I do not own Suite Life on Deck/of Zack and Cody or any of the characters, I also do not own The Parent Trap.
Kurt Martin was lovely, indeed. A smiling, ruggedly handsome guy, who shone among a throng of people waiting anxiously at The Napa County Airport.
Suddenly, he brightened and waved. "Zack! Hey, welcome home, kiddo!"
Cody walked across the tarmac carrying Zack's duffel bag over his shoulder. Nervous at first, he broke into a grin at the sight of his father, waving and smiling at him. "Dad!" he ran to him and stopped just as he reached him. He looked up. "Dad... Finally..."
"Get into these arms, you little punk." Kurt wrapped his arms around Cody and pulled him close. "I hope you had a lousy time at that camp 'cause you're never going back – I missed you too much." he looked at Cody as he smiled. "What happened to you? Something's changed. Did you get taller?" they walked off, arm-in-arm, into the terminal, Kurt carrying Zack's duffel.
"So, what's up, Dad? How's Chessy and everybody?"
"Great. Everybody's great, can't wait to see you. Eight weeks really is too long, Zack. So much has been happening around here."
"A lot's happened to me, too. I feel like I'm practically a new man." as they walked, Cody kept peeking at Kurt.
"What's the matter? Did I cut myself shaving?"
"No, it's just seeing you for the first time. I mean, you know... in so long." he giggled. "You look taller to me, too."
Kurt pulled Cody close. "C'mon, squirt, let's go home."
A dark green Suburban drove past picture perfect wine vineyards. Kurt drove wearing a straw cowboy hat with Cody sitting next to him. "Hey, by the way, thanks for all those newsy letters. I'm really glad I bought you all that personalized stationary you just had to have." he said with a mouth full of sarcasm.
"We meant to write, Dad, but we just got so busy with..."
"We?"
"Oh. Me and my friend. I met this boy at camp and we got really close. Practically like brothers. He was a lovely boy."
"'Lovely'? You seem to have gotten very Proper all of a sudden. Not to mention that you just called a boy lovely, is there something I should know about?" he raised an eyebrow, taking Cody's hand. "Still biting those nails."
"I uhm... well, no...I'm only thirteen, Dad. I'm still learning new things, you know that, Dad. And I can't believe you noticed my nails, Dad." he frowned.
"I guess so... Whaddya mean, noticed? You've been biting them since you got teeth."
"But I've decided to stop, Dad. It's a horrid, habit, really it is, Dad."
"'Lovely' boy ... 'Horrid, habit? Did I send you to summer camp or finishing school? And why do you keep saying 'Dad, at the end of every sentence?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was doing it, Dad." he looked up, realizing he did it again. "Sorry, Dad." they both laughed. "Do you want to know why I keep saying Dad... ? The truth?"
"Because you missed your old man so much?"
"Exactly! it's because in my whole life, I mean for these past eight weeks, I was never able to ever say the word 'Dad'. Never. Not once! And a Dad is an irreplaceable person in a kids life. I mean think about it, there's a whole day, devoted to celebrating Fathers, right? Just imagine, someone's life without a Father. Never buying a Father's Day card, never getting their Father a birthday present, never sitting on their Father's lap, never being able to say, 'Hi, Dad', 'What's up, Dad?', 'Bye, Dad', 'catch you later, Dad'. A baby's first words are always Dada, aren't they? Then there's 'Daddy', 'Daddio', 'Pop', 'My old man'... Not to mention, 'Wait 'til your father gets home, and..."
"So, let me see if I get this ... you missed being able to call me Dad."
"Yeah. I really have, Dad." Kurt smiled as he turned under a wooden sign that said Martin Vineyard and Winery.
Cody looked out the window smiling. "Oh my God."
"Now you sound like your old self."
A rambling Victorian-style ranch house, with a wide porch that wrapped around the entire facade. Kurt tooted the horn as he drove down the long gravel driveway. Sammy, a big golden mutt, raced after the car, barking. Jose, Nick's right-hand man, arrived from the side of the house, drinking a small bottle of juice. He opened the Surburban's door for Cody.
