Don't own most of them…well…maybe now the percentage has finally swayed to my favor…*wink* you'll see….

Pictures Never Lie:

The World Series Champion Hoyt's

Three Years Later

"And if you'll come this way I'll introduce you to our newly promoted Captain Woody Hoyt who's office is right down…" The new Boston Police Commissioner looked down the hall as the click and roll of little plastic wheels screeched down the hall and Woody came barreling down the hallway sitting on a little blue and yellow tri-cycle he had just gotten for our little boy, John, who could barely even walk much less ride the little bike. John was on his lap laughing away and Woody's long legs were dragging behind him on the floor. He screeched to a halt in front of the little crowd of superiors and stood quickly wiping off his pant legs. He lifted John into his arms and nodded apologetically to his Chief.

"I..I'm sorry Jim…I…I mean sir." He said shaking the Chief's hand stiffly with his free one. John smiled up at the newly appointed commissioner and treated him to string of raspberries. Woody's eyes widened with fear and he handed John to his former partner McKinney who saw the commotion and hurried to his pal's rescue, Walking away to where I was in the lounge.

"Hoyt this is…Commissioner Tayte…Commissioner, this is Captain Hoyt…one of the…finest…" The Chief smiled and patted Woody on the shoulder. "cops and fathers in the city." He said and Woody released a breath. The commissioner smiled and offered his hand to Woody.

"Good to see a family man in your position Hoyt. Makes me hopeful that you're as good to your city as you are to your family." Woody nodded.


"Yes sir. I sometimes feel like my wife and I are helping to keep this city populated." Woody said and nodded to me standing just inside the officers lounge holding our newest edition, Chester, in my arms. The commissioner turned and smiled down at the swaddled bundle in my arms.

"And what's this little fella's name?" he asked and Woody stepped next to me and pulled the blankets away to show off his gorgeous, dozing son.

"Chester!" a little voice called out from behind me and 7-year-old miss Emily Jane stepped out from behind the door, hands on her hips where a little plastic utility belt holding a little badge, plastic gun, and a real walkie talkie hung.

The commissioner chuckled. "Chester, huh?:" the older man asked bending down to Emily. "And who might you be?" he asked and offered her his hand.

"EmilyJaneHoyt." She said and it sounded like one word. The commissioner smiled.

"It's nice to meet you Emily." And Emily saluted him.

"Going to be a police officer like your daddy here?" He asked gesturing to Woody. Emily nodded vehemently.

"Uh huh…and John's gonna be a doctor, cause whenever Mommy or Daddy's sick, he puts on one of Mommy's scrub tops and puts rreeeeeaaaall wet wash cloths on their foreheads an' sticks the thermometer in their mouth." She said and Woody and I laughed. The Commissioner looked around the lounge and spotted McKinney holding John upside down in front of the candy machine, coaching the child in how to reach the candy without paying for it.

The commissioner laughed. "Or a cat burglar." He said winking at me.

"Nice to meet you Hoyt. I look forward to seeing you around." He said taking Woody's hand. He turned to me. "Mrs. Hoyt." I cringed.

"Ooo…ah, Jordan sir, " Woody said smiling. "Mrs. Hoyt is my mother." He said and the commissioner chuckled. He nodded and I looked menacingly at Woody. He didn't say 'Dr. Cavanaugh'. He was getting in his little dig about me giving up my job and staying home with the kids. Partly I think he felt like with his promotion, we were doing fine with money and I think he also felt like Dad needed a break. After all, my maternity leave was over up in another month, the idea of leaving Dad with a barely two-year-old, a 4 month old, and a hyper 7-year-old in the afternoons was looking less and less appealing. I think even to Dad. The day after Chester was born, Dad asked me if I would please temporarily shut down the baby-making factory. He had a point and I let it be widely known that Chester would be the last of the World Champion Hoyt's baseball team.

"Jordan." The Commissioner said and waved to Emily. "Cadet." He said and saluted Emily, she saluted back.

He continued down the hall for the rest of the tour.

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The next week, I decided that we should take the kids and all get a family portrait taken before I had to go back to work.

