A/n: Yeap, taking my sweet time before the action. You will either love it, or hate it.
Chapter Two
Joe pulled into the driveway of the home he shared with his fianceƩ and noted with a smile Halloran was already home. Being the Boss did have some perks and she often was able to leave Infotech by 4 and beat the rush hour traffic. Joe was seldom that lucky, as today proved once again. It was after six when he pulled his Impala into the driveway behind Halloran's BMW. Hopefully dinner was already on the table.
His prayers were answered as he stepped into the foyer and was assaulted by the intoxicating smell of cornbread. "Luceeee, I'm home!" he twanged in a really bad Cuban accent. Hall came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. She greeted him with a kiss before informing him he was just in time to set the table. Joe procrastinated, scooping her close and laying his head on top of hers and inhaling the sweet aroma of her lavender scented shampoo. Every day he marveled anew his incredible luck at finding the perfect person to spend his life with. He couldn't wait for the wedding in 4 month's time.
Dinner was the promised cornbread, served up dripping with honey and accompanied by baked beans and a great big pile of sticky, saucy ribs. "How do you manage to do this in just a couple of hours?" he marveled between lip smacks. "Aunt Gertrude would spend literally all day on a spread like this."
"I cheat." she blandly replied. " The beans were in the crockpot all day, the cornbread is a mix and I par boiled the ribs before baking them with a bottled sauce." she smiled at him. "The only thing I never cheat on is my baking. Oh, and I cooked. You clean." She deftly slid her chair away from the cozy kitchen table and laid a quick smootch on his cheek before heading out into the living room. Joe laughed resignedly, knowing that these were the Rules of the House he had moved in to. Funny, though, how when he was the one cooking he still ended up cleaning. One of those mysterious double standards that never seemed to be in his favor. Still he stood up, brought the plates over to the dishwasher and began transferring the few leftovers over to containers before loading the sink with soap and scrubbing away, singing along to the faint strains of Pink Floyd coming from the living room. Thank goodness his totally hot fianceƩ had awesome taste in music.
After finishing up, he uncorked a bottle of Halloran's favorite red and snagged 2 wine glasses on his way out into the living room. Halloran, barely tall enough to reach his shoulders in heels, was curled up on the couch looking tinier than usual under the throw she had tossed lightly around herself. She was nose deep into some book or other, oblivious as he stood over her from behind the couch smiling fondly at her dark hair all disheveled, growing out since she had cut it so drastically short on Joe's birthday. With a flourish, he presented her with a glass as he stepped around, lifting her legs up and sliding underneath them. "Any wild plans for this weekend?" he asked.
"Well, I had hoped to do so more research on Florists. So far everyone I talked to are either busy that weekend already, or uninterested in listening to what I want." she pouted a little. "The last one kept insisting on white roses for my bouquet. I loathe roses. White or otherwise." she huffed in annoyance. Joe hid a grin, being well aware of her preferences.
"Wouldya mind If I took off for the weekend with Frank?" he asked. "Thought we could hang out at the cabin and relax a bit. He's looking kinda worn out, and I could use a break myself." He had toyed with the idea of telling her the real reason, but ultimately decided that if he had, she'd feel obligated to pass that information on to Melody. This was not something he was ready to deal with, knowing Melody would be furious with not only them, but her cousin as well for sticking his nose in things. "I trust you to pick out a boutonniere that won't clash with your beauty. And I swear on Aunt Gertrude's soul I will taste test every flavor of cake and green bean casserole without complaint next week." he knew she had an appointment with the caterer to finalize their menu. They had decided to do a sit down meal as opposed to a buffet as she wanted something a little more formal. They had already picked out the wine and sparkling cider, complete with custom labels. He had only winced a little at the bill for the invitations, done in some uber fancy script on some impossible to pronounce shade of off white.
"That's fine, Dear." she replied with a caress of his cheek. "I was going to invite Pam to join me anyway, show her around." Pam was Phil Cohen's wife, they having eloped over the same Holidays that saw Joe and Hall get engaged and Phil come back to Bayport to take over as the CEO of Infotech, leaving Halloran to run the books of her grandfather's company. "And I was going to take a look at more dresses anyway, which means you couldn't have come in the first place." She put the book away after carefully marking her place and scootched on the couch until she was practically in Joe's lap. "I'll call Mellie tomorrow and warn her." she said with a laugh. The remainder of the evening was spent just enjoying each other's company. Joe was turning into a regular domesticated homebody, no longer needing to be out and about doing something 24/7. He found he liked spending lazy evenings just watching old movies. But after the fourth or fifth successive yawn, Halloran declared she was off to bed and made a pointed comment about needing a bed warmer.
"That's all I am good for then, huh?" he laughed. "Maybe I should just get you a dog."
