Chapter 71

Again, I don't own any of these characters

Bailey immediately loved Cody's idea. While she loved Cody's surprises, she didn't need them to know that Cody loved her. And while she loved surprising him, she also knew she didn't need to to show Cody how much she loved him. So, still taking it easy, they began going through all the ads in the week's newspapers trying to get ideas to give to the other. Finally, at one point Cody saw something in one and turned to Bailey.

"What do you think?"

"Oh my gosh! Why didn't I think of that before?"

Cody chuckled. "Don't feel bad. I didn't either till I just saw it..."

Bailey looked at him. "That sounds perfect to me..."

"Really? You sure?"

Bailey smiled. "Positive."

Cody smiled back. "Looks like we know what we need to do tomorrow then..."

The next day, the made their way out to do their Christmas shopping. After taking care of their gifts for each other, they headed on to the mall to complete the rest of their shopping. With definite ideas in mind already for the family members, they could take their time. Of course, while the other wasn't looking, they did get something extra for each other.

On Saturday, they once again met up with Zack and Cassie to head to Boston. With them was Woody and Addison. It seems Woody and Addison were going to fly out of Logan too because they were able to get cheaper airfare to Chicago (Southwest Airlines) to see Addison's family. They were going to fly back in after Christmas to celebrate New Years in Boston as well. Soon, they were all on their way to Boston with the guys in one car (Zack relented and rode with Cody this time) and the girls in another. The girls chatted the whole way about what was new with the wedding. The guys wanted to know what Cody and Bailey were going to do with their winnings and then moved on quickly to sports.

Once back in Boston, they briefly said hello to Carey again before they were all off in the hotel airport shuttle to Logan. Once there, they split as Southwest was in one terminal and the low budget airline the four were taking to Kansas City was in another. Soon, Porkers and their bags were checked, and the four were off to wait for their flight. Now, this is where Bailey's injury came in handy. Normally, there were no assigned seats and you were boarded in blocks. However, those with disabilities were allowed to board first. And everyone in that person's traveling party was allowed to board with them. So, they were first in line to board and grabbed the very front rows so Bailey would have more leg room.

A couple of hours later, they were all landing in Kansas City. Being in the front seats had another perk here – they were the first to get off the plane now. Arriving at baggage claim, they found Kurt and Sarah waiting on them again. Welcoming hugs went around, and after they gathered their bags and Porkers, they were off again. The entire drive to Kettlecorn, Kurt and Sarah wanted to hear all about their semesters. Once those stories were done, Kurt and Sarah wanted to hear all about the Jeopardy experience.

Arriving in Kettlecorn, Bailey was unable to immediately run inside to see her family. But once she had released Porkers, she hobbled into the house as fast as she could. Zack, Cody, and Kurt took care of getting the bags as Sarah and Cassie followed Bailey.

Zack just shook his head. "You know, your future wife get so excited over the strangest of things..."

Cody shrugged. "That's just who she is..."

Zack smirked. "Maybe that explains why she still puts up with you?"

Cody just rolled his eyes and continued to carry the bags inside. Once inside, they saw everyone had once again gathered. Immediately, Cody could see that Bailey was seated and everyone was fussing over her. She gave him a pleading look asking for help.

"Hey, Bails. Will you show me where you want me to put all of this in your old room?"

Bailey spoke and stood up before anyone else could say anything. "Sure..."

As they headed upstairs and got to her room, she immediately gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you so much..."

Cody smiled. "What did I miss when you first came in?"

Bailey sighed. "They told me I needed to be resting and practically pushed me down into the chair. I tried explaining that I was fine and that I was allowed to walk, but I don't think they were listening..."

"Well, let me know when you are ready to head back down or do you need to lie down due to 'jet lag'?"

Bailey laughed. "No, I'm better now. I just needed a minute away from the barrage..."

"Alright, lets head back down then. But if you need another rescue, just let me know..."

The rest of the afternoon was spent sitting around with all of the family and repeating the stories about college life and Jeopardy. Soon enough though, it was time for dinner, and everyone gathered around for that. Once dinner was over and after most had gone back to their homes, the four teens and the four adults were sitting around the table chatting over dessert.

Kurt turned to Zack and Cassie. "Well, I understand you two have declared majors now..."

Zack nodded. "Yeah, I'm officially a sports management major now..."

Cassie nodded too. "And I'm officially a music education major..."

Sarah smiled at her. "Good for you. Have you begun classes in it yet?"

"Yeah, I had a couple of the preliminary classes this semester. They were a lot of fun..."

Sarah laughed. "Well, I wish you the best of luck especially when you get to the music theory classes. That stuff always blew my mind..."

Cassie sighed. "Thanks...I have music theory next semester..."

Kurt turned back to Zack. "What do you have next semester?"

"Let me think...Intro to Sports Management, an Accounting class, Sports in Society, a Psych class and an Economics class..." He turns to Cody and Bailey and grinned. "Can I count on you two to do my homework for that one?"

Cody and Bailey both rolled their eyes. "We don't think so, Zack...We have a full course load as it is..."

Joe turned to them. "What are you two taking..."

"Financial Markets, Health Economics and Public Policy, a Stats class for Life Science majors, Microbiology and Biology of Reproduction..."

Maggie laughed. "Biology of Reproduction?"

Bailey nodded. "Yeah. It focuses on the reproduction processes of both humans and mammals and deals with hormones and gestation periods..."

"So, how does that leave you two on your goal of graduating in three years?"

Bailey smiled. "We right on schedule. Our last two semesters, we'll only need twelve hours a semester, and we'll only need two more classes in both economics and biology to graduate. Beyond those, we'll be able to take whatever we want..."

Zack rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable..."

Kurt laughed. "Anyways, have you two heard anything back from your the tests you took over Thanksgiving?"

Cody and Bailey shook their heads. "Not yet...We probably won't know until the first of the year..."

"What happens when you do?"

"We submit copies of our transcripts to the reporting agencies as well as our applications, and the reporting agencies forward our applications, scores, and transcripts to the schools we choose. After that, we wait..."

Everyone nods. "Well, what's new on the wedding front?"

"We have a date set. And you all have submitted names and addresses for family members. We've compiled a spread sheet for everyone, and we'll give that to the wedding coordinator when we meet her in April. Other than that, London is supposed to have some sketches for wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses to show us soon..."

"So, everything on schedule?"

Bailey nods. "It appears to be..."

Once everyone was caught up on everything, it was getting late, and everyone turned in for the night. Cody and Bailey just laid there in Bailey's old bed together.

"So, does it feel good to be home again?"

Bailey smiled. "Yeah, it does. This place will always be special to me..."

Cody nods. "That's good..." He grins. "You know, I never thought about it last Christmas or over spring break, but this has to be pretty strange for you..."

Bailey was confused. "What would be strange?"

"Well, this is the bed you grew up in. Now, you have me sharing it with you. You probably never imagined that growing up..."

Bailey paused to think. "Yeah, I hadn't thought of that before either. I did often lay here at night and wonder what my future husband would be like though. I had all these dreams and thoughts of him and what he would be like..."

"So, how does the reality of me stack up with your dreams?"

Bailey smiled. "Cody...I know now that the husband I was dreaming of and thinking about...It was you..."

"Really?"

"Yeah...How do I stack up to what you thought of in a wife?"

Cody teased her. "Well, I was heartbroken when Jennifer Aniston married Brad Pitt, but she is now on the open market again..."

Baily playfully punched his arm. "Cody!"

Cody leaned over and kissed her. "Bails, you are and always will be the girl of my dreams. You always have been even before I actually met you. Then, my dreams were the promise of you..."

To be Continued...