"Jordan! Where's My dress tie!!?" Woody called from our room. I was in Emily's room, fighting with her to get her into a dress. "Last time I wore it!!…." I called back sarcastically and sat Emily down on her bed for the 8th time as I tried to get a pair of tights on her without ripping them.

"Oh! Found it never mind!" he called back and I pulled the little blue dress over Emily's head. I stood her up and fixed her hair in the mirror.
"So? What do you think?" I asked and Emily rolled her eyes.

"At least it's not a GIRL color." She said and pulled her underwear and tights out of her crack in a very unlady-like manner. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders, deciding that this was one of those parental pick your battles moments.

"Put your shoes on!" I said as I left her room and rushed back into our bedroom trying to get earrings on as I did. Woody was standing in front of the full length mirror. If he didn't look so hot in his uniform, I would probably have cracked him upside the head.

"Honey, I don't wanna make you upset" he said picking Chester up from the bed, "But why is he in a sailor suit?" Woody asked with a whine, "Is he joining the Navy…I mean…" He held Chester out towards me and I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. "Okay, no… I mean…he looks great…"Woody said pulling the baby back to him. As I turned to look for my shoes, I heard him say, "I'm so sorry." Quietly to Chester. "Keep going Wood…I hope you like the couch." I said as I fixed my dress in the mirror. Then I suddenly realized something.

"Where's John?" I asked turning to Woody who was buttoning his uniform coat. He turned and looked over his shoulder at the bed where Chester was back squirming and reaching towards the ceiling fan. He thought for a moment.

"Well…um…he WAS jumping on the bed a few minutes ago…" Woody said scratching his head. I scoffed.
"Did you at least get him DRESSED?" I asked as I bent down and looked under the bed.

"Ummm…I'm fairly certain I got a new diaper and a pair of pants on him…the rest is up in the air." Woody said as he hurried around the corner of our room into the sitting room that was just off to the right of our room.

"Ah!…JOHN TYLER!!" I heard Woody yell from the room. I stood still for a moment, not quite sure I wanted to see whatever John had done. I decided to instead call out.

"What he do?" I asked rubbing my temples and feeling a migraine coming on. Woody rounded the corner holding John out in front of him.


"It's not that bad…just take us to Def-Con 3." He said and I covered my eyes, pretending for a moment that my son WASN'T painted like a Cherokee ready for war with my favorite lipsticks. I opened my eyes and looked him over. John had lipstick all over his chubby little belly, his face, his pants, in his hair.

"He didn't eat any of it did he?" I asked and Woody narrowed his eyes. He set John down on the floor and knelt beside him. He squeezed John's pudgy cheeks together and looked into his mouth.

"Nah…" he said and I just pointed to the bathroom door, hoping he would just go take care of it without asking me for help. Woody quickly removed his coat, then his crisp white dress shirt before stripping John and carrying him into the bathroom. I walked by door to go get Emily and make her come sit in our room and watch TV until Woody was through and on my way past the door I shook my head at the sight of Woody holding our naked son down in the bathroom sink and scrubbing lipstick off of him with a washcloth.

"It's a good thing we don't look like we're raising wolves!" I said as Archie almost floored me on his way to our bedroom.

"Emily! Go sit on our bed and watch your brother!" I said and Emily casually strolled into our room and hopped up on our bed next to Chester. I grabbed all of our winter coats and a new pair of pants and a sweater for John. I hurried back into our bedroom and through the clothes right inside the door.

"Diaper!" Woody yelled over John's laughter as he dried him off. I picked up the one he had on and threw it inside the bathroom.
"He drew all over this one!" Woody called. I picked Chester up from the bed and began to bounce him to get rid of the hiccups he had.
"I don't care if he drew the Sistine Chapel on his diaper! As long as we can't see it in the picture it doesn't matter!" I yelled just as Chester burped and threw up in my hair. I sighed and looked at Emily who suddenly got that deer in headlights look and ran to get me a burp towel. When she came back she didn't say a word, just handed me the towel and went back to the bed and started packing a diaper bag for me.

