Jeffrey was the first to wake the next morning. For a few minutes, he just lay there in bed, basking in the warm morning light that poured through the window, watching his sleeping wife. Wife! It still shocked him that she was actually his.

She was so lovely. Lying on her back, her blonde hair was spread out over the pillow and her lips were curved into a small smile. Unable to resist, he leaned over and pressed his lips to her neck, ever so softly. She swatted at him sleepily, and smiled, her eyes fluttering open.

"Hi."

"Hi." She cuddled closer to him, resting her head on his chest.

"Sleep well?"

"Oh, yes."

"Me, too."

Grinning, he rolled over, so that he was on top of her. She looked so tantalizing, lying there beneath him. She brought her mouth up to his, as her hands found his hair and she pulled him in. They both groaned as the phone on the nightstand rang. Rolling out from under him, she leaned over and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Skye? It's Batty."

"Hi."

"Sorry to bother you, but we have a problem." Skye rolled her eyes.

"What is it?"

"We lost Grace."

"You did what?!"

"She left a note on her bed, saying that she had gone to see the moose, but when Jane went over there, she wasn't anywhere around."

"Had she ever been there before?"

"No."

"Oh, gosh. Look, we'll be right over." Ending the call, she turned and looked at Jeffrey. "We'll have to finish this up later. Right now, we're going on a sister hunt."

"Who was the last person to see her?"

"I-I-I w-was." Hope was sitting on the couch, sobbing into Iantha's shoulder. "I m-miss h-h-her."

"Okay, some of you will have to stay here and get the car packed, if you still want to leave this morning. Why don't Daddy, Iantha, and Hope do that? Everyone else, spread out."

An hour and a half later...

Skye grimaced as she pushed yet another branch out of her face.

"Grace? Grace?"

No luck. She had drawn the lot of searching the woods, and she was now regretting it. The air was getting more humid by the minute, and her clothes were sticking to her. Looking up, she sighed. The clouds were gathering, presenting threats of an afternoon thunderstorm. That was all she needed now; another deadline.

As a clap of thunder resounded right overhead, Skye heard a frightened whimper coming from the bush next to her. Crouching down, she pulled away the branches and peered inside. There, sitting and hugging her legs, was Grace.

"Skye!"

Yelping, she launched from her hiding spot and into her big sister's arms. Biting back all the furious comments that were threatening to break loose, Skye took a deep breath and sighed.

"Are you alright?" The little girl nodded, her eyes as big as platters.

"Just scared. I got lost, and then the thunder started and I didn't know what to do."

"Did you see the moose?" She nodded ecstatically, her red pigtails bouncing up and down.

"Uh, huh. There were two of them. A mommy and a baby."

As she and Skye began to walk back, she continued to babble on incoherently about the moose, and the thunder, and whatever else popped into her mind. They had been walking for about 3 minutes when lightening flashed overhead and the sky broke open. The two were drenched within seconds. Hoisting the girl onto her back, Skye began to run through the woods, slipping and sliding in the mud as she went.

25 minutes later, when Skye finally stumbled onto the lawn in front Birches, they were both covered from head to toe in mud. Deciding that the outcome would probably be less than favorable if they showed up in this condition, and since they were wet already, Skye headed down to the beach.

She ran out into the water, and, bending down, submerged both herself and her younger sister completely in salt water. Satisfied with the results, they were both clean of any traces of mud even if they were sopping wet, the two walked, hand in hand, up to Birches. When they opened the front door, they were greeted by the shocked, and comparatively dry, faces of all of their family members.

What followed in the next few minutes can easily be imagined. Lots of talk, lots of crying, and finally, lots of goodbyes. The Penderwick family, minus Skye and Jeffrey, were going back to Cameron for the remainder of the summer. In two weeks, the newlyweds would join them for a bit, but everyone had decided that it would be best to let them have a bit of a honeymoon first. And so it was that, after lots of tears, hugs, goodbyes, good lucks, and more tears, the newest Mr and Mrs Penderwick found themselves standing on Ocean Boulevard, waving at the departing minivan.

As it disappeared from view, Jeffery looked down at his wife and smiled. She was standing in a puddle, dripping water from every angle, and looking thoroughly abandoned. Wrapping an arm around her soaking wet waist, he pulled her closer to him.

"Now, my darling wife, where were we before we were summonsed to this sister-hunt?" She looked up at him, and some of the abandon left her face.

"I'm not sure. You'll have to refresh my memory." Her eyes twinkled and they both grinned.

"With pleasure." Growling softly in the back of this throat, he pressed his body against hers and kissed her passionately.

"Gosh, you guys don't waste any time, do you?"

Batty's incredulous voice broke their concentration. Turning towards his sister-in-law, he looked at her like she was crazy.

"Batty, didn't you just drive away from here?"

"Yeah, but Hope forgot her unicorn and so I volunteered to come back and get it."

Rolling her eyes, Skye grabbed Jeffery by the hand and began to drag him back to their cabin.

"Bye, Batty!" he yelped as he stumbled along. "Skye, could you please slow down a bit?"

"And get caught into another round of goodbyes? I don't think so." Frowning, she slammed the door of the cabin behind them. A smirk on her face, she advanced towards him. "Now, where were we?"

Opening his arms wide, he grinned.

"Come here."

RhaleysRhaleys - Thank you! As I said in the pm, Skye would be 23 and Jane would be 22. :-) I love the idea about Jane retting married. Look for it to be included soon!

Randomsarcasm42 - Sorry to disappoint you. Lets just say that it was a really, really lousy time to get writer's block. :-( I had planned to write the scene about the dress, but I just couldn't get it right.

Please keep the reviews coming, guys. It helps me know where to take this story.