Beca thought about what John told her the whole drive home. What could have happened? She had to figure it out. Jesse's family had apparently once been very wealthy and while her parents made sure all their needs were met, even going so far as to have the guesthouse built for them, as well as making sure they were paid well, nothing could replace what they lost.

When Beca got home she went straight to her room and even though she was supposed to be packing because she and Jesse were leaving for the Houston rodeo on Thursday, she grabbed her laptop and started researching the Toussaint Plantation fire. She found several articles, but one in particular stuck out. The articles she found stated that the fire took place just one week after her parents were married. Everyday for a week there was an article about the fire then all of sudden the articles just stopped. It was as if no one really cared. Beca bookmarked the articles because she planned to reference them again later.

She opened a new word document and started typing up all the questions she had regarding the fire. She had to strike while the iron was hot so to speak. Suddenly she wondered if the fire and her parents wedding were related? It was a long shot but it was worth looking in to. She put her laptop aside and started to pack but her mind kept wandering back to her conversation with John and the articles she read about the fire. Since Jesse was still working, she decided to take a ride past the old Toussaint place, maybe being there would help give her the information she needed to get to the bottom of the mysterious fire.

When she arrived she saw what was left of the Toussaint house. She had seen it many times before but never up this close. The house was set way back on the property much like her house was; part of the beauty and charm of old plantation homes was the long shaded drive from the street to the house. It absolutely broke her heart to think that one day Jesse's family was living there and the next they were homeless and destitute. They didn't deserve what happened...no one did.

The shell of the house was boarded up; on the boards were the words, "KEEP OUT" in large red letters but Beca wasn't going to let that deter her. She walked around the wrap around porch trying to look into the windows that weren't boarded up, all the while hoping the porch wouldn't collapse from her weight. She wanted to get into the house. She was sure there had to be something in there that could shed some light on what happened. As Beca was walking around trying to get a better look her phone started ringing and scared the life out of her. "Shit!" she said grabbing her chest. She took the phone from her back pocket, "Hey babe"

"Hey. Where are you?"

"I had to run an errand. I'll be home in about 15 minutes."

"Ok. See you when you get here."

"Hey Jess..."

"Yeah babe."

"I love you." she said looking around, her heart continuing to break the more she looked around.

"I love you too."

Beca put her phone back in her pocket and took one more quick look around before walking back toward her truck. She planned to go back to the house and she planned to bring tools with her when she did. She was getting in the house and she was going on go over every square inch of it with a very fine toothed comb until she found what she was looking for. As Beca stood by the huge oak tree in the front yard, she ran her fingers over the hearts and initials that were carved in its trunk. The initials were those of Jesse's parents and grandparents. She wanted hers and Jesse's initials carved into the tree as well and one day soon they would be.

Beca got into her truck and drove the short distance to her house. When she got there Jesse was waiting for her. "Hey!" he said with a huge smile on his face. After the way his day started he should be smiling for a long time.

"Hey. What's up?" she said tiptoeing to kiss him.

"My mom wants to have you over for dinner."

"I'd like that. It gives me the chance to give them the presents I got them."

"You didn't have to do that you know?"

"I wanted to. I put a lot of thought into the gifts that I bought."

"When do I get my present?" he asked wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek.

"Soon. I haven't gotten the call that your presents arrived yet." Jesse stuck out his lip and made a pouty face. "Better be careful...I could walk to town on that lip." Beca laughed before she kissed him.

"I have a few other things to get done before dinner, so I better get back to it."

"What time is dinner?"

"6 o'clock... Mom's making fried chicken, mashed potatoes and okra."

"Can I bring dessert? I have enough time that I could make a pie or something."

"Nope. Mom has that covered too. She's making homemade peach cobbler."

"Wow...someone special must be coming to dinner."

"Yeah...don't know who that could be." Jesse said winking at her.

"Get back to work and I'll see you in a little bit." she said as she smacked him on the butt.

Beca went upstairs and right back to her laptop. There had to be more information about the fire, she just wasn't looking in the right place. After some more digging she finally found what she was looking for but she was sorry she found it because what she read horrified her. It seemed that the house wasn't the only loss for the Toussaint's. Beca felt sick; whoever did this was an animal and didn't care about anyone or anything. She couldn't look at the articles anymore, she needed to put them away and most importantly she needed to be able to act normal at dinner.

Beca put her laptop away and started packing her stuff for their trip to Houston. As she packed she got the phone call that she had been waiting for. Jesse's presents arrived safely. There were a few customizations that still needed to be done but she was assured that it would be ready to be picked up on Thursday morning. Since they weren't planning to leave until around lunchtime she would have time to pick it up without Jesse's seeing it. She planned to give him his gifts once they were settled in Houston...of course, that was only part one of her two part plan.

