Chapter Three

Roy woke up to someone sitting next to him in bed. He sat up quickly, automatically swinging his legs over. He looked around taking in his surroundings. A hand rested on his shoulder, "Just me Roy." a feminine voice spoke behind him.

"Sorry Jo," he said, finally recognizing his surroundings. "What time is it?"

"It's about twelve thirty, Jenny will be out of school in about an hour."

"Thanks." Roy turned back around and faced his wife, kissing her.

"How was your shift last night?" Joann asked.

Roy thought about how to best answer that question. He tried to leave the grisly details out as much as possible, she didn't need to hear about what he saw. "Well, we ran into a twin of Johnny's." he finally decided on.

"I didn't know Johnny had a twin." she said in surprise.

"He doesn't. He doesn't ever talk about his childhood. I can only imagine why. I'm worried about him Jo. He was quiet the rest of the shift, quiet!" He repeated the word gesturing with his hands.

"I'm sure it'll all work out, it always does."

Roy sighed as he crawled out of bed. "I can pick up Jenny and Chris today. I think I'll take them to the park." he paused before asking, "If they don't have anything else planned?"

Joann smiled, thankful for the reprieve her husband was offering her. "They don't, Chris would love to play catch, his game's tomorrow." Roy smiled at the thought of playing baseball with his son. He was thankful that he had such a wonderful family to come home to after shifts. His joy turned to worry, Johnny didn't have that.

An hour later, Roy was driving the station wagon to Chris' school. He had a backpack in the trunk, in it held the DeSoto necessities. His five year old was talking his ear off. "And then, he talked back to Ms. Bell, can you believe that daddy?" she asked incredulously.

Roy smiled, "That is crazy Jenny." he said. "What did Ms. Bell do?" Jenny answered with gusto as they turned into the middle school's parking lot. He grimaced at the long line of cars waiting. "Jenny," Roy said, interrupting her run-on sentences, "What do you think of going to the park?"

Jenny's eyes lit up, "Then you can push me on the swings, and I can draw!" Her excitement came to an immediate halt and she accusingly asked "Did you bring chalk daddy?"

"I sure did sweatpea." came the quick reply. Jenny squealed in response. When the car finally reached the front of the line, Roy's son Chris hopped in, throwing his backpack on the car floor. "Seat-belt." he advised his son.

"I know, it's on dad." Chris rolled his eyes at his over cautious father. "Where we going?" Chris asked when Roy turned the opposite direction from home.

"I figured we'd go to the park." Roy smiled.

"Aww man," Chris replied, "Can we stop at home? I don't have my glove." Chris dejectedly said.

"I have it champ and mine." Roy grinned, looking forward to spending the afternoon with his kids. Maybe they would grill for dinner. Roy made a mental note to talk to Joann about it when they got home.

After a full day at the park, the three DeSoto's walked into their house. Well, two walked, the youngest was carried, she fell asleep in the car. Roy gave the keys to Chris to unlock the house, he was very proud. Joann smiled at the entourage and took Jenny from her husband's arms. "Any homework?" he asked his son, his hands now free.

"Do I have too?" he complained, "We just got home, and it's Friday." he slumped on the couch.

"Well, if we get a head start, you won't have any to do after your game."

"I guess." came the reluctant reply. Christ stood up and dragged his backpack to the dining room table. Roy smirked as he watched his child act as if they were torturing him. His thoughts wandered back to Johnny, wondering if he hated homework as much as Chris when he was a kid.

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Jane walked into her hotel room carrying her bag after her first full day at her conference. She had been peppered with questions by her coworkers and peers about her hand. Red faced, she answered them. Done with people for the day, she threw her bag on the desk and slumped on the bed. After a moment, she propped herself up on an elbow and pulled a notebook out of her bag. She flipped through it, going over her notes and trying to concentrate. She loved teaching, but hated unnecessary learning, oh the irony. A post it note fell out of her notebook and she looked at it. On it were notes she had taken during her phone call with her mother. There was a name on it, 'Roderick Gage, Lakota Reservation.' He was her had been difficult getting answers out of her mother Roberta. Jane was never told about her past, until that morning.

Her mom ended the phone conversation with, "If there's a chance he's alive and a good man, find him Jane."

Jane finally learned the story of her parents that morning. It was shocking and terrible. Her mother was born and raised on a reservation. And she, Jane Maddox, was born out of wedlock to a white man. Because her father was white, he wasn't allowed on the reservation, at all. So her mother snuck out to meet with him. Ten months into their relationship, she was pregnant. They hid her pregnancy from everyone except her friend and sister in law. The sister in law tragically died in a car accident soon after. Roberta had lost all protection her sister in law offered. Knowing Roberta wouldn't be protected, they started planning an elopement. Roderick, Jane's uncle, soon discovered the pregnancy. Jane had been told that her Uncle was not a good man, he became worse after his wife's sudden death and his son's survival. Her parents pulled all their money together and saved. After saving for months, they finally had enough to buy bus tickets. They fled Montana hoping for a fresh start at life, which they found in Maine.

Jane was told all of this right before she was to attend a continuing education conference in which she had to pay attention. Needless to say, she didn't remember much that day. She looked through her feeble notes. "I'll have to pay more attention tomorrow." she said out loud to the empty room. On the post it note, she wrote in "Paramedic John Gage, station 51."