This is by far the longest chapter in the story so far, and I'm planning for it to stay that way. It's about ninety percent back-story, my take on how Ron and his family ended up settling in Middleton. That's why the chapter is so long. Give it a read and let me know what you think. Chapters Twelve and Thirteen will mainly focus on Kim and Ron (and yes, there will finally be a little action). After that, I expect there to be one chapter, maybe two, followed by a postscript.

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

With her husband Jonathan at his convention, Ron out on a date and Rufus over at the Possibles, Rachel had the house all to herself. Five whole hours of freedom! Before she could indulge, though, she went back over her normal Friday night task list.

"Dishes washed, dried and put away and kitchen cleaned. Check. Laundry folded and put away. Check. Saturday shopping list prepared. Check. Bills paid. Check. Oh, how I love on-line bill paying! Well, that takes care of everything. Now for a little "me time"!"

Most people, especially Rachel's generation and older, have some favorite childhood activity that they have never outgrown, one that can be depended upon to whisk them away, if only for a few minutes, from the troubles and cares of adulthood. For some it might be doing Yo-yo tricks. For others it might be kite flying. For still others it might be skipping rope.

For Rachel Stoppable, that childhood activity is taking a long, hot-as-you-can-stand-it, soak-until-you-turn-into-a-prune bubble bath.

In the main bathroom, she started the bath water, adjusted the Hot and Cold until it was "just right" and poured in a generous amount of her favorite bubble bath liquid. While the tub filled, she gathered up her night gown, slippers, some reading material, the battery-powered digital timer from the kitchen and the cordless phone.

Even though the opportunities were few and far between, she had the routine memorized. The digital timer would be set for one hour. That way, if she happened to doze off (which she usually did), the timer's alarm would wake her before she developed a kink in her neck. The cordless phone had a Caller ID screen so that if someone called while she was in the tub, she could decide whether to answer it or let it go to voice-mail.

Her arms loaded down, she retreated to the bathroom and closed the door. The mirror over the sink was all steamed up. In a moment of pure silliness, she wrote on the mirror "R.S. & J.S. Forever" and traced a big heart around the letters.

The bubbles were nearly overflowing the tub. All was ready. After undressing, she stepped into the tub with her left leg. "Ooohhh!" The water temperature was p-e-r-f-e-c-t. She then brought her right leg into the water. "Aaahhh!" Finally, she turned and ever so slowly lowered herself into the tub. "Ooohhh! Aaahhhh!"

As she relaxed in the tub, scooping up mounds of bubbles in her two hands and blowing them up in the air, the worries and stress of work slowly evaporated and in their place she could plainly see all her many blessings:

Jonathan was a hardworking, faithful and loving husband and father. To others he seemed rather plain, even boring. But she knew better. There was a side to him only she has ever witnessed: a passionate, playful and sometimes delightfully unpredictable friend and lover. He was without question her best friend and she was his as well.

Ron wasn't the most gifted teenager academically or athletically, but, as he has shown again and again on his missions with Kim, he was a loyal, trustworthy and, especially of late, very brave young man. She was immensely proud and thankful to have him as a son.

And then there was Rufus, the de facto fourth member of the Stoppable family. What's to be done with Rufus?

With images of the world's most famous naked mole rat dancing in her head, Rachel Stoppable slipped into a restful slumber, her head propped up on a sponge pillow in the back-right of the tub.

While Rachel was enjoying a blissful bubble bath, her husband was enduring the second hour of the Actuaries Convention's obligatory Friday Night Formal Social.

"The food's great, if you don't mind standing in line for forty-five minutes. The open bar's great, too, if you happen to drink," Jonathan commented to no one in particular. "What I can't figure out is, with all the self-conscious health-conscious items at the buffet and on the restaurant menu, why is it so difficult to find some bottled water in this place?"

Never much of a socializer, Jonathan tried to make small talk with those seated at his table. Unfortunately, the recorded band music blaring from the stage sound system, in concert with nearly a thousand convention attendees all talking as loud as possible just to be heard, made light casual conversation impossible.

Jonathan looked at his watch again: seven twenty-five. Groan. Still another thirty-five minutes before the dance, when he could excuse himself, go up to his room and crash for the night. With a deep sigh, Jonathan took a couple more sips from his bottled water and returned to his intense study of the tablecloth pattern.

