The Perfect Weapon Epilogue 1 part 11

[camillecarelli]

“I feel…lucky,” Judy said, a she ran her hand over his chest.

“Luck? There’s no such thing as luck, remember?” Jack said, putting his hand over hers.

“Sure, there is. A second chance is luck. And isn’t that what this is?

“Yes, I suppose. But…did you know Devlin assigned me to you because he had a feeling about us?”

“No!” Judy said and sat up to look at him. “How…odd.”

Jack sat up and gently putting his hand on her shoulders, turned her to face away so that she could begun massaging the muscles there. She groaned. “You have the best hands in the world. Beautiful and talented.”

“I might say the same of your mouth,” Jack whispered as he leaned forward to kiss her shoulder. “But what were you saying about second chances? Oh because we are each starting a new life.”

“We, yes, but I need to tell you---“

“You can talk later, now I want to use your mouth for something else,” Jack murmured as he tumbled her back over his arm. “Later…”

“Judy?” Carrie asked hesitantly as they all sat there on the floor eating. She still had trouble sometimes assimilating the initial impression Judy gave of somewhat stiff formality, exacerbated by all that cool blondness with the warm, often funny, sometimes risqué, reality. “Can I ask you a question? I’ve been dying to ask.”

“Of course,” Judy said, smacking Jack’s hand as it reached for the ruffles potation chips on her plate.

“I’m curious, what did you think of this crew when you first met them? Or can’t you say?”

“Oh, no, I’ve got a better idea.” Sydney sad. “Let’s tell what we think she must have thought.”

“Go ahead.” Judy said smiling.

“Let me guess. That I was slightly immature and self-absorbed?” Sydney asked, patting the pig at her side. Judy said nothing.

“And I…” Vaughn said. “I bet that I was confused.”

“Well, that’s a constant state for him,” Weiss commented.

“Susan said, “Wait. I bet you thought Weiss was a little too fixated on his quote unquote…”

“Near death experience,” everyone chorused.

“Hey! I saw blackness and…” Weiss trailed off when everyone rolled their eyes.

“Hey, it must be better than what she thought of Jack the first time she met him and basically called him a liar,” Vaughn pointed out.

“No, that’s not what I thought.” Judy contradicted him with a smile. Finally she could tell the story. That is, if Jack didn’t interrupt her this time. She sighed, he was good at distracting her.

“No?” Sydney asked curiously, always wondering how other people saw her father since her vision was not always terribly clear when it came to him.

“Because, actually,” Judy said with a smile, “That’s not how I first met Jack.”

“It’s not?” Jack asked, turning to her in surprise. “I’m sorry. Did we meet at some Agency function? I apologize that I didn’t recall when we first met in your office---“

“No. It was much longer ago than that. I wouldn’t expect you to remember. I didn’t either. For a long time.”
“When?” Jack asked, tilting his head to look at her carefully. “You didn’t look at all familiar to me when we first met. And I’m very good with faces.”

“It was a… short encounter long ago. But if you want to play a game, here’s a hint. It was in the same college, graduate school to be exact.”

“We went to the same graduate school?” Jack asked. “But not the same department, I would have remembered…”

“No… And I was a year or two behind you. To say nothing of the fact that not everyone accelerates through their PhD programme like you did, Jack.” She bit into a chip and smiled at him as he grimaced.

“Hey, Jack,” Vaughn spoke up. “How old were you when you finished your PhD?”

“Who cares? That was a whole other life.” Jack shrugged, then spoke quickly to Judy to change the subject, “Did you work at the library or student union?” Judy shook her head. “Did we meet at one of those campus dances Dave dragged me to on occasion? Nah, you wouldn’t have remembered that. It had to have been something more than that…”

“What twenty-six, twenty-seven?” Vaughn pressed.

“No, twenty-three, wasn’t it Jack? Twenty-two? He was famous,” Judy said, quirking her lips. “For whizzing right through the research portion of-“ She stopped to smile when everyone began to laugh.

“You are dead,” Jack muttered at her. “So very, very dead.”

“Really? I’m all a tremble,” Judy responded quietly, for his ears only, while she smirked.

“You know, Judy…” Jack said, smiling as he whispered back, “I know hundred, possibly thousands of ways of killing someone and-“

“Hmm. I’ll just have to read that last part of your dissertation. I mean, do you bring them just to the point of death or do you actually-“

Jack burst out laughing.

