It had been six months since Racetrack had watched his sister walk out of
his life, six months of searching every alley of New York and racing after
any lead he could find. After yet another failed attempt, Racetrack threw
his few remaining papers angrily to the floor of the Lodging House and
curtly told Kloppman to use them for fuel for the fire. The other newsies
eyed Racetrack warily as he paced the floor like a caged animal - today's
lead had really seemed like something..until it turned out to be yet
another broken family trying to get on the boat "back home" or looking in
one of the many tenement buildings Race could remember from his (and
Janey's) scattered childhood. Disgusted with himself for being so gullible
when it came to his family, he flopped onto his bunk and folded his arms
behind his head.
Jack pushed himself away from the bedpost he'd been leaning on, listening to yet another of Mush's infamous nights. Cautiously he approached Racetrack, who'd been consumed with finding his family again. He still sold papers, if only because he had to earn money somehow, but if he stopped by the tracks, it was to talk to a source and as far as Jack knew, he hadn't played a single hand of poker since he'd lost to his sister. When he was in a particularly bad mood, like tonight, he'd even leave the room if somebody dared to start a game.
"So where'd you go today?" Jack asked, wrapping and unwrapping his bandanna slowly as he talked.
"Searched Hell's Kitchen in the morning, then hung around the docks after lunch until Spot's boys chased me away for selling in their territory." Race rubbed his hands over his face before continuing, "Spot himself wasn't too happy with me, just a warning if he comes to talk to you."
Jack stifled a groan, "Thanks, I appreciate the heads-up." Then he steeled himself to broach the subject Race had avoided talking about since the night he'd come back to the Lodging House, bloodied up from his scuffle with Boxer and on the verge of tears with the hopelessness he'd felt through his very bones.
"So did you have any luck looking for 'em?"
Race stiffened, eyes going black with pain, "No.and Jack.I'm thinking I never will."
Sensing his friend needed something, anything to keep him going, Jack sat at the end of Race's bunk and offered his help in searching.
Race waved him off, "You helped earlier Cowboy, all the boys did.Janey's just too good. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they weren't even in the city anymore."
Jack stood up, barely missing slamming his head into the upper bunk, "What makes you say they haven't left the city already?" he asked curtly.
Race looked up, "Simple, we never lived anywhere else. Dad came through Ellis Island and never looked back, mom's family lived just outside of the city." He pulled his scuffed satchel out from the cabinet underneath his washbasin. Rifling through it he found a small sampler with some old embroidery on it. Upon a white background was a small blue house with red shutters and the words, "Family makes a house a home," while the address of a small village just outside of the city traced around the bottom.
"This was one of the first places I looked. Nothing. My mother made this just before I ran away, and I guess I stole it on my way out to remember her or something. She used to say that as long as we stuck together, it wouldn't matter where we lived, because we'd make it home." He snorted and stuffed the sampler back in his satchel. "Janey was a real bitch telling me they were going home.she knew I'd never be able to figure it out."
Jack grew thoughtful, "So you think she meant that as long as she, your brother, and your sister were together, they'd be 'home' and you had to search everywhere for them."
Race nodded morosely, "Yea, guess she really didn't want to give me a chance after all, she just wanted me to suffer."
Jack knitted his eyebrows together, trying to put everything together. He didn't honestly think Race's sister would have gone to all the trouble of meeting him that night just to get the final say in their lives. Of course, as he was constantly reminding himself, people change, so it was entirely possible that she'd done everything out of spite and cruelty. Suddenly he had a thought, "Race, you got any other family?"
Race looked surprised at the thought, "Not really, dad never talked about anybody else and we never met anybody from mom's side. She told us that they were ashamed of her marrying an immigrant."
Jack contained his impatience, "But they did exist, right?"
Race shrugged, "Yeah, Cowboy, what's your point?"
Jack sat back, triumphant, "You're the one always saying Janey is so smart, so why couldn't she have gone to stay with your mom's family?"
"If they kicked our mother out, why would Janey have gone to stay with them?"
Jack wanted to pull his hair out at Race's stubborn nature, "Race! She was working the streets! Anything's got to be better than that!"
