Title: The Right Touch

Rating: K

Category: Romance

Disclaimers: These guys aren't mine but I love 'em.

Author's Note: Someone had mentioned pairing Jack and Tara as a joke, I think. But you know what? They make a really cute couple. Oh yeah, I made up an eentsy weentsy bit of Tara's backstory since we don't know much about her family.

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Chapter 10

"Jack," said a worried Tara as she peered out the window, "are you sure Bobby said he'd watch the kids? Maybe we shouldn't have asked him. Maybe he was only pretending to be a good sport about the last time. You know your children can be a handful at times."

He raised an eyebrow. "Now they're my children?" he commented. "Will you relax? I told you he called to say he'd be a few minutes late. We still have plenty of time to make that dinner with your brother and his new wife."

"I wonder what she's like," Tara speculated. "Reed's never been too talkative but Mom said Michele seems like a nice person when he brought her over the other week. It's just like him to go off and get married in front of a judge instead of having wedding like everyone else. I really hope she likes..."

"Tara...Tara," called Jack futilely. She was so busy rambling and peering out the window that she didn't hear him.

Finally, he grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her to halt her flow of words.

"What was that for?" asked a startled Tara. "Not that I'm complaining but..."

Again, he kissed her to stop her talking. Her arms crept around to his neck as the kiss deepened.

"Mmm," she murmured.

"Ditto." His arms around her waist, he looked her in the eye. "I want you to take a deep breath." He waited until she complied. "That's right—a deep breath. Now relax. Everything will be fine. I've never known Reed to make a decision he hasn't thought through. And if he married this woman, she must be something pretty special...just like his sister."

She looked at him and smiled. "You do say the nicest things, Jack Hudson. Kind of reminds me why I married you in the first place."

"Ah, I thought it was my kisses that convinced you that you needed me in your life," he smirked.

"Convince me some more," she ordered.

"Glad to oblige," he said as he leaned in to kiss his wife.

Their kiss was interrupted by rapping at the window.

"Hey!" called out Bobby with a grin. "Take it to the bedroom!"

Tara and Jack broke off their kiss to stare out the window.

"Bobby!" exclaimed Tara as she hurried to the door. "I've been..." she stopped abruptly when she spotted Sue. She looked at Bobby, a question in her eyes. Jack had joined them, his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Tara...Jack, I'd like you to meet Sue Thomas," introduced Bobby.

"You're the florist," responded Jack quickly covering his surprise at her presence. He extended his hand. "Let me tell you, my wife loves the flowers I've been sending to her."

"Yeah, I do," agreed Tara. "Really."

"That's good to hear," Sue smiled.

"Come in, come in," said Tara urging the pair into the house. "I missed you pulling up."

"You were a bit pre-occupied with this bloke here," teased Bobby. "Are you sure you're going to a dinner tonight and not a hotel room? You were putting on a fine show for your neighbors."

Tara was embarrassed but pleased. "Jack started it."

He looked at her, a frown wrinkling his brow. "Hey, are you blaming me?"

"Oh, I'm not blaming you," she assured him. "I'm giving you the credit."

He nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, that sounds better."

Bobby gestured to Sue. "Sue's helping me watch the kids tonight in case Megan has to go to the little girls' room. In fact, she's the one that helped me out that time I took the kids to the movies. Speaking of which, where are they?" he asked looking around.

"Straightening their rooms," answered Jack. "What a mess! They should be coming down any minute." He glanced at his watch. "Hey, you guys! Uncle Bobby's here!"

"Thanks for helping out," said Tara in appreciation. "Bobby has our numbers so if you guys need anything, don't hesitate to call. I just hope you like pizza."

"Love it," smiled Sue.

Quick footsteps could be heard on the steps. Sue noticed everyone turning and followed. Megan and Josh were hurrying down the stairs.

"Uncle Bobby!" young voices called in unison.

Megan halted in front of Sue. "You're the lady from the theatre. Where's your dog?"

Sue seemed a little surprised the little girl remembered their brief conversation. "He's at home with my roommate. He wanted to stay home and just hang out tonight."

"Oh," Megan answered gravely. Then she brightened. "If you come again, can you bring him? I wanna meet him."

"Sure." Sue glanced briefly at Bobby who was busy getting last minute instructions from Jack and Tara.

She turned to face Josh. "Hi, I'm Sue. I'm a friend of your Uncle Bobby."

He looked at her curiously. "Megan said you have a hearing dog because you can't hear."

"That's right," she nodded.

