David gasped when he walked into his house later that day. He stared in shock at what he saw on the floor. What? How?

His copy of the Resolution laid on the floor beside the shattered glass of its frame, torn and wet with … teeth marks in it.

"Duke!" David howled.

The dog slunk into the room, tail between his legs. Seeing that the door behind David was still open, he shot past his master and into the outdoors. David slammed the door behind the huge dog.

"And I think that you can stay out there tonight."

He sighed and went to examine the damage. From what he could tell, Duke had probably knocked it off the wall and the frame's glass had shattered. Though why Duke would get it in his brain that it was okay to play with the document, David had no idea. It made absolutely no sense. The point was, his copy was ruined, beyond repair, unsalvageable.

He laid the copy on his desk and grabbed the broom, sweeping up the glass and dumping it in the trashcan. The phone rang and David picked up. "Mortuary. You stab 'em, we slab 'em. On our off days we just fight the desire to shoot our dogs."

"O…kay." Amanda's puzzled voice came over the phone. "Anyway, I called because I was wondering how everything had went with Bobby."

"Wonderful, actually. He was saved while we were there."

"Really?!"

David nodded, "Yes. But, um, there's something else that he wanted to talk to me about."

"What?"

"I – I don't know if he'd want it spread around just yet, so can you just pray for him? And his girlfriend, Haley?"

"Yes." Amanda answered slowly. Through the phone, he could hear the wheels turning in her head. "Did Bobby's Haley graduate this year from Westover High?"

"Yeah." David admitted, figuring that she probably knew Haley, by the way she had reacted.

"Haley Brooks?"

"Yes."

"Had been girlfriend of the kid in the motorcycle accident?"

"That's the one, yes."

"So, Bobby told you that she's pregnant."

David sighed. "Yeah."

"And asked you for advice?"

He sighed. "Uh-huh."

"What did you tell him?"

David flinched at the wariness that crept into her tone. "That is was up to him. But only because the child isn't biologically his. Otherwise I would've told him to man up."

Amanda sighed. "Yeah, I guess that you would've, wouldn't you?"

"I sure would've advised him not to desert them."

"Them?"

"Haley and the baby. That's two people, since a baby is a person even before birth. You do know that, right?"

She laughed. "Don't you dare start with me, David Thomson!"

"Yes, dear."

"Don't start that either." She ordered.

David smirked. "Yes, dear."

"David, I'm telling you, I will-"

"You'll what? You're on the other side of the phone, across town!"

"Anyway, what did Bobby decide?"

"I'm not sure." David answered thoughtfully. "But I did make mention of Matthew 13:55."

"What's that? Refresh my memory."

"The people called Jesus Joseph's son. That would lead you to believe that he had raised the Boy as his own, even though he wasn't Jesus' biological father."

"Hm, I guess that I'd never thought of it in that context."

"I really don't know what he's going to do, so he really needs prayer."

"She's due in less than a month."

"Oh, man, I didn't realize it was that close."

"Yeah, it is. So, um, why exactly are you killing man's best friend?"

"Because my stupid mutt totaled my copy of the Resolution."

"No! Really?"

"Yes."

"How did he even reach it?"

"If he stands on his hind legs, he can reach anything that I can, unfortunately. I figure that he leaned against the wall with his forepaws and that was that."

"What are you going to do?"

"Sign another copy, I guess."

"Not in shorts and a t-shirt, right?"

"That sounds like something that Kayla would say." David mocked.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Not in shorts and a t-shirt, right?"

"If I have to dress up to do this thing all over again, then you and Olivia have to be there with me to see it." He bargained.

"That sounds great. I think that I'd like that. So give me a date whenever, and we'll be there."

"Oh, all right. I'll talk to the guys about it tomorrow."

June 15, 2012

"Hey, don't forget to tell them what your wonderful dog did yesterday." Amanda reminded David, setting his lunch down in front of him at Aunt Bea's.

"What'd he do?" Javi asked curiously, having joined the guys for their lunch break along with Victoria, Dylan, Kayla and their three kids.

"Destroyed my copy of the Resolution. Gone, trashed."

"No way!" Adam said indignantly.

"Yes way." David shrugged. "Although, I really don't think that I mind."

"Why on earth not?" Kayla asked.

"You sure sounded like you minded last night." Amanda pointed out, handing Jordan his kid's meal.

"Yeah, well, that was last night. I've been thinking about it since then and I think that maybe Duke totaling that thing was a Godsend."

"Are you serious?" Adam asked. "They are going to stuff you in a suit again, aren't they?"

"Suits, dresses, everything." David answered with a nod and a small smile.

"Oh… now we're getting somewhere." Javi said with a smile of his own.

"What?" David asked, feigning innocence.

"'Suits, dresses, and everything'." Dylan mimicked him.

"I hate to break it to her, but she doesn't do dresses." Jade said.

"You're wrong." David informed her. "I've seen her in one."

"When?" Jade turned to Amanda as she approached their table once again. "When did you wear a dress for him?"

"I did not wear a dress for him, you little rug rat, I wore a dress, for me, a couple of weeks ago. The first time I came here, actually."

Dylan rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath. Whatever it was that he said, Jade, sitting next to him, slapped him for it.

"See," Amanda gestured towards Jade, saying to Dylan, "This is why she's my favorite."

"Teachers are not supposed to say stuff like that!" Jade objected. "And, besides, I'm in second place, next to Haley Brooks remember?"

Across the table, Bobby cleared his throat. "Um… about Haley… well, there's a couple of things that you need to know."

"About your Haley?" Adam asked curiously.

"Yeah, sort of. But it's going to seriously affect the both of us as a couple. I know that I told Adam that Haley had recently become a Christian. And, you should know first, that yesterday, I did too."

"Bobby, that's awesome!" Adam declared excitedly. "What happened?"

"I was with David practicing at the gun range, and we just got on the topic while talking about Haley" he took a deep breath and ventured, "And Cody."

"Cody?" Adam and Nathan echoed, looking warily between themselves and David.

"Who's Cody?" Adam asked cautiously. David saw a muscle in his jaw twitch. "Because I really don't want a repeat of last month's conversation."

"What was last month's conversation?" Bobby asked.

"That would be my confession concerning my daughter. You're making them nervous."

"Well," Bobby studied his hands for a moment before meeting the eyes of each of the men in turn. "Cody is the baby that Haley is carrying, who, as decided during a very long conversation with Haley last night, is my son in every way but the one that doesn't count."

David saw Nathan and Adam both stifling groans.

"What way doesn't count?" Javi asked.

Bobby raised his eyebrows. "Biology."

"So, you didn't actually…" Adam let the thought trail off.

"Get her pregnant?" Bobby asked. "No. That was the work of the dead ex."

He went on to explain the situation, and at the end of that explanation found some much more relaxed friends.

"So," Bobby turned to David. "Is your Resolution signing thing a one man show, or can it be expanded to include yours truly?"

"Really?" Adam asked, getting excited over the change he saw in the young rookie.

Bobby nodded.

"You know," Amanda's voice startled them all as she spoke up hesitantly from behind Bobby. "You may want to rethink that."

Bobby turned towards her with confused eyes that matched David's. "Why?"

"Well," Amanda shifted uncomfortably. "This is a big deal - the Resolution, the kid, especially at your age…"

"Yeah, it is a big deal," Bobby agreed, finishing surely, looking Amanda straight in the eye. "But Haley's my girl, and so far as I'm concerned, Cody's my kid."

Amanda nodded, smiling at him. "Well then, you know I won't argue with that." She turned, but looked back over his shoulder at him to say, "You're a brave guy. It takes courage to do what you're doing."

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