Early February, 1994:

Jon was at Samuel's house. Him and Sam were playing Cowboys.

"Freeze!" Samuel said.

"Never!" Jon said. He was playing the bad guy.

"I will shoot you in the foot!" Sam said.

"Ha! You missed!" Jon said.

Sam's mother knocked on the door.

"Sam? Damien is here," she said.

Damien opened the door and ran towards Sam. Damien tackled Sam down and started tickling him.

"Gotcha!" Damien said.

"I'm gonna get you!" Sam said.

Damien got off of Sam and helped him up.

"Damien, this is Jon. Jon, this is Damien. Damien is the man from Mars," Sam said.

"Hi," Damien said, holding out a hand.

"...Hi...," Jon said. He shook Damien's hand.

"It's nice to meet you," Damien said.

"Nice to meet you, too," Jon said.

Jon wasn't used to being around too many strangers but Damien seemed okay for the most part.

Jon, Sam, and Damien continued playing Cowboys.


Present:

"This is a picture of Sam at the water park. My goodness, he was too funny that day," Sam's grandmother said.

Jon had decided to pay Samuel's grandmother a visit. She was more than happy to have met him.

"He had the funniest looks," Jon said.

"He did. Oh, how I miss my grandson so much," Sam's grandmother said.

"I miss him, too," Jon said.

"I know it was hard for you to have seen Samuel die. I honestly didn't know how to cope with everything. How did you cope?"

"I...For a while I would drink. The memories of Sam and the war in particular was too much for me to bear. I've learned how to deal with things in a more positive way thanks to therapy."

"I should do that."

"Ms. Carter, how often do you visit Sam's grave?"

"Every Sunday. How often do you visit his grave?"

"Whenever I have time to myself. Most of the time I'm working and taking care of my wife and my children."

"Oh! How many children do you have?"

"Four. Sam and my grandparents told me that I'd end up having four kids. I thought everyone was kidding but they weren't. Two boys and two girls. I have twins. A boy and a girl."

"I know you love your family dearly."

"I do. We've been through some tough times but we're still together."

"How long have you been married for?"

"10 years."

"Samuel wanted a family of his own once he was finished serving in the Army. Thank you for being a good friend to him. And don't blame yourself for his murder. It wasn't your fault."

"I know...it wasn't. I'll remember that. Thank you, Ms. Carter."


Jackie looked out of the window and saw Jon coming up the stairs. She opened the door but not the screen.

"What do you want?" she said.

"Let me in, Jackie," Jon said.

"It's your fault Adriana almost killed Aiden," Jackie said. She opened the screen door and let Jon in.

Jon stopped and looked at her.

"You shut up. You don't know what me and Adriana have been through," Jon said.

"I know that my cousin damn near killed her own child. I always knew Adriana weird but when she met you? She just lost her damn mind!" Jackie said.

"You need to shut the fuck up right now," Jon threatened.

"What are you going to do this time? Choke me like you did last time?"

"I will."

"Just go."

"Get out of my way, you filthy rat."

Jon bypassed Jackie before he hit her in the face. Jon found Adriana in the kitchen baking cookies.

"Hey!" she said.

"Grandma and grandpa left you all alone with that witch?" Jon said.

"Gus is in the bathroom. The kids are in the spare room," Adriana said.

"You okay?" Jon asked.

"I am. I took my medicine right on time today," Adriana said. "I'm feeling better. Slowly."

"You still feel bad about what happened?" Jon asked.

Adriana closed the oven and took her mittens off. She turned and looked at her husband.

"I know you said I'm a good person. But...I'm not...I still feel bad for what I did," Adriana said.

Jackie came in the kitchen and went to the fridge.

"What're you two going on about?" she asked. "I hope you're telling Jonathan that you want a divorce from him."

"Stop it, Jackie," Adriana said. "Gosh, why do you have to be so cruel? Just because your husband left you doesn't mean you have to be so damn evil towards me and Jon."

"Adriana, you were weird when you were young and when you married this guy, you became even more weird. You sure do have an interesting choice in men," Jackie said.

"I really want to hit you upside your head," Jon said.

"You caught me off guard last time. I can't believe you actually hit me and choked me. But then again, you're used to using Adriana as a pushing bag when you get upset," Jackie continued. "Your excuse is that you're still suffering from PTSD. I'm sorry that happened to you but you don't need to take your frustrations out on Adriana. And Adriana, you're dumb for letting him do that. Hell, as much as I love my little cousins, you're a damn fool for letting him knock you up three times. Good thing you didn't die in childbirth."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you saying all of this?" Adriana said. Her eyes will beginning to fill with tears.

"Look, I overhead grandma and grandpa talking about what was happening with you two in Ohio. Now, you already know how I feel about Jonathan. So when I heard what was happening, that made me even more bitter towards him. He's come between us ever since we were little. Gosh, I wish his mother did abort him."

Jon snapped and went over to Jackie. Jon pushed her up against the wall and stared intensely into her eyes.

"Jonathan!" Adriana said.

She grabbed his arm just in case he was about to swing on Jackie. Which he wanted to do.