"Then how do you know what I'm saying?"

"I read lips. So both of you have to remember to face me when you to speak to me."

"I can do that," replied Josh. "We learned this in class for a story." He held up his hand in the I-Love-You sign.

Sue smiled. "That's a great sign to know."

"Maybe you can teach us some more," he suggested eagerly.

"I'd be happy to." She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Jack and Tara are leaving," stated Bobby.

"Thanks for helping Bobby," said Tara. "We promise we won't be too late."

"Have a good time," smiled Sue.

There was a flurry of hugs and kisses and last minute reminders and then the parents were gone. Bobby rubbed his hands together. "Who's ready for some pizza?"

"Me! Me!" clamored the two children.

Megan tugged Bobby's shirt.

"Yes, darlin'?"

"Daddy gave us some quarters to play the games," she explained. "Will you play with me?"

He smiled at her. "Sure will, sweetheart. Maybe we can challenge Sue and Josh to a game of skee ball."

Her smile was his answer.

"She's not very good," Josh confided to Sue, "but at least she can throw the ball in the right lane now."

"That's good. Megan's probably better than I am," she confessed. "You'll have to be the anchorman for our team."

"Think positive," said Josh. "That's what Mom always says."

"And your Mom's right," stated Bobby. "Are we ready?"

Nods all around.

"Okay, let's go!"

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Pizza Palace

"C'mon, Sue," encouraged Josh, "we need three hundred points to beat Uncle Bobby and Megan! You can do it!"

It was the last ball of the last game. Team Bobby and Megan had rolled a great score thanks to Uncle Bobby and a little bit of help from Megan. Josh had done well but the real surprise of the night turned out to be Sue. To her delight, she had a decent score that gave them a chance to beat the other team.

Josh was trying to control his excitement. He had never beaten his uncle before. Meanwhile, Megan was standing on the side crossing her fingers hoping they'd win. Bobby was enjoying himself immensely.

Sue took careful aim and rolled. The ball teetered on the back rim of the three hundred cup and fell in!

"Hooray!" yelled Josh joyously jumping up and down. "You did it! You did it!" He and Sue high fived and did a little victory dance.

As Bobby laughed at the sight of his nephew and Sue celebrating, his glance fell upon Megan. Her eyes were very big as she bit her lower lip. Immediately, he crouched so he could be eye to eye with her.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" he asked gently.

"We didn't win, Uncle Bobby," she said sorrowfully. Her eyes were moist.

"No, we didn't, Megan," he began, "but we did our best. It's just that the other team was better tonight."

"But I really wanted to win."

He held her hand in his. "I know you did and so did I. But Josh and Sue won. Can't you be happy for them? You know Josh would be happy for you if we won."

She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "I guess."

He looked at her. "That's my girl." He kissed her small hand.

He stood up to see Josh and Sue watching. Josh approached his sister, a fistful of tickets in each hand.

"Look at all the tickets we have! Sue said we should get our prizes now. It's almost time to go home."

Megan smiled at her brother. "Okay," she said happily. The two of them went off to look at the prizes.

"You handled that very well," commented Sue with an approving light in her eyes.

"Not difficult at all. Like I said, they're good kids," he replied shrugging off the compliment. "You can reason with them."

"I think you're not giving yourself enough credit," she said. "You're going to make a great dad one day."

"When I find the right woman," he reminded her.

She tilted her head and looked at him with a questioning gaze. "Haven't you found her yet?" she asked referring to Darcy.

As their eyes met, Bobby found himself probing his feelings for this woman he had only met yesterday. Was it only a day ago? It seemed like he'd known her for always. Maybe it was their phone conversations, maybe it was the fact that they viewed the world in such similar ways. Whatever it was, he knew there was something special about this woman that made him forget about Darcy.

"Maybe I have," he said softly, never breaking eye contact. "Maybe I have."

Sue was startled at what she saw in his eyes. It mirrored how she felt. "What...?"

"Look what I have!" said Megan excitedly shattering the moment.

Blinking his eyes several times at the abrupt interruption, Bobby looked down to see his niece holding up a coloring book. "My favorite—Care Bears!"

"Um...that's wonderful, Megan. What did Josh get?"

"A car," Josh answered himself, coming up right behind his sister.

"Smashing," Bobby said approvingly. "It's time to go home. I promised your parents you'd be in bed by eight thirty."

"Okay."

Josh and Megan walked slightly ahead excitedly going over the evening's fun while Bobby and Sue trailed behind. They had a lot to think about.

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