Lia06- Sorry about your comp. Yes, I think they're cute too! LOL
BellaLou- Loved your review! I thought Georgia would be the perfect character to address those issues. And Jimmy is just so cute! LOL
Anmerie- Jimmy is so great, we all love him! LOL Your review was great, but I don't see Georgia 'raping' Jim. LOL
Klinoa- Loved your review. You'll have to wait and see! LOL (I miss the crowd. LOL)
Killerkeanegirl- No, I am in PA for now. But being from KY, I understand what you mean about the klan. At least EPK is happy disease, LOL. So is POBD! (I suffer from it!)
Nascarchick- Time will tell!
Strangexbutxtrue- We're all jealous of Georgia. We all want Jim……and Rizzo……and Mac……and OC……and Johnson……and Buzzy……and Bah……
Darkdestiney2000- Like candy! LOL
Meadow567- Give the boy a break! He's trying he said. LOL
Emador- So many people call Jimmy a doll, I should manufacture 'Jimmy Dolls'. I could be rich. At least he isn't pushy. I really wanted the neo-Nazi scene to show that while very happy with her family, Georgia struggles with her own heritage. And of course Ramsey is just so cute to help her out! LOL
Miraclegirl- Please don't cry! (Here is a tissue in case I'm too late! LOL)
November, 1979 Minneapolis
It was the next week after Jim had made his late night confession. He didn't know I had heard and I didn't let on that I knew anything. Jim acted no differently towards me, but I felt this urge to hold onto him every minute of every day. I realized why falling in love was sometimes described as drowning. Thoughts of Jim consumed my mind, controlled my emotions and I wanted to be with him physically.
Jim was going early to Massachusetts for our game against Harvard so that he could spend some time with his family. He wanted to see his dad and check on his brothers.
"So, I'll see you when we get to Cambridge?" I asked as I helped Jim pack the last of his things.
"Yeah, and Pop will be at the game. He really wants to meet you." Jim said.
"I am looking forward to it." I said. I stood on tiptoe and kissed both his cheeks. "One is for your brothers and one is for your dad. Tell all three that I say hello."
"I'll do that." Jim said. "Now do I get a goodbye kiss?"
I smiled as Jim lowered his lips to mine. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, never wanting to let go.
"Well, I should get going, my plane leaves in an hour." Jim said.
I nuzzled my nose against his. "Call me when you get there, so I'll know everything went okay." I said.
"I will Georgy." Jim said and kissed me again. "Georgy."
"Hmmm?" I said snuggling against him.
"I…I…um…I…I'm going to miss you." Jim said finally.
I smiled. "I will miss you too, but it's only two days." I said.
"I know, but I hate being away from you." Jim said and then tried to cover his words. "Never know when Mac may try to steal you away."
"Well, just have a safe trip and I'll see you at Harvard." I said and kissed him one last time before he walked out of his dorm room.
The next day I sat on the plane reading. The team was on its way to Massachusetts. I had found an Alfred Hitchcock book that had stories in it that had been used to make episodes of the 'Twilight Zone'. Jim had called me the night before and said that he had arrived home okay. Meanwhile his youngest brother who was 14 and in junior high had made kissing noises in the background.
"Hey, how are things going?" OC said flopping down in the empty seat next to me.
"Good, how about you?" I asked setting my book on my lap.
"Not bad. Got tired of listening to Strobel snore in the seat behind me." OC said. "How are things with the Romeo Goalie?"
"Good, I can hardly wait to meet his dad at the game." I said.
"You know after Jim's mom died, he didn't date much." OC said and I looked over at him. "Silky and me even tried setting him up on dates but nothing ever happened. He just didn't seem to want to date. Hell for the hockey team banquet last year, he took this girl from my Econ class that I had set him up with. Well the following Monday I asked her how the date went, she said that he walked her to her door, kissed her on the cheek and that was it."
"Did he date before his mom died?" I asked.
"He had a girlfriend that he went out with for several months. I can't remember her name though. She was a nice girl at first, I guess, she didn't really hang out with our crowd. Anyway, then Jim's mom died and this girl changed completely. Or maybe her true colors showed through. She wouldn't go to the funeral. I mean everyone who knew Jim was there, this boy was devastated, as I am sure you know from the way he reacts even today,"
I nodded.
"Well, after that…it's hard to explain. It's like she……Stacey was her name. Anyways, Stacey didn't seem to understand that Jim needed time to mourn his loss and that he would never be the same. She just expected Jim to bury his mom and life go back to normal. I remember one night I could hear her throwing a hissy fit from all the way down the hall because he wanted to go home and spend the weekend with his dad rather than with her." OC continued.
