A Life Rescued
Chapter 25 – The Recovery
(Please read and review, it makes us better writers.)
Disclaimer: The world of Terabithia belongs to Katherine Paterson and her publishers.
I'm just playing around in it for a while. No profit was, or will be received from this story.
Jesse trod carefully on the narrow ledge that ran along the side of the shallow canyon, now and then looking back to make sure the others hadn't slipped, or panicked, or frozen in place. He wasn't worried about Grace, but Tom was prone to acute panic attacks for the silliest reasons – not that a fifteen-foot fall down a seventy-degree slope into a bed of rocks was silly. So he and Leslie sandwiched their friends between them: Himself first, followed by Tom, then his sister, with Leslie bringing up the rear. It really was pointless, any way Jesse looked at it: If one of them fell there would be nothing gained by trying to help, other than falling along with them.
"Just pretend, Jess," whispered Leslie, exasperatedly, before setting out. "It will give them confidence."
Grumbling, he had led them off minutes earlier.
The first weekend after school finished, Jesse and Leslie had hiked to Mr. Boone's cabin and spent a few hours with the old man, listening to more of his stories and his repeated thanks for the Christmas gift they'd left months earlier. He told them it had been a pleasantly quiet winter and spring, though he had expected to see more of them. The kids both had stories of their own to tell, explaining their long absence. Mr. Boone nodded sagely with each exploit, commiserating when appropriate. Both Jesse and Leslie found that talking about the deaths and illnesses of the previous six months made them feel better.
When they told of their friends' mother passing, Mr. Boone insisted they bring them up on their next trip and show them the canyon, an offer that surprised both of them: Mr. Boone had made it clear that he was jealously secretive about his favorite secluded spot. They thanked him and the following weekend Grace and Tom Jacobs joined them for the long hike into the mountains.
It was an exceptionally odd outing, too. Jesse and Leslie had never done it with anyone else. There were spots where the two friends had stopped many times the year before and sat together, special places, places just for them. Now others knew of them. When they reached the small hill just short of the cabin, Jesse felt like it was being violated. He knew he was being selfish, but didn't care. It was a pattern he had fallen into in the weeks since his release from the hospital; he and Leslie had been inseparable, making up for lost time Leslie would say when her mother asked if she was heading to see Jesse, again.
Leslie herself showed no signs of annoyance (except towards Jesse) on this latest hike. She walked with Grace while Tom meandered back and forth between the girls and her more-quiet-than-usual boyfriend. However, Jesse did eventually open up and pointed out spots they had come to enjoy. Still hurting from the loss of their mother, the Jacobs siblings took a while to get into the spirit of the hike, but livened up measurably when they met Mr. Boone and heard of the canyon beyond.
So off they had set, into the secret canyon, as secret, and nearly as special to Mr. Boone as Terabithia had been to Jesse and Leslie years before. Around every turn, Grace would cry out in wonder at the scenery. At every stop, Tom would nose around, picking at the mountain flora; he had begun to show an interest in botany in seventh grade and cursed a few times when he found a particularly interesting plant which he could not bring home because he had brought nothing to keep a clipping of it in.
Upon reaching the end of the narrow path, and marching the last few yards around the giant boulders, the Jacobs froze, just as their escorts had done a year earlier. Mr. Boone's carved seat was to their left. The pool of clear, cold, creek-fed mountain water on their right. The large swampy-meadow was before them and the canyon behind.
Jesse and Leslie dropped their backpacks and took off the shoes and socks, placing their feet in the icy-cold pond, a little hesitantly at first - the first stabs of cold paining them like fire. Grace followed a minute later, but Tom took off towards the swamp, cursing his forgetfulness again between murmurs of astonishment.
After a while, lunch was unpacked and the kids sat in a circle, eating and talking. Leslie caught Jesse's attention and gave him a knowing look: It was the first time in weeks Tom and Grace had shown so much delight with anything.
"What's beyond the swamp back there?" asked Tom, peeling a banana he'd brought for dessert.
"We don't know. We haven't had a chance to go farther than this. We'd probably need to overnight it, we're about nine miles from my house right now."
"Jeez, Jess, no wonder my legs are sore."
"No, that's just because you're lazy, Tommy," his sister quipped to Leslie, but her brother heard it and threw the banana peel at her.
End of the school year gossip carried them through lunch and Tom and Grace's moods improved further. The hottest topic between Grace and Leslie, full of hushed whispers and silly giggles reminiscent of Jesse's birthday party, was that Mikey Sellers had been talking daily to one of the Silliard twins and would ask her out any day.
"Did he go to the dance with her?" Tom asked Leslie, showing little more than polite interest in the topic.
"I wasn't there, remember?"
"Oh, yeah...Gracie, did they go to the dance together?"
"All three were there. Lisa and Carol dressed identically and teased Mikey until he lost his temper. It was funny."
But Leslie, while interested in Mikey's antics, found more interest in what her young friend had said.
"Grace," she asked, smiling smugly, "how did you get into the dance? You'd have to be invited by a seventh grader."
The younger girl's face colored while her brother and Jesse rolled their eyes and banefully shook their head at the entire subject. They never did find out how Grace got into the dance.
This small talk went on for a while until it was time to head home. But there was one other thing planned. Leslie looked at Jesse, an unspoken message passed between the two: It was time.
"Um, Tom," said Jesse, "has your father decided what you're going to do? I mean, are you guys staying, or... you know... moving away?"
Right from the start, it was obvious this was the wrong topic to bring up. Both Jacobs' siblings scowled, though Tom much more so.
"Don't know. He changes his mind every freaking day," he snarled, obviously angry with his father's indecision.
"Shut up, Tommy, he does not," Grace snapped, having gone from cheerful to tearful in seconds.
Leslie touched Grace's arm softly, but the girl pulled away. Sighing, Leslie continued, "If your father knew what you two want it might help him make a decision. Do you two know what you want to do?"
Both answered at the same time: Grace said stay; Tom said leave.
"That's not going to work," chuckled Jesse, trying to ease the awkward moment. But the other boy exploded.
"No shit, Jess! What an amazing piece of logic that was." Tom jumped to his feet, backing away from the other three and trying comically, but unsuccessfully, to put a sock on as he moved.
"Tommy!" Grace cried out again, she'd seen his temper lately and knew what to expect.
"What, Gracie?" her brother snarled, finally giving up on the other sock and throwing it at no one in particular. "Any way it works, one of us gets screwed. Why the hell do you want to stay in Lark Creek anyway?" He paused, looking at his sister and ignoring her imploring expression. "Hoping Jess might dump Leslie" The words were hardly out of his mouth and the other three froze. Tom turned and stomped away, one sock on, the other having landed in the pond. They could tell by watching his back that he was crying.
"I guess that wasn't such a good idea," muttered Leslie to herself, then to Jesse: "You want to go after him or should I?"
