A/N: After the famous 1989 earthquake in our timeline, Danny was simply at work and couldn't get home. He also couldn't call because the phone lines were all busy or down. Writers are to be commended for developing the great episode Aftershocks within a couple of weeks of that earthquake.
But, what happened during that quake? And does Danny being a sportscaster change things? Because he would certainly be with ESPN covering something. And Jesse is months early in his relationship with Becky. And what's with Jesse and Joey suddenly reversing roles? You'll see what I mean. Thanks to ESPN's nice, short documentary video on the quake for timeline help.
Part 4 - Whole Lot Of Shakin' Goin' On
DJ checked her watch. It was a few minutes till 5:00. She sighed slightly as she walked into her youngest sister Michelle's bedroom. She saw the little girl seated sadly on her bed.
"All right," she said sweetly, "punishment is over." She took Michelle into her arms and hugged her closely. "I didn't like having to yell like that. But you have been told that we don't throw things like that, haven't you?" Michelle nodded slowly. "I love you so much, my little Strawberry Shortcake."
Jesse looked a little wistful as he looked on from the doorway. "I see so much of your mom in you, Deej," he told D.J..
"Thanks, Uncle Jesse." DJ looked back at michelle. "Do you want to stay in here and play for a little bit? I don't know if we'll see Daddy but he will be somewhere at the ballpark during tonight's game. Uncle Jesse probably has something special for supper all ready." The pregame show would start in a few minutes.
"Yeah, pretty soon. I just need to go down and do a few things. Hey, munchkin, why don't you come help me set the table." Michelle raced over to him and he picked her up.
"Steph is finishing some homework, and I have to check a few things too. Let us know when supper's ready," DJ finished.
"Sure thing, Deej," Jesse said as he put Michelle down on the floor as she wanted and then walked downstairs with her.
DJ sat down at the small child's table in her and Stephanie's room. "How was Michelle?: Stephanie asked.
"Fine. I guess I can see why Dad always just tells Michelle to listen to me; he has been busier with both Bay Area teams in the playoffs, and now the World Series. She's almost three, though." D.J. scanned her work. "She's a good kid, but he's never enforced limits on her himself."
"Will you talk to Dr. Landress about it?"
D.J. wasn't sure. "Maybe I can wait till my yearly checkup in a few months, just after my birthday. We'll see." She grinned proudly. "I'm going to be a teenager," she boasted.
"Wow, you'll be old then."
D.J. shook her head and chuckled. She wasn't feeling near as much pressure as she would have - at least Danny openly told Michelle to listen to D.J. as if D.J. was Pam, and she'd even gotten Danny to follow her as if he was joining with D.J. in putting Michelle in timeout a couple times. So, he could be eased into doing it himself. She wasn't afraid of being pressured to be a mom for Stephanie, too; in fact, she was getting to like the idea of helping her more and more. She supposed she could go to the Halloween party at Steph's school for an hour or so.
As she pondered those things, the house started to shake violently. Stephanie screamed as both girls ducked under the table, as they'd learned during their drills at school.
Stephanie instantly grabbed hold of D.J. "Are we gonna die?" she asked anxiously.
"No, it's going to be okay. I'm right here," D.J. promised. She could tell Stephanie was really shaking herself, not just with the house.
Several seconds - which felt longer - later, the shaking stopped. They noticed things had been knocked off of the wall and off of their dressers. D.J. cautiously poked her head out. "Wow, I've never felt one like that."
"Are you sure it's okay to come out, Deej?"
"Yeah. There could be some small aftershocks, but I think we're okay." She glanced up. "The ceiling's not caving in, so we're safe. Come on, let's go down." She noticed Stephanie still holding on to one arm. "I'll hold your hand; here, you'll want Mr. Bear," she remarked as she pulled Stephanie out and over toward the latter's bed, where she grabbed Mr. Bear and planted him into Stephanie's arms like a quarterback giving the ball to a running back. Stephanie hugged him tight with one arm as she took D.J.'s hand again.
Joey appeared in the doorway. "Good, you girls are okay," he said. "Michelle got under the kitchen table, she's waiting there while Jesse surveys the damage. Deej, grab your battery operated TV; does it have batteries?"
"Yeah, Joey, it does," D.J. replied.
"Wait, let me carry it, you'll need to hold on."
