Taking It Easy
by Lori Anderson


Summary:  Gary and his family spend some quailty time at home together just realxing and taking it easy.
Toni gets into an argument over the phone with a salesperson who won't take no for an answer.

Standard Disclaimer Applies

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Taking It Easy
by Lori Anderson

 Chapter One

"Listen mister, I don't care what you're selling, and I have no intention of buying anything from
you.  You keep calling this number, and I'll personally report you to the phone company for
haressment.  I can do it too.  I was once a Federal Marshal,  and I know how you people operate
from getting complaints from other people.  This family is off limits to you and other salesmen,
you got me?  We aren't interested in anything you're selling, and if you call here once more, I'll
blow my whistle so loud that you'll need to have your ears checked  Good bye!," Toni told the
salesperson and hung up the phone almost slamming it down in her anger.

"Another salesman honey?," Gary asked, and then wished he hadn't by the look on Toni's face.

"Yeah.  I told him off, and not to call here anymore.  We don't need any of his junk that he's trying
to push on people like us.  I wish I had told him that it was junk."

"Don't get yourself upset over that creep.  Come here and sit down besides me.  Let me relax
you."

Toni sat down besides her husband on the couch and Gary put his arm around her shoulders.

"Just close your eyes and relax sweetheart.  You made me promise to relax, and I'm asking you to
do the same.  We wouldn't want the kids to see you angry over a stupid phone solictor."

Toni smiled at that.  "You're right.  I want you to give me a massage later when we're alone."

"You got it honey.  I'll do it when we're alone in bed tonight."

"Good.  I'll look forward to it then. "

"You know, I've almost forgotten how beautiful you look when you're angry. Please don't punch
my arm."

"I could say something about your glutes you know."

"Yeah, but not here, and not now.  The kids might hear and we don't want to have to explain
what it is to them."

Chapter 2

Rose came into the living room from her room where she'd been playing with her dolls, and
showed her parents a picture of a bicycle that she wanted very much from a book she had been
reading. "Can I get it Daddy?  Please!  I want a bike," she said, looking at her father in her little
girl way.

Gary took the picture and looked at it.  "It looks like a nice bicycle honey.  You might be old
enough now to have your own bike.  What do you think sweetheart?," he asked looking at Toni.

"She's old enough, but if we get her the bike, she has to promise to take care of it and not to ride
it where she shouldn't.  That means no riding it in the street young lady.  Your father and I don't
want to have to rush you to the hospital because you got hit by a car for riding your bike in the
street.  Do you understand what we're saying?  You can have the bike, but taking care of it will be
your responsibilty," Toni replied.

Rose nodded.  "Okay Mommy.  I'll take good care of it.  I promise, and I won't ride it in the
street."

"That's what I wanted to hear.  Your father will take you to get your bike this weekend."

"Oh goody!  Thank you Mommy and Daddy!"

"You're welcome Rose.  Where's your brother at by the way?"

"He's in his room looking at his baseball cards."

Gary got out of his chair and  walked  towards Jefff's room to see how his son was doing.

Jeff was sitting on his bed counting his baseball cards that he had collected.

"You're a little too quiet in here son.  Bring those out to the living room," Gary said.

Jeff saw his father standing in the doorway of his room, gathered up his cards, and walked over.

"The Cubs are going to be playing a game this weekend Daddy.  Can we go see it?," he said.

"I don't know Jeff.  The tickets are pretty expensive, and your uncle Chuck kind of ruined it for
me once."

"How did uncle Chuck ruin watching the Cubs play in person for you Daddy?"

"Let's just say that he did something that ended up with us not being able to see the game that
day. I'll try to get tickets for the next game for us, okay.  Come in the living room."

Gary and Jeff went into the living room and Gary sat down besides Toni as she was ringing off the
phone.

"That was Chuck from his house.  He said to tell you that he'll be a little late for work tomorow,"
she said.

"Did he say why he was going to be late honey?"

"He said that he would be sleeping in late, and would be in about nine."

"I know that he hasn't been getting much sleep with Jade expecting and all."

"There were times that you didn't get a lot of sleep either when I was carrying the twins I
remember."

Gary smiled.  "Once Chuck's a father, everything else will be forgotten when he's holding his
child."

"Just like you were when you held Rose for the first time.  You had the biggest smile on your
face."