"Well, look who finally decided to come home." Jose said.
"Hey, Jose." Cody said.
"Did your old man tell you we decided no more camp for you?"
Cody climbed out of the truck. "Yeah, he told me."
Jose gave Cody a hug. "It got too quiet around here, Zack. We couldn't stand it. Nobody blasting music, nobody playing hide and seek in the vineyards, nobody getting stuck up on the roof..."
Cody laughed as the screen door swung open and Chessy exited, humming as if she's a one-woman welcome home band. Chessy, the most lovable woman on the planet, early thirties, warm eyes, great sense of humor, lifted Cody right off his feet. "Hell-o, Gorgeous! You grew, you lost weight, you look fabulous, we missed you, don't let these bums talk you out of, going back to camp. You're a growing boy. You need adventure. You hungry? I made cornbread and chili. Why're you so quiet? What's wrong?"
"I'm just so happy to be home."
"Did I hear something about cornbread and chili?" Kurt passed them, holding Zack's duffel.
"It's on the stove..." she didn't even have to look to shout at Jose. "Wipe your feet, Jose!" Chessy looked Cody over, hugging him again. "You've changed, Zack ... I can't put my finger on it, but something about you has definitely changed..." Little did everyone know, Zack was really Cody and he was now, no longer a virgin thanks to his twin brother, apparently that will change a boy (or so they thought).
"Really? Me?" he watched as Sammy bounced down the steps. "Hi, Sammy!" Sammy sniffed at Cody's shoes, looking up at him, then backing off suspiciously, barking loudly at him.
Chessy looked down at the dog. "What's with you, goofball! It's Zack." Sammy continued barking.
"I probably smell like camp, that's all." Cody ran up the porch steps, followed by Chessy.
"What's wrong with you? It's like you didn't even recognize him." Chessy said to Sammy.
Cody looked around a spacious comfortable ranch house with high ceilings and panoramic views of Kurt's vineyards. "Wow! It's even better than the pictures."
"Whaddya want to do first, kiddo - unpack or eat? Or eat, then unpack? Or, we can eat while we unpack." Chessy said.
"You mean I can eat in my room?"
Chessy looked at him like he was nuts. "Yes, I would say that's a definite possibility."
As they headed up the stairs, Kurt entered eating a big bowl of chili. "Zack, when you're done, come on down, there's someone I want you to meet."
"Okay, Dad."
Kurt smiled. "Okay, Zack."
Cody continued then stopped, looking at Chessy. "Someone he wants me to meet?"
"-He didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?" he heard the sound of a woman laughing and looked down. In the living room below, Kurt turned as a woman entered from the patio. She was a tawny beauty of twenty-six, wearing a chic sleeveless dress, sleek hair and heels. Kurt took her hand in his. Cody turned back to Chessy and mouthed "Who is that?" Chessy motioned for him to follow her upstairs.
Zacks room was sunny, warmly furnished with lots of magazines, CD's, and toys. The French doors were wide open to the balcony and a gentle breeze billowed the curtains.
"Who's the blonde?" Cody asked.
"Zack, it's none of my business how your father makes a fool out of himself, you understand? He's a big boy, he can do what he wants."
"Right. So who is she?"
"Her name's Meredith Blake. She's a publicist from San Francisco. Your father hired her at the beginning of the summer to do some publicity for the vineyard and if you ask me, she's done a better job selling herself than the grapes."
"Whaddya mean?"
"Look, you and I know your Dad's no suave debonair Bachelor of the Month-type, so I wonder what a young hot thing like her sees in a guy who walks around with his shirt-tail hanging out and his cereal bowl full of chili. Then I realized, there's a million reasons why that girl's giggling and they're all sitting in the Napa Valley Community Bank."
"You mean you don't think she even really likes Dad..."
"- What do I know? But I'll tell you one thing. This one could give Sharon Stone femme fatal lessons. She's got your father eating out of the palm of her hand. They ride together, they swim together, they're out to dinner every night. Not to mention she treats yours truly like the 'shlepper help' of all time which has really endeared her to me, as you can imagine; you go down and meet her and see for yourself. Don't let me influence you."