A sudden open-handed blow between his shoulder blades caused the water already in Jonathan's mouth to shoot out his nostrils, while his open water bottle went flying across the table, dousing the poor soul seated opposite him.

"Well, just who do we have here?" bellowed a voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

Jonathan spun around in his chair and looked up.

"N-o-o. It can't be! Bob Zimmerman?"

"The one and only! (in the actuary business, anyway)"

"My word! I haven't seen you since… since we both graduated from NYU!"

"That would be correct, my friend. It's been a l-o-n-g time. Too long."

"How did you find me? How did you even know I was here?"

"The answer to the second question is easy: I simply scanned the posted list of convention attendees out by the Registration Desk, looking for familiar names. Yours happened to be one I recognized. After all, there aren't too many Jonathan Stoppables around."

"As for the first question, you never could turn down free food in college, so I figured there was a good chance you'd be here tonight. Believe me, it wasn't easy finding you. I've been casing the place since six o'clock and was just getting ready to give up the search when I spied you about six tables away."

"Well, I'm sure glad you saw me, Bob. Where have you been? What have you been up to all these years?"

"Things are just a little on the noisy side here, Jon. How about we move on over to the Sports Bar across the way and try to find ourselves a booth? Then we can bring each other up to date."

"Sounds good to me, Bob. Let's go."

After apologizing to the person across the table, Jonathan followed Bob to the Sports Bar, where they found a reasonably quiet booth along the back wall. Bob ordered a micro brew. Jonathan decided to throw caution to the wind and ordered a Diet Coke "on the rocks".

They flipped a coin. Whoever called it correctly could choose whether to go first or second. Jon won the toss and elected to go first.

"So what has "Jon the Man" been up to all these years?"

"Well, as you might recall, Rachel and I were dating when the three of us all graduated that spring from NYU. I wanted to hold off proposing until after I landed that first job. With the recession, jobs were pretty scarce. I was staying with my folks while Rachel stayed with her parents."

"Things weren't looking too promising. I applied at several firms in the Metro Area, and few more Upstate. I even put in some applications in Philly, Providence and Boston. Aside from two or three phone interviews, all I got were a bunch of letters saying "Thank you for your interest in our firm. Unfortunately, we have no open positions at this time, Yada yada yada."

"Then, one day, out of the blue, one of my NYU professors --- you remember Dr. Kassmeier? --- called my parents' house while I was out. When I got back I called him. He said he had a lead on a position that he thought would be a great fit for me. The only problem was it was way out west, in a town called Middleton."

"I certainly wasn't in any position to be choosy, so I called the number he gave me. They asked me to fax them my résumé, and less than a week later I was flying out to Middleton for an interview. Frankly, I thought I did a terrible interview. They apparently thought otherwise, because I had a message waiting for me when I got home, asking to call. I called and they not only offered me the job but were willing to give me my desired starting salary."

"Needless to say, I was stunned. I asked them if I could have a little time to talk to my family about it and get back with them the next day. They said that wouldn't be a problem."

"Right after I hung up, I called Rachel and asked if she had any plans for lunch. She said her lunch schedule was rather full, but she thought she might be able to squeeze me in."

"We ate at a little sidewalk bistro a few blocks from her parents' place. I told her I had been offered the job. She was thrilled; practically knocked me over in my chair giving me a huge hug and kiss. Once she calmed down a little, I reminded her that it would mean moving away from our families, from the City and everything we had grown up with over the years. She said that she had thought and prayed long and hard ever since I faxed my résumé, and she felt a deep peace about the move."

"So, it was decided I would accept the job. When I said I would call them in the morning, she said, "Why wait? Call them right now!" Since I couldn't come up with any reason not to call, I paid for our lunch and we took a walk around the corner to a phone booth."

"While I dialed the phone, Rachel hugged me from behind. I accepted the job and agreed that I would start work in two weeks. As soon as I said that I sensed I had goofed, because Rachel released her hug, sulked over to a nearby bench and flopped down."

"After I hung up, I went over to the bench and sat down. "What's wrong, honey?""

""What's wrong? You mean to tell me you don't know what's wrong? Incredible! Do you realize what you just did? You agreed to start your new job in two weeks. Two weeks! How on earth do you expect to get everything done in two weeks?""

"I knew exactly what she was driving at, but I decided to play dumb. ""I guess I don't understand. What all is there to do the next two weeks before I start?""