"What finally happened?" I asked.
"She told Jim that 'she didn't have time to sit around waiting for some mama's boy to quit moping and act like a man.' She dumped him and we haven't seen much of her since." OC said and I felt anger rise within me. How could anyone be so insensitive? Jim had just lost his mom and this Stacey sounded so selfish, if I could get my hands around her neck.
"Jim never talked about her. He told me he dated a few girls in high school but nothing serious." I said.
"Well, Jim didn't date much after the Stacey incident. Silky and I were actually getting ready to sign him up for priesthood." OC said with a smile making me giggle. "Last May, Rizzo and Jim had a long talk, in case you haven't noticed Rizzo tries to solve everyone's problems. Anyways, Jim said that he was ready to start dating again. All of us who were close to him cheered at that. Then we went to try-outs a few weeks later and you know the rest."
"I am glad that he had you boys there to help him through the rough times." I said.
"Jimmy adores you, you know?" OC said and I smiled. It was so great to hear it from someone else.
"I adore him too." I said.
"I haven't seen Jim this happy in awhile." OC said and kissed my cheek. "I'm glad he found someone so special. No one deserves it more than him."
"Georgia, where is Jimmy?" Herb asked walking through the locker room.
"He should be here. I hope they didn't get stuck in traffic." I said.
"Have him suit up when he gets here. I'll see you all on the ice." Herb said and walked out the door.
Herb was in his usual mode before a game. A few minutes later Jim walked into the locker room. I rushed to hug him.
"I missed you." I said and kissed him.
"Yeah, I missed you too." Jim said and hugged me tight.
"Suit up, Herb was getting nervous that you were a bit late." I said. "Where is your dad?"
"He went to his seat. I gave him the passes to get to the locker rooms after the game." Jim said.
I kissed him again and went to find my dad and see if anyone needed us. No one needed anything when I found dad so we walked out to the ice.
"Your sweetie make it in?" Craig asked me.
"Yeah, he is suiting up." I told him.
We ended up beating Harvard which was exciting to the boys from Boston. I laughed to see OC, Silky, Rizzo and Jimmy so happy to beat Harvard. I giggled as we walked to the locker rooms.
In the locker room after the game, I was wrapping Broten's knee that he had sprained during the game.
"Georgia, you almost finished?" Jim asked walking into the back room.
"Yeah, I think dad can handle the rest." I said looking up at Jim who was already dressed in his shirt and tie.
"Well come on, Pop is waiting to meet you." Jim said.
"Okay, hold on. Alright Broten, stay off that knee as much as you can for a few days. I'll check it again when we get back to Minneapolis." I told him.
Jim took my hand and practically dragged me out of the room. We walked out of the locker room and down the hall. There was a lounge off to one side where refreshments were for the teams and staff. Jim pulled me inside.
"Pop, this is Georgia." Jim told the gentleman who was sipping some coffee, sitting on one of the chairs in the room. The man stood and extended his hand to me. "Georgy, this is my dad Donald."
"So nice to meet you, Mr. Craig." I said and shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you too, but call me Donald." He said. "Jimmy, you were right she is beautiful." Donald said with s wink.
"Thank you." I said and felt myself blush a bit.
"Jimmy tells me you're the team nurse." Donald said.
"Yes and my dad is the team doctor. He is finishing up with a few of the boys right now." I said. "Jim would you get something to eat, I am starving."
"Sure." Jim said and walked towards the catering tables.
"Would you like to sit down?" Donald asked.
"Yes, thank you." I said and sat down.
"You know, I was very surprised when Jimmy told me he had a girlfriend. But the more he talked about you the more I understood why he liked you so much." Donald said.
"What a sweet thing to say. Thank you." I said.
"Georgia, Jim told me once that he could never be with a girl that couldn't love his mother. I never understood what he meant because Margaret had passed away, so unless the girl knew her before, how could she love Margaret." Donald said and took my hand. "But when Jimmy started telling me about you, I finally knew what he meant. You just opened up your heart and welcomed Margaret right in. You asked questions about her to learn what she was like. You weren't intimidated by her memory in Jim's heart."
I held back tears. "I don't know what to say. I know Jim loves her still, and she will always be apart of him. And I love him very much." I said.
"I can tell you do, and I am so glad you do. He really adores you." Donald said and I could tell he was fighting back tears too.
