A Tale of Two Families…Trying to Make it as One
Disclaimer: Sadly, Jack and Spot do not belong to us. We'll still play with them anyway.
A.N.: Thanks so much for the reviews!! Throws the good cookies to the reviewers J.P. didn't a hold of these!! Muahahahaha!!
Later that evening, Amy and Dewey took time to relax as they rocked back and forth in the rocking chairs on the wraparound porch and watched their husbands and children play a lighthearted game of stickball. They laughed as Jack tried to instruct Adelaide how to hold the stick and aim for the ball that was coming. She had technically already struck out four times, but the young girl would not give up until she made contact with the ball.
"How do you do it?" Dewey asked as she sipped some lemonade. "How do you run this house and make it look so simple?"
Amy laughed and gave the woman a disbelieving look. "Simple? Is that what it seems to you?" Dewey nodded in reply and smiled meekly as Amy laughed once more. She shook her head and simply replied, "Years of practice."
"It wasn't always this way. I remember when Rhett was born. The ranch was just starting to become popular and new buyers were coming by two or three times a week," she looked at Dewey, who encouraged her to continue. "Felicity was almost two and still a baby herself. Everything was going fine for a few weeks. More buyers. More money. Life was pretty nice.
"Then one day Rhett began to cry and cry and cry. He just wouldn't stop. Jack would hold him, I would hold him, it made no difference. He was a healthy baby; he just wouldn't stop crying for anything. The doctor said it was called colic or something of the nature and there was nothing we could do. It wasn't anyone's fault, it just…happened. Jack and I would take turns; one of us would stay up at night while the other slept and the next night it was reversed. I felt so bad for Jack. In the middle of all of this he was trying to run a ranch and he was practically dead on his feet by noon. I'm just thankful Felicity doesn't remember how much attention we paid to Rhett and how sometimes she was left to play by herself while we took care of Rhett.
"I remember once I must have been asleep or busy with Felicity and a buyer had come up to look at the cattle. Well Jack just took Rhett out there with him on his shoulder and gave the man a tour of the ranch and showed him the cattle and everything. I thought it was so sweet. Jack just walked around like it was nothing, just holding Rhett. I guess that's why he has such a hard time letting Rhett do things on his own. He remembers constantly watching over him, holding him, caring for him.
"Those are the experiences you learn from, they shape the relationship you have today," Dewey nodded her head in agreement and sighed, longing for a story so touching as her friend's to share.
"Spot was in between cases when Connor was born. I should have known something was wrong when he only stayed at the hospital for two hours and then hurried back to the precious courthouse," Dewey shook her head, "sometime back then work became more important than family. It didn't matter if Spot only saw his children for a few minutes as long as he was making the money to feed and clothe them."
Amy put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder and assured her everything would be alright as Dewey continued. "I don't understand why J.P. hates Spot so much," Dewey glanced down as she mumbled, "they're so much alike."
"Maybe that's the problem," Amy replied thoughtfully and looked at her friend. "Sometimes people are too much alike, and they just…don't get along. I think Rhett and Jack are starting to get the same way. I hope not though."
Dewey smiled at her friend and sighed. "Oh, Neeko's birthday is next week. I haven't even given it a thought until now."
"Really? Amy asked, surprised, "we could go to the general store and find some birthday presents in a few days. I need to get some sugar and flour and some other things anyway."
The women agreed to make a journey the following week and cheered as Andy hit the winning ball and jogged excitedly around the bases. The two families celebrated into the night as the children played games and reveled in the night air.
The following week approached quickly and the two families hastily prepared for Neeko's upcoming birthday which, by luck, happened to fall on Saturday. Neeko was sure to remind all the occupants of the household that his fifth birthday was approaching and he would soon be a 'big boy'. His bronchitis had not been fully extinguished, but the young child seemed to thrive away from the smog produced by the city he called home. Dewey was concerned that his medicine was in short supply, but he assured her that as soon as he turned five, he would not longer have a need for it.
"Noo, Mommy," Neeko wailed as Dewey forced him to open his mouth as he wrinkled his small nose in disgust. "I don't need it! I don't want it! Nooo!"
"Baby, you have to take it. Please Neeko…," Dewey watched her son swallow the liquid and scowl as though she had just forced him to drink poison. Neeko jumped up from his place on the chair to rejoin his companions outside to revel in a game of tag. He stopped at the door and announced to his mother, "Just wait and see Momma, after today I won't have to drink it ever again!"