"I was proud at being a father, and still am.  She's growing up so fast."

"Chuck told me about the cravings Jade gets.  Chocolate ice cream and potato chips."

"Yuck!  That sounds terrible," Jeff said hearing what his mother said.

Gary and Toni both laughed at that remark that their son made.

Chapter 3

"Someday, when he's older, we'll tell him about what he just heard us talking about," Gary said.
"He shouldn't have heard it at all in the first place handsome.  We're going to have to tell them
both about the birds and the bees when the times comes," Toni told her husband as she sipped her
coffee.

"Yeah,  I know.  I'm going to take Saturday off so I can spend some time with Rose and get her
the bike she wants.  A father and daughter outing is in order I'm thinking."

"She'll love that honey.  She's been wanting to spend some time with you for a while now.  Call
her over and tell her that you're going to spend Saturday with her.  I'm going to do something
special with Jeff that day too."

"Rose.  Come here for a minute please.  Daddy has something that he wants to tell you."

Rose walked over to her father, and Gary picked her up and sat her on his lap.

"Saturday, you and I are going to spend the whole day together.  Not just getting your bicycle,
but doing whatever you want to do too.  I know I haven't been spending a lot of time with you
these days because of my work, but I promise you that Saturday is your day with nothing to spoil
it."

"Really Daddy?!  Oh, I'm so happy!  I can't wait!," Rose said excited.

"Really.  Your mother's going to spend sometime with your brother that day as well."

Rose hugged her father, and Gary hugged her back  ruffling her hair.  He set her on the floor.

Toni frowned at the way he ruffled Rose's hair like that.  "Why do you do that for?"

"Since when do you object to me being playful like that for?  Rose doesn't mind it."

"Since I'm the one who has to remind her about keeping her hair clean, and washing it."

Gary showed Toni his clean hands.  "Take a look at my hands sweetheart. They're not dirty."

Toni sighed.  "Okay.  It's a sign of affection for her on your part.  How did your morning go
today?"

"I'll tell you later after the kids are bed."

Toni nodded, and leaned against him. "It doesn't get any better than this."

"I agree.  Maybe we ought to plan a night out for just the two of us."

"It'd be nice except for one thing: the paper.  It always seems to interfer with whatever we try to
plan."

"It didn't stop us from getting married, going on our honeymoon, and having our children.  I
know I can get someone to take care of it while we go out together."

"You're right.  I almost forgot to tell you that I ran into my mother today at the grocery store."

Gary looked at her.  "How is my mother-in-law these days?  I haven't seen her for a few weeks."

Toni smiled remembering the conversation she had with her mother ealier that day.  "She's fine.
She's trying to get Dad on a diet because she feels that he needs to lose weight.  Dad doesn't think
he needs to lose any weight, but he knows it's a losing battle with mom about it.  Believe me
honey, be glad that you weren't around to hear that argument.  You wouldn't believe what she
was buying in the store."

"What was she buying in the store sweetheart?," Gary asked wondering if maybe he shouldn't
have asked.

"Health food stuff.  You know, like tufu and all that.  She tried to get me to eat it once, and I said
no thanks. I can just imagine the look on my father's face when she sets that in front of him."

"Knowing your father, he'll probably take one look, almost gag, and try to throw it away in the
nearest trash can when your mother's not looking.  Am I right?"

Toni laughed.  "Yeah.  You got that right.  I know that's what he'll do."

Chapter 4

Later that night, after the children were in bed, Toni decided it was time to have Gary give her the
neckrub he promised earlier.  So, she took a shower, dried herself off, and reached for the
nightgown on the hanger. She smiled as she slipped it over her head remembering how he had told
her how beautiful she looked in it. "I'm collecting on the promise you made me to earlier tonight
sweetheart," she said as she entered their bedroom dressed in her nightgown, and walked over to
the bed where Gary was waiting for her.

"Wow!  Do you ever look beautiful in that gown honey.  Okay.  Come over here, and I'll give you
that massage I promised you earlier," Gary told her patting the space in front of him on the bed on
his side.

Toni walked over and sat in front of him.  "Keep your promise handsome.  Let your fingers do the
walking."

Gary smiled and started to gently rub her shoulders with his hands.  "I can remember the first time
I saw you wearing this nightgown.  You were beautiful then, and you're beautiful now in it."