As Joey took the radio, D.J. asked, "Why are you so serious? Is everything okay? I know that wasa big one, but…" She didn't want to scare Stephanie any more than she had to, but D.J. had instantly thought of the 1906 earthquake; she couldn't recall if Stephanie had learned about that yet or not.
"I'm not sure, we seem to have lost power." Joey went on to explain further as he led them down the steps to the kitchen. "It just seems fitting because-"
At that moment, Jesse's voice could be heard. "Woo hoo," he said, trying to cheer MIchelle up, since the girl was still clearly concerned under the table. "We have no power. And you know what that means?" He continued to speak in a silly voice. "We get to eat everything in the fridge for supper tonight, after we finish this. And then?" He whooped as he punched the air with his fist. "The freezer tomorrow morning. Which means ice cream for breakfast." He began to dance a jig. "I used to love that when that happened; didn't you, Joey?"
"Yeah. Let's organize this. Right now we have what we made; good, you got the pan on the floor with minimal spills," Joey said. "Good thing we didn't have a tidal wave of casserole."
"Yeah, I could almost hear some surfer dude shouting, 'Souf's up!'" Jesse looked eagerly at Joey. "Get it - souf? Souffle?"
Stephanie looked at D.J.."Why is Uncle Jesse trying to imitate Joey?"
D.J. shrugged. "Michelle does still look a bit scared. I don't blame her." D.J. coaxed MIchelle out from under the table. "Come on, it'll be okay. We're all right here now," she said pleasantly as Michelle took a deep breath and finally came out from under it.
"Yeah. Whee," Jesse said as he scooped her up. "All right, let's go for a little spin." He was glad to see Michelle cracking a smile as he spun her around. "It's just like a ride at Disneyland, right? Only I hope you don't throw up on me."
"That sounded more like Uncle Jesse," Stephanie admitted, although his joking around still seemed odd.
"Okay, we've got over an hour of daylight left before we need to get out the flashlights and battery-powered lanterns. The network's World Series coverage went off the air, so they probably don't have power. Let's turn ESPN on with the sound down while we eat."
As if reading Joey's mind, Stephanie said, "Then we can make sure Daddy's okay." SHe usually called him "Dad" by now, but it was normal for kids during that transition to revert to a more kidlike "Daddy" during stressful times.
"That's what I thought, too; I can't promise he'd be on, but it's worth a try," Joey said.
Kimmy burst in the back door. "Hey, Deej, are you guys all okay? I bet your family's having Freezer Casserole too, huh?"
"Not yet; that's breakfast," D.J. announced.
"Yep; ice cream, sunny side up. Of course, the sunny side is always up when you have ice cream." Jesse sang as he dished their first dinner of the evening - to the tune of "Puttin' on the Ritz." "So much stuff you have to eat, You know that you will get a treat, like cake on grits. Power's on the fritz."
"Whoa, since when do you try to be a comedian?" Kimmy asked.
"I'm more curious when you ever ate grits, Uncle Jesse. I thought that was just a Southern thing," D.J. replied.
"Eh, the band and I tried it once when we were on tour. But that song's kind of stuck in my head since I was a kid and heard the original, right after Dad said the power was on the fritz once," Jesse admitted. He sang some more. "Dress your salad with ketchup in a blur. Try delicious noodles with peach cobbler."
"Hmmm, that sounds pretty tasty. Anyway, our whole house might be on the fritz. Dad found some cracks. I think it's from all the rollerblading we do in the living room," Kimmy explained. "Garth was already at a friend's; he can stay there. So my parents don't have to bother with anything else, they wondered if I could stay here while they get it fixed."
"I'm sure Danny will let you stay tonight at least. And, probably for a couple more weeks," Joey affirmed. Kimmy left to get her sleeping bag and a few other things.
"Where is Daddy? They haven't even had anyone broadcast from out here," Stephaniie said worriedly.
"It takes electricity. They'll have generators, but they take time to set up." Joey suggested that they eat. He turned the TV so D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle could see the screen. "You girls can watch, I'm sure you'll recognize him."
"Yeah, and like Joey would say, if you see pictures of damage, think of it as the Tasmanian Devil coming through," Jesse said.
Once they had finished eating their planned meal - and begun eating other things - ESPN coverage was back on, live from Candlestick Park.