"If it were only that easy," Dewey murmured as she watched her son run back and forth with the occasional cough or gasp of air. She smiled sadly as she rinsed the spoon she had used to give him his medicine and prayed that Neeko would be right and God would take away her son's ailment.
Later that evening Neeko sat proudly in front of his chocolate cake that displayed a large '5' in the middle surrounded by five candles as everyone sung "Happy Birthday". He clapped his hands when it was over and shut his eyes to make a wish as his lips moved to silently recite his want. In one swift movement he opened his eyes, grinned at his cake, and blew all of the candles out to the approval of his guests. Everyone clapped as Neeko insisted his piece be the biggest and also from the very middle of the '5'. Dewey smiled as her son tried to feed himself without making a mess and succeeded in doing so for the most part. Neeko accidentally smudged some of the icing on his cheek and in an attempt to remove the icing he only made the smudge larger and laughed as Felicity tried her best to clean his face. Dewey wished she had one of those newfangled smaller cameras to capture moments like these, for as a mother, she realized the moments she treasured with her children were becoming fewer in number as they got older. Neeko squealed in delight as Luke reminded him that the night was not over, for he had some birthday presents to unwrap. Neeko reached out and bounced in his chair as his present from his family was placed on the table in front of him.
"From Mommy, Daddy, Andy, J.P., Ethan, Ruthie, and Connor," Neeko sounded out his family members' names and grinned to each of them as he began to tear off the wrapping to reveal a bright red spinning top and a set of blocks. Neeko grinned in delight and hugged the treaures close to his chest, eager to try out his new toys. He thanked his family and gathered his belongings to tuck away in his room when Amy addressed him, "Neeko, we have something for you too."
Neeko looked up in time to see where Jack and Rhett stood proudly and moved aside to let him see his present. Neeko almost dropped his toys in surprise to see a rocking horse with a blue ribbon tied around its neck with his name on the bow. Neeko screamed his thanks many times over and carefully set the top down to try out his new horse. The children and adults seemed oblivious to Dewey's disapproval of her son's new toy. She had told Amy she wished to give him a rocking horse, but the general store did not have one in supply, so where did Amy find this?
Amy must have sensed Dewey's anger, for she followed her friend silently out to the porch when Dewey signaled her over. Dewey sat on the bench and looked her friend straight in the face. Amy lowered her head and whispered something inaudible.
"What?" Dewey asked as she leaned closer.
"I'm sorry. I know you really wanted to give him that rocking horse, and I found it a few days ago and got Jack to spiffy it up just in time. It was Rhett's, and then Ty's and then Luke's. Then last spring Luke decided he was too big to play on the rocking horse and Adelaide didn't have an interest in playing with it, so we put it away for safe keeping."
"Amy, you just made me look like the worst mother in the world. Why did you keep this from me? Are you trying to win my family's approval one child at a time? Will I wake up tomorrow and Ruthie has her own dollhouse? To me it seems they are quite fond of you and your family."
"Dewey…Lily, I'm sorry, really I am. I feel terrible, and if I can make it up to you, I will. I…I was selfish and I thought I was doing the right thing, but now I know I obviously didn't. If there's anything I can do, please let me know. I'm sorry for all of this, really."
"I just wanted him to have a good birthday. Do you know what he told me earlier today? That today was the last day he would have to take his medicine for his bronchitis. I know it bothers him that he can't play as hard as the other children and every morning he has to take this medicine, and I just wanted him to feel good for once. The rocking horse seemed to be the answer. He wouldn't run out of breath as quickly, and his cousin Ike had one when we visited my family last Christmas. Neeko fell in love with it even though he could barely reach the foot holsters. He squealed for hours on end just riding back and forth."
"I didn't know how much it meant to you. I'm truly sorry. Please try to forgive me," Amy lightly touched Dewey's arm and returned inside the house to finish cleaning up. Dewey remained in her place on the bench and stayed there until Connor found her and informed her that she needed to help him, Andy, and Ruthie with their baths. Dewey smiled at the reminder of how she was still needed and wanted in her children's lives. Spot had watched the ordeal from afar and smiled to himself in realization of how lucky he was to have Dewey and his children.
