It's Not Over: A Frolic and a Detour
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Rating: PG-13 (Adult Language and Situations).
Disclaimer: The name "Jericho" and all character names and trademarks associated with the television program are the intellectual property of Junction Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Television and/or CBS Studios, Inc. The following story is intended solely as an intellectual exercise without profit motive. No infringement of copyright is intended or should be implied.
Notes: Feedback is always appreciated! I call this story a frolic and a detour because that's exactly what it is. Read at your own risk!! I'm only kidding. It's just a bit of back story for one of our intrepid couples.
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Margaret Taylor stood at the counter in the kitchen mixing up the flour and spices to make fried chicken for Sunday dinner. She closed her eyes for a minute and enjoyed the quiet that had overtaken the house knowing that it wouldn't last for long. Peaceful moments in the small house with two active children were almost impossible to come by. Jimmy had made her day by suggesting that he work on teaching Woody how to throw a football and getting Sally to cheer him on.
The silence was broken by the squeaking of the front door opening. She was going to have to remind Jimmy to fix it later. Things like squeaking doors never seemed to bother him much. Jimmy was rarely troubled by anything. Margaret rubbed her hands on the apron she was wearing and went to greet their guests.
"Hello?" a voice called from the hallway. Margaret recognized it as Bill Kohler's.
"A little help would be nice," her sister in-law Natalie complained.
"Oh, sorry," Bill apologized and he opened the screen door to let Natalie through.
Margaret watched the pair as they came down the short hallway to the kitchen and family room area. Natalie's arms were full as she was carrying a large Tupperware container, a bag of chips, and another smaller Tupperware container. Bill, of course, was not carrying anything. Margaret shook her head.
"Hey, you two," Margaret greeted the pair.
"Hey, Margaret," Natalie said as she quickly walked past and placed the items she was carrying on an open space on the counter.
"What did you bring?" Margaret asked looking at the pile of items that Natalie had deposited.
"Jimmy asked me to make him seven-layer Mexican dip and bring the sugar cookies that Sally and I made yesterday," Natalie explained. Natalie had watched Sally and Woody the day before while Margaret went to New Bern to go shopping at Costco and run some other errands.
"Sounds good," Margaret replied.
Bill went to the counter where Natalie had left the two plastic Tupperware containers and opened up the one that had the sugar cookies. He took a cookie and bit into it. With his mouth full, he muffled, "Taste's good too."
"Would you get out of here?" Natalie begged.
"Jimmy and the kids are in the backyard," Margaret explained.
Bill grabbed another cookie and headed for the backyard leaving the two women alone in the kitchen.
"You know that they are all going to come in and want a cookie," Margaret complained.
"Well, maybe, he'll eat it really fast and no one will notice."
Luckily, no one came into the house and the two women were left to talk. "So, what can I do to help?" Natalie asked pushing up the sleeves of her fluffy sweater.
"I've got everything pretty much finished. Why don't you peel some potatoes?" Margaret suggested.
Natalie found the potatoes, grabbed the peeler from its drawer, and started peeling. Natalie peeled with unusual zeal that afternoon and Margaret took notice.
"Natalie, just take the skin off. Don't peel the potato down to nothing."
"Oh, crap! Sorry, my mind is just off somewhere else."
"No problem. Something you want to talk about?"
"Not really," Natalie replied. She didn't want to discuss the fact that she'd still not confronted Bill over his seeming lack of ability to make a bona fide commitment. She wanted to get married and have kids, but every time that she'd hint at it Bill would shut her down. What had made it worse was that she'd been offered a great job in Miami and Bill was refusing to move. She'd given in and agreed to stay in Jericho, but she hadn't been happy about it because to be honest she wasn't sure what her reasons for staying were. If Bill wasn't going to marry her, why should she stay?
"You still haven't talked to Bill have you?" Margaret asked knowing exactly what was upsetting Natalie. She had tried to tell her sister-in-law before that she needed to just be upfront with him. Everyone knew Bill was sickeningly in love with Natalie. He just needed a kick in the pants to get moving.
"No."
"You need to talk to him and tell him how you feel."
"What if he says no? I mean what am I supposed to do then?" Natalie replied. Fear of rejection was probably the biggest reason that Natalie hadn't confronted Bill. She loved him and didn't want to lose him by pushing him too far. The rational side of her brain knew that four years was long enough to wait for a marriage proposal. That didn't even count all the years before she'd finally made Jericho her home permanently again. Unfortunately, the irrational, lack of self-esteem side of her had been winning the day.
