SECOND CHANCES: Sometimes You Get A Little Rain
A Simon and Simon/Six Million Dollar Man Crossover Story
When a natural disaster nearly destroys their home, the Simons face starting over. Will Rick and A.J. be able to rebuild their lives as well? (This is a work of fiction. No money is being made on it, and the characters are owned by Universal
and are only being borrowed for a little while. .)
Chapter 1
Rick kept watching the door, waiting for his little brother to come running in. If it weren't for the fact his sister-in-law had clued him in as to A.J. being late, he would be worried.
Come on A.J., he thought, I've got plenty of "wait till the 3 am feedings lines for you."
Sure enough, he heard his brother's staccato steps up the stairs, then the door opened and he put his head down, pretending to make notes on a client.
"'Morning Rick, sorry I 'm late," he announced breathlessly, sliding into his desk chair. Rick looked up, then feigned shock, "Oh, my God, Hell must have frozen over." he laughed, "Mr. on-time is actually 15 minutes late." "Can it clown, " A.J. groused, "Linda had a bad night, and, if you must know, I didn't sleep well either."
"Oh, sure, A.J., sure, I believe you as much as you do when I hit bad traffic or something." the older Simon teased. His brother glared at him, then seeing the cup of coffee already on his desk, reluctantly grinned. "All right, Rick, you do have a point, I promise to give you a fair shake the next time you're late." "You'd better believe I'd take advantage of that, after all, when you have middle of the night feedings to look forward to, I know I'll have to be the one to cut you some slack!" he needled.
A.J. groaned, putting his head on the desk. "Don't remind me, between Linda and my, well, let's just say no more pie ala mode at 10:00 at night ever again!" Rick took another look at his brother, then felt guilty about ragging him, he did look pretty tired.
"Hey, little brother, I'm sorry, is Linda all right? Do you want Laurie to come over today?" he offered, trying to make amends. A.J. shook his head, then smiled, "No, she's better this morning. We just forgot that dinner and a movie at seven months is a lot harder then at five months. I just have to be careful with her now." He glanced at Rick, then added, "Now I know what changed you so much when you married Laurie, I love Linda so much and it hurts to see her when she's sick. You forget all about yourself, then this morning she's worrying about me!" Rick grabbed a sack from the front desk, then placing a breakfast burrito in front of his brother reached over and hugged him. "Welcome to married life, A.J., you're right, I used to think nothing of taking off and running with Carlos and, well, it seems like another life sometimes. I can't imagine being happier with any other way now!"
"Or more spoiled! What other wife would let you take off fishing any weekend he wanted to, or encourage you to keep in touch with his old friends." The younger Simon bit into his breakfast hungrily, as Rick nodded. "You're right, Laurie's never set any limits with me, she once said she didn't want to smother me, she wanted me to have fun. I just wish Carlos hadn't antagonized her, she told me she doesn't trust him and she's afraid I'll get hurt if I hang with him again."
A.J. stopped in mid-bite, "Rick, she's right, you know I liked Carlos, but after that last incident in Ensenada, I sure don't want to see him!" His brother stared at him, then reluctantly agreed. "You're right, A.J., it's hard to give up a friend you've known since childhood. But I would never put my family in danger and the people he does business with, well, forget about it. I have a better time with you and Towne and the others anyway. Maybe we can squeeze in one more weekend before little whosit comes, Laurie and Robin can come stay with Linda and have a house party." A.J. brightened up, "Let me ask her, I bet she'd like that. I didn't realize how hard it was on her with no parents or relatives to back her up. Rudy's practically her only family, so it means a lot when Laurie or Mom are over."
By the end of the day, Rick decided to make good his idea. After their last client left, he sent his brother home early to get some rest, then called his wife. Waiting for her to pick up, he glanced at the sky, startled to see the heavy clouds moving over the mountains. "Simon residence." she answered breathlessly. "Hi, sweetheart, it's me, were you outside?" "Yes, Rick, Oh I'm so glad you called, did you hear the storm warnings?" he heard her trying to catch her breath.
"No, Laurie, A.J. and I were busy all day, is it raining there?" "Pouring, I just ran in from the barn, there's a chance of strong winds, so I opened the top window in the barn and put extra feed in the stalls. Maybe you ought to bunk with A.J. and Linda tonight in case the weather's real bad," she suggested, sounding worried. Frowning, he told her, "Only if Rob or Oscar can come over; I don't want you and Robin home alone if it's that bad. What does the weather channel say?"