Felicity entered the Kelly household and sighed as she took an apple from the fruit basket on the table and sulked into the living room. Ethan took notice of her behavior but paid it little attention as he studied the sports section of the local newspaper. Amy, Lily, and Ruthie were also in the living room folding clothes and towels, for the other children were doing assorted chores, taking naps, or playing around the house. Felicity found a place on the couch by her mother and put her head in Amy's lap as she informed her audience of what she had learned.
"Paul asked Kathryn to the ice cream social. Kathryn of all people. She does like to tease him and she flirts with him during recess. But why her? I thought he would ask me! After all, I sit by him and he's even asked me to study with him a few times," Felicity frowned as her mother tried to comfort her. Ethan rolled his eyes as he kept his face hidden in the paper. Girls were so dramatic.
"Kathryn was talking about it after school on the way home. Now she's decided she wants to walk home with Paul and me instead of Nellie and Mary like she always does. She even kissed Paul's cheek when she had to turn in the fork in the road to go to her house! Paul didn't even seem to care! Now what am I supposed to do? The social is in four days."
"Felicity," Amy stroked her daughter's hair back from her forehead, "it'll be alright. You won't be completely alone. All of us will be there, which is more than enough to keep you company."
"But I wanted to go with Paul," Felicity whined as she sat up and took a bite of her apple. Ethan sighed, hoping that the drama-fest was over. He risked a glance at Felicity, who was now gazing blankly out the window and feeling sorry for herself. Girls, he sighed to himself, they just have the power to do things to you.
"Hey Felicity?" He addressed her sincerely as he folded the paper and looked at her. "Would you like to be my date for the social?"
Felicity's eyes grew wide at the question. "Really? You mean it?"
Ethan shrugged as Dewey gave him a scolding look that told him not to play around with the girl in a time like this. "Yeah, sure."
"Oh, thank you Ethan! You just saved my life!" Felicity jumped up and hugged the boy in his seat. Ethan grimaced as she squeezed him tight and left the room squealing. Amy and Dewey shared a knowing look and went back to folding the linens.
The following morning Amy and Dewey prepared to do their third load of laundry for the day. Dewey scrubbed a stain from J.P.'s shirt and sighed as it did not seem to be coming out. She had forgotten how hard it was to clean clothes, especially ones that were stained. She sighed as she rubbed some more soap along the stain and scrubbed the shirt against the washboard. Defeated, Dewey put the shirt to the side and went on to washing an undershirt.
"I'll be right back, Dewey. I'm going to see if Rhett put his clothes in the basket," Amy ventured upstairs to the older boys' room that was quickly becoming a pigsty. She sighed as she walked over piles of clutter and made a mental note to have the boys pick up after they got home from school. Finally she located a small heap of clothes next to Rhett's cot. As she picked up a pair of slacks, something fell from the pants pocket and landed on the floor. Amy picked up the item to inspect it: chewing tobacco. She quickly dropped it again as her hands began to shake from shock.
"Jack!" She bellowed as she clutched the item in her hand, her voice wavering. "Jack!"
Luckily, Jack had just come inside to retrieve a glass of tea when he heard his wife's faltering voice. He shared a concerned glance with Dewey and climbed the length of the stairs in record time, Dewey uncomfortably following at a safe distance. He found Amy sitting on Rhett's cot, her face mirroring absolute shock as she turned the can over and over in her hand.
"How?" Amy didn't even make sense to herself as she looked in Jack's eyes, a pained expression on her face. Jack took the item and gripped it hard, anger and disappointment flowing through his veins. "I'll kill him."
"No Jack…we just need to talk to him," Amy assumed the role of the sensible one as she placed a hand on her husband's arm, her eyes pleading. Jack sighed heavily and glared at the floor. His son chewing tobacco? When had this started?
Dewey had since slinked away, knowing this was a private conversation and began to prepare lunch. The Conlon and Kelly children soon arrived, ready for two days without schooling. Amy and Jack joined them a few moments later and seemed to be calm as they ate, drank, and laughed all through lunch. As the children finished lunch and began to do their chores, Jack and Amy pulled Rhett aside from his daily chore of refilling the troughs of the animals.
"What is this?" Jack asked Rhett as he pulled his son a way's distance from the house. Rhett glanced at the can in his father's hand and replied, "I don't know."
"Don't lie to me son," Jack tightened his grip on the can, "now I'll ask one more time- what is this doing in your pocket?!"
