Enjoy!

Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful in Charming. Amy was on the couch chatting with her uncle who was still out fishing. "So you're sure you don't want to give up doctoring and join the crew again?" asked Andy Hillstrand. In a conspiratorial whisper he added, "Hon, Scotty sucks!" Amy laughed; her younger cousin had always been deemed 'the lazy one' growing up. "Surely he's better than Newberry?"

"Well, he does do some work. He's definitely better than Caveman was. Scotty's just so on again off again." Andy sighed, "You were the Hillstrand we thought would take the reigns."

"I know Uncle Andy, we've been over this though. I couldn't take over the TB and be a mother too. God I miss crabbing though." Weariness and loneliness echoed in her voice.

"Talked to Phil. He gave us a heads up about your 'employer'. You need anything crabcake and we're there for you…" Andy was interrupted as John burst into the wheelhouse and shouted, "Get off the phone with your wife Andy! You're wracking up the phone bill!"

"Put me on speaker Uncle Andy!" Amy was elated to be able to talk to both her uncles.

Andy flipped the switch, "It's not Sabrina, it's our crabcake!"

"Hey sweetie! How you likin' SoCal?" asked the oldest of her uncles.

"God I wish I was fishing! These people are crazy! Do you know what happened last week? My neighbor, the biker one, his baby was choking, I pulled the junk out and he had the gall to tell me 'he owed me'!"

"Wait? He thought you'd expect something for saving a baby?" said a stunned Andy.

"Yeah! Can you believe it?"

"But is he in any position to actually deliver?" asked John. "He might just be blowing sunshine up your ass."

"Uncle John, he's the charter VP and he's the son of the previous president and founding member. He's pretty much looked upon as royalty in town."

"Wow, sounds like you're driving a gas truck through a forest fire…"

"Thanks…"

"Is that Amy I hear?" yelled Mike Fortner climbing up the stairs.

""Hey Mikey! It's good to hear your voice! Glad to be back?"

"Hell yeah! Nice to have a safe job again."

"I heard about the dog…never figured a meter reader could draw hazard pay. How's the wife taking the 180?"

Mike rolled his eyes, "Laci…is not a happy camper. Let's just say that my ass is grass when I get home. I might just stay here and never touch dry land. Might be safer that way."

"That's what you get for marrying into a non-fishing family…" heckled John.

"Hey guys, I gotta go. The grocery closes in an hour and I'm jack outta food," said Amy, she hated having to go.

"Take care crabcake! Will you make it to Homer for Christmas?" asked Andy.

"I hope so, but so far its not looking good Uncle Andy," she answered sadly. "Gotta go, make sure you set a butt cheek string for me!" Amy hung up the phone and gasped as she turned around, Jax was outside her patio screen door.

"Am I interrupting anything?" he asked, he was holding back a laugh.

"No. Why?" she asked confused.

"Butt cheek string? Sounds kinda kinky. Never pegged you to dabble," he did laugh then.

Amy rolled her eyes, "My family crabs. The butt cheeks is a section of ocean where the contour lines resemble an ass. A string is a set of crab pots."

"If you say so darlin'…"

Amy huffed, "What can I do for you?"

"Ma wanted me to check and see if you're coming to the 'Taste of Charming' tonight."

"Wouldn't miss it. Sounds like it should be fun." Then she muttered, "Nothing else to do in this town on a Saturday night."

Jax snorted with laughter, "Yeah. You looking for a good time?"

She arched an eyebrow and shot back, "You offerin'?"

Jax eyed her appreciatively, "I always aim to please…."

She laughed and threw her hands in the air, "What I'd love is a decent bar. I went to 'The Hairy Dog'…who the hell named that place? I like a dive, but that…"

Jax' expression darkened, "You need to stay clear of the Dog. Understand. Place is no good."

"Yeah, I figured that out on my own." Jax' reaction to the Hairy Dog was pretty strong and Amy wondered what the history was there.

"You tryin' to pick someone up or just have a good time?" asked the biker. Amy still wasn't sure about the whole MC wrapped up in her career. She definitely didn't' want them weighing in on her personal life. Her look said as much.

"Easy doll. You're always welcome down at the clubhouse. If you can stomach being around the croweaters, I'll tell the guys hands off."

Later that evening

Amy slowly made her way through the festival setting at 'The Taste of Charming'. It was nice to see the various local groups and clubs with their booths. Families out enjoying the warm October day, children laughing and playing, it all made Amy homesick for her family. She was stopped at a stall run by the local homemakers group and was checking out the baked goods they had for sale when she heard familiar voices nearby. She looked up to see Jax and his 'crew' as she called them sitting on picnic tables eating barbeque sandwiches. He caught her eye, smiled, and nodded her over. "How you doin' doc?"

"Good. You?"

Sitting next to Jax was the club Sergeant at Arms. Tig was reading her t-shirt out loud. "Got crabs? Okay doc, your hotness is suddenly gone."

The goofy Son known as Juice was taking in the Jolly Roger on her back, "N-I-C-E."

Amy laughed and shrugged her shoulder, "My family crabs. Thus the 'Got crabs'. I used to take minor offense to the t-shirt that said 'Bad Boys of the Bering Sea'. But then I stopped fishing with them so I couldn't gripe too much. The back is the boat emblem."

Tig arched his eyebrow, "Let me guess 'The Black Pearl'?"

"Nope, the Time Bandit."

Juice's jaw dropped, "No way! You're one of those Hillstrands?"

Amy wasn't sure she like how he had said 'those Hillstrands', "'Scuse me mowhawk boy…"

Juice's grin split wide open, "I saw this freakin' awesome clip on YouTube! There was this boat and they were like surfin this giant wave! It was somewhere in Alaska…"

Amy laughed then, "False Pass. Yes, I'm one of 'those' Hillstrands. John, Neal and Andy are my uncles. The Time Bandit is the family business."

"Wow, that's so cool! So did you ever get to fish with them?" He scooted over on the bench he was sitting on so she could sit down. He had stumbled across the clip and then had searched all others the crew had posted. Needless to say he was quite a fan.

Amy sat down, "Absolutely. I started fishing before I went to college, and then did quarters instead of semesters for my undergrad so I could still crab. Tendered some in the summers."

"It looks absolutely awesome! Do you miss crab fishing?"

Amy grimaced, "Does a recovering alcoholic miss alcohol?"

Tig picked at his bun and threw pieces at pigeons scattered around, "So why didn't you stay and do that?"

"It's complicated. Growing up I dreamed about one day captaining that boat. I love fishing; it's in my blood and in my genes. I was the third generation to join the family business. But the older I got I realized that I couldn't do that and have a family of my own. Had to make the tough choice. So in the end I chose my second passion, medicine."

"Why couldn't you?" argued Tig.

"Babies don't just pop out overnight. That's at least 10 months off the boat right there. A whole season. Couldn't let my crew down could I?"

"So how did your family take you bailing?" inquired Jax.

Amy shrugged, "Mom was happy, she always thought that I took after her brothers too much. My uncles were disappointed, that leaves my cousin Scotty to take over…God help us all. But as the first Hillstrand to ever go to college, they're all proud of me. Add a title to that, and they can't keep the jokes from popping out every chance they get."

"So Dr. Hillstrand…"

"Is the butt of every family joke. Really, if you knew my family you'd see how funny it really is. Just before I moved out here I was in Seattle to see the crew. We were headed this bar, Deadman's Den, and I walk in with Uncle John and Uncle Andy. Uncle John looks at the three of us and deadpans, "So a doctor, a cowboy, and a fisherman walk into a bar…"

Hope you enjoyed it! I won't know unless you tell me!