"It was on our honeymoon in Hawaii that I wore it.  I'm surprised you remember it after all these
years."

"Something like that I never forget. "

"Mmmm!  Keep it up and I'll fall asleep right here."

"Wouldn't be a bad idea.  How does it feel so far?"

"Just great!  I really needed this tonight after the day I had today."

"Don't expect this everynight my love.  I can't do it everynight."

"This is fine.  It's helping me to relax.  Okay.  You can stop now. I'll get on my side of the bed."

Toni kissed him and went over to her own side of the bed so she could sleep facing him.

"So, how did your saves go today?  Nothing too serious I hope."

"I had a easy day with my saves.  I don't know about tomorrow though, and I"m not going to
think about it."

"Good idea.  Let's get some sleep."

Gary reached over and shut off the light beside the bed.

Chapter 5

The next morning, the alarm didn't go off and Gary slept until almost until nine o clock.  He sat
upright in the bed and glanced at clock to see what time it was.  Grabbing his blackrobe, Gary
went downstairs to the door, and found his wife sitting in the kitchen in her chair sipping a cup of
coffee and the paper on the table. "Good morning sweetheart.  Did you sleep well?," Toni asked
smiling at her husband.

"Yeah, I slept real good considering the alarm didn't go off as usual.  Did you shut it off?," Gary
replied.

"Me?  Why would I do something like that?"

Gary knew she did it somehow, but decided not to press the issue.  Instead, he sat down in his
chair, and picked up the paper to see what saves he had in store for that day as Toni went to pour
his coffee for him. "You got up a little early this morning honey.  Thank you for getting the paper
for me."

Toni set his coffee cup down in front of him, and went to fix his breakfast for him.  "You're
welcome.  The alarm did go off at the usual time, but I shut it off before you woke up.  I figured
you needed to sleep in a little."

"Where are the kids?"

"They're still asleep.  They'll be up soon.  Tomorrow is Saturday, and you promised to spend the
day with Rose. Let someone else handle the paper tomorrow."

Gary took a sip of his coffee. "Like who?  Not Chuck.  He'd only look in the sports page."

"Emment and Marissa could do it.  They did it the time you were in the Customs Building."

Gary groaned. "Don't remind me.  I almost died because of the virus that monkey had.  I never
want to go through that again.  I guess I could get them to do it."

Toni put his eggs on a plate and buttered his toast when they popped up. She carried it over to the
table.

"Anything interesting in the paper today?" she asked putting the plate down in front of him.

"Only a couple of things.  Nothing too serious."

"Good.  That's what I like to hear.  Eat your breakfast."

Toni started to fix some eggs for herself and toast too, and smiled at what she had done earlier.

She had ran over to the alarm clock when it went off, and quickly shut it off before Gary woke
up.  Then, she had gone downstairs in her bathrobe, went to the door, opened it, and carefully
removed the paper out from underneath the cat in one movement, and shut the door before she
sneezed. She had then put the paper on the table, and went to pour herself a cup of coffee to drink
while she waited for her husband to get up. She knew he'd find out that she had been the one who
had done it somehow, and decided to play innocent when he asked which he did.  Marrying him
had been the best thing to happen to her in a long time. "How's the eggs honey?  I remembered
how you like them from the first time I made them."

"They're good.  You'd better get the kids breakfast ready when they come in here."

"I had a dream about you last night."

Gary's eyes went up.  "Really?  What was it about?"

"I can't tell you or it won't come true.  All I'm saying is that you wore your cute boxershorts in it."

The mention of his boxershorts made him blush a little.  "Now, I have to know what it's about.
Tell me.  I really want to know, and don't hold anything back my love."

"Later.  I don't want the kids to know about it."

Chapter 6

Gary arrived at Mc Ginty's around ten after his first two saves that morning which had been easy.
The first one was saving a eldery woman from being hit by a man with a briefcase by the bus stop.
The second one had been preventing a fight between two kids over a baseball glove on the
playground. One kid had insisted it was his, and the other claimed the first one had stolen it from
him. Gary has asked the first one if he had stolen the glove, and the kid had replied that he hadn't.
He had brought it from home to school for baseball pratice later, and thought he had put it in his
locker.  He had gone to check on it during recess, and found it missing. That was when the
second kid had apologized for borrowing the glove without asking permission first, and both of
them agreed to share the glove during pratice. "Morning Chuck. Marissa," Gary said smiling at his
friends as he went to the office .