Slowly, comprehension dawned on Racetrack, "Mom always talked about how her and her sister were real close, so while she was alive, Janey probably got the address and asked if they could come up to stay with her. Mom being so sick must've stopped 'em from leaving while she was alive, but after, Janey probably had 'em hop the first train after midnight!" Leaping off his bed, Racetrack packed what few possessions he had into his satchel and raced out of the Lodging House, stopping only to pay Kloppman the for the few day's he'd owed him. He kept running until he'd reached the trainyards, where a few months earlier he'd hopped a train into his mother's old village. Hopping this same train, he remained hidden behind barrels of brine for a little over an hour. Finally recognizing the same village he'd stopped at before, he leapt from the car he was riding in and with a practiced roll, landed safely of to one side. Excitement and hope he hadn't felt in months surged through him as he ran into the town and up to the court clerk's office. Finding it closed, he searched the outlying buildings and, finding a wide set of stairs, promptly fell asleep, thankful for the residual heat of September and dreaming of holding his little siblings in his arms again. Although one particular dream that brought a smile to his face centered around boxing Janey's ears off...
**********************************************************************
Awakened by the nudge of an boot against his side, Race blearily stumbled away from the irate businessman and focused his attention on the clerk's offices. Noticing a tall thin man in a dark business suit jangling his keys in front of the doors, he did a controlled rush up to the man and asked breathlessly, "Are you the clerk?"
The thin man peered down at the scruffy looking young man standing at the bottom of the court steps, "Yes I am," he replied coldly, "Why do you need to know?"
Racetrack calmed his breathing and tried to appear calm, "I'm looking for some my family, and the last address I have came from this town. The problem is they don't live here anymore and I was hoping to find out where they'd gone."
The thin man sighed, "I'm very busy today, is there anyway you can come back in a week?"
"No!" Race cried, then lowered his voice, slightly abashed, "I'm sorry, sir, but its very important that I find them as soon as possible and...and I'm not sure the money I have will hold me a week here."
"Fine," the clerk groused, "Come along and I'll let you search through the town records, but only on the condition that you keep everything as organized as you find it! You'll be dealing with some very important records that I will not have out of place."
"Yes sir," said Race breathlessly, bouncing on his toes with the burning excitement as he felt himself growing closer to his quarry.
********************************************************************** Six hours later, he emerged weary, but triumphant from the stacks of old ledgers and housing records. He'd finally traced the address back through the years until he'd found his mother's name. She'd lived in the house for three years before getting married and her only sister had moved away after his grandparents had died several years prior. Although there had been no forwarding address, his aunt had married a man named Bryson in the town, (Race had found the marriage records), and to his delight, had discovered that the man's parents still lived in the same house they'd inhabited for twenty years.
Quickly replacing his materials, he thanked the clerk and went into the town with two purposes on his mind, to visit the old couple, and to find some food. The latter he found at a small café, where the smell of homemade bread made his stomach rumble embarrassingly. The kindly woman behind the counter grinned at his dismayed expression and waved him on as he tried to pay for his sandwich. Tipping his slightly ragged hat in thanks, he forced himself to eat half and save the rest. Then he moved on in search of the address he'd found for his uncle's parents.
Washing his face and hands in a small pond, Racetrack stared up at the house he'd found. Larger than the Lodging House, Race began to have second thoughts about simply marching up and asking for the location of their son. But remembering the dreams he'd so enjoyed the night before, he steeled himself to walk up to the front door and ring the doorbell. Another tall, thin, and vaguely imperious looking man opened the door, arching his eyebrows as he took in Racetrack's tattered appearance.
Trying to force the street slang out of his voice, Race firmly asked to see the head of the house. The butler inched away from the door, barely allowing enough room for Race to pass, and led him inside.
*********************************************************************
45 minutes later, Racetrack was not so cordially escorted out of the rear door to the mansion, sweat pouring from his brow and a dark scowl on his face. However, as soon as he'd left the property, that same scowl was replaced by a broad grin. His uncle's father had grilled him until he no longer knew what he was saying, eventually decided not to give Racetrack the address, and abandoned him in his richly furnished study with orders not to move until the butler had shown him the door. Angered by the blatant dismissal, Racetrack's eyes had scanned the papers littering the wide desk, until he saw a letter beginning with, "Father" snatching the envelope just as the butler appeared, he'd plastered a disappointed scowl on his face and allowed himself to be shown to the door.
Smoothing the envelope he'd crushed against his side, Racetrack had run back to the trainyards almost giddy with excitement. The letter had come from a town about a two day's train ride away.....