""Arrghh! Jon, you can be such a dunderhead sometimes! I'm going with you, remember? You? Me? M-a-r-r-i-e-d? There's no way we can plan and pull off a wedding in two weeks.""

""We could always elope.""

""Jon, that is not even funny. Oh, there's another small detail you seem to have forgotten. Comes before the wedding. Comes before the engagement, for that matter. Starts with the letter "p". Three guesses, but the first two don't count.""

""Starts with the letter "p". Hmmm. That's a toughie. Could you maybe give me another hint?""

""You're pushing your luck, Stoppable.""

"I figured I had better quit messing around. From the tone of her voice, I could tell I was pushing my luck."

""O.K. Close your eyes. Come on, close them. Are they closed? Good. No peeking.""

"As quietly as I could, I dug into my pocket and pulled out a small felt-covered box. I opened the box, placed it in the palm of my right hand and held out my hand in front of her."

""Now, open them.""

""Jon! It's beautiful! It must be worth a fortune!""

""A small fortune, actually. It's probably worth, oh, somewhere in the neighborhood of, say, ten grand.""

""Ten thousand dollars? Jon, you don't have that kind of money, and you certainly couldn't buy something like this on credit. Come on. Where'd you get it?""

""Believe it or not, it's a family heirloom. Extended family, that is. It was part of an inheritance my grandfather received years ago from his uncle. When my grandfather heard I might be getting married soon, he gave it to me. He said he wanted me to use it as my engagement ring.""

"Getting down on one knee, I looked up at Rachel, into those big brown eyes that were now welling up with tears, "I know in some ways this is merely a formality, but… Rachel Daniella Goodman, will you be my wife?""

""Why do you ask, Jonathan?""

""Because I want to build a life with you; raise a family with you; spend my twilight years with you.""

""I thought you would never ask! Jonathan, I would love to be your wife.""

"I removed the ring from its box and slipped it onto Rachel's finger. Helping her to her feet, I figured we'd have a nice, traditional engagement kiss. Boy, was I wrong! She jumped into my arms, wrapped her arms around my neck, her legs around my waist, and planted such a big, long kiss on my lips that I nearly passed out from lack of breath."

"So, Jon, how exactly did you manage to squeeze everything into two weeks?"

"I didn't. After considerable debate, Rachel and I decided that I would fly out to Middleton to start my job and on my off-hours go house hunting. Rachel stayed with her folks and, with more than enough help from both families, it only took two months from start to finish planning and preparing for the wedding. I flew back for the ceremony and afterward Rachel flew with me out to Middleton."

"We had to delay our honeymoon for a few months until after we were settled into our new home. The following March we took an extended weekend off and spent it at the lodge on Mount Middleton. Nine months later, our son Ronald was born."

"Sounds like you two really enjoyed that honeymoon."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"With Ron coming along so quickly, Rachel and I had a major decision to make: would she work part-time, full-time or stay home? Thankfully, we both graduated with no debt to speak of, and with my salary and the low cost of housing in Middleton, we were able to afford a fairly nice three-bedroom house. So, finances would not be an issue."

"After a week of talk, thought and prayer, we took a Sunday afternoon stroll around Middleton's City Park Lake. I felt it was her decision to make, since it would have a huge impact on her career. She felt that we should decide together, since it would greatly affect both of us."

"It came down to "What is our gut feeling?". To be honest, my gut feeling was that she should stay home until Ron was ready for school, but I was reluctant to say it. I could sense she was hesitant to share her gut feeling, too. So, we took the easy way out. We flipped a coin."

""Heads" would mean I had to share first. "Tails" would mean she would. I flipped the coin, caught it and slapped it on my wrist. Very slowly, I lifted my hand and let out a great big sigh. It was "tails"."

"Rachel took a few moments to gather herself together. Meanwhile, I braced myself for the worst, figuring there was no way she would want to stay home full-time until Ron was ready for school."

"Clearly laboring to speak, she said, "My head and the culture say I should work at least part-time, so I can start climbing up the career ladder right away. My heart tells me there will always been time for work, but this may be the only opportunity I ever have to raise a child of our union from in the womb until he finally leaves the nest. That's a risk I don't want to take. I want to stay home at least until Ron is ready to attend pre-school.""

"I was so relieved I nearly fainted. She turned to me and said, "Okay, Mr. Stoppable, now it's your turn.""

"I didn't know what to say. The odds of her wanting to stay home were to me so small that I didn't even bother to plan for that scenario. With nothing prepared, I had no alternative but to wing it."

