked Andi.

Josh was sitting in the forward seat facing backwards, and he opened a cabinet between him and Veronica. There was an empty mini bar in the cabinet. "Min must have heard about my, um... predilections."

"Everyone has heard about your predilections," chuckled Paul as they pulled out of the airport and headed west on Genesee Street. They crossed Union Road instead of hopping on 'the Thirty-Three' so they could get on 'da Trooway,' which is the quickest way to Springville. Min continued west. They passed over I-90 and Paul looked out at what used to be his old neighborhood.

"Honey?" said Andi sweetly. "After I'm inaugurated, can Min drive me to work in this?"

Paul chuckled and gave Andi a kiss. "That's silly. Village hall is only four blocks away." He kissed her again and said, "I love you."

"I think it's a good idea. It sends a message. And I don't think Julissa will have it towed," said Veronica.

"What?" asked Paul and Andi.

"Detective Tanaka has no love for the current mayor," said Josh.

"When she got John out of village custody, she saw Windecker's jeep parked in a handicap spot and had it towed," said Veronica.

"It was gone ASAP!" said Josh. "He went into the Village Hall to check his email and have a coffee and came out and his truck was gone."

"Ask John. He has a great version of the story," added Veronica.

"John? He can't even tell a knock-knock joke," said Paul.

"Your brother has grown in the past few weeks," said Veronica as they swung into a very, very familiar parking lot. Over there to the left was the ancient yellow dumpster that Paul once climbed into so he could find some discarded pasta to feed his starving baby brother, and over there to the right was the smoking lounge, where men and women could relax with a fine cigar. It's where Paul first met Frank Rosetti.

Min stopped at the main entrance and came around to the side to let her passengers out. The moment they opened the door to Giardini's Family Italian Restaurant, they knew something was up. "Pauly!" cried seventy-year-old Momma Giardini, and she slammed into Paul and hugged him tight, so tight it was hard to breathe.

"Thank you, momma," said Paul. "I missed you so much."

"I'm so proud of you!" said Momma as she wept on Paul's new uniform.

"I got my silly ass kidnapped. That's nothing to be proud of."

"You kept the faith!" the tiny, round Italian woman said. "The paper said that your first words were for Andi! That's love... momma knows!"

"Just show me where you want me to go, mama," said Paul, and his self-appointed mother led him into her family's restaurant. The sign on the door said, 'closed for a private party' and Paul was hoping for a small private affair with the twins and maybe Yi. When they got inside, he saw that it was packed! There were so many people in there that every seat was filled. Over the loud conversations that were going on was a dual shriek of "PAPA!"

The twins raced across the restaurant, bouncing off of chairs and much taller people than them, their eyes blinded with tears... "PAPA!" they shrieked as they grew close. Paul crouched down and held his arms out to the girls, but one stopped just out of arm's reach and began crying harder. The other ran up next to him and started hitting his arm and shoulder, screaming "Bad papa!" as she hit him in her anger. The angry one was clearly Sandy. The one paralyzed by her emotions had to be Madeline.

Instead of turning to Andi for guidance, as he normally does when confounded by the twins, Paul gently scooped them into his arms and let them cry. He didn't try to hush them; he just held them close and cried with them. "I'm home now. It's all over."

"Where did you go?" demanded Sandy.

"I wanted to go with you!" wailed Madeline.

"No, these guys were mean, meaner than the guys that Yi tazed," said Paul. "I don't want them touching my girls. I don't want them near my babies."

"I missed you papa!" wailed Madeline. The three hugged and wept, and Andi watched through her own tears. "Am I really your baby poppa?" Madeline asked.

"Yes, you are the very bestest present your mommy ever gave me."

"What about Danny?" Sandy sniffed as her weeping subsided.

"Danny is a present I gave her." With an "awww" from the crowd, Paul stood holding the twins, who were grasping on to him like baby monkeys clutching their mother's fur.

"Let's go sit with G.G." said Madeline.

"G.G.? She's in..." he was about to say 'Bismark' but then Paul noticed Andi's grandmother and grandfather, Nana and Ole Olson waving at him. The twins call Grandma Elinore G.G. for Great Grandmother. "G.G.!" cried Paul, and he carried the twins over to the table where they were sitting with their daughter Heather and her husband Harold. "Knute, Elinore, what are you doing in town?" said Paul as he leaned over and kissed his grandmother-in-law.

"Well... we come to see Heather and Harold's new house, don'tcha know, but when we got here, you and Adrianna were gone," said Knute. "Then Harold said you were kidnapped?"

"I didn't know you were rich enough to be kidnapped," said Nana. "If I knew that a year ago, I would have married you."

Paul, Nana and Heather broke into laughter, but Andi said, "She would have done it."

A tap on the shoulder caused Paul to turn, and it was John. "Oh god I missed you so much!" cried Paul. He set the twins down and rose, and the brothers hugged and wept while the crowd clapped for them.

"When you make an enemy, you..." John searched for words, finally settling on, "you do a real good job."

"It was you. I heard your words telling me to relax, don't cause trouble, trust in God," said Paul. Without realizing it, Macy joined the hug. They wept and Macy kissed Paul's cheeks and when Paul sagged down to his chair, he was holding Katarina. Without being invited, Cholly wordlessly climbed onto his lap.

"Who is this?" asked Nana.

"Didn't Andi tell you? We're aunt and uncle now. This is Katarina Romée Jarecki. She's named for her grandmothers. And this is my pal, Chamonix Lévesque Jarecki. He's shy, but he adopted John and Macy. Cholly, can you say hi to Nana?"

"No!" Cholly squeaked, and he buried his face in Paul's shoulder.

"Why don't you tell Nana about Chiot?" When Paul said that, Cholly perked up and began chattering in his pidgin French and elementary English mix. Nana nodded and smiled as Cholly got more animated as he talked about his puppy. He finally hopped down and ran off with Sandy and Madeline. "Did you catch any of that?" asked Paul.

"Not a word," chuckled Nana.

"Grandma?" said Andy from behind Nana and Ole. "Look what we made," and she placed Danny in Nana's arms.

"Oh, my goodness! Our first great-grandson. Look Knute, he's got your eyes."

"He's a keeper, that's for sure," said Knute as he touched a finger to Danny's nose.

"That's my brover!" said Sandy proudly.

"He comes to school with us," said Madeline. "But Cholly's more fun in school."

"Could we get everyone to find their seat?" said Gus as he rapped the table for attention. Paul sat between Andi and John and, looking up, he saw Yi. She was as beautiful as ever and she looked so happy with Kenny at her side. Paul got up and walked over to her side and hugged her.

"I can never thank you enough for what you did for my girls. You held my family together."

"I was just doing what you hired me to do," said Yi.

"No, what you did went beyond the pale. Name it and it's yours."

"Are you going to fire me when we get married and I move out?" asked Yi.

"Of course not. You can work as long as you want. Besides, you guys are going to need a house," Paul started, but Kenny raised his hand before Paul could offer to buy them a house.

"We made an offer on Dawson's place."

"Ted and Nina sold their house?" asked Paul. Ted and Nina Dawson lived on the south side of Howard Avenue Park. It was halfway between his house and the feed store.

"Yep," said Yi. "They're moving to Tampa. They're tired of the storms." That caused Paul and Yi to laugh. The Dawsons were nice people, but they were trading blizzards for hurricanes.

"That house needs work... I know what to get you," said Paul.

"No," said Kenny. "Please don't send an army of carpenters. We want to do this ourselves."

"How about if I send one carpenter as a trainer to insure everything is done right and in code? And maybe a stove, refrigerator, and a few other various items."

"That we could use," said Yi, before her fiancé's ego said no. "We'll take an instructor and you know what I like in appliances."

"Good, thank you for accepting that because the next thing I had to offer you was the mustang," said Paul.

"What?" demanded Yi as Paul sat back down. "Wait... can we renegotiate?"

"Shhh, John is saying grace."

John rose and as the room went silent he said, "Father in heaven, we thank you so much for returning our brother Paul..." His prayer went on about Paul's captivity and the tribulations that Paul had to endure. For his part, Paul remembered the questions that Aleksei Markov asked over and over. They weren't trying to reprogram his memory; they were picking it... that Russian was looking for something.

Soon John was done, and they set out dinner family style. Bruschetta and garlic toast, antipasto, lettuce salad with homemade dressing, pans of lasagna, bowls of spaghetti, chicken parmesan, and for dessert, cannolis, carrot cake, biscotti and fresh brewed coffee.

Halfway through dinner, Paul gave Andi a kiss and headed over to the kitchen. He was joined by John, who owes so much of his youth to this place as well. The kitchen staff was cleaning up after the busiest lunch service they've ever had. "Danny!" called John.

Danny Giardini, owner of Giardini's, looked up from the list of food he was getting ready to order. "Pauly! Johnny!" The three men hugged and for each it was a trip back in time, almost thirty years when they were young and the world was still a mystery. "God, you look like hell Pauly, we thought you were gone. Where did they find you?"

"The fellow that nabbed me got tired of me taking up room in his semi, so he pumped me full of heroin, rolled me up in a blanket and tossed me to the alligators in the Okefenokee swamp."

Danny looked at his 'younger brothers' then chuckled. "Ok, don't tell me. See if I care."

"No really, that's what happened," said Paul.

Danny's expression saddened. "I know, mama told me. She had cops in here constantly, demanding to find out where you were. She threatened not to serve them if they didn't have any news of you."

Paul turned to John and frowned. "God, I feel so guilty for making so many people worry..."

"Let's just do what you came back here for," said John.

"Ok," Paul looked around the kitchen and spotted a chubby woman that was washing down the counter tops. "You, are you new here?" Terrified, she nodded her head. "What's your name?"

"Tamara, sir."

"Ok Tamarasir, what piece of equipment is the most worn out?"

"The freezer. It barely keeps cold anymore."

Danny groaned. "Paul don't. We can do fine until we can get a new one."

"Danny, how long have we known each other? I know you're going to say something reckless like 'don't worry about lunch, it's on me,' so let me tip the staff, replace the freezer, and we can call it even."

"We will be fine, Pauly. I'll have a guy look at it."

"Have I ever let my Italian family suffer when I could help?" He gave Danny a wad of bills for the staff. "There's a tip in there for Val too," said Paul. Before Danny could protest, Paul turned to Tamara and said, "You saw it Tamarasir, I gave him the tip money for you guys."

"Please Pauly, don't... we're fine."

John was inspecting the freezer and saw that it was set to max cold, but the temperature inside was -6. Legal, but just barely. With the freezer turned all the way up, it should be -25 in there. "Danny, if the state sees this, they'll write it up."

"Will you let your illegitimate stepbrothers help?" demanded Paul.

"You're killing me... ok, ok."

"There you go," said Paul as he hugged Danny. "Don't let that Italian pride get in the way of love. If it wasn't for you and what you did for us last year, I may not have gotten married. Ok?"

"Oh Paulie, you always win these things anyhow."

As John and Paul stepped out of the kitchen, they heard a child screaming in terror. "C'est Chamonix!" (That's Cholly) gasped John. They headed toward the sound and soon they heard the twins crying too. Conversation in the restaurant stopped as a child screamed, "PUT HIM DOWN!"

"That's Sandy," said Paul as they hurried to the bar area of the restaurant. There they found Mayor Windecker and a fellow that Paul recognized from a meeting in the past, Senator Alvin Kroc from New Hampshire. He was there at Jarecki Motors of Portsmouth when the press was all over the dealership after the big bust. Windecker was holding Cholly and the little guy was nearly hysterical, fighting to get away from him.

"I didn't want him to run out in traffic," said Samael Windecker as a fuming John took a weeping Cholly back to the table.

"Go with Uncle John," said Paul to the twins, who were still crying.

"He tried to take Cholly!" wept Madeline.

"Nobody is taking anyone, not with me keeping an eye on you. Now go help Cholly calm down."

"He needs Chiot," said Sandy with a pout. By the time Paul convinced the weeping twins to go with Uncle John, Danny Giardini came out of the kitchen.

"The restaurant is closed for a private party," said Danny. Then he turned to Paul and said, "Paul, let me handle this. It's my house, ok? You go eat."

"We just wanted to see the guest of honor," said Windecker.

"You saw him now, please. Let my guests enjoy their meal."

"I want to speak with Mister Jarecki," said Senator Kroc.

"He will be available later," said Danny. "Now, please..."

"What are you going to do, call the cops?" asked Samael Windecker with a sneer, but Danny had already made a gesture and a pair of Town of Cheektowaga policemen stepped out of the shadows.

"Is there a problem Mister Giardini?"

Before Danny could answer, Senator Kroc said, "Patrolman, I am Senator Alvin Kroc of New Hampshire and I am a federal lawmaker and I would like to speak with Mister Jarecki."

"First, it's Doctor Jarecki, and second, the restaurant is closed," said the taller of the two policemen.

"Being a lawmaker, you should know what being in a closed business without permission is called," said the shorter policeman as he pulled out his hand cuffs.

"Officer, the doc has some property that belongs to the senator and we would like it back," said Samael Windecker.

What he said shocked Paul. Is that why Windecker had his personal gestapo poking around in his house multiple times? Is that why they harassed and tried to break into Amelia Hernandez's house? Is that why he was kidnapped? It was slowly starting to make sense to Paul. There was only one thing in his possession that could conceivably be considered someone else's property. "What is this... Monday?" Paul looked at his watch, then said, "Wednesday, noon. My garage. You will not enter my house. If you do, when you regain consciousness, you will find yourself handcuffed to a prison hospital bed."

"Doctor Jarecki, is that a threat?" said Samael Windecker with that idiot grin that angers anyone who knows him.

"It's a promise, you parasite. On January twenty-ninth, you entered my house without permission. I still owe you for that disgraceful bit of theater and it will not come kindly. If you want your stuff, Wednesday at noon. If you're early, you'll be arrested for trespassing. If you're late, it will be gone." And he turned and walked into the dining room.

"Was that Windecker?" asked Andi, as Paul sat down next to her.

"Yeah, but Danny Giardini threw him out." Paul kissed his beautiful wife and took Danny from her so she could eat. He marveled at his tiny son and was lost in the joy of being home with family and friends when Gus rose and said some introductory words which ended with, "Paul, would you like to speak?"

Paul stood and looked around. "I'm truly overwhelmed at the love and support you all showed Andi and the kids while I was gone. I feel so out of touch, like nothing is real. Just a few days ago, a couple of guys went fishing, and they pulled me out of the swamp where my kidnappers tossed me. That was Phil Budreau and Mike Donovan... a couple of great guys. Before that, everything is a blur, but I have to thank Charlie Klafka, John Gaulin, Julissa Tanaka, and Skip Morris for their excellent cop work. Thank you guys so much. Yi-jin Carlson and Julissa, who protected my babies in school, thank you. I'm getting re-acquainted with my life, so if I act like I'm confused and don't know what's going on... it's not an act. It's because I'm confused and don't know what's going on... but many of you are used to that, am I right Macy?" When the laughter died down, he finished with. "Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart."

Paul sat down and Gus said, "Madam Mayor, would you say a few words?

Andi rose and went into 'Mayor Mode.' She smiled and tried to make eye contact with everyone there. She gave a little speech that was made from snippets of speeches she gave over the past week before the election. "We've learned that Springville is a strong village with wonderful people, and that we can still operate without a mayor. We've learned that over the past eight months." That brought a lot of laughs, knowing that she finally took a shot at Samael Windecker. Most of her campaign speeches ignored him. She spoke like the office of mayor was vacant and she was stepping in to fill a vacancy.

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They finally got home and Paul walked around the house like he was lost. It was good to be home, but when you're removed from home involuntarily and suddenly returned weeks later, it's like entering an alien territory. Everything is so familiar, yet unreal at the same time. Only Wonka and Andi seemed to be the same. The twins looked like they grew a foot taller while he was gone, and Jolie was twice as big as she was a month and a half ago. When he left, Danny was a tiny helpless child, and now he's a growing boy that plays with toys and can even roll over by himself.

Paul was restless. He kept looking around, and when Kenny Johnson came over for dinner, he asked Paul if he needed anything. "Oh... I have an object that's causing me headaches."

"A what? Maybe I can help."

"A cash box."