"That some Canadian air is coming down and mixing with that tropical storm that's south of us. That's why the microburst is over us, I guess. Robin and I will be all right, but just in case I'll call Robbie and see when he gets off. I just don't want you driving with this bad weather." "Laurie, I'll be fine, you call Rob and if he can't come, see if Oscar's back from Ojai. Promise me you will?" Rick insisted, hearing thunder overhead.
"I promise, darling, call me if you stay with A.J., ok?", she replied. "Yes, sweetheart, but you call me right back to tell me who can come over, I'll wait here until you do?" Rick heard another boom, then sheets of rain started to fall outside the window. Suddenly his connection was cut off, and after calling the operator, was told that service to the Window Rock and Silver Rock area was out.
Dialing the sheriff's office in Silver Rock, he got through to Rob Gomez, the sheriff. "Hey Rick, were you calling to see about the phones being out?" "Oh great, first a psychic Wife, now a psychic sheriff!" Rick joked, trying not to worry. "No, just have a great pair of ears. Laurie just called, Rob's on his way to the ranch, only thing is we just got a report of really bad Winds, almost twister-like. You should stay put in Phoenix, it's too dangerous in the dark with This much rain."
"Maybe I will, but I'm going to try the ranch one more time, I don't like this report about The winds," he told Rob, and then suddenly heard the phone cut out.
"Rob, hey, Rob", he hit the receiver, then looking out the window toward his home, Gasped as he saw a cloud the size of a city block heading toward that area. I'm not going to wait, He decided, grabbing his keys and transmitter. Racing down the stairs, he rushed through The pouring rain and jumping into his truck, almost hydroplaned through the flooded parking Lot onto the street.
All the way through the sheeting rain he tried to raise first Oscar then Laurie, changing frequencies, then suddenly he heard his wife's voice, trying to call Oscar. "Laurie," he yelled, hitting the send button. There was a pause, then,"Rick, where are you, have you seen Oscar or Rudy?" "No, honey, listen, I'm on my way to town, but you need to get out of there, Rob should be over there any minute now, It looks like some kind of twister is headed your way!" he told her, trying not to panic.
"Oh no, Rick, the jeep won't start, Robin and I are going to batten down everything we can. If Rob gets here before the winds, we'll head to the Chief's place, if not, go find Robbie, please. We'll be all right, just be careful, darling."
Suddenly there was an eerie break in the background noise, as his wife added, "Rick, if anything happens, I love you, we both do. Go straight to the Chief's, please." "Laurie, ", he began, then suddenly had to brake, a car up ahead was off the shoulder of the road, a figure lit up in the glow safety lights blinking in the near darkness.
Slowing down, he realized it was his son's patrol car, "Sweetheart, I found Robbie, he's off the road, I'm going to check on him and we'll be right there. Stay inside, we're coming." "Thank God, ok, we'll be inside, just drive safely, " he heard the relief in her voice.
Stopping just shy of the disabled car, he opened his door, and saw the relief in Rob's eyes as he jogged back to his father. "Pop, I'm really glad to see you, where did you come from?" Rick hugged him, then told him, "We don't have time to get your car in gear, look at that cloud up ahead." Both men gazed at the horizon, a black cloud the size of a mountain heading toward Silver Rock. "Oh, no way, Pop, we've got to get to Mom and Robin!"
Retrieving his service weapon and tool kit, then turning off all lights except for the emergency blinkers, he climbed in with Rick and they took off. Battling the wind currents and dodging debris, they still made it to the ranch with a little daylight barely shining through the darkening sky. Running the truck under the carport, they saw the rain had actually lessened, but it was an effort to open either door to the truck and Rob was nearly pinned by the slamming driver's door.
As Rick and his son lowered their heads and slid along the front porch wall, they saw the door slam open, with Laurie standing in the doorway, holding a battery-operated lantern. Yelling above the noise of the howling winds, they heard her say, "We don't have time to get to town, we'll have to stick it out here." The two Simon men managed to get inside, as Laurie got the doors closed and locked. "Robbie, thank God you made it!" Robin ran in to the living room, embracing her brother then crying, "Pop!" Her father put an arm around her, then looking over her head at his wife, said, "We'll have to find a safe place to ride it out." Glancing at both of his children, Rick told them, "We just have a few minutes to get ready, Rob, I think you and Robin should get in the bathroom and wedge yourselves in, if the house gets hit, at least you'd be in a stable place." Both Rob and Robin nodded, then went to check out the bathroom and grab some towels and blankets to cover themselves.