"Then he says no. At least you know where he stands. Look Natalie, how many times have you told me that you really want to get married and have children? If Bill isn't going to do that for you, then maybe it's time to move on. Don't get me wrong. I love Bill, but I think you need to start figuring out what you really want and what he really wants."
"You're right. I can't just keep hoping that he's going to get a clue. I guess I'm just afraid that if Bill doesn't want those things with me then no one else will," Natalie admitted. Her insecurities were always a source of weakness for her.
"Natalie, have you taken a look at yourself recently?" Margaret asked shaking her head. Natalie was notorious for putting herself down. "You are beautiful, smart, and talented; you make good money. I know of at least a dozen men in Jericho who are on the watch for when you finally dump him."
"I doubt that."
"I'm serious. Jimmy get's questions all the time asking about the state of your relationship."
Natalie rolled her eyes as she continued to peel potatoes.
"What you need to do is give an ultimatum. Tell him that he forks over a ring and walks you down the isle or you're leaving."
"I hate giving ultimatums."
"You're problem is that you are passive aggressive, just like you're brother. One thing that irks me about Jimmy is that he never just get's mad over something. He just lets things fester."
"Blame it on our parents," Natalie replied. Her parents had always been of the view point, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. She could only remember a handful of fights that her parents had ever had. "You're right though. I've been giving it some thought and I'm thinking about taking the job in Miami."
"I thought you turned down the job in Miami."
"I did, but I didn't. My boss really wants me down there. There's talk that eventually I'd take over in a couple of years as head of the hurricane center."
"What about Bill? I thought he insisted that he didn't want to move."
"He doesn't. If I took the job, I'd go alone. I think what I'm going to tell him is that if he doesn't want to get married that I'm going to leave."
"Just 'cause you break it off with Bill doesn't mean that you have to leave Jericho."
"Yes it does. First, I love him too much to see him all the time. It would kill me to see him with someone else. What if he went on to marry someone else? I think it might be too much. Second, where am I going to find a potential husband here? I know you said that there are a dozen men waiting in the wings or something, but most of the eligible men between the ages of twenty-eight and forty are all friends of Bill's. I doubt they'd do that to him."
"We'd miss you. The kids would miss you, especially."
"I know. I really hope it doesn't come to that."
"So when do you have to give your boss an answer?"
"Friday."
"Cutting it a bit short aren't we?"
"What are we cutting short?" Jimmy asked as he bounded in from the backyard with the Woody following close behind. Bill was carrying a giggling Sally under an arm. He set her down as they entered the door.
"My stay. I have to leave right after dinner to go pack," Natalie answered trying to cover up what they'd been talking about. Margaret gave her a knowing look as she took the bowl of peeled potatoes and got them ready to boil.
"Oh, that's right you're leaving tomorrow," Jimmy remembered. "When do you get back?"
"Thursday night."
"Are you driving her to the airport?" Jimmy asked Bill.
"No. I'm not driving all the way to Wichita and back. That's like six hours. That'll kill my entire day off."
"I'm not flying out of Wichita," Natalie corrected. "I'm flying out of Denver."
"I didn't know that," Bill replied.
"Maybe if you looked at the itinerary I have on the refrigerator you'd know that," Natalie complained. "Anyway, doesn't matter. I don't want him driving me to the airport. That'd mean I have to listen to his crappy music."
"Ha, Ha." Bill replied as he turned on the television to a football game. Jimmy grabbed a couple of beers from the refrigerator and handed one to Bill as they both slumped onto the couch and started watching the game. Natalie went with Sally to her room to play Barbies as Margaret worked on finishing dinner.
Later that evening, as Natalie was getting ready for bed, Bill came into the bathroom. Natalie was brushing her teeth at the sink.
"You're awfully quiet tonight," Bill remarked as he grabbed his own toothbrush and the toothpaste and got ready to brush his teeth.
Natalie spit out the toothpaste into the sink and took a sip of water. She finally spoke, "I've just got a lot on my mind."
"Like what?" Bill asked as began to quickly brush his teeth.
"I've just been doing a lot of thinking," Natalie replied.
Bill took the toothbrush out of his mouth. "Oh, this isn't going to be good. I'm not sure I even want to ask."
