As things reach a critical juncture at the worksite, the reserves are called in to help finish the join. Meanwhile, Emmeline returns to help Nanny escape from her nightmares.

Reinforcements

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

Chapter 1: Trust

Monday morning dawned hot and sunny. It was already in the mid 80s and they hadn't even left the house yet. For the second night in a row, Phoebe had slept peacefully. The Professor was happy to see her moving around the kitchen that morning with more energy than she had in a while. The kids were delighted to see that she had made pancakes for them.

"Well, you should enjoy the one hot meal that you'll be getting from me today," she warned. "There's no way that I'm going to turn on the stove tonight."

"What are we going to eat, if you're not going to cook?" asked Butch.

"I'm going to do what women often do in the South. This morning Prudence and I will bake chicken and make potato salad and we'll have a cold plate supper," she replied.

"Sounds good to me!" said the Professor, happy at her improved mood.

She had turned back to the sink where she was starting to clean up.

"I am worried about you out at the worksite today though," she began.

Everyone at the table looked anxiously at each other, except Trelawney, who just kept eating. Nanny had seemed so much better since Saturday night. They were afraid that she was slipping back. However, the young girl just gestured that it was okay.

Turning back to them, she said, "It's going to be extremely hot today. I want you to make sure that you stay out of the sun and drink lots of water."

"You don't have to worry about that," said Hal in relief. "On Saturday Ted made us drink so much that I thought my kidneys would explode."

The other kids laughed and the Professor said, "Well, to be more accurate, it would have been your bladder. You see . . ."

"Do you have to talk about that now?" asked Trelawney.

"No," said the Professor. "We can save it for later."

"And you know, they will, Phoebe," she said, turning to her sister. "You wouldn't believe some of the conversations they have out there. I believe that last week I felt as if I were in an endless science lecture."

"Oh, yeah?" said Hal. "Well, sometimes it sounds like you and Mike are having a contest to see who knows the most Broadway shows."

Trelawney rolled her eyes. "Actually, we are debating the merits of Broadway versus West End productions of the same plays and musicals. Of course, I have an advantage."

"Like what?"

Phoebe gave her a hard look. Seeing her face, Trelawney added, "I have a better memory for all that. Mike is too busy worrying about his sciences and maths to really know his theatre well enough."

"Well, I don't know how we got this far off topic," said the Professor. "But if you kids don't get in the car in two minutes, then we'll all be doing push ups."

"Do you have to come again, Dad?" complained Butch.

The Professor gave Phoebe a sidewise glance.

She said, "Professor, I really think that you should get to work on your semester classes. I do believe that you have fallen behind."

She smiled at him as he breathed a sigh of relief. It meant more to him than just the fact that he would not be out in the grueling heat. It meant that she was feeling secure enough about her own fears.

Before they got in the car, Trelawney pulled him aside.

"Well done, Professor," she said in approval.

"What?"

"Your little adventure on Saturday night of course. She is far more at peace than she was before. She is worried about today, but at least it is a REAL worry," she explained.

"And the unicorn?"

"Still lurking in the shadows," she replied. "You did well to ask for Emmeline."

"Is she coming?"

"Of course. Emmeline is always there for Phoebe," she said.

"How did you . . ."

"Now, Professor. When are you going to learn to stop asking questions that you know that we won't give you a straight answer to? Or perhaps you enjoy playing head games with us?" she replied in amusement.

The Professor did not even bother to ask how she knew about the head games conversation. However it did make him feel a bit uncomfortable that living in the house as she did, she had the capability of intruding into their privacy in more ways than one. When they finally settled Phoebe once and for all, he was going to discuss it with her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When he returned from the worksite he could hear Phoebe and Prudence moving around the kitchen. Before he went into his study he popped his head in and said,

"Don't forget we have somewhere to be at ten!"

"I won't. We'll be done in time," she said cheerfully.

"Nanny," said Prudence. "I don't see why you and Daddy keep going places without me. Why can't I come with you sometimes?"

It was a question that Phoebe had never considered. After a moment she said,

"Do you know how you and the others were hoping that we would get engaged on Saturday night?"

"Are you?"

"No darling, not yet."

