A/N: I don't know how old Miles is (or should I say how old he was when he drank the water) but in here he's "22." And I had a hard time thinking of names for the three of the remaining Tucks (excluding Jesse) so please, if you think the names don't correspond with how they look in the movie (i.e. "Miles doesn't look much like a Scott") then I apologize. I've never been good with names.
The Tucks could tell time by the sun and it's position… not the exact time of course, but they were able to tell when it was just before 5:30, and at that time they all got in the Buick and drove to the Jackson's house. They had previously discussed everything they thought they would need to have prepared… ages, names, and their past life. They even briefly discussed their "family line," a fake one of course. For they did have a line, but it was most certainly not a normal one. Miles's new name was Scott, Angus's was Joe, and Mae was Sandra. Jesse was still Jesse, for he'd already introduced himself with that name. It took about 5 minutes to drive to the house, and when they arrived they rang the doorbell and the same guy that had answered it to Jesse the day before opened it.
"Are you the Tucks?" he asked.
Angus nodded. "Yes, we are."
He opened the door wider to let them in. "This way," he said as he led them into the dining room. There a large family sat politely, and they smiled at seeing their guests.
Sarah was the first to speak. "Hey, Jesse," she greeted with a warm smile. She'd spent forever on her appearance tonight, just for him. She had developed a crush on him during the short 5 minutes she'd spent with him, and she was excited to see him again.
Jesse smiled back at her, unaware of her feelings. "Hi."
Beth spoke next. "We're happy to have you here. This is my daughter Amanda, her husband James, my granddaughters Maria and Sarah and grandson David, and this is my sister Jenna."
Sarah, Miles thought, noting her name. And she looks just like her, too…
Angus smiled politely. "My name is Joe, this is Sandra, Scott, and Jesse."
"Please have a seat," Amanda said. "We are all pleased to meet you. Your grandfather, Joe, sounds like an extraordinary man."
Angus glanced to Jesse but he didn't make it obvious. "Yes, he was. He was a very good man."
The 4 Tucks sat down, Miles by Sarah, then Mae, Angus, and Jesse who sat by Amanda.
"The food should be here in a minute," James told them. Just then a woman came through the door carrying a large plate, and on it sat a large turkey. "Ah, here it is," he said.
The woman set it down, and then the people behind her dressed the table with the colorful artwork of the delicious-looking, fresh foods. None of the Tucks had ever been confronted with such an amount of food, much less in such a variety. It was clear that success was in the Foster-Jackson bloodline.
Amanda glanced around the table, then cleared her throat. "We usually pray before meals, I apologize for any awkwardness you may feel. But if you would please be patient, I prefer to pray today as well."
Angus nodded. "Don't let our visit ruin things for you."
James smiled and nodded to his family, and they all bowed their heads. Maria said a short prayer to God, thanking him for the meal and for the Tucks to share it with, then finished with Amen, and they started passing around the food.
"So, Joe," James said in a conversational tone. "What do you do?"
"I'm a mechanical engineer," he replied. "Sandra is a kindergarten teacher nearby."
"Oh," Jenna said. "That sounds nice. Where do you teach?"
Inside Mae panicked, for they hadn't discussed details such as a school name. But she was a very fine actress, and no sign of panic showed on her face or in her tone as she responded, "A small private school about 10 miles away from our house."
"Jim likes working with his hands," Amanda told them. "A businessman only on the outside, I think he'd prefer fixing cars most of the time." The adults gave that polite laugh that they do when things aren't really funny, but they pretend they are. The teenagers exchanged looks that each said, "Why do they do that?" but said nothing else.
"And what do you do for a living, Amanda?" Mae asked.
"I'm an interior decorator."
"Ooh, that sounds like fun."
"It is sometimes, but like any job, it can get to be too much at times."
Mae nodded understandingly. "I know how that is. I love each of my students dearly, but when they get rambunctious…" The adults laughed again.
Miles passed the turkey to Sarah and she gave it to Jenna instantly, and he looked at her curiously. "Aren't you going to take some?" he asked.
"Oh- no, I don't eat meat."
"You don't?" he asked. By his tone you'd think he was simply surprised, but it was so much more than that. He was amazed, almost, that this girl had the same name, same looks, and was even a vegetarian exactly like his ex-wife.
Sarah nodded. "I guess I'm a health nut. Meat isn't good for you."
"What about protein? It's a great source of protein."
"I get my protein from other foods." They locked eyes for only a second, and then she glanced down. "I think you're the first person that's ever argued with me about my eating habits."
"I wasn't trying to argue."
"Oh, no! I wasn't saying you're difficult or anything, I just meant…"
Miles nodded. "It's OK. I know what you meant."
Sarah smiled at him. "Sorry."
"Don't be. How old are you, Sarah?"
"18."
Incredible! he thought instantly. How could this be? All of these coincidences… Sarah, his wife, had been 18 when they met.
"Why?" she asked. "How old are you?"
"22." (A/N: he looks older than that, but I can't make their age gap too big.)
"Oh."
"Sarah enjoys it," Amanda's voice carried over into their section. "Don't you, dear?"