Jesse looked at Leslie, then at the other girl. "You go. I have to talk with Grace."
Leslie slipped her sneakers on and ran off in the direction their friend had gone.
Grace looked up at Jesse, her eyes wet. "It's not true, Jess, what Tom said. I mean, I like you and all that, but... He's been really mad lately, saying things that aren't true. I guess it makes him feel better."
"Uh-huh," said Jesse, looking doubtfully at the girl. "You sure?"
Grace, to Jesse's surprise, broke out in sniffle-filled laughter. "Yes! I think I would know. Besides... I'm... oh, never mind. Here come Les and Tommy."
Dropping the subject was fine with Jesse, he had no real wish to discuss any touchy-feely topics with another girl; it was difficult enough with Leslie. And besides, she had given him the answer he wanted to hear.
The walk home was long and quiet, this time Jesse and Leslie walked together. Grace and Tom, trailing far behind and barely in view, brought up the rear. When they arrived back at the Aarons' house, it was nearly six o'clock and Mr. Jacobs was waiting inside, chatting with Jesse's parents. The kids came in quietly – too quietly, pretty much ignoring each other. It was an uncomfortable few minutes before Mr. Aarons walked the Jacobs out. Only Leslie and Grace gave each other a little wave goodbye.
"Jess?" said his mother as soon as the front door was closed. "What happened?"
Leslie sat self-consciously on the couch hoping Jesse would join her. He didn't.
"Um, Tom's still upset, and he and Grace got into a fight about, um, stuff." He wouldn't look his mother in the eyes.
"'Stuff?' What sort of stuff?" she demanded. Brian whined, sensing his mother's displeasure.
Jesse sputtered, somewhat incomprehensibly, for half a minute before Leslie cut in and told what had happened. Jess stood silently, avoiding eye contact with his mother. When the whole story was out, Mrs. Aarons handed Brian to Ellie, who happened to be walking by, and pointed to the couch. They all sat.
"Kids, you're going to have to be a little more sensitive than that around Grace and Tom for a while. I know, Jess," said his mother, raising her hand, seeing him about to protest, "neither of you meant any harm. But whether the Jacobs stay or leave is up to them and you...both of you, have no cause to push them into a decision. Next to losing both parents, those children have probably experienced the most terrible thing that could happen to them."
Mrs. Aarons stood and sighed, and then walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. When she returned she was more relaxed.
"Mr. Jacobs came by a little early to tell us he's decided to stay through the end of his... oh, what did he call it...? His assignment. The Navy offered to move him back to Norfolk, but he doesn't want to uproot the kids right now. So all your nagging was for naught." She smiled a little. "They'll be here another two years, so try to make them welcome, especially if Tom isn't happy about the decision."
After a light dinner, Jesse walked Leslie home. Both were a little abashed by their failed attempt to push their friends.
"Guess we didn't think it through enough, eh?" Jesse said, his voice carrying a hint of guilt.
"Guess not."
Approaching Burke's house, Jesse slowed and handed Leslie her backpack, which he had been carrying from his house. He had been distracted most of the day, with their friends around, but now, in the quiet of the evening twilight, his attention was suddenly focused completely on his girlfriend. He had noticed in the weeks since his release from the hospital that being with her was stirring new feelings inside him. He had attributed it, up until now, to his alters becoming part of himself again. Dr. Carlson told him the other day that this conclusion could be correct, but it would be more likely that his body was reacting to being an adolescent.
As he passed the backpack over, their fingers locked, and in an insanely inexplicable way, Jesse felt an electric-like jolt charge up his arm and plant a myriad of colors and ideas into his brain. He had to shake it off to think clearly and say goodbye. Clumsily, he leaned over and kissed Leslie's cheek. She laughed, not a hurtful laugh, but a playful and happy one.
"Go get a shower, Aarons, you stink!" she whispered while their faces were still close. Both then broke into laughter and headed their own way.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Leslie Burke's great surprise for Jesse depended heavily on her father's ability to barter successfully with his father. The day after Jesse had been released, the Burkes had the Aarons over for dinner. When finished, Bill took Jesse Sr. out back, ostensibly to show him the new purifier for the well water.
"Say, Jesse," began Bill, "Jude and I were wondering if we could, uh, hire Brenda and Ellie for a couple weeks this summer..."
Jesse Sr. gave his neighbor an odd look and then snickered. "Ok with me, and Ellie might be interested, but if you want Brenda to work for money, good luck!"
"Uh, yeah, I understand. Actually, we were wondering if they would keep house, do some light cleaning, maybe cooking..." Off Jesse Sr.'s skeptical look, Bill added, "Nothing big, grilled cheese...maybe..."
"Right. I think all those things come under the heading of 'work.'" Mr. Aarons knew his neighbor was getting to something with all this, so he played along.
"Point taken. Well, there would be an incentive involved, other than money..."
"Come on, Burke, spit it out!" said his neighbor, the corner of his mouth twitching as he tried to suppress a smile. "You're planning something, I can tell."
"Yes, well, we're wondering if you, I mean, your whole family, would like to join us at the beach for a week in late July. I know it's a little late to be asking, but with all that's happened the past few weeks... What's so funny?"
Jesse Sr. was chuckling at his neighbor's obvious anxious state. "You are, Bill. What do the girls have to do with all this?"
"Uh, we knew... well, if you want to go we'll rent a large house and... I know how you would be upset if you felt we were..." No matter how much he tried, Bill couldn't help but be intimidated by his much larger, much more gruff neighbor.
"You thought I'd be more inclined to accept if the girls agreed to help out around the house. Ok, I can go for that, but whether you get your money's worth is up to you and them. So where is this place, and when? I probably won't be able to stay the week, and I doubt Ellie can get that much time off from work…"
With the tension broken, the two men sat at the picnic table and discussed the details of the offer. Jesse would be welcome to stay both weeks, and Judy's sister and her family might join, too. And with a few other concessions to let the Aarons assist with chores, Jesse Sr. agreed on the plan and returned to the house to break the news to his family. Jesse Jr. already knew what was going on, but tried to look surprised. When Mr. Aarons presented the offer to his family there was more of a stunned silence than anything else. It had been years since they had vacationed together and the offer seemed too good to be true.
"What's wrong with y'all?" their father snarled. "Don't want to go to the beach and get out of this mosquito pit?"
Seeing that the offer was in earnest, the Aarons children began shouting and asking questions and acting more like a normal family would when presented with such an opportunity. Even Brenda appeared interested. Ellie expressed doubt that she would be able to take the entire week off. Otherwise, the younger children – especially May who had never been to a real beach – showed their delight and thanked Mr. and Mrs. Burke profusely.
