Let Your Heart Hold Fast: Bicycles, Weddings, and Kittens

Chapter 6

Peter went up the stairs at a much slower pace than his son. He knew that Neal was upset, and he really dreaded trying to talk to the boy when he was crying. Something about a crying Neal was equally upsetting to him and he usually let Elizabeth deal with it.

Entering Neal's bedroom, he wasn't surprised to see him sprawled out on the bed with his face buried in a pillow. He could tell by the way Neal's shoulders were shaking that he was indeed crying.

"Hey, kiddo," Peter said softly as he gently rubbed Neal's back. "It'll be okay. Yvonne will take really good care of him, you know. I bet she'll even send you lots of pictures of him."

"But, I'll miss him, Daddy," Neal cried.

"I know you will, but we can't keep him, Neal. He's making you sick."

"I'm not sick! I just have a runny nose."

"And a rash. And watery eyes. And you're constantly sneezing. That can't be comfortable for you, bud."

"He's worth it, Daddy. Sometimes you have to put up with the bad stuff to get the good stuff."

"Where did you hear that?" Peter asked.

"I didn't hear it. I just thought it on my own. Like when you're eating dinner and Mommy makes you eat all the vegetables before you can have dessert. Like that!"

Peter couldn't really argue with the boy after that, but he had to try. "This is a little different, buddy…."

Suddenly interrupted by the sound of an angry Elizabeth yelling up the stairs for Neal, Peter looked curiously at his son. "What did you do now, Neal?"

"I didn't do anything!" Neal immediately answered in a somewhat uncertain, slightly guilty voice.

"Are you sure about that?" Peter asked, picking up on the strains of guilt in Neal's voice.

Neal's shoulders slumped and he suddenly found his pillow very interesting.

"Neal?"

"I only had one extra cookie, Daddy. And Mommy left them on the counter, so I didn't have to climb up to get them, either."

Peter couldn't help but laugh at the pitiful look on Neal's face. "Well, we'd better go explain that to Mom, then, okay? She sounds a little upset."

"I can't believe he did that!" Elizabeth exclaimed loudly. "He knows he's not supposed to get into my jewelry."

"I think it's kind of sweet," Yvonne answered with a smile.

"Yvonne, this is a two carat chocolate diamond. Peter bought it for me for our tenth anniversary."

"I still think it's sweet, Elizabeth. But, he definitely needs to learn to not do that again."

"Definitely…."

Just as Elizabeth was getting ready to call for Neal again, she heard two sets of footsteps heading down the stairs. The look on Neal's face nearly made her smile, but then she remembered that he had taken a three thousand dollar necklace and given it away as a wedding present.

By the time Peter and Neal entered the living room, Elizabeth's anger had multiplied. Peter knew immediately, by the look on his wife's face, that this had nothing to do with Neal taking an extra cookie behind her back. He couldn't even begin to imagine what the little scamp could have done to make her so mad.

"Young man, what were you thinking?!" Elizabeth asked angrily as she held up what looked to Peter like a necklace made out of macaroni.

Neal suddenly stepped behind Peter and peered around his legs.

"Come here, Neal," Elizabeth instructed as she pointed to the space directly in front of her.

"No thank you, Mommy," Neal answered.

"It wasn't a request, young man. Come here."

Peter still had no idea what was going on, but he gently pulled Neal from behind him and pushed him forward. Neal stepped timidly over to his mother, stopping a few inches away from the spot she had indicated. Yvonne was trying her best to keep from laughing, especially after Elizabeth threw a heated look her way.

"Neal, where did you get this?" Elizabeth asked as she held up the necklace.

"I made it, Mommy," he said innocently, looking up at her with his big blue eyes.

"I know you made part of it, but where did you get this part?" she asked as she pointed to the diamond.

Neal obviously didn't want to answer that question, so he just looked at Elizabeth, his lips suddenly forming into an adorable pout.

By this time, Peter had caught a glimpse of what Elizabeth was holding and was suddenly very much aware of why his wife was so upset.

"Answer Mommy, Neal," he said firmly.

"I found it in your room, Mommy. I thought it was pretty like Y-Von, so I used it to finish her present."

"Awwww…." Yvonne declared, but was immediately cut off by another glare from Elizabeth.

"Neal, are you supposed to go into Mommy's things?" Peter asked.

"No, but I couldn't finish Y-Von's present without something really special, Daddy," Neal explained.

"That's not the point, little man. That diamond is really special to Mommy and it wasn't yours to give away. And you know you're not supposed to get into Mommy's jewelry box."

"But I was desperate!" Neal explained. "Y-von made me her Ring Bearer and that's a really important job. I had to give her a really special wedding present."

This time it was Yvonne who spoke. "Hey, baby….I really love that you wanted to give me a special gift, but that diamond was a special gift from your Daddy to your Mommy. It means a lot to her. And I loved the necklace you made me even without the diamond."

"Really?" Neal asked.

"Of course, I did, baby! You made it especially for me, so I'll always cherish it. It's perfect."

"I can make you another one, Y-von. And a bracelet, too."

"That would be great, Neal. But, I think you need to apologize to your Mommy, don't you?"

Neal turned back to Elizabeth and gave her the sweetest look he could muster.

"Mommy? I'm really, really, really, really sorry for taking your special diamond and I promise I won't ever, never do that again. Do you hate me now?"

Peter knew immediately that Elizabeth's anger had completely dissolved. Part of him felt frustrated in knowing that it would probably be up to him to punish Neal. He was finding it harder and harder to find appropriate punishments for his overly mischievous son.