"One of those cheesy cashboxes stamped out of tin with the crappy key lock?" asked Kenny. "Fixing them has been a hobby of mine because so many businesses in the village use them. What do you need?"

"An inventory. I want to know what's in the box, but I want to be able to say, 'I only glanced in it once and saw some money.'"

"I take it that there's more than money in there," said Kenny.

"Yes, there're documents and pills," said Paul. "I think there's something else in there. The box is pretty heavy, so it feels like there's a gun under there. Don't touch the pills. The owner of that box died of a drug overdose."

"Would you like any documents copied?" asked Yi with a grin. She was getting into the 'spy game.'

"Yes, every shred of paper or photograph that's in there. Handle everything with latex gloves. We can't leave any fingerprints, especially inside. Do not handle the pills, don't even try to count them. As you remove things, take pictures of the box so you can put everything back in the same order. Any data you collect needs to be stored in removable storage and my cloud storage."

Kenny and Yi looked at each other. This was going to be fun! Yi had full access to an awesome printer/scanner/fax for managing the household, so she was looking forward to a lot of scanning.

After dinner, Kenny went out to the white whale and dug away the snow pile covering the truck and got the box out from under the seat. Then he and Yi disappeared into her room for the night. While Kenny and Yi giggled upstairs, Paul and Andi sat on the 1950s couch in the living room and streamed some of their favorite TV shows - Night Court, WKRP, the Muppet Show.

Finally, Paul could relax. It just felt right with his arm around Andi, the twins laying on the floor watching the floor council model TV that Gus made for that room, starting with a case from an old tube television and flat screen tv. Statler and Waldorf made a biting remark about a skit that just played out on the Muppet Show and the twins called the grouchy old puppets "Daddy and Mr. Gus."

That night, Paul read a story for the girls. "This is another old Polish fairytale..."

"One of our stories," said Sandy, who was becoming proud of her Polish heritage. Although they now have a Polish last name, they're not poles in any form. They're Irish and Norwegian from their mother, from their biological father they're Russian and Chinese.

"The name of the story is The Eagles," said Paul, showing the twins the illustration of a girl on a hill waving to some eagles overhead. "There was once a king who had..."

"Start it right!" the twins demanded in unison.

Chuckling, he started again. "Once upon a time there was a wise king who had lost his wife..." He read the story, and the twins hung on every word. So did Danny, and soon he was asleep.

"I'll draw a bath for you," whispered Andi, and she carried the two-month-old off while Paul continued to read the story to the girls. The twins had a big day and soon they were asleep before he could finish page three. Paul tucked in his babies and headed down the hall to his bedroom. A room he hadn't slept in for weeks.

"Where are you at honey?" he called and Andi stepped out of the shower, carrying Danny.

"We had an explosive diaper and needed a little cleanup," she said and handed their son to Paul as she went to dry off.

Paul dried Danny and put a new diaper on him as he said, "You're so big now!" and tickled Danny's belly. Paul dressed him in a night shirt then stood looking over the little guy as he drifted off to sleep.

"Someone else is getting big," said Andi as she came up behind Paul and hugged him from behind. Her warm body pressed against him, she rose on tip toe and ran her tongue up the back of his ear. "I've been dreaming of this moment," she whispered.

"I've been terrified of this moment..." said Paul as he pulled her arms around him like a belt.

"Terrified? Why?"

"I have been pumped so full of drugs, a few times I thought 'this is the end, I'm not going to wake up.' I don't know if I'm still the man you married."

Andi grabbed his hips and turned Paul around. "You are the man I married. If things have changed, we will deal with it. Together."

"Together," agreed Paul and they kissed tenderly, their tongues seeking each other's out, their bodies pressing together closely. As they kissed, Andi unbuckled Paul's belt and slid his slacks down, then pulled down his boxers and her small hand wrapped around his throbbing erection.

"See? You still remember me." She pushed him back on the bed and pulled off his pants and socks. Once she had Paul completely naked except for his wedding ring, she leaned over and kissed the head of his cock. She ran her tongue around the sensitive head, then swallowed his length, causing Paul to throw his head back and groan at the sensation. He felt her tongue slither over the underside of his dick, her throat constricting around the head of his cock. Then she pulled back and began fucking her mouth up and down on his pole, taking over half his length into her mouth while her hands traveled up and down his throbbing pole, doubling the sensations. Then, for some reason, she paused. Andi leaned back and turned and pulled a clipboard out of her nightstand's lower drawer and studied the page she had printed up back on their second day of marriage. "Attic," she said firmly. "Come on."

"Wait, what?" Paul gestured to the bed that beckoned to him. "Aren't we...?"

"We're still not done christening the house. Come on, you have work to do," she said as she led Paul by the cock out of the bedroom and up the back staircase.

"How much do we have left?"

"The attic, your train layout room, the kitchen pantry, and the girls' room."

"I thought we got the girls' room."

"That was the nursery." She turned on the bare bulb that illuminated the attic storage room. At one time it was a bedroom and was still carpeted and the dry wall was still up on the steeply slanted walls. Andi pointed to the back of the room and said, "Go back to the Halloween decorations." Paul walked through the aisles between stacks of boxes and storage bins until he was in the far corner.

"Ok, now what?"

Andi closed the door and turned off the light, and they were plunged in near total darkness. "If you can find me, you can fuck me." Ever since Macy told Andi of the sex games she and John played in the attic on Andi and Paul's wedding night, Andi has wanted to do this. The tiny doctor made a list of all the "fuckable" rooms in the big Victorian palace they lived in and she attempted to make love to her sexy husband in every room that could fit them. With six bedrooms, two full baths and four walk-in closets, and 2 storage rooms, the second floor seemed to take forever, which was fine with Andi and Paul. They got the parlor out of the way on Christmas night with a house full of people and an audience of one - Macy.

The game was on! There was only one rule: find Andi and fuck her. Paul had years of practice tracking deer and turkey in the woods. He felt he had an advantage over her in tracking skill and stealth. He didn't realize that Macy taught Andi a few things as the two women hiked in the woods behind their cabins until their advancing pregnancies sidelined them.

Paul sat with his eyes closed and his hands over his eyes for a slow count to sixty, and when he removed his hands, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Paul had heard rumors of John and Macy's activities in the attic, mostly from overhearing Andi and Macy talk... John would never talk about anything like that!

Paul crept through an aisle, then got on top of a stack of heavy plastic crates and waited. He should have seen his blond wife as she crept around. He didn't see anything move, but he heard something moving. Paul had an enormous advantage over John. John's wife Macy is as dark as midnight, and she melted into the dark of the attic and was able to play keep away from John for a long time. Andi is as pale as snow and should be as easy to spot as a turkey in a chicken coop. But he didn't see her anywhere. If she was creeping on her belly, she would make noise as she moved across the carpet.

He watched for a long time, and occasionally he'd hear movement but saw nothing... but then he saw it, moving up the aisle that he was next to... a patch of darkness, darker than its surroundings. In a world of muffled grays, this was pure black. Paul watched with amusement as occasionally a hand would appear from the black as it moved. Paul waited for it to move past his position, watching as it crept along, then he slowly, silently climbed down.

He grabbed the back edge of the blackness and gave it a yank. It was a black plush throw blanket Andi had gotten for Halloween. She squeaked in terror, then rolled over, laughing as Paul pounced. They rolled around on the carpet, kissing and tickling. The play was the most fun they had together in months, and both were hurting from laughing so much.

Andi tried to scoot away, but Paul grabbed her by the hips and lifted her up and Andi found herself upside down with her thighs over Paul's shoulders. "Don't!" she gasped. "No, don't!" but her cries for mercy were for naught as Paul's mouth closed over her pussy. She moaned in contentment as his tongue slithered into her cunt. It's been so long since he's touched her there. She whimpered as his tongue slithered in and around her pussy before zeroing in on her clit.

He suckled on her clit, shocking her with delicious jolts of sexual pleasure and to retaliate she began sucking his cock. He was so excited he was drooling precum and the musky flavor of her man drove her wild. The couple stood in the darkness in a standing 69, their mouths and tongues working on each other, driving each other closer and closer to orgasm.

As her head spun from the pleasure and being held upside down, Andi realized she was lowered to the ground. She ended up laying on Paul and they kissed with the fervor that rivaled their wedding night. "I've got too..." she whispered and sat up and raised her hips. She lined up his saliva slickened cock with her pussy and sank down with a happy growl. The sensation of being filled with his cock was indescribable. The thickness... the length! Due to her ex-husband, she knew all the different sizes of cocks, but the one she loved most was inside of her, driving her out of her mind with pleasure.

Paul cupped her sweet ass cheeks, and they worked together to raise and lower her pussy on Paul's straining pole. The air rang with the wet clapping of their bodies coming together, their cries of passion, and Andi's gasps of "Yes!" She held still over him as he fucked upward into her like a well-oiled machine, Andi's juices flowing down over his balls as he fucked her to a screaming orgasm. Minutes went by as Paul continued pounding and thrusting into her delicious socket.

Andi was a helpless rag doll as Paul flipped her over onto her hands and knees and drilled her from behind doggystyle. All Andi could do was take every delicious stroke of his cock, grunting in pleasure as his cockhead neared her cervix. She wadded up the black plush throw and buried her face in it and shrieked in pleasure as Paul pounded Andi to another mind shattering orgasm. Her body convulsed as she came, and she was joined by Paul, who roared as he pumped a huge load of semen into her pussy.

Paul collapsed to the floor next to Andi, who ended up sprawled on Paul's chest and they lie together panting. "Wow," gasped Paul. "I guess you can call me Quickdraw after that."

"As long as you give me three cums like that, you can cum as quick as you want to," panted Andi. "It's been four months."

Paul tugged a corner of the plush throw and sighed. "If you had just stayed put, I never would have found you under this."

"I wanted to be found," insisted Andi. "I just didn't want it to be too easy. Let's go downstairs and take our time with round two."

"Agreed." He led Andi down the back stairs to their bedroom, where they showered off the dust of the attic. Their wet bodies slithered together like a pair of playful otters and they were quickly ready for round two... except Danny had his own priorities. Andi dried off quickly and placed the crying infant on the bed, and checked his diaper. "A nice cup of your Christmas hot cocoa would be wonderful right now," said Andi, as she changed the little guy's diaper.

"I'll be right back," Paul slipped on a pair of pajama pants and a bathrobe and went downstairs and made two cups of instant hot cocoa using hot water from the water dispenser. He noticed a stack of empty five gallon bottles. He has to run out to the farm soon and fill them at the spring that feeds the pond. He added a dash of peppermint schnapps to each mug and dressed the tops with marshmallows and colored sprinkles. This was a seasonal treat that Andi loves, but unfortunately their Christmas Season together was cut short.

"Shhh," whispered Andi, as Paul entered the room. He saw Danny nursing at Andi's abundant breast, but also noticed two tiny blond heads peeking out from under the covers in the middle of the big bed. With a sigh that said it all about frustration and at the same time the joys of fatherhood, Paul handed Andi her mug and climbed into bed, being careful not to wake the twins. With a clink of their mugs, they toasted their reunion and turned on a rerun of Bob Newhart.

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Erie County Executive Ed Rath smiled at Andi as Judge Atherton introduced her to Ed on the stage that was set up in front of the village hall. It was about 29 degrees and gently snowing, a snow that the twins insisted was left over from Christmas. "I'm so glad you got this situation cleared up. How are you and your husband doing?" he asked as they chatted before the ceremony began.

"A lot better than I expected. He's getting help from a specialist and he said that the entire situation will be over tomorrow. He's planning to go back to work on Thursday."

"Darling, I must introduce you to the governor," said Judge Nicoleta Atherton as she tugged Andi to the next person in line. "Governor Momzer, this is your newest village mayor, Adriana Jarecki."

To Andi, the governor was a bitter-looking woman. She looked like she clearly hated being there and would much rather be in a Manhattan penthouse, but her campaign advisor insisted being in this cow town that nobody ever heard of would make her look like she was 'one of the people.' She couldn't stand the people... Screw the people! She had bigger fish to fry. She was going to announce a run for the white house soon. "Jarecki... any relation to Cecil Jarecki?"

"He was my father-in-law, ma'am. I truly wish I had the chance to meet him."

"I never liked him," muttered the governor.

"I'm sure the feeling was mutual, ma'am," but the governor didn't seem to understand what Andi said.

"That pretty much tells you what she's like in a nutshell," whispered Nicoleta as she urged Andi aside. "She's as sharp as a grape. If you need any help from Albany, don't talk to her. She won't understand what you're saying. Talk to this guy." She introduced Andi to a tall, handsome black guy. "Madam Mayor, this is Lieutenant Governor Fabrizio Scola. He can get stuff done."

Andi chuckled, "Italian?"

The lieutenant governor smiled and said, "Ey! There's a bit of goombah in everyone on the east side."

Andi heard that before and said, "You're from Buffalo?"

"Lovejoy district. Right next to Tiorunda."

"That's where Paul grew up!"

"Yes, I know. We were practically neighbors," said Lieutenant Governor Scola. "Your in-laws were incredible people. My dad worked for Cecil. It broke my dad's heart when they lost their home just a few houses down the street from us. The company was broke, but Cecil didn't lay off anyone but the guy who caused the financial problems. That's class, and Paul and John have the same class I hear. If Paul and John can teach you anything to bring to this job, that's what you need to learn. It's not about you, it's about your people."

"You'll have to come over for dinner some evening," said Andi. "Some night there's no hockey on TV so my husband will join us."

"It would be my honor, Madam Mayor, but if there's a game on, I'll be watching with Doctor Paul."

Nicoleta led Andi to the next person in line. "Andi, this is Senator Alvin Kroc of New Hampshire."

Andi shook hands with the gray-haired man and said, "I'm honored. Neither of the senators nor representatives from New York attended. I feel special that you are here. Are you considering retiring here? We have some beautiful homes available."

"Thank you, Madam Mayor, but I am here visiting a friend," and that's all he would say.

Nicoleta led Andi away from the crush of political creatures. "Stay away from him. He's a shark. He calls himself a national socialist."

"Isn't that what the Nazis called themselves?"

"You play this game well for a beginner."

"I spent years in a hospital setting learning politics there," said Andi, as they rejoined Paul, Danny, and the twins.

The twins were trying to behave, but the snow was coming down so slowly and straight that they just had to catch snowflakes on their tongues. The twins were looking up, spinning slowly, trying to catch the biggest snowflake they could get. Cholly was with them and he was slowly catching on to what was going on. He leaned his head back to catch a snowflake, and the face of Samael Windecker entered his line of vision.

The little guy started to shake, and he froze up in fear, but when Windecker leaned over to pick him up, Cholly started to shriek in terror. "Maman! Maman!" he cried over and over, "Maman NO!" The tiny boy dashed over to Macy and began pushing her legs, trying to push her back. All the time he looked back over his shoulder at Windecker in terror.

Detective Klafka stepped up to Mayor Windecker and said softly, "You're very lucky you didn't touch that boy. His father is ready to press charges as it is."

"I was just trying to comfort him," said Samael Windecker with a wiseass grin.

"Did you see that?" whispered Julissa to Ayato from the side of the platform.

"He was saying mammon, or whatever it was," said Ayato.

"It's French for mama," said Paul, who was so angry he could scream. Paul realized it wasn't the mother Séraphine Lévesque that tortured Cholly. He now knew who abused Cholly and tortured that woman to death.

"Did you see what Cholly did? he wasn't hiding or looking for reassurance," said Julissa. "He was trying to protect her. He was pushing her away from Windecker."

Paul nodded grimly, but Ayato said, "He probably saw Windecker and his wrecking crew shoving their way into Paul's house a couple of times."

"No, he was home with John and Macy... he saw something else that scared him," muttered Julissa. She took her notebook out of her pocket and leafed through it, looking for something that might make a connection in her mind. She didn't know that Paul had it figured out already.

Finally, it was time. The high school band played the Star-Spangled Banner, and the crowd gathered around the stand. It was noon on a Tuesday, but it seemed like the entire village was here. The school kids were gathered to watch. Usually, the village inauguration happens indoors and few people attend but there was so much interest that the village clerk, Anna Krebs, who was also in charge of the ceremony, decided to hold it outside, then spent a week praying for warm weather. Twenty-nine degrees is freezing, but to the hardy people of western New York, it's not cold.

