Mari & Ilna-you guys are the absolute best! Thank you for EVERYTHING! YOU'RE THE BEST!
REAL Worlders-you guys are awesome. Thanks for all the support and encouragement.
A Boost of Confidence (1/1)
"Thanks again for helping me with this, Catherine," Jerry said earnestly as the two sat on the deck at the beach house sorting through a file folder of random notes Jerry had made over the past several weeks in preparation for a presentation to the Global Code Breakers Conference. "Normally I wouldn't even consider volunteering to speak in public … well you probably knew that already … I mean there's at least a 50% chance I'm gonna pass out and embarrass myself in front of fellow code enthusiasts from all over the world. Is it ok if I put you and Steve down as my emergency contacts in case that happens? If they call my mom she'll get all upset and come racing down to the conference center and that'll just make things even worse. Maybe I should just …."
"Jerry!" Catherine interrupted him. "It's going to be fine. You're not going to pass out."
"Can you guarantee that?"
"Sadly, I can't," Catherine said patiently. "But I have faith in you."
"Why does the conference have to be in Honolulu this year?" Jerry shook his head as a look of desperation appeared on his face. "I wouldn't have felt pressure to volunteer to do a speech if it wasn't. But as it stands this is my home turf and traditionally any group members who live in the host city act as de facto hosts and tour guides and they almost always also make a presentation and look at this mess." He waved his hands over the various scraps of paper and computer printouts on the table in front of them. "How am I ever gonna organize this into something worth presenting to the group?"
"You can do this, Jerry." Catherine patted his forearm. "I believe in you."
Jerry looked at his forearm then at Catherine. It was true that when he first met her, he had a little crush. 'OK, a big crush', he admitted to himself. Of course, he backed off once he realized she was with Steve. He wasn't the kind of guy who went around causing trouble in other people's relationships. Especially if those people were some of his best friends.
Still, he never failed to be mesmerized by her every time he saw her. Not only by her beauty but by her genuine kindness and compassion. Not everyone took him seriously. He'd been laughed at many times over the years. But never by Catherine. And that had won her a special place in his heart.
"Ok," he smiled, buoyed by her confidence in him. "I was thinking I should start with joke."
Two hours later they had made some good progress when Steve and Angie returned home from a morning of daddy/daughter fun.
"There's my girl!" Catherine said as they made their way out onto the deck. "Did you and Daddy have a good time?"
"Ah bah ee see dum am oooooo," Angie squealed then clapped excitedly. "Bee dee ooooo, Mama!"
"We saw some kids at the park flying kites." Steve smiled as he leaned down to kiss Catherine. "She was very impressed."
Angie squirmed to get down and immediately began spinning around with her arms above her head. A few seconds later she landed in a heap on the ground, giggling uproariously. Cammie was immediately at the side of her tiny human checking to make sure everything was ok. Once she was satisfied it was she took up a position between Angie and the water to keep a watchful eye.
As soon as Angie felt steady enough to stand, she held her arms up to her mother. "Mama up!"
Catherine lifted her daughter to the seat beside her and smiled. "Can you say hello to Jerry?"
Angie beamed. She absolutely loved Jerry. "Te-dee!" she bubbled then immediately blew him a kiss which he pretended to catch much to her delight.
"Jerry," Catherine repeated slowly. "Jerry."
"Te-dee" Angie scrambled up onto the table and crawled towards Jerry. "Hi Te-dee!" She reached out her arms and he happily picked her up.
"Hi there, Angie. How are you doing today?" Jerry asked.
Steve and Catherine watched as Jerry listened intently while Angie launched into a detailed explanation of her day that only she understood.
"Is that so?" he asked when the toddler finished speaking. "It sounds like you had a very fun morning." He reached for a gift bag on the bench beside him. "I was at the marina the other day and I saw this in the gift shop and I thought of you." He held out the bag towards Angie. "It reminded me of your puzzle."
He sat Angie on the edge of the table and helped her remove the gray tissue paper and pull a small, stuffed dolphin from the bag.
