Disclaimer: The licensed characters do not belong to me or the co-author of this story. We have only borrowed them for the purposes of creating a piece of literary enjoyment for ourselves and fellow Adam-12/Emergency fans.

Parents, New Friends and Worries….OH MY!

Chapter 1

"Bacon, eggs over medium, hash browns, toast with strawberry jam, and orange juice; how's that for a hungry man's breakfast?" Jillian inquired as she set the plate of hot food in front of her husband, Officer Peter J. Malloy.

They had been married a week shy of four months now and Pete was beginning to read her pretty well at this point. She had pretty much mastered the art of reading most of his moods within the first few months, as well.

"Hmmm…strawberry jam instead of butter; if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were buttering me up for something, Mrs. Malloy" replied Pete in a teasing voice.

"Am I really THAT transparent?" Jillian asked in a sheepish voice.

Nodding his head and laughing, "Yes; now what gives?"

Still trying to stall the inevitable, "Can't I make my husband a nice breakfast without wanting anything in return?"

Looking at her as if she still had something up her sleeve, "I guess so…but for some reason, I don't think that's the case this time. Am I right?"

Eyes twinkling "Could be you are…could be you aren't."

I'm probably going to regret this, but here it goes "Sit down and spill it, Sunshine."

Pete was just about to take the first bite of his food, when Jillian, biting the inside of her lip, took a deep breath and blurted out without pause, "Your mom called last night while you were at work and they wanna come down for a week long visit. Do you want some more coffee?"

The fork stopped just short of Pete's lips and he looked at Jillian in disbelief. "They wanna do what?"

"I didn't stutter; they want to come for a visit. Do you want some more coffee?" Jillian repeated, and then continued in a teasing voice "I think your mommy wants to make sure that I'm taking good care of her baby boy." Jillian couldn't help but giggle at the scowl Pete directed at her for that remark.

Finding it a bit strange that Jillian would hold off on telling him something like that, he ventured, "If she called last night, why didn't you just tell me when I got home from work?"

Feeling a bit on the ornery side, and blushing a deep scarlet red, she replied "Because…I was in the mood for some good 'ole fashioned lovin' and I wasn't about to jeopardize the chance of that happening."

Pete burst out laughing and said "I think I could've put that aside long enough to uhm...uhh…satisfy your…uhm 'mood', as you call it." He was slightly blushing, as well.

"So you're not upset? That they want to come and visit, I mean?"

Jillian knew that Pete's mom could be a little on the overbearing side. Pete had said that it was one of the main reasons that he was glad they lived in Seattle and not closer. According to him, his mom could really lay a guilt trip on you in order to get her way.

With a twinkle in his eyes he said, "No, not at all." and then reaching for her hand, he continued "I have my lovely wife to help entertain them while they're here…and I'm sure there will be one or two extra shifts that I can pick up. And, in answer your other question, I'd love some more coffee."

"You wouldn't dare volunteer for more shifts!"

"You're right, I wouldn't; mainly because I'd never hear the end of it…from mom or you!"

"You really are a smart man, Pete Malloy. I'd heard that about you; that's why I decided to marry you." Jillian casually retorted as she re-filled his coffee cup.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Sunshine." Pete laughed. "Now, when do they want to come down?" he asked, as he turned his attention back to his quickly cooling breakfast.

"In two weeks. I'm supposed to call her back today and give her the good news…she's expecting you to be okay with the idea of them coming for a visit."

"In two weeks, huh?"

"Yep; and they want to stay for a week. That'll put us into about the second week of May when they leave…just in time for our cabin retreat getaway, the following week."

"Then I guess you'd better call her and set it up because we couldn't ask for a better time for them to visit."

"What do you mean?"

"After having my parents here for a week, I'll really be ready for a vacation when they leave…and I'd be willing to bet you'll be ready for one, too."

"That's a very bad thing to say!" Jillian admonished with a frown.

