Episode 2

"The Wisdom of Clyde"

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I created some of the characters, so I will actually own them.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as to the ones I create, who they are is up to me, so...

Boston

The next few days, Cody and Bailey traveled to and had their interviews at the Tufts, UMASS and Boston University medical schools. And while all three of them seemed like fine institutions of higher learning, Cody and Bailey couldn't help but to compare them with the first two they had already interviewed at. So, while all three were good schools, they just couldn't measure up with either Harvard or Yale. And it wasn't from a lack of trying. All three of the schools were putting on the full court press on Cody and Bailey as it wasn't everyday they had two 4.0 students from Yale on their campuses. But it would be for naught as neither Cody or Bailey could really see themselves going to any of them. For Tufts and BU, they just didn't have the same top end facilities or level of faculties as the two Ivy League schools they were comparing them to. And for UMASS, while it was a top 50 medical school in the country, its downfall was its location. Worcester was an hour away from Boston, and neither Cody or Bailey really cared for the city or the neighborhood surrounding the school. (AN: No offense to anyone who actually lives in Worcester). When they got back to the Tipton early Thursday afternoon, they had to begin packing immediately for their trip to Kansas. And while they did, they discussed their past three interviews.

"Bails, do you think we're being too...finicky here? It seems like we're focusing more on each school's negatives as opposed to their positives..."

She smiled. "I don't think we are. Cody, we're looking for the location where we'll be living for the next four years as well as where we're going to get the educations we need to prepare us for our careers. I think we have the right to be a little choosy and picky if we want to be. I mean...I remember all the research you told me you did when your Dad said he was going to buy you a car. And Cody, that was just for a car..."

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess I just have this image in my head of what I'm expecting the perfect medical school to be like, but I just haven't seen it yet..." He paused and sighed. "Well, I haven't seen it again..."

"I know. Scholastically and environmentally, Harvard had everything we could have hoped for. But, its not our fault they chose to sabotage their chances with us..."

"Well, Yale did come pretty close too."

Bailey nodded as she began placing some more clothes into their bag. "Yeah, it did." She paused this time. "But as nice as it was, it wasn't quite as nice as Harvard. It was kind of like the Mr. Pibb to Harvard's Dr. Pepper. Still very good, but not quite the same. And, Sweetie, like I said, I'd have no problems whatsoever sticking around New Haven for four more years either. I love it there, and we'd have our friends around for at leas two of those years." She paused. "But..."

Cody walked up behind her and slowly began to rub her shoulders. "I know. Its kind of like we're ready for the next adventure in our lives. First the boat, then Yale. I think deep down, both of us are probably read to move on to somewhere else. I just hope we can find the right place for our next chapters."

She turned and smiled at him. "We will. I have every confidence we will. For some reason, everything always seems to work out for us in the end."

"Yeah, I guess it does, and I hope it continues to." He checked his watch. "But if we don't hurry, we're going to miss our flight. Our flight to Kansas City takes off in less than three hours."

Bailey nodded. "You're right. You put both of our suits in the garment bag, and I'll finish packing up this one with the rest of what we'll need. Since we'll be back Sunday night, we don't need all that much..."

Cody laughed. "You realize Sunday is going to be an extremely long day, don't you?"

"I know, after church and a Mother's Day brunch in Kettlecorn, we'll hop a flight and have a Mother's Day dinner here in Boston after we land."

"Not to mention that our first day of work is on Monday."

"Oh, I remember that too. I'm pretty sure I'll sleep well Sunday night."

Cody shook his head and sighed. "I don't know about you, but I'll be glad when this is all over. I know I enjoyed my three years on the boat, but I don't see how Dad did it. Just the thought of all the travel we're going to do this summer wares me out..."

"I know, but think of it this way..." Bailey smiled. "...after this summer, the next time we fly anywhere but to Kansas will be to Hawaii for our wedding..."

He smiled back. "Now that sounds good to me. And at least all of these flights will give us time to sit back and think about London's homework for us."

"True..." Bailey laughed. "Though, I don't think London will buy us not doing it because there was a crocodile in the hotel that ate it..."

Both laughed as they continued to pack their bags, and when they were done, they double checked to make sure they had everything they needed for their trip. They had their flight confirmations numbers, their rental car reservation, their directions to their hotel in Kansas City, Kansas from the airport, their hotel confirmation number, their letters from KU, their directions on the best way to get to Kettlecorn from Kansas City, and of course, their Mother's Day gifts for both Eunice and Grammy.

"You ready, Bails?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Kansas City, here we come..."

