A/N: so yeah it has beeen a longggg time since i uploaded and im trying to find my manuscript, i have the whole story already written and now that school is out i have more time to upload if my daughter will allow it lol
Disclaimer: most of these characters are not my own and I make nothing from this fic so yeah
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"chapter 2: a couple weeks earlier"
"hey mouse, come in here a sec" Captain Keith Colburn yelled to his brother. Monty had been fixing himself a quick lunch in the kitchen and the brothers had been pouring over resumes again because Keith needed help choosing yet another greenhorn since Lynn guitard had decided to duck out for this years opie run. Keith rubbed his pounding head "i have no one mouse, former criminals..."he threw a handful of papers down "fresh out of high school dweebs..."he threw some more down "and discovery boys who's letters don't sound very impressive." he threw another stack down. after the fame of the show people started trying to hire on that the captains not so lovingly called "discovery boys" in other words they were little boys that thought that they could prove their manhood and get on international television in one stroke. "were there any good ones in your stack?" Keith looked desperately at his younger brother. Monty just shook his head. "you hit the nail on the head bro, dweebs, criminals, and jerks." he stood in the doorway of Keith's home office and took a bite of his sandwich. "who is in town that you could phone to see if they have any ideas?" he asked through a mouthful of food. Keith shook his head slowly from side to side thinking "sig is still on vacation with his family but i think that Harris is home and he night have mentioned that the Hillstrands are coming to town soon." after thinking in his head for a second then spoke again "yeah i will give Phil a call." Monty shrugged and took another bite
--
"yo this is Jake Harris, talk to me" Jake answered his dads wall phone as he licked the froth off of his soda can. "oh hi Keith, how can i--no dads not home yet, hes out having a drink with john hillstrand of you want to catch him on his cell." he heard Keith nod on his side of the phone "OK, the Hillstrands are here, that's good. ok thanks that is all i needed to know, bye kid" Keith hung up quickly leaving Jake staring at the phone for a moment before he too hung up.
--
"hey mouse, the hillstrands are in town already, remind me to call john later" monty's voice came from the kitchen again, obscured by the ham and cheese that filled his mouth but after fourty some odd years keith knew very well how to speak the almost incomprehensible gibberish that always came from his little brother so hea clearly head his say "yeah, i will."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"chapter 3: home is where the heart is"
Mariah walked out of the room with a big smile on her face, looking proud this concerned josh even more, it was the look a girl got after being called back by a man she had a great date with. "whats up?" he asked, trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice. "i just got a new job" she jumped up and down then ran to give him a hug "you Harris boys will be seeing alot more of me this winter" she grinned and sophi clapped her hands excited. jake and josh laughed to and smiled at the thought, jake giving josh a sly wink. "so i feel rude i havnt asked you how you boys have been" they laughed again and said in unison "yeah you did" making her blush "look at that josh still in sunny california but she already had a case of bering sea dementia" jake said and josh slapped his little brother's arm playfully. when her blush faded she scooted closer to the boys ."so i talked to your dad and he didn't mention that you two were coming down..." she raised her eyebrows instead of finishing her sentence. "yeah that's because we asked him not to mention it" jake said smugly. "anything else hes not telling me?" she asked smiling. josh was the one to answer this time "yeah he probably didn't mention that he is going out for opies again, with the doctors blessing or against the doctors orders, either way" mariah jumped and put her hand over her mouth, startling sophi who had just fallen asleep on her moms lap "is he really ready to go back out again, so soon and at the worst time of the year." josh's own smile faltered and he looked down at the sudden emotion that thinking of his father's health brought to him "i don't know, i don't want my old man out there this early neither does Bonnie but he is just so damned stubborn" josh shook his head, clearly frustrated and mariah reached out her hand to comfort him. josh's strain eased and he smiled again as he looked at her. "hey, mariah, do you remember last august when..." he started to say when sophi suddenly jumped up "jakey jakey lets play" she cheered loudly and hopped off ehr mother's lap to grab his hand and start tugging on him. "aw c'mon jakey play" she pouted when he didnt move immediately. "oh alright" he conceded and allowed the little girl to pull him up to his feet. her cheerful voice could be heard all the way from outside when she had finally succeeded in dragging the young crabber out. "there goes the frieght train and the tugg boat" mariah smiled at the mental image her words created and lay her head on josh's shoulder. "what were you saying josh?" she remembered that he had said something but had been interupted by her little rugrat. "me, oh, nothing" he replied, the moment had passed for him and he was happy just to have her head resting on his shoulder, the smell of head and shoulders shampoo floating up to his nose.
"hey look there you are" he said as the show returned from its commercial break. the image on the screen was that of mariah baiting her first pot on board the Time Bandit. andy was giving her pointers on how to bait fast and get out of the pot so that it can clear the rail faster and then his showing her yet again how to not lose any fingers in the bait chopper. mariah laughed watching herself struggle on the television. "damn i make getting crabs look good" she joked and josh laughed "my god that sounded wrong" he said and they both laughed more. "yeah i meant it to" she nodded "uggh and all of america will see how bad i fail on deck" she buried her face in josh's chest, pretending to hide. "no not all of america, its actually the whole world, we are international now if that makes you feel any better" she groaned again in response and buried her head deeper into his scent.
