A/N: So, you all convinced me! When I completed the third in what I am now referring to as 'The Sam Saga' I received many comments wanting me to continue, and several that asked for something a little more Jesse-centric. I couldn't contain myself. I really thought the last one would be it, but how quickly a trilogy becomes a quad. ;)
So, what we've got here is indeed a fic focused around Jesse, age eleven; making Sam twelve. All the characters are the same, the back-story; that would be obvious I'd think. Although, since it is more centered on Mary's side of the family, there is less of Marshall's but rest assured they do exist.
Hopefully I still have you wonderful loyal reviewers on my side for another wild ride with the Mann-Shannon's, their parents, and in this case, their offspring. I hope Jesse lives up to his promise!
XXX
May was perhaps Mary's very favorite month – if she had to choose. The breezes turned warm and comforting, losing the nip and chill they carried in March and April. But it came before June, which meant that the gusts were far from hot and dusty, the way they persisted during the summer months. She was able to leave her windows open, smell the freshly mown grass, even the buds on the newly-grown flowers.
May also brought the soothing thought that Sam was well on his way to finishing yet another year of school, and this time it was more of a triumph than ever. He was just thirty days away from completing his first two semesters in the sixth grade – his first in middle school with the perils of lockers, textbooks, and seven different teachers. Although sometimes, she wondered why she worried. He had thrived in his new environment, something he always did. She had been concerned that his intellect might hamper him with the older boys, but evidently he was charismatic enough to get away with it.
It was with all these thoughts and more that Mary stood at the counter in the kitchen one afternoon, downing a Diet Coke and mapping out possible locations for a new witness. As soon as she got him double-checked and his paperwork completed, she'd pass him off to a new inspector that had more time to spend in the field. Meanwhile, Marshall was on the couch working a complicated grid that might make it easier for those who saw what they shouldn't have to be spread out across the southwest.
"Do you think the grid itself implies that we aren't inconspicuous enough about where we're placing all these witnesses?" Marshall suddenly spoke up all hunched over the coffee table.
Mary flicked her eyes upward briefly, not really in the mood to cover logistics.
"I don't imagine you're going to be placing it in front of prying eyes," she responded quickly.
"I'm just saying," her husband continued. "Isn't there a better way to plot the new points without using the old tried-and-true pen and paper?"
"I wouldn't think an immortal like you would succumb to the lure of mechanisms like computers," Mary quipped, swallowing her Coke and circling a point for whichever Marshal ended up with her poor sap.
This, of course, was a feeble joke. Marshall spent over half his life on computers these days, not to mention his career. He was, for all intents and purposes, the brains of the greater southwest offices – filing systems, maps, charts, facts, figures. He was always coming up with a new idea to better the program. Mary had grown into the role of a sidekick, conferring on what needed to be conferred, bouncing suggestions from one end to the other. On occasion, the pair of them sat in with witnesses just like the old days but neither of them ventured into the field much anymore.
The price you paid for fearful sons and bullets to the abdomen.
"I'm just mapping it out until I can get it lined up," Marshall went on. "I'll transfer it all later."
"Then why are you worried?" Mary couldn't help wondering, hoping to quiet him so she could finish what she was doing.
It was then that the phone rang, furthering Mary's annoyance. She had hoped to complete the paperwork before Sam got off the bus, but she was lucky he was used to the old work-and-talk stand-by. Huffing and blowing her bangs out of her eyes, she snatched her cell and answered.
"Hello?" she sounded harassed.
"Hey Mare," it was Brandi.
"I have about six different things going on," the elder sister proclaimed, hoping to ward off a long discussion. She distinctly heard Marshall scoff in an amused sort of way and she was careful to scowl before otherwise ignoring him.
"Well, this isn't going to take long," Brandi went on. "But I need a favor."
"You know that phrase coming out of your mouth is always frightening," Mary informed her swiftly, knowing the role she was expected to play in situations like these.
"It's…kind of a big favor…" Brandi couldn't resist pointing out.
Mary knew she might be able to buy herself a few minutes while Brandi danced around the issue and immediately tuned out, continuing to read her file. She'd already forgotten this guy's name. Thomas? Timothy?
Meanwhile, Brandi was blathering incessantly about nothing that seemed very important yet.
"…She was pushing a shopping cart…"
Tanner, that was his name. Who would name their kid Tanner? Was he a blacksmith in his former life?
"…I guess she tripped and twisted…"
Mary wondered if Stan would object to putting this guy in Flagstaff. Although she was trying hard not to take advantage of her chief lately. He was up for retirement in June.