"But you're taking forever," she complained.

"Well, not really," explained Phoebe. "I know in all in the fairy tales, the princess and the prince fall in love very quickly and then live happily ever after, also very quickly, but that's not really how it works."

"Oh," said Prudence. "How does it work?"

"When men and women in real life meet they start out as friends. And then, when they get to know each other better, they may realize that they are in love," she explained.

"And then they get married?" asked the little girl.

"Not so quickly. Some people do, but if they rush things they can make a mistake. And then they get divorced. And that is very sad, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. But Nanny, if you and Daddy get married, you'll never get divorced," declared Prudence confidently.

"Why do you think that, dear?" asked Nanny curiously.

"Trelawney said so," she replied. "Trelawney said that you and Daddy are really and truly in love. She said that you could never have married Mr. Feathers because you weren't meant to."

"Well," smiled Phoebe, "I don't suppose that Trelawney told you anything that you didn't already know."

"Actually, she didn't tell me. She told Francine," said Prudence with a guilty expression on her face.

"Prudence," said Nanny with a touch of sternness in her voice. "You must really not listen in the other people's conversations. If you do, they are going to get very angry with you."

"I know," she said. "But nobody ever tells me anything."

"Well, I'll tell you something, if you promise to keep it a secret," said Phoebe.

"I promise," said Prudence, crossing her heart as she spoke.

"When your Daddy and I go out alone, it's because we are talking to someone who is helping us get ready to get married," she said quietly.

Prudence's eyes became large and a wide smile filled her face. "When you're ready will Daddy give you a ring?"

"Yes, darling," she said. "When we're ready."

"Can you hurry up and get ready? I have a secret for you. Will you promise not to tell?" asked Prudence.

"Absolutely," answered Phoebe, crossing her own heart.

Prudence gestured to her to bend down, so that she could whisper in her ear.

"Sometimes when I have no one to play with, I go to my room and practice calling you, Mommy. I want to be ready for when you really are my Mommy."

Phoebe held the child tightly so that she couldn't see the tears in her eyes. No words could have been sweeter to her ears, than those that this precious child, who would be her own child, had spoken. She was glad that they were going to be seeing Dr. Meyers soon. She had lots of work to do so that Prudence could put her practice into use.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the way to see Dr. Meyers, Prudence was dropped off at her friend Amy's house. Amy was going stir crazy without anyone to play with and her mother was only too happy to accept Prudence for a few hours if it meant that Amy would be occupied. Since Amy was an only child, she was in pretty much the same position as Prudence when it came to playmates. As they dropped her off, Prudence hung back a little to give Nanny a second kiss and whispered in her ear, "See you later . . . You know!" She put her finger to her lips to indicate that they had a secret.

As the drove away the Professor commented, "What was all that about?"

"Just a little secret between us girls," was the answer he got. Nanny smiled to herself and decided that this was going to be her own special secret with Prudence.

"I think that I know better than to get into the middle of that," he said cheerfully. He knew that as the girls grew older there would probably be more mother-daughter secrets. And he suspected that the older they got, the less that he would want to know about them.

The minute that they walked into the office, Phil noticed the change.

"Phoebe, you look great!" he said. "You look relaxed and as if you've had enough sleep for the first time this summer!"

Phoebe smiled and said, "I'm feeling better than I have this whole summer."

"What happened this weekend?" he asked.

Phoebe looked to Hal who looked back at her quizzically.

"If I am not mistaken, I believe that we have finally had our first date," he said.

"Your first date?" asked Dr. Meyers, somewhat surprised

"Yes," agreed Phoebe, "I believe that it was our first date."

"You two are really too much," said Dr. Meyers shaking his head. "On Friday, you were in here talking about being married and having a blue-eyed baby girl, and you had never even been out on a date."

"Well, it's not as if we haven't spent a lot of time together," said Hal defensively.

"No offense, buddy, but didn't it ever occur to you to romance this girl a little bit before you assumed that you would be getting married. No wonder she doesn't have an engagement ring yet," he replied.

"Now you sound like the kids," griped Hal.

"Really, and what do the kids say?" asked Dr. Meyers.