"Shut. Your. Mouth," Jon said. "You don't know what the fuck I've been through in my life. You may have overhead some things but you weren't there to witness any of it. Go find a man and bug him. Before I do something to you that I won't regret."

"Jonathan, she's not worth it," Adriana said, quietly.

Jon slowly backed up away from Jackie. Jackie almost dropped the water bottle she had in her hand when she bolted out of the kitchen.

"You better get your cousin before I get her again," Jon muttered.

"Please, Jonathan. Don't do anything you'll regret," Adriana said. "Promise me that you won't."

Jon looked right into his wife's blue eyes. Her eyes were round and dreamy. Jon could stare into her eyes all day.

"I promise," Jon said.

"Thank you. Now, help me finish making these cookies!" Adriana said.


Jon took Adriana to a carnival. It was going to be in town for the entire weekend. Jon was going to bring the children the next day. But for now, it was just him and Adriana. Jon had bought a panda for Adriana. She named it Dimpleface, much to Jon's chagrin. The two of them stopped to get some ice cream and sat at a table to enjoy it.

"You know, I haven't asked you how work is going," Adriana said.

"Shit," Jon responded.

"You want to punch your boss, huh?" Adriana said.

"Yep," Jon said.

"Please, Jonathan. Control your temper," Adriana said.

"I've been doing that for quite some time. Jackie was about to get her neck snapped in two," Jon said. "Seriously, what's her problem?"

"She's jealous of me," Adriana said. "Jealous of us."

"If she would stop being a bitch, she would have someone right now," Jon said.

"No matter how many times I try to be nice to her...it seems like it's no use to be nice to her. She's jealous of me but she doesn't hate me. But she does treat me like...an animal at times."

"That's not love."

Adriana finished her ice cream and was silent for a bit. Jon wiped some ice cream off of Adriana's chin.

"No matter how many times you might make me mad, that doesn't mean I'm going to treat you like an animal. Jackie is the one that needs to be caged somewhere in a zoo," Jon said.

Adriana giggled.

"I just...I can't bring myself to hate someone. I still love her, you know? She's still family," Adriana said.

"Understandable. But you don't have to put up with her bullshit," Jon said.

"You're right. Say, where else are you going to take me today?"


Jon waited patiently as Adriana got her nails done. He was really pampering her today. Adriana got simple french tips with a flower decoration on her ring fingers. Jon was looking at all of the different nail polishes on the shelf.

'How many of these does a woman need?' Jon thought to himself. But he then remembered how Adriana has an entire bag full of nail polish at home. 'Oh.'

"Finished," Adriana said.

Jon turned around and saw Adriana's fingers.

"They look as lovely as you," Jon said.

"Oh, stop it!" Adriana said.

The two of them rode to the park. Even though it was nippy outside, the park still looked beautiful.

"You what I've been thinking about?" Adriana said.

"What is it?" Jon said.

"Renewing our wedding vows."

"I would love to do that."

"Really?"

"Of course. I still remember the day I married you. One of the best days of my life."

"I was so nervous. I was even nervous when I was pregnant with J.J. To be honest, I was actually scared."

"I was scared when you went into labor. Good thing I got there in time to see our son enter into this world. Even though...um...the scenery wasn't all that great."

Adriana chuckled.

"It freaked you out so much. You almost fainted."

"I know. But when the doctors told me that they had to put Jasmine in an incubator because she wasn't breathing on her own...that really scared me. I've never been so scared in my life."

"Now she's as healthy as a bull. Can't stop her now."

"Just like you can't stop Aiden. Ever since he started karate, the boy has been trying to beat me up ever since. But at least he's happy now."

"What about J.J.? I know Maddy is playing baseball."

"J.J. has joined the chess club at his school. He really likes it."

"I need a hobby."

"You do have one."

"Which is?"

"Isn't it obvious? Writing and drawing. And you like to bake. Remember that chocolate cake you baked for dessert?"

"Yes."

"It was delicious. You don't see it, but whenever you bake you have a huge smile over your face."

"I do?"

"Yup. You always get a gleam in your eye. I've seen it since I first met you."

"We both know each other so well. Pretty hard to keep a secret from each other."

"I hope you don't have any secrets to keep from me."

"I don't. Why would you say that?"

"I just...I'm sorry."

Adriana sighed.

"No...it's fine. I don't blame you for feeling the way you do."

"I trust you. Despite whatever happened in the past, I still trust you. You're my wife and I'll love you forever, dammit."

Jon grabbed Adriana and smashed his lips against hers. She moaned softly and held Jon's face in her hands. This intimate moment was cut short when Jon's phone went off. He let it ring a few times.

"Mmm!" Adriana said.

She had to break the kiss before Jon sucked her lips up.

"Answer your phone, babe," she said.

Jon reached into his pocket and whipped out his phone. He answered it.

"Hello?"

Adriana watched as a smile appeared on Jon's face.

"Okay, Gus. Thank you. Love you, too. Bye."

Jon hung up the phone.

"Gus made us chocolate chip cookies. I swear if anyone else makes me sweets, I'm not going to have this six pack for long."

"Even if you didn't have it, you'd still look amazing."

"I'm sure I would."

Jon and Adriana resumed their intimate moment for the next few minutes before getting back on Jon's bike and riding off.