Boone awoke in the morning with Shannon spooned up against his back, her left arm thrown loosely around his waist, the side of her face pressed up against his shoulder blade. He smiled lazily and reached for her hand as it lay draped against his stomach; trailing a finger softly down the back of it, he wanted nothing more than to turn to face her and ravage her into insensibility. He sighed deeply at the impossibility of that happening, though knowing her timetable well, he still held out hope for tonight.
"Mm, hmm," he felt the rumble of the two moaned syllables as the bone of her jaw transmitted the vibration through to his scapula. He could feel her smile after she confirmed that a little extracurricular activity would definitely be in the cards for them at bedtime.
He turned her hand over and brought it to his lips planting a kiss on her palm. 'I can't wait.'
'We could do something else, to tide you over till then if you wanted,' Shannon offered, chuckling.
'I think I have enough self-control to restrain myself for a few hours until I can have the real thing,' Boone's answer was accompanied by a chuckle of his own.
Shannon returned her hand to his waist, snaking her arm around it and pulling him close, she moved her head and kissed down a few inches at the top of his spine.
When he felt himself stir in the early stages of arousal, he loosened her grip and pulled away from her, swinging his feet to the floor and stretching, stopping what ever it was she was intending before it went too far.
"Spoilsport," She picked up his pillow and batted him with it.
Boone glanced over his shoulder at her with a grin then stood and bent to look out the window at the morning sun. "It's time we got up anyway, we slept in."
"Boone, sleeping in is a relative term, and for you it means any time after dawn. For most normal people, especially those on vacation, it's any time before noon." Like a cat, Shannon lithely stretched out across the width of the bed, flexing each limb to its fullest extent. "What time do you think it is, anyway?"
He looked up at the sun again, "Hmmm, nine; nine-thirty?"
She grabbed his cell off his bedside table and checked the display, snorting a laugh.
"What's it say?" Boone questioned.
"It doesn't say anything bonehead, you have to read it," She quipped, childishly.
"Oh, God!" He groaned and covered his face with his hands, "However late it is it's still far too early for me to have to deal with your rapier wit."
When he dropped his hands, Shannon held up the phone so he could see it.
He raised one eyebrow and gave a little self-satisfied shrug at the nine-fifteen a.m. time on the display.
Shannon threw the phone into the pillows and got to her feet on the opposite side of the bed. "Smart-ass."
"My, aren't we just full of compliments today. I'm so looking forward to what other bon mots you have to share with the class," Boone snarked with amusement.
At that, Shannon chased him into the ensuite, grinning in pleasure at his unexpectedly high spirits, hoping they'd last. He was such a treat to be around when he was on his game; he'd been absent from their competitive arena of verbal sparring for far too long.
Arriving downstairs in the breakfast area they found Frank alone, hidden behind an open newspaper that he lowered as soon as they entered. They noticed that he looked a little tired as he greeted them.
"Where's every one else?" Boone asked.
"Andrew and Rene have already eaten and are out by the pool." He stated.
Boone's head snapped in that direction as if he could magically see through the walls of the house. "Pool!?!?" Shannon snorted in amusement; Frank just appeared bewildered. She turned to the sideboard and selected some of the items put out for the meal.
Boone called his son, 'Andrew, what are you doing?'
'Morning, Boone!' He greeted happily, adding, 'Hey, Shan!' when he sensed her presence as well. 'I'm diving for golf balls, and I already did twenty-laps too!'
Boone shut his eyes and sighed while Shannon's shoulders shook and more snorted laughter erupted. He glared at her as she seated herself. "He was supposed to keep his hands dry."
"That was yesterday, Boone. He didn't give his word for today, he simply got to the water before you could extract another promise from him." She pointed out reasonably. "How is it his fault that you were lazy this morning and got up late?" She questioned calmly, while all the time inwardly gleeful. She hoped she wasn't pushing her luck and he'd deflate again and go all mopey on her.
Boone looked like he was about to explode for several seconds, speechless, unable to formulate an argument against her logic, his face was screwed up and his fists were clenched in frustration as he searched for a rejoinder. "Fuck!" He finally spat out, giving up.