"Of course, I don't hate you, sweetie," Elizabeth said as she pulled Neal to her side. "There isn't anything you could ever do that would make me hate you. You were just trying to make Yvonne feel special and I think that's really sweet."

"Well, I think I should get going," Yvonne said as she stood up and gave Neal a kiss on the top of the head. "I need to get Raphael home so he can start getting used to it. Thank you, again, Neal for introducing me to him and for letting me have him."

Neal gave Raphael another quick hug and kiss which led to him sneezing several times in a row. "Goodbye, Raphael. Goodbye, Y-von."

Once they were on their way, Neal turned back to his parents. "Can we watch a movie? Please? That way I won't keep thinking of how much I miss Raphael."

Peter could tell that Elizabeth was just about to give in to Neal, so he quickly interrupted. "I think some consequences are in order, don't you, El? An early bedtime, maybe?" Without waiting for Elizabeth to answer, he motioned for Neal to head upstairs. "A quick bath and then in bed, little man."

"But, Daddy…."

"No buts!" Peter said sternly, trying his best not to give in to the pathetic look on Neal's face. "You knew you weren't supposed to get into Mommy's jewelry, but you did it anyway. I think you've more than earned an early bedtime."

Neal looked at Elizabeth, hoping to see that she would side with him, but she obviously didn't.

"Daddy's right, Neal. All actions have consequences, remember?"

"I don't like consequences," Neal pouted as he started to head up the stairs. "I don't like them at all."

Once Neal's bath was done, Peter followed him into his bedroom. Elizabeth was turning down the blankets and sheet, smoothing them all out before Neal reluctantly climbed in. Once he was settled in, he looked up at his parents.

"Do I have to have consequences tomorrow, too, Daddy?" he asked sadly.

Peter was tempted to say yes to the boy, after all, he had nearly lost a three thousand dollar gemstone, but before he could answer, he remembered that they had planned on taking Neal to a new dinosaur exhibit. He was looking forward to it himself, so he didn't want to ruin it.

"No, buddy. I think tonight's consequences will be enough."

Peter and Elizabeth both kissed Neal goodnight. Elizabeth made sure he was tucked in snugly before making her way to the door and turning out the light.

"Sleep well, sweetie."

After leaving Neal's room, they both realized how tired they were and decided to have an early bedtime, too. After tidying up the house a little and letting Satchmo out one last time, they made their way up to their own bedroom.

"Can you believe he did that?" Elizabeth asked with a small laugh. "Good thing he gave it to Yvonne and not to some cute little girl at school."

Peter shuddered at that thought. "We can't take our eyes off of him for a single second, it seems. And I'm pretty sure that my hair is getting grayer by the second."

"He's not that bad," Elizabeth said, slapping Peter playfully on the arm.

"Elizabeth, he set a trap for the tooth fairy, remember? And he snuck a kitten into the house for almost a whole week. He's too smart for his own good."

"I won't argue with that," Elizabeth laughed. "Maybe we shouldn't take our eyes off of him. Ever."

"Starting tomorrow," Peter said with a yawn. "Right now, I'm exhausted."

Peter kissed Elizabeth goodnight, turned off the light, and burrowed down into the bed. Just as he closed his eyes, though, he heard someone breathing loudly at the end of the bed. Turning the light back on, he wasn't surprised to see Neal standing there.

"Neal? What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

"I can't sleep," Neal answered with a sniffle. "Every time I close my eyes I see Raphael. I need a straction."

"A straction?" Peter repeated in confusion, causing Elizabeth to snort.

"Yeah, I need a straction to take my mind off him," Neal explained.

"Oh, a distraction!" Peter said, finally understanding.

"That's what I said, Daddy," Neal said in exasperation. "Can you read me a story?"

"Of course, he will," Elizabeth answered, paying no attention to the enormous sigh that came from Peter's side of the bed.

Before either of them could say anything else, Neal jumped on the end of the bed and made his way to the top. Elizabeth pulled back the blankets, preparing to make room for him. Unfortunately, on the way towards the head of the bed, Neal kneed Peter right in the groin.

"Ow!" Peter cried out as Neal continued his trek up to the top.

"Sorry, Daddy," Neal called out innocently.

Peter rolled over on to his side, hoping to protect that sensitive part of his body from Neal's energetic movements. Just as he thought the boy was finally getting settled, Neal swung his arm around to show Peter which book he had picked out. Unfortunately, his swinging arm brought the book straight down onto Peter's nose, causing instant tears to fill his eyes. Peter couldn't help the string of curse words that escaped his mouth.

"Peter Burke," Elizabeth scolded as she tried to cover Neal's ears with her hands.

"That hurt!" Peter cried as he grabbed the book from Neal's still moving hands.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Neal said again. "I bet if your nose wasn't so big, it wouldn't have got in the way."

Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh at that. She laughed even harder at the next words out of Neal's mouth.

"Daddy said some bad words. I think consequences are in order. Don't you, Mommy?"

Author's note: I know it's been so long since I've updated and I truly apologize. It's been a busy summer.

I hope you all enjoyed the end of this little story. Neal sure is a little stinker, isn't he? I have to admit, that my oldest son did something similar when he was younger. He took a necklace out of my jewelry box and gave it to a girl he liked. I saw the girl wearing it and knew immediately that it was mine. Of course, it wasn't a three thousand dollar necklace, lol.

Anyway, thank you all so much for sticking with the story, even though the updates were few and far between. I really have no idea what I'm going to write next. Any ideas?