The next hour was spent checking schedules and making arrangements. The Burkes needed to contact the realtor as soon as possible to ensure a house big enough to hold two families. But their concerns were unnecessary: The unfortunate downturn in the economy since the terrorist bomb in Washington was preventing the high-end rentals from being booked up, even in July and August, so they had a good choice of places to stay. Bill and Judy, however, would not let the Aarons see this final choice. This was a little bit of duplicity on their part, but neither wanted their neighbor to rethink the offer when he saw the house they finally decided on. Leslie showed it to Jesse that evening and watched his eyes bulge.
"Nice, isn't it?" she said, leaning over his shoulder and gently pressing her face to the side of his head. Jesse's concentration on the house was instantly lost as his girlfriend's breath tickled his ear. He just nodded in response.
"You like it, Jess?" Leslie's father asked, having just walked into the room as his daughter was wrapping her arms around Jesse's neck.
"Yeah…!" His response seemed to be more appropriate to Leslie's action than her father's question.
"Yes, I can see you do," Mr. Burke chuckled.
Annoyed, Leslie sighed and released Jesse, but it took the boy another few seconds to think clearly.
"Yes, sir...it's incredible. It has a pool, too?"
"Yep," said Mr. Burke, looking through a pile of unsorted mail in the roll-top desk. "If the ocean's too cold or the jellyfish are out you can still swim. You see the hot tub?"
Jesse eagerly turned his attention back to the computer and clicked on the Next Picture button; he saw a beautiful screened-in structure with a large wooden tub in the middle. The view was unbelievable. With the house just a hundred yards from the edge of the beach, there were no other buildings blocking the view. There was a long wooden walkway from the pool, up the dunes, to the tub.
"WOW!" he exclaimed again.
"Yes, I think it's rather spiffy," finished Bill in a poor English accent, leaving the room with whatever it was he had been searching for.
The kids looked at the pictures of the property a while longer and then got up to go outside. But something caught Jesse's eye just as he was about to close the browser window. It was the weekly rate for the house. He was stunned. Quickly doing the math in his head, he realized that two weeks in the beach house was more than his family paid in a year for the mortgage on their home. He wow'd again, quietly this time, and followed Leslie outside.
- - - - - - - - - - -
The weeks between the news of the beach trip and the trip itself seemed to drag interminably. The pleasant spring the area had enjoyed for almost four months suddenly evaporated and the more typical hot and humid southern Virginia weather took over. Even the slightly cooler mountain air helped little. Daily afternoon thunderstorms, however, brought much needed relief to the area, not temperature-wise, but by helping to break the three-year drought most of the east coast had been experiencing. The rain also brought new hope to struggling farmers who, in turn, helped farming-related businesses in Roanoke. This boon further filtered down to Jesse Aarons Sr. As the farmers needed new or more machinery, the sales at his John Deere dealer rose, and much needed sales commissions followed.
Never having earned what he felt was sufficient to be proud of his salary; Jesse Sr. knew that leaving for a week of vacation in the busiest part of the sales season would be illogical and financially counter-productive, in the grossest sense. He broke this news to his wife the week before the holiday was to start; she wasn't surprised. Mary also understood her husband's need to feel proud of his earnings, and he did promise to spend the first weekend with them, although it amounted to but a few hours between the long car journeys.
Jesse and Leslie resumed their morning runs as soon as school had finished, and it was one of the ways to pass the time while waiting for the July trip to the beach. The only difficult part of this time they spent together had to do with the additional height Jesse, and Leslie to a lesser extent, had gained since November. He was just under five-eleven, and she was approaching five-five. And at their age, both could count on at least a couple more inches of growth through adolescence. It did, however, make running together difficult. After the first trying week, when Jesse was burning off the extra weight he'd put on from a mostly sedentary winter and spring, and Leslie could tease him for his slowness, his muscles began to tune up and it was he who had to slow down for his partner.
Three or four miles was their usual distance in 2008, but they found it easy to pace themselves for as much as six miles by mid-July. The extra miles took them through heretofore-unknown areas around Lark Creek, including a couple newer looking townhouse and single-family home developments about a mile on the far side of town. Now and then they would take a route that brought them to the Jacobs' house, but no one was home. Shortly after the disastrous hike together, Mr. Jacobs had taken a month off from work; he, Grace, and Tom were spending most of it with the children's grandparents and other family in the Newport News area. Leslie lamented that they were not to join them at the beach, and was a bit upset that Grace had not contacted her since leaving.
Getting back into shape had become something of an obsession for Jesse in the days before the vacation. Leslie would joke him about how he was toning-up to impress girls at the beach for when he got tired of looking at her, an accusation he only answered with a crooked smile and disbelieving shake of the head. After another particularly playful comment from the girl, along the same line, Jesse stunned Leslie by narrowing his eyes and appraising her from head to foot, something he had never given even the faintest hint of doing before.
"No, don't think so, Les," said Jesse very calmly – much more calmly than he felt. That he had just, for the first time he could recall, looked at his girlfriend in that way, and it shook him a bit, too.
Inside her head, Leslie Burke's was trying desperately to figure out how to look both appreciative of the notice he paid her and shocked by it. In France the previous summer, where they ran into a number of topless female bathers, Jesse had shown no "interest" apart from telling her how uncomfortable it made him. Leslie had even told her father that she would never do something like that in front of Jesse; but she wasn't quite as certain about her inhibitions now. Fortunately, they had the three mile return run ahead of them for her to reflect on these ideas.
Jesse, looking and feeling a little self-conscious of his own action, pretended to stretch a bit and then took off for home before he had to say anything else.
- - - - - - - - - - -
The Aarons and Burke families arrived in Duck, North Carolina, on a hot, humid late Saturday morning the third week in July. The northern edge of Duck was newer than the rest of the barrier island town, and had houses that are more modern. But by any standard, the house the Burkes rented was staggering in beauty and conveniences. It boasted ten bedrooms, not including two master, eight baths, (four with Jacuzzis built-in,) a four-car under-the-house garage, three outdoor showers for rinsing off sand before entering. The enormous family room had a super wide-screen TV, pool and ping-pong tables, and bar. Nothing seemed to be lacking inside.
On the expansive deck was the modest pool and a small pool-house with an all-weather kitchenette and outdoor grill, a short walk over a raised wooden walkway took you to the outdoor hot tub. They even had a private, lit walk to the beach.
To the Burkes, and Jesse to some extent, the luxury was nothing new. But the other Aarons looked stunned and awed by the surroundings. Neither Jesse nor Mary had grown up with air conditioning, but their blood seemed to congeal when they stepped into the overly cooled first floor. The well-appointed kitchen appeared to have every gadget imaginable and the two refrigerators and wine cooler were completely stocked with sodas, juices, bottled water, and a variety of adult beverages. Upon seeing the beer cooler and wet bar in the game room, Jesse Sr. began to reconsider going home. Bill saw his face as he appraised the cabinet of hard liquor; he looked like a kid in a candy shop wondering which sweet to try first.