Rick took Laurie in his arms, holding her for a moment as the wind got louder and louder around the small house. "Darlin', we're going to be ok, I promise you. We need to find the most secure closet or cupboard we can fit in.", he began, at which she broke in, "Rick, the spa tub, it's deep enough and its secured to the floor, we can climb in it and use a blanket or something to cover ourselves." He took her hand and let her lead him into their bathroom, where climbing in, he hunkered down and figured how they could both lie down and hang on if the winds tore the windows out or something. Abruptly they heard a crashing noise, and looking out the window, they saw Rob's patrol car go sailing past, then hit the ground hard and stop up against a tree.
"Robbie, you and your sister get into the tub, now!" he yelled, then lifting up Laurie, he lowered her into the bottom of the spa tub, then climbed in with a blanket and anchored it over them.
As they heard the creaking of the roof above them, Rick wrapped his arms around his wife, and putting his mouth against her ear, told her, "Whatever happens, I love you, Stay inside the tub and don't let go." "I won't, darling, we're together, and that's all that matters. I love you too, Rick." She buried her head against his chest as the suction in the room increased, hurting their ears. There were crashing noises all around them, then a loud whoosh, and rain started falling. Suddenly everything started to howl around them, and Rick knew that the house had lost its walls; they were exposed to the winds. The blanket over them tore away, then he felt a tremendous pull on him, as he tried to protect Laurie by shifting over her. He saw her eyes on his, then heard a scream as he was lifted bodily away from her, his arms clawing at the side of the spa then rolling over and and over until he came down hard on his left shoulder. Dazed, he squinted in the darkness, only to see the funnel rolling away, then flashes of lightning illuminated his view, showing the twisted rubble of their home, a few pieces of furniture standing, and the upright tub where his children had taken refuge.
"No!" he yelled, trying to sit up, his shoulder screaming in pain, "Robin, Robbie, where are you? Laurie!"
A Simon and Simon/Six Million Dollar Man Crossover Story
When a natural disaster nearly destroys their home, the Simons face starting over. Will Rick and A.J. be able to rebuild their lives as well? (This is a work of fiction. No money is being made on it, and the characters are owned by Universal
and are only being borrowed for a little while. .)
Chapter 1
Rick kept watching the door, waiting for his little brother to come running in. If it weren't for the fact his sister-in-law had clued him in as to A.J. being late, he would be worried.
Come on A.J., he thought, I've got plenty of "wait till the 3 am feedings lines for you."
Sure enough, he heard his brother's staccato steps up the stairs, then the door opened and he put his head down, pretending to make notes on a client.
"'Morning Rick, sorry I 'm late," he announced breathlessly, sliding into his desk chair. Rick looked up, then feigned shock, "Oh, my God, Hell must have frozen over." he laughed, "Mr. on-time is actually 15 minutes late." "Can it clown, " A.J. groused, "Linda had a bad night, and, if you must know, I didn't sleep well either."
"Oh, sure, A.J., sure, I believe you as much as you do when I hit bad traffic or something." the older Simon teased. His brother glared at him, then seeing the cup of coffee already on his desk, reluctantly grinned. "All right, Rick, you do have a point, I promise to give you a fair shake the next time you're late." "You'd better believe I'd take advantage of that, after all, when you have middle of the night feedings to look forward to, I know I'll have to be the one to cut you some slack!" he needled.
A.J. groaned, putting his head on the desk. "Don't remind me, between Linda and my, well, let's just say no more pie ala mode at 10:00 at night ever again!" Rick took another look at his brother, then felt guilty about ragging him, he did look pretty tired.
"Hey, little brother, I'm sorry, is Linda all right? Do you want Laurie to come over today?" he offered, trying to make amends. A.J. shook his head, then smiled, "No, she's better this morning. We just forgot that dinner and a movie at seven months is a lot harder then at five months. I just have to be careful with her now." He glanced at Rick, then added, "Now I know what changed you so much when you married Laurie, I love Linda so much and it hurts to see her when she's sick. You forget all about yourself, then this morning she's worrying about me!" Rick grabbed a sack from the front desk, then placing a breakfast burrito in front of his brother reached over and hugged him. "Welcome to married life, A.J., you're right, I used to think nothing of taking off and running with Carlos and, well, it seems like another life sometimes. I can't imagine being happier with any other way now!"
