A/N: UPDATED UPDATED UPDATED (does happy dance). This chapter again focuses on Vanessa and Jimmy, and there's a surprising twist at the end. neonnbible, your wish is my command: ABRACADABRA!

Don't own them, never will, original characters are mine, blah blah yada.

Chapter 37

November 25th, 1989

"Headstrong and stubborn, just like his dad," Jimmy's father, Donald, laughed as he bounced a two year old David on his lap.

"Thanks…" Jimmy chuckled as he watched his father with his son. He hadn't seen his father happy since Jimmy's mother Margaret had passed away. Vanessa held a camera in the hands and aimed it at Donald and David. It clicked and flashed.

"There we go," Vanessa smiled and got up to stand. Putting the camera down on the table, she covered her eyes and smiled.

"Peek a boo…" she cooed.

"Is that Mommy?" Donald whispered. "Yes it is. It's Mommy."

"Mama!" David babbled, holding his arms out to her. "Mama, Mama, Mama."

Donald chuckled. "I guess he wants to see you." Handing the little boy to his mother, Donald stood up as Jimmy clasped his shoulder. "Come on Pop, let's go out for coffee."

"Vanessa, are you going to be all right here?" Donald asked.

"Oh you two go ahead…" she insisted, bouncing David in her arms. "David and I will find something to do, won't we?" David nodded his head. "What do you want to do?"

"Car!" David answered.

"You want to go for a ride in the car?"

"No! Car!" David pulled out a small toy car from his pocket and waved it in her face. "Play car!"

"Oh, you want to play cars…" Vanessa finally understood. She sat down on the floor with him and reached over to grab his plastic toy box full of Matchbox cars. "Okay, we'll play cars." She took a handful of the toys and set them down on the floor. "Show me what to do…" she waited.

"Daddy and Papa go bye-bye!" David insisted, pointing to Jimmy and Donald. Donald had always been 'Papa', since Herb had taken the title of 'Grandpa Herb' and Patti had taken a liking to 'Nana'. David's first word had been 'Papa'. At first Jimmy thought David was talking about him, and then he saw David pointing at Donald. It had stuck ever since.

Impressive sentence. Jimmy made a face at his son.

"Mommy and David time now!" he insisted again.

She was surprised David knew how to pronounce his name so well. She saw Jimmy and Donald turn and leave. When his car pulled away, David immediately set to work arranging his cars just right.

"Can Mommy have a turn?"

"David's turn now!" he hugged the car to his chest.

"David…" Vanessa sat him in her lap. "If you are not going to share your toys than Mommy is going to go do some clothes washing." Vanessa moved to stand up.

"No Mommy!" David crawled toward her as fast as he could and gripped her pant leg. "Mommy stay! Look, I share my toys!" he unwound his fingers and presented her with a small blue car. "Mommy stay? Play cars?"

"Okay…" Vanessa sat back down and took the car from David's chubby little hand.

Jimmy and Donald sat together in a small coffee shop just down the road from the house. It was unusually quiet for a Saturday afternoon, probably because it was later in the morning, and everyone was either at the Gophers hockey game or outside in the snow because it was so nice.

"So Dad," Jimmy started as they found a corner to sit in. "I got a call yesterday…"

"Yeah?" Donald sat down with his son. "From who?"

"Something called Hat Trick? You know 'em?"

Donald shook his head.

"Up in Norton."

Donald waited.

"They said they heard about me from Herb of all people, and they want me as part of their team of motivational speakers, and they said something about business development."

He saw his father nod. "So why don't you take it?"

"Because I haven't told Vanessa about it yet." Jimmy answered, taking a gulp of coffee. He'd certainly had better, but this would do.

"Why not?"

"She's lived in St. Paul all her life, close to Herb and Patti," Jimmy protested. "How can I ask her to uproot?"

"She didn't go with you to Atlanta, did she?"

She shook her head. "I wasn't really playing much. She was too sick."

Donald waited again.

"When I asked to be traded to Minnesota, it was a little easier, but she was still pretty broken up," he kept going. "And when we brought David home we said we were going to stay in Minnesota."

Donald considered the facts.

"She's your wife, Jimmy," he answered. "If you present her with the facts, and the opportunity, I think she'll be reasonable about it." Donald leaned forward and looked his son in the eyes. "She moved out to Boston when you were first together, didn't she?"

Jimmy nodded.

"Why wouldn't she do that now?"

"Because now we have David to think about…"

"Well Jimmy, of course it's going to take a while," Donald told him. "If this job is going to feed your family, you should really talk to Vanessa, and see what she thinks."

Jimmy nodded, and drove his father to the airport. The two of them had decided it was best to let David think his grandfather was heading out for coffee, while he was really going home.

After seeing his father off safely, Jimmy drove back home and sat his wife down. It was well after 9:00, and David was asleep.

"Honey, I got a call from Boston yesterday," he started.

"Boston?" she replied. "What's in Boston?" she asked. "Besides your dad, I mean?"

"There's a company called Hat Trick."

"Nice name…"

"It's a promotional marketing company," he answered. "And they want me as a motivational speaker and for business development."

"So you're saying we'd have to move out to Massachusetts?"

"I won't take it if you want to stay in St. Paul…" he offered.

"Oh Jim," her hand went to her forehead. "I don't know."

"But this is a great opportunity!" he nearly slammed his hands on the table. "Going back to Massachusetts would be a wonderful experience for David!"

"He's two years old!" she protested. "He won't even remember Boston, even if we stay for a year!"

"He's not going to remember St. Paul either!" Jimmy answered. "The Hat Trick Group pays well, we have a chance to travel, and we're close to my family."

"What about my family?" Vanessa protested.

"I could ask you the same question!" his voice was raised. "We've lived near Herb and Patti for years! They get to see David almost every day! My dad has only seen David two, maybe three times in the past two years!" there were tears coming to his eyes. "My sisters have never met him! My younger brothers only have pictures!"

"I don't want them near him!" she shouted back.

Jimmy felt that blow, and it hurt.

"Why the hell not? What is so unappealing about my family that you want to keep our son away from them?"

She had no answer. He could see her mouth moving, searching for the right words.

"And another thing!" he continued, struggling to keep his anger under control. "I should have some say in what happens to our son! The last time I checked, my name was also on the birth certificate. David's last name is Craig. Not Brooks, not Brooks-Craig, but Craig."

She finally found her voice.

"I can't believe you would discount me like that!"

"I'm not discounting you!" Jimmy answered, his hands balling into fists. "I feel like this would be good for all of us!"

"I don't want to leave my job!" Vanessa had worked as a reporter for the St. Paul Tribune since before they had brought David home. She enjoyed it immensely, and was not sure if she would be able to find another job in Boston.

"There are plenty of newspapers in Massachusetts, especially in North Easton."

"I'm not going back to North Easton!"

"You told me you loved it!"

"I did. But we're too attached to St. Paul now!" she answered. "Robbie and Erica and the girls are here! What do we say to them?"

"That our work has taken us to North Easton," Jimmy told her. "Rob's a retired hockey player, and he's the Director of Institutional Trading at ThinkEquity Partners. You know that. She traveled everywhere for figure skating, and somehow they made it work. They'll understand if we go."

She groaned. "I don't want to talk about this anymore tonight…" she got up and went toward the stairs. "Oh, and make yourself comfortable, you're sleeping on the couch."

Jimmy rolled his eyes and went to said couch. It was going to be a long night.

A few minutes later he heard a soft knock at the door. Getting up, he went to the front door and looked through the peephole.

Seeing who it was, he opened the door.

It was none other than Steve Christoff.