"You won't think it's such a bad thing after you spend a week trying to entertain my folks." and still seeing a look of doubt on Jillian's face he said, "Remember Sunshine, when we got married they were only here a couple of days and they stayed at Mac's house. Not to mention, your parents were here, too, and that was a huge buffer, if you ask me; not only did we not have to house them, we didn't have to entertain them."

Jillian sat there, deeply contemplating what Pete had just said. Suddenly, as if a light bulb just went off, she piped up "Let's ask my parents to come for a visit at the same time!"

As her excitement grew, her voice became animated as she said "After all, they hit it off perfectly and they all talked about wanting to keep in touch and possibly getting together sometime in the near future; this is the perfect opportunity, Pete. What d'ya think?"

Catching on to her excitement, "I think it could work; but where are we going to put all of them?"

"That's the beauty of it! We really don't have room for ANY of them, so we can use that as an excuse to put them in a hotel for the week…and we don't have to feel guilty because they'll have each other to hang out and visit with when they aren't over here!"

"Did I miss something when I was courting you, or have you always been this devious?"

"Honey, as the youngest of seven, I learned early on how to overcome and conquer…especially when the older kids would all pick on me and blame me for everything that they knew Momma and Daddy would get upset about."

"I don't doubt that for a minute, and I'll bet they didn't stand a chance against you, did they?"

"You've heard some of the stories…let's just say that my brothers received more than one whooping that should've been mine!" she giggled.

Rolling his eyes, "I'll bet they did, too!" Pete said as he finished his breakfast and headed toward the bedroom to finish getting ready for work. He and Jim had finished their four to midnight rotation last night and were beginning their eight to four rotation today.

Coming out of their bedroom and putting on a lightweight jacket, he asked "What's on your agenda for today?"

"I have to go to the bank, laundry and grocery store; then I have to do two freelance shoots; one at the park and one at the high school."

"I heard that the paper was doing an article on the oldest standing high school, but what's the one in the park for?"

"The paper just wants a few shots of the 'signs of spring', and they want those shots to be taken at the park."

"Oh. What kinds of shots do they want you to get at the park?"

"The usual; kids playing, trees budding, baby ducklings following their mamas; you know, signs of spring."

Maybe some day soon she'll be taking pictures of our little one playing in the park… but not too soon, Pete thought, with a smile on his face.

Seeing his smile and figuring that the mention of kids playing was bringing an image of Jimmy to Pete's mind, Jillian ventured, "Why don't you ask Jim and Jean over for dinner tonight? We haven't gotten together with them in awhile and I know that Jean and I have a lot of catching up to do. Besides, I have it on good authority that little Jimmy is missing his favorite uncle." Not too mention that his favorite uncle is missing him, also. Pete will be such a good daddy some day.

"That's a great idea, but you two talk on the phone everyday. What could you possibly have to catch up on?"

"Talking on the phone is not the same as talking in person; besides…"

Holding up his hand to stop any further explanation, Pete laughed and said, "Okay Sunshine, I'll ask him if they have plans." and then taking her into his embrace and giving her a breathtaking kiss, he said "Now, I have to leave, or I'll be late."

Walking him to the door and leaning up for one more kiss, "Be careful out there honey; and remember, I love you."

"I love you too, Sunshine. I'll try to call you later, about dinner, okay?" as he gave her one more kiss.

Laughing lightly, "You do that. Now, if you don't stop kissing me, you WILL be late...I'll see to it."

"Mmmm…as tempting as that sounds, I don't think Mac would approve of me being late." he stated as he was leaving.

Watching him shut the door behind himself, Jillian smiled to herself and thought be safe, my love as she placed a light kiss on her fingers and then waved toward the door, sending up a silent prayer for his and Jim's safety. I get such a pit in my stomach every time I watch him walk out of here and head to work, but I can't ever let him know that, she thought.

********

After feeding and watering Scrappy, Jillian set about cleaning up the breakfast dishes and the kitchen. That done, she decided to get the phone calls to her in-laws and her parents, out of the way; calling Pete's parents first.

After three rings, Claire Malloy picked up the phone with a pleasant "hello."

