A/N Sorry this took so long. I had trouble with this chapter. Hope everyone
had a Merry Christmas.
Roberts' Dining Room 1301 Hours 12/30/2003
Wow. Now I know what people mean when they say the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Everybody's here for the meeting except the Sims. We're all just sitting and waiting to see what happens. Even Chaplain Turner came. I'm not sure if he's here to help act as a mediator or provide last rights if this doesn't go well.
~Ding Dong~
And to think I thought everybody was tense before. Harm starts to go answer the door and the chaplain stops him and goes instead. Probably a good idea, this way the fighting can't start before everyone's seated.
Within minutes Chaplain Turner is back with Mr. and Mrs. Sims. They find a seat and we all just look at each other for a minute like we're afraid to say anything for fear of breaking the peace.
"Porter told me that the two of you are planning on moving in together. Is this true?"
"Yes, it is. Mac and I both agree it would be best for everyone if we were all under one roof."
"And where were you planning on living?"
"Well we were hoping to live here at least for a little while." Harm's being so calm about this. It's almost like he's questioning a reluctant witness.
"What do you mean, at least for a little while?" I think that's the first thing I've heard Mr. Sims say since Saturday. I decide I'll take this question.
"Harm and I were thinking it might be better if we found a place that was ours. This way were not coming in and taking over Bud and Harriet's house. It will be better for us and probably better for AJ. The thing is neither of our apartments are large enough to accommodate 5 people, even if two of them are under the age of 5." Mr. Sims kind of chuckles at that.
"Actually Colonel Mackenzie I think it's because of the boys' ages not in spite of. I think the smaller they are the more stuff they require." Everyone's chuckling at that remark when Mrs. Sims suddenly gets up and leaves the room.
"Mr. Sims, should you go after her?"
"I will in a minute admiral. I should tell you that my wife did speak to a lawyer last night. I'm not sure what the lawyer said to her but between the two of us we have managed to convince her not to go for custody at this time. I think the lawyer's argument was that she needed to do some work to improve her chances in court. My argument was that I couldn't help because of some health issues I'm having at the moment."
"Are you okay, sir?" Mikey asks this question. I'm sure he's worried about AJ losing somebody else in his life.
"I should be fine. It's just going to take some time and effort on my part. Thank you for asking. Colonel, Commander, I can't promise you much but I can promise you I will work on my wife and getting her to accept Harriet's decision. I understand why we weren't named guardians, frankly the boys would tire us out. I can't promise you that Lydia won't try to get custody and won't make things difficult for you. I can promise that I'll help in whatever way I can."
"Thank you. That means a lot to us." Harm and I both respond.
"I'm going to go check on Lydia now. We aren't planning on leaving until the end of the week. Would it be possible for us to come see the boys and maybe take AJ out for a little while?"
"I don't see why not. Why don't you give us a call sometime tomorrow?" If he can be civil I can be civil.
Chaplain Turner and the Admiral both stand up and offer to walk Mr. Sims out. As soon as he leaves we all breathe a sigh of relief.
"Is it just me or did that go much better than anyone hoped it would?"
"It's not you Mikey. That went better than I dared to hope and being a preacher's kid I was raised to be an optimist."
Well that certainly explains why Sturgis can be so irritatingly cheery at times.
Roberts' Dining Room 1301 Hours 12/30/2003
Wow. Now I know what people mean when they say the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Everybody's here for the meeting except the Sims. We're all just sitting and waiting to see what happens. Even Chaplain Turner came. I'm not sure if he's here to help act as a mediator or provide last rights if this doesn't go well.
~Ding Dong~
And to think I thought everybody was tense before. Harm starts to go answer the door and the chaplain stops him and goes instead. Probably a good idea, this way the fighting can't start before everyone's seated.
Within minutes Chaplain Turner is back with Mr. and Mrs. Sims. They find a seat and we all just look at each other for a minute like we're afraid to say anything for fear of breaking the peace.
"Porter told me that the two of you are planning on moving in together. Is this true?"
"Yes, it is. Mac and I both agree it would be best for everyone if we were all under one roof."
"And where were you planning on living?"
"Well we were hoping to live here at least for a little while." Harm's being so calm about this. It's almost like he's questioning a reluctant witness.
"What do you mean, at least for a little while?" I think that's the first thing I've heard Mr. Sims say since Saturday. I decide I'll take this question.
"Harm and I were thinking it might be better if we found a place that was ours. This way were not coming in and taking over Bud and Harriet's house. It will be better for us and probably better for AJ. The thing is neither of our apartments are large enough to accommodate 5 people, even if two of them are under the age of 5." Mr. Sims kind of chuckles at that.
"Actually Colonel Mackenzie I think it's because of the boys' ages not in spite of. I think the smaller they are the more stuff they require." Everyone's chuckling at that remark when Mrs. Sims suddenly gets up and leaves the room.
"Mr. Sims, should you go after her?"
"I will in a minute admiral. I should tell you that my wife did speak to a lawyer last night. I'm not sure what the lawyer said to her but between the two of us we have managed to convince her not to go for custody at this time. I think the lawyer's argument was that she needed to do some work to improve her chances in court. My argument was that I couldn't help because of some health issues I'm having at the moment."
"Are you okay, sir?" Mikey asks this question. I'm sure he's worried about AJ losing somebody else in his life.
"I should be fine. It's just going to take some time and effort on my part. Thank you for asking. Colonel, Commander, I can't promise you much but I can promise you I will work on my wife and getting her to accept Harriet's decision. I understand why we weren't named guardians, frankly the boys would tire us out. I can't promise you that Lydia won't try to get custody and won't make things difficult for you. I can promise that I'll help in whatever way I can."
"Thank you. That means a lot to us." Harm and I both respond.
"I'm going to go check on Lydia now. We aren't planning on leaving until the end of the week. Would it be possible for us to come see the boys and maybe take AJ out for a little while?"
"I don't see why not. Why don't you give us a call sometime tomorrow?" If he can be civil I can be civil.
Chaplain Turner and the Admiral both stand up and offer to walk Mr. Sims out. As soon as he leaves we all breathe a sigh of relief.
"Is it just me or did that go much better than anyone hoped it would?"
"It's not you Mikey. That went better than I dared to hope and being a preacher's kid I was raised to be an optimist."
Well that certainly explains why Sturgis can be so irritatingly cheery at times.