**********************************************************************
Wearily, Racetrack trudged up the dirt road he'd been directed too. His money almost completely spent, he'd have to find someplace to make a few cents just to make it back to the city. Rounding a bend he saw a large wooden frame house sitting up on a hill, with toys scattered all around a wide porch. There were glass windows with big white draperies behind them, and a tall stone chimney streaming white smoke. A familiar face was profiled behind those draperies, albeit a bit softer and fuller than he'd last seen it. As if knowing she was being watched, Janey turned to the window and stared out at him, clutching the base of the window for support. Suddenly she disappeared, and grinning, he ran up the rocky drive. Before he'd made it halfway up the door to the house flew open and two small figures rocketed out the door towards him. Hitting him at such force that he tumbled backwards, Patricia and William hugged him around the waist and neck with such force that he thought he'd die happy from lack of breath. Rolling them onto the grass, the three siblings tried to simultaneously hug, laugh, talk, and play. Eventually resulting in the two little ones pinning Race by sitting on his chest and legs, Race felt his very soul filling with the life he thought he'd lost that night over six months ago. Contented to lay in the warm grass, answering William's chattering questions, Patricia's shy ones, and asking some of his own, he was surprised when a grown woman kneeled down in the grass beside him. Sliding the two children into his lap, he sat up and held out his hand, "Nickolas Higgins, but my friends call me Racetrack."
The petite woman took his hand in hers and shook it, "Your aunt, Nelly Bryson, its very nice to meet you" she said warmly.
"Where's Janey?" asked Racetrack suddenly, looking towards the house expectantly.
"Nickol..Racetrack," said his aunt, "When Janey came to us six months ago, she was beginning to show signs of being.with child."
Paling, Race looked towards the window he'd seen Janey staring out at him from, "Is she ok?"
His aunt smiled, "Yes, she's doing very well. Unfortunately children do pick the worst times to decide they want to come into this world and your niece or nephew decided you walking up our drive was his signal. Janey's just gone into heavy contractions, so will be in bed until her child arrives. I need to get back with her now, but if you'd like to keep Patty and William occupied for awhile, I'll come and get you if you're needed."
Feeling helpless, Racetrack nodded mutely, and allowed himself to be pulled towards the toys his siblings wanted to show him. They were joined by another child, about four years old, and the group played until it had grown quite dark. Then they marched inside and the three children showed Racetrack around the bottom level of the house. They had all just settled in front of a large fireplace when a piercing scream erupted from the upper level.
In one swift movement Racetrack was on his feet and running up the stairs towards the scream. Finding the door ajar he burst into the room to find his newborn nephew being cleaned and wrapped in a blanket by his aunt and another woman. Both women stared at him, but his attention immediately went to the pale, sweaty figure lying on the bed. Grasping her hand, he began stroking her wet hair and calling her name, "Janey? C'mon Janey, open your eyes."
"No" she replied grumpily.
Relieved, he sank his head on her bedsheets and offered up a quick prayer to whichever god had been with his sister throughout her ordeal. Grinning he looked up and into the eyes which had seemed so cold and hard to him only half a year ago, but now looked warm and accepting.
"You found us." she whispered happily.
"Yea," said Race, his tone then taking on a teasing tone, "and I was most upset to find my triumphant return upstaged by your son."
"First thing we'll teach him to do is tell time so it never happens again." Janey grinned down at him.
Race mock-frowned, "Well hopefully it'll never have to," he said, and just as Janey's eyes started to well with tears: "I doubt you're even able to give birth to him a second time."
She laughed and the sound again filled Race's heart and soul with joy. Nelly then moved forward with the baby and placed it into Janey's arms. Race kissed her on the forehead, wrinkled his nose and whispered in her ear, "You stink little sis."
She grabbed his hand, "You meant what you said about it never happening again?" She looked small...and scared. Race nodded, "I'll tie up some loose ends in New York and then we'll figure out something for me to do up here." Suddenly remembering his manners he turned to his aunt, "That is....um...if you don't mind me asking Au...um...Nel...um..Mrs. Bryson, would you object to me staying here until I find somewhere else to go?"
Nelly laughed, "You can stay as long as you like Nickolas, you four are all I've got left of my sister, and there is nothing else quite like family to make a house a home."
