Episode 23

"Coming Full Circle"

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

With both of Yale's and BU's graduations now done and out of the way, everyone was free to get on with the early part of their summers. For Cody and Bailey, it was returning back to work once again the Tipton Clinic the Monday after Zack's graduation. But this summer was going to be a little different for them there. Now that they were college graduates on the precipice of beginning medical school, they found their duties and responsibilities were going to be increased. The Tipton Clinic wasn't stupid as they realized they had two soon to be Harvard Medical School students that they were helping to shape how they would eventually become doctors. Besides, for the past several years, the higher ups had been keeping their eye on Cody and Bailey to see if they were candidates to eventually join the clinic full time in the future. And to even be considered for that was a huge honor for both of them.

For Zack and Maya, there was no rest for the weary as they too had to be back at work the day after BU's graduation as well. Of course, Zack had no objections with the automatic raise he got for now being a college graduate. In fact, he was flat our giddy by it and in a moment of jubilation, told everyone he was taking them out to dinner to celebrate that fact. When he got the check, however, he wasn't as happy. For Maya, she returned to working at the fit&rec center about forty hours a week while she continued to take summer school courses. But, it was the fact that she was taking classes that summer that caused Bailey to become alarmed.

"Oh my gosh! You aren't going to have to miss any classes to come to our wedding are you?"

Maya just smiled. "Well, not technically. This summer, I'll be taking both SAR HP 504, Clinical Athletic Training III during the first session and then SAR HP 505 - Clinical Athletic Training IV during the second one. Ordinarily, the first week of the second summer session would coincide with the week we're all going to be in Hawaii, but I know the professor pretty well, and we've worked out an arrangement. Those classes are more like internships where I'll be taking a page out of Zack's book and getting credit for doing my job. But, there is the one day a week where we'd meet for an in class discussion. That term, the scheduled time is Wednesdays from 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon. But Professor Thompson is going to bring her webcam to class that day so I can participate in the discussion from Hawaii..." She paused and laughed. "And that works out perfectly because that will be from 7:00 to 9:00 o'clock in the morning out in Maui. I'll just get up early and get my class out of the way before breakfast. Plus, I'll have built up so many hours as it is that I'll have more than enough to take a week off..."

Bailey sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I didn't want you to fall behind because of Cody and me."

She laughed again. "Well, after all you two have helped me get ahead in some of my other classes, I wouldn't have blamed you in the least. Besides, I missed the first trip to Hawaii when you and Cody finally got together the first time, so there is no way I was going to miss this one..." She smiled. "Plus, I wouldn't miss your wedding for the world..."

Bailey smiled too. "Thanks. And who know? Maybe in a few years, we'll be sisters-in-law..."

"I'm hoping you're right about that. But I not going to worry about it until I see Zack get down on one knee..." She paused and laughed. "Though, I'm pretty I'll have a good idea about when he is ready to propose."

"You do? How do you know that?"

"Well, I've overheard Zack and Cody talking back over spring break. Cody was teasing Zack that he was now injured with his bruised hand, so maybe it was time to propose. Zack responded that he had said he would know it was time when he seriously injured himself and that a bruise wasn't a serious injury. From what I gathered, he had made some comment about that when he realized Cody proposed to you from his hospital bed and Trevor proposed to Maddie while on crutches with a torn ACL..."

Bailey laughed. "I can definitely see that. Well, I guess Zack just needs to hurt himself then, and he'll be all set. I mean, he does already have the ring for when the time is right..."

Maya just looked at her funny. "He does? What are you talking about, Bailey?"

Bailey nodded. "Yeah, he does." She held out her hand and grinned. "Cody and Zack aren't the only ones around here that are twins. This ring has its own twin too. Except it has rubies where mine has emeralds." She paused. "You didn't know anything about that?"

Maya's eyes were wide in surprise. "I had no idea..."

Quickly, Bailey filled Maya in on the story about the rings that Cody had told her, and Maya's eyes went even wider. "Wow...I know he was getting an inheritance from over in Sweden, but he just said it was an old family heirloom of some kind..."

"Well, technically, it is. But, now you know that a ring won't be an obstacle for him when he's ready. And if I may say so myself, I've been watching the way you two are with each other the past couple of years. I wouldn't be surprised if Zack proposes sooner than later." Bailey paused and laughed. "But, if you want me to hurry things up a little for you, I can...accidentally trip him down some stairs..."

