After the kids were done with their slices they all headed upstairs to watch their movies. Kasey Lynn and Jesse went into the den to play her video game. Mark and Steve cleaned up while Amanda and Kit went outside to sit on the patio to talk.
"How's everything between you and Steve?" Amanda asked.
"It's going ok." Kit said looking at her.
"That's good. Have you two talked about the operation?"
"Yes all the time. He's so good with it. At first I thought he was going to leave me. Can you believe it?" Kit said looking over at her best friend.
"I believe it. This is something that tests a lot of marriages." Amanda said looking back at Kit.
"I can't wait until we go away." Kit said sighing.
"Are the kids going with you?" Amanda asked.
"This Monday. I can't wait until Steve and I go away by ourselves." Kit smiled at Amanda.
"Well let me know when you and Steve plan to go away and I'll take the kids." Amanda said hugging Kit.
"Thanks Amanda. You are the greatest friend." Kit said hugging her back.
Meanwhile upstairs…
"Patty how are you feeling now?" Liz asked.
"Much better." She said looking over at her cousin.
Patty didn't want to tell the girls what took place between she and MJ. She still can't believe that he kissed her. There was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Katie said.
CJ and Dion said their good-byes and then left. MJ then came back upstairs. He peeked in on the girls and then went back to his room to finish watching his movie. Patty excused herself. She was going to walk over to MJ's room but she decided that would look like she was desperate for him. Patty then went into the bathroom and then came out. On her way back to Katie's room MJ spotted Patty. He really was taken by her beauty. All these years of knowing her she grew into a beautiful young lady. Patty turned and saw MJ looking at her, so she decided to walk over to him.
"Hi MJ." She said looking at him.
"Hi Patty." He said smiling at her.
They just looked at each other and then Patty said, "I better get back to the movie."
"What are you watching?"
"Never Say Never Again." Patty said looking at him.
"Another good movie." He said taking hold of her hand.
Patty went to leave when MJ again pulled her back to him. He took a hold of her two hands and held them close to his chest and kissed her. Again she couldn't believe what was happening. While they were kissing Steve cleared his throat.
"Hi Dad."
Patty saw Steve and got really embarrassed and said quietly, "Sorry." She then quickly went back into Katie's room.
"What's up Dad?" MJ asked like nothing happened.
"I just want to know if you wanted to go down to the park to shoot some hoops." Steve said looking at him.
"Sure." He said grabbing his sneakers and leaving with his Dad.
The guys got into Steve's truck and headed to the park. When Steve pulled into the parking space he looked over at his son and said,
"I didn't know you like Patty."
"Yeah Dad I do. I didn't realize it until today. I think what really got me to like her was the incident at the video store." MJ said looking at his Dad and then at the basketball.
"What happened at the video store?"
"Well Patty went to pay for her video and she dropped all her stuff on the floor and Kristen and Gail laughed at her. I felt really bad for her."
"What did you do MJ?"
"I said to Kristen that I thought she was better than that."
"You didn't help her pick up her things?" Steve asked looking at his son.
"No Dad. Katie and Liz helped her." He said looking out the window.
Steve could tell his son felt bad about not helping Patty. Steve has never met a young kid like MJ before. MJ is always there to help out his friends. Steve is also impressed with the way MJ treats the girls. Holding open doors for them and complementing them on their appearance. The guys then got out of the truck and started to walk over to the courts. MJ looked over at his Dad and asked,
"Have you ever liked a girl so much that you can't help but think about her all the time?"
Steve looked over at MJ, laughed and said, "All the time."
MJ looked at his Dad with a puzzled look.
"Your Mom MJ." Steve laughed again.
MJ just shook his head and smiled.
"Dad. Were you always in love with Mom? What I mean is after you two were married."
"MJ from the moment that I met your Mom I fell in love with her and there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not thinking about her." Steve said looking over at his son.
The guys played two games of 21 and then headed back home. When they arrived back home MJ went up stairs to take a shower. After his shower he knocked on Katie's door.
"Come in!"
"Hey." He said looking at her.
"What's up?" She asked looking at him.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." She said sitting on her bed.
MJ then joined his sister on her bed.
"Would you be mad at me if I asked Patty out?"