"Wow! Snappy comeback, brother dear, no wonder you've gotten so far in business with that enormous vocabulary." She smiled smugly and lowered her head, spearing her soft poached egg, sending the runny yolk soaking into the whole grain toast on which she'd placed it.
"Bitch," he muttered, as she licked the tip of one finger and made an imaginary mark in the air, chalking up her win.
Frank looked between the two, their display again adding another facet to his increasingly bewildered attempt to grasp the dynamics between them. He sighed and shrugged and went back to eating his breakfast, continuing the conversation by confirming that they were going to accept his invitation of a personally guided tour of his winery.
They stopped by the pool on their way to the facility, Frank to kiss Rene before leaving and Boone and Shannon to warn Andrew not to give Rene any grief. "If he tries your patience or takes advantage, please feel free to sell him to some passing gypsy's, just don't trade him for a goat." Boone used the jest he and Andrew had shared on the way up to Napa. She laughed at what was obviously an inside joke and agreed solemnly.
Boone and Shannon dropped their playful goading of one another once they left with Frank for the winery tour. Much to his approval, but not surprise, each suddenly transformed from bickering siblings into the very epitome of business professionalism. They wandered from field to cellar to tasting room; their questions carefully considered and insightful, their grasp of the complex subtleties of the art of wine making quite obvious. He was gratified to be presenting the inside workings of his secret passion to two such discerning and deserved individuals. Because of their enthusiasm and honest interest, the time he'd initially allotted ran several hours longer than estimated, it was well past lunch by the time they finally emerged from the shadowy cool interior of the offices into the full heat of mid-afternoon.
Boone felt the sun and heat hit him like an upper cut to the jaw. He'd had far more of the wine than he'd intended, it had been so excellent he'd been hard pressed to put it aside after just one sip. Heading down the sidewalk of interlocking brick towards the waiting car he felt a little woozy as the combination of sun and alcohol momentarily robbed him of what little co-ordination he usually possessed. He caught the leading edge of his boot and tripped, falling into Shannon and almost sending them both sprawling; only her quick reflexes kept them both upright.
Frank turned immediately at the sound of the commotion. Boone was already examining the offending section of brickwork in an attempt to blame his innate clumsiness on a poor innocent paving tile. Shannon was standing with her arms crossed; a smug expression on her face as she regarded her husbands' futile attempt. She'd seen him fall in the middle of the polished floor of a banquet hall more than once.
When all the bricks proved to be perfectly flush, just as she'd suspected, she regarded Boone coolly. "Tripped over your own shadow again, didn't you?"
Game on again! He realized, "No, I think it was your enormous ego that got in my way."
Frank was starting to wonder how Andrew put up with them.
When they returned, after changing they joined the other two still out at the pool, Frank requesting food and beverages for all on the way through the house.
Andrew clambered quickly out of the water, wanting to know all about their day. He'd been invited but had begged off, the very idea of being surrounded by that much wine, rekindling unpleasant memories of earlier in the week.
Over a late luncheon, Rene and Andrew had shared a light snack earlier to carry them through; the five exchanged their news of the day.
The late night, the wine earlier, the food, plus the beer he had with his lunch, almost caused Boone to fall asleep in his chair. His head lolling on his neck, he jerked awake as Shannon poked him. "Lie down before you fall down, doofus."
Excusing himself, he rose and spread a towel on the grass several yards away and settled on it. Rene glanced quickly at him, and then back again, something was amiss but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Only a minute had passed before Shannon excused herself as well and went over to where he lay, kneeling to his side, she quickly stretched out beside him and snuggled against him, fitting into him perfectly like two halves of a whole. His left arm, which had been flung out over his head on the grass, immediately came down to wrap around her shoulder. They shifted, settling in, and were almost instantly asleep. Watching them, Rene realized what had nagged at her; when Boone lay down, he did so on the extreme right side of the towel instead of the middle, as if anticipating Shannon's arrival; it was obviously a long-standing habit.
