"Geez, Jesse Stanton?" Jack grimaced, sitting in the leather chair he and Lisa had in their bedroom, talking to her while she finished getting ready for bed. Jack, who was already ready for bed, had Nora on his lap, his leg crossed, and Nora's head there on his crossed leg, looking up at him. He shook his head and groaned at Lisa.

She turned to him from the mirror, gesturing, "I told you she was going with him. This isn't a surprise. I told you all about running into Val at the mall, her snippy comments-"

"Yeah, you did," he sighed. "I just wish Amy had better sense than to think dating Jesse was a good idea. I don't see it."

"Hmm, well, we know his mother is awful, and he's conceited and spoiled, but I guess she sees that he's cute and maybe that bad boy effect."

"Cute? You think he's cute?"

Lisa laughed from the dresser as she shook her head, "No, I mean, Amy would-"

"Bad boy?"

"Yes, Jack," Lisa sighed, "plenty of girls are attracted to that, the boy that seems to be on the cutting edge, just testing all boundaries, that guy. He's not as bad as some, but yes, that's a thing."

"I don't get it," Jack groaned.

"Don't worry," she turned and grinned at him. "You are just the rugged cowboy I didn't even know I wanted, but the second I saw you," she grinned and whistled. Jack dropped his head as he started to blush. Lisa grinned at him.

"Not the cute, bad boy," he winked at her, "just the old duffer broken cowboy." Lisa started to laugh, and before she could say more, Jack continued with his thoughts. "Oh, Lise," he groaned, dropping his head, "I really don't want to think about Jesse with Amy, dancing with her-" he paused and grimaced. Lisa smiled as she walked over to him and leaned over the chair, close to his face.

"What?" She teased, "Jesse kissing Amy?"

"Stop right there," he said, shaking his head. "No, not my Amy."

Lisa grinned as she leaned even closer, "Hate to break it to you, Cowboy, but she seemed pretty smitten with him, not that I all agree with it or think it's a good match, but," she lowered her voice, "I don't think you can do much right now. She's 14, almost 15, and she likes a boy. He likes her." She nodded to Nora, "Sadly, we'll have to deal with this in the future too."

"Nope," Jack said, pursing his lips, Lisa still there, right in his face, grinning. "She's not going to be dating anyone, especially not some cute 'bad boy' as you say. Look at her," he winked at Lisa, and both looked down at her little face. She smiled back at them, loving her new "trick" as Jack had called it the other day when she'd first done it.

"She's smiling, Lise," he nudged her next to him on the couch. They were enjoying a quiet evening, Lisa with her laptop open, going over some Fairfield business there next to Jack. He had Nora facing them on his legs, which he'd propped up on the coffee table, and yes, as soon as Lisa looked over, Nora smiled back at them.

"Oh my goodness! She's smiling," Lisa grinned at Jack, pulling her glasses off to get a good look, and both looked back at Nora. "Hello there, Pumpkin, what a beautiful smile."

Since then, she'd been smiling at them a lot, clearly happy, but she never seemed to be short of attention. Tonight, with her dad and mom in close proximity again, she was smiling brightly.

"I am looking at her," Lisa eyed Jack with a nod. "She's gorgeous, not that it should be a surprise," Lisa smirked, winking at Jack with a bright grin. "You'll be the definition of waiting on the front porch with a shotgun. How did it go when Marion started dating?"

He frowned and looked at Nora before he looked back at Lisa, still perched there by his face, grinning at him, "I might," he paused and rolled his eyes, "have been lectured by Lyndy. Might. When Marion first asked if she could go out on a date, I told her she wasn't allowed to date until she was 25."

Lisa burst out laughing, winking at Jack, "How did that work out for you? Didn't she and Tim get married when she was like 20?"

"As I said," he scoffed, "Lyndy might have lectured me on that."

"Okay, I see," Lisa winked at Jack with a grin, looking down at Nora and then back at Jack. "Let's agree to be reasonable about dating for her. Not 25," she put up a finger, "but, reasonable. I school dance, say at 14 or 15 is reasonable. Now, to be honest," she gestured, "getting married that early is what I would call unreasonable. Lots of growing up to do there at 18 or so."

"Maybe we amend it to no marriage until 25," Jack winked at Lisa, and she laughed, nodding. He added, "You'll have to handle that. I am sure I won't see that."

Lisa's expression turned to one of horrified, "Don't even say that. Neither of us knows what the future holds, and I certainly don't want you tainting things by suggesting you won't be around. I just," she paused, a tear coming to her eye that she wiped quickly, "want to focus on each day."