Just as I was getting the last little bits of spit up out of my hair, John charged out of the bathroom.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" He cried and I patted his soaking head.

"Oh great now he's gonna catch pneumonia." I said and Woody came out to retrieve his clothes. He put his shirt on first and I helped him button the sleeves. He put his tie on next and I straightened it for him. I helped him into his coat and licked my thumb, wiping away a bit of lipstick on his forehead.

'You have more grays than you used to." I said matter- of- factly. Woody smiled.

"Well, I am 37…" he said and then winked. "And that would make you…" He said and scratched his chin.

"Finish that sentence and I promise you'll never touch me again!" I said and patted his cheeks. He smiled and we turned to our little family. Emily was neatly organizing things to go in the diaper bag, and Archie was methodically pulling them out with his slobbery mouth. John was jumping up and down and smacking the TV screen yelling "Sponge Bob! Sponge Bob!" and Chester was chewing on the little sailor hat I had gotten him. Woody and I turned our heads and smiled painfully at each other.

"We're never doing this ever again huh?" Woody asked me and I smiled. "We're never doing a lot of things ever again! Like going to that hospital floor that says "Maternity" on a little sign when you get off the elevator." I said and Woody nodded, took a deep breath and then called for everyone to get in the car.

When we got to the studio, I went into drill sergeant action, seating people, handing babies. The way we finally ended up seated was Woody and I sitting on the two stools, Emily standing between us, John on my lap because…well…he's more afraid of me than of his father, and Chester balanced on Woody's knee, his back resting against his father's stomach. In the photo, which now sits on a table in the entry way to our home, the careful observer will notice the baby puke in my hair, the rose petal tint to portions of John's hair, and the large dark wet spot on Chester's sailor hat. Not to mention the fact that Chester is chewing on one of the large brassy buttons of Woody's uniform.

I swore…well…yeah, I swore a lot that day, but I also swore there would be no more fruit bore of my loins.

Two years later, we were finally beginning to regain some order in our lives. Chester could communicate, John could go to preschool, and Emily was just getting to the age where she was allowed to be out of our sight for more that 10 minutes. Unfortunately, Woody and I had to plan our love life around three young children and two demanding jobs. I even went as far as to send Emily to my friend Kim's for a sleepover with her little girl so I could have sex with my own husband who has 'issues' with having sex when our daughter was not 15 feet away sleeping innocently. That and there were no locks on our bedroom doors. If one of the kids saw that, they might lapse into catatonic schizophrenia and never recover. My husband, the drama king. I made the arrangements with Kim and she picked Emily up from school with her own daughter. Our boys luckily slept like the dead so we planned on taking them to the park and letting them run wild before dinner.

I took Woody his lunch that day. Turkey and cheese on rye.

"Oh, you know me so well." He said around mouthfuls of turkey. I was perched on the edge of his desk, he sat in his new chair with his feet up. I slid off the edge and onto his lap, playfully reaching for a nibble of his sandwich as he held it just out of my reach. I laughed and Woody captured my lips before I could get it. When we pulled back, both of us smiled.

"Now, had we been at home, this would be the point at which one of the children would bang on the door, or John would be screaming from a nightmare, or one of our parents, with their flawless radar would decide to call and see what we were up to." Woody cut me off.

"Well, it wouldn't be either of my parents. If you recall, they learned their lesson back when Emily was what, two?" He said and I rolled my eyes, remembering the night we had been fooling around and Emily was tucked away in bed, and his mom called. She asked him what he was doing… he told her.

"Hey! She always told me to never tell a lie!" Woody said setting down the last of his sandwich and rubbing my cheek with his nose. I laughed and rested my hand on his thigh.

"Yeah, well I think she would really have preferred that you'd have lied and said 'watching television' rather than 'having sex'. " I said and Woody chuckled and ran his hand up the outside of my leg. Then he moaned.

"When do I get off work?" He asked playfully and I smiled kissing him.