The top man in Erie County, the County Executive Officer, Ed Rath, stepped up to the microphone. "When my friend Mayor Hardey suddenly retired, I was saddened. What was going to become of the sweet little village of Springville? Will someone with Mayor Hardey's vision of a peaceful hamlet in the hills of the southern tier step forward and take his place? Or will it become a fast-paced suburb filled with big box stores and neighbors that move in and out as fast as realtors can sell their houses?"

That was clearly a knife in the back of Samael Windecker. He looked around the crowd and smiled. "Paul Jarecki heard the call and stepped forward. Paul's been here for quite a while. He restored a beautiful Victorian mansion, he puts a skating rink in Howard avenue park every winter, and he spends countless hours helping fix up the Argentine neighborhood. But Paul was kidnapped. Have you determined a reason yet?" Mr. Rath turned to the Chief of the Town of Concord police department. Actually, they had a reason, they had several reasons, and they were sure that there were more reasons to come, so he lied by sadly shaking his head no.

Ed resumed his speech. "The entire county held its breath as we waited. Policemen scoured the nation looking for Paul, but in the wake of Dr. Jarecki's disappearance, his young wife, with a new child in her arms, Adrianna Jarecki, herself a doctor too, stepped forward and took up her husband's fallen sword and shield. The village charter says that you must be a resident of Springville for a year before you can hold the office of mayor. I personally checked the records and am happy to announce that this is Andi's fifty-fourth week of residence, and this newcomer won the election by a four to one ratio."

The village cheered and whistled. The applause was muted because everyone was wearing mittens and gloves, but as Andi stepped forward, the crowd went wild. "I am bursting at the seams with pride to be able to say, Doctor Roberts, would you step forward to take your oath of office?"

It took a few moments for the crowd to settle down, but eventually, they calmed down. While Paul proudly stood by her side holding Danny and the girls at her feet, John produced a bible and Andi rested her hand on his bible and followed the County Executive in her oath.

I Adrianna Louisa Jarecki do solemnly swear that I shall support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I shall faithfully, honestly, and impartially discharge the duties of Mayor of the Village of Springville, New York, so help me God.

Andi gave a fine speech about how a city girl from out west has never felt more accepted by a group of people than she has experienced in Springville, of how she accidentally found a new home thanks to a lake effect blizzard. "I'm sure that in time I will learn to hate those storms, but they gave me a new home, a wonderful husband and a father for my girls. And friends! I've made so many wonderful, beautiful friends! The first people I met were Brad and Dianna Clemmons and Gerry and Irma Hirsch, who got up early one morning and dug my car out of a ditch. Three hours later, I walked into church and was swamped with love and friendship. Springville saved me. You wonderful people lifted me out of my loneliness and depression and gave me a home filled with love. I pledge to dedicate my life to returning the favor."

After her speech, Andi ceremonially entered Village Hall with her family, the head of the Village Board, and the county executive. As they walked in, they passed Samael Windecker, who was walking out. He had that damn goofy grin on his face, but he walked past without saying a word.

Andi was led to her new office, which was barren. Nothing hung on the walls, the two flag stands which would hold the US flag and the flag of New York were empty, and the maps and certificates that covered the walls were gone.

"Did Danny poop?" asked Madeline.

"It smells like poop in here!" Sandy said angrily.

Paul and Andi looked at each other. The twins were right. There was a whiff of poop in the air, but it wasn't from Danny. Then there was a scream of terror from behind the mayor's desk, and Paul looked to see the twins staring in an open desk drawer. "POOP!" they shrieked. Paul looked and sure enough, someone had left a huge turd in Andi's desk drawer.

Andi turned to the Chief of Police, Alfred Lenz, and said, "Sir, is there anything that we can do about this?"

Fred grinned. He knew that something like this would happen. He made a quick call to dispatch, "We have a signal nine and a signal fourteen at the mayor's office. Tell unit one-oh-seven to ten-fifteen and we need a detective unit to ten-seventeen." (Signal nine = Larceny, Signal fourteen = vandalism, 10-15 = prisoner in custody (he ordered the unit to arrest whoever they were following) and 10-17 = investigation.) "I'm sorry, Madam Mayor, but we will have the culprits locked up in a few moments. I don't think that Mister Windecker realized that this room is wired for sound and video."

"Where? I don't see any cameras," said Andi.

"In each corner, micro lenses on a fiber optic feed line," said Anna Krebs. "Mayor Hardey had them installed when a few companies tried to muscle into the village and a couple of meetings got hot."

Paul urged the twins out of the office and as they stepped out, detectives Klafka and Gaulin arrived. "Don't go in there," said Sandy. "There's POOP!"

"It's gross!" added Madeline, with all the appropriate sound effects needed to get the point across.

<><><><><>

The traditional post inaugural prayer meeting was held at the old wooden Springville Congregational Church, the ancient building that John first spoke in when he came to Springville. The building was ancient by modern standards, one hundred sixty years old, and was now on the National Register of Historic buildings. Because of its historic status, anyone can use the church for prayer services, weddings, and memorial services (the front steps are too steep to carry a casket up or down, and the casket can get away from you on the side ramp). John and Macy perform at least one wedding a month there, and most of their weddings are couples from Orchard Park who want a quaint venue. Wedding pictures on the front steps and inside are a big draw too, and all proceeds go to the building maintenance fund.

"We should go to church here," said Sandy as the 'first family' ascended the steps for the traditional prayer service. "It's cool."

"Uh huh," said Madeline in agreement. "If you beep, it makes an echo."

This confused Gus, who held the door open, but Lucy whispered in his ear, "When they were younger, I taught them to say beep instead of fart." Gus was still chuckling when Macy started her homily.

Macy stood at the antique lectern and delivered a beautiful homily on love, faith and forgiveness. She reviewed the trials and tribulations that Andi and Paul had suffered along with the blessings they were given as they made a life together. As she spoke, Cholly strolled out on stage in his little suit with coat and tie and he stood at Macy's side like he was part of the service.

For his part, John was busy with a fussy Katarina, and he didn't notice his little boy walk up to Macy. At first he thought the boy was missing, but then he saw Cholly standing next to Macy, clutching her skirt with one hand and watching the audience with huge terror-filled eyes. As John was about to go grab Cholly, Madeline noticed her cousin. He had just noticed that so many people were looking at him. The room was filled with faces, and they were in the back, up high on the balcony. He was beginning to feel threatened by the sea of eyes that were staring at him.

"I'll get him," said Madeline and she hopped down off the pew and walked up to Cholly and took his hand. "Come on Cholly, I'll sit with you," and she led him back to John and sat with Cholly through the prayer meeting.

After the meeting, Aunt Macy gave Madeline a kiss and said, "Thank you for helping Cholly. That was very sweet."

"It was my turn," said Madeline.

"You and Sandy take turns helping Cholly?" asked Macy in surprise.

"He's very needy," said Madeline.

After the prayer meeting, the three main churches of Springville hosted a luncheon in the fellowship hall of the Springville Congregational Church because it was a large space. Veronica and Josh arrived a bit late after being held up talking to Anthony and Marjory, their boss and his wife. "Come on," said Veronica. "It's a simple potluck but..."

"I love potluck!" said Anthony. "You don't see them very often in our synagogue." In the fellowship hall, the women's ministry was following Macy's lead and setting up the serving line, but everyone was milling around looking for the new mayor. Paul and Gus were at the entrance, greeting people and guiding them to their seats. Ant peered at the bundle that Paul was holding and said, "That's not Cholly, is it?"

"No! Don't be silly," said Marge. "This must be Daniel."

"It's ok if you call him Danny," said Sandy as she appeared at Paul's side.

"He can't spell yet so he doesn't know the difference," said Madeline.

"And these are Andi's little prodigies," said Veronica.

Sandy and Madeline looked at each other, trying to determine if they like being called that, and Paul said, "Prodigy means you're smart."

"Oh. That's us."

"Show them where we're sitting, please," said Paul.

"K!" the twins said cheerfully, and they led Josh and Veronica to a large round table.

Paul and John placed Katarina and Danny in highchairs side by side and the cousins began squeaking and slapping their chair trays. "Where's the new mayor?" asked Anthony.

"She's in the kitchen with the girls," said John. Then he put Cholly in a highchair without a tray and pushed the chair up to the table and the little guy started chattering to Josh and Veronica. Nobody but John understood what he was saying because it was in pidgin French, but more and more English words were creeping in on his vocabulary.

Lucy was sitting with Anthony, explaining how the Christian church compares with a Jewish synagogue. "We would like to get help from a cantor or a rabbi for Passover," said John as he was pulled into the conversation.

"What, you're going to have a seder?" asked Anthony, who was a cantor.

"Yes, I think it's important to celebrate our roots."

"Roots? What roots?" chuckled Anthony. "You have all makes and models of people here, but Jews? I don't see any."

"Psafset achad," (You missed one) said Lucy in Hebrew.

"A very wise rabbi once said that Judaism is the root, and Christianity is a vine that sprung from the root," said John. "My people need to be reminded of that occasionally."

Anthony smiled. He liked this guy. "I think I can help."

Meanwhile, the twins were getting bored trying to make the babies laugh. "Make them laugh, Uncle Josh!" cried Sandy and Madeline.

"Ok, but if their mommas raise a fuss I'm blaming you," said Josh and he got up and grabbed a can of whipped cream from the dessert table and went to the two babies that were chattering at each other. He sprayed a tiny mound of whipped cream on each of their trays. Both Katarina and Danny investigated the tiny pile of foam, finally prodding it and tasting it. When they tasted the whipped cream, both babies squealed in delight and tried to pick up the foam, making a mess.

When Andi finally emerged from the kitchen along with Veronica, Macy and Marj, the babies were a laughing, squealing mess. Josh would put a tiny spray of whipped cream where their trays met and Danny and Kat would try to grab it as fast as possible and their hands would get tangled trying to pick up the foam. "What are you doing?"

"Ah'm teachin' the tots to play together."

Andi sighed as she and Macy cleaned up their babies. "And you just watched?" demanded Macy.

"Yeah, it was fascinating," said John. "They were playing together instead of sitting next to each other crying."

The luncheon went on as expected. Andi was questioned mercilessly by the press and other politicians. "You were working in the kitchen at your own inaugural celebration?"

"I am still a member of the women's ministry of this church. I enjoy putting these potluck dinners on."

"It gives her first crack at the tater tot hot dish," said Paul, who is well aware of Andi's love for the dish.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Andi's inauguration day was so long and busy that she and Paul were asleep in each other's arms shortly after the twins were asleep. The next morning, Paul and Andi woke and made sleepy love before Danny squawked to wakefulness. It was almost like being in the cabin, trying to make love silently and not wake the girls up at the height of their passion. As their breathing returned to normal, they heard Danny fuss in his bassinette, but, miracle of miracles, he went back to sleep.

They showered together under the delightful rain shower in the bedroom's corner, soapy hands slipping and sliding over wet bodies. Andi was going to say, "I think my boobs are clean now," but she didn't. Her man's hands felt so good after months of abstinence. Her injury, the tenderness of being filled with milk, then his kidnapping killed their love life. Now it's full steam ahead, as long as Danny is asleep or otherwise entertained.

"When does he move into the nursery?" asked Paul. "I mean, we have the best baby monitor made. It's only used as a walkie-talkie by Sandy and Madeline."

"I was going to move him the night you were kidnapped," said Andi sadly. "I'm kind of scared to try it again."

"Superstitious? It's bad luck to be superstitious."

Andi opened her mouth to respond. Then she thought of what he said and laughed and hit him. "You jerk!" After a sweet kiss that almost got them back into bed, she said, "Don't forget, you have show and tell at one thirty, then you bring the twins home."

"Yes, ma'am."

They dressed and went down to the kitchen where Yi was giving the twins their breakfast and Kenny was sitting in the kitchen with a stack of papers. "This is what is in that box," said Kenny. There was quite a bit of money, almost ten thousand dollars in hundred-dollar bills, several letters to Séraphine Lévesque, all in French, a half dozen photographs of Séraphine holding a newborn Cholly, a notebook that Yi and Kenny copied, and a .38 Special snub-nosed revolver. As Paul read a copy of one of the notes, Kenny put the box out in his truck.

"Ok, I'm gone," said Andi, and she gave kisses around. "Be good in school today," she warned the twins. "The excitement is over, so you have no more excuses for bad behavior."

"Awww, momeeee," pleaded the twins in unison.

"If you're good, your dad can bring you by my office after school."

"K!"

Andi headed out to her office to investigate the world of being a mayor. It was only a few blocks away, so she walked. It felt so good to be out on her own and there was nothing that was trying to jump out at her, to terrorize her family, to kidnap her husband. 'Most of them are locked up,' Charlie Klafka said, and she learned the hard way that Charlie wasn't a bullshitter. He was as honest as a cop can get.

"I heard you coming from blocks away," said a voice behind her. She whirled, and it was Ayato standing at the rear door of Worzil's Bar and Grille. "You scuff your feet when you walk."

"Don't scare me like that!"

"What the hell do I do with these damn things?" He held up a beer glass with a colorful logo that said 'Worzil's Bar and Grille.' He studied the glass and said, "I have cases of the damn things."

"What's wrong with them?"

"They'll steal them and I'll be out of glasses." He studied the logo and sighed. "It's a nice logo. I wish I had a sign that matched."

"Paul says you should sell the glasses. Maybe two bucks a piece? Oh, and there's two matching signs on the way, one for outside and one to hang up inside. Both are neon."

Dressed in a bathrobe, jeans and bedroom slippers, Ayato came out and gave Andi a hug. "Thank you, but it wasn't necessary."

"Your wife saved my children. I can't reward her because she's a cop, so I'll reward her business partner in thanks for being a friend."

"Thank you for standing up and running for mayor," said Ayato. "I'm sure when Julissa finishes the case today, we'll have some peace and quiet again."

Andi gave Ayato a kiss on the cheek and said, "there is something to be said for peace and quiet."

"Have a good day Madam Mayor," said Ayato, as he stepped back into his bar. She turned left on main street and passed the Old Fellowship Church, one of the oldest buildings in town, now a coffee shop. She got a latte and continued to the village hall. This was going to be a wonderful walk in the summer. The big beach, chestnut, and maple trees provided beautiful shade in the summer, but Andi's winter walk was miserable. The sidewalks were filled with ice and it was difficult to walk. Her first task will be to get the DPW plowing the sidewalks again.

She entered her office and found that almost everything was put back in place. "What happened?" she asked the village clerk, Anna Krebs.

"It appears that Mister Windecker threw everything out the window. We can't find the continuity book, however. I don't know what you're going to do about that."

Andi opened her messenger bag and pulled out her laptop and the continuity book. "I had an inkling that he would do something like that, so I grabbed this last week."

"Knock, knock," came a call from the door.

"Mayor Hardey, come in!"

"It's just Mister Hardey now," said the former mayor. "I just stopped by to see if you needed a hand."

"That would be great, and I need the village attorney. I have some changes to make and there's going to be complaints..."

<><><><><>

Paul stood in the driveway, leaning against the tail gate of the White Whale. He had dropped off the twins at school, then dropped Danny at Heather and Harold's new house. The grandmothers were happy to watch the baby while Paul cleaned up the mess. He had spent the night reading the copies of the notebook and made a few calls to some friends that he met in New Hampshire.

Tired of waiting, Paul dropped the tailgate of the White Whale and sat on it as he waited. Some people may think it odd that a man worth over a quarter of a billion dollars prefers to drive around in a 1978 long frame F-250 pickup truck, but then, if you invest right, anything over 10 million dollars is pure FU money, and FU money can buy an old pickup truck.

He sat with Wonka at his side, ready to go for a walk. Paul decided Wonka has earned a walk every day and Paul's schedule now revolves around those walks. He looked at his watch. One more minute. If that jerk Windecker doesn't show up in exactly one minute, he's going to take that box into his house and hand it to...

Just then, a large black car pulled up and stopped across the street from Paul's house. "It can't be," he muttered. "Life doesn't get this lucky." He made a quick call to Min as the rear door opened and Samael Windecker stepped out of the back of the Lincoln Town car. "Do you have any cars operating in Springville right now?"

Windecker walked up Paul's driveway and said, "Here I am, as requested. Right on time."