"Eeeh be dee eee yay!" Angie clapped and reached for the toy. "Beee ahhh baa!" She turned slightly to look at her parents. "Mama. Dada. Bah ahh dee baa."
"I see," Catherine smiled. "That was very nice of Jerry. Can you say, 'Thank you, Jerry'."
"Bahh dee ahh Te-dee." Angie threw herself forward and gave Jerry a hug.
Catherine smiled. No matter how many times they encouraged Angie to say Jerry's name she continued to call him Teddy. "Looks like she's sticking with Teddy for now."
"I've been called worse," Jerry said as he placed a hand on the edge of the table on either side of Angie to make sure she didn't fall.
"I think you remind her of one of her favorite books," Steve suggested. "It's about a teddy bear that comes to life."
"I'm ok with that." Jerry beamed at the smiling little girl in front of him who already embodied so much of what made her mother so special. "She can call me Teddy as long as she wants."
Steve fixed Angie lunch then put her down for her nap before he headed to the garage to tinker with the Marquis while Catherine continued to work with Jerry on his presentation. Unfortunately, when he was feeling stressed, he tended to default to a joke, and she worried if left to his own devices his presentation would feel more like a stand-up routine. Once she negotiated a hard cap on jokes at four, they were able to begin to whip things into shape and by the time Angie's gentle cooing through the baby monitor indicated she was ready to get up Catherine felt confident Jerry was prepared for his big moment. She may not take all his outlandish theories seriously, but she knew that he did and wanted to be sure he had all the tools he needed for a successful presentation.
Just as she suggested a run through the door to the kitchen opened and Angie emerged with a cookie in each hand followed closely by Steve who shrugged and said, "She grabbed the second one. What could I do?"
Catherine sighed and shook her head as she watched her daughter take a bite out of each cookie as she approached the table. She stood for a few seconds, clearly lost in thought, then held out one of her little cookie filled hands towards Jerry.
"Coo-kie Te-dee."
Jerry looked at the offered treat. "Is that for me?"
Angie nodded her head.
"Wow, you really rate," Steve said. "She only shares her cookies with her very favorite people."
Jerry beamed as he took a bite then lifted Angie into his lap. "Thank you, very much."
After a quick snack time Catherine encouraged Jerry to stand up and practice his speech just as he would give it Wednesday at the conference center. After a bit of initial reticence, he agreed.
"Be nice," Catherine reminded Steve quietly as he took the seat beside hers. "This is important to him."
As Jerry began to speak Angie fell silent, completely entranced by the sound of his voice. Even though she didn't understand most of his words she clearly enjoyed the sound of him saying them. As he went along, he became more and more sure of himself. His back straightened. His delivery became less rigid. By the time he reached his third joke he was feeling comfortable and almost looked as though he was enjoying himself.
When he wrapped up Catherine and Steve began to applaud which made Angie do the same which made Jerry blush.
"Great job!" Catherine said honestly.
"I agree," Steve added. Much to his surprise he'd found Jerry's speech interesting.
"Listen, it's almost time for dinner." Catherine glanced at her watch. "Why don't you stay?"
"Are you sure I wouldn't be imposing?"
"Positive." Catherine stood. "We'll toss something on the grill, and I'll make a salad." She lifted Angie off the table and placed her on the deck floor.
"Okay then," Jerry smiled. "I'd love to. Thank you."
While Steve and Catherine headed to the kitchen to make preparations Jerry picked up Angie and the two of them stood near the railing and looked at the ocean.
"Did you really like my speech?" he asked.
"Ahh bah dee omm nah baa dee ahhh," she replied.
"Thanks." He kissed her cheek. "You helped me feel confident."
She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly.
"Someday I hope I can do the same for you," he said quietly. "I don't think you'll ever be lacking in confidence considering who your parents are but if there's ever any little thing you need, Teddy will be here for you. I promise you that."
THE END
Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll
Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com
You can join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with: Add me, please! in the subject line. Or just drop us a line to say hi! We love hearing from our readers.