Marshall choked on his little cup of jello that he had brought with him. “Wait. You wrote that when you were only twenty three. Well, you’ve lived more of a life at that age than-Umph!” He glared at Carrie who shrugged innocently.

“Or at a department mixer?” Jack asked. “Which department?”

“You’re getting hotter,” Judy said, nodding as her eyes roved over his bare arms, then his long legs in those jeans. Then bit her lip. No, she would not say, would not think. No. Control, Judith Barnett, control.

“Did Dave ask you out, did you go out with him? He had a thing for blondes.”

“No. he didn’t ask me out or rather that’s not how you and I met. Try again. I’m enjoying beating you at this game.”

Jack sighed. Then he began to smile slowly at Judy and leaning toward her, put his right hand on her shoulder, then began smoothing her hair. He put his left hand on her knee and touched her hand with his other hand, enclosing them in a circle of their own. Leaning in even further, he looked down then up and smiled slowly against and said softly, “C’mon, just tell me already. Tell me. Please? I’ll do anything you want if you tell me.”

“Wow,” Susan whispered to Carrie. “I do believe that is Jack Bristow on stun.”

“No kidding,” Carrie whispered back.

Susan sighed and said, “I don’t know how she could resist that…”

“That, my friend,” Marshall whispered to Vaughn, “Is how it’s done.”

“Watching her father’s lips curve up into a smile, Sydney remembered suddenly all the times her mother had traced her father’s smile. Is that what Laura had seen that first day they met that had sealed her fate? Judging by the rapt look on Susan and Carrie’s face, that smile was quite effective. But Judy…she was impossible to read. This as annoying. But wait, she had swallowed hard? But…she was looking at his eyes, not at his mouth.

Vaughn shook his head and leaned forward to hear Judy’s answer.

“No, figure it out.” Judy finally found her voice. Jack smiled, smugly, she thought. Her eyes narrowed. Payback was in order. “We’re in no hurry after all…But excuse me,” Judy said, “For a moment.” Jack sat back and Judy rose to her feet. “Do you want another drink? A beer, while I’m up?”

“Sure,” Jack said and occupied himself by stealing all of the Ruffle from her plate. “If you think you can walk.”

Shaking her head, Judy stood next to him and debated about kicking him. It was a real urge since she didn’t have a pencil with her. But no… she’d find another way, she decided a she walked quickly into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator door, she pulled out a cold beer. Sighing in relief, she held the moist, cold bottle to the skin exposed about the neckline of her shirt, then pressed it to her forehead. Suddenly Susan walked into the kitchen, “Aha! I knew it.”

“Knew what?” Judy asked.

“You had to cool off after that little display of Jack’s…”

“Abilities? Yeah. Geez.” She held the bottle to one cheek, then the other.

Susan laughed, “That bottle is going to be a little warm by the time you give it to him.”

“He deserves it. Honestly. In public like that?”

Susan laughed, while reaching for a chocolate in the box on the counter, Jack’s latest gift to Judy. Sydney came into the room, also looking for a drink and Susan held out the box to her. “Mmm. Good chocolate. He has good taste.”

“Well, not to that in public…”

“You’re reserved in public and I get the feeling that Jack could care less who’s watching. This is going to be interesting.”
“Yeah,” Judy said, looking at the chocolate and smiling. “It’s about to get a lot more interesting.”

“I know I’m dying to see what payback you’re going to have,” Sydney commented, reaching for a second chocolate.

“You…are?” Susan asked.

“You bet. He told me once he likes to aggravate you, Judy, just to see your eyes sparkle and shoot sparks at him. So…Get him,” Sydney urged. “After all, all you really need are---“

“Words,” Judy agreed. The three women looked at each other and smiled.

Judy walked back into the living room and stopping next to Jack, offered him the beer as conversation flowed around them.

“No thanks,” Jack said. Then smirking, he added, “You were the one who looked like you needed to cool off.”

Judy shrugged and sat down next to him and put the beer on the floor. “Jack I’ve decided what I want for my birthday,” she said, lightly tapping her hand on his thigh.