Maya shook her head and laughed too. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm happy with the way things are right now..." She paused. "In fact, there is another step I was thinking about taking in our relationship first..."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"You remember the conversation we had about year ago right after Zack left to head back to the ship?"

Bailey paused to think, and that's when she suddenly remembered. "Oh yeah..." She gave Maya a look. "Are you saying...?"

"I think I am. I mean, I'm not going to push for anything to happen, but if it does, I won't back down or run away from it."

"That's understandable. But, if you are seriously thinking about it now , I think you should come with me next week when I go into get my birth control shot. Sounds like you might need one of your own."

Maya nodded. "Probably a good idea. No offense to Maddie and I love little Zoey to death, but I'm not ready to be a Mom myself just yet. For the past couple months, I've begun to wonder if she is getting any sleep at all."

Bailey laughed. "Probably not much, but then again, she shouldn't be surprised if she's not. I mean, look at who she named her daughter after. She was just asking for trouble by doing that..."

Kettlecorn

After May finally gave way to June, it was time for Cody and Bailey to make their one scheduled trip back to Kettlecorn that summer. Since Mother's Day coincided with Yale's graduation, Bailey was able to spend the day with both her mother and soon to be mother-in-law. And the plan had been to return back to Kettlecorn for Father's Day, but Clyde suggested she and Cody come a couple weekends early. It seems Bailey wasn't the only Pickett girl to be graduating that year, and on Saturday, June 6th, Amy would be graduating from Kettlecorn High. So, on the 5th, after finishing work for the day, Cody and Bailey headed for the airport to catch their flight to Tulsa. And by ten o'clock local time, they parked their rental car once again in front of the Pickett family farm.

They got to briefly visit with Bailey's family before everyone had to call it a night. So that the graduation ceremony wouldn't interfere with prime farming time, it was going to be held at nine o'clock the next morning. And the next morning, like had happened at Yale, there was a huge rooting section for Amy as she was introduced as valedictorian and once again when she crossed the stage to get her diploma. Once the ceremony was over (and it was fairly quickly as there were only twenty-two people graduating), everyone headed back to the farm for a celebratory lunch. After they ate, Clyde pulled Cody outside to get his help with something while the ladies sat around the kitchen table. And Bailey couldn't help but tease her youngest sister.

"Now, don't go crazy tonight at the big graduation party you guys are having..."

Amy rolled her eyes. "I won't. I'll probably go as wild as you did for yours..."

Bailey laughed. "Trust me, after both of my graduations, I had to pack my things to get ready to move. Unlike you, my high school was being torn down around us as we were having our ceremony. That's why I was able to enjoy mine from Yale so much more..."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just glad its almost time for me to head off to college myself..."

Bailey paused. "Speaking of which...you only have about two months before you're supposed to be beginning freshman orientation. Have you made a decision yet on which school that will be at?"

Amy grinned. "I just about have. I do tend to favor one over the other, and I was real close to making my decision until I then remembered something you and Cody once told me."

Grammy laughed. "Uh oh. I think I'm a little worried now..."

Bailey shook her head at her grandmother before turning her attention back to her sister. "And just what did we tell you that you remembered?"

"About how much Harvard and Yale despise each other and love to steal students away from the other. I'm smart enough to know they both view me as the bright rural candidate from Kansas that would look good for the sake of diversity..."

"Yeah, we know what that's like. Cody and I think that's how Zack got into Harvard's Business School. But tell me, how are you using that to your advantage?"

Amy laughed. "Oh, its pretty easy. Once I finally got one of them to offer me a financial aid package, I could begin playing them off of each other. When I happened to mention to the other that their most hated rival had offered me money, that school came back with an offer to trump it. And when the first school to offer me money found out their most hated rival had offered more, they decided to up their offer. I'm going to act like the poor confused country bumpkin going back and forth between them until I see which one ends up offering me the most money..."

Bailey laughed too. "Wow! I knew you were devious, but that's pure genius. Hey, go for it though. Either way, I think you'll love the experience of the school you choose. At Yale, you can look up Master Chun at Berkeley. He's a good man who will watch out for you, and of course you remember Gertie and Tapeworm. And at Harvard, you'll have me and Cody just across the river from you."