"At 5:30…And then we're gonna take the boys to the park…" I said and nipped at his ear. "And we're gonna run them like work horses so they sleep soundly…" I said and kissed right behind his ear. "And then…" I said and dropped my voice to a whisper. "You're AAAAAlllllll mine." I said and Woody picked me up set me down on the desk. He eyed the new leather couch beside us.

"Hold that thought cowboy!" I said and raised my eyebrows at him. Woody pouted and gave me that innocent little boy smile, which even though his hair had begun to gray and there were a few more lines around his eyes, still swayed me into doing whatever he wanted. Even when I knew what he wanted at that moment had the potential to get him fired.

"You're insane!" I said laughing as he carried me to the couch before running to close his door and dropping the blinds.

"Yeah I know, I married you didn't I?" He said playfully as he loosened his tie and started to unbutton his pants. He stopped about 10 feet from me across the room and kicked off his shoes, leaving him in black socks. I eyed him curiously as I worked on getting my jeans unbuttoned. He smiled as he ran and slid across the floor on his stocking feet. I laughed as he flopped down onto me and said something about throwing out his back. 

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Later that day, we took John and Chester to the park. It was October and Woody strolled along the walking path dressed like he was headed to a J. Crew photo shoot. He was carrying Chester who had grown tired of walking. John walked beside me holding my hand, occasionally stopping to pick up a rock or acorn.

"I love New England autumns." Woody said as brown and gold leaves rushed past him and around his feet. I smiled.

"So THAT'S what kept you hear all these years." I teased as we stopped for John to pick up a pebble, which he shoved down into his now bulging jean pockets. Woody smiled and kissed the top of Chester's head, resting his cheek against the soft light brown hair there. Chester snuggled into Woody's coat and wrapped his little arms around his father's neck.

"Yeah," Woody said and smiled at me. "That and a few other things." He said and I felt myself get filled up. My hand went instinctively to my stomach but I quickly pulled it away. 'None of that sorta thinking.' I thought as I recaptured John's little hand.

"Hey momma! Look! It's Uncle Nigel!" John hollered and Chester's head snapped off of Woody's shoulder. Woody put Chester down and he and John ran down the walking path to Nigel, who was strolling towards us. Then we realized that Lily and Bug were walking not too far behind him. John went to Nigel who picked him up and threw him upside down over his shoulder and Chester toddled to Lily who picked him up and began chatting away to him. Bug walked alongside of her and Lily flopped Chester into his arms. Bug lifted Chester to his shoulders as they neared us.

"Hey guys! What are you doing here!?" I asked suspiciously and The three looked at each other.

Nigel spoke up. "Well, we received a phone call from you dad, saying that the two of you needed some emergency alone time." He said and set John back down on the ground. I looked at Woody. "So we're here to kidnap your babies for the night!" Nigel said making googily eyes at John and trying to look scary. John laughed and ran to hide behind Woody's legs.

"Hey! That's great if you guys wanna do that for us but we already had…"I said looking bashfully at Woody who turned bright red. I suddenly remembered that the boys were there. "…Alone time…today." I said and smiled nervously. Nigel smirked and punched Woody's shoulder in a very manly way. He must have thought we were kidding.

"Twice." Woody said as if it had suddenly just burst from his mouth. He smiled self-satisfactorily and Nigel's eyes widened.


"What did you do shag on your lunch breaks!?" Bug asked jovially and Woody and I looked at each other than back to Bug. He was appalled. "What in his office?" Bug asked getting more flabbergasted by the moment. Woody shrugged his shoulders. Bug scoffed.

"Three kids, man!" Woody said nearly pleading with Bug to understand what kind of circumstances we had been living under. "Three!" He said again, defending his actions. Lily chuckled and took Chester from Bug's shoulders.

"Aw, but they're such great kids!" Lily said running a finger along Chester's dimpled cheek. He smiled adorably at her and buried his head in her shoulder. I rolled my eyes and mussed John's hair, remembering the vibrant shades of pink and red that had once graced his chocolate locks.

"Yeah, I hope you have 10 just like em'." I said and winked at her.

"But really if you guys are willing to take them off our hands for one night…or you know…till their in high school…that'd be awesome!" I said and walked over to Lily who was still holding Chester.


