Kat was herding the girls towards the bathroom…

Kat was herding the girls towards the bathroom and Claudette was battling to keep the sweets out of Percy’s reach. “I’ll get it,” Jess said.

As she rounded the kitchen entrance and headed toward the front door she did a double take. OMG it’s Brawny Ultra, is this JC?

Standing at the front door was Brawny meets Tom Seleck and then roll in some Schwarzenegger muscle and killer blue eyes. Of course Jessie came to that conclusion based only on the strong arms and the nose and eyes visible above the boxes he was carrying.

“Catch the door for me,” came a pleasant if frustrated voice “Got something here for the lady of the house.”

It was then that Jessie realized she was just staring through the screen door. She jolted and pushed it open as she leaned away to make room for his entrance. Buck trotted in behind sniffing suspiciously at his jeans.

Percy met the new guest in the living room, “JC, good to see ya, let me take one of those off your hands.”

Buck trotted back to Jessie and she realized she still had the screen door open. As Buck sat down with a huff through his nose Jessie made sure the screen door didn’t slap shut.

“Is that another mouth for lunch?” Claudette called from the kitchen.

“Yup!” Percy hollered back, “and he’s come to help set the table.”

At that odd remark Claudette made her way into the front room at the same time Kaylie and Kris came tearing in from the washroom. “I’m a good table helper too!” Kaylie said.

“Hi there sugar pie,” Claudette said as she leaned in and gave JC a quick hug, “what are you two boys up to?” she asked as she eyed the two large boxes set on her sofa.

JC stepped back shyly, which was odd to see given his muscular size, and nodded toward Percy.

Jessie couldn’t help but grin at Percy’s giddy state. She’d never seen him like this. Buck made some grumbling noises as JC edge slightly closer to them to obviously move out of Claudette’s way.

“Go ahead,” Percy nodded at the boxes and said to Claudette, “Open ‘em up.”

Claudette eyed Percy out of the corner of her eye and set a dishtowel down on the end table. As she opened the first box she pulled out a sheet of bubble wrap and started to squeal. She proceeded to pull out the most beautiful ocean blue plate with subtle gilded edges with a slightly worn look. The plate was followed by hand crafted mug, followed by bowl and saucer. “Oh Lordy sweetheart they’re gorgeous!” she said as she wrapped her arms with a plate and mug in her hands around Percy’s neck. “My own dishes,” she sang.

“Oh JC!” she squealed again, “These are gorgeous; I can’t believe how talented you are, I mean, they’re just fantastic sugar!”

JC quietly thanked her as Claudette squeezed him into a bear hug of Texas-size proportions.

There is just no way that man is smelling anything but White Rain for the next 12 hours, Jessie thought.

As three of the Turnbull boys made their way towards the house…

As three of the Turnbull boys made their way towards the house, Jessie stepped on the back porch and waved, “Hidee fellas, I brought some young farm hands over for some hard labor!”

Kyle, Kaylie and Kris came barreling out the back door behind her.

“Is us!” little Kris called again.

“Well it certainly is,” Percy says as he reaches the enthusiastic group and ruffles Kris and Kaylie’s hair. “And hello sir,” he says as he extends a hand to Kyle.

Kyle’s face breaks into an authentic grin and his chest puffs out as he take’s Percy’s hands, “Hello Mr. Percy, my sister wants to see your pig.”

Peter and Paul both chuckled as they made their way toward the back door and Percy grinned, “Well I’m sure we can manage that.”

Jessie swung her arms around Peter and Paul’s shoulders, “Hey fellas! Haven’t seen you in ages, how’s the crop?”

“Good,” they both confirmed in unison.

As the troop made their way into the house they found Kat and Claudette with their heads together eyeing whatever part of lunch was in the oven.

“I’ve got to have that recipe,” Kat was telling Claudette.

As they both leaned up and turned around Claudette asked, “What are you boys doing in so early? It’s a good hour until lunch will be ready.”

“I’d asked JC to swing by for something, wondered if the truck I heard was his,” said Percy, “Instead I find us overrun with giggly midgets!”

Percy leaned down and began tickling Kayce and Kris until they squealed. Claudette slapped at Peter as he tried to sneak a peanut butter cookie with chocolate chunks off one of Kat’s goodie plates.

“After dinner,” Claudette said.

Kyle looked up at Paul who had sat down at the old oak kitchen table. With eyes the size of saucers he whispered conspiratorially, “You mean girls boss you around even when you’re growed up?”

