And love
Chap 73 Redux!
A/N: The Reagan girls have been mature beyond their years all along; precocious? In this chapter and going forward, there will be some dietary discussions; playing off of the Sunday Lamb Chop Fiasco. I am having vigorous internal debates as to where this family will land. Any thoughts are welcome.
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Linda has been with Jamie and Eddie for a week now. She and Danny have talked almost daily, phone or TXT; she is due to return home after dinner on the island this coming Sunday. Danny seems to have settled down (he misses her a lot) and Linda is hopeful that things are back to normal. Well, as normal as can be with her husband still not back to work on the streets as a 1st degree detective. Time will tell. His work with physical therapy plateaued long ago.
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SATURDAY ON THE ISLAND
GG came out early Saturday morning to spend some time with Jamie's family and prep for Sunday dinner. He put the meat in the fridge, and waited for the girls to get ready for the day. He sat at the kitchen table, sipping his coffee and talking with Eddie.
"It's great to have you out here Pops; what do you and the girls have planned for today?"
"Mary Rose said we are taking a ride in the cart with Joseph pulling."
"Oh? Does Jamie know that, I hadn't heard." Eddie is surprised.
"I don't know, why?"
"Well, the girls are not supposed to take Joseph and the cart out without one of us."
"Hm, let's check when the girls get down."
AJ starts to fuss; they hear him over the monitor. Eddie gets up and heads to the nursery. As soon as she leaves, the girls skip downstairs.
"GG, you're here!" They all exclaim, giving him giant hugs. They start looking for their jackets as he asks.
"Have you gotten permission for our ride today?"
The girls look at each other and shrug. "I thought that you covered that, GG?" Mary Rose explains.
"Well, I'm not sure your parents would agree. Let's ask your mom when she comes out. She went to attend to your brother, AJ."
Just then Eddie came out with AJ over her shoulder. "What's this I hear about a ride in the cart?" She raises an eyebrow.
"We were wanting to take GG for a ride. Is that OK?" Mary Rose is rather sheepish, wringing her hands.
"Yes, but you should have talked this over with father and I before this. Please." Eddie is firm.
The crew get dressed, Eddie and AJ settle in a rocker and he starts on breakfast. Jamie wanders out of the home office. "What's up, babe? I heard some talk out here?"
Eddie tells him about the discussion; he is a little perturbed. "I'll go out to the barn and check things out."
"Be gentle, babe, please."
"I will." He bends down to kiss AJ gently on the head, then his love on the lips.
BARN
The crew have Joseph hitched up to the cart and are discussing seating arrangements.
"Pops, are you carrying?"
"Yes," Henry opens his jacket to show his shoulder holster.
"Cassie, your asp?"
"Yes, dad," she holds up her baton.
"Smart phones?"
All hold up their phones.
"Don't do anything stupid!" Jamie looks pointedly at Pops and Cassie – who carry weapons. "Remember the emergency code and have a great time. "Oh, turn on find-a-phone!"
"ON!" They raise their phones. Dad blows them all a kiss and they are off.
Their property has a short connecting trail that leads to a series of hiking & riding trails going east out to the less populated areas of long island. When they emerge out of their property, Mary Rose turns Joseph east; he is going at an easy pace.
"Geez, GG. You would think we were taking off in a 747 or something!" Mal exclaims.
"Well, your parents are very concerned for your safety. I can't blame them for that. They see so much tragedy in their lines of work, you know. As a police officer and paralegal."
"Why did mommy not become a police officer?" Cassie wonders. "She was training, wasn't she?"
"Yes," GG responds. "But after they started building a family she decided to get into a safer job."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
THEY RIDE ON
They are enjoying the ride, the scenery, the camaraderie when a loud buzzing interrupts their ride. 2 young boys on trail bikes pull up alongside them. One on either side.
"Hey gramps, what ya doing?" The boy on the right shouts.
"Out for a pleasant ride, until you jerks came along," Pops shouts back.
"Screw you!" The left outrider yells, flipping them off.
"Run along, kiddies!" GG shouts. He reaches into his jacket – Mary Rose stills his arm.
"No! GG!" She whispers loudly. Henry relaxes his arm.
"HOME! HOME JOSEPH!" Mary Rose commands loudly.
Without hesitation, Joseph does a 180 and heads for home at his fastest shuffle. Mary Rose encouraging him all the way.
After about one-half mile the left rider struck a rock, loses control and lays his bike down. His companion stops to assist- waving his arms and cursing.