Race grinned with relief. "However," she continued, as he quickly stopped grinning, "my first request is that you and your sister both take care of one tiny detail."
"What's that," he asked warily.
"Go take a bath."
***********************************************************************
A bit cheesy, but I wanted some sort of "happily ever after." Sorry it took so long, but many thanks to those people who bugged me into remembering this was still on my computer. You know who you are. Please review!
Jack pushed himself away from the bedpost he'd been leaning on, listening to yet another of Mush's infamous nights. Cautiously he approached Racetrack, who'd been consumed with finding his family again. He still sold papers, if only because he had to earn money somehow, but if he stopped by the tracks, it was to talk to a source and as far as Jack knew, he hadn't played a single hand of poker since he'd lost to his sister. When he was in a particularly bad mood, like tonight, he'd even leave the room if somebody dared to start a game.
"So where'd you go today?" Jack asked, wrapping and unwrapping his bandanna slowly as he talked.
"Searched Hell's Kitchen in the morning, then hung around the docks after lunch until Spot's boys chased me away for selling in their territory." Race rubbed his hands over his face before continuing, "Spot himself wasn't too happy with me, just a warning if he comes to talk to you."
Jack stifled a groan, "Thanks, I appreciate the heads-up." Then he steeled himself to broach the subject Race had avoided talking about since the night he'd come back to the Lodging House, bloodied up from his scuffle with Boxer and on the verge of tears with the hopelessness he'd felt through his very bones.
"So did you have any luck looking for 'em?"
Race stiffened, eyes going black with pain, "No.and Jack.I'm thinking I never will."
Sensing his friend needed something, anything to keep him going, Jack sat at the end of Race's bunk and offered his help in searching.
Race waved him off, "You helped earlier Cowboy, all the boys did.Janey's just too good. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they weren't even in the city anymore."
Jack stood up, barely missing slamming his head into the upper bunk, "What makes you say they haven't left the city already?" he asked curtly.
Race looked up, "Simple, we never lived anywhere else. Dad came through Ellis Island and never looked back, mom's family lived just outside of the city." He pulled his scuffed satchel out from the cabinet underneath his washbasin. Rifling through it he found a small sampler with some old embroidery on it. Upon a white background was a small blue house with red shutters and the words, "Family makes a house a home," while the address of a small village just outside of the city traced around the bottom.
"This was one of the first places I looked. Nothing. My mother made this just before I ran away, and I guess I stole it on my way out to remember her or something. She used to say that as long as we stuck together, it wouldn't matter where we lived, because we'd make it home." He snorted and stuffed the sampler back in his satchel. "Janey was a real bitch telling me they were going home.she knew I'd never be able to figure it out."
Jack grew thoughtful, "So you think she meant that as long as she, your brother, and your sister were together, they'd be 'home' and you had to search everywhere for them."
Race nodded morosely, "Yea, guess she really didn't want to give me a chance after all, she just wanted me to suffer."
Jack knitted his eyebrows together, trying to put everything together. He didn't honestly think Race's sister would have gone to all the trouble of meeting him that night just to get the final say in their lives. Of course, as he was constantly reminding himself, people change, so it was entirely possible that she'd done everything out of spite and cruelty. Suddenly he had a thought, "Race, you got any other family?"
Race looked surprised at the thought, "Not really, dad never talked about anybody else and we never met anybody from mom's side. She told us that they were ashamed of her marrying an immigrant."
Jack contained his impatience, "But they did exist, right?"
Race shrugged, "Yeah, Cowboy, what's your point?"
Jack sat back, triumphant, "You're the one always saying Janey is so smart, so why couldn't she have gone to stay with your mom's family?"
"If they kicked our mother out, why would Janey have gone to stay with them?"
Jack wanted to pull his hair out at Race's stubborn nature, "Race! She was working the streets! Anything's got to be better than that!"