"I'm surprised you made bail," spat Paul in pure hate. He's only been able to hate three people in his life, Oliver Linwood, Samael Windecker, and Paul Jarecki.

"It's good to have friends in high places," said Windecker with that snotty grin that made Paul want to start punching the silly little bastard.

"You said you came for something that belongs to Senator Kroc," said Paul.

"Yes, it was kept at Miss Hernandez's house for safe keeping."

Paul turned to the rear door of the white whale and said, "Was it in a cash box?"

"Yes, did you look?"

"I can honestly say that I glanced inside quickly once and saw a bunch of money and some pills and I decided to put it where the kids can't get at it." Paul raised the rear seat and lifted the cashbox and turned to face Samael Windecker. "Is this it?"

"Yes, and I'm going to count the money," said Windecker. He opened the lid, glanced inside and closed the lid and locked it with a key on his keyring. Then he grabbed the raised handle on the top of the box.

"Are you absolutely sure this box is yours?" asked Paul.

"Yes, damn it!" spat Samael Windecker. He yanked the box out of Paul's hands and swung a kick at Paul. With a threatening bark, Wonka sprung and missed Samael, but his momentum hit the box. The box flew out of Windecker's hands, hit the driveway, and flew open. It scattered money, documents, drugs, a pistol, and a notebook across the driveway.

"GUN!" somebody shouted and suddenly several FBI agents came out of the house. "You can't trust those cheesy latches," said Paul as two agents grabbed Windecker and two headed to the limo.

"DRIVE!" the limo passenger cried.

The chauffer turned around and smiled. "Doctor Jarecki said to wait for his permission to leave."

"Who the hell do you think is paying you for this ride?" demanded Senator Kroc.

"Doctor Jarecki."

An FBI agent rapped at the rear window and said, "Step out of the car, senator."

Senator Kroc sputtered, "I am a federal lawmaker, young man."

"What a coincidence," said the FBI agent. "I happen to be a federal law enforcement officer. You are being held for suspicion of funding sex trafficking, drug trafficking, kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, murder, attempted murder and anything else that ends with trafficking."

As Town of Concord detectives joined the FBI agents, picking up the evidence in the driveway, Paul shook his head and entered the house. "Are you ok boss?" asked Yi as Paul poured himself a cup of coffee with shaking hands.

"The cops left some coffee?" mumbled Paul. He sat down at the kitchen table and stared at his shaking hands.

"Boss?" asked Yi in a tiny voice. "Are you ok? Boss?" He was quiet for a long, long time, staring blankly at his coffee cup and finally Yi called John. "Something is wrong with Paul. He's not responding to me."

"What happened?"

"He... I don't know. The cops are here because of that cashbox and Paul went into shutdown mode."

"I'll be right there," said John.

Yi hung up and went back to rousing Paul. She eventually took a dish cloth and wrapped ice with it and placed it against Paul's forehead. That finally got a response out of Paul. He brushed her hands away gently. "Boss, what is going on?"

"It was him... he's the one that did it all..." said Paul.

"He did what?" asked Yi.

"All of it," said a horribly young looking man in an FBI jacket that entered the house. He handed Yi a card and said, "Special Agent Josey Kersey. I worked with Doctor Jarecki in Portsmouth."

"So, what is all this?" demanded Yi. She was about to shriek, "This is my kitchen; you will answer my questions!"

"It appears that a notebook in that box was a shopping list for the import of slaves and drugs that linked that fellow to the entire operation." He pointed to agents in the driveway talking to a man in handcuffs.

"I know him!" said Yi. "I see him on the news all the time, badmouthing rich people."

"He's the richest of the bunch," said Josey. "He made his money importing women kidnapped from Asia, bringing them into the country to work as sex slaves. He's also brought tons of opiates and fentanyl into the country. Paul helped me shut that all down, but the senator was able to keep his name out of the process. He was the silent partner, financing what other people went to prison for. That notebook you and Kenny read tied it all to him. When Oliver Linwood wanted revenge, he turned to the senator who hired all the muscle to kidnap Paul, and try to kidnap the twins and kill John and Macy."

"How did it get here? How did it end up in Amelia's house?" asked a stunned Yi.

"Some young dude in the South Pacific got his hands on this list and he figured he could blackmail the senator," said Josey. "The senator loved junkets to New Caledonia, so the guy probably stole it from the senator while he was there on the taxpayers' dime. How that kid ended up here in Springville is anyone's guess."

"He was looking for me," said Paul. Suddenly he dashed to the bathroom and began vomiting...

<><><><><>

Gus Didomissio and John Jarecki dropped their tools and raced to Paul's house in answer to Yi's frantic call for help. When they arrived at the house, the FBI and the Town of Concord police department were searching the driveway for anything that might have been dropped from the box that Wonka knocked out of Windecker's hands.

"We came right over. Where's Paul?"

Yi shrugged. "I don't know. He puked his guts out, then ran upstairs, grabbed a picture off the wall in his office, and left. He said he had to walk Wonka and talk to Amelia. Some FBI guy went with him."

"Let's go," said John and they hopped in John's Corvair and putted their way toward the Argentine neighborhood. As they neared Amelia Hernandez's house, they saw Paul and a fellow in an FBI jacket walking along Second Street, with Wonka leading the way. A big black limousine was slowly following them.

John buzzed around Paul and the FBI agent and parked a block ahead in front of Amelia Hernandez's house and they got out of the car and waited for Paul. "When all this is over, I'm taking a vacation," said Gus.

"You just got back from one," said John.

"That's how fast you and your brother wore me out," groused Gus. "Paul! What is going on?"

"I need to talk to Amelia... what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," said John. "Yi was in a panic that you weren't responding. What happened?"

"I was..." Paul searched for the words... "cavorting with ghosts."

"What?" asked Gus.

"He's in one of those moods again," groaned John.

"He won't tell me either," said the guy in an FBI jacket.

"John, Gus, this is Special Agent Kersey. He's the guy who made my trip to Portsmouth so... invigorating. Josey, this is my best friend Gus Didomissio, the best carpenter on earth. And this is Doctor John Jarecki, my brother and Gus's apprentice."

"Now I'm even more confused," said Josey, as he shook hands.

"That was the point behind his introduction," said John. "A pastor doesn't make much, so Gus has been teaching me carpentry."

"He's actually a journeyman carpenter," said Gus. "He'll be training a new apprentice soon, right?"

"Both Yi and Kenny," said John.

They chatted about the house Kenny and Yi were purchasing and the plans that John was drawing up for it as they stepped up on Amelia's porch.

"We'll probably be stuck out here for a long time," said John as he raised his hand to knock on the door. "Amelia doesn't like feds. She may even take a shot at us."

Suddenly the door swung open, and Amelia Hernandez stood there grinning. "Don't worry, I'm a lousy shot. Come in!"

"Amelia? Is that really you?" asked Gus.

"If you need help, blink twice," said John.

"Stop, can't a girl be cheerful?" said Amelia as she closed the door. "I just put on coffee, sit down."

Dexter Humbolt came out of the bathroom, and he was all smiles, too. "Good afternoon. What brings you to Argentine Avenue?" he set out coffee cups for their guests as everyone gathered around the table.

"For one thing, I'm happy for you," said John. "I don't know what brought on this change."

"They got laid," muttered Paul.

"Paul! How can you say that? You should apologize!" John almost screamed.

"Why?" asked Amelia. "He's right, and I'm too old to pretend I don't know what he just said. Yes, Dexter and I are a thing and no, we're not going to talk about marriage in a room full of people. We'll talk to Macy later."

John nodded. Any marriage ceremony he performs must be done in the church following church guidelines, which include a six week successful marriage course. Macy is an ordained minister also, and she performs marriages outside of the church which do not need the marriage course. "I'm happy for you. I truly am. If anyone needs some joy, it's you two. You've earned it."

"Now, before I start shooting, why did you bring a Fed in my house?" Amelia demanded as she eased herself into her chair.

"Amelia, this is Special Agent Kersey," said Paul. "I was there when he busted up a smuggling and slavery ring in Portsmouth back in December."

"You two here to brag?" sneered Amelia. Her grouchy old ways returned as Dexter poured coffee.

"Actually, yes," said Josey. "We just arrested Senator Kroc for his part in financing that smuggling ring and slave trade. He also financed the men who kidnapped Paul, shot at John, and tried to kidnap the twins."

"The twins? He should burn in hell for that!" Amelia had a warm spot in her heart for the twins who call her Grandma Amy. She turned to Paul and said, "For you? It was probably something you said."

"That's not the part," said Paul. "Tell her the part that I said would make her happy."

"Ok, we arrested Samael Windecker for possession of fentanyl, possession of an unregistered firearm, and malicious vandalism of a government office."

"Well, that is good news!" said Amelia with a smile. Then she turned to Paul and asked, "you brought a Fed here to tell me that?"

"No, he followed Wonka and me." Paul took the framed picture and placed it in front of Amelia and said, "Besides me, have you seen anyone else in this picture?"

"Yes."

"Take your time. That picture was taken a long time ago."

"I said yes, damn it, Colonel!" snapped Amelia. "This jackass here," and she pointed to a person in the photograph. "He rented the back room and put Sara and the baby in it, then disappeared." It was a photograph of Paul and Melony in Japan, with several of Melony's co-fliers gathered around them.

"Fuuuck," groaned Paul sadly. He turned to Josey and said, "That is Dennis Howe. He was my wife's wingman. In several of the letters to Séraphine, he said he was looking for me."

"Séraphine Lévesque?" asked Amelia, and Paul nodded sadly.

"Cholly's mom," said John to a confused Gus.

"The woman is my wife, Melony. She was an F-15 pilot, and she was damn good. Dennis was her wingman. When she died in Korea, Dennis had a meltdown as bad as I did and he grounded himself. I don't know what happened to him after that. I was in a pretty dark place myself."

"You think Dennis is Cholly's father?" asked John.

Paul shrugged. "All military members' DNA is on record. You could have it tested against Cholly's. What I know for certain is that in this note, he told Séraphine he found me in Springville and they were coming here because he thought I could help..."

"I can't read any of this," said Josey, looking through the copies that he made of the documents that were scattered on the driveway. "It's in French."

John held his hand out, and Josey handed him the copy. "It never mentions you," said John.

Paul took a copy of the note and pointed to the first paragraph. "He used our call signs. He was Menace, Melony was Foxy, and I was Mutt. Right here, he told Séraphine to stay still while he looks for Mutt, and here, here, and here he said Mutt can help." Paul leaned back, fighting back the tears. "I liked Menace... he watched out for Melony for me... what the hell happened to him?"

"They found his body," said Amelia. "Down by Cattaraugus creek. Shot in the back of the head. He was just another junkie."

"He wasn't a junkie, Amy. He was one of us... a broken vet trying to find his way." Paul slowly got up then said, "I have to get my girls from school and rescue my mother in law from my son. You're welcome to come along Agent Kersey, but you'll end up a show and tell exhibit." He thanked Amelia for her time and made his way out to the limousine that waited for him, then he and Wonka climbed in the back. "Zoar Academy," Paul said as he leaned back and petted Wonka for their mutual comfort.

"Where is that, sir?"

"Next to St. Aloysius church," and Paul closed the window between him and the driver and took his phone and made a call. "I need to make an appointment with Doctor Lennox... yes... next week is fine..."

<><><><><>

Miss Zimmerman went to her classroom door when she heard the knock and peered out the window, then smiled, and held up a finger. Turning back to her kindergarten class, she said, "Madeline, Sandy, would you like to do your show and tell now?"

Sandy and Madeline were deep in thought. The project was to color a picture of Mount Rushmore for President's day. They were telling their classmates how big, how enormous, mount Rushmore was in real life. "Here, it only looks this big," said Sandy, holding her hands a few inches apart, "but in real life, it's really big!"

"Sandy? Madeline? Your show and tell?" said Miss Zimmerman. To be a kindergarten teacher, you need to be ready to repeat yourself a lot. Kindergarten is merely a room full of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, short attention span, bad memories, and tiny bladders. "Sandy? Madeline?" she said for the third time.

"Oh, sorry," and the twins dashed for the door.

"Everybody! Eyes up here! Crayons down for a moment. Sandy and Madeline have an extra special surprise for us. You all remember when they told us their father was taken away? Well..." Miss Zimmerman opened the door and Paul entered.

"WONKA!" cried the entire classroom and the four and five-year-olds swarmed Wonka, who reveled in the attention. Paul had something prepared to say, but screw it. He looked at the teacher, who shrugged.

"They have their priorities."

"I know," sighed Paul. "Baby steps..."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Melissa Kraft pulled into the Jarecki's driveway and honked the horn of her Ford Explorer. It looked like the Jarecki family was mobilizing for the day. Yi was packing the twins into the van; Andi kissed them and Paul goodbye and started her walk to the village hall. She would eventually become known for her morning walk to the village hall. It would be one of those things that villagers could set their watch by. The fire whistle at noon, the church bells at six, and Andi walking to the village hall on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at eight AM. Paul was ready for his ride. He and Wonka climbed in the back of the Explorer and Paul opened his laptop.

"Good morning, Melissa," said Paul. A hot cup of coffee was waiting for him in a Ford mug in the back.

"Good morning sir," she started, but Paul warned her with a scolding glare in the mirror. "Sorry, good morning Paul." It was always Paul, unless there was a client or customer nearby. "I changed the Wi-Fi password. Sorry. It's Wonka spelled with a zero followed by three exclamation marks."

"Did you change the passw... sorry, got it." He opened his email and saw the sea of emails waiting for him. "I'm not doing this right, am I."

"Give yourself some time," said Melissa. "I flagged the emails you need to see. The rest you can delete." She pulled onto the 219 expressway as the snow started.

"Are we going to have a storm? I didn't check the weather today. If we're going to have a storm, I'll work from home."

"Light flurries, heavier snow in the southern tier," said Melissa. That was the weather report for Western New York for most of January and February. "If you're not ready, we can head back."

"No, it's best to rip off the band aid. Any appointments?"

"You have a one o'clock lunch at Schwabl's with Rich Unger and Dave Gillespie," said Melissa. Schwabl's was a German American restaurant that is famous for their beef on weck. Rich was mayor of West Seneca and Dave was the mayor of Lancaster. Both were great guys, and both were begging for a Jarecki Motors in their villages.

"Join us and call the mayor of Springville and invite her along. She needs to start meeting her fellow mayors. They have a common enemy and they need to band together."

"Common enemy?"

"Governor Momzer."

"She may have bugged this car," said Melissa.

"The only bug she's got that I know of is up her ass. There, at the inauguration, she asked Andi if her last name came from Cecil Jarecki. When Andi said 'yes,' Momzer said, 'I didn't like him,' then ignored Andi."

"She's not a nice person."

"I'm going to have a Governor Momzer Day Sale. All prices 15% higher in honor of the cost of living increases she's inflicted on New York."

Melissa looked at her boss in the mirror and smiled. Paul is back!

At the Orchard Park dealership, Paul immediately went to the showroom window and saw a second car had been added to the window where Paul's classic Mach 1 mustang sat. A powder blue 1964 convertible Mustang. Paul first touched his mustang; it was an old friend. Then he looked at the newcomer. The tiny pony was in perfect shape and a small sign near the tire said, "From the collection of Min Zhong Sun, COO, Jarecki Motors."

As he headed up to his office, Min met him in his outer office. "You have a sweet pony down there."

"When I bought a house in Springville, I decided to get something that would allow me to ride with the cruisers."

"You're in Springville now? Where?"

"Church street and Franklin Avenue."

Paul smiled. "That's over by our church. You might as well join us."

"Do you think they'll take a Buddhist?"

"Sure, we're having a special Passover Seder for Buddhists in March."

The reunion with his job went much better than expected. Paul spent the morning with Min catching up on the business, then at one o'clock he and Andi met several mayors. After the meeting, they went to Springville and went to the cabin, where it all started nearly fourteen months ago. Paul changed into his work clothes while Andi lit a fire and dusted. Outside, he plowed the driveway and parking area to his idea of perfection, then tended to the chickens.

Returning to the cabin, he found Andi sitting in front of a crackling fire in the wood stove. A slight smell of smoke in the air told Paul that she forgot to open the flu on the wood stove chimney again. He sat down next to her and gave her a long, loving kiss.