"Hi Claire; it's Jillian," almost adding, 'Pete's wife', but catching herself before she could make that slip; of course Claire would know who Jillian was, but her nerves were on end with making this call so her brain wasn't functioning quite up to par, just yet.

From the other end of the phone came "Jillian, dear, how are you? Is Pete there with you? Did you get a chance to talk to him about our visit?"

Taking a deep breath in order to keep from bursting out with 'give me a break, I can only answer one question at a time,' Jillian, animatedly went right into "I talked to Pete and we both think that a visit is a WONDERFUL idea." Brace yourself, here comes the lightening any minute now; it's only a small fib, but a fib none-the-less.

"Oh, that's marvelous! Is he there?"

"Uhm, no, he's not, but he sends his love."

"Oh, I was hoping to talk to him." she sounded disappointed. In goes the knife, thought Jillian.

"He and Jim are on days now and he already left for work. I can have him call you this evening, if you'd like." Jillian offered.

Sighing heavily, "No, that's okay. You kids have better things to do than hang on the phone all night with your parents." And there's the twist of the knife, thought Jillian as she rolled her eyes. Pete's right, she'll lay a guilt trip a mile wide.

"You know Claire, I'm sure that he wants to talk to you, himself, about your upcoming visit. He just wanted me to touch base with you today so that you could start working out the details on your end. I'm sure he'll call you tonight…or tomorrow night…just to go over things with you."

"That will be fine, dear. I have to get off of the phone now; I'm late for brunch with my bridge club, as it is. Take care and send Pete my love."

"Okay, Claire. Bye, now." Jillian heard the click of the receiver as she was still uttering out the word 'now'. I don't think she likes me as much as she lets on when she talks to Pete! Oh well, I guess mother-in-law animosity is a true age-old pastime.

Now that she had that phone call out of the way, she was torn between calling her own parents or starting on her 'to do' list for the day.

Emotionally drained from the call to Pete's mom, the list won out, hands down, so she gathered together her camera and the laundry items and headed off to the laundromat. Having had taken pen and paper with her, she made up a grocery list while the clothes were washing and drying.

After leaving the laundromat, Jillian swung by the park and snapped a dozen springtime-like pictures before heading over to the high school for pictures.

She arrived at the high school just as classes were changing so she was able to get a few nice shots of the kids laughing and talking as they walked from one class to the other. She then snapped off pictures of the building, from several different angles, finishing off the roll of film.

Making a quick stop at the bank to deposit a small check from the newspaper for some other freelance pictures, Jillian was shortly on her way to the grocery store; her last stop for the day.

Finally, nearly three hours after leaving the apartment, Jillian arrived back home from running her errands and just as she was carrying in the last bag of groceries, the phone began to ring. Setting down the bag and quickly running to the phone and breathing heavily, Jillian answered "H-h-hello"

Pete's voice came over the line "Sunshine? Is that you? Is everything okay?"

Catching her breath a bit more, "Oh, hi honey. You caught me carrying in the last of the groceries. When we buy a house, I want one that's on one level!"

Letting out a relieved chuckle, "Sure thing, Sunshine. I just called to tell you that Jim and Jean are going to be joining us for dinner tonight. Jean wants you to call her; she wants to bring over a dessert."

"Okay, I'll give her a call." and then looking at her watch and seeing that it wasn't quite eleven o'clock yet, "Isn't it a little early for you two to be having lunch?"

"We were just on station with some follow-up paperwork. We're heading to lunch in few minutes, when we clear from here. I love you Sunshine; I'll see ya after work."

"Okay; you guys have a good lunch and tell Jim that I'll call Jean." and then softly "I love you, Pete; be safe, honey." Hanging up the phone, Jillian had that pit feeling in her stomach once again. What is my problem? I've never been this emotional in my life! I really need to talk to Jean. How does she do this everyday? Does it get easier as time goes on?

********

Jim found Pete, standing in the break room, with a perplexed look on his face and holding the phone receiver in his hand and thinking, she sounded like she was going to break down and cry.

"Everything okay, Pete? You've got a confuzzled look on your face."

