Chapter 22

Cait and Aaron woke to the alarm at 6:00 with the first rays of a bright and beautiful Sunday morning coming in the porch door to their bedroom. Jack, who conked out the night before shortly after eating pizza and his bath, his hard work for the day getting the best of him, woke as well with a yawn and large stretch. They smiled at the son that shared their bed.

They both took turns using the shower quickly, as Jack quietly got the dogs up, let out and fed. He climbed back into their bed, waiting for them to finish. Aaron, in his suit pants, t-shirt, and barefoot, got Jack into the kitchen, giving him some juice and a banana. "Grandma has egg bake ready. We'll eat after we get home from church," Aaron explained. Jack just smiled, as Jarrod walked by on his way to the shower downstairs. They could hear Maggie in the bathroom upstairs.

Matt made his way down the steps, with his shower stuff to follow Jarrod. "Dad, I've got Jack; you finish getting dressed." Aaron smiled, rubbed his shoulder and went into the bedroom. Cait emerged a couple of minutes later and kissed both her sons.

"Jack, was Uncle Dave awake when you got Mudg?"

"Nope mom; he was snoring as usual," Jack smiled.

Cait went into the study and found Dave stirring. She gently shook him. He rolled a bit and looked at her. "You set to run off to church?"

"Yes, but it's only seven. We don't have to go for a bit. Do you want to sleep more, or get up?"

"Get up if you don't mind." Cait got Matt from the kitchen and helped him into their bathroom. Hotch was finishing putting his tie on.

"Cait…"

"If you haven't learned by now, I'm not a female wuss. I can hold my own. Matt has the big job. You two just get him ready to be in the recliner for a while." The three men just smiled. Jack smiled broadly as he got his teeth brushed with Uncle Dave. Cait, after putting on her usual dash of make-up, pulled him off the bathroom counter and got him dressed. Fifteen minutes later, Dave was in the recliner, cleanly shaved. "Dave, what do you need," Aaron asked.

"A cup of coffee," he smiled.

By twenty to eight, the entire family headed out the door to church and climbed into Aaron and Cait's vehicles, with Matt driving the second. Dave was watching a Sunday morning news program with the Sunday paper in his lap, his cup of coffee and one in reserve that Cait had put plastic wrap over the top to keep it warm. The dogs, having been let out after their breakfast, slept by the nook doors.

The old adage of the family that prays together, stays together played out. They all enjoyed the service that celebrated the Fourth of July, since that day was the first day of the month. Their Pastor always made it patriotic, singing the usual American hymns for the holiday. The entire Hotchner and Barkley family partook of communion, minus Jack, who was not old enough, and Sean and Leslie. Yet it was a comfort to Cait and Aaron that Sean had rediscovered his Episcopalian faith their mother had raised her sons in through Leslie. It was a beautiful and moving service.

By 9:45, they were back home, and walked in to smell Maggie's egg bakes she had stirred together the night before, cooking. Sean had guided her on getting them started before they left, baking at a lower temperature. Cait walked to Dave, handing him the church service folder. "You OK?"

"Yeah, just a little disappointed I couldn't go. Pastor always does a great job with that service. I love going to it." Dave was not a stranger in the Hotchner's church. Since Cait and Aaron were married, he always showed up when Jack, with the younger kids, sang in the service. And as a veteran, he never missed the services for Memorial Day and the Fourth.

"Uncle Dave, Pastor prayed for you this morning," Jack reported.

"Thanks champ, I appreciate that."

Sean checked the egg bakes and pronounced them ready, and pulled them out. Leslie got them cut as the family gathered in the nook. Between the egg bake and finishing off the last of the doughnuts and muffins, they all got filled up. Cait and Aaron, after changing, helped Dave get cleaned up as well and Cait changed his bandage, while doing her usual check of this vitals, this time Aaron helping Cait.

As they finished with him, Dave looked at them. "Do you mind letting me take a nap?"

Cait smiled at him and winked at Aaron. "On one condition," she smiled.

Dave arched his eyebrows. "Which is?"

"Your offer is still good about someone bunking with you?" Aaron said. "Because being up early the last couple of days, and his two late nights, plus the day he'll have, someone else could use a power nap as well."

"And it will be quieter in the study than the rest of the house. He really needs it Dave," Cait added.

Dave smiled broadly. "Bring it on." Ten minutes later, Dave and Jack were curled up in the study bed. Beans was on the foot of the bed, wrapped around Jack's legs, and Mudg took his usual place on the floor next to Dave's bed, always on guard. Cait and Aaron, leaving them, silently pulled the door closed and smiled at each other.

