Jack and the Mayor sat in the Mayor's office reviewing plans.
The Mayor was frazzled and frantic as always. Jack easily
breezed through the paperwork, making adjustments where
necessary. Really, he thought, there's no need for the Mayor to
be so worried. He seems to need a vacation almost as much as
Sally and I. Almost. He smiled at that. The Mayor looked up.
"What is it Jack? What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing. I was just musing over something.
Mayor? There is something I want to discuss with you.
You're aware that Sally and My anniversary is coming up?"
The Mayor nodded. Jack plunged ahead.
"I was thinking about what the vampires suggested this
morning. It would be nice for Sally and I to take a little
vacation. Just for a couple days, a weekend. I was thinking
about the Bermuda Triangle."
"Well...I can't say you haven't earned a little rest Jack."
The Mayor's words were measured. He's innards quailed at the
thought of Jack leaving, but he knew when Jack got an idea into
his head there was no stopping him. He also knew that Jack did
indeed deserve a break. That wasn't to say he was going to make
it easy on him however. "There's certainly alot of work here
that requires your attention Jack." He looked up again to study
Jack's expression. The king continued sorting through paperwork,
then he spoke:
"I wouldn't go anywhere until I had all this organized.
But I trust your capable hands in my absence Mayor. All these
figures and plans are your specialty. You'd do at least
as good a job as I would."
The Mayor revolved to happy pride and Jack breathed a soft sigh.
A little flattery always went a long way with the Mayor. The
real obstacle to Jack's plans was something else entirely.
"My main concern is what to do with our little lumplings
while we're away.", Jack said. Jack jr. sat a few feet away on
the office carpet enjoying juice. He clapped his hands and
squealed. It seemed he knew when he was being talked about. The
Mayor's face turned back to worry. He looked from little Jack to
his father.
"What do you mean? I assumed you'd take them with you."
"I wasn't planning to. I think Sally and I need a little
break for a couple days. That means from parenthood too.
So we're going to need to find a responsible sitter. I am
thinking of mentioning something at the town meeting
tonight to see if there are any volunteers."
The Mayor scratched his head.
"You could ask, I suppose."
The two men continued working through stacks of papers. Jack's
son moved to his knees and slowly crawled to his father.
"You're getting better at that!", Jack laughed. "He's
getting much better at crawling." He said proudly to the Mayor.
The Mayor nodded. Babies were an alien species to him. To see
and think of Jack as a father was....well, it was scary.