A/N: I finished the book yesterday and I realized that so much is wrong with my fic, but I really can't change it now so I guess you'll all have to bear with me. Pleeeeeease? =) Anyway, I know that there are people out there where things just bug them if the story isn't original (I can get like that sometimes) so I'm really sorry to all of those people. You can deal with it, or find a different story, but I'm too far in to change it all now. Sorry again!

"I think it'd be good for him," Mae told Angus 2 days later as she scrubbed the plate in the sink. "We can't hide forever in any case, and he'd enjoy something to do."

Angus shook his head. "Commitments in public make me nervous, you know that."

"Oh, it's not much of a commitment. He'll play hockey for a year, then we can move again. It isn't a big deal. Please, Angus, let him do this. I think he'd enjoy it."

"He doesn't want to."

"He doesn't want to because you told him he doesn't want to." They were talking about Jesse going back to the Jackson's house to talk to David about signing up with a hockey team. But Angus stood by his long-time belief, that they could only be seen in public little by little.

"Even just a year would-"

"A year wouldn't hurt, and you know it. People don't change much in a year. And this isn't even year-round. A few months, maybe. Please?"

Angus looked into his wife's pleading eyes and sighed. "Fine, I'll talk to him."

"I'll talk to him," Mae responded, setting the plate in the rack and folding up her apron. "Ever since you talked to him before he hasn't come out of his room. I don't even want to know what you said." She gave him a peck on the cheek and then went upstairs to Jesse's room where she knocked politely. There was no response, so she opened it slowly.

"Jesse?" she asked gently. She saw him laying on his stomach with his face buried in a pillow. It didn't look like a very comfortable position with his face straight down like that. "Honey? Are you all right?"

Jesse turned in his bed and looked up at her. "I might be. Give me time."

"Your father and I were talking downstairs in the kitchen," she began. "And we think – well, I think you should go back and talk to David Jackson about joining a hockey team."

"And Tuck agreed to that?"

"You'd be surprised at how a woman can change a man's mind," she replied with a smile.

Jesse turned around so that he was facing away from her. "I wish I could have changed her mind."

Mae's smile disappeared in an instant and her voice changed to sympathy. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Then… what do you say about hockey? I can get the pry bar, you can take a shower, have a snack, and then go back to their house. Sound good?"

Jesse turned back around to see her. "Pry bar?"

"How else am I going to get you up?"

Jesse smiled a little, but anyone could tell he was still sad. "Well, I haven't showered in 2 days. And food sounds good."

"Great. I'll go make you a grilled cheese sandwich. You get ready, OK?" She patted him on his leg and left.

Jesse groaned and got up. He literally hadn't come out of his room in 2 days. He'd barely gotten out of his bed at all! He slept, mostly, but he also read a little and sometimes thought. He sighed and swept the floor with his eyes looking for his towel. He found it and went into the bathroom across from his room and got in the shower. He took a very hot, long one that lasted more than an hour. When he opened the bathroom door and walked into the hall steam surged into the hallway like water flowing into the river after a dam breaks down. He went back into his room and put some clean clothes on, then walked down to the kitchen and found his entire family – brother, mother, and father – talking. Mae was cleaning up around the room, and Miles sat across from Angus at the table talking about what sounded like some sort of business or politics from their tones.

"There he is," Mae said, welcoming him into the room with a warm smile. She nodded to the sandwich on a plate at an empty spot on the table. "It's cold," she told him. "Do you want me to heat it up in the microwave?"

Jesse shook his head and sat down. "I don't mind."

"Do you want something to drink?"

"No. Do I really have to do hockey?"

Mae and Angus exchanged glances. "No," Angus said, taking advantage of the question to get his way. Mae wouldn't argue with him in front of their sons. "You don't have to."

"Good."

"Oh, but Jesse, you'd like it," Mae insisted. "Really. Mothers know these things, you know. Never doubt a mother's instincts."

"I may like it, but not now."

Mae looked helplessly at her husband. "Angus… tell him something," she said desperately, hoping he'd use his infinite wisdom charm on his son. "Anything, just tell him something."

Angus sighed. "It wouldn't kill you," he finally stated, even though he was against the idea in the first place.

"Miles doesn't have to do anything, why should I?" Jesse returned. "Because he's in "college?" Is that why?"

"Miles is going to do something. He's getting a job."

Jesse looked at his brother. "You are?"

Miles slammed his fist down on the table, furious. "I help with the farm!" he said. "I don't need another job, I'm a farmer now."

"No, I'm the farmer," his father replied evenly. "You're the son who gets paid minimum wage."

"But you said-"

"We're moving again in a year anyway, so it doesn't matter what I said. Now get out of this house, and don't come back until you have a job." Angus looked to the younger of the two. "And you, don't come back until you're a part of a team. Any team, I don't care. If you'd prefer a different sport, go for it. Just do something."

Miles and Jesse looked at each other, then with a glare from their father they both stood and went out of the house. They'd have to go together, because the Tucks only had one car. Jesse realized that he picked a really bad day to get out of his bed.