"The boys are threatening to lock him up in a jewelry store if he doesn't get me an engagement ring soon," replied Phoebe, relieved that for once Hal was the one on the hot seat.

"Oh?"

"The kids were disappointed yesterday morning when we had not gotten engaged. I guess that we were out so late, that they just assumed that that was the reason," explained Phoebe

"How late were you out? I'm just curious," asked Phil.

"We didn't get home until about three am. We drove up to the state park so that we could get a great view of the Perseids meteor shower. It was the ideal night for it," answered Hal.

"Okay, so then the idea was to have a romantic night out," he said.

"Yes," said Phoebe softly, "And it was. I had forgotten that Hal had promised to take me somewhere out of town this weekend, so it was a surprise. I didn't even know where we were going until we were more than halfway there. It could not have been a more perfect night."

"That's all that matters," said Dr. Meyers. "I'm sorry I gave you a hard time, Hal. Especially since I can see that the kids are teasing you too, but you need to realize that you are in control of this."

"I know. Now you sound like my son," said Hal. "It's just that I want everything to be perfect. While I'm trying to make everything perfect, the time just seems to get away from me."

"Well, old man, perfectionism is one of the surest predictors of a procrastinator," replied Dr. Meyers. "And you just gave us the perfect example of why. Sorry, poor choice of words."

"Hal, I don't need for everything to be perfect," added Phoebe. "Just getting out of the house and away from the kids and town to spend some time alone with you is perfect as far as I am concerned."

Hal looked at her and realized that she was being completely honest. She was looking back at him with love and tenderness.

"Well," said Dr. Meyers, "I sure that you would both be happy to stay on this topic, but I have to ask how the sleeping is going."

Phoebe looked down, "The last two nights were fine. But Friday night was terrible."

"Do you remember anything, now?"

"Only a sense of fear and foreboding," she answered and then looked up to Hal. "I know that I told you about it, but I don't remember what I said."

"You were pretty vague," Hal admitted. "Your fear was about something very dark. There were formless monsters, you said. And they were coming for you and Trelawney. You felt powerless even to "dream" me into the story to protect you. Does that mean anything?"

"It could," said Dr. Meyers. "It's difficult to say, because dream analysis is more art than science. And it's not really my specialty. The dark, formless monsters could symbolize anything that frightens you. It also means that you don't know what you are afraid of, or that it's too frightening to remember. You are concerned about your sister, we know that. It is puzzling that Hal, Trelawney's gallant knight, cannot save you. It seems that up to this point, he could."

Phoebe could feel the frustration and anxiety begin to seep back into her mind. Looking at Hal, she could see that he sensed it too. She knew that he wanted to put his arm around her, but he satisfied himself with picking up her hand. Dr. Meyers was closely watching them.

"Phoebe," said Hal softly. "It's alright. We'll stand up to this together."

"But how can we stand up to what we don't know?" she asked, the pitch of her voice rising.

Hal looked at Dr. Meyers. There seemed to be some kind of communication going on between them, but for once she couldn't read it. It was almost as frightening as not knowing the source of her nightmare.

"Phoebe, please don't be mad at me, but I had Trelawney contact Emmeline. She'll be arriving shortly," said Hal gently. "You know that she knows your mind better than anyone. And when she visits, she stays with you in your room. It may be the only way to help you figure this out."

Phoebe was silent, upset because Emmeline had been contacted without consulting her first and a bit frightened by the fact that they may be grasping at the last straws.

"Whose idea was that?" asked Phoebe tensely.

Dr. Meyers looked at Hal questioningly. He had no idea himself, in fact this was the first he heard of it.

Not wanting to lie, Hal said reluctantly, "Pastor Jason."

"You have been talking to Pastor Jason about me?" She was furious.

"Calm down, Phoebe," said Dr. Meyers. "If you let yourself get out of control, you won't be able to listen properly. If Hal talked with this pastor then he must have had a good reason."

Phoebe pulled her hand away. She crossed her legs and arms and looked down.

"Your body language is telling me that you are shutting down on us," said Dr. Meyers quietly. "If you do that, then we'll get nowhere. If you wish to maintain your protective posture, that's fine, but please look at Hal when he speaks to you."