"Morning Gar.  How was your morning so far?," Chuck asked taking a sip of his hot coffee.

"So far, it's been okay.  Had to stop a lady from being hit with a briefcase by the bus stop, and
then, I had to prevent two kids from fighting over a baseball glove at the school.  Turns out that
the second kid had borrowed the glove without asking permission first, and then, they both agreed
to share it at pratice."

"That's kids for you.  One of them gets a new glove or something, and everyone thinks they have
to see it or use it.  Jade said that our kids or kid will not be spolied to the point that they're rotten
and misbehaved. She wants a boy and a girl like you and Toni have, only not twins."

Gary poured himself a cup of coffee from behind the bar and took a sip.  "I need a favor from you
Chuck, and I want your word that you'll not use the paper to look at the sports page or the stock
page ."

"Gar, I don't do that anymore.  Since I'm married and going to be a father, I don't do what I did
before when you first got the paper.  I promise that I won't look at the sports page or the finical
page.  What's the favor?"

"Tomorrow is Saturday, and I promised Rose I'd go get her a new bicycle as well as spend the
day with her. I need someone I can trust to take care of the paper for me.  Can you do it pal?"

Chuck nodded.  "Sure.  No problem Gar.  Just drop it off here, and I'll take care of it."

"I'll make sure he doesn't look at the sports page Gary.  Emment and I can help too," Marissa
said.

"Thanks, but I don't want Emment to know about the paper Marissa.  I appreciate the good job
you did the other time, but this time I'm letting Chuck handle the paper for me.  "

"I understand Gary.  He doesn't need to know about the paper."

"Thanks for understand Marissa.  Chuck, I'll  bring the paper over here first thing tomorrow
morning."

"I'll be ready Gar.  Last night, I didn't get much sleep with Jade's cravings.  I just get to sleep, and
she suddenly gets a craving for what she wants.  So, I have to get out of bed and go and get it for
her.  "

Gary smiled again.  "It comes with being a father pal.  Don't let Jade see the paper."

"Don't worry.  I'm not going to take it home with me."

"I'm glad that's settled.  I can tell Toni that the paper's going to be taken care of tomorrow."

"You and Rose just have a wonderful father-daughter day tomorrow Gar."

Chapter 7

Gary was in the office doing some paperwork when the phone rang, and he answered it on the
first ring. "Mc Gintys.  Oh hello Mom," Gary said recongizing his mother's voice over the phone.

"Hello Gary.  I know this must be a surprise for you hearing from your father and I like this, but
we were wondering how you and Toni were doing and our grandkids," Lois told him from the
phone in her kitchen in Hickory as she sipped a cup of coffee from her mug that she had poured a
minute ago.

"We're fine Mom.  Tomorrow, I'm spending the day with Rose and taking her to get her first
bycyle, and Toni is going to spend some time with Jeff.  Chuck is going to handle the paper for
me so that I won't have it ruin the day for me and my family tomorrow."

"Remember the first bike that you had when you were Rose's age?  I can still picture you on it."

Gary groaned.  "Mom, I almost fell off the bike trying to ride it the first time."

"Yes, but you were so cute when you were on the bike with your father helping you."

"Mom, is something wrong?  I get the feeling that you're not telling me something."

Lois glanced in the living room and saw Berine reading the paper which he wouldn't do if he was
busy with his luger pratice and his community meetings.  "I'm worried about your father Gary.
Lately, he hasn't been himself and it scares me.  He's reading the paper right now in the living
room which is fine, except that tonight is his council meeting in town, and he told me that he feels
like he doesn't want to go.  I know something's wrong, but he won't tell me what it is."

Gary frowned.  That didn't sound like the father he knew.  "When did this start Mom?"

Lois sighed.  "This morning.  He got up and came to breakfast saying that he intended to skip
tonight's meeting.  It's like he lost interest in it for some reason, and won't tell my why."

Gary had an idea that he thought would cheer his father up.  "Mom, tell Dad that Rose is going to
get her first bycyle tomorrow, and that I'll send you a picture of her on it when I get one taken.
That'll cheer him up."

"I'll tell him son.  Wait a minute.  He's getting up and coming towards the kitchen."

Bernie motioned for Lois to hand him the phone so that he could talk to Gary and she did.