"I know. Like I said before, I'm still trying to figure out if that will be a good thing or not..."

"Well, just remember that having family around can be very comforting. Thankfully, I had Cody with me, but it doesn't mean I still didn't miss this place. And even though you don't like farming, you will too, Amy."

"We'll see. I know you guys get bad winter storms up there, but I'll take those any day over a tornado..."

Bailey had to nod. "I can understand that. You know...its kind of funny. I guess I take it for granted that the farm now looks like it always did. You would never know that it had almost been destroyed by a tornado four years ago. But I guess it makes sense. It was the same way after the floods, the mud and the locusts..."

Eunice smiled. "Yeah, it always does seem to be able to bounce back." She paused and laughed. "But I do think Cody did have a point about something four years ago – everything that has happened here does sound like something out of the old testament."

Grammy laughed too. "Well, its a good thing nothing has happened to the first born sons around here." She paused. "Though, with a family of nothing but daughters, it wouldn't have had any real effect around this house."

Bailey laughed too. "I guess not. And I know it sounds bad, but if something like that did happen, I would be grateful that Zack blocked Cody from coming out first." She paused too. "Though, I'm not too sure Maya would be happy about it."

Grammy shook her head and scowled. "I might be..."

"Grammy! Its been four years. He said he was sorry. Isn't it time to let it go?"

"I'll think about it..."

Eunice decided to try to change the subject and turned her attention back to Bailey. "So, I guess this is it, huh? This is the last time you'll be in Kettlecorn as Bailey Pickett. The next time you're here, you'll be Mrs. Bailey Martin."

She smiled at her mother. "Yeah, I will."

"Is everything ready to go next month?"

"Yeah, everything is all set. We'll have our final fittings the Tuesday after we get to Hawaii, and the staff of the resort is handling all of the decorations and set up. All that's left for us to do is pack for it and catch the plane out on the 5th of July. Now, we're still scheduled to meet you all in Los Angeles, right?"

"Right. I think that was a good idea London had. With everyone coming from all four corners of the country, it makes sense for everyone to meet in one place before crossing the Pacific. Now, I have to tell you, everyone around here is getting really excited about this. For a lot of our relatives around here, it will be there first plane trips and first time seeing the Pacific Ocean." She paused. "Plus, there is another reason..."

"What's that?"

Eunice couldn't help but to laugh. "Well, people want to be out of town to avoid the train wreck that is going to happen here in Kettlecorn on the same day you get married..."

Bailey frowned in confusion. "What train wreck?"

Grammy laughed. "Seems word of Moose's visit up to New Haven this past Valentine's Day has somehow gotten out around here. Now, I'm not saying who let the cat out of the bag, but a lot of people know you basically laughed in his face and threw him out of your dorm. Unfortunately for Moose, it seems Betty Lou found out about it too, and she was madder than a wet hen. Word from her grandmother is that she's going to dump him at the altar and walk out on him in front of everyone..."

Bailey winced. "Ouch. That would be humiliating..."

"Oh yeah. He'll be the laughing stock of these parts for a long time. Honey, I'm just be glad you got yourself a good feller who I know will be there with bells on ready to marry you."

She smiled. "I know, Grammy. I can't wait for it either. People keep asking me if I'm getting nervous or beginning to get cold feet, but I couldn't be further from that. If anything, I'm getting anxious wishing it would hurry up and get here. I've been looking forward to this day for over two years now..." She paused and laughed. "Oh, who am I kidding? I've been looking forward to this day since high school."

Eunice smiled. "And we couldn't be any happier for you, Bailey. Now, I admit, when you said you had fallen in love with a big city boy, I was a little concerned. But once I finally met Cody, I could tell instantly how much you meant to him. Heck, he dropped everything and came all the way here because he was worried about you. And I'm no dummy, I remember seeing that kiss. That was a true love's kiss."

Bailey smiled again. "Thank you, Momma. It definitely was."

About that time, the kitchen door opened up, and Cody and Clyde walked in dripping with sweat and laughing. Eunice looked up.

"What's so funny?"