"Here," she whispered and handed him her glass of wine and his phone. "It's for you." She gave him another kiss. "I love you," she said, and she got up, pulled on her parka and stepped outside.

"Hello?"

"Hello Paul," came the voice of Doctor Helen Lennox. "I just wanted to see how you are feeling after your first day back on the job."

"I... uh... half day. I'm playing hooky."

"That's ok, don't beat yourself up. It's still quite soon."

Paul and his psychologist had a long talk, and she encouraged Paul to take it easy and to enjoy the trip next month. "Trip?" asked Paul.

"Yes, you had made plans to take Josh, Veronica, Don and Lanh Campbell to an island you folks like. I think it would be good for you four veterans to spend some time off together."

"Four?"

"Isn't Kensington Johnson going too? Andi said that he will be assisting Yi."

"Yeah..." said Paul. He had forgotten about that, a trip to the islands on their own yacht. "Yeah!" he said, more eager to go.

"Relax, and if you need me, call. We still have an office appointment next week."

When they were finished talking, Paul went outside and found that Andi had gotten the snowmobile out of the barn and started. "Come on!" she said, and she revved the engine. "We're going for a ride!"

"We are?"

"Yeah, the last ride I took, I was in labor. It's my turn to drive!"

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

When the library cart came up to his cell door, Frank Rosetti actually looked happy. "I have that book you asked for," said the prisoner who pushed the library cart, Deshawn Williams.

"Thank you," said Frank from his writing desk. Frank had finally got his letters to Madeline and Sandy looking just the way he wanted. They were the hardest things he ever had to write, but with Father Armondo's help, the letters finally took shape. He was sure that Andi was going to reject the letters, but maybe with Father Armondo's help, she'll read them and let the twins see the letters. His dream, his passion, was for one, maybe both of them, to say, "You've worked hard and made something of yourself. I forgive you, Uncle Frank." He knew realistically that would never happen, but a man can dream, can't he?

He touched the picture of the twins' first birthday. They were seated in front of a pair of tiny cupcakes, not knowing what to think of it. Frank did not know the terror that gripped Andi's heart because neither twin attempted to form words at this age. She was terrified of a speech delay, which could mean worse mental issues.

Frank felt a rush of something as he looked at their pictures. "I think you may be experiencing love for the very first time," said Father Armondo when Frank mentioned the rush he felt.

"I feel I could do anything they wanted," replied Frank.

"Would that include leaving them alone if their mother asks? If it was love, the answer would be hard, but it would be yes. Come join our bible study and you can explore this with men that are in the same situation you are in," said the young priest.

"Yeah, I think I will." Frank started going to bible study twice a week, and he found a new passion, the writings of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a nineteenth century British theologian. A no-nonsense man who seemed to have a direct line to God's brain. And he had a bit of a sense of humor, which Frank got.

Turning from the picture, Frank stepped up to the door and Deshawn held a copy of Meditations on Manhood by Charles Spurgeon just outside the opening in the bars. "I can only let you have this for one week, then it goes back," said Deshawn. "Understand?"

"I understand," said Frank, and he reached for the book.

Instead of handing him the book, Deshawn dropped the book and grabbed Frank's wrist and pulled him hard up against the bars. "Aleksei Markov sends his regards," Deshawn hissed and, with his free hand, began stabbing Frank as fast as he could with the shiv he made from a toothbrush. Frank didn't say a word. He just gritted his teeth and sank to the floor and slowly bled to death, his eyes fixed on the photograph of the twins that he taped over his bed. A photograph that he gazed at every night as he went to sleep. With his last breath he whispered, "baby birds..."

"Punk ass bitch," swore Deshawn and he tossed a handwritten note on Frank's body and wheeled his cart away. He wondered how far he could push that cart before the guards crashed down on him like an angry tsunami.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"No, no, NO! What Grandma and Grandpa Driscoll says, goes," said Andi into her phone. "I don't care what Ian McKenzie says in school, you're older than him, you're not going to let him tie Wonka to a sled and have him pull Ian's little brother around the village... yes it IS my village... why?... because I'm the mayor!" Andi rolled her eyes and groaned. "I've got the world's youngest sixteen-year-old."

"Give me the phone," said Paul. "Sandy, put your Grandmother on... yes NOW." He looked at Andi and said, "You're right." Finally, Heather came on the phone. "If Sandy is all hot and bothered about this Ian fellow, call his folks and invite him out to the cabin and have him help with the chickens... oh yeah, the smell alone will do him in. We're going to pick up our passengers in the morning then head out to the island, so we'll be out of touch for a day or two... love you too... bye."

Yi lifted her wine glass, which glittered in the candlelight. "She takes after her nanny." It was a warm tropical evening, and the three days of instruction from Yi's folks, Stan and Sunny Carlson, were done. They were now floating offshore enjoying a steak, some fresh shrimp and a sweet wine.

"I forgot how nice the wind feels on my tits," said Andi as she leaned back. Everyone was topless as they had dinner on the mezzanine of the boat.

"Those aren't tits," said Yi. "I have tits, you got boobs," and she poked Andi's large breast with a finger.

"What's the difference?" demanded Andi, and she poked Yi's small, firm breast.

"About two cup sizes."

The girls continued to poke and tickle as they helped clean up the dinner dishes, until Paul said, "Out! Get out of the galley and let me clean up."

Paul loaded the tiny dishwasher with plates, glassware and silverware, then scrubbed the pots and pans by hand as the dishwasher began churning. There was a loud splash, and Paul reached out to a control panel and turned on the underwater lights. With the lights on, they saw that Andi and Yi were diving off the swim platform off the stern. "You can join them. We're not going to head inland until sunrise."

"Thanks Mist... uh... Paul." Kenny dashed off to join Yi and Andi in the warm waters of the Atlantic. Paul didn't worry about Kenny taking advantage of their nudity. Yi is the woman that Kenny had been waiting for his entire life and he will not do anything that would make her leave him.

They were sitting offshore with the anchor dropped to hold their position close to Beverly Beach, where they would pick up the first of their passengers in the early morning. Paul finished the dishes and put the pots and pans away. Paul wanted to go swimming with Andi, but he wasn't sure if he could. He was the Captain on this trip and he was going to remain within a few seconds of reaching the controls. He had a tablet that was constantly showing him engine, APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) status, radar findings, and dozens of other controls and read outs needed to maintain the status of the boat.

Paul relaxed with a cold draft beer and watched Yi, Andi, and Kenny splash and play in the water. When he finished the beer, he turned off the deck lights, leaving just the underwater lights glowing making a nice romantic setting. He slipped off his shorts and eased into the water and came up behind Andi. He wrapped his arms around her and they kissed long and enjoyed the feeling of their partner's body pressed tight. After their kiss, Paul pulled himself up onto the swim platform and toweled off. Andi pulled herself up and sat next to him as they watched Yi and Kenny cavort in the warm water. It was odd to watch them play without saying a word to each other, but they seemed to understand what each other was thinking.

Andi leaned over and gave Paul a little kiss. "Not swimming with us?"

"I think I'm going to turn in. It's almost midnight and we want to get underway at oh six thirty."

"Wow, it got late fast," said Andi. She turned to Yi and Kenny and said, "We're turning in. Can you turn off the lights when you're done?"

Yi and Kenny looked at each other, then they started swimming toward the boat. It's unnerving seeing them work together so perfectly without saying a word. After a quick shower in the lower head, Paul and Andi went up to their home on the flying bridge.

<><><><><>

Dawn broke quite early and Andi was awakened by the entire boat rumbling. Paul was gone and Yi was in the captain's position. "What's going on?" asked Andi, as she sat up and pulled the blanket around her.

"Paul and Kenny are raising anchor and I'm making sure we don't drift and hit another boat," said Yi. She had the engines started, and she was standing so she could see Paul and Kenny working at the bow. Paul was raising the anchor and making sure the chain didn't get knotted in the chain locker while Kenny sprayed the mud and weeds off the chain with a high-pressure hose.

Andi pulled on a halter top and shorts and said, "I'll take it."

"I'll go get breakfast started... do Minnesotans need weird things to eat?" asked Yi.

"They're just people," said Andi with a laugh. "But Don once said that he liked pho for breakfast."

"Good luck with that," said Yi, as she headed down the stairs.

Paul came up the stairs and said, "ready to get underway?"

"Uggh! You smell like a dead manatee! Go wash up!" The mud and gunk from the anchor chains can be quite pungent.

"Sorry," said Paul and he headed down to the cockpit and cleaned up at the fish cleaning station. He was back to the bridge as Andi opened the throttles and Andi's Dream came to life. The big Mann diesels rumbled, and the boat moved toward the marina entrance. "Beverly Beach marina, this is Andi's Dream," called Paul on the radio. "We want to enter the marina, pick up passengers at the harbor master's office, then head back out."

"Roger Andi's Dream," came the response from the harbor master. "There is no marina traffic at this time. You are clear to proceed. Advise when you are ready to depart."

The sky was gray in the pre-sunrise gloom as Andi's Dream picked her way through the marina and eased up to the marina office dock. There, in front of the marina café, was one man and four women. "There's Don!" said Andi, as they picked their way slowly toward the dock.

"Is he always surrounded by women?" asked Paul.

"Well... he's cute."

Paul looked through the binoculars and said, "Better chain up Kenny, they're all Asian."

"I forgot to tell Yi about that," said Andi as she brought the huge boat to a stop, then left the captain's seat and moved to the small helm out on the open deck behind the bridge. She checked clearance on both sides of the boat, then twisted the helm's joystick and with a squirt from the trusters, the huge boat rotated on its axis. "Fenders out on port side!" called Andi.

"Aye captain!" called Kenny from down below and he and Yi, now in their white shorts and white polo shirt with Andi's Dream Crew embroidered in blue, began setting out the big white cushions. With the 180 degree rotation completed, Andi gave the joystick a nudge to the left, and the thrusters gave the boat a gentle push to the doc.

They were still moving when Andi called, "The helm is yours!" and dashed down the stairs to meet her old friends. Back in Colorado, Don was one of her patients and he and his wife Lanh was in her office monthly as he recovered from a chronic vascular condition brought on by a severe accident while on active duty in Saudi Arabia. Don and Lanh often helped with the twins as they went through the toddler stage. When Andi found a new life in New York, she felt so guilty for leaving her friends behind.

Andi rushed down from the bridge, appeared on what looked like the second story, zipped down a small flight of stairs onto the deck and out on the dock. The tiny Asian was definitely Lanh Campbell, who became very good friends with Andi in Colorado.

Lanh and Andi dashed into each other's arms, and it seemed like their conversation picked up exactly where it left off over a year ago. Lanh led Andi to their dockside table where Lanh's husband Don, the walking epitome of a Minnesota farm boy, and Lanh's shapely, beautiful sister Kim-ly, rose and greeted Andi. "It's so good to see you, Doctor Roberts," said Don. "I hope I'm not the one that chased you out of practice."

"No, I had my own reasons," she laughed as she hugged Kim-ly. Don introduced Andi to his friends Annie and Tiên, who had joined them at the Marina.

As he gave Annie a goodbye hug, Don said, "We'll see you in a few days. Don't eat up all the frogs' legs before we get back." He had been teasing Annie that it wasn't right to live in Florida for a decade and not try the frogs' legs.

"I'll be ok," she whispered as she kissed Don's cheek. "We need you to be ok too."

Paul watched Don sadly wave goodbye as he stepped aboard Andi's Dream. When they were aboard, Paul called out from the flying bridge, "Cast off all lines fore and aft." Kenny unwrapped the fore lines from the dock cleats, then as Yi coiled up the forward lines Kenny ran to the stern, released the stern lines then hopped on board. He and Yi stowed the fenders and Andi's Dream moved sideways away from the dock and headed out of the marina. When Andi turned to Don, she found a very despondent man and a weeping wife, while Kim-ly hugged them both.

"What's wrong?" Andi asked quietly as the yacht purred out of the Marina.

"They lost a friend," said Kim-ly quietly. "They just found out. The Viet on the dock, Anni, was his widow and Tiên was his youngest daughter."

"I'm sorry," said Don. "He was my mentor... It's just... he didn't want to tell us he was sick..."

"Or stuck in a tree," muttered Lanh into Don's side.

"...not with all of our troubles," Don finished.

"Take your time," Andi said as she placed a hand on Don and Lanh's shoulders. "We all have troubles on this ride and we're here to work through it."

Lanh pulled Andi into their group hug. "How is Paul? Did you get him back?"

"Uh, yeah, a couple of weeks ago. You knew? I never said anything," said Andi.

"Shit," said Kim-ly. "You two were all over the papers. Dude running for mayor kidnapped, kidnapped dude's wife elected mayor, we didn't hear anything after that."

"He's back, he's fine. God, I missed you guys!" said Andi, but that just made Lanh cry harder.

"I'm sorry," wept the tiny Vietnamese girl. "You set up this nice vacation and I spend it crying."

"Hush! This is exactly why we set up this vacation for you, for all of us. We need to let out the sad and get back to living." Andi smiled and said, "For the past four or five years, you guys lived a nightmare. It's time to unwind!" She turned to Kim-ly and said, "I want to see the baby!" Kim-ly grinned and pulled out her phone and began showing pictures, as did Lanh. "He's so cute!" Andi practically squealed. "He's adorable!" She handed her phone back to Kim-ly and said, "he's precious... can I ask who his father is?"

"Yes," was all Kim-ly said.

"The last time I saw you, you were pregnant, and you wouldn't tell me then..." Then she realized that Kim-ly was being a smart-ass. "Ok, I'll play your silly little game. Who is your baby's father?" Andi wasn't ready for the smiles and the rolling eyes and Lanh and Kim-ly's heads jerking in Don's direction. "Don?" she gasped.

"What I do?" said Don, who wasn't paying attention. He was watching the sailboats in the Beverly Beach marina slip by.

"You knocked up your sister-in-law?" hissed the feisty little doctor.

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, I sure did," said Don. Don firmly believes that the best lie is the truth told unconvincingly.

Andi laughed and said, "Ok if you don't want to tell me, then fine. Here." She pulled out her phone and showed Lanh and Kim-ly a picture of the twins holding their brother Danny.

"Oh my God, he's adorable!" squealed Lanh. "Do you need a governess?"

"That's MY job," said Yi a bit more forcefully than needed.

"Giggles here is our chef and head engineer, Yi-jin Carlson," said Andi. She pointed at Kenny, who was trying to hold back laughter for some reason (Yi was silently telling him a filthy joke) "Chuckles is Kenny Johnson. He's our deckhand, assistant engineer, and Yi's part time gofer and full time fiancé."

Yi-jin was a tall, slim Asian girl, a full head taller than Kim-ly. Yi wore her black hair down, and it had one streak of blond. Lanh reached out to shake her hand and said, "Bạn có phải là người Việt Nam không?" (Are you Vietnamese?)

"Huh?" asked a startled Yi.

"Oh... um... dangsin-eun hangug-in-iseyo?" (Are you Korean?)

"Oh, yes. On my mother's side. How many languages do you speak?" asked Yi.

"She can order drinks in eight different languages," said Kim-ly, obviously in awe of her sister's super-power.

Andi continued her introduction, "Yi-jin is a Culinary Institute trained chef and grew up working cruise yachts like this one until I hired her as our executive chef and governess." She then turned to Kenny. "Kensington here is an Army veteran and when he's not helping Yi wash dishes, he runs his dad's feed store in Springville, NY." She turned to her employees and said, "Yi, Kenny, this is Don and Lanh Campbell and Kim-ly Nguyen. We'll have a chance to catch up this evening, but they live on a dairy farm in Grant Valley, Minnesota."

Don Campbell turned to Kenny and asked, "What do you use in New York for a good silage additive?"

Kenny smiled. This is where he shined. He loved talking about feed and livestock medicines. "My customers swear by a product called Gut Candy. It ads critical bacteria, enzymes and micro-flora for their digestive tract," said Kenny. Immediately, Don, Kenny, Lanh and Kim-ly fell into a conversation about feeding dairy cattle until Yi excused herself and ran up to the galley to finish breakfast. As Kenny was explaining a new cattle feed they had been selling, he stopped talking and looked surprised. "Yi needs my help, gotta go," and he headed up to the galley.

"Something I said?" asked Don.

