AN: Sorry for the long wait. Only 3 more weeks of school (including finals) so things have been a tad crazy. Sorry if the format is all screwy. Fanfic just doesnt like me. haha. Oh and I'm sorry if this is really short guys! Its better then nothing right/

Chapter 13: We Can Handle It

"Maybe he doesn't put the flower into the drawer until later." Jesse suggested later that afternoon. He proceeded to cook the beef in the frying pan. He was making tacos for us for lunch.

"Maybe." I tipped back on the bar stool next to the stove watching him. "Where did you learn to cook like that?"

He paused before answering, and busied himself with putting the cooked beef into a container before moving on to dice up the tomatoes.

"You don't have to answer. I mean, you're just really good at it. And well, yeah. They didn't have electricity back in the olden days and I was just-" I rambled on hoping that someone would put me out of my misery.

Jesse smiled at me and I immediately shushed up. He had, I have noticed, that effect on people.

"We may not have had electricity but we did have fire. And don't refer to it as the olden days. It makes me feel like an old man." He said with a grin. "My mother taught me how to cook, she told me not to rely on a woman for my meals." Jesse said.

"How very early century feminist of her." I replied smiling.

"Yes…She was very much like that." He stared off into space.

"Do you miss her?" I picked at a broken taco shell and debated whether to eat it.

"Very much. When I first passed away, she was the first person I haunted."

I lowered my hand that held the piece of taco shell that had been sneaking its way to my mouth.

"I'm sorry, you did what now?" I asked confused.

"Well, you know how your father "popped" in on you randomly throughout your life?" He put the tomatoes in a pan and put some lettuce on the retro table Eleanor has had since the 70's.

"Yes. But how do you know that?"

"He told me when we met."

Oh that's amusing to picture; Jesse and my father having high tea on the astral plane or wherever spirits hang out for fun discussing my life. I let out a mental groan and prayed my dad didn't tell any embarrassing stories.

"Ok…Go on." I said pushing the thoughts out of my head.

"Well, after being a ghost for a while I learned you could go to places. So the first place I went was to see my mother. Of course she couldn't see me but it was nice seeing her again. Until…" He broke off frowning.

I got off the bar stool and stood next to him at the table. He had his back to me when I whispered, "Until she learned that you never showed up to see Maria."

I could never even begin to imagine how it would feel to be seeing the aftermath that would be thrust upon my family if I suddenly died or disappeared. I would never want to see them broken hearted like that, especially if I knew there was nothing I could do about it.

I felt a ping in my heart, hopping my dad didn't see my mother and I broken up after his death like Jesse had.

The back of Jesse's head nodded in reply to what I said and he cleared his throat before turning around to face me.

"But that was a long time ago Susannah. We have other things to worry about right now." He gave me a weak smile.

I took a big step forward and stood on my tiptoes to plant him a kiss on his lips.

"I'm glade you came back to haunt my bedroom." I whispered.

.OOOOOOOOOO.

"So. Do you have a plan for tonight?" Jesse asked me as we washed the dishes from lunch.

"No actually. I mean in my dream everything worked out fine in the end. So why shouldn't it work out now?" I replied putting the clean dishes into the cabinet. It was weird doing this. It felt so…married like.

"Well, for one thing your vision has completely changed your day. You didn't go home with your mother and proceed to find out about Brad & the Rambler, which is different. Plus you didn't avoid Larry all day like in your dream. If anything you where sassy to him" He replied.

"But that's different because I know that Larry will end up in jail. So why should I be concerned about it?" I asked still a tad confused.

"Because your day has changed Querida." He said.

I couldn't argue with that. The dream had made me change everything about this day.

"True…it has. So lets just keep changing it." I replied and grinned. A light bulb had just gone off over my head.

" I know that look Susannah…you have a plan. What is it?"

"You'll just have to wait and see." I grinned mischievously and went off to clear the table as Jesse continued washing plates.

He shook his head at me, probably wondering why he put up with having me as his girlfriend.

"Have you found out who did it yet?".

"I told you. It was Larry. We even have the proof because of the dream and everything." I replied.
"Larry? Larry killed me?" A voice bellowed. I whirled around and came face to face with Eric. I threw a startled glance at Jesse who had taken the plate he was washing and put it on the drying rack. He looked as every bit of shocked as I was.

Eric was fuming now. You could tell because one of the glasses on the table began shaking.

"Eric-" I was about to jump in and say a cliché of a line. Namely, don't do anything stupid.

I was interrupted in mid sentence by the glass of water falling onto the floor. The whole table was trembling like an earthquake. Eric was mad, so mad I wouldn't be surprised to see smoke coming out of his ears.

"Eric. Let Susannah and I handle it." Jesse stepped in and put himself in front of me in a protecting gesture.

"Why did he do it?!" He exclaimed.

I hesitated, not wanting to answer and make him even angrier.

Lucky for me Jesse stepped in.

"Does it really matter?" He asked Eric. "We all know your still hanging out in this life because you need your murderer to be punished. If you kill him, he wins. He doesn't have to pay the consequences. Instead he gets to move on to this next life. He doesn't get to go to trial, and end up in jail for a lifetime sentence. Instead he just gets to move on." Jesse concluded.

His argument, I felt was a very strong one. After a few seconds Jesse's words seem to have sunk into Eric's mind. I could tell because the table no longer rattled and because his face seemed to soften.

"Let us take care of it Eric." I said. "We can make sure he gets punished, but you need to promise not to go anywhere near Eric. I have a plan. And it's a good one."

"Could you at least tell me why I had to have been poisoned?" Eric asked in a whisper.

"I did it because he didn't deserve her!" He shouted. "Eric didn't deserve London! He didn't care for her like I do! He didn't deserve being a news anchor either!"

"He wanted you're life. You're job and wife. Your everything." I replied.

A weird thought popped into my head. Paul had been keeping an eye on Larry all week to make sure he didn't get killed because of Eric since he found out about the affair. From what Paul could tell, Eric had not been by to borrow a cup of sugar or to kill Larry. Where had Eric been this whole time?

Then it donned on me.

"You knew about the affair before hand didn't you?" I said.

Eric looked down at the floor.

"I suspected something was going on. I didn't know for sure until I saw the two of them together."

"Why didn't you try to kill him again?" I asked.

"I didn't try to kill Larry again because I realized it meant nothing to her. Their relationship I mean. She loves me and not him. I think she was lonely because I work all the time. I know it isn't much of an excuse but I really do think it was loneliness." Eric replied.

The three of us sat in silence, letting his words stew for a while.
Finally, Eric said, "I'll let you both handle it. In the mean time, I'm going to keep an eye on London."

And just like that he shimmered away leaving me and Jesse to plan out tonight.

.OOOOOOOOOO.