All those who appeared in the original TV series; Carolyn, Daniel, Claymore, Candy, Jonathan, Ed, and Martha belong to Fox and to R.A. Dick. The non-canonical ones belong to Mary and me. Noah and the ark belong to God. Takes place shortly after I Do, I Do, I Don't
July 16, 1983
"Darling, could you get the door?" Carolyn Gregg asked, blowing a strand of blonde hair from her eyes. "I THINK I can finish typing this chapter for our book before the party if I don't stop. And it's so clear in my head.."
"You do not wish to lose it," the seaman's spirit agreed. "We do need to stop and start readying the birthday ship to sail, soon, my dear."
"I know, but.."
"And I KNOW that," he smiled, and then kissed her before vanishing.
Seconds later, he reappeared at the front door, just as his stepson, Jonathan Muir reached it. "I've got it, Captain Dad," the boy said as he pulled it open.
"Hello," several voices chorused.
Standing on the porch was a group consisting of Candy Muir-Avery, Thom Avery, Jenny, Dave, and Amberly Farnon, and Jess, Adam, and Abigail Pierce.
"You are a little early for-" Daniel began, tweaking his ear lobe with a frown.
"On purpose," Jess said. "We wanted to come help get things ready for Dash's surprise party."
"Besides," Candy chimed in as she paused to kiss her step-dad, "we're family. So, it doesn't matter if everything's in-"
"Cherry pie order," Adam cut in with a wink. "Seems more appropriate, since Ed is part of the clan." Slapping his hands together, the lawyer asked, "So, what do you need us to do?"
"And, where's Carolyn?" Dave added as he helped Amberly take a big step over the threshold.
"Upstairs. She got on a roll," Daniel replied.
"Understood," Jenny, who was also a writer, grinned. "Why don't Jess and I put the girls down for naps, then we can start helping decorate?"
"The MAIN decoration will arrive later," Jonathan announced. "Martha's got a ginormous chocolate cake. She wanted to decorate it, but chocolate icing isn't a good background for that."
"I believe Sean or Tris is going to pop it over for her," Daniel added. "Of course, the main function of a cake is not to be admired for its looks."
"Right," Thom said.
"A room for the rug-rats?" Jess reminded them.
"Martha's old one will suffice," Daniel replied. "You know where it is."
"Yeah, we just wanted to get permission," Jess flashed a smile. "C'mon, Jen."
"We'll be in the kitchen once they're down," the younger woman said, taking her daughter's hand while Adam transferred Abigail to Jess' arms.
"What's on the menu?" Thom called after them.
"Dash's favorite foods," Jon said. "Molly's making part of it, homemade bread, but the kitchen gets crowded if more than two people try to cook." He rolled his eyes. "Only took fifteen years to figure that out."
"Most of those years, not more than one wanted to," Candy countered.
Thom lifted jar of something red. "Candy's from scratch ketchup."
"That'll go well with the un-fried potatoes," Jess grinned. "Captain, would you pop it to the kitchen?"
"Let's get to work, mates," Daniel suggested after he had done as she asked. "I don't want to be standing around with nothing ready when the party gets here."
At once, every right hand that was not otherwise occupied snapped a sharp salute and a willing crew fell into their tasks. Within fifteen minutes, Carolyn had reached a good stopping point in her work and joined them.
The family did try to keep things quiet, for the sake of the two wee girls. Poor Dakota got shushed if she even looked like she was going to make a sound. Despite all this, the air was suddenly split by a pitiful bawling coming from Martha's old room. Moments later, a slightly older child's voice joined in the mournful harmony.
"Uh- help, Dads!" Jess called. "We're up to our necks in veggies and fish, here."
"We can handle this stuff," Daniel assured the two young fathers. "Go do your main duty."
After Adam and Dave had exited, Candy said, "I bet you don't even need any of our help, do you, Captain Dad?"
"No, but I realize you like to feel useful," he winked.
"You're learning," Carolyn smirked, thinking back to his attempts to repair Gull Cottage once upon a time, when he had assured her that she need not call repairmen as long as he was on board.
"Careful, Madam." Words aside, the seaman's eyes twinkled.
As the minutes passed, it was clear that Adam and Dave were not having success calming their children.
"Maybe they want to see Grandma?" Jon suggested. He loved Amberly and Abby, of course, but the noise was getting on his nerves.
"I bet that's it," Thom nodded. "Why don't you give it a whirl, Carolyn? A woman's touch, you know?"
"Candy, take over the flower arranging, please?" Mrs. Gregg asked, and then left to see if she could help.
Five minutes later, she was back, with two very bemused looking guys following.
"None of us is what those two want," Adam announced. "And, Jess and Jen are not at a point they can leave their chores without something being - fubared."
"Daniel, there is not a female alive you can't charm," Carolyn stated flatly. "As the Admiral of this vessel, I'm asking you, Captain, to do what you do best."
"Such hard work you demand of this poor old salt," he quipped as he vanished.
"I'll make it worth your while," she promised the air, causing Candy to grin and Jonathan to turn red.
"That's why Bree's keeping Uncle Dash distracted, instead of Aunt Lynne The birthday boy'd never get here," Candy smirked. Now, it was Thom's turn to turn red. He still wasn't quite used to the idea of his mom being married, much less romantic.
Amberly's wails slowed as soon as she realized Grandpa was in the room, but she did not go completely silent, preferring to keep her options open. Abigail did not miss a beat.
