They had arrived at home base and the little group had just gotten inside when Stacks greeted BJ hesitantly.

"BJ my uh-..." she trailed off, not knowing quite how to finish her sentence.

"Don't tell me, your truck is in the garage getting fixed. Right?" He finished for her.

"Yes." She replied, amazed. "How did you know?"

"Educated guess." He told her brushing his hair back with a sigh. Then he remembered who was at his side. "You guys remember Jem and Baricza right?"

"Yeah." Callie replied hotly. "Who could forget them? You talk about Jem enough. Besides we've seen them quite a bit." She replied, her head shaking exaggeratedly.

"What are you doing here, Jem?" Terri wanted to know.

"Truck broke down. BJ gave me a lift." She told the group, smiling at her rescuer.

"Lucky enough for you, you got a hold of BJ right?" Callie said, reading the look between the two.

"Yeah." Jem told her.

"How long do you plan to stick around?" Angie asked from a table.

"I leave first thing in the morning." Jem said.

"Shame you can't stick around for the next few days. Phil's holding a singing contest." Terri informed her. "And BJ is entered." Gerri said grinning.

"Really," Jem teased, drawing the word out and looking over at BJ with a grin. "Might have to come back in time to watch that."

BJ decided to change the subject." I guess we better get you over to the motel before it gets late."

"Yeah," Jem agreed, letting him off the hook for now. "Great to see you guys again." She told the girls.

"Come on you two," BJ told the chimps, as he put his arm around Jem's shoulders again as they prepared to leave. "Oh, don't forget dinner downstairs at Phil's tonight." He reminded his staff.

As they walked out the doors, Callie asked the girls quietly and grumpily, "Why is she always so happy?"

"She just is." Angie told her frankly.

"Well I think it's nice that she's always so happy all the time." Stacks softly told her the girls, coming to Jem's defense.

"It comes from her being a Christian and all." Samantha explained.

"Yeah I guess." Stacks agreed.

"She's just too happy all the time." Callie griped. "Even when things are going bad. Like just now, her truck's broken down and she's over there smiling her heart out." She finished crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well it's good that she's like that. Someone around here needs to be happy." Angie replied pointedly.

"Yeah, I guess." Callie conceded.

Meanwhile, BJ and Jem had arrived at the motel. Jem had gathered some of her stuff in her arms and was giving Baricza a piggyback ride as BJ carried Bear and the rest of her stuff into her room for her. As soon as the chimpanzees saw the bed, they got down from their friends' arms and proceeded to play around, jumping on the bed and generally having a good time.

"Thanks BJ." Jem said gratefully as she set her stuff down on the table by the door.

"Hey no problem." He said casually as he set the rest of her stuff down.

"Are you sure that we can get back in time for the singing contest?" She asked walking over to stand by the bed where the chimps had began grooming each other.

"Well, we'll certainly try." He said, walking closer to her and putting his hand on her cheek.

"Billie..." She warned him as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, pushing him firmly away. "I think it's time for you to leave." She said decisively.

"Why?" He asked her incredulously.

She put some distance between them before explaining. "I've got a lot of brothers who would like nothing more than to bust some guy up for being alone in a motel room with me."

"Yeah, they would." He agreed reluctantly. "I guess I'll see you over at Phil's for dinner."

"Alright, when?" She asked sitting on the bed. Baricza quickly climbed into her lap for a cuddle.

"30 minutes." He said glancing at the clock on the night table.

"I'll see you guys over there." Jem told him, as he headed to the door.

"Come on Bear." BJ walked back to kiss her on the forehead before scooping his chimp into his arms and walking out the door.

Jem got up to shut the door behind him. Turning back, she saw Baricza pulling clothes out of her bag. "Alright Baricza," she agreed. "Looks like we better start getting ready."


Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think.