Paul fought back a grin and looked down to Kyle with a solemn head nod and, “Yup.”

As Percy let the girls down to run toward their mama, Paul gave Kyle a noogie and then there was a knock on the front screen door. “Anyone home?” hollered a voice through the screen.

Laden down with kiddos and cookies, Jessie and Kat decided to caravan…

Laden down with kiddos and cookies, Jessie and Kat decided to caravan to the Turnbull farm in separate cars. When they drove up, Jessie let Kyle and Kaylie out of the truck cab. The kids ran over to Kat’s car to unload Kris and about three dozen cookies. Jessie rested her wrists on the top of the steering wheel and peered out the windshield at the cozy farm house the Turnbull’s had called home for decades. She noticed Claudette’s touches even from the front porch. Gorgeous ten gallon geraniums flanked the front steps that led up to the whitewashed front porch. Hanging pots were scattered around the porch between posts with different types of streaming ivy.

Jessie noticed some familiar looking rocking chairs off to the side of the porch. It looked like Case’s handiwork was making its way around Chancy.

“Come on Aunt Jess,” hollered Kaylie as she hopped up and down outside the car, dropping a few crumbs off the plate of cookies she had.

Jessie grinned and opened the door, “Careful sugar, you’re going to drop your goodies before Percy and his brothers get to try ‘em.”

“Okay, do you think I can save a cookie for the piggies?” Kaylie eagerly asked.

An impatient Kyle behind her just rolled his eyes and tugged on her sleeve. “Come on, let’s go see Ms. Claudette.”

As the troop made their way up the front steps, Claudette opened the front door, “Who’s that I see on my front porch?!”

“Is us!” called out Kris.

With a good chuckle, Claudette hauled little Kris up for a hug, “So I see sugar, so I see. Come on in and let me take those cookies off your hands.”

Claudette ushered the kids through the front room and into the bright sunny kitchen and dining area that served as the hub of the Turnbull farm. Through the back windows you could see the barn off to the left and the wide open peanut fields to the right and beyond. Jessie walked to the back windows as the kids and Kat unloaded their plates of cookies on the counters. Kaylie was informing Miss Claudette that some of the cookies were for the piggies as Jessie watched Percy come around the barn followed by Peter and Paul. There was no doubt that all three were brothers. They had the same height, give an inch or two, same no-nonsense stride and Turnbull ears.

As the troops settled in to their breakfast…

As the troops settled in to their breakfast they were absorbed into the deliciously quiet reverence that comes with a great meal and stuffed mouths. As Jessie looked up from her plate she saw all of them with mouths stuffed with waffles and toppings and yummy smudges on lips, cheeks and fingers. Even Buck had a touch of whipped cream on his nose from a bite snuck to him under the table. She couldn’t help but giggle. She caught Kat’s eye and they both chuckled. In seconds they were all laughing.

“What a bunch of piglets we are!” Kat laughed.

It was a good hearty laugh accompanied by a genuine, full-on smile. It was little Kris who reached up to Kat’s lips and said, “Mommy smile.”

Kat picked her up onto her lap, “And so does my littlest piglet.”

“I like pigs,” Kaylie informed the group.

“You’ve never even seen a pig,” Kyle sarcastically reminded her.

“Well, we’ll have to fix that,” Jessie said as she tossed her napkin on her plate, “What do you say we go out and visit Miss Claudette at her farm?”

“Can we take her c-o-o-k-i-e-s?” Kaylie eagerly asked.

“Knowing your mama, there’s already a few dozen ready for just such an occasion,” Jessie said.

The spring sunshine was sneaking through the curtains in Jessie’s room

The spring sunshine was sneaking through the curtains in Jessie’s room when she heard a loud whisper from outside her bedroom door.

Kyle was scolding the girls, “Shhh…Mama said be qui-et y’all.”

Jessie smiled as she rolled over at the sound of the girls’ giggles. She managed to open one eye at the clock as her alarm came on. This morning she was greeted to the chorus of Kelly Clarkson’s Miss Independent. Buck, however, wasn’t at the bedside to greet her with a sloppy kiss. Rather, he was sniffing at the door. As she sat up in bed she saw a little set of fingers sneak under the door for Buck to lick.

She quietly tiptoed to the door behind Buck and nudged him aside with her foot. Just as the little fingers retracted she pulled open the door with a big, “Boo!”

Kaylie and Kris both fell back on their butts squealing with laughter and were promptly overrun by Buck and his wagging tail. All the commotion had Kyle bursting from the bathroom with soap still on his hands and Kat hollering up from the bottom of the stairs, “Girls! Did you wake Aunt Jessie?”