Jack's harsh tone startled both his son and wife for they seemed to jump at his merciless voice. "I only tried it once Dad…"
"Once? Once! And then what were you gonna do? Throw it out? If ya ask me, you'd probably finish the can off…"
"Jack! Stop it!" Amy took the can from her husband and silently dismissed him and his temper from the conversation. "Now Rhett, why do you have something like this?"
"Mom, I…I only wanted to try it. The guys at school gave me it to try, and I did. But I promise I won't do it again."
"Are you promising this because you mean it or just because you got caught?" Jack interjected, his voice becoming dangerously harsh once again.
"Jack, stop. Now," Amy shot him a look to stop immediately, but Jack only continued his verbal attack on his child. "Listen to me real close Rhett, because if I ever, ever find out that you brought that stuff into this house again, you can pack up and leave because you won't stay here."
"Jack, go into the house," Amy retorted, her tone becoming one that only a mother can reach when she is very upset. Jack silently obeyed and slammed the back door, making the mother and son jump for the second time that day.
"Mom, I really, really wasn't going to do it again. Please believe me," Rhett pleaded with Amy, his voice begging for forgiveness. "Rhett, just go to your room."
Rhett looked sullenly at the ground and did as he was told. He entered the Kelly household, tears streaming his cheeks as he confronted Jack who sat at the kitchen table. "Dad, I know you tried that stuff before. You've had to have. You know why? Because I once found a can in your dresser drawer when I was looking for a pair of socks to wear."
Jack almost fell out of his chair from shock and looked to see Amy in the doorway, her eyes bloodshot from crying. Rhett chose this time to make his exit and left his parents alone to sort out this unfamiliar territory.
"Jack," Amy began in a weary voice, "is that true? You have chewing tobacco in your dresser?"
"Amy, I…," Amy arched an eyebrow, "I was stressed out. I haven't done it in awhile…just when Spot and his family first got here…all those adjustments…"
"Don't talk to me right now Jack," Amy exited the room as tears stung her eyes, leaving Jack with his own guilt about his past actions. He quickly decided to take action and found Amy sprawled out on their bed and crying into her pillow.
"Amy, I'm sorry," Jack rubbed her shoulder as he lay beside her. "Please look at me."
Amy glanced at him and mumbled, "Jack, I just don't want Rhett picking up bad habits of yours…"
"Bad habits?! Sorry I can't be all perfect like you!" Jack turned to exit the room but a solemn face and soft hand kept him in his place. Amy looked him in the eye as she sat up and said, "Jack, I never told you the real reason I came to New York."
"Yeah ya did. You said you were spending the summer with your aunt and uncle and you were gonna get a job as a nanny or sitter or something…" He paused as Amy began to shake her head. "No, that wasn't the real reason."
"My brother, John, was an alcoholic. When he first started drinking, it was just after work, or maybe at dinner. Then it seemed that everything he drank had to be whiskey or gin or something like that. My parents knew he was out of control, and they didn't want me around it, so I was sent to New York to spend the summer with my aunt and uncle so that I wouldn't have to see my brother like that. They thought that they would have him under control at the end of the summer, and maybe I could come back and settle down in Texas. It was about a week before I expected to get any sort of message when an urgent telegram came to my aunt and uncle's house: my brother, in a drunken rage, had gotten into a fight and his head had been slammed against a pipe; he was basically left there to die. My father found him in this dreamlike state; he was still breathing but he didn't respond to anything. The doctor said he was in a coma, and probably by the time I received the telegram, John would be dead.
"So that's why I never liked the thought of you drinking; I know that bad habits die hard, and I couldn't bare to see another person I loved become controlled by alcohol or tobacco, so that's why I pushed you so hard to stop," Jack glanced up to see a tear stain Amy's cheek and brushed it away.
"I'm so sorry Amy," He embraced her tightly as he kissed her head. She cried against his shirt and gently pushed him away. "I've never spoke of him until now. I was…ashamed I guess, and I thought that if I never talked about him it would be like he never existed. I'm sorry I never told you."
"It's okay; I guess we all have our secrets, things we're not so proud of," Jack replied as he stroked her back and kissed her cheek. He lifted Amy to his lap and rocked her as he dried her tears.
After supper that evening, Jack and Rhett decided that they would both throw their cans away. They handed Amy their cans, which she promptly threw away, never to enter their household again. As she entered the living area where all the children were gathered to hear their nighttime story, she heard many groans and complaints.