""You know, it's funny, but my head and heart were saying pretty much the same thing. Ron could be our only child. I've always wanted to have a big family, but God may have other ideas. The only thing I know for certain is we have Ron, who needs all the love and nurturing we can give him.""

""So, are you saying you think I should go to work or that you want me to stay home?""

""I'm saying that I would love it if you would be willing to stay home.""

"I was barely able to get those words out when she launched herself at me. This time she did knock me off the bench, landing right on top of me. Tears were streaming down her face, but I could see in her eyes and in her smile that she was very, very happy."

"So, with the decision made, Rachel stayed home while I worked my way up at the office. It didn't take very long for that decision to be affirmed. Ron wasn't a sickly child by any means, but when he did get sick the illnesses tended to be longer than expected and sometimes pretty intense. Rachel and I were so thankful she could be there to nurse him back to health."

"Still another affirmation came about a year after our move to Middleton. Rachel was at the bank late one morning when the branch manager came up to her, introduced himself and asked if she could come into his office for a moment."

""Is something wrong, Mr. Millbyer? My husband and I are very careful with our checking account balance.""

""No, Mrs. Stoppable. It's nothing like that. Please sit down. Actually, I had heard from a reliable source that you are a recent graduate with honors from the Stern School of Business at NYU. Is that correct?""

""Yes, sir, that is correct.""

""And I have also heard that you have chosen to stay at home with your son until he's ready for pre-school. Am I right?""

""Yes.""

""Now, Mrs. Stoppable, I'm not going to question your decision to stay home. In fact, I would like to commend you for making that choice. It's not an easy thing to do in this day and age.""

""However, it's not every day that a graduate from a prestigious business school comes to live in Middleton. It's an opportunity that simply cannot be missed. I would like to present to you a proposition. You don't have to answer now. By all means, I would expect you and your husband to discuss it and give it some serious thought before answering.""

""Here's my proposal: my Assistant Manager and I are already swamped with work, and our home bank is now in the process of going to a fully-connected computerized system. That, of course, means more work for us. What I would like to do, and I have already obtained approval for this from my superior, is have you, from home, work with the Assistant Manager on keeping up with the day-to-day administrative paperwork.""

""We would need to have you come in for parts of a few days to familiarize yourself with branch operations. There will also likely be a need every so often for you to come in for some additional training, updating or simply for the three of us to sit down over a lunch to evaluate how things are going. While you are here at the branch, your son can stay at the small private daycare center just across the street, and the bank will pick up the costs.""

""I will be candid with you. Our bank has never before attempted this sort of work arrangement. There are some in Administration who are openly skeptical that such a work-from-home arrangement can work with a bank. So, this in effect is an experiment, and you and I along with my supervisor would all be under the microscope, so to speak.""

""Based upon what I have heard about you --- I took the liberty of contacting a few faculty at NYU, all of whom gave you rave reviews, by the way --- you should have no difficulties in handling the duties of the position.""

""So, that's my proposition. Does it sound like something you would be interested in doing?""

""To be honest, Mr. Millbyer, I'm feeling rather overwhelmed at the moment. I don't know what to say.""

""But would you be willing to at least consider it?""

""Yes, I guess I'm willing to consider it. My husband and I will probably need several days to talk, think and pray about it.""

""You can take as long as you like, but I would appreciate you letting me know either way. Obviously, I would love it if you could start right away, but take your time. I realize this is a major decision to make.""

"Rachel told me later that after she thanked Mr. Millbyer and left the bank, she was torn between wanting to scream or dance but opted to do neither. She desperately wanted to call me at the office to share the news, but didn't want me to become preoccupied with it for the rest of the work day."

"When I got home, I knew right away something was up; something big. The dining room table was set with a special tablecloth, our china and silverware, a lit candle in the middle and a feast fit for a holiday was spread around the candle."

"Rachel greeted me wearing a light-blue dress she had recently found on sale, with her hair styled and the biggest smile I had seen on her face since that day we decided she would stay home."

"She almost seemed to skip up to me, then gave me a warm, gentle embrace and kiss."

""Okay, I know it's not our anniversary, nor is it any of our birthdays. It's safe to say we didn't win the Lotto, since we don't play, so that leaves a rich relative has died, included us in the will and now we're millionaires. Am I right?""