The walked back into the kitchen to see Lisa and Jamaal entering. "The backseat of my truck is filled with my wife's balloons," Jamaal smiled.

The group dug into getting the final preparations for the open house ready. The boys helped Jamaal get the helium filled regular balloons, again in red and white, out and attached to the table weights that Dave had put together. The special ones with messages for the graduate were placed in all the right spots. Cait and Maggie got the roasters going to get the first two batches of the turkey sandwiches warming. In a third roaster hooked up downstairs, they started to get the baked beans warming as well.

Sean, carrying the "industrial" size cans of beans teased Cait. "No homemade baked beans?"

"Sean, if you can make them better than these, please feel free to make them for Mike's party." He shook his head. Cait knew her stuff.

They got the third roaster of turkey slowly heating. "Seriously, 60 pounds of turkey?" Sean said. Cait told him how she figured the math, given their invite list. They were trying to spread the roasters through the house so they wouldn't overload any electrical circuits.

Sean shrugged. "I can't argue with the math. But you do know you're probably going to have leftovers."

"Number one Sean, I'd rather have leftovers than run out."

"Agreed; but I know there's a number two coming." Maggie just smiled.

"The baseball and football teams have a nasty habit of sweeping in at the end of the party and taking care of a lot of that problem," Cait smiled.

"I got off lucky. I just had to deal with a football team with Jake."

"Well mom, with the size of this school district, that's pretty much on overlap," she smiled.

Sean just shook his head. "Have I told you both lately how much you two impress the hell out of me?" They all smiled and headed back upstairs.

Lisa was waiting for them in the kitchen. "What else do you need me to do?"

Cait gave her dearest friend a hug. "Nothing more; thank you." Leslie, standing next to her, cutting the pans of bars and getting them arranged on trays, just smiled.

"Jamaal, Aaron and Jake just left to do an ice run. The boys are taking care of the coolers, getting the water drained. You sure you don't need anything else?"

Cait looked at them all. "Very honestly…." The other four just laughed.

"So what's the plan Cait," Leslie asked.

"I just need you and Lisa to help me keep the food line stocked."

"Cait," Lisa jumped in before Leslie, smiling at her. "You have guests coming this afternoon. Let us take care of that. You've did enough. Enjoy this day as much as Matt."

Sean smiled. "And I'm part of that plan. Just have fun with you guests."

Maggie rubbed her shoulder. "They're right, you know?"

Cait just smiled at the four of them.

Aaron, Jamaal and Jake returned, and Mike, Matt and Jarrod grabbed the ice bags, getting the coolers re-iced, with Aaron helping them. As Jamaal moved to get the large, blue plastic container from his truck and in place, Jake grabbed the eight gallon keg of 1919 Root Beer from the truck and placed it in the container. He and Jamaal got it iced down. Jake winked at Jamaal.

"Hey Matt, come here." Matt ambled over. Jake threw a muscled arm around his shoulder. "Since you are now officially a high school graduate and soon to be a college student, I take great pleasure in teaching you the first lesson of college." Jamaal very ceremoniously handed the tap for the keg to Jake.

"I'm going to teach you how to tap a keg."

Jake smiled broadly, which Matt matched. "Thanks Uncle Jake, you're the best."

"Yeah, Uncle Jake, you're the best," Aaron mimicked, giving Jake the Hotchner glare. Cait matched it.

Jake winked at Matt and Jamaal. "Relax you two; I've ran for my life at times for two years with Oregon linebackers chasing me. Those two don't scare me."

Matt just smiled at his uncle, as Jamaal laughed at Aaron and Cait.

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A/N: I think all of you have had a root beer. I will tell you this: A&W may have worldwide notoriety. However, the best root beer in the world is 1919. I'm not a root beer drinker, but I can drink 1919 by the frosty mug full, much to the chagrin of my cardiologist. In a "close to home" moment, 1919 is exclusively brewed at the Schell Brewery in New Ulm, MN, about 100 miles from where I live. And the reason why 1919 root beer is mostly an upper US Midwest "best kept secret". Tapping a keg is putting an instrument into the top of the keg to "pump" out the beverage. It involves putting the pump of the tap into the holes on the top of the keg. The tap with a pump is used to get air into the keg to get the beverage out, and a hose with the tap, an outlet at the end to pour the beverage. As you can tell from the story, it's mostly used for beer kegs; and the first lesson for incoming freshman college students. ;)