"No, he's been like that since he started dating Yi," said Andi. "Ok, this lower section at the stern, this is the cockpit, this is where we do the fishing and swimming." She opened the stern door and pointed down. "There's an extended swimming platform for when we want to swim." She smiled and said, "there's no need for a swimsuit if you don't want to wear one. We're all adults here."

"That's what I'm talking about!" cried Kim-ly and she peeled off her t-shirt. Lanh was about to yell when she saw that Kim-ly was wearing a bikini top under her t-shirt.

Andi gave them a tour of the boat, which was lost on Kim-ly after she saw the beer tap. They loved the galley and volunteered to help Yi because all three Minnesotans had decades of experience working in their father's restaurant. Yi flatly denied their offer of help. "The only reason why Paul is allowed to help is because he owns this galley," said Yi.

Andi showed them the rest of the main deck, then led them below deck. "There's four cabins here," and Andi pointed them all out, "port, bow, and starboard cabins. Here's the main cabin. Kenny put all of your bags here, is... that... right?" Andi's tour guide skills faltered as she entered uncharted territory.

"Doctor Roberts, I suppose you ought to know..." Don put an arm around Kim-ly while he held Lanh tight. "Sixteen years ago, two high school rejects met, and we haven't let go since. I got busted up, then Lanh got busted up, but at the same time, Kim-ly got busted up on the inside. She needs us and we need her. So, this is us. Lanh and I are married, and Kim-ly is part of our union now. If it's something you can't handle, we will understand, and you can let us out anywhere you want. This is your boat and we'll be ok with your decision."

"It's ok," said Andi, "that's why you're here. You saw me and the twins in Denver. We had nothing, we were barely scraping by. How do you raise a child when you're crying yourself to sleep every night? But Paul rescued us, and we rescued him just as you guys rescued each other. You might say we all have the same thing going."

"Thank you," said Lanh softly as Andi turned to leave.

"Oh, and breakfast is in ten minutes up on the bridge. We'll talk some more. Yi or Kenny can show you the way," and the smiling young doctor left them to explore their cabin.

Ten minutes later, Kim-ly, Lanh and Don followed Yi and Kenny up to the flying bridge, where they met Paul. At six foot five, he towered over Andi, but from the pictures on the wall behind the captain's seat he's crazy about his children. There was picture after picture of him with the twins and the baby, mostly under the Christmas tree. "Don, Lanh, Kim-ly, this is Paul Jarecki, my husband and father of Daniel Cyryl Jarecki."

As she shook hands with Paul, Kim-ly turned to Andi and said, "All this time that we're worried you got kidnapped by aliens or crashed in the mountains in Ecuador. You were busy getting knocked up on a yacht?"

"Actually, it happened in a hotel room in Niagara Falls, Ontario," said Andi.

Don chuckled as he hugged Andi, then turned to Paul and shook his hand. "So, what do you do besides drive yachts and knock up tiny pulmonologists?"

Paul choked down a laugh. He hasn't been questioned like that in a long time. "To start, the yacht is all Andi's. Her ex was..." he searched for a word and finally settled on abusive. "Yeah, abusive is the best word to use, I guess. He wanted this yacht and used Andi to get it, then dumped her. Frank couldn't keep up with the payments and the bank repossessed it. I bought it, had it fumigated and put Andi's name on it and gave it to her for Christmas last year. As for me, I'm a cardiologist, semi-retired from medicine."

"Nice," grinned Don, "I'd be spending my semi-retirement in this floating palace, too."

"Oh, I'm not retired," said Paul. "I cut back on medicine so I could concentrate on Jarecki Motors." He led Don out to the open-air dining area directly above the mezzanine and they sat watching the shore fade into the distance. "My dad left me and my brother a couple of Ford dealerships in Western New York. I took some business law courses at the local university and tried my hand in business when he died."

"How did that work out?" asked Don, as the girls joined them.

"They're up to fifteen dealerships in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Hampshire," said Andi as she hugged Paul. "He had nine dealerships and was working at the VA hospital when we met. I asked him to slow down, so he cut his time at the hospital and bought five more dealerships." Her eye-rolling expression clearly said, "Just like a man."

"I can't help it," said Paul. "My brother and his wife are pastors, so people tend to think that I'm honest too and the deals just fall into place."

Don chuckled then asked, "how did you steal my doctor?"

"I found her stuck in a snow drift," said Paul.

"He did!" agreed Andi as Yi and Kenny set out breakfast, which comprised fresh fruit, several kinds of baked goods, coffee and juice, then Yi and Kenny sat down and joined them. "I flew into Buffalo to meet up with a friend. We were going to spend Christmas in Toronto, but before we could meet, a snowstorm struck..."

"In Buffalo?" asked Kim-ly. "Who woulda guessed... ow!"

"Did I bump you? I'm sorry," said Don, whose elbow connected with Kim-ly. "Could you pass the butter?"

"You don't get snowstorms in Minnesota?" asked Yi.

"We were in the middle of a three day long subzero blizzard when Andi called," said Don.

Lanh's eyes were wide open in shock at the memory. "I have never seen anything like it from Don. He was like, "Take a cruise on a yacht in Florida? Give me some time to think about it-YES!" He never decides anything that quickly!"

They chatted and swapped stories as the two couples and the thrupple ate breakfast. At one point, Kim-ly said that there were three Asians on the trip and Paul said, "there're four Asians."

"Who's number four?" asked Kim-ly, and Yi held Kenny's hand up.

"You mean Kenny?" asked Lanh.

"My great-grandmother was Chinese. She was a World War Two war bride."

That's when an old legend came to mind and Kim-ly pointed to Kenny's black pearl that he wore around his neck. "Did you get that from a dragon?"

"Yes," he said with such sincerity that Andi was shocked.

Kim-ly turned to Yi and asked, "Did you get your earrings from a dragon?"

"No, of course not. Don't be silly," said Yi. "Kenny got them from the dragon. Guoxin gave me these," and she popped off her bikini top displaying her darling teacup size breasts with erect nipples and black pearl studs.

"Guoxin?" gasped Lanh, her eyes wide in wonder.

"Oh, you don't believe in silly legends, do you?" asked Yi, who was enjoying being topless in the morning sun.

Kim-ly leaned over and whispered in Yi's ear, and Yi's eyebrows shot up. Then Kim-ly said to Kenny, "You can tell everyone."

Kenny looked nervous, but Kim-ly encouraged him. "It's ok, you can say it."

Finally, Kenny said, "Kim-ly's son is a test-tube baby and Don was the sperm donor."

Don pulled Kim-ly back against him and started tickling her. "Ok pretty mommy, that's enough trouble."

Andi was confused, but back in October when they were building the guillotine, Kenny thought he was going insane and had explained the legend of the Emperor Dragon Guoxin to Paul and the powers of the black pearls that the dragons produce. "You're not crazy," said Paul. "There's more to this world than what we're taught in school. If you and Yi can truly communicate on a different level, that means two things. One is that there is truth to the legends."

"What's the other?" asked Kenny.

"You have a world of chores and projects ahead of you," said Paul with a huge grin.

It became apparent to Andi that not only was Kim-ly attached to Don and Lanh, and the reverse was true. This wasn't a relationship of convenience. This was love. "Ok, after we clean up, we're going to head to Jupiter," said Andi. "Paul, Yi, Kenny and I will remain up here, and you guys have the run of the ship below deck except for the engine room..."

"And the galley," interrupted Yi.

"And the galley, but Yi will happily get you anything you want. If you want to go swimming, just let us know and we'll stop. Think of this as the cruise to hedonism. We're here to enjoy ourselves before we go back to the real world. If you want to get anything off your chests..."

"Like a bra?" asked Kim-ly as she took off her bikini top, revealing her marvelous breasts.

"You can run naked if you want. We'll be pulling into Jupiter for the evening and to pick up another couple who will be following the same rules. Is that ok? Do you have any questions?"

"Just one," said Kim-ly. "What kind of beer is on tap?"

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

The day was one of pleasure and joy. Paul spent the entire day at the helm and loved it. He only took breaks to come down for lunch. He could feel the terror of early January melt away. "Why don't you come downstairs and meet the guests?" asked Kenny. "I can watch the helm and let Yi know when you're needed."

"I don't know how to explain it, but here I have complete control. Start, stop, north, south, slow, fast. I decide where we are going. I decide where I am going... the freedom of travel is intoxicating after it's been taken away."

"We're going to Jupiter. Is that where you want to go?" asked Kenny.

Paul looked at Kenny and chuckled. "We're tying up at my house. Why wouldn't I want to go there?"

Paul came down that afternoon for lunch and as the girls made plans to go shopping, Paul noticed a look about Kim-ly that he hadn't seen earlier. It reminded him of the look Andi has after fantastic sex. He shrugged it off and as Andi, Yi, Lanh, and Kim-ly coordinated their wardrobe, Paul went back to the helm.

Later, as he reviewed the latest reports from the National Weather Service, he realized that Kim-ly was sitting next to him and she was staring blankly ahead. After about ten minutes of silence, Paul asked, "Would you like to talk?" He knew nothing about this woman. All he knew was that she was beautiful and her breasts were nearly as spectacular as Andi's.

"I don't know how to say it," said Kim-ly.

"Five words... that's all it takes," said Paul.

Finally, Kim-ly sighed and said, "I'm in love with my baby's father."

"That's seven words."

"Fuck you."

"Well said," said Paul with a chuckle. "Babies know that love. They love to be surrounded by love. They thrive on it."

"He's married to my kid sister," she said with a blank expression on her beautiful face.

Paul grew serious. "I don't know what to say other than I hope my daughters can come to me with a problem like that when they're much, much older." He waited for a word from Kim-ly, but she said nothing. "Maybe Judge Atherton can help. She's..." Paul thought for a moment, then said, "She's like Don's mentor, Royce. I heard he was a pretty sharp guy, right?"

"He saved Don and Lanh," said Kim-ly softly. "His wife, Annie, is wonderful. We need to help her." Kim-ly's eyes teared up at the thought of Annie Royce's anguish.

"Ok, Judge Atherton, she's Andi's mentor. We met her a year ago, and she's been nothing but amazing for Andi. If you're not a criminal, she'll move the heavens and earth to help you."

"What if you are a criminal?" asked Kim-ly.

"You know Judge Judy on TV? Picture her with a tooth ache and a migraine."

"That's not helping me now," said Kim-ly with a sad sigh.

"I know something that will help. Do you want to try it?"

With a shrug, Kim-ly said, "Sure."

"Ok, run down to the beer tap and bring each of us back a pint."

"Sounds like a good start..." and Kim-ly headed downstairs. She came back up with two pints of golden ale and took her seat next to Paul. "Now what?"

"We drink, we enjoy the trip, we talk, and we let the beer do its magic," said Paul.

"It will never work, but it sounds like fun to try."

An hour later, Andi and Lanh came up stairs to check on Paul and Kim-ly and they found Paul with a half drank beer and Kim-ly with an empty glass. Her face was buried on Paul's shoulder and she was quietly sobbing. "What's wrong?" whispered Lanh.

"She's terrified that what you have won't last."

Kim-ly looked and there was Lanh. "Ồ, chị ơi." (Oh sister.)

Lanh took Kim-ly's hand. Kim-ly was always the one who knew what to do, the sister with the courage, but now it's Lanh that must be big sister. "Chúng ta hãy ngồi xuống và nói chuyện" (Come, let's sit and talk) and she led Kim-ly to the lower deck where they could sit in the warm breeze and talk.

<><><><><>

They docked in the yacht club where the water and diesel tanks were filled and the gray and black water tanks were drained and flushed. As the crews started working on the yacht, Andi, Yi, Lanh and Kim-ly hopped on the club golf cart and headed off to do some shopping. "I can't believe you don't live down here," said Don as he, Paul and Kenny watched the yacht club crew work on the yacht.

"Because it's bloody fucking hot, but I have a surprise for Andi. We put in a pool. After school lets out, we'll come down here with the kids and let them play in the pool and next winter we'll snowbird a few times. With the girls in school, we won't have much time." Paul pointed to a photograph on the wall in the boat's salon of him and Andi and the twins standing in front of a huge Victorian mansion that was decorated merrily for Christmas. The huge front window was filled with a gigantic tree. "That's home. It's like I knew Andi was coming, so I spent years getting that house ready for her."

"That's an immense house!" gasped Don, who was used to his dad's huge farmhouse.

"You should come visit. Bring the family, we have the room now, and Danh can share a crib with Danny in the nursery."

"We'll look at that. We just got home and I can't believe we took this time," said Don. "I'm trying to get my strength back to work on the farm. We have to take care of our friend Karole, who was injured with Lanh. It was a horrible Christmas, but I know what you mean... home gets in your blood. I'm not leaving Minnesota ever again."

It was time to dress and head over to the Yacht Club for dinner. "The girls will meet us there," said Paul, and the guys walked over to the yacht club's restaurant. At first glance, it looked like a place that would require a tuxedo and gown just to be seated, but Paul told them, "This is Florida. A shirt with a collar would be considered high fashion. Polo shirts, shorts, and deck shoes would be fine." The only polo shirt that Don brought had his ham radio call sign, KB0LVZ embroidered above the pocket. "Nice!" said Paul and shook Don's hand. "I'm KX2OBJ. We'll have something to talk about at dinner."

"Lanh and Kim-ly have their HAM license also," said Don. "Kim-ly has an Amateur Extra license, and we're all so proud of her. We insisted that everyone try while Karole was healing. I wanted everyone on the air before we traveled back to Minnesota, and they did it. It really helped going through Wyoming."

"Tell me about it!" said Paul. "It's so empty in Wyoming. Good for you, Andi doesn't have an interest in the hobby, but she doesn't mind that I spend a lot of time on the air."

Don and Paul sat at their table trying to convince Kenny to get his ham license while they wait for the girls to arrive. Eventually they swept into the yacht club dining room. All four women were wearing Hawaiian print sarongs with matching bikini tops. Lanh looked nervous. She would never wear something this daring in public, but she and Kim-ly wore almost identical sarongs. The hibiscus print was identical, but the primary background color was different.

Rene the maître d' recognized Andi and Yi, but he clearly didn't think much of the Nguyen girls even though they were dressed similarly to Andi. Paul, Don, and Kenny rose as the girls approached and Paul said, "Doctor Campbell, would you like to introduce your guests to Rene?"

Don grinned; he wanted this. "Most assuredly, Doctor Jarecki. Rene, let me introduce our guests. This is Doctor Nguyen Hong Lanh. She's a speech pathologist," and he kissed Lanh. "And this is Nguyen Minh Kim-ly. She is Doctor Nguyen's accountant." He gave Kim-ly a kiss, and they sat down.

The maître d' looked a little surprised and said, "you travel with your accountant?"

Don answered in a snotty, faux surprised voice and said, "You don't?" The maître d' slunk back to his station as Andi and Paul laughed in approval.

"Hãy để anh ấy yên," (leave him alone) whispered Lanh.

"Anh ấy yêu cầu nó" (he asked for it) said Don and he kissed Lanh and Kim-ly again, then after settling in and ordering Don asked, "Where is this little cruise heading?"

"Nisi Arcadia," said Paul as he poured the wine. He made sure that tonight the wines were from the Mosel region of Germany.

"Isn't Arcadia the homeland of Pan, the Greek god of debauchery?" asked Kim-ly. Leave it to Kim-ly to know about anything to do with debauchery.

"Well... the Greek god of nymphs, satyrs, proto jazz music... and debauchery," said Andi. "A friend of ours owns the island and we're going to dock there and spend a few days being beach bums before sending you back to the Minnesota winter."

"And operation Sue Lin!" said Lanh happily.

"I still don't know about that," Don whispered. He was worried that Operation Sue Lin, as the girls called it, would raise bad memories, and leave him with an emotionally shattered wife again.

"It's going to happen. Operation Sue Lin is how we will get our baby," said Lanh cheerfully. She sipped her wine and smiled. "This is good!"

"It's a delicious kabinette," said Yi.

"Not this wine," said Kim-ly. "It's definitely prädikatswein, I think it's a spätlese if anything." An impressed Paul showed Yi and Kim-ly the label. It was definitely a spätlese. "I drank enough when I was in Germany. I should know," said Kim-ly.