Boston University Fitness & Recreation Center

That exact same Thursday was also the second day that Maya had been working with the physical therapy section of the BU fit&rec center. And after her first week doing that, everything seemed to be going pretty smoothly. Already on her second day, she was assisting a full-time physical therapist in putting some patients through actual exercises. But more so than that, her boss and the head physical therapist thought her other skills would make her perfect for their new aquatic therapy area. Basically, studies showed that people with leg injuries had an easier time of rehabilitating their injuries while in a pool as there would be less weight put on the affected areas. Unfortunately for Maya, so far though, they hadn't had anyone in need of it yet.

At seven thirty that evening, her shift was about to end when she saw Zack walk into the front area of the physical therapy area. Immediately, she smiled as she ran over to hug him.

"Zack? What are you doing here?"

He grinned. "Well, I thought I'd pick you up from work tonight and take you out to dinner. But if you have other plans..."

She laughed. "None that I'm aware of so that actually sounds perfect to me." She checked her watch. "My shift ends in a few minutes and then I need to change. Can you give me fifteen minutes?"

Zack teased her by checking his own wrist even though he wasn't wearing a watch. "I don't know...I'm due to ship out soon. I'm not sure I have that long."

Maya just shook her head at him. "That's still not funny when you do that. You already know I'm going to be a mess when you really do ship out."

"I know. That's why I decided to come and meet you here. I want to spend every available minute that I can with you before I do have to leave."

She smiled and leaned in and kissed him. "Good answer. And knowing you actually mean that means the world to me."

"Good. Now, why don't you go change and we'll get out of here. I probably should eat somewhat healthy tonight though. Having that Mexican buffet available to me again..." He shook his head and laughed. "Might be best that I'll be sleeping alone on those nights..."

She couldn't help but to laugh too. "Yeah, I'm thinking it probably will. I hope you can get used to sleeping in a twin bed again..."

"You're telling me. I remember those beds on the old ship. For the life of me, I don't know how Cody and Bailey can both sleep on one together comfortably like they do."

Maya smiled. "Probably because they don't mind being in such close proximity to each other..."

"Maya, you know I love you, but you've seen it yourself. When I sleep, I like to spread out..."

"Trust me...I know all about that. a few nights this week alone, you've almost kicked me out of bed."

He laughed. "I have?"

"Yes, you have. But don't worry, the only perk of you being on the boat this summer is that I'll get to spread out myself finally..."

"Sorry, Babe." He paused. "Why are we talking like this now? We can be doing this over dinner..."

Maya laughed again. "Okay, I can take a hint. I'll be right back."

Fifteen minutes later, she was changed, and they were out the door for a night out on the town. And as they left, they passed a man in his mid thirties wearing a BU polo shirt walking into the physical therapy area. Immediately, he walked up to Maya's new boss.

"I'm looking for who's in charge around here!"

She glanced up at him. "That would be me. How may I help you?"

"I'm Assistant Coach Crosby of the BU men's hockey team. We have a player who tore his ACL and had surgery on his knee about two months ago. We think he is ready to begin his physical therapy on it..."

Maya's boss just shrugged. "Alright, well, we'll try to squeeze him into our schedule then..."

The coach shook his head. "Uh uh! You don't understand. We want you to take extra special care of this guy. BU has a great chance to win the Frozen Four this year, but we won't without this kid. He also has a chance of being a first round pick in the NHL Draft. The BU Athletic Department and several very influential boosters want you to do whatever it takes to get him back to 100%. Understand what I'm saying?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I get it. We treat him like a VIP and we don't get our funding cut. Well, we have our new aquatic therapy section ready to be used. This guy can be the first person to break in the facilities for us, and we have a new student therapist whose focus will be doing that. We can handle the other things he'll need to do at any time, but she's in summer school and will only in here on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from about 3:30-7:30. So, if you want him to do that, make sure he's here next Tuesday at 3:30..."

Kettlecorn

Friday afternoon about seven o'clock local time, Bailey and Cody finally pulled their rental car in front of the Pickett family farmhouse and parked it. And upon hearing the car coming in, both Clyde and Eunice stopped what they were doing in the barn and walked outside to welcome them. As Bailey and Cody got out of the car still wearing their interview suits sans jackets, her parents couldn't help but laugh at the sight in front of them.

"Well, well...don't you two look all gussied up..."

Bailey sighed. "Yeah, we do. Unfortunately, we couldn't find anywhere to change clothes once our interview and campus tour were over. That's something we're going to have to watch out for the next time. Anyways, we've had to drive the past five and a half hours wearing our dress clothes."