"No way." She smiled at him.
"Oh good." He smiled.
"MJ."
"Yeah."
"I'm glad you like Patty. She likes you too."
MJ then left his sister's room and went back to his room to call Patty. MJ was on the phone with her for an hour and then went to sleep.
Patty and Liz came over the next day to go with MJ and Katie to the beach.
"Is CJ and Dion coming over?" Liz asked.
"They're going to meet us at the beach." Katie said putting on her sandals.
"Ok cool." Liz said.
Liz and Katie went out front to wait for Steve to take them to the beach. MJ came down from upstairs. When he saw Patty standing there he smiled at her. She then smiled back at him.
"Ready." Steve said looking at them.
"You bet." MJ said walking ahead of Patty to get the door for her.
Patty walked past him and said, "Thank you."
As she got out the door Steve leaned over and whispered to his son, "That was nice of you."
"I learned it from the best." He said to his Dad.
Steve smiled at him.
"Yeah Uncle Jesse taught me well." MJ laughed running past his Dad.
Steve shot him a look and then ran after his son laughing. Patty loved watching the interaction between father and son.
"Just kidding Dad." MJ said looking at his Dad and then at Patty.
Steve threw his arm around his son's shoulder and gave him a hug and they all got into the car.
"Steve!" Kit called from the front door.
He got out of the car and looked at her.
"Could you give these to Dad please?" She asked showing him cookies that she made for Mark.
Steve quickly walked up the walk and said; "You know Dad is going to eat them right away."
"I know babe." She smiled and kissed Steve passionately.
The kids saw Steve and Kit kiss.
"Katie I can't believe after all these years your parents are still in love with each other." Liz said looking at them kissing.
"Yeah it is amazing." She smiled.
MJ shook his head and then whispered to Patty, "I taught him everything he knows."
Patty looked over at MJ and laughed. Steve then got back into the car with the cookies and drove off. Kit watched him leave. When she got back inside she and Kasey Lynn started to straighten up the house before Kasey Lynn's play date came.
When Steve pulled up to Mark's house the kids got out and went upstairs to see if CJ and Dion arrived yet.
"Hey Patty."
"Yeah MJ."
"Want to take a walk with me down to the water?" MJ asked holding out his hand to her.
"Sure." She said grabbing a hold of his hand.
Katie watched her brother and Patty walked down to the water. Liz went inside to get some ice tea.
"Hi Katie."
"Oh hey Daddy." She smiled over at her Dad.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm feeling great." She then leaned on her father.
"You ok with MJ liking Patty?" He asked putting his arm around her.
"Yeah Dad I am." She said looking up at her Dad.
They were quiet for a while and then Katie said,
"Dad."
"Yeah angel girl." He said standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her.
"You know it's been a long time since we had our 'father/daughter' weekend." She said holding onto her Dad.
He looked over at her and said, "It has been a long time. When do you want to go on one?"
"I don't know. I have to ask my boss for sometime off. He's very strict about people taking off. Maybe I can 'sweet talk' him into letting me have a long weekend off." She laughed.
"Maybe." Steve smiled and winked at her.
Liz then came out onto the deck to join Katie. She always admired Katie and Steve's interaction. She just wished that she had a father like Steve Sloan. Katie then noticed Liz standing their holding ice teas. Katie freed herself from her Dad's hold to get her ice tea from Liz.
"I'll be inside if you ladies need me." Steve said leaving the girls to talk.
"Katie did I ever tell you how much I love hanging out with you and your family?" Liz said looking over at her.
"No not really." Katie said smiling at her.
"Well I do. Your Mom and Dad are like the coolest people I know. They don't care who sees them kiss. They don't do it to embarrass you guys. They're so romantic! I wish my Mom would find someone like your Dad." Liz then looked out at the ocean.
"What about Mike?" Katie asked her.
"He's ok I guess. Not romantic enough. But you got to give him credit he does try." Liz said looking over at her best friend.
"Not romantic enough? Come on Liz! He gives your Mom like a dozen roses for her b-day and a diamond tennis bracelet!" Katie said.