While most everyone was inside admiring the house, Jesse and Leslie had run off, hand-in-hand, to look at the beach as soon as they arrived. It seemed to draw them like a magnet. The damp salty offshore wind blowing stinging sand around their ankles gave both a feeling of coming home and brought back memories of their first vacation together. Standing atop the last dune before the brilliant-white sandy beach, they had to squint from the bright summer sun. The crash of the surf, the wind rustling the dried dune vegetation, dim, distant voices behind them and the scattered sounds of families in front all seemed to welcome them. Both adolescents stood, still holding hands, face into the wind and eyes closed, soaking in the moment.
Leslie felt Jesse move, almost imperceptibly, and turned to see him looking at her.
"What?" she asked, smiling widely.
Jesse slowly shook his head, smiling back. It was that feeling again: New, overpoweringly strong, but still not definable, except that it had to do with Leslie. And himself.
His eyes moved from her face to the side of her head where the wind was blowing her hair away from the old scar. Releasing Leslie's hand, Jesse brought his up and touched it, running his finger down an inch to the spot where it disappeared behind her right ear. He had never touched it before; he'd had no reason or desire to. He still had no reason, but now he had a desire to investigate it. It was a curiosity, a symbol of something special between them. A commonality that bound them together.
Leslie was more than startled by the touch. Part of it was the sensitivity of the scar, so powerful at times it hurt to brush her hair. But it was also Jesse, and the way he had been changing since he was released from the hospital. Before he got sick, she knew, he would never have done that to her. They had hardly even kissed since his birthday, but that, Leslie had reasoned, was because they were seldom together. And even when the musical was finished, she was off catching up with schoolwork, and then he was in the hospital. One thing after another had come between them, until he was released.
He wasn't really different, she believed. It was more like he was….catching up to me, emotionally. Her mother had said that Jesse, at times, might seem a little different, but she refused to elaborate, always telling her that it was Jesse's business and she should ask him. Besides, Judy Burke didn't know the whole story, either. It frustrated the thirteen year old to no end; she wasn't going to ask him about the hospital, at least not yet.
In the weeks before the beach, Leslie had noted many subtle changes in her boyfriend. He seemed more open to physical contact, but also acted as if he were afraid of it at the same time. It was two steps forward and then one step back. Or two steps back. Of course, holding hands, hugging, and the (very) occasional kiss over a month were not enough to judge by, but it was all Leslie had. So when she felt his touch on her scar, a great deal of confusion was mixed in with the pleasant sensation his finger brought out.
Leslie turned and cocked her head a little so he could access it better, and was rewarded by feeling his rough finger gently follow the scar down...
She shivered involuntarily and Jesse pulled his hand away, thinking he was annoying her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother..."
Leslie turned and quickly took the hand that had been touching her seconds before. "Jess, be quiet! It wasn't bothering me... honest. It's just, uh, sensitive."
"Oh... ok."
Silence returned and the two friends set their eyes back on the ocean, scanning for dolphins, boats, rafts, swimmers: All the things that made the beach the beach.
Then he was touching the same spot again. She saw out of the corner of her eye the same curious look on his face.
At least I didn't jump this time! Leslie thought, satisfied.
She tilted her head again to give him better access, guessing it was the appropriate thing to do. There was no doubt that it wasn't bothering her in the least. In fact, Leslie realized, it didn't hurt, it felt...good. Very good, as it sent shivers down her body.
Back in the house, Mary Aarons was holding two month old Brian and Judy was struggling to keep nine month old Jimmy calm while she and Mary checked out the sleeping arrangements. There were enough rooms for everyone to have their own, though Leslie had told her mother she would love to have May share with her, much to the delight of the ten-year-old. She told Mary about this.
"That sounds good." Then with a devious grin she added, "I suppose we should be happy Leslie didn't asked for Jess as a roommate."
"Oh, God, Mary," Judy cringed, "it'll happen soon enough."
Mary Aarons thought this was a particularly odd comment, especially coming from her friend, the same person who, the previous year, had all but forbid her daughter from kissing Jesse. She was about to reply when she looked out the window to the beach where Jesse and Leslie were standing. Judy walked up beside her.
"Cute, aren't they?"
"Yeah," Mary sighed, and then nearly dropped the baby. "Jude?"
But Judy Burke didn't need Mary to draw her attention to the kids. In a typically inexperienced and awkward teenage move, Jesse had leaned over and kissed Leslie. That wasn't what startled the boy's mothers, it was where he had kissed her.
"Oh...my, did your son just do what I think he did?"
Ignoring the implied blame, Mary said yes.
"I guess that settles the question of them rooming together."
"Come on, Jude, let's go… look at the ocean," said Mary, her tone indicating the water had little to do with what she wanted to check out. Her friend followed, handing Jimmy to her husband who was in the next room playing with a TV remote.
"Jesse! Why did you do that?" said Leslie, ducking and nearly falling over the boardwalk railing, but much more from shock and the disturbingly large jolt of adrenaline shooting through her body, than because she was upset with the kiss behind her ear.
For his part, Jesse looked astonished, partly because of what he had done, but mostly because of the reaction it had brought out.
"Sorry, Les...I...I..."
"No, Jess, it's ok, really," said Leslie, as quickly and reassuringly as she could. "It just shocked the heck out of me." She went to hug him.
"Are you sure?" he asked, backing away half a step.
"Yes! Come here." They embraced, but Leslie could tell something had been lost between them by her reaction. And then there was no more time to think about it, her mother and Mrs. Aarons were coming out to see what they were up to, even though Leslie knew they were trying to look completely nonchalant and their appearance coincidental.
"Come on in kids, we're assigning rooms and have to unpack the cars," Jesse's mother said, barely a touch of pique in her voice.
With a brief parting gaze, both adolescents looked back at the ocean, each looking forward to seeing it again soon.
- - - - - - - - - - -
"Jess, Dr. Carlson warned you about this. Do you have these impulses often?"
"No, Mom, not too much now. I think, maybe, just being around Les so much made me do it."
"Son," his father spoke up for the first time. "It's not that what you did was wrong. It's normal for you to want to show Leslie your affection, especially after the past few months."
"You father's right, Jess. I overreacted, running out there with Mrs. Burke. It's just that kissing a girl like that is...not something parents of a thirteen year old expect. It was more intimate than I think either of you realized. Am I right?"
Jesse nodded silently, feeling more stupid than anything else. And his mother was completely on target. Dr. Carlson had spent much of the last week counseling him on integrating the Jesse alter into his own personality. It was as if a person with eighteen more years of worldly experience had been injected into his thoughts and actions.
No, Jesse recalled, it's not that the Jesse alter actually had more experience, it's that it processed everything Jess knew as if he had lived another eighteen years. Even the Jesse alter's notion of intimacy was absurdly prudish and rigid – just about what a thirteen year old Catholic boy's might be.