Clyde just shook his head. "Well, if Cody decides medical school isn't what he was hoping it would be, he can have a career as a satellite dish installer. All of my other sons-in-laws liked mine so much, they bought ones of their own. But they waited until Cody came back here to have him install them. My boy here got all six of them done in less than three hours. Heck, some of their neighbors asked if he could help them out if they bought ones too..."

Eunice just glared at her husband. "You've had your daughter's fiance out on roofs in this sweltering heat all afternoon this close to their wedding. Clyde, just be glad he didn't fall off and hurt himself!"

"Nah, no worries about that. Besides, I think we're getting close to making Cody a half way country boy now..."

"Why do you say that?"

Clyde laughed again. "Well, he's been dropping some 'y'all's all day and when this bird buzzed us on one of the roofs, he practically shouted out 'what the feathers?'..." He looked at his daughter and winked. "Couple more years, and I might just be able to make a farmer out of him yet..."

On Sunday afternoon, Cody and Bailey had one final lunch with the Picketts before they had to be heading towards the airport in Tulsa. And once they had eaten and loaded up their rental car, it was time to say goodbye to everyone.

"Now, we'll see you all again four weeks from today. And when we do see you, it will be in Los Angeles as we'll all be getting ready to board a plane for Hawaii."

One of Bailey's brother-in-law grinned. "Yeah, and in five weeks, Cody will officially be one of the few, the proud..."

That caught Cody off guard. "The marines?"

He laughed. "Nope, we're an even tougher group of guys – we'll all be men who are strong and crazy enough to be married to a Pickett girl!"

Boston

Once Cody and Bailey returned back to Boston, they resumed their usual summer routine. Everyday, they went to work, and on Wednesday evenings, they even played in a sand volleyball league at a new sports bar down the street from the Tipton. It had been Zack's idea for a way for everyone to hang out together. At any given time, they had to have three guys and three girls on the court. So, in addition to Zack, Maya, Bailey and Cody, they had invited Amanda, Jake, Maddie, Trevor, London and Todd to join them. All of them readily agreed except for London who reminded Zack she hated doing PE while they were on the boat. While she remembered she was actually pretty decent at volleyball, she much preferred to just sit back and watch Todd in action. And Maddie thought it would be a good way for her to get exercise to help her shed some of her baby weight. Naturally, her parents were more than happy to babysit little Zoey those evenings.

For Cody, he soon found an extra benefit on those Wednesdays. As he was fearing what Zack had planned for his bachelor party, he figured having a drink or two after they finished playing would help build up his tolerance if only a little. And, to his surprise, he actually found something that he somewhat liked the taste of in hard apple cider. Of course, Zack tried to give him a hard time about drinking what he perceived to be a wussy drink, but Cody just smirked back at him when he pointed out his drink had a higher percentage of alcohol than the beer Zack was drinking. When everyone laughed at that, Zack dropped the topic quickly. And while everyone was having fun, there team wasn't that good. By the Wednesday before the 4th of July weekend, they were barely above five hundred. Fortunately though, their bye week coincided with the week they would be gone to Hawaii.

But Cody and Bailey's favorite hobby of the summer was heading over to their new place every Friday after work to watch it continue to get closer and closer to being finished. And the week before the 4th of July, it was really starting to take shape. The way they figured it (and told to them by the contractor), they would be able to move in the weekend after they got back from their wedding. That would give them close to two weeks to get themselves settled in before they left for their honeymoon.

By the time Thursday, July 2 finally arrived, everyone was looking forward to having the next day off for the 4th of July holiday. And that evening, everyone was gathered in the suite on the 23rd floor taking it easy and staying cool. Well, almost. London was there going over the final itinerary with everyone so they knew what to expect to happen the following week. And as she was droning on and on, they were saved when they heard a knock at the door. Bailey immediately got up to answer it, and she was surprised to see Gertie and Tapeworm, Marcus and Melanie, and Woody and Addison all standing there smiling back at her.

"What are you guys doing here? I didn't think you all were getting in to Boston until sometime tomorrow?"

Marcus laughed. "As if we'd miss all the fun tomorrow..."

She frowned. "Tomorrow? What's going on tomorrow?"

Zack laughed. "Oh, I guess it slipped Cody's mind, and I forgot to remind him of it. Tomorrow will be Cody's day long bachelor party..."

London finished for him. "...as well as Bailey's wedding shower!"