Natalie took a deep breath and thought about what Margaret had told her. "My boss really wants me to go to Miami. It would mean more money, more responsibility, and getting to be with the people who are doing the same kind of research I'm doing."
"I thought we'd already decided that Miami was out."
"You don't want to move to Miami and you wouldn't have to. I'd just go."
"I don't understand."
"Don't worry about it. It's just an idea I'm throwing around," Natalie replied losing the nerve to confront him over it.
"Wait a minute. Why are you even thinking about it?" Bill asked trying to make sense of what she was saying.
Natalie was quiet for a moment as she thought about what she wanted to say. "I'm just thinking about my future."
"Your future's here with me," Bill replied. "At least that's what I thought."
"I'd like it to be, but…" Natalie couldn't finish the sentence.
"But what?"
"I guess I'm just questioning where we're headed."
"What do you mean where we're headed? I think we have a good thing going."
"We do, but I want someone who really wants me, permanently; like until death do us part kind of permanence."
Bill took a deep breath trying to choose his words. He knew what she was getting at.Natalie was frustrated by his silence, "If you don't understand that, then we really don't have anything to talk about," Natalie said as she walked out of the bathroom and climbed into her side of the bed.
Bill followed her and climbed into bed with her. "I get it. You want to get married. Fine. We'll get married and have a dozen kids if you want them," he replied with frustration in his voice.
"No."
"What do you mean no? You just told me that in order for you to stay, I'd have to marry you. You got what you wanted."
"This isn't what I wanted. I want you to want me enough that you want to spend the rest of your life with me. Not, 'she's threatening to leave so I'll give her what she wants so she'll stay.'"
"What did you expect when you give someone an ultimatum?"
"I hate this. Just forget it Bill. I'm going to sleep. I've got to get up early in the morning and drive to the airport," Natalie replied as she turned off the light on her side of the bed and turned away from him in the bed. Tears were coming to her eyes as she realized that this was going to be it for them. She had to face facts that he didn't care about her as much as she thought.
"Nat, baby," Bill urged as he put his hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean it like that. I really don't. Talk to me please."
Natalie sniffled into her pillow, "I don't have anything else to say."
"Listen. I want to marry you. I mean it. I was planning on asking you when you came back. I even bought the ring. I've got to go pick it up tomorrow or I'd give it to you right now. You see I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Natalie turned in bed to face Bill, "You mean it. You're not making this up. You were going to ask me?"
"I swear. I love you. What would I do without you?"
"You'd be living with your mother, working at Murtha's," Natalie quickly spurted out.
"Probably right," Bill agreed. Natalie had pretty much had taken him by the hand since they graduated from high school. She's the one who told him he needed to enlist in the army because his grades sucked so he'd get money for college. She's the one who told him to go get his AA at the community college over in Goodland. It was her and Jimmy who had gotten him a job as a deputy. As sad as it sounded, Natalie pretty much took care of him. He'd be lost with out her. "Why didn't you just tell me you wanted to get married before?"
"I've been hinting at it for months now. You shut me down."
"You know I'm not good with hints."
"Yeah, I figured it out," Natalie agreed. "So what made you decide to finally ask?"
"Roger Hammond told me I needed to marry you."
"You're listening to Roger these days?"
"Well, he told me that it would be a good investment."
"It would make financial sense on your part. I do make like three time's your salary plus consulting fees."
"True. So does that mean I can quit the force and become a house-husband?"
"You don't like to clean," Natalie reminded him.
"I do like to watch TV and eat bon bons."
"No," Natalie said with a giggle. "Now, once we have kids, then maybe."
"So, how quickly can we have a baby?" Bill asked with a mischievous smile. "I wouldn't mind spending my whole day at home."
"You really want to make bottles and change diapers all day?" Natalie asked incredulously.
"How many diapers can one baby dirty?" Bill jokingly asked.
"I suggest you talk to Margaret before you decide to become Mr. Mom," Natalie replied. Changing subjects, she went on to ask, "So, do you want me to pretend like we didn't have this discussion and you ask me however you had it planned?"
"Fine by me," Bill said scooting closer to Natalie. "So, you want to practice making a baby?"
"You've got a one track mind!" Natalie complained. "You're incorrigible."
"You love me anyway, don't you?" Bill asked as he gave her a kiss.