"Sorry, we ran out of stories," Jack told the children for the third time as he sorted through the books on the shelf. "I read all of them already."
"Boo!!" The younger children voiced their discontent as Felicity, who held Neeko in her lap, stated, "Why don't you tell us how you and Mom met? Please?"
"You've heard that story thousands of times," Amy replied as she pulled up a chair by Dewey and Spot, to which Felicity said, "Well the Conlons' haven't heard it yet."
"Please tell us!!" Ruthie exclaimed from her place by her twin brother and Luke. The children seemed to approve as they encouraged Jack to tell the story. "Well alright."
"Once upon a time…" Jack began as the children giggled and listened eagerly. "I lived as a newsie in Manhattan. It was the last year, I thought, I would be leader because I had turned eighteen and needed to get a 'real job' soon. Well one morning I was selling on a corner when this beauty comes up to me and asked how to get to Mason and Eighteenth Street. So I told her how to get there and she tried to give me a nickel. Well I couldn't accept any money from a lady for directions; it just wasn't right. But I had noticed how she seemed a little lost as I explained to her where to turn, which way to go, things like that, so I offered to walk her there, which by God's grace, she agreed. I found out she was staying with her aunt and uncle for the summer; she had some problems back home. Her brother was in bad shape because he drank all the time and so her parents thought she should go stay with some other family while they tried to set him straight.
"She was an angel to me. Brown hair, beautiful brown eyes, she was a dream. I made a point to sell by where she was staying, and I saw her every morning when she bought a paper from me for her uncle. Gradually I asked her to go to dinner and a show with me at Medda's. After that, it was love. I knew it. She was the one. Spot even said he knew she was the one for me. He said we had that look, the look only true love can have. She was the last thing I thought about when I went to bed and the first thing that came to my mind when I got up. At the end of the summer she thought maybe her brother would be all better, but she got a letter from her parents saying that her brother had gotten into a fight and his head had been hit against a pipe and he was in a coma. They said that he would probably die before she received the letter and told her she could stay in New York if she wanted. Well I was mighty glad she decided to stay, she was my whole life.
"I proposed to her with this small silver ring on a rainy day in March with twenty cents in my pocket. She accepted right off- didn't even hesitate. I was so nervous, I had had the ring for about two weeks trying to find the right time to ask her, and it almost fell down the sink once while I was washing my face and had set it up by the soap dish. I remember she had come to meet me at the park when it started to rain. I took my jacket off because it was still cold out, and she held it over our heads, well almost over my head. I remember she started to walk away, thinking we were gonna get out of the rain. Nah, I dropped to one knee right there. She started to cry and said yes. We kissed in the rain for maybe ten minutes. That summer we were married and we lived happily ever after."
Jack was met with silence as he concluded the story. Finally Ty spoke up and told him, "Dad, we never heard that version before, about mom's brother and everything."
"Well, that's because I never knew about him either, until today. So that's why," Jack paused as he gathered Luke onto his knee, "We don't want y'all to ever get involved with alcohol or drugs. We want y'all to be healthy and live to see your children and your children's children grow up. Okay?"
"You got it Dad," Luke replied and giggled as the other children answered with similar replies. The four parents smiled with pride as Andy asked, "Daddy, how did you meet Mommy?"
"Well I umm…was a newsie in Brooklyn and uh…she was...I think, yeah she was a newsie in Queens and we met during the strike," Spot began as Dewey murmured, "a month after the strike."
"Right, a month after the strike, and I thought she was the most beautiful thing to ever grace this earth. She was so gorgeous and just so pure for someone from Queens and all…"
"Ah hem," Dewey playfully scowled as her husband continued.
"So I finally asked her out and she, of course, said yes. Our first date was…in Little Italy. We had a candlelit dinner and…"
"Spot, tell it right," Dewey interjected and sighed as Spot arched his eyebrow, "Our first date was on the docks. We ate knockwursts as we watched the sun set. Then we danced in the moonlight on the dock until one of his idiot friends thought it was a good idea to push both of us into the East River. Remember Spot?"
"Wha…?" Spot's confused nature and open mouth conveyed the silent message that he didn't have the slightest idea of what she was talking about. Lily took this to heart as she mumbled a small "Excuse me" and proceeded to exit the room, her face red from embarrassment.
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