“Oh?” He asked absently, distracted by her hand on his leg. She never did that in public… Then some… note in her voice made him look at her sharply. Uh-oh, she had that…formal, Miss Manners face on. That meant trouble. Of the best kind. Oh, good. He sat up straight.

“Yes. A fondue pot,” Judy said, tracing a small circle on his thigh.

“A…fondue pot.” Jack asked. “Okay. But why?” Why was she doing that with her index finger, making those circles?

“Oh. It’s perfect for melting chocolate. Keeps the chocolate nice and warm for a long, long time. Just imagine what I might able to …concoct, what recipe I might be able to experiment with if I could keep that chocolate wet and warm and liquid for a long time.”

“For the love of---“

“Oh, and some pastry brushes too, I think. You know, I would really need those brushes. Can you imagine it - sipping the soft brush into the chocolate, watch the chocolate slowly, drop by drop, fall back into the pot, then carefully lift the brush to…the application area. And then, I’d have to very slowly, carefully, because I wouldn’t want to waste and chocolate, brush the sweetness on until I had it just to my satisfaction and then of course, as any reputable cook knows, the only way to really test the recipe is to eat it, but I think I’d start with just a lick. Or two or---“

“I cannot…”

“Walk? I bet you can’t. Want that cold beer now? Oh, and you might want to raise your leg up or risk shocking your daughter who’s looking over here.”

Jack looked up and at the satisfied smirk on his daughter’s face and then seeing the identical look on Susan’s face, turned red. Swiveling back to Judy, he hissed, “You…”

Judy lifted the beer to her lips and took a sip. “What some now?” Jack snatched the beer out of her hand and took a deep gulp.

“Judy…the story?” Carrie prompted.

“Oh, yeah, the story,” Jack said, putting the bottle back down. “You ramble too much. Where were we?”

“Dave and his thing---“

“Dave and his thing? I thought you said you didn’t date him.” Jack smiled. That was it. Misdirect yourself, Bristow, or your game plane tonight was in shreds. If he wasn’t careful, he’d get Judy in that shower and forget the op entirely. And Vaughn would kill him.

“You say I ramble, but you keep interrupting.”

“To move it along. But, I admit, you may ramble but at least you can keep track of your place in the story,” Jack admitted with a grin, then a grimace as she pinched him. “So…you’re sure he didn’t ask you out? I mean you were in his department and you were a blonde and---.”

Judy laughed. “I didn’t say he didn’t ask me out. I just said you and I did not meet because he asked me out. It was a department joke, that if you were a blonde Dave would ask you out. I had forgotten about that until I went ago that conference in Denver a while back and met that classmate of mine there. You remember I told you about that?”

“But you didn’t tell my any of this? Why not?”

“I tried a few times, but something interrupted me.” She looked at him. He shrugged. “Besides, I was just waiting for the right time. This seems to be it.”

“You were playing a game of your own. That’s fine. I can appreciate that, of course. So…let’s see. If it was not at a social event and not in the library or student union…You didn’t spill coffee on me once on a coffee shop, did you?”

“No. Ouch, that would hurt.”

“It did. But that was probably just one of the earlier KGB agents sent to try and get me---“

“There was more than one?” Weiss asked incredulously.

“Third time was the charm apparently,” Jack shrugged.

Everyone stared at Jack. No wonder he was so skittish around women. Or rather, had been.

“So, what’s left…” Jack mused.

“I’ll take pity on you, but I doubt you’d remember anyway. Imagine my voice a little younger, probably high pitched, saying something like, ‘I cannot believe you did this! I am so…Oooh! I hate you! You jerk!’”

“Oh. My. God. It’s you!” Jack stared at her in shock.

Judy stared back at him. He remembered that? She hadn’t actually expected him to remember such an inconsequential meeting.

“It’s who?” Sydney asked. “Who?”

“I…I am surprised. Again.” Jack looked at her and then looked upward, before taking Judy hand in his and squeezing it. “This hand…You’re the blonde I thought was going to smack Dave at that test we were running.”

“You actually remember me?” Judy asked, surprised.

“Of course. You made quite an impression that day. Dave and I talked about you after you left. Or should I say after you stormed out. I remember…I noticed you.”

“Unlike any other blonde.”

“Oh, be quiet. I was young and stupid.”