"Hey, I'm sorry," Jack said, reaching for her wrist and smiling apologetically at her. "I know we were having a nice banter going here, and I'm sorry, Lise. I have to admit, though, it's hard sometimes to look at her and see all the world ahead of her. I sometimes wonder how much of it I will see, that's all. I guess," he paused and frowned looking at Nora who flashed her smile again, and Jack smiled back at her before he met Lisa's gaze and nodded, "I guess I sometimes feel guilty for being her dad, for being so old. She didn't sign up for that-"

"You stop right there," Lisa said to him meeting his gaze with a sad smile. She cupped his face, "I love you so much, and I know we both love her more than we ever could have imagined. There's no 'signing up' for anything in life. Bad things happen. We all have to adjust. What I signed up for was a loving marriage to a wonderful man, and I have that," she smiled at him. "I am so in love with you, and you know what?" Lisa shrugged. "She came from that, and I'm not at all sorry. How could we be? She will always know how much we love her and love each other, no matter what. I just need you here with me to raise her, as long as either of us are given. We were given this beautiful little girl, and she needs both of us."

"I know," he nodded, pulling her wrist over and kissing it. "I'm sorry. I know she needs both of us," he smiled softly at Lisa, winking with a smirk, "you don't exactly rope a steer."

"No, I don't," she smiled with a nod, "but you were teaching me how to run the cattle back to the herd the last time I went on a cattle drive with you before she was born."

He sighed slightly, frowning again at Lisa as he waved his hand, "I just think about things like learning how to drive a car. I might be too old when the time comes. Even if I'm around, who knows if I'll be driving?"

Lisa nodded, pursing her lips, "Well, if you're not, I'm here. I'm the better driver anyways, ehh?" Lisa grinned at Jack as he chuckled back at her. "Besides, you'd want to teach her in that dump of a truck, which she's not allowed to ride in. Not to worry," she leaned in closer to Jack again, speaking softly, "when she learns to drive, she and I will drive over to the nursing home, pick you up, and you can ride around in the backseat for her lesson, yell at her some backseat driving tips because your hearing will be shot. How's that work?"

"Point taken," he winked at her. "I'll be around. I'll teach her how to drive in your car," he rolled his eyes as Lisa grinned. "I'll teach her to rope a steer, and you can teach her all about-"

"Technology for sure," Lisa smirked at Jack. "You aren't allowed to tackle that with her, no. I've got that one," and as she said that, both laughed. Lisa leaned in and kissed Jack, the two breaking apart and looking down at Nora who was once again, smiling back at them.

Jack laughed as Lisa stepped back to the mirror to finish brushing out her hair. He gave Lisa a nod, "I will have no arguments about you teaching her about technology. I don't need to tell you I hate it."

"The way things are," Lisa looked over at him from the dresser as she pointed to Nora, "by the time she's in school, she'll be teaching both of us the latest in technology. Not really excited about that, about having her grow up with so much of that around. I guess we'll just have to keep her really grounded here, outside, off devices constantly, away from the tv all the time-"

"No arguments from me," he nodded in agreement. "See, how are you and I so far apart in age, but so in sync on most everything?"

"I don't know and don't care about age, as we've discussed more than once. Now," she nodded to Nora and then looked at Jack, "Ready for bed?"

"I think she's tired enough. She's starting to do that thing with her eyes, you know where she starts to close them like she's tired. I'm just glad she's sleeping for four hour stretches, what was it, almost five the other night?"

"I call that a freak incident until it starts happening more," she said, walking back to Jack. He scooped up Nora, kissed her head, and he handed her off to Lisa. Lisa walked around to her side, put Nora down, and the couple groaned as they both climbed into bed and turned off their lights.

"You know," Jack shifted to his side to face Lisa, "Marion will be out waiting on Amy from that dance for at least another hour."

"Yes?" Lisa asked, dragging out the word, and Jack chuckled.

"Oh, I just thought with a nice, empty house, we had some privacy-"

"Jack!" Lisa smacked at him, "Nora is right there."

Jack sat up, pretending like he didn't know that and shrugged at Lisa with a nod, "Yes, I see that. With it being the middle of March, she's also two three months old, now, what as of a couple days ago, but I'm pretty sure she's unaware and not going to be commenting on our romantic life like her big sister does. That problem is out of the house for the night, so-"

"Well, no, not with her in our room. I mean, we've," she paused and gestured, "you know, had some privacy before here since she was born, but she was asleep either in her or had fallen asleep in her swing, and we moved to the opposite room. I fondly remember a lovely time out there on the couch, but no Nora in the same room. No, not until she's in her own room."