Turning back to the table she saw that Andrew was already back in the pool, though just floating on the raft after his meal, and that Frank was starting to doze himself. She picked up her book and continued to read, the question that she wanted to ask her husband percolating in the back of her mind.
After a couple of dozen pages, she heard a short irritated snore emanating from the vicinity of the ground at her right. Glancing over she saw that a fly had landed on Boone's left arm, when he'd flinched a few times in a failed attempt to dislodge it; Shannon's hand flicked down from his shoulder, sending it on its' way, yet still they slept on, theoretically she should have had no way of knowing it was even there. It was the slight goad Rene had been waiting for.
"Frank?" She leaned over and swatted his arm, waking him.
"Wha…what?" He blinked at her, blearily.
She looked back over at the slumbering twosome. "They're special, aren't they?"
"I'm sure they think so, and I kind of think they're special too." He answered, completely missing her point; they were keeping their voices low, so as not to awaken them.
"No, Frank! I mean they're special in the same way you're special, they're like you aren't they?" Rene clarified.
He simply stared at her, blinking as his mind raced, he assumed as neutral an expression as he could, however it didn't fool her.
"Franklin Thomas Jackson!" She exclaimed in exasperation, "Do you not think I've known you long enough and well enough to be able to read the truth on your face? Obviously you're not answering me because you gave them your word, didn't you?" She didn't even question her certainty that she was right.
Franks' mouth opened and closed a few times, but inevitably he answered in the affirmative. "Yes. But they're about as much like me as the combination of all the grains of sand in an hour glass is like a single grain."
Rene's eyes widened in surprise, and she glanced at them again as she wrapped her mind around the concept. She knew her husband had what he called 'flashes of intuition' and 'déjà vu' she could only imagine, in comparison, what these two could do. The sound of splashing from the pool drew their attention, "And Andrew?"
"Him, too, even more than his parents." Frank confirmed.
Rene frowned, puzzled, wondering how all three of them could be gifted. Shannon and Boone weren't even actually related, except through their unique circumstances of multi-generational double marriage. She raised the question with her husband.
"I don't even think that they truly know for sure, and besides, dear, I gave them my promise. I've confirmed what you guessed, but as to what else they want to reveal, I have to leave it up to them." Frank apologized.
She pursed her lips in displeasure, and hazarded another guess, "Does it have something to do with that plane crash they were in, and the year they spent stranded?"
Frank looked decidedly uncomfortable at disclosing any more than he already had with out the permission of at least one of them. Once again, the sound of Andrew playing in the pool drew their gaze. "Hold on a sec."
Rene watched while he seemed to concentrate for a second, the next time Andrew surfaced he made his way over to their side of the pool and climbed up the ladder, not giving away the fact that Frank had summoned him.
"I've had enough for…" He stopped and regarded Frank for a beat as he imparted more information, "You told?" He turned to Rene, "You know about us? He told you?"
"No, dear, he didn't say anything to me, I guessed."
"How did you figure it out? We're so careful. What did we do? How did we give ourselves away?" The questions came rapid fire. "We're going to have to be even more careful, please tell me what we did?"
"It wasn't anything you did, dear. I figured it out from how Frank was acting around you all." She advised him.
He gave Frank an appraising stare, "Then I guess you're the one who has to be more careful." He stated flatly in an authoritative voice.
Rene smiled, she couldn't imagine the last time anyone had spoken to Frank in quite that tone.
Frank looked at him for a second and then drew a deep breath, "I guess I will." He agreed.
Andrew wrapped himself in the thick towel Rene held out to him and then pulled up a chair; he spent the next twenty minutes answering all of their questions that he could. When it was obvious that he was becoming impatient with them, tiring of the probing, they both backed off.
Andrew had one question of his own however, "Would you please not tell Boone that you know? Just tell Shan and let her break it to him." He knew, even better than Shannon did, how Boone's moods could change in an instant. Though Boone had been remarkably upbeat for the last few days, Andrew was afraid that something like this might send him back into a depression again as he blamed himself for their discovery, even though it wasn't true.
They both looked a bit puzzled at his request, but, knowing that he must have a perfectly legitimate reason for it, they both agreed.