Cody looked at Bailey and winced. "My bad. I do remember Zack telling me about that now, but in my defense, that was right before he dropped the bomb on me about not going to Harvard. I guess in my attempts at tough love I completely forgot all about that. Sorry, Sweetie."

"Its okay." Bailey turned her attention to Zack. "Now, I hope you know that..."

Zack rolled his eyes and cut her off. "Don't worry. I got the list you two sent me, so I didn't plan anything too bad. Besides, remember that the rest of us have girlfriends that we don't want to tick off either."

Cody turned to his brother. "So, what do you have planned for tomorrow exactly?"

"Well, against my better judgment, Woody wanted us to get up early to go play paintball. So, we'll all be leaving here at 6 AM. Once we're done there, we have a few tee times to go play golf at London's father's country club. Don't worry though, they'll fit us for clubs and provide those to us when we get there. After that, we'll all head back here to grab showers before we all head back out to go to the Red Sox and Royals game tomorrow night. And if that wasn't enough for you, we have a few tables reserved at a comedy club for a late night show featuring Boston's very own Louis C.K."

Cody was impressed. "Wow! That actually sounds like a lot of fun. I guess we all need to go to bed early tonight. And I'm pretty sure we'll all probably be exhausted by the end tomorrow night too."

Zack grinned. "And probably a little drunk too. Codester, we're going to help you wave goodbye to the single life with a bang!"

Bailey paused. "Who all is we?"

"Well, Cody and me, Woodchuck, TW, Marcus, Todd, Trevor, and Bob, and then Dad is supposed to be flying in tomorrow earlier enough to join us for the evening's festivities..."

London spoke up. "And while the guys are doing those guy things, all of us ladies will be spending the morning getting pampered downstairs in the spa. After that, we'll then spend the afternoon lounging around the pool with frozen drinks before we all return to my penthouse for your wedding shower. With some of the things I have planned as maid of honor, it should be a lot of fun." She paused and laughed. "Of course, once Carey calls it a night, we'll give you the gifts that we didn't think you'd want to open up around your soon to be mother-in-law."

Cody and Bailey just looked at each other again and shrugged. "Alright, those sound a lot better than we had feared." She turned to Tapeworm, Woody and Marcus. "But I'm entrusting you three to make sure Cody doesn't do anything stupid or Zack doesn't do anything to cause anyone to go to jail! I'm getting married in a week, and I don't want to have to bail anyone out beforehand!"

With everyone now there, they all decided to head down the street to grab some dinner as a group. And after they spent the next couple of hours catching up with each other, everyone decided to call it a night fairly early as they all had long days ahead of them the next day. And while they guys were up and gone early, the ladies got to sleep in before letting themselves get pampered the next morning at the spa. About four o'clock that afternoon, the ladies returned from the pool and were just sitting around the suite taking it easy and chatting. And that's when the door opened, and Zack and Cody walked inside. Cody had a scowl on his face, and everyone was pretty sure why.

"Ummm...Sweetie...are you aware that you have a large glob of red paint on the back of your head?"

Cody sighed. "I didn't until the 15th hole when the beverage cart attendant brought it to my attention." He glared at Zack. "Seems everyone thought it was a good idea to take bets to see how long I would go without noticing I had red paint in my hair. Anyways, we all came back to grab showers before heading back out again. And, it turns out its about 95 degrees outside, so I might have to end up cutting my undershirt off of me...again."

Zack just grinned. "Come on, Bro. Don't look at it as red paint but rather crimson paint! I figured we should go ahead and show some early school spirit..."

Cody just glared at him again before heading off to his room to get ready to take a shower. Zack just shrugged before heading off to do the same. And a few minutes later, he walked back out of the suite to head over to use the shower in Carey's suite. The ladies just looked at each other and began laughing. About twenty minutes later, there was another knock at the door.

Addison sighed. "Let me guess. Its Woody coming down to borrow my key to our room..."

London grinned. "Nope, I don't think so. Unless I've missed my guess, its the special guests I brought in for today. Bailey, go answer the door..."

Shrugging, Bailey did go answer it, and for the second time in 24 hours, she was suprised to see who was standing there. "Momma? Daddy? Grammy? Amy? What are you guys doing here in Boston? I thought we were meeting you all in Los Angeles on Sunday?"