Cody pulled his dress shirt away from his chest and sighed himself. "We're definitely going to need a dry cleaner for these things now. And to make matters worse, I think the air conditioner on our rental care went out on us about two hours ago. So, we've been driving a mobile sauna since then." He shook his head. "I might need to borrow a pair of scissors to cut my undershirt off of me. I'm afraid it might be adhered to me now with my own sweat..."

Eunice just shook her head and laughed again. "Yeah, look in the top drawer in the guest bathroom. You two head on inside and change clothes, and we'll see you inside after we finish feeding the animals."

Twenty minutes later, both Cody and Bailey had changed clothes and were feeling much more cool and comfortable than they had been before. Of course, Cody did have to throw away his undershirt as it was now in about five different pieces. And as they walked into the kitchen, Clyde and Grammy were sitting at the table while Eunice finished cooking dinner. Now properly refreshed, they took a few moment to have proper hellos with everyone. After hugs and handshakes were doled out, Eunice spoke up again.

"So, what did you guys think of the KU Medical School?"

Bailey shrugged. "It was nice enough I guess, but there were a few things I didn't really care for. For one, I didn't like the fact that it was in a completely different city than the rest of the university. I guess seeing the medical school at Yale across campus from us undergraduates, and its students being a part of campus life made me think that was the norm. Plus, for some reason, I just didn't get the kind of vibe from it that I was hoping for. And on top of that, its an over five hour drive from here. While we'd technically be in the same state, we could almost be here just as quickly if we flew in from somewhere else."

Clyde frowned. "You could? I seem to remember you guys having a killer lay over in Atlanta one time..."

Cody smiled. "Fortunately, that won't happen ever again. Starting at the beginning of this month, there are now direct flights on another discount airline between Boston and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bailey tells me that we're actually closer here to the airport in Tulsa here than we are to the one in Wichita."

Clyde just rubbed his chin. "Huh...I didn't know that. But now that I think about it, I guess Tulsa is probably a little closer to us here. A flight and then a quick drive north would make things easier on you two."

Eunice put her hands on her hips and shook her head at Cody and Bailey. "Well, I think you two shouldn't be too picky about medical schools until you actually get accepted to one. I'm sure you two haven't forgotten about you whole ordeal about getting into Yale together. Don't count your chickens before their hatched..."

Bailey was about to say something when she paused and turned to Cody. She gave him a questioning look, and he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Bailey then turned to address her family. "Actually...we have been accepted to one already...and been offered full scholarships to boot."

That caught everyone's attention. "You have? Where?"

Bailey smiled. "Harvard..."

Clyde's eyes went open in surprise. "Okay, I ain't the smartest man in the world, but haven't you told me before that its the best one in the country? If it is, why are you two even still looking at other ones?"

Cody sighed. "I can answer that one for you. You see..." And then he went on to explain in detail what had happened to him during his interview at Harvard and then them getting their acceptance letters earlier that week. "So, after the interview, I was pretty teed off at Harvard and Dr. Hyden. But now, I can see the methods to his madness and can kind of understand what he was thinking. I'm starting to think maybe I'm being unreasonable in holding on to my anger against them."

Grammy just shook her head. "I don't think so, Cody! What that guy did to you was deplorable! I don't care what he was thinking, there are just some things that you shouldn't do!"

Eunice had to nod her head. "I tend to agree. I was always taught you attract more flies with honey than vinegar."

Cody laughed. "Yeah, Bailey told me that exact same thing. But, we decided not to make any rash decisions that we would later regret. I guess the bright side is that we have learned from our past mistakes and don't want to repeat them again. So, we're still going to interviews with these other schools to see what they have to offer and to see if any of them are a better fit for us..."

Grammy and Eunice could only agree that that sounded like a good and reasonable solution, but Clyde just remained silent as if he was thinking about something. When he he thought he he was ready to add his opinion, he was cut off from saying anything when Bailey spoke up again.

"We do have some good news for everyone though while we're here. First, Momma, do you have that list of people and addresses that we want to send invitations to?"

Eunice nodded. "Yeah, I do..." She paused and smiled. "You have more wedding news, don't you?"

Bailey grinned back at her. "As a matter of fact, we do. We may have to pare the list a little though down to just family and close friends. There may not be room for everyone if we don't..."

"Room? Why wouldn't there be room?"

"I'm getting ready to tell you why, but first, I want to preface it by saying that London has volunteered to handle and pay for everything. So, you won't have to worry about anything besides just being there and walking me down the aisle. Now, with that said, Cody and I will be getting married..." Bailey paused to build up suspense before finishing. "...on a beach in Hawaii!"

Grammy, Eunice and Clyde's eyes all went wide again. "Did you just say Hawaii?"