Slowly, comprehension dawned on Racetrack, "Mom always talked about how her and her sister were real close, so while she was alive, Janey probably got the address and asked if they could come up to stay with her. Mom being so sick must've stopped 'em from leaving while she was alive, but after, Janey probably had 'em hop the first train after midnight!" Leaping off his bed, Racetrack packed what few possessions he had into his satchel and raced out of the Lodging House, stopping only to pay Kloppman the for the few day's he'd owed him. He kept running until he'd reached the trainyards, where a few months earlier he'd hopped a train into his mother's old village. Hopping this same train, he remained hidden behind barrels of brine for a little over an hour. Finally recognizing the same village he'd stopped at before, he leapt from the car he was riding in and with a practiced roll, landed safely of to one side. Excitement and hope he hadn't felt in months surged through him as he ran into the town and up to the court clerk's office. Finding it closed, he searched the outlying buildings and, finding a wide set of stairs, promptly fell asleep, thankful for the residual heat of September and dreaming of holding his little siblings in his arms again. Although one particular dream that brought a smile to his face centered around boxing Janey's ears off...
**********************************************************************
Awakened by the nudge of an boot against his side, Race blearily stumbled away from the irate businessman and focused his attention on the clerk's offices. Noticing a tall thin man in a dark business suit jangling his keys in front of the doors, he did a controlled rush up to the man and asked breathlessly, "Are you the clerk?"
The thin man peered down at the scruffy looking young man standing at the bottom of the court steps, "Yes I am," he replied coldly, "Why do you need to know?"
Racetrack calmed his breathing and tried to appear calm, "I'm looking for some my family, and the last address I have came from this town. The problem is they don't live here anymore and I was hoping to find out where they'd gone."
The thin man sighed, "I'm very busy today, is there anyway you can come back in a week?"
"No!" Race cried, then lowered his voice, slightly abashed, "I'm sorry, sir, but its very important that I find them as soon as possible and...and I'm not sure the money I have will hold me a week here."
"Fine," the clerk groused, "Come along and I'll let you search through the town records, but only on the condition that you keep everything as organized as you find it! You'll be dealing with some very important records that I will not have out of place."
"Yes sir," said Race breathlessly, bouncing on his toes with the burning excitement as he felt himself growing closer to his quarry.
********************************************************************** Six hours later, he emerged weary, but triumphant from the stacks of old ledgers and housing records. He'd finally traced the address back through the years until he'd found his mother's name. She'd lived in the house for three years before getting married and her only sister had moved away after his grandparents had died several years prior. Although there had been no forwarding address, his aunt had married a man named Bryson in the town, (Race had found the marriage records), and to his delight, had discovered that the man's parents still lived in the same house they'd inhabited for twenty years.
Quickly replacing his materials, he thanked the clerk and went into the town with two purposes on his mind, to visit the old couple, and to find some food. The latter he found at a small café, where the smell of homemade bread made his stomach rumble embarrassingly. The kindly woman behind the counter grinned at his dismayed expression and waved him on as he tried to pay for his sandwich. Tipping his slightly ragged hat in thanks, he forced himself to eat half and save the rest. Then he moved on in search of the address he'd found for his uncle's parents.
Washing his face and hands in a small pond, Racetrack stared up at the house he'd found. Larger than the Lodging House, Race began to have second thoughts about simply marching up and asking for the location of their son. But remembering the dreams he'd so enjoyed the night before, he steeled himself to walk up to the front door and ring the doorbell. Another tall, thin, and vaguely imperious looking man opened the door, arching his eyebrows as he took in Racetrack's tattered appearance.
Trying to force the street slang out of his voice, Race firmly asked to see the head of the house. The butler inched away from the door, barely allowing enough room for Race to pass, and led him inside.
*********************************************************************
45 minutes later, Racetrack was not so cordially escorted out of the rear door to the mansion, sweat pouring from his brow and a dark scowl on his face. However, as soon as he'd left the property, that same scowl was replaced by a broad grin. His uncle's father had grilled him until he no longer knew what he was saying, eventually decided not to give Racetrack the address, and abandoned him in his richly furnished study with orders not to move until the butler had shown him the door. Angered by the blatant dismissal, Racetrack's eyes had scanned the papers littering the wide desk, until he saw a letter beginning with, "Father" snatching the envelope just as the butler appeared, he'd plastered a disappointed scowl on his face and allowed himself to be shown to the door.
Smoothing the envelope he'd crushed against his side, Racetrack had run back to the trainyards almost giddy with excitement. The letter had come from a town about a two day's train ride away.....