Sarah looked at her mother. "What?"
"Field hockey. I was just telling the Tucks about the club that you're in."
"Oh – yes, it's a lot of fun. This is my first time doing it, but I love it."
"I've never played field hockey," Jesse stated.
"Maybe she'll teach you," David said. "Do you play ice hockey?" Jesse shook his head. "Good. I'm a hockey player, and field hockey is the hardest thing if you're used to the other kind. There are so many things that become habits when you play, and then when you get into field hockey there are all these rules against those habits. You dribble the puck differently, and-" James cleared his throat.
"Son, you're talking their ears off," he said. David looked to the Tucks.
"Sorry," he said.
"No, no," Mae replied. "It's very interesting. Maybe Jesse should join a team. It'd be good for him."
Jesse gave her a cut-it-out look. If she gave the Jacksons any ideas, they may end up signing him up with some sort of a team. And Angus had made it clear that he didn't want many people knowing their names and faces when they first left Treegap more than 80 years ago, and the rules still held.
Mae ignored his look. "Would you like that? You could use the friends, I must say. All you do is watch TV."
"You can't keep a man from his television," Jenna said. "I've been trying for the past 50 years."
"Then maybe we should force him," Angus answered, looking thoughtfully at Jesse. "The more handicapped that thing makes you, the more important you quit using it."
Jesse's look intensified at his father. What in the world were his parents doing? Were they trying to force him into an uncomfortable position?
"What do you say, son?"
Jesse hesitated, then forced a smile. "Sounds great," he lied. "But… I don't know how to skate."
"You don't need to know how," David said. "People will be ramming you into the boards half the time." Jesse gulped and he laughed. "What year are you?"
Jesse hesitated. He'd never been in high school before, because when he was 17 – for real – the children stopped going to school once they reached 13. But that didn't mean he didn't know what high school was. He did some quick math to figure out what year he would be in. "Junior," he answered, hoping it was right.
David nodded. "I'm a sophomore. What school do you go to?"
Quit asking hard questions! Jesse wanted to scream at the boy. "Washington," he choked out, saying the first president's name that came to mind.
"What?"
"Washington High. It's pretty small, you probably haven't heard of it."
David blinked. "No, I haven't. But, hey, are you seriously interested? I can hook you up."
"Uh… I don't think so."
David shrugged. "All right. But if you change your mind, you know where we live."
Jesse nodded. "Thanks, I'll remember that."
They continued eating and chatting for a while. Things were going well, none of the Tucks were slipping up in what they did or said and everyone seemed to be having a genuinely good time. After everyone seemed done, James stood up. "Anyone up for dessert?"
Amanda looked at him. "We made a dessert?"
He smiled. "You bet. Colleen made it this afternoon before she left."
"She didn't have to."
"She knows that. She wanted to."
Amanda shook her head fondly as James went into the kitchen to bring out the surprise dessert. Then her face lit up suddenly. "Oh, mom! Did you bring your pictures back?"
Beth smiled. "Yes I did. Should I go and get them?"
"Would you? I think the Tucks would like to see them. They may see someone they know."
Angus looked at Amanda as Beth went upstairs. "Pictures? From what?"
"Mom and Aunt Jenna are only in town for a family reunion," Amanda explained. "They brought back some pictures for a family scrapbook that I'm putting together over the weekend, and I think you'll want to see them."
"I'll bet you got the job because you're the decorator?" Mae asked. Amanda laughed.
"That's not what I was told, but it's probably what my sister was thinking when she asked me to do it. But we have some pictures of Grandma Winnie, and… oh! I know something you'll really enjoy." She smiled like a young child getting excited for a fun game of hide-and-seek as she stood. "Please, follow me." Everyone got up except Jenna (for she was old and didn't feel like walking if she didn't have to) and Amanda led everyone upstairs and into a medium-large sized room with paintings all around it.
"This," Amanda beamed. "Is all of my grandmother's work. She was a secret artist at heart… she didn't start until… it must have been mid-twenties or so, but she did paint a picture of Jesse Tuck." She smiled at Jesse and for a moment he panicked, thinking she knew the secret. But he pretended like he didn't notice her smile.
Amanda walked over to a painting in the center of the left wall. It was certainly Jesse, sitting casually under a tree, with a spring of water behind him. Did she know what that tree was, what that spring was? None of the Tucks knew the answer to that question. But the most sensible part of each of them told them to stay silent until they knew for sure if she knew or not.
"He really does look a lot like you," Amanda said thoughtfully, looking from the picture to the boy. "But his nose is all wrong, and his facial structure is a bit different I suppose."
Jesse wanted to laugh, because the boy in the picture was him, and here was a woman making statements about what was different between them. But he played along, and tried to get her to keep thinking that he didn't look like the painting. "He doesn't look like me," he stated.
Mae laughed. "It is rather strange, isn't it? Almost uncanny."
Amanda smiled. "Yes, well, we should go back downstairs. Jim has the dessert out, and mom is probably back with the pictures." She led them out, but Jesse couldn't stop himself from nearing the painting of him and checking the label. What did she call it?
Under the painting were two words in bold letters: TUCK EVERLASTING.