"Yeah I know. I don't know. He is cool though. Treats me like his kid though. I went to Todd's party the other night and I drank a little too much beer and when Mike came to pick me up," Liz looked around to make sure Steve and Mark didn't hear her swear. "Holy shit! I thought I was going to die! The way he went off on me for drinking. He lectured me all the way home. Thank god Mom was asleep when we got into the door. That whole night I was puking my guts out. At that point I wished we still lived with Patty and Uncle Dan." Liz said.
"Well I'm glad he went off on you! Serves you right for underage drinking." Katie said sternly to Liz.
"Hey ladies!" Dion said coming up the stairs.
"Oh hey Dion!" Katie said smiling at him.
"Hi Katie! Hi Liz!" CJ said coming up behind his brother.
Katie noticed Liz straighten herself out when Dion said hello. Liz then took off her cover up to reveal her two-piece bathing suit. Dion pulled down his sunglasses to look Liz up and down. Katie heard Dion say as he walked inside,
"Mighty fine!"
Katie just laughed.
"What's so funny?" Liz asked looking over at Katie.
Katie went up to her and said in a whisper, "You got Dion's attention."
Liz looked over at Katie and said, "I aim to please." Liz then walked down the stairs to the beach.
Katie just shook her head. She then sat down next to CJ and asked, "Want to head down to the water?"
CJ looked over at her and said, "In a minute. I told April to meet me here."
"April? April who?" Katie asked looking over at him.
"April. April. The one from biology class." He said with a big smile.
"April Jackson? That April?"
"That's the one." He smiled again.
"My god! I have to get a life." Katie said getting up and walking down to the beach.
When she got down to the beach she joined Liz in the water. Liz looked at her and asked,
"What's with you?"
"Nothing." She said softly.
"Katie! Tell me what's wrong." Liz said floating over to her.
"MJ and Patty are an item. Dion is interested in you and now I found out that CJ likes April Jackson. My 'ex' is in jail. I have no one." Katie said sadly.
"Look things will pick up for you Katie." Liz said to her.
"Yeah I guess." Katie said getting out and walking back up to the beach house.
Steve noticed the changed look on Katie's face. Dion passed Katie on the way down to the beach. She turned and watched him meet up with Liz, Patty and MJ. When she got up to the deck she grabbed her towel and dried herself off.
"Katie you ok?"
"Oh hi daddy. Yeah I guess." She said looking at him.
"Want to talk about it? Or is it a mother/daughter thing?" Steve asked looking over at her.
"It's ok Dad. No big deal." She then smiled at him.
Steve knew something was wrong and he didn't want to pressure her too much about it. He knows that his daughter is exactly like him. Never shows her feelings. Katie then went inside and grabbed another ice tea.
"Hi sweetie." Mark said smiling at her.
"Hi ya grandpa." Katie said looking at him.
"You still coming by tonight to sing to the kids in pediatrics?"
"Sure am." She smiled at him.
Katie then went back outside and went down to the water to join her friends. This time CJ and April were in the water splashing. Patty came out of the water and walked over to Katie and asked,
"Are you ok?"
"Huh? Yeah." She said looking over at Patty and smiling.
"Liz said you are upset. Are you mad at me for liking MJ? I know you two are tight and all." Patty asked getting nervous.
"No! I'm cool with it." Katie said laughing.
"You sure?"
Katie put her hands on top of Patty's shoulders, looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Positive."
"Then what's wrong?" Patty asked.
"Nothing. Actually I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming with me to the hospital tonight. Grandpa wants me to sing for the children." Katie said looking at her best friend.
"Sure I'll be there." Patty hugged her.
Patty went over to MJ and told him that she had to leave to accompany Katie to the hospital because she had to sing to the kids. MJ looked over at his sister and then back at Patty and said,
"That's ok."
Patty went back over to Katie. The girls headed back up to the beach house so Steve can drive them home to get changed. Steve took them home and after they changed took them over to the hospital to entertain the kids. After Katie was done, she and her grandpa did a dance number for the kids. Then she and Patty sat outside of the room watching Katie's Grandpa do magic tricks for the kids.
"Thanks Patty. I'm sorry that I took you away from my brother but I needed some support." Katie said looking at her.
"Katie please tell me what's wrong. I've never seen you like this." Patty said looking at her with concerned.