"A con…what look?" Pete asked, scrunching up his face in question.

"Confuzzled; you know, confused and puzzled" Jim offered by way of explanation, causing Pete to raise his eyebrows and roll his eyes, thinking only you, Jim, could think up something like that!

Shaking his head and hanging up the phone, "Yeah, everything's fine…I think." and then pulling himself out of his thoughts "Anyway, Jillian's going to call Jean and work out the dinner plans. Let's see if we can get cleared for seven, huh?"

********

Jillian called Jean and plans were made for a six o'clock dinner. Jean was going to make apple and cherry turnovers for dessert and she, Jim and Jimmy would be over around five-thirty so that the big kid, Pete, and his little godson sidekick, Jimmy could have some pre-dinner playtime. Anyone who knew the two of them knew that the pre-dinner playtime would go a long way in ensuring that Jimmy would sit still and take an interest in eating his dinner.

Jillian had planned on having spaghetti, garlic toast, and a tossed salad for dinner so she set about browning the hamburger and mixing up and old family sauce recipe that needed to simmer for a couple of hours before dinner. With that finished, other than turning on the sauce by four o'clock, she didn't need to do any other preparations until about an hour before the actual dinner.

Thinking Okay, I guess I should call Momma and Daddy while I have a chance; she dialed her parents' number and waited for an answer.

"Hello?" Abe Martinez' voice came over the line.

"Hi Daddy, it's Jillian"

"Chickadee! To what do we owe this call? Is everything okay? You sound tired, honey, are you taking care of yourself."

Laughing at her dads' bevy of questions, Jillian said "Daddy, I'm fine. How are you and Momma?

"We're doing just fine, Chickadee; we sure do miss you, though. We'd like to come out and visit with you and Pete one of these days. How does that sound?"

"Well, actually Daddy, that's what I was calling for. We were wondering if maybe you and Momma want to come out for visit the week after next. Pete's folks, Stuart and Claire, are coming down during that time and I know that they would love to see you guys. They'll be here for a week." Come on Daddy, you and Momma have never let me down before so don't start now, Jillian thought.

"That sounds like a really good idea. I'll tell you what, I'll talk it over with your mother after she gets back from getting her hair done and then we'll give you a call later tonight. How's that sound?"

"That would be fine, Daddy. Give everyone my love and I'll talk to you tonight."

"Will do, Chickadee. I love you."

"Love you guys, too, Daddy. Bye, bye."

Hanging up the phone and letting out a huge yawn, Jillian thought, why am I so tired all of the time? And what's with this constant pit in my stomach?

Going to the bedroom and setting the alarm to go off in one hour at three-thirty, Jillian then scooped up Scrappy and said "Okay Scrappy, you and me are going to cuddle and take a nap."

Scrappy immediately began purring and nuzzling Jillian's neck when Jillian lay down on the bed and curled up into a ball on her side. Sleep claimed her within a short period of time as she drifted off into a world of dark dreams…

Jillian was running down the long, stark white, sterile hallway of the hospital looking into every room that she passed.

Where was he? Where was Pete? Mac called her and said that he'd been shot and that he was at the hospital. He wouldn't tell her how badly Pete was hurt, only that she needed to go to the hospital immediately.

Jillian stopped at the nurses' station in the emergency room but the woman behind the desk wouldn't talk to her. She wouldn't even acknowledge that Jillian was standing there, crying and pleading with her to tell about her husband's condition.

Where was Jim? He'd know if Pete were okay. I gotta find Jim.

Seeing a uniformed officer of Jims' height and build, Jillian approached him from behind and said

"Jim, where's Pete? How is he? What happened?"

The officer, turning around, looked at Jillian and said "Who's Jim and who's Pete?"

Backing away slightly, and with tears streaming uncontrollably Jillian answered "You're not Jim. Do you know where my husband is? Do you know where they took Pete? He's a police officer and he's been shot. Please help me find out if he's okay!"

