Head Start

Pete was glad that Nikki's mother enjoyed having him around. He wasn't sure why Carol liked him, but it made him feel good if he could get her to smile or laugh and... maybe down deeper he knew that perhaps Carol was the only other person besides himself who had thought about his role in the future, as far as her daughter was concerned.

Nodding slowly, it pained him to know that Carol didn't have much time left. Nikki loved her so, and to see her hurting hurt him even more. But... that's what life and death were about. He knew that Nikki hoped to keep her mother at home for as long as possible, and in a way, Pete hoped that when the time came, Carol would go quickly so she wouldn't have to suffer long in a hospital. 

"I suppose in a way, I'm jealous," Pete admits. He gives Nikki a soft smile. "She's gonna get to meet Jesus before me." 

Still smiling, he pulls Nikki close for a hug and kisses the top of her head. "I'm here," he assures. "No matter what you need... you just call on me." 

"Next Tuesday..." Ariel shrugs and sets her book aside as Slinky jumps up into her lap. 

"Make it five instead of four and I can do that, and... do you like Chinese?" 

Jason laughs and swallows his bite of food. Misty had just found out she was pregnant and already wanted to get everything ready. Maybe it was good though, that she had something like this to focus on.

Grinning, he shrugs. "You could always choose something neutral, as far as colors go. Like yellow or mint green or something. Then you could pick a theme later if you wanted to be more specific. Like flowers or Harley motorcycles." 

He laughs again. "Or maybe both." 

Jeff shakes his head, rolling his eyes. "It's just a scratch." That much was true. It was just that a scratch for him was as bad as a deep gash for someone else. "I'm fine." Maybe it hadn't stopped bleeding completely but close enough. 

Moving around and mounting up on Hawk, Jeff refuses to even hesitate. "Angel's seen enough of me today as it is. I'm going on a picnic with my daughter. So come on." He gestures to her horse. "You better get on before I get too much of a head start." 

Grinning, he swings Hawk around and digs in his heels, sprinting for the back lane. He wouldn't usually do that to a horse he'd just taken out of the stall, but Hawk had been out all day yesterday so Jeff knew he'd be fine... and... he wasn't about to let Katie talk him into staying and making a big deal out of something so small. Not today.