Today is May 24, 2023.

Once again I have come to my self-imposed deadline and must now release an update.

Sadly, the story is not yet ready and though I have been writing a lot, I have so much more yet to do and the story is far from done.

However I must also inform everyone of a variable that will now affect the release of this story.

Due to my professional life, I must put a pause on writing from now until the end of September 2023.

What I can guarantee is that once September comes to a close, I will resume writing.

I apologize for this delay but this professional commitment is something that will consume ALL of my time from now until then.

With this now in mind, my new release day is now placed at January or February of 2024.

Thank you all for your patience.

.

.

Here is a larger teaser as well as the final one. The next bit of content I release will be the beginning of the story.
.

.

.

.

.

.

The unorthodox family had returned to Higher for Hire at the end of the evening yesterday. They had their vacation and they had enjoyed their day off much in the same manner. Baloo slept all day in his hammock out on the dock, Molly and Kit, ever full of seemingly infinite energy, played and went swimming in the bay all day with some small naps between the two of them. Wildcat had returned from his romance filled weekend and Rebecca looked at the pile of paperwork on her desk and inspected the mailbox full of letters noticing one letter for an Airman Baloo from some Lieutenant-General; perhaps some old war-buddy. Rebecca considered getting to work but upon observing everyone else enjoying their day off, she placed the mail back where she had found it and decided that for one more day it could all wait. She walked out onto the dock, put up a hammock next to Baloo, kicked off her shoes, and sat.

"Well, I never thought I would see the day that Her Worship would come down from her tower of power and partake in of one of the simpleton pleasures of life." Baloo lifted his hat for a better view and turned his head slightly to better view the rarity in front of him.

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "There is a time and place for everything Baloo" she responded dismissively.

Baloo folded his arms with a side smile, "Don't they call such a place College?"

"You would think so. Sadly my time in college did not include any of….THIS" she gestured to Baloo, the kids, and the feeling of the area in general. "…not even in the slightest amount." Rebecca kicked off the dock, leaned back and allowed herself to sway back and forth in the hammock. "I think it's about time I have just a small piece of rest and procrastination now and then, wouldn't you agree?" Before Baloo could respond, Rebecca pulled out a bandanna and wrapped it around her eyes, allowing the ocean breeze to blow her hair as it wished as she prepared for a midafternoon nap.

"Without a doubt." Baloo paused considering his next statement. "Ya know Becky, I kinda like this side of you."

Rebecca yawned responding sleepily, "Don't get used to it Baloo, tomorrow it's back to the real world. Deliveries for you, school for the kids, and the mountain of paperwork on the desk for me. But today, well, it's my day off too."

Baloo leaned back in his hammock and turned to see the kids in the water before he too decided that the time had come to settle in for another nap. The sun had just begun to move toward the latter part of the day; he estimated there to be only about two hours of daylight left if that. Kit had swum up behind Molly, picked her up, and launched her through the air a few feet before shielding his face from the splash. The scene before Baloo was bittersweet; admittedly more sweet than bitter. As the laughter of the two playing children filled his ears, he could not help but notice the sight of water carving its path between the lash marks that adorned Kit's back from his shoulders to just below the elastic of his bathing suit and from as far left to as far right as possible on his little body, some even wrapping around to the front. Just as the water descended Kit's back and returned into the bay so too did Baloo let such heart wrenching feelings give way to the happy children in front of him. Rebecca's breathing had turned heavy, signifying that she had fallen asleep. Just then Molly took Kit's hand and he pulled her around behind him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on to his shoulders as Kit gave her a water-piggyback ride as he swam this way and that way, dove beneath only to resurface seconds later. It was clear that Molly no longer thought anything of Kit's scars, they were apart of him just as her ears were a part of her, and so they played with no thought given to yesterday or tomorrow. Baloo closed his eyes and yawned as he decided to do the same.