“Well, of course you were. But if that’s so, why since have you never dated a blonde---“

“Because I was waiting for the right blonde?” Jack asked, dropping his voice and lifting his hand to play with her hair. “Whose hair looks golden in the sunlight? Who-“

Judy rolled her eyes. “Good try, Jack.”

“I thought it sounded pretty good myself,” Jack shrugged. But.. It was the truth. He did like her hair. He frowned. He had to convince her of that, she deserved to understand that, not hand any insecurities about it. He reached a hand out and smoothed her hair over her shoulder.

“Close, but no cigar.” Judy took a sip of the beer.

“Well, actually, a cigar is kinda small for what I have in mind,” Jack whispered into her ear. Then pounded her on her back when she choked on the beer in her mouth.

“Judy, you almost harmed this friend of Jack’s?” Nia asked. “No doubt he fully deserved it if he was anything like Jack or my father. All of them have the ability to drive the people in their lives mad.”

Judy laughed. “Almost did smack him. The damn word jumble. I still hate them.”

“But you’re really good at them,” Jack protested. “You were in the group that did poorly until you received positive reinforcement and then did very well. Proving that you had a talent for it. So you should have been glad to find out you had that skill---“

“What?” Jack paused in midsentence at the sight of the grin on Judy’s face.

“That’s what you said more than thirty years ago, trying to get Dave out of my firing range.”

“Dad. Wasn’t that world jumble test…” Sydney stopped talking.

Jack shrugged. “Yes. Ironically, that was the same day I met Laura. At that test.”

“Wait,” Marshall said. Then humming the theme from the Twilight Zone he asked, “Doesn’t anyone think it’s odd that Dr. Barnett actually met, Jack, Mr. Bristow, Sydney’s dad the same day he met um, Sydney’s mom?”

“As I remember…” Jack, running his hand through his hair. “You were in the test group right before Laura’s You may have passed…”

“We may have even passed on the stairs? Is that what you’re thinking?” Judy asked softly. Jack nodded and put his hand out and Judy took it.

“Okay, that’s creepy!” Marshall exclaimed. “but in a circular kinda way, don’t you think?”

Sydney groaned. “Not the circles again.”

Vaughn said quietly in her ear, “I think…” he began, looking at Jack and Judy sitting there, holding hands, smiling at each other. “We just felt a circles close, Sydney.”

“Judy…” Sydney cleared her throat. “You really met my father that day? But you didn’t remember him?”

“No. I remembered the incident, but---“

“The incident? You make it sound like a crime scene.” Jack laughed. “And it was just an innocuous little psych experiment on positive and negative reinforcement, at most a chance to discover a hidden talent or a weakness… Nothing that should have engendered the kind of irrational response---“ He grinned, as always happy to annoy her.

“Be quiet,” Judy laughed, tapping Jack on the hand then stroking his fingers with her own, drawing Sydney’s attention. Ah, Sydney thought again, not the hair. The hands. “it’s my story. I remembered the incident, but I didn’t equate this…agent---“

“You notice how she spits that out like it’s an insult, Jack?” Kendall asked.

“It can be,” Dixon said quietly, looking at Kendall.

Judy continued. “So…I didn’t associate this agent in a suit and tie, sitting there on my couch lying through his teeth to me with the laughing young man in jeans and a shirt who, actually…now that I think about it, was lying to me than as well! Maybe I did have the same impression both times I met you, Jack. You were lying to me, initially, both times.”

“Lying is such a harsh word,” Jack noted, pushing his hand back through his hair. “Dissembling sound better. Or rather than lie, a mistruth.”

“I’ve always liked mistruth myself, rather than a lie, “Weiss noted, then grunted when Susan elbowed him.

She hissed, “This story is not about you! Shh!” Then turning toward Judy, she asked. “So, Judy, how did you remember that you’d met Jack before? When we were going that background research or the pho-“

“When I read the synopsis of Dave’s dissertation research. Then of course, in my background research I saw photo’s of both Jack and Dave from their younger days, like the one I gave Jack the day we painted the house. Then I remembered. If nothing had happened that day, I might have forgotten forever. But I was angry that day of the test, I remembered. And…memory is a tricky thing. What the brain chooses to remember, when the brain chooses to see as important…is not always clear to you conscious self. So.. Who knows?”

“What was the old man like? Do you remember?” Nia asked.

“Tall, obviously. Slender-“

“Skinny,” Jack said derisively.