It was a subtle but important difference.
The first day back from the hospital Jesse knew he had changed. It had not happened because he stepped out of the facility and into the outdoors, but because the carefully regulated environment he'd been in for twenty-one days was gone. The way he looked at things was...altered. Not grossly so, but it would take getting use to. And with Leslie, it seemed to stick out more. He had been aware of, and familiar with, the relatively low level of physical intimacy they shared, but when they spent their first full day together in weeks he found his mind playing tricks. Her smile evoked a stronger reaction than it ever had before. Her touch was more distracting. The kiss she gave him when they parted that evening, though brief and chaste, nearly caused him to seize with...shame.
When he shared this with Carlson, the doctor told him it was likely one of two things: Raging adolescent hormones – the simple explanation - or the partly developed conscience of the Jesse alter that was making him process his morals as if a thirty-year-old man getting frisky with a thirteen-year-old girl should – the more complicated explanation. (And it was an idea that turned Jesse's stomach.)
The Friday before the two families left for the beach, Jesse had asked Dr. Carlson about what he should be feeling toward Leslie. He was answered with a question:
"You tell me, Jess. What do you feel for her?"
"I feel like she died and came back to life. I feel like...like I want to do things with her, but I'm ashamed..."
"No, Jess. I didn't ask what you felt like doing. I asked what you feel for her. Try again."
It was terribly frustrating to explain what he felt for his best friend. He knew he loved her, like a friend, but more, and in ways he couldn't understand or voice. He knew he wanted to be with her more than anyone else. He tried to explain this to the doctor but was stopped again.
"You started off on the right path, Jess, but then fell back into 'doing things.' Don't tell me about an action, tell me about a feeling. Feelings are emotions, those non-concrete ideas and sensations that swirl around in that head of yours when you think about her."
Jesse sat for a moment trying to understand the question better.
"Feelings, Jess: When I say content, what do you think of?"
"Warm, but not like temperature warm..." He trailed off, thinking about snuggling with Leslie on his couch one cold Friday night the previous winter. His smile gave the answer away to the doctor.
"Good, Jess. Sometimes we simply can't vocalize a feeling, but I'll bet you associate content with that image in your mind that made you smile. Let's try another. If I say satisfaction, what comes to your mind?"
"Um, the way I feel when pleasing people or finishing something."
"Alright, good. Now contentment and satisfaction are two positive feelings. Let's try one more. If I say incomplete, what do you think about?"
Jesse had cried a lot over the past few weeks, but he was totally unprepared for the intense emotion that flooded his mind and heart as he contemplated that word. It brought him back, instantly, to fifth grade and the time before he knew Leslie. He blinked rapidly and sniffled.
"I was incomplete...before...," he managed to get out before covering his face and breaking down completely.
Carlson smiled and spoke gently, trying to temper Jesse's innocent admission of where Leslie fit in his life while also acknowledging the validity of his feeling. "Yes, Jess, you were incomplete. But don't run off picking out curtains with her. You're going to meet many people in your life who fill in important missing pieces of Jesse Aarons. It just happens that Leslie filled in a huge one. Who filled in another?"
Jesse sniffled again, collected himself, and wiped his nose noisily on the sleeve of his shirt in a manner that made his doctor cringe. And he felt a little perplexed. Did the doctor know about some friend or benefactor mysteriously guiding his life from the shadows?
"Jess, who recently made you a little...maybe a lot, less incomplete?"
"Oh," he laughed, having missed the obvious. "Jesse, um, the Jesse alter, I mean."
"That's right. He brought BACK to you something you had shut out. Remember how you told me about wanting affection from your father. How he would hug and kiss May but ignore you? When you didn't get the affection and physical contact you so desperately wanted, your mind cast aside much of your desire for it, and that desire ended up in the Jesse alter, and it's that desire which is a part of you again. Another thing you have to get used to."
Moving his chair closer to the patient, Dr. Carlson finished by encouraging the boy. "Son, don't be ashamed about showing physical affection, especially to people you love. Touch has fallen by the wayside in our society, to a tragic degree. Don't let that happen to you." Then the doctor looked up, smiling widely. "But don't go telling your parent I gave you permission to take liberties with that girlfriend of yours."
Jesse felt the blood rushing to his face and neck with embarrassment.
- - - - - - - - - - -
After the cars were unpacked, the rooms assigned, lunch eaten, house rules agreed upon, strict swimming rules laid out and agreed upon, the parents sent everyone off to the beach. Ellie and Brenda didn't bother changing; the older girls nearly fell over each other trying to get to the water first. Comically, they returned a couple minutes later searching for flip-flops and complaining of sand burning their feet.
Jesse, having intentionally shut himself away in his room after speaking with his parents, reappeared. He found Leslie holding Jimmy in the huge kitchen.
"Hey, Les... want to go down to the beach...with me?"
Leslie smiled. "Sure! Let me get changed...or are we just walking?"
"Let's go in...If that's ok with you?"
"'K...you changing, or wearing that into the water," asked Leslie, pointing to his cut-offs.
"Oh, yeah," said Jesse sheepishly, running off to unpack his suit.
Five minutes later they met on the deck by the pool. The ninety-nine degree temperature, one hundred percent humidity, and relentlessly beating sun was practically a physical blow after the chilly indoor air, so they moved into the shade provided by the house and started applying suntan lotion. Still annoyed with himself for his earlier action, and a little ashamed of his boldness, Jesse walked around, avoiding his friend, while applying the lotion to his arms, legs, and face. He knew, however, that he would have to physically face her eventually, but also feared he would gawk like a pervert seeing her in a bathing suit.
Shortly she called him over and he walked to her, his head looking down. But Leslie gave every indication that nothing awkward had happened between them and simply turned her back to him, holding her hair off her shoulders. Jesse was happy to see her wearing a one-piece. It still showed a lot more of her body than he'd seen in a while, but neither did it panic him.
When he finished, Jesse automatically turned his back to her and she returned the favor.
"God it's hot out here," griped Leslie, taking Jesse's hand like she always had when a little impatient with him.
Even with sandals and flip-flops, their feet still became uncomfortably hot when they stepped off the walkway and into the deep dry sand at the border between the dunes and the beach. When they had advanced a little further, to the point where the sand was more firm, both stopped and surveyed the area. Even with sunglasses on, Jesse had to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun coming off the sand and water. He wondered why he hadn't taken a cap like Leslie was wearing.
"Here, dummy." As if she'd read his mind, Leslie removed her cap and placed it on Jesse's head. It didn't fit. She took it off and adjusted the strap. The second try worked.
"Better?"
"Yeah, um, thanks," he said, feeling a bit fussed over and embarrassed. It seemed to be taking great effort to focus on any one thing. When they put down their towels and other items, Jesse had to concentrate on what he was doing. Dr. Carlson had told him he would experience these brief disorienting moments, and, as he had also said, it vanished in an instant and he was himself, wholly, again.