"Or more spoiled! What other wife would let you take off fishing any weekend he wanted to, or encourage you to keep in touch with his old friends." The younger Simon bit into his breakfast hungrily, as Rick nodded. "You're right, Laurie's never set any limits with me, she once said she didn't want to smother me, she wanted me to have fun. I just wish Carlos hadn't antagonized her, she told me she doesn't trust him and she's afraid I'll get hurt if I hang with him again."
A.J. stopped in mid-bite, "Rick, she's right, you know I liked Carlos, but after that last incident in Ensenada, I sure don't want to see him!" His brother stared at him, then reluctantly agreed. "You're right, A.J., it's hard to give up a friend you've known since childhood. But I would never put my family in danger and the people he does business with, well, forget about it. I have a better time with you and Towne and the others anyway. Maybe we can squeeze in one more weekend before little whosit comes, Laurie and Robin can come stay with Linda and have a house party." A.J. brightened up, "Let me ask her, I bet she'd like that. I didn't realize how hard it was on her with no parents or relatives to back her up. Rudy's practically her only family, so it means a lot when Laurie or Mom are over."
By the end of the day, Rick decided to make good his idea. After their last client left, he sent his brother home early to get some rest, then called his wife. Waiting for her to pick up, he glanced at the sky, startled to see the heavy clouds moving over the mountains. "Simon residence." she answered breathlessly. "Hi, sweetheart, it's me, were you outside?" "Yes, Rick, Oh I'm so glad you called, did you hear the storm warnings?" he heard her trying to catch her breath.
"No, Laurie, A.J. and I were busy all day, is it raining there?" "Pouring, I just ran in from the barn, there's a chance of strong winds, so I opened the top window in the barn and put extra feed in the stalls. Maybe you ought to bunk with A.J. and Linda tonight in case the weather's real bad," she suggested, sounding worried. Frowning, he told her, "Only if Rob or Oscar can come over; I don't want you and Robin home alone if it's that bad. What does the weather channel say?"
"That some Canadian air is coming down and mixing with that tropical storm that's south of us. That's why the microburst is over us, I guess. Robin and I will be all right, but just in case I'll call Robbie and see when he gets off. I just don't want you driving with this bad weather." "Laurie, I'll be fine, you call Rob and if he can't come, see if Oscar's back from Ojai. Promise me you will?" Rick insisted, hearing thunder overhead.
"I promise, darling, call me if you stay with A.J., ok?", she replied. "Yes, sweetheart, but you call me right back to tell me who can come over, I'll wait here until you do?" Rick heard another boom, then sheets of rain started to fall outside the window. Suddenly his connection was cut off, and after calling the operator, was told that service to the Window Rock and Silver Rock area was out.
Dialing the sheriff's office in Silver Rock, he got through to Rob Gomez, the sheriff. "Hey Rick, were you calling to see about the phones being out?" "Oh great, first a psychic Wife, now a psychic sheriff!" Rick joked, trying not to worry. "No, just have a great pair of ears. Laurie just called, Rob's on his way to the ranch, only thing is we just got a report of really bad Winds, almost twister-like. You should stay put in Phoenix, it's too dangerous in the dark with This much rain."
"Maybe I will, but I'm going to try the ranch one more time, I don't like this report about The winds," he told Rob, and then suddenly heard the phone cut out.
"Rob, hey, Rob", he hit the receiver, then looking out the window toward his home, Gasped as he saw a cloud the size of a city block heading toward that area. I'm not going to wait, He decided, grabbing his keys and transmitter. Racing down the stairs, he rushed through The pouring rain and jumping into his truck, almost hydroplaned through the flooded parking Lot onto the street.
All the way through the sheeting rain he tried to raise first Oscar then Laurie, changing frequencies, then suddenly he heard his wife's voice, trying to call Oscar. "Laurie," he yelled, hitting the send button. There was a pause, then,"Rick, where are you, have you seen Oscar or Rudy?" "No, honey, listen, I'm on my way to town, but you need to get out of there, Rob should be over there any minute now, It looks like some kind of twister is headed your way!" he told her, trying not to panic.