"The only officer that's been brought in here today died in the ambulance on the way in. Such a shame; he was one of the best on the force, so they say; only been married a short time; last name was Mal…"

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP…The sound of the alarm clock brought a tearful Jillian straight up out of bed with a start. A startled Scrappy let out a small hiss and flew off of the bed in a flash.

Breathing heavily and with tears streaming down her face, Jillian reached over and shut off the alarm and thought, thank God it was just a dream. It seemed so real. I can't keep doing this; I'm constantly on edge when Pete's at work. I've gotta talk to Jean or Mary before I give myself an ulcer. Surely they've gone through this, too.

Not feeling any more rested than when she laid down, Jillian got up off of the bed and went into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face and brush her teeth in order to get rid of that 'just waking up' feeling.

She ventured into the kitchen, where she fed and watered Scrappy before setting about finishing the dinner preparations.

********

Arriving home at four-forty-five, Pete found Jillian in the kitchen, buttering up the bread for garlic toast.

"Jillian, I'm home" and then sauntering into the kitchen "Mmmm, Sunshine, something smells delicious" he said as he nuzzled up behind her and slid his arms around her waist, slowly turning her around to face him.

Thankfully the earlier traces of tears were long gone when Pete gazed into her eyes and said "I missed you today, babe." as he lowered his head for a kiss.

Her arms around him and her lips locked with his, Jillian muttered "Waan wy wist wu, wuu, woney"

Pulling away slightly, Pete started laughing and said, "Did you learn a new foreign language while I was at work today?"

Laughing, Jillian replied "Yeah; I took a speed course in how to speak 'kissing'…I hear it's all the rage in some countries."

Feigning a low growl, Pete said "well I hope they had 'dummies' for you to practice on 'cause I won't have my wife kissing on any one else…even if it is for educational purposes."

"Nope, no dummies. The course outline clearly states that all 'kissing homework' is to be done on your spouse." She then planted another long, passionate kiss on him, before pulling away and asking "So, do you think I'll pass the course?"

"With flying colors, Mrs. Malloy."

Smiling, Jillian could feel her earlier anxiousness slowly easing away now that Pete was home safe and sound. Even the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach seemed to have sub-sided somewhat, for which she was grateful.

Not wanting the moment to end, but knowing that it had to, Jillian said, "Jim and Jean will be here in about a half hour. Why don't you go get freshened up while I finish up out here and put on a pot of coffee?

"Good idea 'cause if I stay in this kitchen with you, we're gonna have to back up the dinner for and hour or so…if you know what I mean" Pete said, as he raised his eyebrows a couple of times, causing Jillian to giggle and blush.

********

Jillian and Jean were in the kitchen, putting the final touches on dinner and setting the table. They were just about ready to call the boys out when Jean ventured, "Jillian, are you okay? You look a little tired."

"I'm fine, Jean. Nothing a good nights' sleep won't cure." If I could just let myself get one, that is.

"Is there anything I can do? Is it about Pete's job? Do you need to talk?" Jean pushed a little, thinking I remember going through a phase shortly after Jim joined the force. I didn't sleep much, either, with worrying. I wonder if that's what's wrong.

Sparing a quick glance into the living room, Jillian nodded her head and said in a quiet voice "Yeah, it is; and yes, I need to talk to someone…but not right now. It's just best if Pete doesn't know how I'm feeling…at least not until I learn how to deal with these emotions. He worries about me too much the way it is."

Placing a hand on her friend's arm, Jean said, "Come over for coffee tomorrow while the guys are at work. Mom and Dad are taking Jimmy for the day so we'll be able to talk as long as you need to."

Jillian just nodded her head, not trusting her voice at the moment.

"You're not alone in this, Jillian, it's something all of us police wives go through, at one time or another…and often times more than once."

"Thanks, Jean. You're a wonderful friend" Jillian could feel the tears building up and threatening to spill over.

"Now, why don't you go splash some cold water on your face so it doesn't look like you're ready to cry? I'll finish tossing the salad.

Giving her friend a strained smile, Jillian said "Okay, thanks." as she headed off down the hallway and to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, in the other room….