Phoebe held on to her closed up position, but did look directly at Hal, angrily.

"Pastor Jason is very worried about you. He saw your reaction to Harvey Sloan, which from his perspective is completely irrational, twice, at the show and on Friday. He also heard about what happened at the nursing home on Thursday. He wanted to help me because he was concerned about how stressed out I was, and the fact that I was exhausted," began Hal.

"And I suppose that you just told him the whole story?" she asked defensively.

"Not the whole story," replied Hal, being careful not get upset himself. "Pastor Jason has a degree in counseling as well as his theological degree. He had some good insight, in fact I think that he understands you and Trelawney better than Phil here."

"Exactly how much did you tell him about us?" she asked. It was obvious that she was extremely upset by the breach of trust. She was very sensitive about others invading her privacy, yet she didn't seem to realize that the wall of confidence and self-assurance, that she normally projected, had fallen away weeks ago. The fragile nature of her recovery even since Saturday night was now becoming evident.

Hal refused to let her withdraw within herself. Instead he took both her hands and began to look deeply into her eyes. He focused his mind completely on her. He wanted her to see the depth of his feelings for her. Because he knew her so well, he knew that she would accept his thoughts more readily than his words. As he gazed into her lovely blue eyes, he turned over all of his thoughts to his concern for her and her pain and the sleepless nights that were robbing her of her vitality and spirit. And it was all underpinned by his great love for her.

The force of his mind, the strength of his focus initially startled her. What she had not been able to see before became transparent to her. As surely as the starlight had guided her from the well of her despair on Saturday night, the light of his love was reaching into her mind and heart like a beacon. His decision to bring Emmeline had been a risk. He was risking her anger and perhaps even the loss of her trust in him to save her.

In his mind she could read the fear that she was headed for a breakdown, a fear that had haunted him and been confirmed by Pastor Jason. But as his thoughts turned to Pastor Jason, she realized that that young man understood her very well. Emmeline had not been called a whim, but because possibly she was the only one left who could reach her.

Exhausted by the mental effort it had taken to reach so deeply into Hal's mind, as much as he had opened it to her, she closed her eyes and leaned back. Within seconds, she could feel his arms around her. She could feel him willing his strength into her. She was so tired, but resting in his arms she felt safe once more. However, the thing that meant more to her than anything else was the fact that he had proven to her, and perhaps even to himself, that he understood her well enough to know that by allowing her into his own mind, he would be able to communicate the profound nature of his love for her. And that was a very powerful form of trust in and of itself.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the way home from their session with Dr. Meyers, Hal made an executive decision.

"Phoebe, they are going to have to work out a solution for helping Joni with the kids that doesn't involve you," he said firmly and waited for another barrage of anger that he was taking control of her life again. But there was silence.

"Phoebe, did you . . ."

"Yes," she said quietly.

Once again he waited. He looked over at her, expecting that she would be looking out the window or otherwise avoiding him. But instead she was watching him closely. He extended his hand and without hesitation she grasped it. He knew that she was finally yielding and allowing him to help her.

When they got home he made his calls, first to Fr. Bob, and then to Amy's mother, who agreed to keep Prudence until dinner. He needed time with her, alone. He began to suspect that they were closer to a breakthrough than he had thought. After lunch, he went to work in the study and she to read in the living room. He kept the doors open, knowing that it helped her to know that he was near.

At one point, he looked up and noticed that she wasn't reading, but was staring off into space. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, so he walked over and sat down beside her. She rested against him.

"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked her gently.

"Love me," she answered quietly.

"Always," he said and comfortably settled into the couch as he held her protectively in his embrace. Setting the work aside from his mind, he focused his mind and heart on loving her. He could feel her loving him back. It was as if each time they were joined in this way, the next time became easier. Before he knew it, they were dozing in the warm summer air in each other's arms.

It was a quiet afternoon. When they picked the kids, they could see that impressive amount of work had been done. The outside painting, with the exception of the porch, which was half built now, was done. Trelawney and Francine told them that they were painting inside now. The fence was completely built. All those kids, except for Butch and Tim, had moved to other parts of the project. Butch and Tim were going to finish painting the fence under the supervision of Pastor Mark.

