Chapter 21: Life Goes On
It was perfect weather for a Fourth of July cookout: hot and clear, and not a cloud in the sky. Nearly a year and a half had passed since the Mercer boys lost their mother and youngest brother, Jack, and the pain had finally started to ease. One thing that had stood out for the three remaining brothers was the fact that they had all missed family holidays, so they'd made a point to get together whenever they could. This year, Jessie and Bobby had invited everyone to their house for The Fourth. Sofi and Angel had arrived a few minutes before and were putting their cooler out back.
"Hello?" Jerry opened the front door and leaned in. "Bobby? Jessie?"
"Come on in," shouted Jessie from the kitchen where she was slicing up some carrots. "My hands are full."
Daniela and Amelia ran through the kitchen straight for the back yard, both determined to be the first one outside and say hello to their Uncles. Jessie laughed as they sped by and shouted a hello to her.
"I'm sorry, we really have tried to teach them manners," said Jerry. He put a bag down on the counter. "We brought a cooler, too. I'll bring it around back."
"Thanks, Jerry. Now where's that beautiful baby of yours?"
"She's right here, Jess." Camille had come in just behind Jerry and was holding their new daughter in her arms. Little Evelyn – or Eve as she was known to the family – was 10 months old and waved her arms up at her mother. Jessie leaned in, made some classic baby noises, and was thrilled when Eve rewarded her with a big smile and laugh. Then her face changed, got redder and she scrunched it up.
"Uh oh," said Camille. "Looks like we're going to need a new diaper."
"You can change her in the bedroom if you want," said Jessie.
While Camille was getting the baby cleaned up, Sofi came in looking for them. "Oooo, is little Eve here? I want to see her. Those little round cheeks are too adorable…"
"Camille is changing her. She'll be out in just a sec." Jessie dropped the carrots onto a segmented tray. Then she drained and dumped some olives into the other section and made a face. She was indifferent to olives for the most part, but Jerry loved them, so whenever he was over, Jessie always made sure there were some around. But today? Today there was something about them, the smell maybe, that made her feel a little off.
Sofi wandered into the living room and stopped in front of the fireplace. There was a new photo hanging over the mantle: a beautiful shot of Jessie and Bobby at their wedding. They were standing in a garden at the lakeshore. There were flowering bushes around them and in the distance, there was a hint of water. The frame was a medium oak with beautiful darker walnut inlays.
"You looked so beautiful in your wedding dress, Jessie," she said. "When did you get this picture?"
Jessie came in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. She and Bobby had actually celebrated their first anniversary a few weeks ago. She smiled at the picture; she thought Bobby looked incredibly handsome in his tuxedo.
"Thanks, Sofi. That was my favorite picture from all the ones we had taken and I wanted a really nice frame for it. But between having to replace that piece-of-crap car of mine, and a few things for the house, I had to wait to get the frame; I wanted a really special one. I just put it up last week."
Camille came in to join them, bouncing Eve on her hip. "It is a great picture Jessie."
"I can't wait to pick out my own dress." Sofi pressed her fingers to her lips in an attempt to dim the enormous smile on her face. Angel had finally proposed to her a few months back and she was still giddy at the prospect of finally becoming a bride. Then Sofi fussed over the baby, tickling her and making Eve laugh more. The three women continued to talk about Sofi's wedding plans as they headed back into the kitchen to collect the rest of the things that needed to be brought outside.
Outside, the men's conversation centered on Angel and Sofi's wedding for about 30 seconds. When Bobby asked how the plans were going, Angel's response was something to the tune of "she's out of her fucking mind." He dropped the subject and turned the conversation to the recent Tiger's baseball game, and the upcoming hockey season and the Wing's prospects. Jerry handed out a new round of beer, breaking up the conversation for a moment, and Bobby pulled his shirt over his head.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Jerry, and then he glanced around quickly to see if his daughters had heard him.
"Check out my new ink. I finally got them all finished." On Bobby's arm he had two new tats. One was a red rose. Above it were the words "in loving memory" and below it, "Mom." Near that one was a cross outlined with outstretched wings. Over the cross was a scroll with Jack's name in it along with his birth and death years.
"Damn, they look good. The rose looks sharp now that it is colored." Angel nodded approvingly. "Jessie do them?"
"Yea," said Bobby. She did both of these, but her boss did my newest one…"
Bobby turned to face his brothers. This tattoo was on his chest, right over his heart. The image was a heart being embraced by sheltering angel wings. Written across the heart in script was "Jessie."
"Did she like it? You surprised her, right?" asked Jerry.
"She was totally surprised." Bobby had been planning on this particular tattoo since he and Jessie got married. He'd gotten it done in time for their anniversary; Jessie's boss at Maverick had done the work in secret, coming in one day when the shop was closed so that Jessie wouldn't find out until Bobby showed it to her.
"Bobby, put your shirt on," said Jessie. She dropped a bag of hamburger rolls on the table next to the grill. Behind her, Sofi put the catsup, pickles and a few other things onto the table.