Pete and Jimmy were sitting on the floor playing with some blocks and toy cars that Jillian had bought to keep at the apartment for when Jimmy came to visit. Jim was sitting in Pete's recliner, watching the two of them play as he and Pete made general small talk.

"It felt good to back on days, today" Jim stated.

"Yeah, it sure did. Four to midnight's not that bad, but sometimes it's just nice to able to see normal, everyday citizens going about their business. We don't get much of a chance for that after eight in the evening, it seems."

"You can say that again. It seems like when the sun goes down, the criminals come out."

"Uncle Peeeete!" Jimmy squealed "Watchme, watchme, watchme!" as ran his toy car into a stack of blocks and then fell over laughing when the blocks came crashing down.

Laughing at his godson's antics, Pete said, "Jimmy, you've got a great future in demolition."

"Build it again, pwease" Jimmy said as he dumped an armload of blocks into Pete's lap.

"Okay, sport. You've got time for one more crash before dinner, but you have to help me build."

"Okay," Jimmy said as he leaned over and gave his uncle a sloppy kiss on the cheek and then sat down and began stacking up the blocks.

"Pete, you're a natural. When are you and Jillian going to take the plunge and make Jean and me godparents?"

Exasperated "Jim, we're still newlyweds, getting used to being a couple. There'll be plenty of time in a year or so to think about starting a family."

"Yeah, but at your age, you don't want to wait too long; you want to be able to get on the floor and play blocks with your own son, don't you?"

Shooting his friend a scowl, "You know, Jim, I could arrange for you to eat your dinner in the hallway if you keep it up."

Laughing at his friend, Jim said "Awe, you know I'm just giving you a hard time, don't ya? After all, what are friends for?"

Pete and Jimmy had finished building the blocks up and Jimmy was just getting ready to crash into them again when Pete held out his hand, chuckled and said "They're for helping each other up off of the floor."

Jim gave Pete's hand a tug just as Jillian popped around the corner and said "Dinner, fellas. You can finish your 'male bonding' after we eat."

********

The four adults and Jimmy sat at the table, enjoying dinner and casual chat while they ate. Pete and Jillian sat at the ends, Jean and Jim across from each other, and Jimmy sat between Jean and Jillian on a makeshift 'booster seat' of encyclopedias stacked on a chair.

Fortunately, Jimmy didn't want spaghetti sauce on his noodles, for which all of the adults were thankful when they observed his creative way of eating them.

Jimmy, wanting to be independent, didn't want Jean to cut up his noodles, since nobody else had cut theirs up. He would take a long noodle and put one end of it in his mouth, and then he would toss his head back, causing the noodle to flip up to his mouth. The first time he did it, all of the adults had to look away so that he wouldn't see them laughing at his surprised look when the noodle smacked him in the nose.

"Jean, I can make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if you think he'd want that instead." Jillian ventured.

"Let's see how much of his noodles that he'll eat. If he gets too frustrated with them, the sandwich might not be a bad idea."

The group of friends continued to finish up their dinner and then Jillian and Jean cleared the table while the guys made their way back to the living room.

"I'll put some coffee to go with the turnovers," Jillian said to Pete and Jim, from the doorway.

"Sounds good, Sunshine. Bye the way, dinner was great. Thanks."

"Yeah, everything was really good, Jillian; especially the sauce" Jim added.

"Thanks; old family recipe."

Jimmy, spotting Scrappy, was soon running through the apartment, giggling and chasing the kitty from room to room.

"So Pete, you said that your folks want to drive down for a visit in a couple of weeks, huh?" Jim asked, while keeping an eye on the active two and a half-year-old.

"Yeah; Mom called last night and talked to Jillian about it" Pete replied, just as Jillian was walking into the room with a warm turnover and cup of hot coffee for him. Jean was following closely with Jim's coffee and dessert, as well.

"I called her back this morning." Jillian offered, "She and your dad are finalizing their plans and want you to give them a call tonight or tomorrow night. I called and talked to Daddy too. Momma was out getting her hair done so he was going to talk to her and give us a call. He sounded pretty enthused about the whole idea, though."