**********************************************************************
Wearily, Racetrack trudged up the dirt road he'd been directed too. His money almost completely spent, he'd have to find someplace to make a few cents just to make it back to the city. Rounding a bend he saw a large wooden frame house sitting up on a hill, with toys scattered all around a wide porch. There were glass windows with big white draperies behind them, and a tall stone chimney streaming white smoke. A familiar face was profiled behind those draperies, albeit a bit softer and fuller than he'd last seen it. As if knowing she was being watched, Janey turned to the window and stared out at him, clutching the base of the window for support. Suddenly she disappeared, and grinning, he ran up the rocky drive. Before he'd made it halfway up the door to the house flew open and two small figures rocketed out the door towards him. Hitting him at such force that he tumbled backwards, Patricia and William hugged him around the waist and neck with such force that he thought he'd die happy from lack of breath. Rolling them onto the grass, the three siblings tried to simultaneously hug, laugh, talk, and play. Eventually resulting in the two little ones pinning Race by sitting on his chest and legs, Race felt his very soul filling with the life he thought he'd lost that night over six months ago. Contented to lay in the warm grass, answering William's chattering questions, Patricia's shy ones, and asking some of his own, he was surprised when a grown woman kneeled down in the grass beside him. Sliding the two children into his lap, he sat up and held out his hand, "Nickolas Higgins, but my friends call me Racetrack."
The petite woman took his hand in hers and shook it, "Your aunt, Nelly Bryson, its very nice to meet you" she said warmly.
"Where's Janey?" asked Racetrack suddenly, looking towards the house expectantly.
"Nickol..Racetrack," said his aunt, "When Janey came to us six months ago, she was beginning to show signs of being.with child."
Paling, Race looked towards the window he'd seen Janey staring out at him from, "Is she ok?"
His aunt smiled, "Yes, she's doing very well. Unfortunately children do pick the worst times to decide they want to come into this world and your niece or nephew decided you walking up our drive was his signal. Janey's just gone into heavy contractions, so will be in bed until her child arrives. I need to get back with her now, but if you'd like to keep Patty and William occupied for awhile, I'll come and get you if you're needed."
Feeling helpless, Racetrack nodded mutely, and allowed himself to be pulled towards the toys his siblings wanted to show him. They were joined by another child, about four years old, and the group played until it had grown quite dark. Then they marched inside and the three children showed Racetrack around the bottom level of the house. They had all just settled in front of a large fireplace when a piercing scream erupted from the upper level.
In one swift movement Racetrack was on his feet and running up the stairs towards the scream. Finding the door ajar he burst into the room to find his newborn nephew being cleaned and wrapped in a blanket by his aunt and another woman. Both women stared at him, but his attention immediately went to the pale, sweaty figure lying on the bed. Grasping her hand, he began stroking her wet hair and calling her name, "Janey? C'mon Janey, open your eyes."
"No" she replied grumpily.
Relieved, he sank his head on her bedsheets and offered up a quick prayer to whichever god had been with his sister throughout her ordeal. Grinning he looked up and into the eyes which had seemed so cold and hard to him only half a year ago, but now looked warm and accepting.
"You found us." she whispered happily.
"Yea," said Race, his tone then taking on a teasing tone, "and I was most upset to find my triumphant return upstaged by your son."
"First thing we'll teach him to do is tell time so it never happens again." Janey grinned down at him.
Race mock-frowned, "Well hopefully it'll never have to," he said, and just as Janey's eyes started to well with tears: "I doubt you're even able to give birth to him a second time."
She laughed and the sound again filled Race's heart and soul with joy. Nelly then moved forward with the baby and placed it into Janey's arms. Race kissed her on the forehead, wrinkled his nose and whispered in her ear, "You stink little sis."
She grabbed his hand, "You meant what you said about it never happening again?" She looked small...and scared. Race nodded, "I'll tie up some loose ends in New York and then we'll figure out something for me to do up here." Suddenly remembering his manners he turned to his aunt, "That is....um...if you don't mind me asking Au...um...Nel...um..Mrs. Bryson, would you object to me staying here until I find somewhere else to go?"
Nelly laughed, "You can stay as long as you like Nickolas, you four are all I've got left of my sister, and there is nothing else quite like family to make a house a home."
Race grinned with relief. "However," she continued, as he quickly stopped grinning, "my first request is that you and your sister both take care of one tiny detail."
"What's that," he asked warily.
"Go take a bath."
***********************************************************************
A bit cheesy, but I wanted some sort of "happily ever after." Sorry it took so long, but many thanks to those people who bugged me into remembering this was still on my computer. You know who you are. Please review!