"I'm just having a hard time dealing with Brad being in jail. So I guess jealousy is setting in." Katie said looking down at the floor.
"Katie we're still going to be best friends. No matter who we are dating. Please don't keep anything locked up inside." Patty said hugging Katie.
"I know Patty. Thanks. Well let's go my Dad said to meet him in the doctor's lounge when I'm done."
The girls got up and walked down the hall. On their way to the doctor's lounge Katie saw this guy in a cowboy hat sitting outside a room. They made eye contact and he tipped his hat to her. Katie smiled at him and continued to walk down the hall to the doctor's lounge. Before she walked in she looked back down the hall and caught him looking at her. She then walked in.
"So how did everything go?" Steve asked looking at Katie.
"It went great. I had the kids signing with me." Katie said giving her Dad the biggest hug.
"That's great." He smiled at her.
While they were in the doctor's lounge talking Katie happen to notice the guy in the cowboy hat standing at the door. She was just about to let him in when Mark opened the door for him. He walked in, took off his cowboy hat and introduced himself to everyone.
"Hi my name is Timothy Roland. I just wanted to tell that young lady over there that she has an awesome singing voice."
"Thanks." Katie smiled at him.
Timothy Roland was about six feet tall 120 pounds and built. Short dark hair and looked a little like country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.
"You're not from around here are you?" Patty asked looking at him.
"No miss I'm not. I'm from Austin, Texas." Timothy said playing with his cowboy hat.
"How old are you son?" Mark asked.
"I'm seventeen sir. I'm visiting my granddad here. He fell and broke his hip." Timothy said looking at Mark and then over at Katie.
Katie leaned over to Patty and whispered, "Just my luck he's visiting."
"Do y'all know a good place to get something to eat?" Timothy asked.
"Sure do. There's this place called BBQ Bobs. Katie here works there and I do too sometimes. Her Dad here owns the place." Patty said smiling.
Steve looked over at the girls.
"Patty!" Katie said through clenched teeth.
Patty looked over at Katie and smiled. Then she looked back at Timothy and said,
"I'm sure Katie would love to take you there sometime."
"That would be great. I have to go. See you again soon." Timothy said smiling at everyone.
When he left he put his cowboy hat back on and walked back down the hall. Steve then asked,
"You two ready to go home?"
"Sure am daddy." Katie smiled at him.
The girls said good-bye to Mark and then left the doctor's lounge with Steve. As they were walking down the hall Katie again spotted Timothy. She walked up to him and said,
"Why don't you come to BBQ Bob's tomorrow at noon time. I'll meet you there." Katie wrote down the address and phone number.
"That would be great." He smiled at her.
Steve and Patty were down the hall when he called to her.
"See you then!" Katie said walking quickly down the hall to her Dad.
"Daddy you don't mind if I meet Timothy at Bob's do you?" Katie asked looking at her Dad.
"When?"
"Tomorrow for lunch." She smiled at him.
"Gee Katie I don't know. You don't know him that well."
"But daddy it's just for lunch. Besides Uncle Jesse is working then and if I'm not mistaken so are you." Again she smiled at him.
"Oh alright." He said looking at her.
"Thank you daddy! You're the best!" She said hugging and kissing him.
When they got to the house Katie and Patty ran upstairs to Katie's room to look for something nice for her to wear. Katie took out half her closet and couldn't decide if she should wear shorts, one of her sundresses or jeans.
"UGH! What should I wear!" She said flopping down on her bed.
"How about this?" Patty said holding up a pair of black jeans, a red tank top and a white blouse.
"I don't know." Katie said looking at the outfit.
"Try it on." Patty said putting away the other outfits.
Katie put on the jeans, the top and the white blouse. She walked over to her mirror that was hanging on her closet door and looked at herself and said,
"Mmmm. I don't know."
"Come on Katie. It looks great on you. All you have to do is put a little make up on and take your hair out of the ponytail. Let it fall on your shoulders." Patty said looking at her.
"Yeah I guess your right." Katie said looking again at herself.
There was a knock on her door.
"Who is it?" Patty asked putting the last of Katie's clothes away.
"It's MJ. Patty."
"Just a minute!" She said pushing Katie to the side and fixed herself in the mirror.