“Yup!” Jessie hollered back down.

“Sorry J,” Kat called, “could you make sure they’re washed up for breakfast?”

Jessie picked up the girls, one under each arm and hauled them towards the bathroom. Kyle promptly showed her clean hands as he headed downstairs, singing, “I’m done, I’m done. I get dibbs on waffles!”

“I washed too!” cried Kaylie.

“Yeah, well Buck’s kisses don’t count as clean you giggle monsters,” Jessie said as she helped them turn on the water.

When they were done and heading down to the kitchen, Jessie wondered what she’d find. Kat’s restlessness at night was manifesting in any manner of cakes, pies and savory treats. This morning they were greeted with huge Belgian waffles with a seemingly endless buffet of fixins.

“I swear Kat, I’m gonna put on thirty pounds with you here,” Jessie said.

“No swear,” said Kaylie as she launched herself onto the bench at the breakfast table.

Kat walked a fresh plate of waffles to the table and ruffled Kaylie’s hair, “That’s right, no swearing.”

Now aren’t you as smart as a whip

“Now aren’t you as smart as a whip,” Claudette said and ruffled Kaylie’s hair.

Kaylie just grinned, “Yes ma’am.”

Claudette went about fixing everyone some snack plates as Kat sat down and asked Kaylie what else she could spell. Turned out she could spell everyone’s name like they practiced, and apparently also the words cookie, ice cream, snack and treat. While they discovered the newfound depth of Kaylie’s vocabulary, Jessie went onto the back porch.

Apparently Case had been by and had been busy. The screens were mended perfectly and all of the furniture looked freshly sanded, mended and ready for a fresh coat of stain. Then Jessie noticed on the far end of the porch a two-seated rocking chair and a single rocking chair. They were gorgeous. While they looked well aged and beautifully weathered, she knew they had to have been some of Case’s work. She sat down in the rocker and sighed as it began to move her gently back and forth just with the slightest effort on her part. She took a deep breath and smiled.

Jessie was bouncing along County Road 142 with Kyle

Jessie was bouncing along County Road 142 with Kyle in the cab of her truck, his mom and the girls following behind.

“So,” he quietly asked as he picked at the knee of his jeans, “um Aunt Jess can I ask you something?”

“Sure honey, what?”

“Mom said your daddy died too, and I just wondered if you think he’s gonna show my dad around in heaven?” Kyle asked tentatively and then rushed on, “Cuz daddy didn’t ask for directions much, and mama’s not in heaven to read the map and I don’t want daddy to get lost, but I don’t want mama to go to heaven yet.”

He looked so sincere and worried that Jessie just smiled and ruffled his hair. “I think your daddy will be just fine, and I hope he gets to know my daddy real well. But you don’t have to worry about that honey pie.”

Kyle looked out the window for a few moments, “Yeah, okay.” And he stared up at the bright blue sky scattered with clouds, “But all those clouds sure look alike, I’d get lost if I were him.”

Jessie’s eyes watered a bit from biting her lip to keep from grinning and the sweet sincerity of Kyle’s concerns. Man, she thought, where do kids come up with this stuff?

“Hey buddy, so what do you want to do when we get to my house? Do you want to go swimming in the creek or go play with Buck?”

Kyle shrugged and kept looking out the window, “Let Kaylie pick, it’s okay.”

Jessie took the turn off of 142 towards Creekside and smiled as she passed the old mesquite trees. “Home again, home again, jiggity jog,” she quoted the nursery rhyme, and got a little grin out of Kyle.

A quick stab of nostalgia took her aback as the front door opened and Buck bounded down the front steps and a lone female stood on the front porch waiting to greet them. It was Claudette of course, but for a moment she thought it was Bette.

Buck chased the truck and Kat’s car around to the barn. He tackled Jessie as she slid out of the driver’s side of the truck. She laughed and he licked and licked and licked. Once Buck calmed down she went to introduce Claudette to Kyle, Kaylie and Kris. But in typical Claudette fashion she’d already embraced Kat and the kiddos and was chattering away. They unloaded the duffle bags and suitcases onto the back porch.

“Well I was just bringing your baby dog back home,” Claudette was saying to Jessie, “He was just a doll but sure missed you something fierce. I took the liberty of mixing up some lemonade.”

She leaned over towards Kat and whispered, “and some c-o-o-k-i-e-s if they can have some.”

“I want chocolate chip!” said Kaylie. The three women just stared at her.