Chapter 32

"Alright, what would you like to talk about?" AJ asked pushing up on his elbow.

"Well, AJ, I know it's not proper protocol, but I was wondering if you had any feelings on the rape case Commander Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie have before me at this time?"

"I usually don't get feelings about things like that, but I have been given updates at the morning staff meetings. Why do you ask?" frowned AJ.

"Because I have a bad feeling about this one," said Miranda. "The young man that's accused makes me uneasy."

"What do you mean uneasy?"

"There is something about his eyes that give me a creepy feeling. They seem soulless."

"Miranda, you know you can't let your feeling influence a case," cautioned AJ.

"I know AJ, but I just get this twisted feeling in my gut that he is guilty, even though he has an alibi."

"Well I'm sure that Mac has thoroughly checked out any corroborating witnesses."

"I'm sure she has, she seems to be an excellent attorney, but I just can't help the way I feel."

"Maybe I should distract you from your thoughts about that case," AJ grinned.

"Oh? Just how do you plan on doing that?"

"Like this," he said as he lowered his head and captured her lips in a tender kiss.

"Grammy kissing!" squealed Randy.

"Not only is he cussing, but he is a nark too," laughed AJ rising up a reaching for the little boy.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing catch with Randy and Dammit. By the time they returned Miranda's grandson to Nora and Josh it was hard to tell who was more worn out, the doggie or the child. AJ carried an exhausted Randy to the door for Miranda. He was introduced to Josh at that time. With a grin Josh told him, "I've heard all about you, Sir, from Uncle Tom."

"I'm sure none of it's true," laughed AJ.

"So he didn't repeatedly save your life in Vietnam?"

"Let's just say, took both of us being as vigilant as possible, to keep each other out of harms way."

Josh laughed and said, "I believe that Sir."

Randy reached for his daddy and as Josh took him from AJ's arms the tiny nark told, "Grammy was kissing AJ."

"Oh, she was now was she?" his father asked.

Ever the gentleman, AJ admitted, "I think it was more the case of me kissing her."

Before Josh had a chance to respond to this Randy said, "Down Daddy."

Placing his son on the floor, he watched in amazement as Randy got to his feet, walked across the room, and began to pound his little hands against the door saying, "Dammit, Dammit, Dammit."

"Mother what have you been teaching him?" asked Nora, not sure whether to be more shocked at her son's vocabulary, or the fact that he'd just walked across the room.

Shamefaced, AJ once again took the blame, "I'm sorry Nora, that was my doing as well. I brought my dog along on the picnic today and that's her name."

"How in the world did she ever come by a name like that?"

"Yes, he never did tell me that story," replied Miranda.

"Well, why don't I get us all some ice tea and we can all sit down and he can tell us?" Nora suggested as she hurried to get the tea.

Miranda and AJ took a seat on the couch. Once they had their tea, AJ put his arm around Miranda's shoulders, as Nora and Josh took note, and grinned at each other. Having missed the shared look, AJ began his story of how Dammit got her name. He explained that because he was a Shakespeare fan he had tried several names from the bard's plays to no avail. Then the dog had jumped up into his favorite chair and AJ laughingly admitted that he had said, "Damn it get down." The dog had immediately responded. AJ had tried the cuss word again and she had come over and licked his hand. The name had truly stuck when the next day he had taken her in to work and she had knocked a stack of file folder off of Colonel Mackenzie's desk. She had exclaimed, "Damn it!" and the dog responded again. His audience of three had all gotten a good laugh over his story. After the laughter had died down, AJ again apologized that Randy had picked up the name.

To Be Continued….