Twenty Five

Excerpt from Ch 24

La'akea bit her lower lip. "Not exactly,"

Jeremiah's eyebrows turned downward and confusion. "What do you mean, not exactly? You do want me to change my name; I can see that in your eyes. What else would I change to?"

~oOo~

Jeremiah and La'akea walked down Townsville's main straight. The doctor had given him a clean bill of health the previous day, and now they were to meet Victoria and the others at the café. As the two of them passed the general mercantile, the topic turned to what Jeremiah would do now that he was no longer working for the federal government-he'd handed his letter of resignation over to Macklin when the gentleman and another agent stopped by to see him before leaving town.

"I wired Uncle Hank and told him we're staying in California a little while longer than originally thought. Asked if he, Nate or Abe would continue to run the freight business for a while, along with the shipping operation. I told him I'd write more to later. I can continue to handle the mining business in Nevada." Jeremiah told La'akea as they climbed the stairs that led to the café's front door. "As far as anything else we have discussed," he opened the door, and held it open for his wife. "We can talk about it while we eat."

Once inside, Jeremiah and La'akea headed towards two white tables that had been pushed together; the tables set towards the back of the café. Victoria, Nick, Heath and Audra were already there and waiting for the couple. The moment the couple headed for the tables, Victoria and the others quit talking. Jeremiah pulled a chair out for La'akea, and then sat down in the only available seat. As he did so, his eyes fell upon Nick-who was sitting directly across from him. The words the famous Stockton rancher had said the day after Victoria had talked to Jeremiah still rang in his ears.

"You're thirty two years old with a wife! Go by Jeremiah Shaw, change back to Jarrod Barkley—it's not my place to tell you what to do on that end. Only, please," Nick took a hold of the top of the bed's footboard. "Don't just waltz out of our lives; well, not yet anyway. Would it hurt to hang around for an extended visit?"

Now, Nick's eyes, along with Heath's and Audra's-they had pretty much said the same thing as Nick when they had talked to Jeremiah and La'akea, all had a looked that spoke one two sentences loud and clear. "You're our brother; let us get to know you." "If someone doesn't speak soon, I'll have to have my hearing checked." Jeremiah smiled, doing his best to dispel the uneasy silence around them.

"Don't really know what to say," Heath spoke up, throwing a lopsided grin Jeremiah's way. "Don't want to chase you off,"

"If we haven't already done that." Audra, who desperately wanted to know that wasn't the case, looked at the brother who was a total stranger to her. She desperately wanted to get to know him.

Jeremiah shook his head while glancing at La'akea. He repeated what he'd told his wife about the freight and shipping business. "My uncle, Matthew's brother, and his sons are excellent workers and very knowledgeable. They will handle things just fine." He went on to explain about his mines and then shrugged his shoulders. "We're overdue for a vacation anyway. Spending an extra month, with all of you, would be a good way to spend a portion of the time." He and La'akea were rewarded for that decision when each of his biological family started beaming. Only, when Nick began speaking, Jeremiah interrupted…apologizing as he did so.

"There's one more matter of business before anything else is discussed." He looked at Victoria, which naturally made every one of the family curious.

""That would be?" Victoria sat erect and prepared for whatever it was that her long lost son had to say.

"My name." He wasn't surprised when an uneasy look appeared, in one form or another, in the family. "The fact that I've spent thirty-two years going by the last name of Shaw makes it impossible-in my eyes-to completely drop it. For all intents and purposes, Matthew was my father…and not a bad one either." He waited until each of the Barkley's had at least nodded slightly-acknowleding they'd heard what he'd said. He then stunned them by quickly glancing at La'akea and then back at them and told them that, even with that being the case, he liked the idea of adding Barkley to his last name. My last name will be Shaw-Barkley, if there are no objections."

"Of course, we won't object!" Nick blurted out, and then quickly apologized- as Jeremiah had been addressing Victoria not him.

"That sounds good to me only," Victoria, who had been looking at La'akea and saw that her daughter in law still looked a tad bit nervous, added, "What else is there?'

Jeremiah chuckled, again looked at his wife and then back at the Barkleys. "MY full name is actually Michael Jeremiah Shaw. I don't hate the name Michael. I even have a few friends by that name. With that said and done, I have never cared for it. You named me Jarrod Thomas so, after listening to my wife, I'm willing to give up that first name for one of those two names. For the moments that were stolen from you by my adoptive father, we think you should be able to pick which name will replace Michael…Jarrod or Thomas. Though, mind you, if you wish to call me by the name you pick-it will only be the immediate family who will call me it. Like I said, after thirty two years, I'm not going to ask everyone who has known me all my life to change."

Victoria, who found a lump in her throat, nodded. Then, once she could speak, she nodded towards Heath. "Heath took the middle name of Thomas when he changed his last name to Barkley. We weren't trying to replace you by any means only, not knowing you were alive, I wanted someone living to have my husband's name. So…if you're sure you don't mind, I'd love for you to have the name of Jarrod back."

Jeremiah, who more than understood why Heath had taken the middle name of Thomas, smiled as he covered La'akea's hand with his right hand and laid his left one on top of Victoria's. "Jarrod Jeremiah Shaw-Barkley it is." He then broke out in an even bigger grin as Nick, Heath and Audra all welcomed him-very vocally-to the family. For Victoria's part, she stood up, and stepped closer, embraced her son-along with the daughter-in-law she would forever grateful for.

EPILOGUE TO FOLLOW