Kimmy arrived soon afterward with her sleeping bag. "Hey; everything okay?" Stephanie and Michelle shushed her without turning their heads from the screen.
"I told them I was sure everything else was standing," Joey whispered to her.
"Yeah, they don't rollerblade at Candlestick, so I'm sure it didn't fall down," Jesse cracked. "Even your house didn't."
Suddenly, Stephanie leaped for joy. "There he is," she shouted before D.J. turned up the sound.
The others came over as they saw Danny talking briefly with a police officer about how they were trying to evacuate the ballpark, while only having about an hour of good light left. Danny told the officer, "I hope my own family is watching." He quickly looked at the camera. "Even if you're the goofy next door neighbor, someone make sure they know I'm safe and I might not make it till about 11, maybe midnight."
"Your dad's okay. He'll be home between eleven and midnight," Kimmy said as she turned to D.J..
Jesse sighed contentedly. "Well, he's not getting the best interviews, but at least he's getting something. Enough to tell us he's okay."
"Were you worried, Uncle Jesse?" Stephanie asked.
"Nah. I mean, yeah, I joked around, but it wasn't 'cause I was nervous. To tell you the truth, once I saw everything was okay, at least in our neighborhood, I tried as hard as I could to distract you."
"You did a good job. I knew it was still important to be prepared, like organizing all our safety stuff, so I didn't joke as much as normal. Of course, I didn't need to, with you around. I might have to borrow some of the stuff you did," Joey said to encourage Jesse.
"Look, don't credit me, okay," Jesse insisted.
"I'm just so glad he'll be home," Stephanie said. She began randomly hugging everyone - and even hugged Kimmy. "Wow, I must really be glad," she said after the hug.
That night around 8:30, Joey saw Becky pulling up and opened the door for her. "Hey, Becky, everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just thought - since I don't have a working phone - I'd come over and see if I should bring the contents of my refrigerator. It'll be easier if we all eat it together."
"Sure; come on in," Joey said. As she stepped through the dor, Joey added: "Kimmy's here, too. Her house had some damage, so she's here while they fix it. I figure Danny'll be okay with it."
"I think so, too." She greeted everyone. Jesse came up to her and they briefly kissed. "Hey, Jess."
"Hey, Becxky." Jesse went back to his story. In a very low whisper, he said, "inside that dark, damp, box…" he then shouted the words: "was a thing!"
Kimmy had ducked down a bit, but she quickly sat up. "Why did I duck? That wasn't scary."
"I think Jesse is trying to keep everyone's minds off the problem." She wasn't sure if she wanted to mention Danny or not, since he wasn't there. "Did Danny get in touch…" she trailed off.
"Daddy's okay," Stephanie said. "We saw him on TV."
Becky breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. There was quite a traffic jam. Plus, if he had to broadcast any then I'm sure it might be a while yet," she remarked.
"Yeah, he knows how to slip in anything he needs to," Jesse said. "We're pretty full but as you can see we have enough light here, if you want to come stay you're welcome."
Becky smiled knowingly at Jesse. She knew what he might be thinking. "I could sleep on the couch, sure." Both chuckled. "Why don't I bring what I need and empty my fridge first."
Well after 10, Jesse and Becky were enjoying a candlelight dessert in the kitchen. They were lovingly gazing at each other while considering the massive amounts of damage that had occurred.
"I really admire how you take care of the girls and try to help them through things," Becky said lovingly.
"Yeah. Although I'm glad Joey's back to doing all the voices and jokes now. It was way worse than trying to come up with a song when I did that. Part of what I did was a funny song I made up years ago anyway."
"You do come up with them so fast sometimes," Becky said as they began to hear voices in the living room. Both said that had to be Danny coming home.
They walked in for a moment. Stephanie had run over to Danny while D.J. carried Michelle, who stirred long enough to say goodnight to Danny as he took her from D.J. and began to carry her upstairs.
Imitating Popeye, Joey announced that his service on the ship was over for the night and that he was off duty.
"Yeah, sure, take all those voices and go to bed." Jesse shook his head for a moment as he headed upstairs. Becky went back to the kitchen.
Jesse came back down a moment later.
"You know, Becky, you're really good with those girls yourself. I think you'd make a great mother, Jesse complimented her.
"It sounds like you've taught DJ to be a pretty good one too."