“No. Slender. You had muscles. As did Dave. Dark hair, of course. Longer hair, that was the style. Although not as long as other men of our time-must have been an Agency directive?”

“Oh, that must have been nice. The longer hair. With that wave he gets?” Carrie asked. Jack rolled his eyes.

“Actually… I think he looks better with the silver hair,” Judy disagreed. “But then again, I’m really not into hair that much. I mean, it’s nice and all, but…what’s the big deal?”

Sydney, Susan and Carrie gasped in disbelief. “I feel so betrayed,” Susan moaned. Nia rolled her eyes.

Jack nodded not really listening, still somewhat surprised at Judy’s revelation. Oh, not about the hair. About the way they had met. Why the hell was he surprised that she surprised him? It happened all the time.

“But what was he like? His personality? Or don’t you remember?” Sydney asked. This was interesting, hearing an account of her father before he met Laura. Irina. Whatever.

“No. I remembered, once I saw that photograph of Jack and Dave.

“That photo you gave Jack yesterday? Of them laughing together? Vaughn asked, still startled by the sigh of that younger Jack, that man who was so different that the man who had thrown him into the red walls of that Chinese restaurant. But not so different then the man who had thrown him into the tile wall of a bathroom and shook with laughter over it. Or than man laughing up on the roof today. A different man. He had to be - no one could live the life Jack had and not be changed - but… he had found himself again, had come full circle. A full circle, Vaughn thought, was the correct word. Because now, Jack’s life was full. He could only hope that someday he would sit in his house and be surrounded by friends, his children’s friends and look so happy. He reached out and taking Sydney’s left hand in his, lifted it to his lips and kissed her finger above her engagement ring. “What was that for?” Sydney whispered. “Just because,” Vaughn whispered back.

“Yes, that photo. Because once I made the connection, I remembered a little more about the incident. The two of them did make an impression. They were always laughing. I remember that about the test. They made it…fun, no just an hour or two of your time for minimum wage. I remember that Jack could make some low-voiced comment which would send Dave into paroxysms of laughter, which Dave would repeat. It was like Jack was giving Dave his cues or lines.

The man behind the curtain?” Weiss asked.

“Exactly.”

“Gee,” Jack said dryly, “I always thought I was the Scarecrow in that analogy.”

“No,” Kendall replied. “Your PhD isn’t in thinkology after all.”

“Shut up.”

“Why did you do that, Dad? Why not just say---”

“Alright already. Because I was too.. introverted in those days, that’s why. I was almost over it by them though. I think.”

“But, let’s get back to the good stuff,” Carrie said with a smile, seeing that Jack was getting a little nervous. “Were they both cute?”

“Oh, very,” Judy said with a grin. “Especially when they turned around.”

“Judy!” Nia exclaimed. “I am positively shocked.” She grinned.

“I am too,” Kendall said with a blank look on his face. “Women don’t see, think that way? Do they?”

“Of course they do,” Weiss muttered. “They’re dirtier then we are. Will is right.”

“Where is Will, anyway?” Vaughn asked. “He’s always around mooching.”

“Oh, he has a date,” Sydney shrugged.

“Thank god,” Jack muttered.

“Women and sex? They just talk about it more than we do,” Dixon disagreed with Weiss. “I don’t know that they’re….dirtier.

“But they look at men’s…butts?” Kendall asked, still shocked. Wait. What else didn’t he know about women?

“Yeah, luckily for you. Because you’re such a butthead,” Weiss muttered.

“Would you have gone out with one of them if they had asked?” Marshall asked slowly. Why were the guys talking about Kendall’s butt? Who cared about that? And if he was going to think about someone’s butt, it sure wouldn’t be Kendall’s. Now Carrie in that little outfit he had bought her on ebay, well that was another idea… But… Oh, yeah. The women were staring from Jack to Judy carefully. Was he the only man who saw the…oddness of the situation? But no one was saying a word. Was he the only one wondering what might have happened if Sydney’s mother had never walked into that test that day?

“I… I’ll never tell,” Judy said, still smiling.

“Dave wanted to ask you out.”

“He did.”

“He did? He…I don’t remember, but then again, he asked out every blonde he ever met, I swear…And he went on more dates, had more girlfriends…he was very popular.”