""Nope, not even close. Take a seat, lead us in the meal prayer and, after we've all had a few bites, I'll tell you.""

"After prayer and several bites, she broke the news. All I could do was sit there in stunned silence while she shared all the details."

""So, honey, what do you think? Honey?""

"I was still processing things and didn't realize she was asking me to respond."

""So, Jon, what you think about the proposal?""

""I think I'm overwhelmed. That's what I think.""

""Yeah, I felt that way, too, after Mr. Millbyer outlined his proposal. It is rather overwhelming.""

""No kidding.""

""We don't have to decide right away. Mr. Millbyer actually encouraged us to take our time. If you'd rather not talk about it tonight, I'll understand.""

""No, I'm willing to talk about it, think about it and pray about it. However, I'd rather not have this decision hanging over our heads indefinitely. We need to set a deadline, say a week from today.""

""Sounds fine to me.""

"And that's exactly what we did. Over the next six days, we sat down together and talked about it, using a legal pad to jot down in two columns the "pros" and "cons". We prayed separately during the day and together each night."

"It ultimately came down to one big "pro" versus one big "con". The "pro" was Rachel would be able to get a start in her career while still being able to stay home. Plus, if things went as they should, this part-time job could lead to a full-time position once Ron entered pre-school."

"The big "con" was that, while technically she would still be able to stay home, she would have to spend at least part of the day doing bank work, and it would be unrealistic to expect that this work could all be done during Ron's naps. Whatever work was left over would have to either be done while Ron was awake or at night after he went to bed."

"Once again, it came down to our "gut feeling", only this time we were both more than eager to share. No coin flip this time. We decided to count down from three, then either say "I think we should say "Thanks but no thanks."" or "I think we should accept the offer.""

"I did the countdown."

""Okay, here we go: three…. two…. one…. ""

"Let me guess: you both said "I think we should accept the offer.""

"Yep. There was a short pause after we blurted it out, then I snatched her up in my arms, gave her a great big bear hug and a big kiss. This time she was the one left gasping for breath."

"The bottom line was that the proposal was a godsend. It gave Rachel a chance to get a jumpstart on her career without all the pressures of a full-time onsite job. It also would give her more chances to socialize and get to know people. She is the outgoing, social type, and staying home full-time was getting to be rather lonely. It wouldn't be easy, but together we believed it could be managed."

"After Ron was tucked in for the night, we celebrated."

"Knowing you two, I'm sure it was quite a celebration."

"So, is it appropriate to say at this point "…and the Stoppables lived happily ever after"?"

"Not exactly. Rachel's work-from-home position did, as we hoped, lead to a full-time position at the bank after Ron started pre-school, and she has since become the Assistant Manager. There were a few rough periods, though, and more than once we seriously considered having her resign. Thankfully, Mr. Millbyer knew he had a gem in Rachel and did all he could to make changes in her duties so she would stay."

"How did Ron fair once he entered pre-school?"

"Well, Rachel and I were rather concerned how Ron would adapt. His personality is kind of a blend of the two of us, being outgoing and social like his mother but at the same time being awkward when socializing like me. I was afraid he would have a hard time making friends."

"As it turned out, he met a young girl that very first day of pre-school and they have been friends --- best friends, actually --- ever since."

"That little girl wouldn't happen to have been Kim Possible?"

"Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"Jon, I've never been much of a newspaper reader or watched news on t-v, but a person would have had to have been stranded on a desert island or holed up deep in a cave the past five years not to know about Kim and Ron's exploits. How's it feel to have a world-famous teenage hero as a son?"

"How does it feel? You know, Bob, I've never really given it much thought."

"Surely you're concerned that he might get seriously hurt or maybe worse."

"Oh, Rachel and I always think about it every time Ron and Kim go on a mission. Yes, there's a chance he might return seriously injured or not come back alive. All we can do is pray he and Kim are able to handle whatever challenges they face on the mission and that God will protect them and be there if they stumble or fall."

"Whenever we have had doubts, Ron and Kim accomplish something on a mission that reminds us yet again that what they do is their calling in this life. That was especially the case last spring."

"You're referring to when they defeated Drakken and his Diablo robots, right?"

"Right. Were it not for Kim and Ron, Drakken would have succeeded. They nearly lost their lives more than once fighting Drakken, Shego and that synthodrone Eric."

"I understand Ron's pet, Rufus, in the end really saved the day."