"…Her knee was pretty bad anyway, and now they think she needs replacement surgery…"
It was that word 'surgery' that sparked Mary's attention. It was right up there with 'blood loss' and 'sutures' and 'ventilator.' She'd become highly in tune to these types of words in the last four years.
"Wait-wait…" Mary interrupted, finally averting her eyes from the MOU. "Who needs a knee replacement? Who are we talking about?"
"Peter's mother!" Brandi definitely sounded irritated. "Dora. Good God Mary, were you listening at all?"
"I told you I was busy," Mary muttered, but she knew she should've paid more attention. "So okay…" she cut across quickly to avoid garnering too much blame from her baby sister. "Dora needs a knee replacement – sucks. Where's the favor come in? You're not suggesting I give her mine are you?"
"Like you'd ever be that generous," Brandi insulted, but she was chuckling slightly. "She's having surgery tomorrow, but Peter really wants to go out to the Caverns and help out. I guess Hal's pretty helpless without Dora…"
Mary still wasn't sure what this had to do with her and was just considering her formalities again when Brandi plowed on.
"It's like six hours down to Carlsbad and I don't know how long Peter wants to stay…" she sounded a little rehearsed now. "I really don't want to pull Jesse out of school; he's got all these tests to take because they're winding up the year."
Now Mary got it.
"Do you think he could stay with you and Marshall?" she finally inquired. "I'm sure we'll be back by Monday, Mare."
It was Tuesday.
Mary really was no baby-sitter. Sure, Jesse had stayed with them on countless occasions but never for a whole week because Brandi and Peter lived about three miles away. She didn't know why she was so reluctant because her nephew was an easy, quiet kid with a very simplistic disposition. She wasn't exactly sure how to entertain him though, and her schedule was always up-in-the-air.
"Uh…" Mary's eyes found Marshall's and she motioned for him to come to the counter. He stood and joined her to listen. "I don't know, Squish. I should check with Marshall; he'll be here more than I will."
"What's up?" her husband whispered upon hearing this.
Mary covered the mouthpiece with her fingers, "Peter and Brandi want to trek to the Caverns to assist the ailing Nora…"
"Dora," Brandi breathed, but Mary ignored her.
"Don't want Jesse missing his education or some such crap like that…"
Fortunately, she didn't need to go on. There was a reason Marshall was touted the world's greatest uncle from here to Kansas.
"He can stay here; it's no problem," he insisted at once.
Such an agreeable, easygoing fellow. He and Jesse had always meshed quite well.
"Brandi?" Mary inquired, removing her nails from the keyboard.
"Yeah."
"Marshall says it's a go," the older Shannon reported.
Brandi was instantly gushing gratitude, something Mary definitely could've anticipated and also something she could absolutely block out as she got back to her work.
"Thank-you so much Mare – I really didn't want to drag him along – and I know he'll be happiest there with you," she decided.
Mary thought, vaguely, that this was an interesting way to put Jesse's feelings. She generally thought of him as a pretty mellow guy, somebody who just went with the flow, that whatever was uncomplicated would make him happy just by default. Unfortunately, Brandi shot down this thought with her next words.
"I feel kind of bad about leaving him…" the younger admitted, and this made Mary take pause.
"What?" she wrinkled her nose. "Don't be stupid. He's stayed with us plenty of times."
"I know…" Brandi said softly, but she sounded evasive and withholding. "I just…"
That tone in Brandi's voice never sat well with Mary, even all these years later, even so far beyond the times when Brandi might have reason to hide who she was or what she was doing. It was a reflex ingrained in Mary's skin to be suspicious of her sister when she got like this.
"Squish what?" she prompted. "Spit out," she stuck her hand on her hip and waited.
"Well…" Brandi said quietly. "I'm a little bit worried about him."
Now Mary abandoned the documents strewn about and reached for her Diet Coke, which she made sure was empty and tossed in the trashcan under the sink. Marshall wandered back into the living room, used to the way Mary spoke to Brandi, be it over the phone or in person.
"What's to be worried about?" Mary was casual, shoving the garbage behind the cabinet door with her foot. "He's a good kid."
"I'm not worried he's gonna start robbing banks, Mary."
That reference was a lot less funny than it should've been.
"He just seems…" Brandi was considering as Mary clamped the phone between her ear and her shoulder securing the trash bag, which was sticking out. "He just seems kind of lonely. And he does okay in school but sometimes he doesn't quite keep up with the other kids…"
"Brandi, we've been through this," Mary sighed, getting a better handle on her sister's fear now. "He's smart; he just takes his time."
