Epilogue

Three weeks later…

"Griffin, you want to throw the hook for this string? My arm's killing me!"

Edgar smirked at Matt.

"Poor Matt can't handle it…so he's asking the kid to do his work."

Matt shot Edgar a feigned angry look and stuck out his tongue at him.

"Yeah, I'll do it," replied Griffin as he tossed the bait setup on the sorting table, "If you do the bait!"

Matt muttered something under his breath, "Yeah I guess."

"The kid's stepping up," commented Norman.

"Yeah he's doing a good job," agreed Jack.

"Just don't let him hear you say that!" said Edgar, "Last thing we need is for him to get an ego."

Meanwhile, Baylee was up in the wheelhouse with Sig.

"You sure they're okay?"

Sig smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Honey, they're fine…they're used to this remember?"

"I know…but they've been working for more than twenty-four hours," Baylee sighed, "I'm sorry…I worry too much."

Sig smiled and motioned for his wife to come over to him. He gave her a hug and sighed.

"It's okay, hon," he murmured, "I know you worry too much, you don't have to tell me."

Baylee narrowed her eyes at Sig. He laughed and flinched, just in case she decided to hit him.

"Well at least Griffin seems to be doing better," she said after a moment.

Sig leaned over and knocked on wood. Baylee rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Don't jinx it!" said Sig with a smirk.

"I'm going to go and check on them," said Baylee as she walked toward the door.

Sig shot her a warning look.

"Don't worry…I'll won't go near the rail. I learned my lesson the first time!"

Sig watched worriedly as she left the wheelhouse.

Baylee stepped outside and glanced around the deck.

"Is it ready yet?" she asked quietly.

Edgar looked up from where he was working on something inside one of the large totes. He smiled an almost evil smile and nodded.

Jake, Jack, and Griffin were having a heck of a time trying not to laugh hysterically.

"This is so wrong," said Jack after a moment, "Sig is going to fire us all!"

"Who should we pretend it is?" asked Jake, "Norman?"

"No, not anyone related to him," said Edgar, "Matt?"

"He doesn't care what happens to me!" exclaimed Matt, "Jake! Pretend it's Jake, Sig loves him!"

"Alright, then Jake it is," said Edgar as he lifted a life-size dummy out of the tote.

Jake's eyes widened in horror.

"You're impersonating me?" he exclaimed, "Well, there's goes my fishing career…"

Jack and Griffin laughed and helped Edgar hoist the dummy on top of the wheelhouse.

"Okay, Baylee," said Matt, giving her the signal.

Baylee turned around and rushed back up into the wheelhouse.

"Sig?"

"Yeah honey?"

"They're going to ice off the top of the wheelhouse now, just to let you know."

Sig furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Already? I didn't think there was that much ice on there yet."

"Edgar said its building pretty fast up there and he'd feel better if they got it off now," replied Baylee, fighting to keep her composure.

Sig shrugged, "Alright…whatever makes Edgar happy."

Baylee retreated down into the galley, biting her lip to keep from laughing. She stepped back outside to see how the plan was going.

She saw ice and snow being tossed off the wheelhouse and heard the quiet murmurs and giggles of the deckhands as they prepared to pull a prank on their captain.

"Jake!" shouted Edgar suddenly.

"Oh no! Jake hang on!" shouted Griffin.

"Somebody help him!" screamed Jack.

The entire crew joined in, screaming and yelling for Jake to hang on.

Sig leapt out of his seat when he saw Jake's leg's sliding down the front of the wheelhouse window.

"Oh my…"

Suddenly, the crew gave out a startled cry as Jake plummeted to the bow of the boat.

"Jake!" screamed Sig, in a full-fledged panic.

He ran down the wheelhouse stairs and climbed quickly over to the front of the boat. His heart pounded wildly, convinced that Jake was seriously injured…or worse.

He ran over to him and saw that he was face down and not moving. He flipped him over…only to see that the body was really a dummy.

Loud cackles of hysteric laughter from the top of the wheelhouse confirmed Sig's thoughts. It was a prank.

He scowled up at his crew. They were lying down on the wheelhouse roof, laughing so hard that tears were coming from their eyes. After a moment, they began to high-five one another and congratulate Edgar on his successful prank.

After a couple minutes Sig began to laugh too. Even though it scared the hell out of him, he had to admit…that was a good one!

"Who's idea was this?" he asked, "Jake's?"

"No!" shouted Jake suddenly as he pointed at Edgar, "It was him! I swear!"

Sig laughed at the fearful look on Jake's face. Suddenly, a realization hit him when he saw Baylee climb up onto the wheelhouse roof to join the crew.

"You!" he exclaimed, pointing at her, "You were in on this too?"

Baylee was crying from laughing so hard as he gazed down at her flustered husband. She just nodded, unable to speak.

"Dad you looked so scared!" exclaimed Griffin, causing another roar of laughter to erupt from the deckhands, "That was the funniest thing I've ever seen!"

Sig shot his son a glare, pretending to be angry.

"Alright, ha ha, very funny…now you clowns get back to work, would you?"

The crew climbed back down from the wheelhouse, still laughing as they began to prepare the pots for the next string.

For the rest of the day, the crew laughed and joked Sig about the prank.

But for Sig, he wouldn't have it any other way. He and his family were finally back to where they needed to be and Griffin was proving to be a valuable deckhand and a team player.

Sig smiled to himself as he sat, contemplating in the wheelhouse.

"We're all one dysfunctional family," he muttered to himself.

"Oh, but we put the 'fun' in dysfunctional!"

Sig turned around and saw his younger brother, Edgar walk into the wheelhouse. He laughed slightly and shook his head.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked.

"Just wanted to make sure we didn't give you a heart attack," he replied with a smirk.

Edgar hesitated a moment before he spoke again.

"It's good to have you back, bro," he murmured.

Sig smiled slightly at Edgar, "It's good to be back."

They gave each other a hug and as they pulled away Sig got a disgusted look on his face.

"Okay, enough of this mushy garbage…get out of my wheelhouse and do your job!"

Edgar smirked.

"Guess it's good to know some things never change!"

THE END

PLEASE REVIEW!!

Well apparently I'm now going to have a very busy weekend so I'll be doing the sequel either Monday or Tuesday. Once again any ideas/suggestions for the sequel are greatly appreciated. Let me know if there's something you'd like to see happen or someone you'd like to make an appearance in the story. I like to know what my audience wants!!

Thanks for reading/reviewing!!

Love Always,

L