A few minutes later, Cody bounded down the stairs, wearing sunglasses and a faded Martin Vineyards T-shirt with swim trunks on. He looked around, seeing lots of photographs of Kurt and Zack when Zack was a baby. "We were such a cute baby." he smiled at a photo.
He was distracted when he heard Meredith's laugh. Cody lowered his sunglasses, peering over them at Meredith who was lounging by the pool ogling Kurt. Cody joined Kurt and Meredith under an umbrella. The vineyards and mountains cascading down from the pool creating an incredible vista.
"There's my boy! Zack, I want you to meet a friend of mine. Kiddo, this is Meredith Blake."
He waved. "Hi ..."
"Hi. Wow. I can't believe I'm finally meeting the famous Zack. I've looked forward to this all summer."
"Really? Well ... here I am."
"Kurty, he's adorable." Kurt cleared his throat. "The way your father talked about you I expected to meet a little boy but you're so grown up..."
"I'll be fourteen soon. How old are you?"
She was a little thrown by his question. "- Twenty-six."
"Only twelve years older than me. How old are you again, Dad?"
"Oh, suddenly he's interested in math. I'm gonna get some more chili and a bottle of champagne to celebrate." Kurt stood up.
"What are we celebrating?" Kurt paused.
"You're home-coming of course." Meredith jumped in.
Kurt and Meredith exchanged a quick look which was not lost on Cody. Kurt headed toward the house as Cody sat by the pool, dunking his feet in the water.
A cell-phone rang and Meredith flipped hers open. "Hello. Yes, Mr. Mosby... Uh-huh. I'll certainly ask him but I doubt if he'll be available. I understand it's for a local charity. Um-hmmm... I'm writing it all down." she wrote nothing down. "Okay, got it. Sounds very worthwhile, I-agree but unfortunately, I see that Mr. Martin will be out of the country those days. Yes, I'll be sure to mention it to him. Thank you." she snapped her phone shut and turned to Cody. "So. How was camp, Zack? Was it fabulous?"
"Yes, I loved it actually. My Dad's going out of the country? When?"
"No, no, I just had to say that to get him out of something." she quickly changed the subject. "You know I never heard a man talk about his son the way Kurty talks about you. You two are obviously incredibly close."
"We're closer than close. We're all each other has..." Cody did a huge cannonball into the pool, splashing water all over Meredith. Pissed, but controlling it, Meredith walked to the edge of the pool, picked up a towel and patted herself dry as Cody popped to the surface. "Sorry, did I get you wet, Mer?"
"Just a little, Zack." she said, trying to be sweet. "Hey, guess what? Your Dad took me riding the other day and he let me ride your horse. I hope that's okay with you."
"Oh, sure. Sprout's used to strange women riding her. Not that you're strange or anything. Actually, compared to the others, you seem relatively normal." he floated on his back.
Curiosity getting the best of her, she walked up to Cody. "Others? What others?"
"What others? Puh-leeze." he laughed hysterically, seeing Meredith's concern. "You want the 411?"
"The 411?"
"The 'information'... the lowdown on the other women. Can't say that I blame you. I'd want to know if I was number twentyeight ... I mean... number twenty-nine in a man's life."
"I'm number twenty-nine?"
"Well, yes but I didn't start counting 'til I was about four. God knows how many there were before then. It's always the same routine... horseback riding through the vineyards ... long romantic dinners with his special reserve label wine... moonlight swims ..." she nodded, intrigued. "But I always say, it's none of my business if a man his age wants to make a fool out of himself. Although, maybe he's changed and you're the real thing, Mer."
Just then, Kurt arrived with a bottle of Champagne. "Okay, here we go. A bottle of my special reserve label. You two find something to talk about while I was gone?"
Cody smiled and dove under the water, just like a little angel.
"Does that mean 'yes'?" he asked.
"It sure does." she tapped her fingers and watched the blonde boy swim around.