"Hi Gar.  I guess Mom told you what's going on with me right now," he said.

"Yeah, she did.  Dad, you love being on the committee!  You're the chairperson.  Why are you
feeling like you don't want to attend the meetings anymore?," Gary asked his father over the
phone.

"I don't know why I feel this way son.  As chairperson, I'll go tonight, but if things don't improve,
I might resign."

"You wouldn't do that Dad.  You're always telling me that a Hobson can handle anything.  You
can handle this whatever it is.  I know you can. Don't quit because things aren't working out.
Listen to me.  I'm sounding just like Mom telling you this.  Listen, I 've got to hang up and finish
my paperwork.  I love you both.  Good bye."

Gary hung up the phone and hoped that he had helped his father somehow with what he said.

Chapter 8

Gary finished up his paperwork and went out to the bar to get himself a beer. "My mother just
called.  She said that my father was thinking of dropping out of the committee he's in back in
Hickory.  My father's not the kind of man to quit something he loves doing for no reason.  When
he told me what was going on, I told him not to quit and reminded him what he had told me many
times," he told Marissa.

"Do you think your father listened to you Gary?," Marissa asked drinking her coffee.

"I hope so.  I don't want anything to spoil my day with Rose tomorrow.  I promised to buy her a
bicycle, and that's what I'm going to do.  Spend the whole day with her like I promised to do too."

"She'll love that Gary.  I bet she's growing into a nice little girl."

Gary nodded as he took a sip of his beer.  "Yeah, she is.  Where's Chuck?"

"RIght here Gar.  I had to check something in the kitchen for a minute," Chuck replied coming
from the kitchen.

"Was there a problem Chuck?"

"Nope.  Just had to get something straight with the chief is all.  He wants to try a new recipe he
found in a cookbook, and I told him not to try it out on the customers until he tried it at home
first."

"Makes sense.  We don't want the customers to get sick or anything," Marissa said.

"That's for sure.  I think I'll bring Rose in for lunch tomorrow."

"You're really looking forward to spending the day with her Gar.  I don't blame you.  I'll do the
same with my son or daughter one day too.  Being a father is going to be great for me."

Gary smiled at his friend.  "That's the spirit pal!  Well, I'm going to go home early and tell Toni
about the phone call I got today.  See you later. Have a good night."

He left the bar and drove home after finishing his beer.  He knew better to drive and drink.

When he got home, Gary saw his children outside in the yard playing, and smiled proudly.

"Hey you two!  Daddy's home," he said, and they saw him and came running towards him.

"Daddy!," Rose said happily as she and Jeff reached their father.

"Have you two played nicely for Mommy while I was gone today?"

"Yes Daddy," replied Jeff smiling.

"Good.  Let's go inside and see if Mommy had supper ready yet."

The children went inside the house with Gary and went to sit down on the sofa.

"Honey, I'm home!," Gary called hanging his jacket up on the peg in the closet.

Toni came out of the kitchen wearing her apron and wiped her hands on it.

"Hello sweetheart.  You're home early," she said kissing him on the check.

"Yep.  I decided to come home early.  What's for supper?"

"Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, and lima beans.  For desert, chocolate ice cream."

"Sounds good."

Toni smiled and turned to her children.  "Go get cleaned up for supper," she said.

As they went to the bathroom to wash their hands, Gary told Toni about the phone call from his
mother.

"Maybe Berine wants to step down from being the leader of the meetings.  I can see how
discouraged someone would be if something didn't happen in a meeting," she said.

"Yeah, but my father would never quit because of it.  You remember I told you about what he had
told me when I was a child.  I almost sounded like my mother when I told him."

"Do you have your day planned for Rose tomorrow?," Toni asked changing the subject.

Gary nodded.  'Yep.  I'm going to take her to Mc Ginty's for lunch for one thing, and then, we'll
go buy her bike afterwards.  Do you have yours planned with Jeff?"

"Yeah.  He's going to have a lot of fun with me tomorrow as well."

Chapter 9

After dinner, Gary helped Toni with the dishes as the children watched one of their shows in the
living room. "Good thing my mother isn't here seeing me wipe the dishes.  She tried to get me to
help her when I was 12 at home.  Of course, I had other things I wanted to do at the time other
than help with the dishes," he said.

"Maybe I'll call her and tell her that you volunteered to help me with the dishes later," Toni teased
smiling.