"Oh no, Rick, the jeep won't start, Robin and I are going to batten down everything we can. If Rob gets here before the winds, we'll head to the Chief's place, if not, go find Robbie, please. We'll be all right, just be careful, darling."
Suddenly there was an eerie break in the background noise, as his wife added, "Rick, if anything happens, I love you, we both do. Go straight to the Chief's, please." "Laurie, ", he began, then suddenly had to brake, a car up ahead was off the shoulder of the road, a figure lit up in the glow safety lights blinking in the near darkness.
Slowing down, he realized it was his son's patrol car, "Sweetheart, I found Robbie, he's off the road, I'm going to check on him and we'll be right there. Stay inside, we're coming." "Thank God, ok, we'll be inside, just drive safely, " he heard the relief in her voice.
Stopping just shy of the disabled car, he opened his door, and saw the relief in Rob's eyes as he jogged back to his father. "Pop, I'm really glad to see you, where did you come from?" Rick hugged him, then told him, "We don't have time to get your car in gear, look at that cloud up ahead." Both men gazed at the horizon, a black cloud the size of a mountain heading toward Silver Rock. "Oh, no way, Pop, we've got to get to Mom and Robin!"
Retrieving his service weapon and tool kit, then turning off all lights except for the emergency blinkers, he climbed in with Rick and they took off. Battling the wind currents and dodging debris, they still made it to the ranch with a little daylight barely shining through the darkening sky. Running the truck under the carport, they saw the rain had actually lessened, but it was an effort to open either door to the truck and Rob was nearly pinned by the slamming driver's door.
As Rick and his son lowered their heads and slid along the front porch wall, they saw the door slam open, with Laurie standing in the doorway, holding a battery-operated lantern. Yelling above the noise of the howling winds, they heard her say, "We don't have time to get to town, we'll have to stick it out here." The two Simon men managed to get inside, as Laurie got the doors closed and locked. "Robbie, thank God you made it!" Robin ran in to the living room, embracing her brother then crying, "Pop!" Her father put an arm around her, then looking over her head at his wife, said, "We'll have to find a safe place to ride it out." Glancing at both of his children, Rick told them, "We just have a few minutes to get ready, Rob, I think you and Robin should get in the bathroom and wedge yourselves in, if the house gets hit, at least you'd be in a stable place." Both Rob and Robin nodded, then went to check out the bathroom and grab some towels and blankets to cover themselves.
Rick took Laurie in his arms, holding her for a moment as the wind got louder and louder around the small house. "Darlin', we're going to be ok, I promise you. We need to find the most secure closet or cupboard we can fit in.", he began, at which she broke in, "Rick, the spa tub, it's deep enough and its secured to the floor, we can climb in it and use a blanket or something to cover ourselves." He took her hand and let her lead him into their bathroom, where climbing in, he hunkered down and figured how they could both lie down and hang on if the winds tore the windows out or something. Abruptly they heard a crashing noise, and looking out the window, they saw Rob's patrol car go sailing past, then hit the ground hard and stop up against a tree.
"Robbie, you and your sister get into the tub, now!" he yelled, then lifting up Laurie, he lowered her into the bottom of the spa tub, then climbed in with a blanket and anchored it over them.
As they heard the creaking of the roof above them, Rick wrapped his arms around his wife, and putting his mouth against her ear, told her, "Whatever happens, I love you, Stay inside the tub and don't let go." "I won't, darling, we're together, and that's all that matters. I love you too, Rick." She buried her head against his chest as the suction in the room increased, hurting their ears. There were crashing noises all around them, then a loud whoosh, and rain started falling. Suddenly everything started to howl around them, and Rick knew that the house had lost its walls; they were exposed to the winds. The blanket over them tore away, then he felt a tremendous pull on him, as he tried to protect Laurie by shifting over her. He saw her eyes on his, then heard a scream as he was lifted bodily away from her, his arms clawing at the side of the spa then rolling over and and over until he came down hard on his left shoulder. Dazed, he squinted in the darkness, only to see the funnel rolling away, then flashes of lightning illuminated his view, showing the twisted rubble of their home, a few pieces of furniture standing, and the upright tub where his children had taken refuge.
"No!" he yelled, trying to sit up, his shoulder screaming in pain, "Robin, Robbie, where are you? Laurie!"