Jake walked in and plopped down "that kid has wayyyy too much energy, what do you feed her monster and redbull?" he sighed and closed his eyes "who's ordering the pizza" jake said with his eyes still closed and mariah laughed "i will, i have them on speed dial" "my kind of woman right there" jake said opening his eyes and sitting up straighter and peeking at josh for his older brothers reaction. josh gave jake punch to the shoulder and sat still again as if he had done nothing. "mariah josh hit me" jake whined playfully making her stick her tongue out just as little ceasers answered her call. after she got off the phone she stood in front of the boys "your all grown up and still tattling on each other, come on now" she laughed and sat between them. "jakey, jakey" sophi whined, calling her play friend back out side.
--
over pizza and soda mariah had noticed josh looking at her a lot and she smiled. she still got the butterflies from him sometimes even though she had passed it off as something that would eventually go away. "you ok josh?" she finally asked him, the fifth time she had caught him staring. "yeah im fine, why?" he snapped out of his trance. she figured that maybe he was just thinking about his dad again and not staring at her. maybe he was staring at nothing and she just happened to be sitting in his nothing. sophi hand been so tuckered out from playing with jake that she had fallen asleep in her chair with a piece of pizza still in her hand. mariah smiled at her young off spring when she noticed this. "i will be back once she is asleep in her bed" mariah said as she got up and bent over to pick up her little girl. it didnt take long, mariah had figured that while she was getting sophi ready for bed that she would have woken up like usual but she didn't, instead she had begun to snore softly making her mom smile more as she shut off the light and shut the door to return to her guests who were huddled together talking. "hey im back" she said and they broke apart. before she could ask what was up jake asked her "so do you miss Alaska?" she sat and smiled "yeah of course i do, it is so ordinary here, nothing ever happens. im surrounded by tall buildings and i hate it, whereas in Alaska there is so much beauty." Jake grinned and spoke up "if you get cold up there we can always huddle together for warmth" raising his eyebrows suggestively and making her blush again. "ah, a fate worse than death comes in that case."
josh got up and started sifting through her DVD collection, bypassing the Sesame street and the Disney, laughing when he got to the Dirty jobs and Deadliest Catch collections. "what" she said standing behind him trying to see what he was laughing about. he realized how close she had gotten and almost lost his train of thought as he got lost in her scent. "nothing, you must just really like the show" finally he came across the one that he had been looking for, every girl had her own copy of it. "hey lets watch this, i have never seen it before" mariah rolled her eyes at the copy of The Notebook, stalling as she tried to figure out where he was going with this when she looked over to Jake and his pleading face, begging them silently to put it back and forget it. "sure" she said and smiled wolfishly.
--
while the boys watched the previews she made popcorn, letting her mind wander and almost burning it. she didnt hear him walk up and she didnt feel his eyes mover over her body, lingering on her ass, so naturally she jumped when he spoke just inches from her ear. "ready when you are" he smiled sheepishly "sorry" as he bent to help her pick up the spilled popcorn. she looked up at him through her hair and the closeness of thir faces reminded her of that kiss they had once shared, her sudden temptation to take him by surprose and try again was quelled immediately by the memory of the last harsh rejection and she hoped that the warmth in her cheeks did not betray her secret thoughts. he did sense the feelings though, because they were mirrored in himself, he too remembered that kiss ans the way that he had turned her down. he wanted to take it all back, his rejection and all that had passed since. she looked down to shield her thoughts from him and continued to pick up the mess when she heard a giggle from the other side of the kitchen. unknowingly her daughter had just provided mommy the perfect escape from this uncomfortable situation. "sophi you are supposed to be in bed, what are you doing up?" she asked, rushing past her friend and picking her daughter up, "say good night to the boys and we are heading back to bed." sophi looked down, sad at not being allowed to stay up and join them. "night, night jakey, night night joshie." she pouted from her spot on her mother's hip and her head resting on her mom's shoulder. "night munchkin" the boys chorused.
--
"josh are you serious? i dont want to watch that crap" jake whined to his older brother about the movie "c'mon jake you promised you would help me get her" josh countered then threw a pillow at his brother when the heard the bedroom door shut. "what are you two bickering about now?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"chapter 4:"
the boys ended up crashing in the living room, well jake had at least while josh and mariah sat in the backyard and talked. they spent hours after the movie just catching up and shooting the bull. alot had been going through her mind since deciding to take the colburns up on their offer so here she was packing up her clothes and her daughters things. "your going to stay with your grandparents again baby girl, we have to hurry up." sophia just sat and pouted not knowing what was going on because mariah had decided to keep it a secret from her until now. "why are we packing, are we moving again?" the little girls tears wer showing in her eyes at the prospect of having to move yet another time. mariah looked upi from the duffel bags and saw this and frowned, she hadnt thought that sophi would cry. "baby, no we arnt moving, mommy is just going to alaska again, this time for snow crab" she picked her daughter up and sat her on her lap "really mommy?" a tear fell but her face brightened up. "yes i was going to surprise you because jake and josh are goint too so they will be at grandma's, that is why wer have to hurry up." sophi jumped up and grabbed her teddy bear and her jacket. "ok mommy im ready" mariah laughed as she finished up.
--
"grandma" sophia yelled when she was finally released from her booster seat, jumping into her grandma's arms "im staying with you while mommy goes to alaska again." she beamed, her little orbs showing how proud she was of her mom. "i know mija, your mommy asked me yesterday" she smiled and kissed her granddaughter's forehead. jsut then jake and josh came out, josh nearly running in his excitment to see mariah again. "looks like was have a new drinking buddy jake" josh beamed.
A/N: sorry that this took so long, harldy worth the wait please read and review, sorry it is so fast pased im still trying to find all of my notes