Katie just laughed at her. Patty then went over to the door and let him in.
"What's going on in here?" MJ asked.
The girls looked at each other and said, "Nothing."
MJ looked at Katie and asked, "You got a date or something?"
"Tomorrow at BBQ Bob's with Timothy Roland." Patty said.
"Who's he?" MJ asked again looking at Katie.
"Some guy I met at the hospital tonight." Katie said looking at her brother.
"You wearing that?" He asked now sounding like their Dad.
"Something wrong with it?" Patty asked looking at Katie then at MJ.
He was quiet for a while and then said, "If I were you I wouldn't wear that. I would wear something else."
Patty huffed and asked, "Like what?"
MJ walked into Katie's closet and pulled out her blue sundress and handed it to Patty. Patty looked at it and said, "No."
"Why not? I think it's better." MJ said.
"If you are going for a sundress then it has to be this yellow one." Patty said holding up the yellow sundress.
"HELLO! You two! This is my date!" Katie shouted.
"Katie look. That outfit you are wearing is all wrong for lunch." MJ said looking at her.
"Since when are you the 'fashion' police MJ." Katie said getting annoyed with him.
Patty then looked at Katie and said, "You know he's right. That's more of a dinner outfit."
"UGH!" Katie said sitting on her bed.
"Hey MJ how about this white dress." Patty said showing him.
"Yeah! Now that's nice." He said smiling.
"OK! That's it you two! Out! You two are not helping me! Go and make out somewhere! While I figure out what to wear tomorrow!" Katie said pushing them out the door.
Katie closed her door. MJ looked over at Patty and said, "How about it?"
"How about what?" She asked looking at him.
"How about you and I make out?" He said smiling at her.
"MJ I would love to but your parents are home and I'm not going into your room to make out." She said looking at him.
"You're no fun Patty." He teased her.
Patty shot him a look and said, "I beg to differ MJ. I'm a lot of fun. I just don't want to ruin your parent's trust in me. I do enjoy coming over here and I want to keep coming over here."
"Ok. Ok. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you like that." He said hugging her.
They then walked downstairs and went into the den to watch TV so they thought. MJ taped Kasey Lynn on the shoulder and signed to her.
"Can you go somewhere else? I want to watch a movie with Patty."
"Um NO! What's wrong with your TV? I want to play my game here." Kasey Lynn signed to him.
"Come Kasey Lynn." MJ signed to her.
She looked at him and then at Patty and signed with a smile on her face, "Oh wait. I get it. You are not going to watch TV you and Patty are going to kiss. Well forget it! Do it in your room and leave me alone."
"MJ come on. Don't fight with her. She was here first." Patty said and also signing.
"Patty! Don't take her side. She's just being stubborn." MJ said and signed.
"MJ do you want me to leave?" Patty asked looking at him.
He looked over at her and asked, "You would leave?"
"MJ look. I'm not the type of person who would cause a fight between a brother and sister. It's not worth it. We can 'kiss' somewhere else. I seem to remember you still have that tree house outside." Patty smiled at him.
"I haven't been up there in a long time." He smiled at her.
They both got up and went outside to the tree house. He climbed up first and then helped her up.
"Wow! This place is awesome." Patty said looking around.
MJ then walked over to her wrapped his arms around her and said, "It's ok." Then he started to kiss her. Things between MJ and Patty started to heat up and then quickly cooled down when they heard Steve call them in for dinner. They climbed down the tree house and went inside. When Patty sat down at the table Katie asked teasingly,
"Patty you ok? You seemed a little flushed."
Patty shot her over a look that she wanted to kill her. Then Kasey Lynn signed, "She and MJ were kissing outside."
"You don't say! Really? Kasey Lynn do you think Patty can tell us if MJ is a good kisser?" Katie signed laughingly.
"Katherine Amanda Sloan! You are so in trouble!" Patty said looking over at her best friend.
Katie got up and walked over to her brother and Patty and said, "I'm only teasing. I love you two."
Katie then sat down and that's when Patty gave it back to her in front of her parents.
"So Katie are you going to wear those tight black jeans and that red tight tank top tomorrow for your 'so-called' lunch date with Timothy Roland?"