"Yes, you did," said Don and Lanh in unison.

"What is operation Sue Lin?" asked Andi.

"Because Lanh's endometriosis affected her ovum," said Kim-ly. "We're going to take one of mine, mix it with Don's contribution, and plant it in Lanh."

"If it's a girl, we're going to name her after Sue Lin," said Lanh.

"Who is Sue Lin?" asked Kenny.

"It's the name we picked for the baby we lost..." said Don, and his throat tightened up. He couldn't believe how much it still hurt. Before anyone asked, Don finished it for them. "After Lanh was diagnosed with endometriosis, we tried to adopt a baby. It took years and almost every free dime we had. We were finally approved for a darling little Thai girl. Her name was Sue Lin. We were going to get her on Christmas Eve. it would have been four years ago this past Christmas..." He looked around the table and everybody was hanging on his next words. "I got injured and because of that, we couldn't get Sue Lin."

Seeing the distress in Don's eyes, Lanh called a halt to it. "No more, not right now. Let's be happy tonight."

Andi was sure this was the story of how he got the pulmonary emboli that was causing him so many vascular difficulties. She wanted to hear more about it and Operation Sue Lin, but Don was really suffering from emotional distress right now. "I agree. Let's eat, drink, and be merry. We have a busy morning ahead of us!"

Andi, Paul, Kenny, and Yi raised their wine glasses and said, "Hear hear!"

Dinner was delightful, the Minnesota trio had as much seafood as they could endure, Kim-ly had huge shrimp stuffed with crab meat and covered with lobster sauce, Don had the lobster pie, huge chunks of lobster topped with a cracker crumb stuffing drenched in sherry and melted butter, and Lanh had shrimp scampi with linguini and lobster meat. The three wordlessly picked off each other's dishes. In fact, they passed each other's dishes back and forth as they mixed their main courses.

After dinner, they walked out to the marina and stepped aboard Andi's Dream. The crew was complete with refueling and loading her up with sanitary water and drinking water. As Yi and Kenny cast off Paul explained that he and his brother John owned a house here in Jupiter along with a few others scattered around Naples and Sarasota that they rent out, but the Jupiter house they keep for their own use and as an Airbnb. They were going to tie up at their Jupiter house for the night, then early in the morning their other couple was going to arrive and they planned to shove off for Nisi Arcadia around sunrise and arrive there late in the afternoon, or early in the evening, maybe later depending on how often they stop for fishing and swimming. "All I ask," said Paul, "is in Jupiter wear clothing up on deck, regardless of what you may see on shore. Tomorrow once we get out past the break water you can wear what you want, ok?"

"Aye aye sir!" said Kim-ly with a salute and Paul headed up to the flybridge as Andi eased Andi's Dream out into the channel and through the canals of Jupiter. It looked like Party Central to Don, Lanh, and Kim-ly. Folks were outside relaxing on their lawns and docks and raising drinks to them as they drifted past. Many were happily naked. Tiki torches lit the way and folks in all states of dress waved as they passed.

"Jeez," said Don. "They talk about The Villages..." They soon reached a large dock where Yi, Paul, and Kenny hopped out and tied up the boat securely, then connected water, sanitary, and electrical lines to the boat. Soon the big diesels shut down, as did the onboard power generator.

"Yi and Kenny will be staying onboard up in the flybridge," said Andi as she came down from the bridge. "You can come into the house or stay here onboard, your choice,"

"I think we'll stay here in this floating palace," said Don as Lanh grinned and a happy-looking Kim-ly headed toward the main cabin.

"Are they going to be ok?" asked Andi as they headed toward the house. "And where did those rocks come from?" asked Andi. The last time she was down here, the house was wide open toward the canal. Now a line of huge rocks ten feet tall blocked her view of half the house. The entire canal side of the house was a patio with a big lawn that extended all the way to the canal. It was a lush and lovely lawn without a fire ant anywhere. (unusual for Florida!) She noticed that there was what appeared to be a moat on the canal side of the rocks. "Did you put in a..." she saw that the water in the moat was moving! "A pool?" she dropped her sarong and bikini top and trotted across the lawn, her large round breasts bouncing as she ran.

"What did I tell everyone about wearing clothing above deck?" said Paul as he picked up her clothes.

"I'm not on the boat," said Andi.

Paul came up behind her and threw a few switches and said, "Welcome to your dream," said Paul. Suddenly lights in the rocks lit up, several waterfalls splashed down the rocks, and here and there a flame filled a bowl mounted somewhere in the rocks lit and burned merrily. A large gas fire lit in a fire pit near the patio.

"When did they do this?" gasped Andi.

"They started last January and finished up in August. I was hoping we'd be down here before school started. Unfortunately, life intervened."

"It's beautiful!" gasped Andi.

"The crew that built it and made our gardens told me they put a very special grotto in the rocks," said Paul as he stripped off his clothes and joined Andi as she marveled at the lights glittering on the splashing water. "And we can charge triple for the house on Airbnb."

"How deep does the pool get?"

"Over here on the short leg of the L it goes from one inch to two feet deep, on the long leg of the L it's about seven feet under the diving platform, the lazy river takes you around behind the rocks and somewhere in it is the special grotto." They walked hand in hand into the pool at the shallow end. There were two grottos that were hidden behind waterfalls and they were perfect for sneaking a kiss.

"I can see Sandy dragging her boyfriend in here in about five years," said Andi, as she and Paul kissed. His hard cock was pressing against her.

"I think we have to christen at least one grotto tonight," said Paul.

"That's right!" said Andi, her eyes wide with surprise. "I forgot! How many houses do you own down here? We need to christen them too. We have got some work to do!"

"It's not me, it's WE that own houses down here. Macy and John have a few years head start on us for christening the houses." He urged her out of the grotto they were kissing in, and they swam over to the mouth of the lazy river. "This would be more fun with a floaty, but it still works," said Paul as they floated in the currents as the lazy river took them on the canal side of the rocks. The river curved and went into a cave to return to the main pool and in that cave Andi saw a side entrance to another cave that was half hidden.

"Hey!" said Andi, and she swam into the cave. A red light on a motion sensor came on, filling the cave with a soft red glow. The cave was narrow, and the water was up to mid-thigh. They kissed with growing passion in the dim cavern, flesh pressing against flesh. "God, I love you," she gasped as their passion grew.

"When I was taken, the only thing I was afraid of was not seeing you ever again. When Phil gave me the NARCAN and I came around, I called for you. You are my reason for living."

Andi clawed his back, her breasts pressing against his chest, their lips crushing together. "Now," she whimpered, "make me yours." She nipped one of his nipples, then slipped down lower and lower. Kissing her way down, she sank to her knees in the cool water until she reached his cock. "Oh, god I missed you," she groaned and kissed up and down his length. She took one of his swollen balls into her mouth and suckled on it as she stroked his cock, sending exquisite thrills up and down his spine. Paul was paralyzed with pleasure. He loved it when she did this so much. She had the perfect touch. Other lovers would be too ravenous on his nuts and cause a lot of pain. Others just wouldn't do it for some reason, but they were all in that dark area between Melony's death and that long period of waiting for Andi to arrive.

In the dim light, he noticed a shelf of rock about waist high behind Andi. Could that be the magic in this grotto that the builder promised? Too blinded with desire to realize what he was doing, Paul growled and lifted Andi up and sat her on that shelf. It fit! It was as if that shelf was made for her cute, round ass. And it put her pussy right at Cock Level. He hooked his arms under her legs and lifted them, leaving her exposed and vulnerable. He was mad with need for her and began fruitlessly poking his cock at her, hoping desperately to find her pussy.

For her part, Andi was thrilled. She loved driving Paul out of his mind with desire until he becomes a ravenous monster driven by lust. That doesn't happen too often because he's very romantic, which she found sweet, but sometimes a woman just wants to be fucked. She grabbed his cock with her free hand and lined it up for him. "Yes... it's right... There!" That feeling of being filled, of being stretched open as her man plunged into her welcoming cunt. Paul drove into her balls deep and they paused for a moment to savor that most intimate of connections.

As his pubic hair mingled with hers, they kissed gently. Andi wasn't fooled by the tender kiss. He was trembling; the storm was going to break soon. "Are you ok there?" he asked softly as their lips parted.

"Yeah, it's comfortable." It was comfortable, the rock was smooth, and she even found rocks she could prop her feet on. "Give it to me... oof!"

Paul couldn't hold back. He began a pounding fuck that Andi would remember for ages. His cock pulled back and drove deep into her, spearing deep, searching for untouched depths. Over and over, he pounded into her and she was helpless to do anything, as if she would want to. This was the brutal fuck she has been aching for since September. When she was pregnant, he was so gentle and sweet with her, especially after she was injured, run over by Frank. But sometimes a woman just wants his lover to go crazy and fuck like a lust blinded demon.

Paul truly was a lust blinded demon. He just wanted to pound his cock into his beautiful wife to a satisfying orgasm... for him. He was sure she was enjoying it too, but the itch he felt blinded him to all but the need to fuck, to cum, and she was cumming like a demon herself. Andi was shocked at the force he used as he pounded into her and she was cumming like never before. Her screams of pleasure echoed in the tiny grotto and mingled with his growls and the splashing of the water.

His pace picked up, and he fucked with all his strength, blindly thrusting into her until, with a silent explosion, he came. Waves of bliss crashed over him and he spurted his life creating semen into her over and over. He collapsed on her, and she wrapped her arms and legs around him. "Oh god, that was amazing," he groaned.

"I hope we purged some of that anger," she whispered.

"I'm not angry," he said as they kissed over and over, then slipped into the water. They could sit on the floor of the grotto and the water would be just up to their shoulders. Andi peppered Paul's lips with kisses and clung tight to her man.

"It's ok to be angry. They did awful things to you. We're not going to feel safe for a long time."

Paul sighed sadly. "You're right. Sometimes I want to take my guns and go back into the woods and hide in a tent and not come out until I know it's completely over."

"Why don't you?" asked Andi.

"It's too damn cold out!"

They emerged from the grotto and cuddled up together on a lounger on the patio next to a cheery gas fire pit and slipped into a deep, healing sleep.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Don woke up early and made his way to the galley, and Yi was busy preparing breakfast. "Shrimp and grits?" asked Don, as he settled onto a stool at the galley counter.

"Yes sir," said Yi and she handed him a cup of coffee, then she dismembered a huge fresh caught shrimp. "What was your first clue?" Yi put some water on to boil and said, "I didn't know they served shrimp and grits in Minnesota." She tossed the shrimp heads in the pot of water to add even more shrimp flavor to her grits.

"I serve it," said Don with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows. He sat down at a table on the mezzanine and watched the palatial homes of the Jupiter waterfront slide by. The boat made a turn and Don saw a huge red brick light house glide past; he took pictures of that for Danh along with several other pictures he had taken on the journey. Danh wouldn't understand the pictures, but taking the pictures for his son made Don feel good.

Suddenly Andi's voice came over the boat intercom, "Prepare for rough seas."

Before Don could get up to see if Yi needed help, Yi called up the stairs to the bridge, "Galley is ready!" Moments later the yacht pitched up and down, it wasn't violent, but it was very noticeable compared to the ultra-smooth tracking the boat did all day yesterday.

"What's going on?" asked Don.

"It's the Jupiter inlet," said Yi as she rolled with the boat. "We're heading out to sea and the tide is heading inland, which makes the ride rough in the canal. "

Eventually the boat stopped its pitching and rocking and Don was watching the beach recede as they headed out into the open ocean. The throttles opened and the big sporting yacht surged forward out into the open ocean and Yi returned to cooking.

Lanh emerged from below deck, looking confused and scared. Don's heart skipped a beat when he saw her. Last night, the three made love and expressed their fears for the future and somehow the vacation became a honeymoon for their thrupple. "Are you ok darling?" asked Don as he led a shaken Lanh back to the mezzanine.

"Yeah, the boat was bouncing and shaking so bad, it scared me. Kim-ly slept through the whole thing." Don and Lanh sat side by side holding hands and sipping their coffee, their heads touching as they whispered. "I got an idea," said Lanh. "When we get home, let's get married."

"Let's do it. Let's renew our vows. We'll find us a minister and a priest and when we're done, we'll go skinny dipping in the pond." Don's eyes never moved from Lanh's eyes. "Let's go home and stop trying to be important. Let's stop trying to do big things. Let's just be us."

Lanh gave him that smile that won his heart almost 18 years ago and she said, "I have cows to milk!" As they sat discussing their future, Andi came down the stairs with a couple that appeared to be Don and Lanh's age, possibly a little older than them. The guy was a solidly built fellow with dark hair and when he spoke, he revealed a deep southern accent. The woman with him was tall and slender with large breasts and chestnut colored hair, and she was breath takingly beautiful.

"Don! Squeaky!" said Josh.

"Redneck!" cried Lanh, and she threw herself at her old friend. Years ago in Korea, Josh could have had her thrown in prison for sneaking into the dorm and living in Don's room, but Josh just laughed at it. As long as Don was able to fix the F-16s, Josh was happy. Veronica watched the reunion in surprise. Andi had told her it would happen, but Veronica was not prepared for the change to come over Josh. Her fiancé was almost always smiling, but that smile masked a lot of pain. This reunion brought out genuine joy in his heart.

"Honey, these are old friends from Korea about a thousand years ago. This is Don Campbell, a genuine cowboy..."

"He means dairy farmer," said Don as he shook hands with Veronica.

"... and this is Squeaky the Mouse, Don's wife Lanh. She broke into the NCO dorm and lived with Don for much of his tour..."

"Every word is true," said Lanh. "Except 'much.' I was only there three months."

"That was a quarter of his tour!" Josh hugged Veronica and said, "Don... Lanh, this is my fiancée Veronica von Köster, former Miss America."

"Contestant," said Veronica. "He intentionally leaves out contestant."

"Redneck? Engaged?" gasped Lanh. She grasped Veronica's hand and led her to a mezzanine table where they sat down. "We have to talk."

Meanwhile, Don and Josh were catching up. "Retired? You ain't that old," said Josh. "You should be just coming up on retirement."

"I got busted up in a jet blast incident in Saudi Arabia."

"That was you? Day-um! Ah've been outta the game for years and I heard about it in Buffalo. And they ain't no Air Force in Buffalo!" They sat down with Lanh and Veronica, and as they did, Kim-ly stumbled above deck wearing only a t-shirt that was so short that you could see she was wearing nothing else. She grabbed a cup of coffee from Yi and sat down next to Don.

"Mmmmm, you were so good last night," she purred and kissed Don. She was the epitome of the image of a well-fucked woman. "I need to recuperate."

"Don? You going to introduce us?" asked Josh.

"This is Kim-ly. She's my accountant," said Don.

"I see that," said Veronica.

"Before you ask," said Kim-ly, "I am completely and totally fucked in the head... and so is Don... and so is Lanh. And we match. This is us. We keep each other sane, sorta."

"That works for me," said Josh. "Let's do this before we get too far out to sea..." and he set up a face time call on his phone. "Good morning Chief Donovan," he said.

"Good morning, Redneck," came a familiar voice.

Don's eyes popped open wide when he saw his old boss. "Roxie? Oh my god! How are you doing?"

"Hey Don, look who I got here," and Roxie pulled her husband into the picture. Lanh squealed when she saw her old friend Wedge and the old friends chatted and laughed until they lost the signal.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

As she likes to do with new arrivals, Nicoleta Atherton met the new arrivals at the pier on Nisi Arcadia and Andi told them all what was going to happen. "Aww, I don't want to get dressed," said Kim-ly, and her sentiments were echoed by a nod from Veronica. They were enjoying the feel of the sun and the breeze on their parts that spent years covered up. They had just finished setting up the foredeck canopy to provide shade while they met with the owner of the island. In the end, only Lanh wore a shirt as they prepared to meet their hosts.

Andi stepped onto the bow from the port side deck, followed by a woman clearly in her later years. She had long silver hair combed out straight like Lanh's ebony locks and, like Andi, she was wearing only a sarong. Her C cup breasts were either superbly modified or timeless in their glory. With her was a man in his late sixties, and he was quite fit. "Folks, this is our hostess, Judge Nicoleta Atherton and her husband Donald. She and Donald own this island and are happy to have us come visit."