After packing, Beca changed into work out clothes and made her way to the work out room in the stable. After everything she learned earlier in the day, she really needed to work out some frustration and anxiety. Beca put her earbuds in, pressed play on her ipod then attached it to her armband and started running on the treadmill, starting slow and working her way up to normal speed. She ran 5 miles then decided that since she didn't have a spotter she would forgo weight training and do chin ups instead.

Jesse walked in a few minutes later, dressed in his work out clothes. Beca didn't hear him walk in so he did what she always does, he stood in the doorway and took in the scenery. She was wearing only a sports bra and a pair of very tiny, very tight yoga shorts that showed off her thighs and ass. He loved her ass...it was very, very nice. Not too big, not too small...very proportionate to the rest of her body. He loved every inch of her but her ass...it was to die for. You could bounce a quarter off that thing. When he finally took his eyes off her ass, he was immediately drawn to the definition of her back and arms. She was well defined without looking manly. She was very tone and feminine; most women would die to have a body like hers.

Slipping his shoes off and walking in quietly, he watched as she flipped herself, threw her legs over the bar and started to do hanging sit ups. "Damn she's so fuckin' hot!" he thought. He walked over and kissed her ass. He couldn't help it...it was right in his face.

"Did you seriously just kiss my ass?" Beca asked still doing sit ups.

Jesse chuckled. "I did. It was in my face. It was either kiss it or bite it."

"Gross."

"It's only gross because you didn't get to do it to me." Jesse winked ass she jumped down from the bar. "How did you get up there?" he asked pointing to the bar.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." she said putting weights on the weight bar then settled it across her shoulders.

Jesse watched as she did lunges across the room. Her strength surprised him. For as little as she was she had the strength of a mule. Watching as her thigh muscles quiver he decided there was no way in hell he ever wanted to be on the receiving end of one of her kicks.

"You just gonna stand there and watch or are you gonna join me?"

Her voice caused Jesse to snap to. "Oh yeah. Right." He said making his way to the treadmill.

They worked out in silence for the next hour before Beca realized the time. It was getting close to dinner and she still had to shower and get dressed. She walked over to where Jesse was laying on the weight bench doing chest presses, straddled him and sat down on his stomach.

"I'm going to the house to shower."

"Ok. I'm gonna work out for a bit longer."

"See you in a bit." She said standing up and kissing him before walking out of the room.

When Beca was ready she grabbed the gifts for Nora, Charlie and Jamie before walking downstairs. Since no one was around she walked out the backdoor and headed toward the tack house to find Jesse. Her mind continued to wander to what she read earlier. She had no idea how Jesse and his parents survived the fire. If they weren't home at the time of the fire, then where were they? Suddenly, it all started to click...they weren't home because Nora was in the hospital giving birth to Jesse. She shook her head to bring herself back to the present. She needed to stay focused. Tonight was about dinner with Jesse and his family.

When she go to the tack house, she knocked once before letting herself in. "Jess!" she called as she closed the door.

"I'm in the bedroom." he called back to her. She placed the gifts on his dining room table before walking down the short hallway to Jesse's room. "Hey babe." he said walking out of the bathroom in a only a towel. Beca took in the sight of her handsome boyfriend with water trickling down his perfect body. Her mouth went dry and she couldn't find words. "Like what you see?" he asked with a sly grin.

"I do." she said wrapping her arms around his waist. "Are you getting dressed or you going to dinner in your towel?"

"I was thinking of keeping it casual...so my towel it is."

"Well then I'm not sure we'll make it to dinner." She told him. "Your mom would be so disappointed."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Guess I'll get dressed." he said dropping his towel as he walked toward his closet.

Beca giggled, "You totally act like you didn't have sex this morning." she said walking toward him.

"No, I'm not...but who says I can't have dessert before dinner?"

"You're bad...very, very bad!" she managed to get out before Jesse started kissing her. There weren't enough words in the English language for how they felt about each other. Before Beca knew it, they were in bed having a quickie before dinner with his parents. She wasn't sure how she would face them, surely they would know what had just taken place between her and their son.

"Beca, they won't know. I promise."

"We smell like sex."

"If you're worried about it, then take a shower." he said handing her a towel.

"Oh no mister, I'm not falling for that. You'll use your stealthy ninja skills to attack me in the shower then we'll never make it to dinner."

"Damn the bad luck!" Jesse joked. "Come on, let's go." He said taking her hand.

Dinner with Jesse's parents was going well and so far Beca was pretty sure they didn't know that she and Jesse had just had sex. Nora prepared a wonderful meal. Beca liked this, she liked sitting down as a family and eating a meal. It was something her family didn't do very often but when they did it was usually pretty nice.