"Would you like to go on a sleepover at Uncle Nigel's tonight Ches?" I asked running my hands through his hair. Chester turned to face me and smile, squishing his face up like a pug. God did he look like his father. He nodded vigorously. I turned to John.

"John Tyler?" I asked and he nodded as well. "Alright well if it's okay with Daddy then we'll just…" I turned to look for Woody. He was already halfway to the car yelling something about where the boys duffle bags were in the downstairs closet. We all followed and Nigel rode with us to get the boys stuff while Lily and Bug opted to go pick up some dinner for them before heading back to Nigel's.

Nigel was in and out of the house in about 15 minutes, and strapping Chester into the back seat of our SUV for another 10. We stood at the door, waving talking baby talk, and saying we'd miss them as the car disappeared down the road.

"Are they gone?" I asked and Woody peeked over the tall bushes of our lawn.

"Yep." He said before slamming the door shut and pulling me against him. We stood in the doorway, kissing for a few minutes before Woody began to pull at my top as we backed towards the stairs. He grabbed a dog treat from the entry table and threw it down the basement stairs as Archie took off after it and slammed the basement door shut as he continued to back towards the steps. Woody cursed when he stepped on the sword of an action figure.

I laughed and pulled my t-shirt over my head and threw it in the laundry basket as we reached the top step. I pulled Woody's shirt off as well and threw it with mine. I unbuttoned Woody's jeans and he pushed them off and then he helped me remove my own. I threw both in the basket as we backed into our bedroom.

"Are we having sex here or doin' the laundry?" Woody asked aggravated and I chuckled.

"Hey!" I said between kisses and caresses. "We're getting naked and cleaning up the house. Two birds, one stone." I said teasing as Woody hit the edge of the bed and fell backwards bringing me with him. He cursed again as he cracked his head on a game controller which he grabbed by the cord and hurled towards the television. He rolled me onto my back and I activated a tickle me Elmo which Woody also hurled across the room. I laid my hand on the inside of his thigh and he seemed to suddenly lose all the animosity he was feeling for our children's toys.

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Nearly one month later

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Woody was sleeping soundly next to me, and our kids were all in bed. Chester had just gotten his very own toddler bed and adjusting to it had become a hit or miss game of darts since the night he got it. He wasn't feeling very comfortable in it and was having trouble adjusting to having no bars to look through. I looked down towards my feet when I saw our bedroom door crack open and a little figure creeping in. I nudged Woody who rolled over.

"Hmm?" He mumbled as I watched the little figure get closer to the end of the bed.
"Chester's in here…it's your turn." I said and Woody sighed.

"Are you sure he's in here?" He asked and two little eyes, as if on cue, popped over the end of the bed.

"Well, either that or the leprechauns are coming early this year." I said and Woody rolled over and sat up.

"Hey pal." He said and Chester smiled that infectious smile at him. Woody couldn't say no to Chester, he was the one who looked the most like him. He sighed and stood from the bed. Chester hopped up onto the end of the bed and Woody picked him up as he went out of the room. Chester wrapped his arms around Woody's neck and kissed his cheek. I smiled when I saw Woody's face brighten in the moonlight. It was then that I decided to tell him.


Woody came back to bed about 20 minutes later, that love-drunk smile still plastered on his face.

"What?" I asked knowing him well enough that I could tell there was something on the tip of his tongue.

Woody scratched the back of his head. "He still does that finger nail thing like he used to do to you when he was a baby. It kinda hurts when you don't have nails." He said and chuckled.

"Well yeah," I said rolling over to wrap my arms around him. "But the only way I could keep him from crying in the car was to give him my hand behind me in the seat and let him pick at my nails. It's very soothing and comforting to him. It means he LOOOOOVES you." I said and kissed the corner of his mouth. Woody was quiet for a moment.

"You know…god strike me dead for saying this…"Woody said snuggling into me. "I almost miss them being that tiny." He said and I let that be my in.

"Well…now that you mention it…" I said and Woody sat up, his 'ninja mode' as the kids called it, kicking in full force. He turned to me, his mouth gaping open.