"What'd Mom say when you told her that your folks might come out, too?"

"I didn't tell her because I didn't know yet if they are coming for sure or not…besides, you have to have something to talk to her about when she calls…and, I don't want her to think that it was MY idea."

"But it was, wasn't it, darling?"

"But she isn't going to find that out, is she, dear?"

Knowing that they could do this dance all evening, Pete chuckled and said "No, darling. You're secret's safe with me. I'll give her a call tomorrow night. Maybe we'll know by then whether or not your folks are coming out."

Lightheartedly, Jillian replied "You always know just the right answer to all of my questions, Pete Malloy. Must be why I love you so much!" and turned to head back toward the kitchen, leaving Jim staring at her in awe.

"Why are you looking at my wife like that?" Pete asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"I just wondered if she would be willing to let me in on her secret."

"Her secret?"

"Yeah; you know, the secret of how she gets you to do what she wants…maybe if I could find out her secret, I might get to drive the squad car once in awhile." Jim quipped, giving Pete one of his bright, flashy smiles.

"Mmmm…don't count on it, partner…I have to live with her, I don't have to live with you!" Pete retorted with a smile of his own.

"I heard that Pete Malloy" Jillian shot from the kitchen.

Laughter from the two men was the only response that she heard.

********

An hour or so later, little Jimmy was getting tired and cranky so Jim and Jean decided that it was time to call it a night.

As they were going through the formalities of saying goodnight, Jean pulled Jillian aside and said "Mom's picking him up around nine o'clock. Why don't you come over around then and we'll have coffee and maybe do a little shopping."

"Sounds good, Jean. I'll see you then."

********

After the Reeds left, Pete and Jillian spent a little time together snuggling on the couch, re-hashing their days' events and making small talk about other things as well. The television was on, but the volume was low.

"You and Jimmy sure are adorable together. I can see how much you two love each other. I love watching the two of you play. I don't know who gets more excited, you, or him!"

"He's adorable, alright. I love spending time with him and he just seems to be growing up so fast. I can't believe that he'll be three in a few months."

"You'll be a good daddy, someday, Honey."

Smiling at the thought, "Ya think so? I mean, playing with Jimmy is one thing, but I just don't know if I have what it takes to have a little one around all of the time."

"I'm sure you'd adjust with no problem, Pete. Besides, it's not like we are having a baby right now; I mean, heck, we're still newlyweds. We have a lot of time left before we're too old to think about babies."

"I sure am glad to hear you say that, 'cause I am just not ready for that, yet. Look how long it took me to give up bachelorhood. I'm just really enjoying this time that we have together to really get to know one another; and when you think about it, there really is a lot that we don't know about each other."

"You almost make it sound like you just jumped, blindfolded, from the frying pan and into the fire." Jillian tried to keep the hurt out of her voice. "Do you regret getting married?" Jillian was trying very hard to keep the tears at bay as all kinds of thoughts were going through her mind. Maybe that's why I'm always on edge…maybe I'm picking up bad vibes from Pete.

"Sunshine, no, that's not what I meant at all" he said as he hugged her a little tighter. "Please don't take that the wrong way. I love you with every fiber of my being and I can't even imagine my life without you in it. I just meant that I'm not ready to be a dad just yet; I don't really know if I will ever be…but, I'd like to think that maybe someday we'll have a baby, but just not right now. I love this time that we have together, just the two of us."

Jillian wouldn't look at him; couldn't look at him. She couldn't explain her feelings right now if she wanted to; she felt so unsettled after hearing Pete's explanation. The pit feeling was back.

They sat together like that for awhile longer, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, when neither one could hold their yawns at bay, they decided that they'd better turn in for the night. Morning would come quickly.

Just as Pete was drifting off to sleep, holding Jillian close to him, he thought he heard a muffled sniffling sound coming from her. Instinctively, he tightened his embrace around her and placing a tender kiss on the back of her head, whispered "I love you, Sunshine. Please don't cry."

Silence was her only response.