"Oh no you don't.  I'm only doing this tonight, and that's it.  Don't think I'll do it all the time."

"Sure handsome.  Whatever you say."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I agree with you when you said you won't do it after tonight."

Gary sighed and finished wiping the last dish and put it away.  "I'm done. I"m going into the other
room and read the paper."  He hung up his towel, and went into the living room to sit in his
favorite chair.

He sat down in his chair, and picked up the paper.  "What are you kids watching?," he asked.

"It's a show about dolphins Daddy," replied Jeff turning to look at his father.

"That's good Jeff.  The more you learn about them, the more you can remember later on when
you read about them in school.  Tomorrow's Saturday, and I know both of you are going to have
fun."

"I will with you Daddy.  I can't wait until I get my new bike," Rose said excited.

"How come she gets to have a bike tomorrow, and I have to wait?  That's not fair."

Toni came out of the kitchen just then having finished rinsing out the sink, and heard the question.

"Because we feel that she's ready to have a bike.  I know you think it 's not fair that you have to
wait until you get one, but I promise you that you'll get one sometime.  Tomorrow, I'll buy you
something special. Howzat?"

"Okay Mommy.  That sounds great to me.  I don't want to sound jealous of Rose."

"Good boy son.  Come and sit with me on the sofa."

The kids sat on the sofa besides their mother watching the show about dolphins on television.

Gary put the paper down and watched the show with his family.  It was more interesting than the
paper.

When the show was over, Toni told her children to get ready for bed because they had big day
tomorrow and they needed their rest.  "Make sure you brush your teeth good," she reminded
them.

Five minutes later, both twins were ready for bed and their teeth were brushed really good.

Toni smiled when she saw how nice their teeth looked.  "Good job you two," she said.

Gary was pleased at the way his children's teeth looked too.  They had learned well.

"Did you put the cap on the toothpaste after you were done?," he asked.

Rose nodded.  "Yes Daddy," she replied.

"Give your father a kiss good night," Toni told her chidlren knowing it was time for them to go to
bed.

Rose went over and kissed Gary good night on his check.  "Good night Daddy."

"Good night honey.  Sleep well."

Jeff went over and did the same.  "Good night Daddy."

"Good night son.  Sleep well, and I'll see you in the morning."

Chapter 10

The next morning, Gary refused to get the paper when he heard the cat meowing outside the
door. "Sorry pal.  Not today.  Go to Chuck's place.  Today's reserved for my daughter and
nothing is going to ruin it for her," he said standing by the closed kitchen door in his robe . Meow.
Meow.  the cat continued to say as it tried to get Gary to open the door and take the paper. The
door opened, but it wasn't Gary who was standing there, but Toni with a broom in her hand. "You
heard what he said.  Get out of here!  Leave him alone today!  Shoo! Scat!," she told the cat as
she swung the broom at it trying to get it to leave which it did, and Toni slammed the door in it's
face. Satisfied that she had gotten rid of the troublesome feline, Toni went back into the kitchen
to pour herself a cup of coffee and sat down besides Gary at the table, who was already enjoying
his coffee. "Was it necessary to take the broom to the cat honey?," Gary asked frowning.

"Yes it was.  You promised to spend the day with Rose, and the paper can do without you for just
one day. She's really looking forward to spending today with you.  She was so excited that she
almost couldn't sleep last night when she went to bed.  I told her that if she went to sleep, the
morning would come faster."

Gary sighed and took a sip of his coffee. He rememebered what had happened the last time he had
taken a day off from the paper, and what it almost caused.  Today was different, though.  His
daughter was more important to him than the paper, and he put it out of his mind.

In Hickory, the cat appeared outside Gary's parent's house, and Bernie went to pick up the paper.

"Look what's here Lois!  Gary's spending today with our granddaughter like he promised," he
said.

Lois Hobson smiled as she watched the cat come in and find a spot on the living room rug.

"He said that he would when we spoke to him yesterday.  We can handle the paper today for him.
Do you remember the time when Gary got his first bike?," she told her husband.

"Yeah.  He was so proud of it, and almost hated me for putting training wheels on it."

"Well, he probably thought it was embrassing for him to be seen riding it with training wheels by
his friends."

Bernie took a sip of his coffee and opened the paper to see who needed help that day.