Kicking off his sandals, Jesse saw Leslie waiting for him a few steps ahead, smiling and holding out her hands. And even though he had, only minutes before, seen the suit and put lotion on her back, he just now saw her from the front. A different sort of disorientation seemed to muddle his brain for a moment. Leslie had changed since the last time he'd seen her in a swimsuit, almost a year before. He had to force his head and eyes up and keep from staring. Swallowing hard, he took her hand and proceeded to the water.
Shortly after reaching the water's edge, Jesse did recall something about the beach from two years before – the first time he had ever seen the Atlantic: The water was cold. He and Leslie exchanged wide-eyed looks as the remnants of a wave washed over their ankles. Logic told both that the water had to be above seventy degrees, but that was nearly a thirty-degree drop from the air and it chilled them briefly. Then, as they started moving, the water became more bearable and it was only when it reached levels that are more sensitive on their body was there further hesitation.
Behind them, Ellie and Brenda were trying a boogie-board Mr. Burke had purchased on a pre-vacation shopping spree that would one day become a Burke family legend, Leslie was quite sure. (No matter how many times her mother had said to buy things at the beach, he didn't listen. The result being many items left home because they would not fit in the rented van.) Both girls seemed, at one point experts, at other times clownish. More than once, each came up from the surf with a mouthful of sand, nearly choking from laughing so hard.
Jimmy was sitting at the edge of the surf throwing sand and water with a plastic shovel, another one of Mr. Burke's purchases, while his father sat next to him trying to teach the near-toddler how to build a sand castle. Jimmy, it was obvious, was far more interested in throwing sand than building with it.
Behind them, May and Joyce Ann each had a much sturdier shovel and were digging what appeared to be a grave, or the world's largest sandcastle moat. Jesse and Leslie debated which it was as the waves broke on their backs.
Further, up towards the dunes, Jesse's parents had set up a portable carrier for Brian, well shaded. His mother was fanning the baby. Mrs. Burke was on the other side of the carrier, relaxing and drinking a bottle of water. When Jesse noticed his father, he told Leslie to look at the man's face, and asked if it looked familiar.
"YES! Oh my gosh, Jess! He looks just like you did at Virginia Beach when you first saw the ocean." They both laughed gaily about it, and again later when Jesse pointed out the dazed look on his father's face as he was falling asleep.
Their attention focused on the shore, a large wave broke over their shoulders, forcing both under water. Jesse kept his hold on Leslie's hand and pulled her up. Both laughed hysterically. All his earlier discomfort and anxiety was washed away by the one wave. Here, at last, was the Jesse and Leslie he was so comfortable with. Hearing a rush of approaching water both instantly turned and dove into the next large wave before it could clobber them. And in the trough of the third breaker, Leslie pulled Jesse to her and kissed him, partly hidden behind the wall of water, holding his head so he couldn't pull away, an unnecessary precaution.
Stunned and delighted, Jesse smiled like he hadn't in months when they broke apart. His girlfriend wore a similar look. And then Jesse saw what he never in his life thought he would see: Ellie had seen them kiss, and for a second she had a look of surprise, then she smiled at Jesse, or both of them, and went back to her sister who was in the process of spitting out a mouthful of sand and shells.
Floating on the water, the sand just within reach of Leslie's feet, the kids moved up and down in the rhythm of the surf, holding one or two hands as necessary. Talking now and then; kissing when a large wave gave them privacy. Both truly content with being close for what seemed the first time in months.
- - - - - - - - - - -
The typical afternoon summer thunderstorm rolled in about three-thirty and both families, though well warned of the approaching downpour, scrambled to gather their things and run back to their estate, as Mary had named it. They gathered in the shelter under the house and took turns rinsing sand out of their hair, suits, and seemingly every orifice of their body as the thunder and rain crashed and splashed around them. Mrs. Aarons dutifully inspected each of her children for sunburn as they exited the shower and pronounced everyone fit. It took a while, but eventually all were de-sanded, rinsed of salty water, and fit to go in and put on dry clothes in preparation for dinner.
Jimmy and Brian were sleeping soundly as the families gathered a short time later to talk about plans for the week. In the kitchen, Judy was impressing Mary with her plan for dinner. She pulled a number of frozen Tupperware containers from a cooler and put them in the large double sink, running warm water over them.
"Joan gave me this idea. I cooked up the spaghetti a couple days ago and then froze the sauce and meatballs. The noodles are in that bag." She pointed to the counter. "This will take a couple hours to thaw and we'll be all set."
"We should definitely keep the men out," Mary laughed, patting her friend on the back. "They'll think we've been slaving away." Opening one of the refrigerators, Mary pulled out a bottle of rosé and a beer. "Which will it be?"
Judy laughed quietly. "I love rosé."
"Wine it is." Mary proceeded to find a corkscrew and open the bottle, occasionally kicking a cabinet door or banging a pan to let the others think they were busy. Only once did the kitchen door open when May came searching for a drink. Her mother shooed the girl out and told her to get drinks from the third fridge in the game room and to tell everyone else that, "Unless you want to make dinner, stay out of the kitchen." May trotted off happily, spreading the word.
"That should buy us an hour," said Mary, a mischievous grin spreading on her face. "Grab your drink. Did you see the side porch?"
Judy had not, so Mary led her through the master bedroom she and Jesse were using out to a small screened-in deck. The storm's more violent winds had subsided and there was a refreshing breeze from the north. Between it and the steady downpour the temperature outside had dropped to a more tolerable level. The women picked up lounge chairs and sat down to drink. And talk. Both knew they had to, and about whom they had to.
"So, you want to know about Jess's little problem?" began Mary, not wasting any time. Judy nodded but said nothing.
As best she could, Mary Aarons told her neighbor and friend the whole truth about Jesse's mental illness. When possible, she stressed the positive. Fortunately, there were more good things to emphasize than bad. It took about fifteen minutes, and then Judy began to ask her questions. Mary was prepared for the first one.
"Is what we saw Jess do to Leslie part of these alternate personalities?"
"Jude," said Mary, trying to hide her aggravation at her friend's second accusation of her son, "in short, yes, it was. But you have to look at Jess as a whole, you can't break him down into five parts and say one of his alters did this and another did that. It doesn't work that way."
Judy listened, swirling her wine in the glass and looking rather unconvinced. "But it was because of the...what did you call it...his 'Jesse alter'? It was that part of his personality which...prompted him to give that sort of kiss?"
"No, he has no dominant alters any more, and he never really did. With DID, the person is usually controlled by one of the alters, but Jess's alters never advanced that far. And a lot of that is due to Leslie."
Here was something Judy had not heard; she was taken aback. "How so?"