"So Beca, how was New York?" Nora asked. Beca felt Jesse's hand tighten on her knee at the mention of New York.

She patted Jesse's hand as she answered, "It was beautiful. The views were breathtaking."

"What shows did you see?"

"Wicked, Rent and Kinky Boots. We also saw a concert at Madison Square Gardens, Saturday Night Live at Rockefeller Center and we went to Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty."

"Wow! That's a lot to do in just a week." Charlie said.

"It was but I wouldn't change a minute of it. It was fabulous. I really loved Central Park. I spent a lot of time there."

Nora smiled, "Is it really as nice as everyone says it is?"

"It is. It's probably the most tranquil place in all of New York City. The wide open spaces reminded me of home."

They continued to talk over dinner about the rest of Beca's trip and Jesse's fight with Luke - Jamie was most excited to tell her about that. Beca cringed when Jamie gave his account of the fight. She hated not being home when it happened but most of all she hated that she was the cause of it. She knew the two boys would fight to the death for her though she hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"So Beca, what's with the presents you walked in with?" Jamie asked.

"Jamie Charles! That's not polite." Nora fussed.

"Yes ma'am." Jamie said hanging his head.

Beca grinned, "I bought presents for everyone while I was in New York." She got up and walked to the coffee table in the living room to retrieve the presents. She walked back into the dining room and handed Jamie a large gift wrapped box."

"Oh wow! I get the biggest one!" Jamie said pulling the wrapping paper off the box. When he opened the box he said, "No fricken way! A Hugo Boss leather jacket! Beca this is SO awesome! Thank you!"

Jesse gave Beca a squeeze when he saw Jamie's face. He whispered "Thank you" into her ear before Jamie pulled her up to give her a thank you hug.

"You're welcome." Beca told him. "I'm so glad you like it."

"Like it? I love it! This is so cool." he said giving Beca a kiss on the cheek.

Beca passed a small gift bags to Charlie and Nora. When Nora saw the Tiffany's logo she said, "Oh honey, you shouldn't have."

"I wanted to."

Charlie was the first open his gift. "Beca...sweetheart, these cuff links are gorgeous. Thank you." he said handing the box to Nora.

"When I saw them I thought they were perfect for you."

"Beca, these are perfect!" Nora said.

"Maybe one day soon I'll have somewhere special to wear these." Charlie said with a wink.

"Mom, you gonna open your gift?" Jesse asked her.

Nora reached inside her gift bag pulled out a card and a ring box. She opened the ring box and closed it, tears running down her face. She picked up the gift card and started reading,

"Dear Nora,

Many years ago you told me that you had to sell your wedding and engagement rings to pay the hospital bill associated with Jamie's broken arm and my heart broke for you. I know this ring could never replace the ring Charlie gave you on your wedding day, but I hope you'll accept and wear it proudly. This ring is timeless and classic and when I saw it I immediately thought of you. You deserve it and so much more.

I love you more than you'll ever know,

Beca"

Jesse looked at Beca and wondered what was in the box. She simply patted his leg and walked around the table to kneel down next to Nora. Nora's hands were shaking as she picked up the box again. "Beca, this is too much."

Beca took Nora's hand in her own, "It's the least I can do. You have given me so much over the years and I wanted to show you how much you mean to me."

"Beca, we can never repay you for this."

"It's a gift."

Charlie put his hand on Beca's shoulder and pointed to the box. Beca handed the box to him and watched as he opened it. He too was in shock. Curiosity finally got the better of Jesse and Jamie as they got up and stood behind Charlie's chair and peered in to the small box. Jesse's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Charlie, I hope I haven't overstepped." Beca said breaking the silence.

"No, you haven't. I don't think I'll ever be able to afford to replace Nora's rings." Charlie said. He got up and kissed Beca on the forehead then pulled Nora into his arms. "Can you believe that in a few short months we'll be married 25 years?" he said to Nora.

Beca hugged Jesse as his parents had their moment. They watched as Charlie took the ring from the box and asked Nora to marry him again on their 25th anniversary. Beca looked at Jesse and asked, "When is their anniversary?"

"February 14th. Why?"

"I wanna throw them a party."

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world." Jesse said kissing her cheek.

Beca and Jesse stayed and visited with Nora and Charlie, enjoying dessert and coffee before Beca excused herself to do the dishes and clean the kitchen. Of course, Nora tried to stop her but Beca insisted that because Nora cooked dinner that she would clean.

"Jess, you got yourself a good girl." Charlie told him patting him on the shoulder.

"Trust me Dad... I know."