Meanwhile, back in Chicago,  Gary and his family were getting ready to eat breakfast alset for a
day of fun.

"Good morning Daddy," Rose said coming into the kitchen wearing her pajamas.

"Good morning sweetheart. Did you sleep good last night?,"  Gary asked his daughter.

"Yes Daddy.  I had a dream about my new bike."

"Well, today, we're going to make that dream come true."

"Jeff, do you remember that I said I was going to buy you something specail today?," Toni asked
her son.

"Yes Mommy," Jeff replied drinking his orange juice.

"Well, today, I am going to keep my promise.  This afternoon, while Daddy and Rose are getting
her bike, we are going someplace where I can buy you your own special baseball hat."

"Wow!  That sounds neat Mom."

"I knew you'd like that."

Later that morning, Gary and Rose headed downtown in the van, and Toni and Jeff went in Toni's
car.

"First stop, a shop I know that sells baseball cards," Toni told her son smiling at him.

"Oh boy!  Baseball cards to add to my collection," Jeff said excited.

Gary and Rose went to Walmart where Gary knew he could get her a bicycle at a good price.

"Okay, we'll take a look at the bikes in your size, you can pick out what color you want, and then,
we'll see how much the price is.  Sounds fair?," he said smiling at Rose.

"Yes Daddy.  It sounds fair to me," Rose replied excited about getting her first bicycle.

They looked at the different bikes, and Rose saw one that she wanted.

"This is the one I want Daddy!  See how pretty it is," she said pointing to a pink bicycle,

Gary looked, nodded at her good choice, and took a look at the price tag to see how much it cost.

"That's not too bad for a bicycle.  You're sure that this is what you want?"

"Yes Daddy."

"Okay.  I'll tell the clerk that we'll get it after lunch.  He can hold it for us until then."

Gary found a salesperson and told him that he was going to buy the girl's pink bicycle for Rose.

"I'll pay for it now, and we can pick it up after lunch.  Is that okay with you sir?," he asked.

"Sure Mr. Hobson.  I'll put it behind the front counter for you, and let them know that you'll be
back to get it after lunch," the salesperson replied smiling at Gary and Rose.

"Thanks."

Chapter 11

Gary paid for the bicycle, and promised he'd be back for it after lunch.  He hadn't told Rose where
they were going to have lunch as he wanted it to be a surprise for her.  He and Rose left Walmart.
"Let's see, we've got your bike paid for and ready to be picked up after lunch.  What else do we
need to get while we're out shopping in this area?," he said as they walked towards the van.

"A bicycle helmet so I can wear it to protect my head while I'm riding my brand new bike," Rose
replied.

"Okay.  We'll get that next, and I know where we can get a helmet too. Let's get you in, and
buckled up."

Gary opened the back door door, and set his daughter on the back seat fasting her seatbelt for her.

He went around to the driver's side, got in, and drove out of the parking lot.

Five minutes later, he came to a sports store, and parked the van outside in front.

After unfastening Rose, and setting her down on the ground, he grabbed her hand and together
they walked to the door of the sports store.  Once inside, they looked around until they found the
kid's helmets, and Gary paid for one for Rose.  They left the shop, and Gary glanced at his watch
to see what time it was.

"Hmmm.  Getting close to noon.  We'd better go somewhere for lunch," he said outside.

"Where are we going to have lunch at Daddy?," Rose asked.

"It's a surprise honey."

Chapter 12

The news on the television about the attacks in New York and the other places stunned the usual
lunch crowd who were inside the bar.  Even Chuck was speechless when he saw the tragic events
unfolding. "Sorry Gar, but I"m going home to be with Jade.  I don't want this to upset her too
much. Not in her condition," he finally told Gary as he came around the bar heading for the door.

"I understand pal.  Go on.  Don't worry.  Jade needs you more than this place does now.  Go be
with her," Gary said as he put his arms around Rose to comfort her feeling her little body start to
tremble.

"Thanks Gar."  Chuck left the bar and drove straight home to be with his wife to help her deal
with this.

"Come on honey. Let's go sit down.  You shouldn't watch this anymore right now," Gary told
Rose.

He lead her towards one of the booths and gently slid over with her still holding her to comfort
her.