"Leslie's friendship – their friendship – stabilized Jess, and helped him begin to integrate the alters back into himself before they took over. She was the main reason Jess is so much better now."
"Ok...then why the three weeks in the hospital?"
"One of the alters was particularly..." she paused while trying to find the right word. "It was manifesting itself through pain: Jess's migraines. Dr. Carlson tried to work with it, but its only defense was to cause Jess more pain. They had to sedate him, and keep him lightly sedated, while working through that alter. It took almost a week of constant therapy." Pinching the bridge of her nose, Mary Aarons wished her friend would read her body language and see she didn't want to talk about it any more. But Judy did not.
"Is Jess at all dangerous?"
At this, Mary Aarons finally lost her temper.
"Hell's Bells, Judy, does he look dangerous?! If you thought he was a threat to your daughter, you would have stopped their friendship by now. So what are you getting at?"
Judy looked taken aback by the force of her friend's response. It took her a few seconds to construct an answer.
"I'm sorry, Mary, that was out of line." Mary didn't look like she believed it. "You saw them out in the water."
"Yes! Of course I saw them. For heaven's sake, Judy, they're in love! Because you and Bill had...problems at their age doesn't mean they will. Cut them some slack. You told me you trusted them...both. Why are things different now?"
Judy stood and paced the small deck for a minute; Mary could tell she was fighting back tears, but whatever else was developing in her head was impossible to discern.
"Please sit down, Jude," said Mary, patting the chair. She waited until she did so. "I trust them completely; I'd have let them share a room if...hang on, I didn't say share a bed. That room with the bunk beds and no door would have worked. But I respect your caution and concern. I wish you'd show the same respect for Jess."
"It's hard, Mary...very hard...to let them be like they are, after what I went through." Judy's voice was very quiet; obviously still fighting ghosts from her teen years.
"They know their limits, we've talked about that. We need to let them be themselves until they prove unworthy of that trust." Mary delivered the statement as a challenge. Judy rose again and emptied her wine glass in one long pull. Tapping her foot nervously, she finally agreed.
Mary glanced at her watch. "Come on, we have a meal to prepare. Want me to make the garlic bread?"
"Sure," Judy replied quietly, accepting her friend's one-arm embrace. "Brenda looks better than I've seen her in a year. How is she doing?"
"Much improved, thanks for asking. I saw some guys her and Ellie's age a ways down the beach; they were watching the girls fall in the surf. Seemed to find it amusing."
Laughing, the two mothers returned to prepare the spaghetti meal.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Mr. Aarons left for Lark Creek after church late Sunday morning, and it was obvious that he wanted stay. His wife knew, however, that he would have felt lazy if he remained during the week. She and the others bade him goodbye and went back inside to prepare for another day by the ocean.
There were more people about that afternoon, with the Sunday to Saturday renters now in town. For the most part, at least to begin with, Leslie and Jesse kept to themselves. There were children (and parents) at or near everyone else's age and it quickly became difficult to keep tabs on their entire group. Brenda and Ellie waved and headed a couple hundred yards south with a gaggle of boys and girls trying to surf in the pathetically small waves.
May and Joyce were playing with the family two houses down who were building enormous sand castles with full-sized shovels and spades. Two older girls, in their early to mid teens, provided the muscle while their two younger siblings worked with the Aarons youngsters forming the decorative walls, turrets, and buildings – all made from buckets of damp sand. It was easily big enough for Jimmy and Eddie, the other family's one year old, to sit inside and happily watch their siblings do the work. Jesse and Leslie wandered over to watch after playing in the water, the waves being too small to do anything more than shove more sand into their bathing suit. Leslie introduced herself the two girls and offered to take a turn digging, but she was politely turned down. She hung around for a couple more minutes, but when ignored further, she went back to sun with Jesse and make disparaging comments about their less-than-friendly neighbors.
By four o'clock the weather was again threatening, and with a bit more organization than the day before the two families pulled their belongings together and headed in with the other families fleeing the rain.
The storms didn't relent until about eight that evening, so no one was inclined to walk or comb the beach for shells. The older girls were kicking a soccer ball around in the puddle-spotted court with some of the older teens they'd met; the little ones were asleep, with May close behind; the adults were sitting in the family room talking about things only they would be interested in; and Jesse and Leslie were in her room trying to watch one of the old video tapes the house had in stock. They had bickered for ten minutes before agreeing on one neither really liked. After fifteen minutes, they ended up turning it off and lay talking, Jesse lying on the floor, his body resting on some of the oversized pillows from the game room, and Leslie on the bed, her head hanging over the edge at an awkward-looking angle, staring down at her boyfriend. Both had humorously agreed on the physical separation to spare themselves the wrath of one or more parent.
"Have a good time today?" asked Leslie, overdramatically batting her eyes at Jesse.
"Yep, but the waves were too small." Both laughed. There had been very little kissing in the water due to the diminutive swells.
They talked on for an hour or so, entwining their fingers and occasionally starting silently at the other, or making goofy faces to see who would crack-up first. When they heard their parents getting up to prepare for bed, Jesse started to rise but Leslie gently held him back.
"I'm glad you're here," she whispered.
"Me, too," he responded, hoping the simple answer would adequately express his happiness. He watched Leslie's reaction and began to understand how she could feel so comfortable and confident kissing him. The urge to have a repeat performance of his last birthday celebration became instantly overwhelming.
"Bed time, you two," announced Mr. Burke, raising his eyebrows slightly at the site of the kids' odd positioning. He shot Jesse a very brief glance, chuckled, and walked away.
Jesse took a quick look behind him, got up on his knees, and both mutually leaned into a brief kiss and then a longer embrace. The sound of another approaching adult broke them apart and they quickly sat up. Jesse arched his eyebrows, offering Leslie his hand and formally shaking hers, all for the consumption of Mrs. Burke who happened to be the next adult passing by. She saw them acting up, but said nothing and walked on, smiling slightly.
"See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, tomorrow."
- - - - - - - - - - -
From Monday forward, Jesse and Leslie began their day with a long run up the beach and back. An old naval air station, two and a half miles north of their house, marked the halfway point of their jog. They were in the habit of using running as exercise and seldom talked or brought up any topic that required a response of more than a few words. The exhilaration of the physical workout pushed them, both mentally and physically, and each fed off the other's drive to do better. Leslie had told Jesse once that running was like purging her brain of the junk that had built up in it, she could then start the day with a clear head and open mind. Jesse agreed.
When they returned home, however, the restrictions of life were again present, so they took to walking the final half-mile, extending their time alone together, a practice that had started the summer before and was readopted at the Outer Banks. For both teens, that last twenty minutes of their morning routine was their most private time together. Thoughts, dreams, fears, and hopes were talked about, or, now and then, nothing was talked about. It wasn't a physically intimate part of their day, both being sweaty and tired, but it became what they would later recognize as analogous to a date: Both were with who they wanted to be with, doing what they wanted to do, and sharing what they wanted to share.