"I don't know," Brandi didn't sound convinced as she pressed on. "Sometimes I think if Sam were still with him it'd be different."
This was an issue Mary had avoided like the plague. She had told herself time after time that once Sam went to middle school, Jesse might step out of his shadow and become a little more comfortable in his own skin, but it had-had the opposite effect, which she denied at every turn. It was becoming more and more apparent that without Sam, Jesse was a little lost, not really sure who he was. He maintained his sweet, sensitive personality and the littlest things seemed to please him but while Sam had flourished in the upper grades, Jesse had very clearly been left behind. And Mary knew, deep in her heart that Sam had never meant to shut him away but the natural progression of time had starting dividing the boys rather than uniting them.
"He'll find his own way Brandi," Mary cut in swiftly. "He and Sam still get along; there's nothing to worry about."
"I guess," Brandi was obviously starting to wish she hadn't pushed these thoughts to the forefront and moved on. "Maybe when he's staying with you guys they'll get to spend some more time together."
In the recesses of her mind, Mary hoped this as well.
"He'll be fine Squish," Mary wanted to wrap this up. "When are you guys leaving?"
"Tonight," she picked up the segue perfectly. "I'll pick Jesse up after school and bring him over before we head out."
"Sounds good," Mary approved. "See you later."
She hung up before Brandi could say goodbye. Meandering back to the counter, she set the cell beside everything she had spread out, but try as she might she couldn't quite concentrate once more, and she wasn't really sure why. She, Marshall, and Sam still saw Jesse all the time – on weekends, if no other frame. The boys never fought but, whatever she told Brandi, it had not escaped her notice that there were more differences than similarities these days. Although neither had changed drastically, it was those underlying distinctions that had always been there that were starting to become more prevalent. It was amazing how just a year in school could pull them apart; Sam would be thirteen in the fall and Jesse had just turned eleven.
"So…" Marshall was up again, venturing back to his wife. "Sounds like we're gonna have a houseguest."
"Yeah, sounds like it," Mary agreed. "Probably till Monday."
"It'll be good for the boys," Marshall persisted as though he'd been reading her mind. "They'll get to spend some time together."
"You and Brandi, you're like a pair of broken records," Mary didn't know why she said it with disdain, not meeting Marshall's eyes as she scratched her pencil across the paper.
Marshall waited patiently, letting her simmer down and succumb to the fears he knew were circling in her brain. If he just gave her a minute she'd come around and eventually, she put down her pencil and looked at him dead on. Even then, it took her a moment but Marshall's blue eyes had her spilling her guts just like always.
"How'd this happen to them?" she posed.
Marshall shrugged, "Nothing happened, Mare. They're just not as close as they were before. The innate chain of development often reveals our divergences and dissimilarities…"
"Brandi's concerned about him…" she cut through his intellectual babble as swiftly as she ever did.
"Jesse?" he inquired, and then figuring this must be it, "Yeah, I am too. I mean, it's unfortunate how the world doesn't value the eternally kind and gentle…"
"What about Sam?" Mary couldn't resist pointing out, splaying her hands on the counter and leaning forward. "He's, to use your words, kind and gentle but he doesn't have any problems…"
"He is," Marshall agreed. "And I'm glad because it's kept him from completely leaving Jesse in the dark, but he's also much more sure of who he is. His mother's made certain of that."
Mary felt a mixture of pride as well as sympathy at these words. She had honed Sam to be sweet and polite as well as steadfast, only one of which she could lay claim to. Regrettably, Brandi's logged years as a deadbeat who considered herself worthless seemed to have seeped over into her son, despite her efforts to change it. She didn't understand nature versus nurture sometimes.
"I guess," Mary shook her head, sounding like Brandi herself. "Maybe you're right. Maybe this will be good for them."
Marshall leaned over and gave her a quick kiss, reveling in her bout with humanity, in her compassion for her nephew.
"You know you're the world's coolest aunt," he declared, still stretching his neck to reach her.
Mary smirked and shoved him playfully in the chest.
"Now's no time for an afternoon romp, doofus," she grinned. "I got stuff to do."
A/N: Obviously it's the start and I should say up-front that I hope I've got my timeline right! In writing, I mixed up my days of the week for future events and pray I managed to get them squared away correctly. Forgive me if there's a mistake later; I will do my best to catch it.
Thanks for all the prior feedback that spurred me to get this going! I love you guys!