"And when might that be?" Jack eyed Lisa. "She has her own room. Oh," he hooked his hand over his shoulder, "should we use her room?"

"Stop!" Lisa laughed, swatting at him. "You know what I mean. We talked about her staying in here until she was sleeping a little longer."

"Well, when do you plan to move her, Lise? I'm waking her up when I get up for chores. She's basically to once a night or so with feeding her at 10, then 2, and then 6 in the morning. That's pretty good, much better than a lot of babies. Tim and I built her a room so she has one, and apparently, I'd like mine back for a few reasons."

"Ahh, I don't know." She looked over at him from her pillow with a frown, "I guess it's hard to think about moving her. She's getting bigger. Three months old, Jack! She's already getting bigger. She's going to need the next size of clothing any day now. You'd never know she was a preemie; she's a good size, which reminds me, I need to get her in for her checkup. Between travel and that storm, she needs her immunizations."

"Okay, but her room?"

Lisa reached over for Jack's hand and offered him a small smile, "Maybe just give me a couple more weeks to adjust to her moving, please?"

He rolled his eyes but sighed with a nod, "Whatever you want, but as I said, she's getting up when I do because I'm trying to be quiet, but it's still hard to do."

"Let's plan early April to move her, okay? Oh, I know, when I get back from that week trip to Florida," Lisa smiled at Jack, then grinned adding, "I promise I'll make it up to you." Jack chuckled, sighing as he shrugged there lying next to her.

"Fine, you decide then when you'd like everyone in their own beds. I'll just apparently go to sleep with this nice, quiet house."

Lisa laughed, reaching to hold his hand in hers. "Thank you, and I know you think I'm crazy about having her in the room but thank you. It's on the same level of crazy as oh, your other daughter knowing what we do here in this room, but I promise, April, a couple more weeks."

"Fine," he pulled her hand up and kissed it. "Oh, off topic, but speaking of April, I read that as long as the weather holds, and the forecast for the next two weeks looks promising, the road to the fishing cabin is opening April 1st."

"Oh," she smacked at him, "it is? Oh, we should go and before I have to go to Florida. I know there will be snow and all, but it would be lovely to see the area this time of year."

"Probably pretty cold up there, not exactly insulated well," he grumbled.

Lisa shifted her head toward Jack's shoulder, "Well, for a night, I suppose, we could tough it out. There is a wood stove, and I think it would be a nice getaway, you? I'm so looking forward to being able to get outside, take some nice long walks. I've got this weight to get off-"

"You always look beautiful to me," he leaned over and kissed her then. "You had a baby, Lise. That's not any easy feat for anyone. It will come, and yes, being able to get outside will help. I'm looking foward to that too, to taking some walks, maybe riding some if Marion or Amy can watch Nora."

"Yes, well, riding won't fix my weight problem, but getting out sounds wonderful. I've told you I'd love for you to come to Florida with me for work, but I know you have plenty to do here, and Nora still is pretty little. I'll have to get some walks in when I'm down there. At least we went ahead and got her passport before we are both swamped with spring and summer hitting us. It's so busy for both of us that time of year. I worry about having enough time for her, for us."

"We will adjust, Lise. We've been adjusting well to Nora over the winter. Amy will be home more too and loves watching her. You're mostly home for the summer, which I know doesn't make you any less busy, but it helps. I also realize that since you were home more this winter, you might have to travel more this summer. We'll adjust. I'm always up for a trip to the cabin, but what about Nora? Think the cabin will be okay for her?"

"She'll be fine. That wood stove heats up the place, don't you think?"

"It does," he nodded, shifting to put his arm around Lisa before he fell asleep. "Okay," he yawned, "we'll plan to head up there with some mild weather, just overnight for now, first week of April before you go to Florida. We can see how the cabin weathered the winter, which is always questionable. Not quite the romantic getaway though-"

"Why not? It was before. I had a lovely time there just being around you," Lisa commented.

Jack chuckled, leaning over to kiss her head, "I believe you were the one who made the comment about nothing romantic happening with Nora in the room. There, you can't exactly put her on the porch," he said, and Lisa smacked at him before she started laughing.

"Fine, it won't exactly be the romantic getaway we had last time in the same way, which is probably smart considering that produced her," Lisa chuckled, "but, even still, hanging out with you and with Nora alone at the cabin before I have to fly off for another week feeling like the worst mom in the world, well, that sounds pretty great to me."