"Pam had a lot to do with it. You've got quite a bit of her too." Jesse wasn't sure how to say how much he appreciated that - or, maybe a better way to say it was how much he cherished that. It wasn't just that aspect of Becky that he loved, but that reminder of Pam's personality was something he couldn't get over.
So, he just pulled out a little box.
"I know it's only been about a year. I'm not saying it has to be tomorrow. But, there's something so special with you being in my life. It's just like I said about being here, you open parts of me I never knew were there, parts I realize are vital to me. Maybe that's even why I got a little silly tonight. I've been thinking about this, wondering, well…." Unsure of how to continue, he just knelt down on one knee and said, "Rebecca Donaldson, I would be so honored if you would marry me."
"Oh, Jesse, it's beautiful. Yes, I would love to marry you. Maybe not right now, but as you said, someday." Becky gazed in awe at the engagement ring and considered what an amazing couple they had begun to be.
"You know, Papouli and my grandma are coming to the U.S. for their 50th anniversary sometime in early August next year. We don't have to set that as a date, but it would be kind of nice."
Becky chuckled inside as she considered that Jesse still was acting like he had everything planned out. He hadn't asked her, and she didn't know if she wanted to share… no, it would be an anniversary, not another wedding. Besides, it could be the previous day or something.
"Well, where will they have it? I mean, as long as it's hereI guess I wouldn't mind. I kind of wanted to have it in Nebraska, but that's better than making your grandparents go to someplace silly like Graceland," Becky observed.
"Some- Becky, Graceland would be great for their anniversary. There's more than enough stuff there for both of our events. Whereas if we went to Nebraska we'd probably all share a barn or something," Jesse spouted.
"Jess, the amount of space was the reason I thought they'd prefer here in San Francisco, but it's still way better than Graceland. Isn't this where you said they met?" Becky took a deep breath. "Okay, wait a minute. Why are we debating the merits of Nebraska versus Graceland. I think we can agree to have it in San Francisco."
"Exactly. You're right," Jesse conceded, "here in San Francisco would have more meaning to them than Graceland, I would accept it as a honeymoon spot," Jesse hedged.
"Jess, we could go to Graceland anytime. I want my wedding to be something special, and my honeymoon too. Let's skip that for now and just enjoy the fact we're engaged," Becky suggested.
Jesse agreed, he couldn't believe how much his life was coming together.
They heard a soft "whoo" as they hugged. D.J. had been watching from the top of the steps.
"All right, go spread the news if they're not already asleep," Jesse said with a wave of his hand. She left. "Remind me to remind her of her spying on us when she has boyfriends."
"Sure. The more I think about it, this is the perfect place for our wedding; even better than Nebraska. Because the best of everything - especially the best families."
"You said it." They kissed passionately, interrupted only by his "Have mercy."
A/N: The book universe has an October wedding for Jesse and Becky (one book says it outright, others imply it), but only 4 months before the TV universe and Valentine's day. Yet, a few clues show that Becky came soon after Christmas of the first season in the Book Universe. That's quite plausible if a talk show was already being considered; she'd be hired to do Sports and things beforehand. Most notably, Jesse had known her and done something for her every Valentine's day before they married, implying three.
So, why such an early proposal here? Remember, Becky has been over more often with Danny gone. She still came a bit earlier than on TV because they needed to look for a host. So they will be starting to look a little faster.
Also, with Becky over there more often, this means she and Jesse have more of a chance to talk about things, eliminating the likelihood for a breakup weeks before the earthquake. The hurried attempt at a marriage doesn't happen. It doesn't in the books because they've been together many months longer (My story "Jackpot"). It doesn't here because they've been together a few months longer but mostly Becky being over more with Danny gone means they've had a chance to discuss this in the house without the temptation to go to a chapel. They don't even go to the resort where it almost happened since only Becky is with the station.
Finally, this proposal allows them to go very slowly., till late summer of 1990. That gives them a lot more time to prepare. Time they also had in the book universe, though the proposal was probably a bit later, perhaps Christmas or Becky's birthday (right before Steph's according to one book.)
So if I have time to do anymore, I may just hint at the wedding or may include it with Papouli and the others there; where I'd also have to explain the crazy, mixed -up first third of season 4 and why episodes have to fit where they do. :-) If not, the usual retirement thing, visit Godlife dot come, and so on applies.
