Author's Note: Several other authors on this site have given me suggestions on how to improve my writing. Some are: adding more POVs, giving more detail to my characters (since I want to focus so much on the relationship between Bogg and Jeff, I tend to ignore the other characters) and explaining the action better. Probably the most important critisism I've gotten is that I'm not always historically accurate, (not that I want to be inaccurate, but I just love to write about the relationship, and haven't always done research). In this story I have done research (you will learn what a Litster is, if you don't know), and I have also tried to incorporate the other suggestions. It's funny how one thing leads to another, because the final story is not what I originally intended, but it grew out of the experience of crafting it. My original story is embedded within this longer story. Actually, there are several threads that intertwine throughout the story. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Fathers and Sons

Jeffrey opened his eyes sleepily and stared out into the room. Phineas was at the stove, cooking something that smelled good. He didn't exactly cook like his Mom, and Jeff sometimes missed his mother's cooking, but what Bogg made was usually good. Amazing really when you thought about where they often were and what they sometimes had to work with. The few times it wasn't very good, Jeff had complained and as he lay still watching his friend at the stove, he felt guilty for that. Now that he thought about it, even his dad hadn't cooked very well at all the few times he had cooked for him and Bogg's food was good most of the time.

When his thoughts strayed to his dad, he could see a clear picture of his father throwing him a baseball. They had spent hours throwing the ball back and forth in the back yard. He remembered when he was very young, they stood only a few feet apart. Then, as Jeffrey got older and improved, the balls came faster and he had to sometimes run for them. He'd often thought that his father had thrown them badly on purpose, and he wondered why. Every time he'd had to run backwards to catch one he'd been a little angry and thrown it back with terrible force, just to prove he could do it. His father had seemed to enjoy catching those throws more than the others and always encouraged him to put the ball where he intended it to go, no matter how excited or angry he was. He smiled as he thought about the last time they had played catch together and suddenly got choked up. It was a good memory, but it still hurt. He forced himself to think about where he was and that he didn't want Bogg to know he was thinking about his parents. Bogg was his father now. He'd felt it for a long time, but after the last Convergence they had made it official. And after all, it was Bogg that was making him supper, just like his mom used to do. It was funny to compare Bogg to his mom, but Bogg really did do the same kinds of things for him that both his parents had done.

He stretched and sat up, "hey," he said to get Bogg's attention.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah, I was just tired," Jeff explained.

"No kidding," Bogg paused, "supper's almost ready, we're staying here tonight, just so you know."

Jeff had been exhausted after their last assignment and had literally fallen asleep against Phineas' shoulder when they finally had a chance to sit down on this couch three hours ago. Jeff vaguely remembered Bogg easing him down onto the couch and lifting his legs up before he covered him with the jacket he'd been wearing on this mission. All of that was blurred in with his dreams, but even though he didn't remember all the specifics, he had a crystal clear memory of being taken care of, and that felt very good.

He stood up and walked over to Bogg and gave him a quick hug as he looked at the stove, "it smells good."

Phineas returned the hug in surprise, "what was that for?"

"Nothing," Jeff shrugged, "just felt like it."