"Hmm. Grocery bill would be a lot less..." Halloran teased as she flitted upstairs, Joe following closely behind with a suggestive leer. It was a good thing they had a king size bed as Joe still sprawled and had a penchant for ending up all rolled up in the covers. Morning still came too early for the Blond Hardy, who would be happy sleeping in til noon daily if he could get away with it. The petite dark haired Halloran was the exact opposite, usually wide awake by six. It made their domestic life slightly easier as she could get her yoga in, plus shower and dress before she needed to prod her paramour out of bed with a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
Joe was bouncing around like a kid all day in the office, making plans and writing out grocery lists and asking Frank's opinion on T bones versus Ribeyes. Frank just resignedly told him to get what he wanted and he'd provide the beer. "Be careful, Frank." Sam Radley's amused voice came through the doorway of his office. "Otherwise you'll end up with nothing but Pop Tarts and Oreos all weekend."
"And Cheez Whiz." Joe snorted. "Can't forget the Cheez. Whiz. Balanced diet and all that." Both Joe and Sam laughed heartily at Frank's subsequent groan of despair. "Truth be told, we have to be careful. Not too much perishable stuff. That ice box thing sucks in this weather. Hey!" he exclaimed. "Think Dad'd let me borrow his industrial sized cooler?"
"Prolly. Don't think he's used it in years." Frank replied.
"Awesome." and Joe immediately went to his office to make some phone calls. After being assured he could indeed borrow the cooler, Joe thanked his father and then asked if he could speak to his mother. When Laura came on the phone he sweet talked her into baking a batch of her famous turtle brownies, Frank's most favorite dessert in the world. After declaring his undying love to the Greatest Mother in the Universe, Joe hung up and started rearranging his scattered notes in to a coherent one page document that even Frank would be impressed with.
After lunch, a Client meeting and one quick trip to the Police station to re certify he was allowed to conceal carry, Joe headed back to the office, where he promptly began badgering his brother to let them take off for the cabin first thing in the morning. Joe's wheedling did nothing to sway his more responsible sibling's mind although Frank did allow Sam to offer a compromise. They'd leave around noon, as long as Joe completed a few stacks of paperwork that had been sitting on his desk for the last week. Joe knew enough to not argue the point any further and actually stayed in the office that night making headway. He had called Halloran and told her to not hold dinner for him, but she showed up about 6 with enough chicken pot pie to feed not only Joe's voracious appetite, but Frank's as well. They all ate in companionable silence, the only sounds the scritch of a pen on paper or the clack of keys being pressed on laptops. Halloran took charge of clean up and told the men not to spend all night at it before giving Joe a kiss goodbye and taking off.
Finally, a little after 8 pm, Frank pushed himself away from his desk. "Okay, Joe, even I can admit it's late. Let's call it a night."
Joe grinned and promised to be back no later than 9. He almost made it. It was slightly after 930 the next morning when he showed up, but Frank forgave him as soon as he saw the box of donuts from his favorite shop down the street. They each buckled down, Frank surprising himself as he realized he actually was looking forward to some time away after all. It was just after noon when Joe leaned in the doorway of his brother's office.
"I have dotted all my i's and crossed all my tees. Can we please get on the road already?!" Joe whined, but the big goofy grin on his face belied the tone of voice.
"Fine, I suppose so" Frank mock sighed, his own grin lighting up a normally somber face. He pushed back from his desk, but not before turning off the laptop and closing the screen down. He was about to place it in it's carry on when Joe reached forward and slapped his brother's hand.
"Oh no you don't. I forbid it. You can take notes the old fashioned way if we need to take notes. Not like there is any signal out there anyway." Joe growled.
"But.." Frank tried to speak, only to have a sternly wagged finger shoved into his face.
"I said no. Deal with it. I am not sharing you this weekend." there was something almost wistful and not quite possessive in the way he said it. Frank had a flash of insight that told him Joe was using this trip to the cabin as an excuse for something else, something not yet revealed but very important to his little brother. Curiosity won out over that oh so typical Big Brother Worry radar that had been perfected over the last 28 years and rather than immediately assuming something was wrong, Frank let the comment slide.
Soon( but not soon enough for Joe) they were on the road in the SUV, one cooler stocked with enough beer to drown a bear, and the other with enough red meat to choke one. A few other sacks and boxes held other important items like coffee, canned goods and the pan of brownies Joe had successfully snuck in without Frank seeing. The drive was quiet, being the middle of the day and on back country roads. They fought over the radio station, argued about politics and debated over the current NHL lockout. In other words, they had a great time on the drive just enjoying each other's company, something they hadn't gotten a chance to do lately without it involving the job. They arrived in Calverton mid afternoon, and Joe insisted on Reubens and cherry cokes at the diner before swinging by the hardware store for an ice block and fire starters. Frank had actually only been up to the cabin exactly twice before, the first time when Halloran called him up in the middle of the night crying that Joe had been shot, and the second a few weeks later to install a new door on the outhouse since Joe had still been convalescing. This would be the first time he actually would be able to relax. He hoped.