"Here now," Daniel tsked. "What's all this?" He was certain that someone would have checked to make sure that nothing needed changing and that neither child required food, or was teething, though Abby was far too young for that.
"Grandpa," Amberly began to smile, just a tiny bit. "Want story. Hug, Grandpa."
"Of course you may have a hug and a story, dear child," he replied, bending to pick her up and comply. Awkwardly, he managed to get both the toddler and the infant into his arms, then settled into a chair. "Hmm. What would be good?" Then, he smiled. "I think I know what you'd enjoy."
"This takes place long ago, before even Uncle Fontenot was born. Uncle Blackie has told you about Noah, hasn't he?"
"Rainbow," Amberly nodded.
"Yes, but before the rainbow was given, the flood came. I'm getting ahead of myself. The world was still young, as planets go, but even for a new world, it had become very wicked. People were doing all sorts of bad things, and that made God quite angry. In all of mankind, there was only one good family, Noah's. As mad as God was at the world in general, He did not want Noah's kin to be hurt when he punished those who needed to be. People lived for much longer back then than they do now. That is important to know, because God told Noah to build a - ginormous, as your Uncle Tris might say, houseboat, and it would take him over a century to finish making it, even with his three sons and all their wives helping. They also needed time to gather up two of every unclean animal and seven pairs of all the clean ones. We'll worry about what clean and unclean mean later." He paused to consider reading them the lists in Leviticus or Numbers. That would put anyone to sleep. "Not to mention food for everyone. Why you ask? Because God was going to just start over and rebuild the world. He was going to wash it clean in a giant flood, and to stay alive, everyone would need to be aboard the ship, or ark. The animals were all good, none wicked, but some were nicer than others. So, each group of animals met and decided among themselves which animals would go with Noah. They trusted that when the world was washed away, they would go immediately to the Fields of the Lord and be better off than their kin remaining on Earth. However, the unicorns were all so pure and so loving that they spent the entire one hundred twenty years that God was delaying judgement for Noah's sake deferring to one another, arguing about which seven pairs deserved to join the company on the ark. This was still going on when Shem, Ham, and Japeth gathered the animals into the floating zoo. The three boys looked everywhere, but could not find the unicorns to put aboard. You see, they had all decided that they loved each other too greatly to leave even one of their kindred behind. So, they hid, and being ten times smarter than men, no one could find them.
"Nonetheless, the rains fell, and for the sake of everyone else, Noah had to give up on waiting, get his family inside, and let God shut the door. It rained harder and harder. Such a downpour has never happened since, so I have nothing to compare it to. All the nasty folk who had made fun of Noah for a hundred years were now laughing out the other side of their mouths. They saw he was right. But, it was too late. Yet, when God looked down, He could see; indeed, He knew already, what the unicorns had done. He saw them, all bedraggled and cold, waiting for the angels to take them to Heaven, and He had compassion on them Just as once He transformed the world so that it was not Paradise because of Eve's folly, now He changed the unicorns. Suddenly, the beautiful horses were able to swim and to live in the water. White hair turned into silver, and they were given songs such as had never been heard before.
"And so, they survived the flood, but Noah did not know that. He and all his family were sad, until one day, after it had stopped raining and they were just drifting on the tides, Noah looked out the window and could see silver shapes dancing in the waves. He had never seen the like, so he asked the Lord what they were. Had he missed something else? But, God was not angry with Noah. He simply said that now the unicorns were to be called dolphins and they would forever dance and play in the seas. What's more, because Noah wanted to save them, seamen would always be able to rely on dolphins to help them if they should fall into the waves. And, should you ever see a dophin, listen to their songs. You can hear them singing Hallelujah at all times. Every time they open their mouths, they praise their Lord."
"I ALWAYS loved that one!" Candy's voice broke in.
Daniel looked up to see Candy, Jenny, and Jon standing in the doorway.
"We were hoping to catch you napping," the boy confessed. "When it got so quiet, we thought maybe.."
"Like Mom caught you doing," Candy grinned.
"But, this is way better," Jenny chimed in, eyes dancing. "Captain Dad, I love this! It's so-" She hesitated, not sure about using the word sweet. "Oh, blast, it IS a sweet story. And, if you don't write it down and publish it for ALL kids to hear, not just our blessed ones, I WILL."
"Considering the fact that you are so artistically gifted, my dear, I would only attempt to comply were you to be my co-author," Daniel replied calmly.
Looking somewhere between laughing and crying, the young woman nodded. "I would LOVE it. Really? Oh - that would be so-"
"You just made her day," Jonathan essayed.
"As mine has been made, so to speak," the ghost smiled. "Who would have thought that Aunt Violet's old tale would bring such joy? I was delighted to share it with you and Candy, and now with these girls. I thought you too old to be amused by such a trifle by the time you joined the crew, Jenny," he added.
"You never get too old for such magical things," she averred.
Carolyn came up behind them. "The work is all done, and just in time. Dash is coming up the walk with Lynne, Blackie, and Bree. What's going on?"
"So, we need to join the party," Daniel stated. "I will catch you up later, my dear, but we have one more project. Well, Jenny and I do."
The blonde raised a brow. "I'll look forward to hearing all about it." She went over and helped ease the two girls into their playpen and bassinet respectively. "Be sweet, my darlings."
"Let's go celebrate Dash's big day," Daniel concluded, rising.
"Before he eats ALL the cake," Jonathan finished.