Cody smiled. "Yeah. At the Tipton Grand Hawaiian on Maui. Everyone will stay at the resort, and London has said she will take care of transportation there for everyone. She has really taken a hands on approach to all of this. In fact, she's given us homework assignments we have to have done before we meet with her next week. But, we now have a date and a location, so invitations should be going out by the end of this summer. All that just leaves us to do now is finalize the details..."

Grammy chuckled. "Hawaii, huh? Sounds good to me! I've never been there before, but I've seen a lot of TV shows that have been set there. And I do know one thing for sure...I'm going to get Clyde in a grass skirt before I leave!"

Boston

On that Saturday night, Zack and Maya finally got the chance to formally celebrate their first anniversary back together without having to deal with finals or their jobs. So, they went to a new restaurant across Boston Common that they had heard good things about. And as they were eating, they were talking. Unfortunately, the topic of conversation seemed to always come back to Zack shipping out.

"So, two weeks from today, huh?"

Zack nodded. "Yeah. Fortunately, I don't have that much to do between now and then. I talked to London, and my uniform will essentially be a polo shirt with the London Inns logo on it and khaki shorts. The polo shirts have been ordered and will be provided for me at no cost, but I do need to pick up a few more pair of shorts by then. I figure if I have twelve pair, I won't have to do laundry quite as often. Other than that though, I got my passport updated before we went to the Caribbean, so that's taken care of. The only other thing I have to do is get a physical and my vaccinations updated before I go." He smiled. "So, that leaves me even more time I get to spend with you..."

Maya smiled back. "I'm glad. I just have no idea what I'm going to do with you gone. I know class and work will keep me busy during the day, but at nights, I think I'll be lost. I'm so used to spending them with you."

"You know I'll call you every night, so that's something."

"I know, but it won't be the same as actually having you within arm's reach. I'll even miss us sitting around the table together doing homework..."

He smiled. "Well, look on the bright side. You'll have two live in physics tutors to sit around the table with you to help you with your homework."

"It won't be the same though..."

"I know. I'll be seeing all kinds of things I'll want to be sharing with you, but I won't be able to."

Maya took a deep breath to keep herself from crying. "I told myself that I wouldn't cry until you actually left. And I know you'll be back before I know it, so I promised myself I'd stay strong..." Once she composed herself again, she smiled and teased him. "Besides, without you distracting me, I might be able to pull A's in both of my classes this summer..."

Zack laughed. "Gee...thanks. So, all I am to you is a distraction, huh?"

"You know what I mean. Besides, I don't want to be a burden to my two new roommates too much. I'll already feel like a third wheel as it is."

"And I won't? The only two people I'll know on the ship are actually a married couple. At least they are both semi-normal though. I've lived with Cody and Bailey that past two summers. Trust me, they're going to do things that will cause you to just shake your head. Of course, it all balances out because with them there, you're going to eat well this summer..."

Maya laughed. "Wait a minute! What kind of things will cause me to shake my head?"

He grinned. "You'll see...Lets just say they march to the beat of their own drummer. Which I guess is good for them that they have someone will enjoys that exact same kind of music..."

"Thanks, I think..." She paused. "That does reminds me though. While Esteban is a really nice guy and I can totally see why everyone likes him so much, do you think its a good idea for him to constantly say things are a disaster when you will all be out on the open seas?"

Zack thought about that and laughed again. "Good point. I'll have to see if I can break him of that habit early on. But you know, it will be a little weird being back on the ship. Well, not the same one but a similar one. I mean, Cody and Woody won't be across the hall. All of you girls won't be a few floors up. Moseby and Tut won't be there. Heck, I'll even miss Kirby too..." He paused and shuddered. "The only person I won't miss is Mr. Blanket..."

Maya smiled. "That's true. I guess I've had it in my mind that you were going back to the same old boat that we once knew, but you aren't."

"Tell me about it. I guarantee I'll get confused about where everything is now. And by the time I finally learn my way around, it'll be time for me to come back to Boston."

"Well, we'll all be here waiting for you then. And when you do, Zack, I'm not letting you go off anywhere without me ever again..."

Kettlecorn

On Sunday, everyone got up at the crack of dawn to go to the early Mother's Day service at the family's church. And once it was over, everyone headed back to the house for a Mother's Day brunch with almost everyone in the family in attendance. Cody and Bailey were going to be able to stay until 2:00 before they had to get back on the road to Tulsa to catch their return flight back to Boston. And after everyone was at the house to celebrate the holiday, Clyde pulled Cody to the side and asked him a favor.

