Chapter 5

They stayed with the Mitchell's for a couple of more days before heading out. Peter wanted to introduce Neal to his parents on the return journey.

"Neal I want you to know that you are welcome here whenever you want to visit, with or without your parents," Alan told his grandson warmly as his wife nodded her agreement.

"Thank you, I look forward to the invitation," Neal replied as he was pulled into the hug.

Neal left with a warm feeling from his mother's folks and looked forward to meeting his other grandparents.

"What are your folks like Dad?" Neal asked as they pulled away.

"My dad is strict but very loving; he only wants the best for his kids and he showed it as we grew up. He supported us in our pursuits…my brother and I played baseball on different teams but he and Mom were there supporting us and

whenever we had the misfortune to play against each other, one parent sat on each side and pulled for us to play our best. Mom is just as loving and caring as pop; great cook and always there to comfort. You'll especially like Mom; she shares a love for art and is an artist in her own right. She likes to paint watercolors and you will most likely see a painting in every room," Peter explained as they drove on.

"Where do they live?"

"Cooperstown, New York…the Home of the Baseball," Peter replied with pride. "It was a great place to grow up and fueled my love for baseball."

What do I call your parents?" asked Neal.

"My brother's kids call my dad 'Big Mike' and my mom 'Mama Sarah'," replied Peter, "I would suggest that you do the same."

"So you weren't named after your Dad?" quizzed Neal.

"I was…I was named for my grandfather, Peter and my Dad, Michael," replied Peter.

"Oh."

"Cooperstown is a wonderful to visit, Neal," El added as she entered the conversation. "They have art museums as well as the baseball museum that I know Peter will want to take you to. You and I can go to one of the art museums…it will be fun. The country side is beautiful and Peter's home is located outside Cooperstown with the most beautiful countryside…something that my parents enjoyed as well."

By the time the car pulled up in front of the house, Neal felt that he knew enough to pull this off.

As Neal felt the vehicle come to a stop he looked out to see a couple as they came out of the house. The lady was small in stature but the man towered at least a couple of inches over her and looked remarkably a lot like Peter. Neal knew that this had to be Big Mike and the lady beside him was Mama Sarah, Peter's mom.

He watched as Peter hurried from the SUV to greet his parents before bringing them back to greet El. "Son," Peter called motioning for Neal to join him.

Neal slowly got out and made his way to where the group was standing. "Mom, Dad this is Neal…our son," introduced Peter.

Taking the bull by the horns Neal said, "Big Mike…Mama Sarah…it's my pleasure to finally meet my other set of grandparents," as he came forth. He was totally shocked to be pulled into a hug first by Mike and then by Sarah Burke.

"Finally Peter and Elizabeth have given us a grandchild and although you are a bit older and larger than our others, you are most welcomed and will be loved as much as they are," replied Mike as Sarah gave him a loving kiss on the cheek.

"It's getting late…we should have just enough time to get you unloaded and taken to your rooms before supper," added Sarah as she motioned for Mike to help with the unloading and for El to join her.

Neal quickly let Satch out of his crate and watched as he made his rounds while his dad and granddad unloaded the SUV. He joined them a few minutes later and soon had everything distributed to the right bedrooms before allowing the smells coming from the dining area to remind him just how hungry he was. And it was a scent he had grown fond of since moving in with the Burkes. It was his Dad's pot roast and he quickly found his place between his grandparents to await supper.

After the blessing and before he started Neal exclaimed, "So Dad learned how to make his pot roast from you Mama Sarah?"

That brought a smile to the older lady's face and she answered with a smile. "Yes I taught Peter how to fix pot roast but many other dishes as well. I showed him how to roast a chicken and fix spaghetti with ground beef as well as to broil trout. I'm sure you have been enjoying those dishes as well," she replied as she looked around the table.

When she didn't get any replies she looked closely at her son and saw that he was avoiding her gaze and realized the truth. "Peter hasn't been fixing any dishes other than the pot roast, has he?" she asked El.

"Sarah, it isn't because he hasn't tried…at least in the beginning but after burning the chicken and scorching the spaghetti we decided that he should just stick with the pot roast…there isn't much he can destroy with that dish…just brown the roast on all sides and put in enough water to keep it from drying out and season to taste and you have a wonderful dish. If he remembers he usually puts in potatoes, carrots and onions for the last hour of cooking time and then he can get back to his game or his work and not worry too much about it," Elizabeth explained as gently as she could.

"El, I always remember to put in the vegetables…it's just that they don't always get in for the last hour," Peter said to defend himself. "You always make them taste good when that happens," he added.

"It doesn't matter Big Mike," Neal chimed in, "whenever Dad forgets to get the roast on in time for supper when Mom is working late we stop in at Fernando's and pick up four servings of his pot roast and vegetables and everything is cool. Mom loves the pot roast from Fernando's…we had some the night before we left for vacation."

"NEAL!"

"PETER! You told me that you fixed that pot roast special for me like the other two times using different herbs," exclaimed El is mock anger.

"Son, will we have to take that walk to the woodshed so early in your stay…lying to your wife is not allowed here…remember?" Big Mike added as he joined in the conversation, after a wink in El's direction. "Don't you remember our talk about keeping secrets from wives?"

"Yes, sir…you told me if I had to tell someone just tell one…and I did I told my son and he just sold me down the river," Peter replied dryly as he glared at Neal who ducked his head and began to eat fast.

The table exploded in laughter soon afterwards and the conversation merciful moved on to other topics. "So tell me young man, what are your interests?" asked Mike.

Neal glanced at Peter momentarily before replying, "I love art; in fact I'm getting ready to enter college this fall in the field of art and continue to work with Dad at the FBI as a consultant with his White Collar crimes."

"What medium do you work best in, dear?" asked Sarah.

"Oil…although I have dabbled with water color and do sketch with colored pencils," replied Neal. "I understand that you paint watercolors Mama Sarah? I can't wait to see more of them. I just saw a few as we were unloading."

"After supper I'll be happy to show them all to you…maybe we can paint together some during your stay. Did you bring any of your stuff?" she asked happily.

"Yes…I brought a drawing pad and pencils as well as an easel with my paints," replied an interested Neal.

"Maybe tomorrow after you see the sights you might like to relax with me and paint?" suggested Sarah.

"Sounds like a plan," replied Neal after swallowing his last bite. "What's for dessert?" he added with a boyish smile.

"Neal…that's not polite," admonished El.

"Don't fault the boy, Elizabeth. He probably can smell the apple pie…I got it out just a few minutes ago. Would you like a scoop of ice cream to go with that, dear?" asked Sarah as she got up and was picking up the dishes to wash.

"Yes, ma'am," replied Neal who also got up to help. "I'll bring the dirty dishes while you get dessert ready. Dad can help, too," he added as he volunteered his father who groaned but gamely got up and between the two of them stripped the table of all dirty dishes. They even gallantly scraped them before putting them in the dishwasher and hurrying back to enjoy their dessert with the rest of the family.

It was a tired Neal who fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow an hour or so later. He was sleeping in his Dad's old room with Satch situated on the rug next to the bed just like he did at home.