Five minutes later, Toni entered the bar carrying a crying Jeff in her arms as she made her way
over to where her husband and Rose were sitting.  She sat besides Gary who sttill held Rose in his
arms. "We were just coming out of the sports shop after buying his baseball cards, going to the
car, and just as soon as we got in, I made the mistake of turning the radio on, and the news came
on about the attacks.  I knew I had to come here so that we could help our children deal with this
together.  He asked me why on the way here, and then, he started crying like his heart was
breaking," she told Gary.

Gary nodded.  "Rose is almost in tears herself right now.  I could her body tremble like she was
ready to cry. Uh oh.  I see the tears coming now.  I think we should go home where they can cry
in private," he said.

"Good idea.  We can have lunch there as well."

Gary picked up his daughter whose face was showing how upset she was, and ready to burst into
tears.

"We're going home honey.  Everything's going to be alright," he told her trying to comfort her.

"Why Daddy?  Why did this happen?," Rose cried as they walked towarrds the door with Toni
and Jeff behind them.  Her eyes were tearfilled, and Rose leaned in more to her father's shoulders
as they left the bar.

Ten minutes later, all four of them were back home, and Toni let Gary handle both children as she
went to fix a simple lunch for them all in the kitchen. Her own eyes were starting to fill with tears.

Gary sat on the couch between his children his arms around both of them who were crying now.

"It's okay to be sad for those people.  It's no crime to cry kids.  I know you don't understand why
it happened. All I can tell you is that some bad people are behind this," he told them gently and
lovingly.

Rose just cried as her sobs shook her body.  What she had seen on the television had scared her.

Jeff sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.  "I hate those bad people Daddy," he
said.

"So do a lot of people right now Jeff.  There'll be a lot of anger in the days ahead, and a lot of
people asking questions to which some of the answers won't be known for a while."

Toni came into the living room carrying a tray in her hands with four sandwhiches on it.

"It's not much, but it's enough for now.  I'll get the drinks and be right back," she said setting it
down on the table.  As she went back into the kitchen to get their drinks, Toni could feel the tears
threating to flow down her cheeks from her eyes, but she wiped them away knowing she had to be
strong for her children.

Gary handed a sandwhich to Rose, one to Jeff, and took one for himself off the tray.  "You have
to eat kids. I know you don't feel like eating right now, but I want you to eat anyway, o kay."

Rose nodded and took a bite of her sandwhich.  She chewed it like she had been taught to chew.

Toni returned with four glasses of lemonade, and gave one to each of her children,

She sat down besides Jeff, and picked up a sandwhich for herself to eat.

"At least they're eating.  I wish they hadn't seen or listen to the news today," she told Gary.

Gary nodded as he took a drink of his lemonade.  "I know sweetheart.  It scared them seeing all
those bad things happen on the television today.  You guys are more important to me than the
stupid paper right now."

Toni felt the same way as she ate her sandwhich and looked at her family. She wouldn't know
what she'd do if anything to them.  Too many close calls with Gary had made her realize that.

For the rest of the day, the television was not turned on, and they listened to a jazz CD that Toni
put in.

Gary got a phone call from his parents, and assured them that everyone was alright.  "The kids are
scared and upset right now Mom, but Toni and I are helping them through this the best we can,"
he told Lois.

"Good honey.  Your father needs to calm down himself right now.  He's all for resigning up in the
army and going over there and fight whoever's repsonsible for this terrible tragedy.  I managed to
get him to eat something, and listen to reason that all we can do is pray right now," Lois said.

"Sounds like Dad.  Thanks for calling Mom.  I love you both."

"We love you too son.  Same goes for Toni and our grandchildren.  I'm so glad you're there for
them."

"They're the most important thing to me right now Mom."

"Glad to hear it Gary.  I'll talk to you later.  Glad to know you're alright.  Bye."

Gary hung up the phone and told Toni who had called.  "At least they're calmed down a little," he
said.

Toni nodded looking at their children sitting on the sofa besides her taking a nap.

"They can sleep right here for now.  Being here for them when they wake up will make them feel
so much better.  I know you told Chuck to be with Jade. I saw him driving past as I came towards
the bar."

"I told him it was alright for him to leave.  With Jade in her condition, she doesn't need to get
upset . Chuck left to be with her and help her through this.  I think Emment came to get Marissa."

That night, when the children went to bed, both parents prayed with them for the vitctims and
their familes.

Rose would get her bike, but not until it was safe to do so Gary decided.

Email the author: lori@maplecity.com
 
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