Mark and Ethan had washed up and were heading back downstairs to eat. Mark glanced in Jessie's room on the way down the hall and seen her leaning out her window.
"Go ahead Ethan I'll be down in a minute." Mark said.
Mark went in and grabbed Jessie around the waist and hauled her back in the window. He picked up the screen she had removed and put it back.
"Just what was ya doing hanging out the window, ya could have broke your neck." Mark said.
Jessie looked down at her feet.
"Well I'm waiting." Mark said crossing his arms.
"I just wanted to see if I could reach the tree outside my window." Jessie said trying to look innocent.
"Why would ya want to do that?" Mark asked.
"Umm ya know in case of a fire, I could get out of my room." Jessie said looking pleased with her self at the answer she came up with.
"Well if I catch ya hanging out the window again, unless there's a fire going on, there's going to be a fire alright, want to guess where?" Mark said sternly.
"Uhh I won't do it no more, I promise." Jessie said swallowing hard.
"Good." Mark said taking her hand.
"Let's go eat." Mark said.
"Okay." Jessie said and grinned. Having a daddy was great.
Mark and Jessie came in and sat down. They fixed them a plate and dug in.
"This is great Lacy." Mark said.
Lacy had fixed home made biscuits and gravy, ham, eggs, sausage and fried potatoes.
"Girl when you fix breakfast ya go all out, don't ya?" Mark said in between bites.
"Well I knew you guys were working hard and I wanted you to have a good meal." Lacy said.
"She cooks like this all the time, don't she Jessie?" Ethan asked.
Jessie nodded.
"Ya don't have to sell me son, I'm already married to her." Mark said laughing.
"We brought some peppers and a ton of apples back; I'll bring them in when I head back out." Mark said.
"Good, I'll can some of the apples." Lacy said.
"I got to take the milk into town this afternoon." Mark said
"Want to come with me; I really don't know where it's at?" Mark said to Lacy.
"Yes, we'll all go. I have some Afghans I need to sell and the kids need new shoes." Lacy said.
"Okay, can we fit them all in the truck?" Mark asked looking worried.
Lacy laughed.
"I have a car around back, for family outings. You may want to follow me in the truck to take the milk." Lacy said.
Mark nodded.
"I'll get the kids ready in a while." Lacy said.
"I want to clean out the stalls and clean up the barn some, and then I'll come back and shower first. I don't want to stick the whole town up." Mark said laughing.
They all got up and put there plates on the sink. Lacy set the twins down to color, while she cleaned the kitchen.
"Okay me and Ethan are heading back out. We'll be done in a couple of hours." Mark said.
Mark leaned over and kissed Lacy.
"Don't miss me too bad, I'll be back before ya know it." Mark said winking at her.
"I'll try to muddle through." Lacy said teasing him back.
"Jessie get in here and help yer Mama clean this kitchen." Mark hollered at a departing Jessie.
"Aww do I have to?" Jessie asked.
"What do you think?" Mark asked.
"Okay." Jessie said sighing.
Lacy just smiled. Mark had a way with her. She wasn't as upset as she acted.
Mark and Ethan left and Jessie started scraping the plates in the garbage.
"Mommy, can we keep him?" Jessie asked.
"Jessie look at me." Lacy said.
Jessie looked up at her mother.
"He is going to get his memory back and he is going to be mad we lied to him, so the sooner we tell him the truth the better." Lacy said.
"But I like him; I want him to be my daddy." Jessie said poking her lip out.
"Jessie you can't make things the way you want just by wishing for them. I'll tell you a secret. I like him too, a lot. But he is not ours, I wish he was, but he's not." Lacy said. She didn't want her kids to be hurt, but she was afraid it was too late for that.
"Well when you decide to tell him, tell him we really like him and we want him to be our daddy." Jessie said looking close to tears.
Lacy grabbed her daughter and hugged her.
"I will honey." Lacy said.
Mark drove along behind the car. He smiled. He was tired but it was a good tired. Something kept playing at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite grasp it. Mark would have been shocked at the person he used to be. He didn't like kids or at least thought he didn't. He had been divorced twice and a bitter lonely person, who used woman and had as many as he could get his hands on. The old Mark wouldn't have looked twice at Lacy. He liked his woman flashy and full of sparkle. Lacy was not the old Mark's type and the kids would have definitely put her out of the running. But all these thought were blocked from Mark's mind right now. All he was thinking about now was getting his beautiful wife in his arms again.