Eunice smiled at her daughter. "Well, we had a small change of plans..."

Clyde nodded. "Yeah, I figured if I was going to have two of my daughters living up here in Boston, I wanted to check this place out for myself. So, we called London, and she flew us up here this morning."

Bailey looked at him in confusion. "Two daughters? I don't understand..."

Amy smiled. "The other one would be me. I finally decided that I would attend Harvard."

Grammy grinned too. "Plus London told us about the wedding shower everyone was going to have for you tonight, and we definitely didn't want to miss that..."

Clyde sighed. "Which means I need to find myself something to do then. No offense, Bailey, but hanging around all of you for your shower don't seem like much fun to me..."

At that exact moment, Cody came out of the bathroom freshly showered, dressed and without any red/crimson paint in his hair. And when he saw his future in-laws standing there in the living room, he was taken aback too. Quickly, Bailey filled him in on what he had missed while he was in the shower, and that's when Cody had an idea.

"Well, Clyde, if you want, you're more than welcome to head out with us. I know he's not you most favorite person, but we have Mr. Tipton's box for the Red Sox game in a couple of hours. The Sox are playing your Royals after all. And then afterwards, we have tables reserved at a comedy club here in town. We'd love to have you join us."

Clyde couldn't help but laugh. "You sure you want your soon to be father-in-law to come along on your bachelor party night?"

Cody laughed too. "I'd be honored if you would. Besides, we could always use one more person to help keep Zack in line. Plus, I have to figure it would be a lot more fun than hanging around here. No offense, ladies..."

"Well, you do make a good point. I think I'd rather go with you guys..."

A few minutes later, Zack returned to the suite too, and he was a little surprised to find out they were going to have one more joining them for the rest of the bachelor party. And when Bailey's family headed to their room to freshen up, he pulled his brother to the side.

"Dude! Are you insane? What are you thinking bringing your future father-in-law with us tonight?"

Cody grinned again. "Call it further insurance that you don't have something else planned that you haven't told me about yet..."

Zack just rolled his eyes. "Man, you sure do know how to ruin a good time, don't you?"

Soon enough though, the Picketts returned back to the sute, and a few minutes later, all of the guys headed back out on to the streets of Boston. And while they were making their way to Fenway, the ladies all headed up to London's suite for Bailey's shower. London even had the little soiree catered, and everyone sat around having a good time as the margaritas continued to flow. And when it came time to gift giving portion of the festivities, Bailey was thankful that most of them were relatively tame. However, due to that and the several frozen concoctions she had already consumed, Carey began laughing. "You know, I expected there to be a few more...I don't know...racy gifts to have been given."

London shrugged. "Well, we were going to wait to do that after you left, Carey. You know, all things considered..."

Carey kept laughing. "Hey, bring them on then! My friends had the same concerns about me opening the gifts at my wedding shower around Kurt's mother. Turns out, she probably gave me the most risque one of all. Besides, Bailey and Cody are both 21 and going to be married in a week. The time for me to worry about things like are well in the past."

So, with Carey's blessing, several more gifts were brought out of London's closet. And every time Bailey opened one, she got all kinds of whoops and hollers as she held up what was inside. The first couple of times, it caused her to blush, but by the end of the evening, she was cracking jokes with everyone else. However, by midnight, all of the ladies (with the exception of Amy of course), were beginning to feel the effects of the margaritas and were ready to call it a night and/or pass out.

The next morning, Bailey gradually woke up and immediately reached out to pull Cody closer to her. But, he wasn't there which surprised her. Frowning, she got out of bed and walked out into the main part of the suite. And what she saw almost made her bust out laughing. Zack and Cody were both passed on the couch. From the looks of it, they had passed out where they had fallen. A few minutes later, Maya came out of her room and saw Bailey.

"Have you seen Zack?"

Bailey just nodded towards the couch. And when she saw the sight before here, Maya just shook her head.

"Been there before. Unfortunately, I know that they're both going to be feeling last night all day today."

"I think we all will. I think that last batch London made was a tad bit strong."

At that moment, Cody and Zack both began to stir and finally opened their eyes. Both sat up and began looking around trying to get their bearings. Zack paused and looked at his brother.

"Why are we on the couch?"