Mary Rose slows Joseph a little; Mal had called dad and he listened in on the goings on. He walked to the barn and opened the barn door. Mal told him that the boys were n longer following them. They cruised straight into the barn and met a very relieved father. The girls jumped down and into daddy's arms.
"I was so scared, daddy!"
"Those two are jerks, I've seen them at school."
"Joseph did so good, daddy! Just like I trained him."
"Well son, your girl Mary Rose kept me from doing something stupid, just like you warned us!"
"Your 1st reaction was to draw, right?"
"Of course it was. Yours would have been too!"
"Probably." Jamie admits.
Eddie comes rushing out of the house; "Is everyone ok?" She breathlessly pants.
"Mommy!" The girls turn their attention to Eddie and AJ on her hip. Cassie reaches for her little brother – "I am so glad you weren't with us, buddy." He snuggles up to her chest.
"We are ok mommy," Mal reports.
Eddie looks them all over, finally satisfied that they are indeed all ok. They trudge into the house.
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DINNER PREP
As soon as they decompress and change clothes, Mal and GG sit down and talk things through for tomorrow.
"GG, what did you bring for tomorrow," Mal inquires.
"A veal roast, Yukon potatoes and corn on the cob. Your mother assured me that you have enough other ingredients to round out a nice dinner."
"Veal?" Mal furrows her brow.
"Yes, have you had it before?"
"No . . . I'm afraid that Mary Rose may have a fit."
"Why?" The family doesn't yet understand the dynamics of this household. Lamb chops were a window for those paying attention . . . and who cared.
"Well, my sisters and I have done a lot of research about different diets, different foods. Do you know that veal is baby cow?"
"Yes, it's young calf."
"That is baby cow to my sister. Cassie and I support her. What options do we have, GG?"
"Well, does your mom have anything in the freezer? Maybe some ground beef?"
"Probably, I'll go look." She does, and comes back shortly nodding. "Yup, we've got some."
"Good, we can make hamburger steak for her."
"Me and Cass too?"
"Really?"
"Yes, please."
Pops frowns, but nods.
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SUNDAY DINNER
Danny comes busting in the front door. "WHERE IS MY LIN?" He shouts as he skids to a stop.
Linda hustles down the stairs and into his open arms. They embrace, kiss and weep. It is a touching reunion.
"I missed you so much!" He exclaims as he leans back so he can look her in her baby blue eyes.
"I missed you too! Are you and the boys, ok?" She pulls out of her husband's arms to encompass her boys. They are very glad two see her.
"We barely survived dad's cooking!" Sean declares.
"Agreed," Jack adds, with a smirk.
They head to the FR to catch up.
DINNER
Malina rings the dinner bell that her dad has installed in the kitchen. Her family thinks it's cool; they are awaiting other responses. Everyone comes to the table, taking their assigned seat. (Name on place card)
Pops leads the family in the traditional blessing. Food starts circulating and some notice that the 3 Reagan girls have a different entrée than most.
"Hey little one, what's that on your plate? Hm? You someone special?" Danny starts right in where he left off.
'GOD, we can't even get thru one meal?' Jamie thinks.
Mary Rose glares at her uncle, but remains silent. The girls have talked this over. They decided that Cassie would speak for them all. It is felt that she is better equipped to handle uncle Danny's barbs. She speaks up:
"Uncle Danny, we girls-
"Cat got your tongue, little one?" A leer on his face.
Mary Rose keeps her powder dry.
Cass resumes, "We girls have decided not to eat certain foods. Baby cow is on the NO list."
"So, do all the cooks in the family get to see this verboten list?" Danny just can't help "just sayin". He huffs out his apparent disgust.
"Verboten?" Mary Rose whispers.
"Later," Cassie whispers back.
Linda slumps in her chair. 'GOD, now I see why I left home! What am I gonna do?' She raises her head and looks to Jamie and Eddie. "I really hate to ask this, but can I stay a while longer?" Her eyes are pleading.
Jamie and Eddie look at each other, then nod in agreement. Jamie nods to his wife, she speaks "Linda, you may stay as long-
"What the f*k, you are breaking up our family!" He roars as he jumps to his feet.
"Sit brother!" Jamie is up too. "This is all your own doing. You can't even get thru 1 meal without criticizing someone. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, NOW!"
Everyone is stunned, and does not intervene.
Jamie marches around the table and takes Danny's arm. Surprising some, Danny placidly is led to the front door. "You have car keys?" Jamie softly asks.
Danny nods. "The boys?" He mutters.
"Don't worry bro, we'll get them where they want to go."
Danny nods, gives the kid a small hug, with a tear in his eye he heads for the jeep.
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TBC
Loose strings: Cassie's video!