"Look, this past spring, I won a raffle down at my lodge, and my prize was one of those satellite TV things and a year free subscription. Unfortunately, no around here knows how to hook this sucker up. You wouldn't happen to know how, would you?"

Cody grinned. "Well, if it came with an instruction manual, I think I can help you out..."

Forty five minutes later, they were both sitting on the roof of the family farmhouse after have installed the satellite dish and making sure it was pointing in the direction it was supposed to.

"Well, once we run the wire down to your TV and hook everything up down there, you'll soon have over 300 channels at your beck and call..."

Clyde just shook his head and laughed. "I appreciate that. You know...you've come along way since I first met you, Cody. I mean, you still may not know your way around a farm as much as someone who were raised on one, but you're definitely getting better. I wouldn't even hesitate to ask you to help out around here now..."

Cody smiled and held up his hands. "Well, I do have my gloves with me now. Besides, Bailey has really rubbed off on to me. While I'll still always be a city boy, I'd like to think I'm a small percentage farm boy now..."

"You probably are, though not as much as she is now a city girl. Besides, you've rubbed off on to her too. When she was a little girl, it seemed like she wanted nothing to do with the kitchen if she didn't have to. Now, you're teaching her how to cook, and she actually seems to like it."

"Well, I think I've shown her how tinkering with ingredients is a lot like chemistry. A little bit of this and a little bit of that can create something pretty cool..."

"If you say so..." Clyde paused. "Before we head down to finish this up, I want to take the chance to talk to you about something. About what happened to you in Boston with your interview up there..."

Cody just nodded. "Alright..."

"Now, you're a baseball fan, right?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah, I love the game. I can't explain why, but I just do."

Clyde paused to figure out how he wanted to word exactly what he wanted to say. "Okay, hear me out. To me, you getting that interview is like coming up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth in game seven of the World Series. Its a tie game and your team has the winning run on third with two outs. Its a 3-2 count, and that Dr. Hyden feller is the pitcher trying to get you out. Well, what he did would be akin to a pitcher throwing you a spit ball or using some sandpaper or vaseline..."

Cody was a little confused. "Okay..."

"My point is that he thought he was going to strike you out and show that he was better than you. He wanted to make you look foolish and used some less than...acceptable means to do it. But that didn't happen. By keeping your cool, you were able to foul those first two pitches off. That didn't deter him, so he began throwing you everything but the kitchen sink. Throughout your entire interview, you were a little upset about what he was doing, but you kept fouling everything off that he was throwing at you."

"Except that I thought I had struck out at the end..."

Clyde laughed. "Maybe so, but the truth is you kept fighting through it. In reality, you didn't strike out, but rather, you actually got the game winning hit. You just didn't know it yet. Now, you do. But right now, you are still so focused on how the at bat went that you're not seeing the big picture. You won the game, and by that I mean you got into Harvard. Son, if there is one thing I've learned in my life, if you do your best and succeed, then you've done all anyone can ever ask of you. You've earned your right to reap your reward now. That school is the best of the best, right?"

"Well...yeah."

"You and Bailey earned your right to go there. Now, I know my daughter, and I've gotten to know you pretty well too. You both like to compare yourselves against the best. I just can't see either of you running away from something like this. Instead of being upset about what happened, use it motivate you to show them that you're the best. Show them that by the time you graduate, that they should be ashamed of what they did and should be thanking their lucky stars that you graced them with your presence..."

Cody paused to consider that. "Clyde, you might be right..."

He smiled. "Think of it another way too. I'm sure you checked out Seven Seas High and Yale both to make sure they would be good fits for you, right?"

"Well, yeah...Of course"

"Bailey did the exact same thing. I even checked them both out myself to make sure both places were worthy of my daughter. And when you two have kids, I'm pretty confident you'll want them to have the best education possible too."

"Of course I will, I..." Cody stopped as he thought he knew where his soon to be father-in-law was going with this.

Clyde just grinned. "So, if its okay for you to make sure you and your future kids will have the best of the best, why can't the school do the exact same thing? I may not agree with their methods, but I can agree with their rationale. They wanted the best of the best too. I think if you look at it from that point of you, you'll see that I'm right..."

Cody just sat there thinking, and he did have to admit that Clyde had a point.

"Now, I don't want to put any pressure on you or anything like that. I actually think its a good idea for you two to keep looking at these other schools to find the right one for you both. But I wanted you to see some other points of view so you didn't throw away the potentially right one for you for the wrong reasons."

Cody nodded. "You're absolutely right, Clyde. I needed to hear all of that. Thank you. You've definitely given me a lot to think about now..."

To be Continued...