"That he did. Oh, and Rufus isn't Ron's pet. He's his "good buddy" and Rachel and I have come to view him as the fourth member of our family."

"Interesting. Rufus is a naked mole rat, correct?"

"Yeah. Ron had been lobbying for a pet for years, but my allergy to pet hair all but ruled out any mammals, and he didn't want to have a turtle, gold fish or any other reptile or fish. Finally, when he had all but given up, he discovered an article about naked mole rats while surfing National Geographic's web site. Turned out that our local Smarty Mart department store actually carried the animals on an occasional basis. So, the next Saturday he and I went down, picked out the most normal looking of the brood, and brought it home. Ron named him Rufus after an imaginary friend he had when he was younger."

"Funny. You never mentioned to me that you were allergic to pet hair."

"That's probably because I never had any reason to tell you. Why?"

"Believe it not, I'm allergic to pet hair, too. My daughter, Mary --- who, by the way, is about the same age as your son and, last I knew, had a terrible crush on him --- wanted to have a pet years ago and we ran into the same problems you and Ron faced. One weekend she and I took the train into the City and spent an afternoon at the New York Public Library researching mammals. One of the Reference Librarians… I think his name was Gerry… yeah, that's right, Gerry Goss… worked with us and led us to the same animal: a naked mole rat."

"There are all kinds of exotic pet shops in the City, so it wasn't hard to track down a naked mole rat. We found her at a small family-owned pet shop in lower Manhattan. Mary thought she was adorable. I thought she made the ugliest girl in my grade school look attractive."

"On the train back home Mary decided to name her Raquel. When she said that I just about fell off my seat into the aisle, I was laughing so hard. She couldn't understand why I was laughing and thought I was making fun of her. Once I could catch my breath, I told her I wasn't making fun of her or her pet; it was an adult thing, and I promised I would explain it all to her when she was a little older."

"I must have missed something. What was so funny about naming a naked mole rat Raquel?"

"Oh, come on, Jon! You're not that young! Think about it for a moment. I'll give you three hints: "Fantastic Voyage"; "The Three Musketeers"; an exceedingly well-proportioned woman."

"Let me think. Give me a minute. Uhhhh…. ohhhhh!"

"Now do you understand why I was laughing so hard?"

Jonathan couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, boy, do I understand!" Bob joined in and soon the two of them were laughing hysterically. It was a good five minutes later before they could settle back down enough to talk.

"Oh, my goodness! It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard. Sure feels good."

"Anyway, Jon, one of the reasons I was trying to track you down was that I need to ask you for a favor."

"A favor? I'd be glad to, as long as it doesn't involve money. I think we both learned the hard way that it's best to keep money out of friendships. So, what's the favor?"

"Well, Mary will be graduating from high school in December and is hoping to start college in January. She has a full-ride scholarship to attend Coastal Carolina University and plans to major in Marine Science. Unfortunately, the dorms don't allow pets. That means either Raquel stays home, which my wife is not at all crazy about, or we find her a new home."

"This was actually Mary's idea, but I got drafted to be the pitch man: would you and your family be willing take Raquel, at least until Mary is living off campus? We're talking at least two years, maybe more."

"Wow, that's quite a request! I'm pretty sure Ron would go for it, and I have no doubts whatsoever that Rufus would. I'd have to think about it and talk it over with Rachel. How soon do you need an answer?"

"There's no rush, but Mary was thinking that if you said "Yes" then she could fly out over Fall Break and personally deliver Raquel."

"Tell you what: I'm planning to call home tonight and I can broach the idea with Rachel. I'll let you know in the morning her initial reaction."

"Sounds good to me. We can meet over at the hotel restaurant for breakfast."

"And you can bring me up to date on what's happened to Bob Zimmerman since graduation."

"Darn! I thought I'd be able to avoid doing that."

"Not a chance, old buddy. I won't be flying out until late afternoon, so you'll have plenty of time."

"Fair enough. Shall we call it a night?"

"Let's. I still have to call Rachel before I hit the sack."

Jonathan and Bob paid their tabs and headed toward their rooms.

When they reached the elevators, Bob said, "I'm down here on the main level, so I guess I'll say "Good night"."

"Good night, Bob. It's been a great evening."

"It's been great for me, too, Jon. Breakfast at seven?"

"Let's make it eight o'clock, Bob. I like to sleep in a bit on Saturdays."

"Eight o'clock it is. Good night, again, Jon."

"Good night, Bob."