Cody sighed. "Because we both sat down on it to catch our breath when we got back up here. For some reason, we thought taking the stairs would make us sweat out the alcohol in our systems and lessen any potential hangovers. I don't think it worked..."

"Oh yeah, I remember that now..."

Bailey laughed. "So, what time did you guys get in this morning? I know it was after midnight because that's when I...went to bed."

"About three o'clock this morning. We got out of the comedy club about one thirty and began walking towards the subway spot when we noticed one of those all night bowling alleys. For some reason, we all thought it sounded like a good idea to go bowl a couple games." Cody paused. "Well, except me. After the first game, I was seeing three different lanes when I tried to focus. So, for the safety of those around us, I sat the second one out..."

Maya laughed this time. "Sounds like you all had a big day and an even bigger night."

Zack nodded. "I think we did. Its all kind of a blur right now..."

Bailey smiled. "Well, between bowling and golf, how did you do, Cody?"

He paused. "I think I had a 84 and a 221."

Maya was impressed at hearing that. "Whoa! That's amazing! I didn't realize you were so good at those, Cody..."

Cody shook his head. "I'm not. I got the 84 in bowling and the 221 in golf..."

She winced. "Oh...ouch."

"Yeah. The beer didn't help my bowling any, and golf is a lot harder in reality than those video games make it out to be..."

Zack couldn't help but laugh though. "Well, you don't have to worry about Cody walking on sand any more. He spent more time in the sand yesterday than David Hasselhoff used to..."

Bailey laughed. "Well, we're supposed to meet my family for lunch in an hour, Sweetie. And then, we're going to take them over to Harvard's main campus so they can check out Amy's future dorm. Plus, I told them we'd stop by our new place to show it to them too. Then, I told them we show them some of the sights of Boston before the big fireworks show tonight."

Cody just nodded and sighed. "Works for me. I just need a hot shower and some Tylenol. Looks like I'm looking at two straight long days..."

She went over to help him up. "We all are. Come on, I think I better join you to make sure you don't pass out in there on me." She grinned. "Besides, just wait till you see some of the things I got yesterday. I think you'll really like them..."

That caught his attention and perked him up. "Oh yeah?"

By noon, everyone was feeling somewhat better, but they all still had sunglasses on as they headed out of the hotel. And for the first times in their lives, Clyde, Eunice and Grammy got to ride the subway. Once over at Harvard, they were able to get a tour of Amy's future dorm and campus, and while it wasn't as nice as the new Berkeley College, it wouldn't be that bad. From there, they all headed to the Longwood Medical Area to show off Cody and Bailey's almost finished new home. While it still needed to be painted and the appliances installed, everyone was extremely impressed with it.

"So, all of this space for just the two of you?"

Bailey nodded. "Yeah. And according to London, this is smallest row house in the complex."

"Wow..."

Amy smiled. "All I know is I claim dibbs on that guest room on the first floor whenever I need a break away from the dorms!"

Cody shrugged. "Fine with us. Actually, with you in town now too, you're more than welcome to join us for dinner too whenever you want."

"Don't tempt me like, Bro."

Bailey laughed. "Well, as long as you don't mind sharing the room with Porkers, its all yours. I think we're going to let him have that as his room."

Clyde paused. "Actually, I don't think Porkers will be joining you guys here. Seems he's found a sow that he's gotten real friendly with, and they have a litter of piglets on the way..."

"Oh..." She paused. "Well, I can't blame him for that. I won't take him away from his family. But, Daddy? I know how things work, but please don't ever have one of his offspring be the Christmas ham..."

He laughed. "I won't..." He paused. "But, I think I have another idea. You remember the cat we have on the farm who we use to take care of the mice in the barn?"

"Yeah, Sylvester..."

"Well, turns out Sylvester is a she, and she just had a litter of kittens. Of the six of them, five already seem to be mousers. But the runt of the litter prefers just to curl up and wants to be a house cat. Since I'm allergic to cats, I'm thinking maybe I could send it up with Amy when she comes back next month and it could stay with you two..."

Bailey looked at Cody who just shrugged. "That works for us, Daddy."

"Good. But speaking of looking out for offspring..." He wrapped his arm around Cody's shoulder. "I need to ask you a favor, Son. I already know you'll take good care of my Bailey for me, but I'm hoping you'll keep an eye on Amy up here in Boston for me too."