Joe had learned early on that the path from where they had to leave the car and the cabin itself was fraught with holes and ruts, so he had invested in a small collapsable dolly that they used to transport the two coolers, the huge block of ice and the rest of their supplies. As they walked the short mile, Joe mentioned he would like to bring in some gravel and dirt to even the path out a little, since the Park Service had already nixed the request he had made to pave it. Frank agreed that that was a good idea as he grunted and struggled behind the dolly trying to keep things from bouncing off. Eventually, though, they reached the small clearing that held the cabin that had been in Halloran's family for generations.
Joe gave a little groan of despair as he beheld the empty firewood rack. "Flip ya for it?" he asked plaintively. Frank shook his head. With a piteous sigh of despair, Joe glumly trudged over to the small shed and grabbed the axe. Frank just smiled softly and let himself in where he immediately set about putting things away. There was just enough wood left in the holder next to the old fashioned wood burning stove to get a fire going, which he did with alacrity before seasoning two huge steaks and rubbing two large potatoes with shortening to bake them. A can of carrots were plopped into a pan and set aside for heating through just before the steaks would be done. Then Frank spent a few minutes just watching his brother sweat in the afternoon light. Joe had taken off his shirt and Frank unwillingly found himself looking at all the scars his brother wore. Most of them you had to know they were there to see, but a few were all too visible reminders of how many times his younger sibling had been badly injured. The worst one by far was a long, jagged scar on his back, from left shoulder to right hip. It was the deepest and angriest reminder of a time both brothers would prefer to forget, but couldn't. Frank had to physically repress the shudder of guilt that shivered through him as he recalled the reason that scar was there.
"What?!" Joe exclaimed, breaking Frank out of his reverie. "Is there something on my back?" Joe twisted around , trying to see behind himself. "It's not a friggin' wasp or anything is it?!" Joe hated wasps.
"Huh? Oh. Uhh. No. it's just..." Frank trailed off.
"Just what?!" Joe cocked his head, quizzically.
Frank reached out and put a tentative hand on his brother, lightly tracing the scar. "It's my fault." he said in a whisper.
"We've been over this about a bazillion times. If I recall correctly, you swooped in and saved my ass did you not?" Joe asked with a tinge of exasperation. " The Mazzola brothers are dead and buried right? Vincente has been refreshingly uninterested in revenge and we are still paying Dr Suitland for all the therapy despite not having actually seen him alone or together in over six months." Joe earnestly placed his hands on his brother's shoulders, forcing brown eyes to gaze into blue one. "Besides, I was the one who in my usual hotheaded fashion did not wait for back up and stumbled into an attempted break in of dad's office in nothing but a pair of flannel jammies." Joe straightened up and took a step back.
"I can't see it, Frank, and it never bothers me any more. Not even Halloran notices it. Let it go, Big Brother. It is not now and never was your fault or responsibility. Haven't had a nightmare in almost a year. I am reasonably well adjusted despite my upbringing and over protective elder sibling. In fact, if you think about it, that was the last time I was in any way shape or form injured beyond a bad landing in basketball or a bruised set of knuckles." Joe paused. "I am also at the present time starving and could use some help hauling this pile of timber inside." Without further ado, he grabbed a pile of freshly cut logs and walked into the cabin. After a moment, Frank did the same.
Frank finished dinner prep while Joe took the time to sluice the sweat and dust off in the camp shower located in the pumphouse. Joe then tackled the ribeye with relish, devouring it in minutes in between swigs of beer and bites of carrot or baked potato. Frank ate more leisurely but no less happily. When Joe presented Frank with the turtle brownies, Frank laughingly ran off into the living room with the entire pan. Joe only got one, and then only because he snitched it while Frank was out at the outhouse.
The evening was spent with the boys just being brothers. No discussion of any of their cases past present or future was allowed by Younger Brother Decree. Frank actually found himself not caring that a moratorium had been declared. It was pretty nice to just be two guys drinking beer and reminiscing about years past and speculating on the future. Frank asked Joe how many kids he was planning on having, Joe responded by threatening to make Frank the legal guardian so how many did he think he could handle? They talked long in to the night and it was well after midnight when their dueling yawns convinced them it was time to hit the sack. They flipped for the one bed in the cabin. Frank won. Joe good naturedly grumbled as he snagged a few quilts from the chest in the bedroom and absconded with half the pillows. But soon both were sleeping soundly until they were woken the next morning just after 8 by someone pounding loudly on the door.
A/n: so uhhm, there is a secondary theme going on that will be explored as the story progresses. Joe is about to make one hell of a permanent commitment and he's been doing some soul searching, he's going to be taking stock of his life and his relationships.