"You're not…but you…but we used…" I cut him off.

"Not in your office." I said and Woody smacked his forehead.

"Are you sure?" He asked turning to face me. I just nodded.


"I can already feel it." I said referring to that tell-tale flutter deep inside of me. Woody sighed and flopped back down on the bed.

"How do you feel about it?" I asked cautiously and he was silent for a moment. Then he sat up and turned on his knees to face me. I sat up on my knees as well and Woody wrapped his arms around me and laid his chin on my head.

"…and whoever else should come along." He whispered and I remembered having said that the night we found out that Emily was on the way. I pulled back and leaned up to kiss his lips.

And then he said what I knew was coming next. "So do you think that now you might finally stay home for like a year, maybe two?" he said and I sighed. It did sound really nice to maybe be with the kids for a few years.

"Maybe." I said and Woody was happy to hear something other than a no on the subject. He nodded.

"Works for me." He said and gently lay me back down on the bed and wrapped me in the all too familiar 'baby hug' which meant he was barely touching me. Dad said Woody treated a pregnant me like a china doll. We fell asleep together, until Chester came in once again and climbed into bed between us.

In the morning,  I woke up to Chester laying across Woody's chest like plucked chicken. He was wearing his spaceship pajama pants, no shirt, and a scrap of fabric left over from one of the kids' Halloween costumes tied around his neck like a cape. I looked him over, sleeping soundly across his father, then looked at Woody who was awake.

"It was one of the terms of getting him to stay in the little bed." Woody said and I nodded.

"Good to see you've now begun bargaining with our two year old." I said and sat up on the bed. I reached out to run a hand down Chester's baby soft back. Emily peeked into the room and smiled at us, her beautiful blue eyes sparkling in the morning sun. I nodded and she hurried to the bed and jumped up with us.

"Easy! Easy, baby!" Woody said and Emily looked surprised.

"It's alright honey, just be careful Chester's still sleeping." I said and widened my eyes at Woody. Emily curled up next to me and I wrapped my arms around her. We all sighed in unison and Chester slid off of Woody and onto the bed between Emily and Woody. Woody scooched Chester closer and then wrapped his arms around all of us. Emily and I began to laugh just as the door was thrown open and John came hollering into the room. He let out a Tarzan yell as he sprung from the floor and landed on all of us. Woody grabbed him as Chester awoke with a groan and Woody began to tickle the boys. I calmed them down after a minute or so and announced that we needed to talk.

"Uh oh." Emily said and sat up from the bed folding her arms. She adjusted her camouflage Capri sleep pants, and straightened her green thermal shirt.

"What uh-oh?" I asked sitting up and Woody and the boys stayed where they were.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Every time you say we need to talk, it means your gonna have another baby." She said and I glared at Woody who was trying not to smile.

"Well…okay...so…so what if I am?" I said folding my arms. Emily smiled and bounced on her knees.

"You ARE!!? Is it a girl!? Huh!? MOM!! Tell me is it!? Is it!?" She said and I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" I said and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Mom!" She said irritated.

"Child, how should I know! I just found out it was on it's way!" I said and Emily hopped off the bed and ran out the door and down the stairs.

John sat up and looked at me.
"You're gonna have a baby?" And I smiled.

"Uh huh." I said and kissed his forehead. John thought for a moment.

"Is it gonna have to sleep with me?" he asked seriously and I sighed, the migraine feeling coming back to me. Woody sat up and dropped John down onto the floor.

"Okay, time to leave mommy be." He said as John scurried out of the room. Chester yawned and stretched between us, crowding us to the edge of the bed. He remained spread eagle as he drifted easily back to sleep. I looked at Woody sympathetically from where he lay, clutching the edge of the mattress.

"And we're going to ADD to this motley crew?" He asked and I smiled.

"It's not ALL my fault…it takes two to tango Gene Kelley/" I said as I rolled out of bed and removed the cape from Chester's neck before lifting the covers back over his bare back. Woody kissed him at his temple and sat up from the bed gently. We met at the end of the bed and Woody took my hand as we headed down the stairs.