After dinner, weather and wind permitting, Jesse and Leslie took May and Joyce out to the beach to fly kites. Off in the distance they would sometimes spot the huge advertising kites, which seemed large enough to carry a child into the sky. Their own little bat-kites were nothing compared with the others, but the two young girls loved fighting with them when the wind gusted, or letting the string all the way out so you could barely see it. If the winds were too strong, the four would return to building sand castles and see how long they could make them withstand the rising tide. At nearly ten years old, May was becoming more fun to play with and she was interested in doing things they liked, too.
Brenda and Ellie continued to hang around with their group of older teens, having passed their mother's inspection and gaining her approval. Both were absent from the house more often as the week progressed, which wasn't really a problem except when Mary or Judy wanted one of them to watch a baby or two, then the responsibility fell to Jesse and Leslie.
Mid-week, the girls returned home one afternoon following a trip to the mall. They exited the house again shortly thereafter and were seen with their friends sporting new bathing suits. Ellie, the more appropriately built for a skimpy two-piece, like her mother was at nineteen, began to attract a lot more attention. Brenda, though not unattractive, was not as shapely as her older sister and had the good sense to wear something that was both alluring and more suited to her figure. Always more tolerant of the older girls, Mary Aarons said nothing about the change of apparel. Judy Burke, however, wondered how long it would be before her daughter would begin to entertain the idea of trying a bikini. But Judy's concern was more for the effect it would have on Jesse than the idea of revealing that much flesh in public. Since Leslie did not make any requests, however, the point was moot.
On their Wednesday morning run, Jesse and Leslie met up with Morgan and Toni Unger, the fourteen and fifteen year old sisters who had ignored Leslie their first day at the beach. Both were friendlier in their greeting and the two Lark Creek residents slowed down to chat with them a bit. The Ungers were starting their freshman and sophomore year at a high school in the Northern Neck of Virginia and were members of the varsity swim team, which explained the broad muscular shoulders and their ability to effortlessly shovel so much sand. By a common and nonverbal agreement, Jesse and Leslie cut their run short and invited the girls to walk the rest of the way back to their respective houses.
Morgan, the younger sister, was shier than Toni, and said little; she apparently deferred to her sister as much as possible. Toni was friendlier than a few days before, but talked harshly about everything and seldom smiled, unless you mentioned swimming. She gave the impression of bitterness, though neither Jesse nor Leslie pried to find the source. By the time they reached home, everyone seemed to have exhausted their supply of words and the two groups parted with nothing more than friendly waves. The Unger teens remained friendly but distant for the balance of the week, though all three sets of parents struck up conversations frequently and by Friday had agreed on going to dinner together and leaving the younger ones under the care of Brenda and Ellie, which meant Jesse and Leslie.
Unlike the hotel-strewn Virginia Beach area, Duck's size and low capacity for tourist drew in far fewer potential kids their age. This, combined with Unger teens' distance, brought to the forefront Jesse and Leslie's friendship with the Jacobs, whom they had not seen for a number of weeks. Thursday, Leslie approached Jesse with a plan to call Grace and try to talk them into coming down, at least for a few days, the following week. It would require some fence mending, as Jesse and Tom had not left on the best of terms. But he agreed and as Leslie went to find Grace's cell phone number, Jesse went to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Burke. Ten minutes later, they were dialing.
Grace answered after seven rings, (she seldom used voice-mail,) and recognizing the dialed number, launched directly into exuberant conversation with Leslie, who was trying hard not to laugh at her friend's obvious joy. A couple minutes later she had to break in and then began talking nonstop about the beach and house and all the things they were doing. Bored, Jesse sat on a chair overdramatically yawning at his girlfriend. She usually replied by sticking out her tongue. Finally, Leslie told him to go away, whereupon Jesse heard Grace asking who was there….was Jesse staying both weeks…et cetera.
Following the lengthy conversation with her friend, Leslie handed the phone to Jesse and told him to talk to Tom. Far fewer syllables and lively conversation followed, but the boys were, by the time they finished, in better spirits, all agreeing their Tidewater-based friends should come to the Outer Banks, if possible. With the easy part over, both parties agreed to speak with their parent(s) and make the necessary arrangements. That took a couple more calls, but Mr. Jacobs had seen his kids' lack of enthusiasm for remaining in the Newport News area much longer and was planning to take them to Wilmington for a few days before heading back to Lark Creek. He happily agreed to drop the kids off on his way down the coast, but politely refused to stay himself. Both Mary and Judy had talked with him and felt it would work and Bill proceeded to make arrangements to meet the Jacobs at Elizabeth City. With the Aarons departing after a week (leaving Jesse behind,) it added a promise of excitement to Jesse's and the Burkes' second week.
The remainder of the first week passed quietly. Friday morning a cool rain settled over the area and everyone stayed indoors, or in the hot tub, the entire day. The older girls were going out that evening to a movie with their friends, the adults had their planned dinner date with the Ungers, which left Jesse and Leslie in charge of May and Joyce Aarons, Jimmy Burke, and Terry and Melissa Unger. Jesse also insisted that Brian, only two months old, stay with him.
The parents were away three hours, and all went well back at the house. Morgan and Toni had stopped by, but left after a brief visit. May was watching a Thomas the Tank Engine video with Melissa. Terry was conked-out in the playpen. Jimmy was sleeping soundly on his sister's chest, and Brian on Jesse's, while the teens sat next to each other on the large sofa, talking and looking through a magazine of area attractions.
Mary went looking for the children upon her return and was moved by the love and affection Jesse had for his brother, and had shown him from the day he was born. But she was also not blind to the picture of her son and his girlfriend sitting together, each with a baby. As Mary was stopped on the stairs watching them, Judy came up from behind and took in the scene. She said nothing. Seeing his mother, Jesse reluctantly turned Brian over to her, noting that he needed to be changed.
The rain continued to fall all through Saturday and the inadequate network of roads all up and down the Outer Banks were clogged with vacationers whose week was up, or who were leaving early due to the weather. It also made the Aarons' departure Sunday morning that much easier. Brenda and Ellie had bid teary farewells to their friends the evening before and moped around the house making motions like they were fulfilling their cleaning obligations. May was giving Jesse and Leslie goodbye hugs as her brother told her that she would soon be having friends taking her to the beach. Brian, asleep, was already in the car as Mary Aarons bade her friends goodbye, with many a thank you added in. Saving her eldest son for last, she took him aside and told him to behave himself and call if he had any questions or problems. Jesse promised he would.
With on final wave, the bulk of the Aarons family began the long ride home.
- - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: This chapter was becoming a monster, with almost 20k words, so I split it in two. The second part should be out shortly.
Thank you for reading, especially those who have left reviews.