"Let's see, I know Yi from your last visit. Is that the Kenny that Doctor Andi has told me so much about?"

"Yes ma'am, we met briefly at Paul and Andi's house just before Paul was located," said Kenny.

"Ah yes. Welcome to Nisi Arcadia." She turned to Veronica and said, "we met in Springville. You did a marvelous job on Andi's campaign. One thing I wanted to ask, however, am I correct in assuming that you are Veronica von Köster from the Miss America pageant a few years ago?"

"Quite a few years ago," chuckled Veronica as she rose to shake hands. One by one Justice Atherton walked around the bow patio shaking hands and welcoming her guests, and when she got to Kim-ly, the Asian hottie introduced herself as Kim-ly Campbell. Nicoletta sat down between Lanh and Kim-ly and said, "I've been told that there is quite a story here. Tell it to me."

"Not much to tell," said Don. "Lanh and I were high school sweethearts. I proposed to her in front of her parents on Christmas Eve. We got married after we graduated, and I went to basic training. I re-enlisted a couple of times, then got out early because..."

"Woah, woah, woah! Slow down there, hoss!" cried Kim-ly. "You left out like... the ENTIRE STORY."

"Jeez, we'll be here all night," whined Don.

"I've got plenty of wine," said Nicoleta. "Andi told me that it is quite a story."

"Yeah!" grinned Veronica, "tell us."

"Aw, you done opened a big-ass can a worms!" said Josh with a laugh. "We ain't gittin' outta here until she hears every word, and don't skimp on the spicy parts."

In the end, they each told their stories, then Nicoleta and Donald led them to their cabanas. Being newly engaged, Josh and Veronica got the Newly Wed Cabana. It was nestled back behind the shrubs and built out over a little cove where dolphins played. Next were Yi and Kenny. They picked the Sunset cabana, a cabana with a private beach and a spectacular view of the sunsets. Andi and Paul got the sunrise Cabana and Don, Kim-ly and Lanh ended up with a suite in Atherton's magnificent island home. "At my age, I deserve flush toilets," asserted Kim-ly.

The vacation was just what the four couples needed. Much of the day was spent swimming or making love on the beach, and Veronica turned out to be a bit of an exhibitionist. Don, Lanh, and Kim-ly stayed to themselves whenever possible, as did Yi and Kenny. Andi and Paul spent much of their time sailing the Atherton's beautiful 36 foot Bermuda rigged sloop. To Andi, sailing naked was the epitome of freedom.

Daily the women would gather at the beach on the north end of the island where it's women only and clothing not allowed. They would spend the time talking about their men, their children, and their dreams.

In total, they spent four full days on Nisi Arcadia; the days were spent sailing and swimming, evenings were spent gathering together around a bonfire telling stories and singing songs. Paul and Josh often played guitar, everything from blues to country to rock and roll. Sometimes Justice Nicoletta would tell of courtroom antics she had run into in the past while Paul accompanied her on the guitar, playing background music to her story.

Twice a day Lanh, Kimly, and Andi made 'mommy calls' home to talk with their children. Even though Danh and Danny were only a couple of months apart, they seemed to react to seeing their mothers on the call. The twins were still angry they weren't invited. "Don't worry. When school gets out for the summer, we have a special surprise down here just for you," said Andi.

"A trip to Mickie's house?" their eyes widened in excitement.

"Oh, you have to be extra special good for that. Poppa Paul made you something you're going to love!" She was referring to the swimming pool, but to the twins, Florida either means Mickey Mouse or sailboats. The twins loved sailing as much as their mommy.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"Well, we're back!" said Paul, and he and Andi walked into Father Juan's rectory room. Paul was carrying Danny, and Andi was leading the twins by the hand. Father Juan was just recently released from the hospital and a room in the priest house was made up just for him with a hospital bed, library of books and a huge TV so he could watch soccer.

"How was your second honeymoon?" asked Father Juan. He was still feisty and jovial, but to Paul, it seemed like Father Juan had lost the fire. His skin was pale and his voice didn't boom like it used to.

"It was wonderful. We sailed and sailed and sailed," said Andi. "I want to get a sailboat and sail up here on Lake Erie, but Paul said we should get something that can travel the Erie Canal."

"Yes, that would be a pretty ride," said Father Juan. "Slow, peaceful, and the little towns! Ride the canal to Glens Falls. It's a wonderful town... home of Hacksaw Jim Duggan, you know." He seemed to drift off into his memories and much of that was taking orphan boys to wrestling events and meeting the wrestlers.

"I hope you continue to heal, father," said Paul, who was trying to keep the sorrow out of his voice. "Boxing day won't be the same without you."

Father Juan pointed at Paul and said, "You do it. You know how and you know the people."

"Father," scolded Andi. "That's an important part of the holiday season, the four churches in Springville coming together to help our own."

"Three churches," said Father Juan. "Saint Aloysius, Trinity Lutheran, and Springville Congregational."

Paul proudly said, "the mayor has convinced Rabbi Goldsmith to include synagogue Kehillat Elohim as part of the holiday event. A Hanukkah kind of thing."

Father Juan smiled and gently held Andi's hand. "God sent you to us to heal our little village," he said so softly that only Andi heard him. "Unfortunately, I must introduce you to someone," Father Juan motioned to the door and a young priest entered. "This is Father Armondo. He needs to speak with you. I need the girls to stay here and read to me."

"Read? We don't have school today!" pouted Sandy.

"There are some books over there you may like," said Father Juan, gesturing to the bookshelves.

"Do you have The Hobbit? We like The Hobbit," said Madeline.

While they searched the shelves for Father Juan's dog-eared copy of The Hobbit, Paul and Andi followed Father Armondo to a room where they could talk. "I was told that you would find this hard to believe, but Frank Rosetti was working to better himself, to make himself presentable to you, so you may allow him to speak to the twins."

"You're right. I find it very hard to believe," said Andi harshly.

"I worked with Frank several times a week, sometimes every day of the week. He was starting to serve, helping the younger inmates to adjust. He was one of my altar boys helping me say mass and was hoping to become a deacon."

"What does this have to do with me? Do you know why he was locked up? He tried to kill me while I was pregnant with Danny. He helped Oliver Linwood kidnap Paul. He tried to ruin my life!" Andi worked hard to keep the trace of hysteria out of her voice.

"He knew that. I made very sure he knew that. Somebody gave him a series of pictures of your girls and told him to look at every picture and eventually he looked at them. On the back of each picture, she wrote a note that ended with, 'Look at what you missed.'" He handed a stack of photographs to Andi. She turned one over and the writing on the back said, "Sandy and Madeline's first trip to the zoo. Look at what you missed." The perfect cursive script could only be Nicoleta Atherton's hand.

Father Armondo sighed and said, "he fell in love with the girls that could have been his daughters and he realized how ruinous his life was. He wrote these letters to Sandy and Madeline, and I promised to deliver them to you, not to them. What you do with these letters is up to you." He handed Andi two pieces of paper and both were covered with the blocky handwriting of Frank Rosetti.

Dear Sandy and Madeline

I know you know me as a wicked man, and I am sad to say that you are right. I am a bad man. I am selfish and rude and I was terrible to your mother. I was bad to everyone, including myself. Then one day, Judge Nicoleta showed me pictures of you and said, "Look at what you missed."

Every day I look at the pictures of the most beautiful girls in the world and tell myself, maybe, maybe if I am good that some day their mommy may let me meet them properly. I am working hard to make myself a better man for you. Father Armondo is showing me how to make myself better. I'm reading bible stories every day and Father Armondo is teaching me what they mean.

I hope someday I can talk with your mom and maybe, if I'm very good, she'll let me meet you properly.

Until then, I continue to pray and try to become a man that you would be proud to know.

Frank

"Is he sincere?" asked Andi.

"Honey, I don't want him near our girls," said Paul, emphasizing the word 'our.' He is their father since the county executive signed the adoption petition a year ago.

"I just want to know if this is real or another game of his," said Andi.

"It doesn't really matter," said Father Armondo. "He's dead."

"What?"

"Stabbed to death in his own cell, a note was left which said, 'Courtesy of Aleksei Markov.'"

"I killed him," gasped Andi. Her head was spinning. She knew this would happen. She wanted it to happen. So why does she feel so bad?

"No, it was a fellow prisoner named Deshawn Williams."

"No, Father. I killed him," said Andi. "On a radio interview, I thanked the police for finding Paul and I named him. I said, 'Thanks to my ex-husband Frank for providing information that led to the kidnappers' arrest.'"

"You couldn't possibly have known," said Father Armondo.

"I knew, oh I knew. Frank exposed me to his filthy underworld. He used me as a sexual punching bag, tying me up and letting the guys he lost to in poker have sex with me, and he video taped it. When I met Paul and we planned to get married, Frank tried to extort money from us, claiming that he was going to sue for custody of the girls, but he's not their father. One of his Russian poker buddies was."

"I'm sure that he..." started Father Armondo, but Andi interrupted again.

"When we were on our honeymoon, he dumped all his videos on the internet. Paul had him charged with rape and a bunch of other stuff. Somehow, he gets loose and runs me over! I was seven months pregnant, and he runs me and Pastor John over!"

"I didn't realize it was him that did that..." said Father Armondo.

Andi was just getting wound up. "He conspired to kidnap Paul from prison. He blackmailed Oliver Linwood into hiring thugs to kill John and Macy and kidnap my girls, yes I killed him! I did it to protect my family! And now you're trying to convince me that he was in a state of grace when he died?" She shook her head, then said, "I'm going to have a chat with the Archbishop, and have you assigned to St. Aloysius to help and possibly replace Father Juan."

"Why?" asked a stunned priest.

"Why?" asked Andi as she stood up. "Because I'm going to need some guidance on this, and I can't talk to my own pastor because he was one of this guy's victims." She looked angry enough to bite the young priest's head off, but then she softened. "Besides, I like you."

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It was a beautiful late spring day. The middle of June was becoming Andi's favorite time of year, even though the pond was still too cool to go swimming in. So many amazing things were happening. She called Lanh and Don once a week to see how they were doing. Lanh, Kim-ly, and their older sister, Tam, were all pregnant. "Something must be in the water up there," chuckled Andi.

"What do you mean?" asked Lanh, who had an innocent sense of humor.

"Nothing, just kidding. Give Danh a hug for me and we'll be out there to help the moment you call."

"Thanks. I probably won't call, but it's nice to know that I can."

"Honey, us little girls need to help each other. Having the baby is easy. It's what happens next that's the hard part," said Andi. "I'll be there to fold diapers and do anything you need. I am a licensed MD. I may come in handy."

"No, that's ok..."

"I already have a motel room reserved and a rental car set up."

Paul finished his morning coffee and folded up the newspaper. Macy was there with them having coffee and she was bright and cheerful. Her little man, Cholly's parentage, was determined, and the court had no problem awarding custody of Cholly to John and Macy on a permanent basis. Cholly's DNA clearly said that Dennis "Menace" Howe was his father and a friend of Dennis spoke on John and Macy's behalf. Of course, that friend was Paul.

This morning's newspaper boldly claimed, "Former Springville mayor Samael Windecker was indicted in the murders of Former USAF fighter pilot Dennis Howe and his wife Séraphine Lévesque." Evidence that Séraphine had hidden did him in. The murder weapons in both murders were in that box, the gun he used to kill Dennis and the "pain pills" he gave Séraphine, which were nearly pure fentanyl. The box also contained a notebook that charted the shipments of girls and drugs that Senator Kroc was bringing into the country. The governor of Vermont will appoint a new senator soon. And the money in that box, that was Dennis's life savings, which he gave to Séraphine when he went out to find Paul. The money was in case he didn't come back.

"Come on girls, we got flowers to plant before Aunty Lucy gets here," called Andi.

"Are you sure you're ok watching Cholly and Kat?" asked Macy.

"Hey, as long as the check clears, you can bring as many over as you want," said Yi.

"Let's go, Doctor Jarecki," said Paul as he zipped up his Team Ford racing jacket. Andi gave him a goodbye kiss, then rounded the girls out the front door with Cholly and the dogs.

"I'm ready Doctor Jarecki," said Macy, and she followed Paul out into the warm sunny weather and into the garage.

Out front, Andi was watering her hanging flowerpots that lined the porch that stretched around the house. The twins had Danny and Kat in a wagon and they were giving the babies a ride in the porch's shade and Andi had a profound sense of déjà vu. As they ran back and forth on the porch pulling their little brother and cousin, a rumble could be heard and the pewter 1972 Mustang Mach 1 rolled out of the driveway.

"Have a good day at work," said Andi, and she leaned in the window and gave Paul a kiss. She noticed Wonka was sitting happily in the back, his service dog vest on. He was ready to serve.

"Dinner at Worzil's tonight?" he asked.

"Of course, it's Friday!" with another kiss, Paul stuck the mustang back in gear and he and Macy rolled out, heading off to work in Orchard Park. With a toot of their horn, Veronica and Josh rolled past on their way to work as well.

About ten minutes later, Evangeline Didomissio pulled into the driveway and parked and walked to the front porch where Andi was planting flowers in the flower bed next to the front door. "Aunty Lucy! Aunty Lucy! Look! We're giving Danny and Kit-Kat rides!" Meanwhile Cholly and the two huge Newfoundland puppies Jolie and Chiot ran around and around in the front yard.

"How are you doing this morning?" asked Yi as she brought Lucy a cup of tea.

"Not bad, I haven't puked in three days," said Lucy, who eased herself into a comfortable wooden chair. She no longer minded being called Evangeline. All it took was a loving husband to say, "I love that name." However, it was hard to tell if she was complaining or bragging about puking.

"Welcome to the second trimester," said Andi, as she planted the last flower.

"I don't know how you did it with two," said Lucy.

"It was easy, I just cried on your shoulder for a year and a half," said Andi, as she got up and started putting her gardening tools away. Then she sat down next to Lucy and they enjoyed the morning. The trees were marvelous, the temperature was perfect. The smell of fresh cut grass, fertilizer, and flowers filled the air. Bird calls from all kinds of birds could be heard. "Who would have thought a year and a half ago it would lead to this," said Andi softly.

"Not I, that's for sure," said Lucy as she placed a hand on her tummy, anxiously waiting for the first movements of August Junior.

They watched children playing in the park across the street as a car pulled up and parked in the street in front of the house. "That's your nine o'clock," said Andi as a middle-aged woman got out of the car and looked at the sign that Andi hung on the fence earlier in the morning. It said:

Springville Respiratory and Sleep Medicine

Doctor Adrianna Jarecki

Doctor Evangeline Didomissio

"Yep. That's Mrs. Ravenscroft," said Lucy. She slowly got up with her cup of tea and the large soft pretzel she was eating for breakfast and headed into the house. "I'll be ready in about ten minutes... fucking bladder."

"A little help, please! They're getting away!" shouted Sandy, and a moment later Danny and Katarina appeared around the corner of the porch, laughing as they furiously crawled for freedom.

"You're back on the clock, Yi," said Andi.

"Lucky me!" and Yi scooped up the babies and carried them out into the middle of the front yard where they could roll around in the grass.

"Hey! We were playing with them!" said Madeline with a pout.

"Go play with them," said Andi, then she turned to the confused woman that was approaching. "You must be Mrs. Ravenscroft," said Andi. "Have you ever had a sleep study before?" She led Mrs. Ravenscroft into the house and into the living room area that was being used as the waiting room.

"This is quite the arrangement you have," said the prospective patient.

"Wait until you see the examination room," said Andi. "It's got a fireplace." They sent up two examination rooms in the library.

Looking at the furniture, Mrs. Ravenscroft said, "My parents had furniture like this."

"These are all original. My in-laws bought this furniture back in the 60s and it stayed in the family ever since."

"When did you open your practice?" Mrs. Ravenscroft asked as Andi handed her a clipboard with forms to fill out.

"Just a few weeks ago, but you know, I think Lucy and I were always fated to go into practice together." Andi opened her laptop and entered the patient information into the database, and she realized that she never felt more satisfied than she did at that moment.

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Thank you for reading a story I started a long time ago. If you didn't know about Don and Lanh, you can read their story, We're a Wonderful Wife. Paul and Andi's story is not over. They're passing the baton to Josh and Veronica as I re-write the Stormwatch series. If you have any questions or suggestions for future stories, please reach out to me!