Cody nodded. "Consider it done, Clyde. But to be fair, I have enough trouble getting one Pickett girl to listen to me, so I'm not sure how successful I'll be trying to get another to..."

Clyde sighed. "Welcome to my world..." He paused as he thought of something. "Speaking of Boston though, something last night confused me..."

"What's that?"

"Well, I heard a lot of people saying something was wicked awesome. Is that good or bad?"

Cody laughed. "Its very good. Its just the way people talk around here."

Bailey nodded. "Its true, Daddy. Cody's accent isn't nearly as bad, but sometimes he'll let it slip out."

"While that may be so, you'll be happy to know your daughter has developed a little New England accent of her own. Occasionally, she'll forget that the alphabet has twenty-six letters and that the letter 'R' exists. I've heard her ask me for the 'cah' keys before, and she has even referred to our future university as 'Hahvid'..."

Her eyes went wide. "Cody! I have not. I always pronounce it Hahvid..." She paused. "I mean Harvard..."

Bailey blushed as everyone else had a good laugh at that. And when Cody took everyone up to show them the rooftop deck, Bailey pulled her sister behind.

"So, I'm guessing with you choosing Harvard, they finally offered you the most money, huh?"

Amy smiled. "Well, in the end, both Harvard and Yale offered me a full ride. So, I had to decide which I wanted to go to more. And once I thought about it, I figured having you and Cody nearby would be a nice perk after all, so that was an edge to Harvard. I think you were right about having a piece of home close by making things easier for me. But, there was another thing that finally tipped the scales in its favor."

"Yeah? What's that?"

She laughed. "Well, you've had good luck with a guy from Boston. I figured I'd give it a shot to see if I could find one here for myself..."

Twenty minutes later, everyone left the townhouse, and Cody and Bailey took them on an tour of Boston before heading back to the Tipton so everyone could take a well needed nap. A few hours later, after meeting up with everyone else, the large group headed downstairs for dinner in the hotel's restaurant. And from there, everyone headed out to enjoy the street festivals before the fireworks show that evening. But, shortly after the extravaganza was over, everyone was ready to call it a night. Not only were they still worn out from the day before, but they all did have a flight to catch the next morning at 10 AM.

Back in their room, once Cody and Bailey double checked their bags to make sure they had packed everything they would need for the next week, they double checked their alarm clock to make sure it was set before climbing into bed together.

"You know, Bails. After the past two days, it wouldn't surprise me at all if I slept all the way to LA tomorrow."

She laughed. "Yeah, it has been a crazy couple of days. But, its been good to have everyone here and to see them again."

"True." He yawned. "All I know is the next time we sleep in this bed again, it will be as husband and wife."

Bailey snuggled in closer to him. "I know...Goodnight, Hubby."

The next morning, six thirty came awfully early. But by eight o'clock that morning, everyone was showered, dressed and gathered in the lobby with their bags ready to catch the shuttle over to Logan International Airport. But before they could, an woman in her late thirties came over to talk to everyone.

"I hope you all have a good time in Hawaii, and congratulations to the soon to be newlyweds."

London just looked at her. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled. "I'm Teri Parson, I'm the new manager of the hotel, Miss Tipton. You're father hired me a couple of weeks ago, and today is my first day. I..."

Before she could finish, two blurs began running through the lobby, and Ms. Parsons sighed. "...And these are my twin sons, Alex and Kenny. They're aren't too thrilled about having to move halfway across the country to Boston..."

One of the two twelve year old boys rolled his eyes. "Because this place sucks! There's nothing fun to do here!"

His brother looked at him. "Alex, this is Boston! Despite all the cool historical places around here, we're in the cradle of American higher education. I mean, there are both Harvard and MIT here! Just think how awesome that is!"

Zack and Cody just looked at each other before laughing. They turned their attention to the other set of twins. "Guys, if we may offer you some advice, enjoy your time here at the Tipton. Ten years ago, we're were in the exact same position you two are in right now. And if you guys will just give it a chance, moving into the Tipton will be the best thing that ever happened to you both. Play your cards right, and you're both are about to begin the adventure of a lifetime."

"How can you know that?"

"Trust us..."

To be Continued...