I leaned over and hugged Donald. "You've got a wonderful son. You and Margaret did a great job raising him into the terrific person he is today." I said.
"Thank you. It's not hard to see why Jimmy is so crazy about you." Donald said.
"Pop, that's my girlfriend you're hugging. Lucky for you I trust you with her." Jimmy said with a wink and handed me a plate of snacks.
"Thank you." I told Jim.
About that time my dad stuck his head in the door.
"Hey dad, come on over." I said and waved him over to where we were sitting. Dad walked over to where we were. "Dad this is Donald Craig, Jimmy's dad."
"Pop, this is Georgy's dad, Doc. Actually George Nagobads. Sorry Doc." Jim said.
Donald and my dad shook hands. "Think nothing of it Jimmy; I think Velta is the only one who calls me George anymore. You can call me Doc too, Mr. Craig." Dad said.
"Then call me Donald. It's nice to meet you." Donald said. "May I say you have a beautiful sweet daughter."
"Jimmy is a great boy too. I think he is a wonderful young man." Doc said.
I giggled. I knew parents bragged on their own kids, but bragging on other people's kids was funny to watch. I ate my food while Donald and dad talked a bit. Mostly about the team and the upcoming games.
I knew that we should give Jim and his dad some time alone before we had to board the bus and go back to the hotel.
"Dad, we should so see if Herb needs us for anything before we leave." I said. "Donald it was great meeting you."
"Take care Georgia, Doc." Donald said.
Dad and I found Herb and Craig getting the boys ready to load the bus. OC and Silky were still excited to have beat Harvard. I giggled as I climbed on the bus as the boys starting loading their bags. I took a seat next to the window, leaving the seat next to me open for Jimmy. I looked out the window and could see Jim standing on the sidewalk talking to his dad.
I watched through the window as Jim hugged his dad, and then got in line to board the bus. I was anxious to hear how Jim's visit home had been and how his brothers were. Jim boarded the bus and came to sit next to me. I could see the tears in his eyes. I silently pulled him into my arms as the bus pulled out for the hotel.
Once at the hotel, Jim came with me to my room. Since he hadn't checked into a room, he was just going to share mine. He set his bags down next to where I had left mine earlier. I was tired so I began digging for nightclothes.
"How was things at home?" I asked.
"Not bad, my brothers had 900 questions about you. I had a long talk with both them to make sure everything was okay in school and such." Jim said. "It was good to see Pop, I missed him more than I realized."
"Well I am glad to have you back." I said wrapping both arms around his neck and kissing him.
"I missed you too. But my brothers asked so much about you, I talked about you quite a bit. And dad was asking about you." Jim said.
"I like your dad, what a sweet man." I said. "Of course he is a good man because he raised you. And you're the greatest thing to come into my life in a long time."
Jim leaned down and kissed me. I wrapped both arms around him. I kissed him hard, wanting to crawl inside of him if that were possible. I felt Jim pull me tight against him. We stood there kissing for what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably just a few minutes.
I pulled back so I could breathe. "I am going to change for bed." I said and went into the bathroom.
A few minutes later, having changed, brushed my teeth and hair pulled into a ponytail, I emerged from the bathroom. I saw that Jimmy had also changed into sweats and a t-shirt to sleep in. He was pulling back the covers from our bed.
"Pop really likes you." Jim said. "He had said that you sounded so great before he met you, he couldn't wait to meet you. Then tonight he said you were so pretty and very sweet."
I crawled into bed. "Glad that everybody is getting along. Now I have to met all your siblings someday." I said.
Jim climbed into bed beside me and turned out the lights. He pulled me against him, and I laid my head down on his chest. I could hear his heart beating.
"Tomorrow is back to Minneapolis. It's going to be hard being away from home for the holidays." Jim said.
"Yeah, I know. Thanksgiving is coming fast and Christmas will be here before you know it." I said. "But we'll spend the holidays together."
"That sounds great, Georgy." Jim said and kissed me.
"It'll be fun, we'll watch the parade for Thanksgiving, and mom will make a big turkey, you and dad can watch football." I said.
"How is it you make everything better?" Jim asked and kissed me again. "You make being away from home a lot easier."
"You make being at home a lot better." I told him and kissed him.
"I…I…that is…I…" Jim was stuttering.
"Jim? You okay?" I asked, although I had a suspicion of what he was trying to say.
"Yeah, I am just tired. Let's get some sleep." Jim said. He kissed me one last time and we snuggled up to sleep.