Steve looked over at Katie. Katie looked over at her parents and said, "Hahaha she's only kidding."
"Touché." Katie said looking over at Patty and smiling.
The girls just laughed and MJ just shook his head. Steve and Kit just looked at each other shaking their heads. After dinner the girls helped Kit clean up while Steve and MJ went outside to talk.
"So Dad what's this Timothy Roland like?" MJ asked sitting down on the chair in the back yard.
"He seems nice. He's from Austin, Texas."
"Austin, Texas? Katie's got a date with a 'cowboy'?" MJ laughed.
"MJ! Don't tease her." Steve said looking over at MJ.
"Ok I won't." He laughed.
"By the way MJ what were you and Patty doing up in the tree house?" Steve asked looking at his son.
He looked at his father and said, "Nothing. Just talking."
"Just talking? If you two were just talking then how come you were wearing lipstick?" Steve winked at his son.
MJ just sunk in his chair and put his hand over his face to hide the embarrassment from his Dad.
"It's ok MJ. Just keep it at kissing nothing more. You got it." Steve said looking at him.
"Yes Dad. We won't do anything 'stupid.' I promise." MJ said looking at his Dad.
"Good. Now let's go inside. I think Patty misses you." Steve said as they got up.
MJ got up and looked over at the dining room window and saw Patty looking at him. When he saw her looking out his heart began to race. Then he continued to walk inside. Patty stayed for another hour and then her Dad came and picked her up. She said good night to everyone and MJ walked her to the car and kissed her good night. He then went upstairs and knocked on Katie's door.
"Come in." She said softly.
"Did you find a decent outfit to wear tomorrow?" He asked sitting on her bed with her.
"Yes. It's the white dress hanging up over there." Katie said looking up from her book.
"So this guy is from Texas?" MJ asked looking at his sister.
"Yes. Is there a problem?" Katie asked looking at her brother.
"No." MJ said looking at her.
The next day Katie got ready for her date with Timothy. When she arrived at BBQ Bob's Timothy was waiting there for her. He handed her a red rose.
"Thank you. You didn't have to get that for me." Katie smiled at him.
"It's my way of saying 'Thank you' for telling me about this place and talking to me." Timothy said shyly.
"You're welcome."
Jesse showed them to a table that was in Steve's eyeview. Katie looked over at her Dad who was standing there looking at her. Steve then went about his business.
"So you're from Austin, Texas? Is it hot there now?" Katie asked looking at him.
"It's about 110."
"Your grandfather lives in LA?"
"Actually my grandfather was out here helping my sister move to her new apartment. My sister Penny is going to college out here. UCLA." He said smiling at her.
"Oh that's great. But how did he break his hip?" Katie asked looking at him.
Timothy was so in awe of Katie. She was very beautiful.
"He was getting out of bed and his knee gave out and down he went. Penny called us right away. It just happened two days ago." Timothy said.
"Oh that's a shame."
Timothy and Katie ate their lunch and talked some more. Timothy paid for their lunch and Katie decided to go for a walk. Timothy then looked at his watch and said,
"I best be going. My parents are coming in from Austin around 3pm and I need to pick them up. Thanks for lunch and conversation." He got into his car and drove off.
Katie then walked back into BBQ Bob's and sat down at the counter. Jesse looked over at her and noticed that she was not happy.
"Hey cutie." Jesse said sitting next to her.
"Hi Uncle Jesse." She said playing with a napkin.
"Something wrong?" He asked looking at her.
"Did you ever build something up and have it shot down so fast?" She asked looking at him.
He shook his head yes and said, "Plenty of times. Timothy not what you expected?"
"Nope. He's nice and all but he's into himself and he's not hygienically clean." Katie said looking back at her napkin.
"Oh." Jesse said looking at her.
"Uncle Jesse what am I going to do?" Katie asked looking over at him sadly.
"You're going to go away with your family on Monday and have a great time. You will find someone new." He said hugging her.
Katie then looked at Jesse and said, "Uncle Jesse. Aunt Susan was dumb for dumping you. You are the sweetest person in the world. I'm so happy that you're my godfather." She then kissed him on the cheek and then went into the back office to have her Dad take her home.
Jesse just smiled after she did that.