The good news about the roof was that they were almost done shoring things up in the attic. Tomorrow they would begin the exterior work. Jim and the other site coaches were pleased with the kids and the job that they were doing.

"Everything's looking real good right now to have the job done by Thursday afternoon," he said.

"Thursday?" asked Lois, who was standing with them. "I thought that we had until Friday."

"Well" explained Jim. "The inspector is coming in here on Friday morning. I would like for everything to be shipshape on Thursday afternoon when we leave. The big problem is the heat."

"I know how terribly hot it's been up there already," said Lois. "Mike is not a big complainer, but if he's says that it's hot, then it must be hot."

"I would say that by tomorrow afternoon we'll have them on short shifts up there. They'll only be allowed up for twenty minutes at a time. Of course that'll slow things down because of the frequent up and down the ladder, but there's nothing else for it," said Jim. "We don't want any of those kids getting sick."

"Thanks for taking such good care of our kids, Jim," said Lois. "I don't know what we would have done without you."

"I don't know either what I would have done without you folks either," replied Jim with a smile. "I've been stuck in that nursing home for the last five years. This about the most useful that I've felt in about ten. I'm going to miss all this when we finally get the job done."

"Well," called out Pastor Jason, as he strode up, "Then we'll just have to think of some more ways to keep you busy!"

"Hey, there everyone! How are we all doing today?" Pastor Jason smiled happily.

"Pretty good!" said Lois. "Keeping the troops in line?"

"Trying to," said the cheerful young man. "Tom and Huck are going to get to finish painting that fence by themselves. With any luck, they'll get more paint on the fence than on themselves. Pastor Mark is going to be their personal supervisor."

"You know," said the Professor. "If they're too much of a problem, we can always just tell them that they've made their contribution and it's time to pack it in."

"Actually," said Pastor Jason. "We're all better off if Pastor Mark only has the two of them to worry about."

"Lord Jesus, yes," agreed Jim. "That man is all thumbs and one of the biggest klutzes I've ever met. Keeping the boys out of trouble is what keeps him out of trouble."

"If you say so," said Lois.

Nanny was looking at Pastor Jason. "Pastor Jason, may I speak with you for a moment?" she asked.

"Why, sure. Do you want to take a walk over to the shade?" he replied.

"Yes, please," she said and followed him over. The Professor looked after them, concerned about what Nanny might say. But he needn't have worried.

"Pastor," she started. "I would like to thank you for taking the time to talk with the Professor. I know that I've been causing him a lot of stress lately and I appreciate the fact that you've been listening and giving him advice."

"That's no big deal, Nanny," he answered easily. "You're both really great people and I don't like seeing either of you in pain. It's good to see you out here looking better."

"I'm . . . working at it. It's hard," she admitted. "Sometimes it feels like everything has just gone dark, and then . . ."

He waited, "And then what?"

"There's Hal. He's my light in the darkness," she said softly, looking over at where he was standing, talking to Lois and Jim. Jason followed her gaze.

"I can see that," he said. She looked up at him swiftly.

"You can't disguise it," he continued smiling. "You look at him in a way that you look at no one else. Even when you're not beside him, your eyes never leave him. It's very sweet, especially since it's obvious that he feels the same way about you."

"Nanny, I hope that you don't mind that I suggested that he call your cousin to come" he said tentatively.

"I was upset when I first heard it. That was mostly because I felt that he had violated my privacy and acted without consulting me. Then I realized that he just wanted to help me and that he trusted you," she answered.

"I hope that you feel that you can trust me," he replied.

"I do," she smiled. "But it's not easy. I like to guard my privacy. And I have my reasons for keeping certain things to myself."

"Everyone is entitled to that," agreed the pastor immediately. "But sometimes, if you really want to get help, you have to be willing to give a little."

"I know," she said. "I'm trying. But we're talking about a lot of years of habits to break."

He laughed. "Listen to you! Why if you were a day over thirty, I'd be shocked."

"Why, pastor, you know better than to discuss a woman's age with her!"

"You know I do! My tendency to over-estimate women's ages has been getting me in trouble for years," he answered.

Nanny just smiled back at him cryptically. He had no idea of how far off his estimation was!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx