Awww, thanks for all the comments guys!
"And then?" Jacob questioned, big brown eyes locked on his grandfathers equally dark brown eyes.
"Then I wiped out…" Jack chuckled. "Freaked out my brother, because he couldn't see me. Still got a scar on my right leg from hitting a rock on my way down."
"Did you get hurt?"
"Not really, just a cut on my leg. Could have, and probably should have been a lot worse…" Jack chortled. "I think I deserved worse for that stunt…"
Jake looked up at him a little confused. "Why?"
"Because I was twelve, I should have known better…"
"What do you think I'll be like when I turn twelve?" Jacob asked, putting down his color pencil, "You think I'll be smart like daddy, or tough like you?"
Jack felt a smile tugging at his lips as he looked over at Jacob.
"I think you'll be a little bit of both, bear…" Jack smiled, "You've got the genes from your mom and dad, let's face it… There is no doubt that you're going to be smart… And… I've seen you getting stitches without even flinching… So I bet you're going to be tough as nails too…"
"But what if I'm not tough enough?" the kid asked, his lower lip sticking out.
"Buddy… Of course you'll be tough enough! You're already tough enough!" Jack chuckled.
"I'm not as tough as you… You're always tough!" Jacob looked up at Jack again.
"And I'm more than 50 years older than you…" Jack said as he sat back in the couch, "Trust me, I wasn't any tougher when I was your age… In fact… I think you win that one…"
"You sure?"
Jack nodded, "And I think you're smarter than I was too… I bet you'll make better choices than me, or… I hope you will…"
"Did you make bad choices?"
Jack nodded again, "A whole bunch of them. Some ended up as scars, some ended up as heartbreak."
"What's heartbreak?"
"Oh, I'm afraid you'll find out soon enough…" Jack drawled, running his good hand over his face.
"When?"
"Well, if you're anything like me, you'll figure it out once you hit your teens…" Jack shrugged and nudged his grandson's shoulder.
"Can we go play outside now?" Jacob asked as if that was the natural path for their conversation.
"Yeah…" Jack grinned, "Football?"
Jacob nodded vigorously.
"Okay, but we've got to tidy up this mess first…" Jack explained, gesturing to the coloring books and pencils laying scattered across the table.
Okay, so… Because of life, I've not been able to write/post as much as I did while I was on sick-leave…
Fun fact: Checked my mail just as I was about to post this, and saw that one of you just had left a review asking for more. That made me chuckle…
Okay, I know this chapter was short. But I wanted to separate this part and the next…