"Can't help myself," he answered. "Any time you're around, I just have to start getting naked…"
"Ewww. Uncle Bobby, that's gross," said Daniela.
"Yes it is," said Jerry. "If any boy ever wants to get naked for you, that's exactly what you tell him: its gross and you don't want to see it." He took the baby from Camille so his wife could start getting some lunch plates ready for the girls.
"You girls want cheese?" asked Bobby.
"Yes, please!" they both cried.
"Let me have a little piece for Eve," said Jerry. He gave his youngest daughter the piece and laughed as she pulled it apart, fascinated by the yellow square.
When all the guests had their food, Jessie held up her plate. It had a mound of potato salad on it, along with some carrot sticks and a few other veggies. There were two burger buns waiting.
"Cheese, too," she said.
"Two burgers?"
She gave him a look. "Bobby, I'm starving! Slap those bad boys on there."
Jessie sat down and Bobby came over to stand behind his wife. He had his own burger in one hand and with the other he pinched her shoulder gently. Then he leaned down and whispered in her ear. Jessie whispered back and then gave Bobby a kiss.
"What the hell's going on with you two?" asked Angel. "All that whispering's making me nervous."
Bobby looked at Jessie. It was an eager, questioning look. She nodded. "Go ahead," she said. "You've been dying to…"
At the other end of the table, both Camille and Sofi's eyes got wide and they started to smile. There was something about the smile on Jessie's face that made them understand what was coming next.
"Tell us what?" asked Jerry.
"Nothing much," said Bobby. "Unless you consider me getting Jessie knocked up a big deal..."
Before anyone else could respond, Amelia piped up, "What's knocked-up mean, Mommy?"
The entire table erupted in laughter despite the glare Camille threw at Bobby. When the noise died down, Camille said, "That is an impolite way to say that Aunt Jessie is pregnant, Amelia. She's going to have a baby."
"That's great news," said Jerry. "Congrats." He shook Bobby's hand and gave him a hug. Angel followed suit and then hugged Jessie. Camille and Sofi immediately descended on Jessie to congratulate her and touch the "baby bump."
"When are you due?" asked Camille.
"December," answered Jessie. "And before you ask, we don't know if it is a boy or a girl, and we're not going to find out. We want it to be a surprise."
"But we do know one thing," Bobby added. "If we have a boy, we're naming him after Jack."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jackson Robert Mercer arrived in November - three weeks before he was due.
Jessie's labor lasted nearly 24-hours and after little Jack was safely in the nursery and Jessie had finally fallen asleep, Bobby went to get a cup of coffee. Everyone told him that he should go home, but he was going to be in the room when Jessie woke up. He'd promised her he would be.
On his way back from the coffee shop, he took a detour to the nursery so he could look through the window at his son. My son. Holy shit. I have a son. What kind of father am I going to be? I didn't exactly have a great fucking role model. Fatherhood put a whole new perspective on life for Bobby.
He got to the window and froze when he saw two people standing over his son. They turned and smiled at him.
It couldn't be…
Ma? Jack? Bobby's head reeled, remembering his last encounter with his mother's... ghost... or whatever it was.
"He's beautiful, Bobby." Evelyn was positively glowing. "I always wanted to be a grandma. And don't you worry; you're going to be a great father."
"You named him after me?" Jack smiled. "Thanks, man."
Bobby wasn't sure what to say. "Jackie… I'm sorry… I…"
"S'okay, Bobby. Not your fault." Jack looked just the way Bobby remembered before the shooting.
A nurse came up next to Bobby. "Mr. Mercer. Congratulations. Checking in on your son?"
"Yes, I just wanted to take a look before I went back to my wife's room…"
"That's fine. We'll actually be bringing him down when he wakes up so that your wife can feed him. Probably be in an hour or so. Is she sleeping?"
"Yes…"
"Good. If you need anything, let me know." The nurse smiled and went on her way.
"I will." Bobby turned back to the window but his mother and Jack were gone.
We're not gone. He could hear Jack's voice in his head. Not so long as you remember us, Bobby.
-a-a-a-a-a-a-
Author's note: Well, that's it. The End. Thank you all for reading my little Four Brothers adventure (I've heard they're making a sequel…). I hope you've enjoyed my retelling of the tale. Thank you also for the reviews; I do appreciate those. Not sure what my next story will be. I want to try to get a little work done on my original fiction, but we'll see how that goes. Nonetheless, I will have more fan fiction in the future… I have ideas for stories based on Leverage, CSI: NY, Numb3rs, Bab 5, Star Trek and a few others. Who knows what will inspire me next!
Disclaimer: the usual stuff – Jessie is my creation (as is Tyrell) but almost all of the other major characters are the brain child of the movie writers or others. Dialogue from the movie is paraphrased in many cases, but any matching dialogue is used for story continuity and character authenticity only.