“I don’t think you were hurting for...action, Jack,” Kendall noted. Everyone ignored him.

“But you turned him down, Judy? Why?” Nia asked.

“I…I thought he was, well, kinda of a jerk that day. No one likes being manipulated.” She grinned as Jack groaned. “The question is whether it’s manipulation or caring, isn’t it?”

“I suppose…in some ways, it depends up on the person’s intentions,” Sydney said, thinking.
“I told Dave that day that what he really learned was that people didn’t like to be manipulated,” Jack remembered.

“Not that it ever stopped you!” Kendall pointed out.

“Ah… but it’s all in the technique, Sylvester. All in the technique.”

Judy laughed. “Well, although at this point I could begin to write a manual myself on …Ow!” she exclaimed as Jack pinched her this time. “Well, I said no to Dave because thought he was…Well, I thought he was a jerk. And I didn’t find him very interesting, if you want to know the truth. Not like I thought his friend… that man behind the mirror?… was interesting. But the circumstances… it never worked out that we met again.”

“Ah, Kendall nodded. “The shy routine does work. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Anything that would keep your mouth shut would probably improve your chances with women,” Weiss noted.

With a jerk, Jack’s head snapped up and he saw Judy’s note in his mind’s eye. Saw the words, “not only ineffective but too late.” Heard her on the roof saying, “If you hadn’t sent me those orchids. I would have done something. If you dated one of those women more than once I would have done something. I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

“This isn’t some…grand Rambladi-esque story, Jack,” Judy noted very softly. “Truly, I had forgotten all about it until-“

“You had reason to remember it,” Jack said softly. “And it all worked out. In the end.”

Judy looked down, at the sight of her hand under Jack’s and then a moment later, at their fingers intertwined as Jack moved his hand and squeezed hers.

“So, you thought Dave was a jerk?” Sydney asked.

“Well, at least a know-it-all---“

Jack burst out laughing. “The real problem is that you two had too much in common. Hard to look in the mirror, isn’t it?”

“Speaking of being self-righteous and…annoying…you and Dave had lots in common. But---“ She looked out at the group, “Believe it or not, Jack was the one who tried to smooth it over, who was nice, who seemed to feel bad about it…”

“Let me understand this.. “Kendall said incredulously. “Jack Bristow, the most manipulative games strategist I have EVER met, felt bad about fooling some students in some little test?”

Jack sighed. “That was when I was young and naïve.”

“Back to the important stuff,” Susan said.

“Yes. Clothes,” Nia added.

“Exactly. What were they wearing?” Susan asked. “What were you wearing? Do you remember?”

“Probably jeans. We all wore jeans all the time in those days.”
“Didn't you tell me once that you had a pair of striped line green bell bottoms?” Jack asked Judy.

“Yikes,” Susan said.

“Hey, I had a pair of magenta paisley bell bottoms,” Kendall offered, stopping conversation dead.

Weiss noted, “I’d pay big money for a photograph of that.”

“But did you have hair then?” Vaughn asked.

“Of course I had hair then!”

“So…” Marshall began. “Dave asked you out, but not Jack?”

“No, no. But I knew at the time, that Jack would never ask me out.”

“Why not?”

“I’m a blonde. Just as everyone in the department knew that Dave asked out every blonde, everyone knew that Dave best friend never asked out a blonde.”

Jack shook his head. The KGB truly did lousy background research. It had been a departmental joke, about the…hair thing and they hadn’t even known it when they had targeted him? He smiled and flipped the ends of Judy’s hair, where it curled slightly over her shoulders. Then tugging on it, he said, “Well, go on.”

“We - the women - always figured that they divided the world up so they would never poach on each other’s turf.”

“You must be joking. Women talk…What am I saying? That’s what you all talk about in the bathroom, isn’t it?” Jack shook his head.

“Clearly,” Kendall said, “We should be placing bugs in the women’s restrooms if we really want to know what’s going on.”

“Or,” Carrie said slyly, with a look at Marshall, who turned bright red and looked anywhere but at Jack, “You could always ask us to tell you---“

“For the love of god!” Jack groaned. Then looking at his watch, he stood up abruptly to look out the window. “It’s getting dark. We should really finish cleaning up on the roof.”

“Did you finish the skylight?” Judy asked eagerly, as Jack reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Jack said, squeezing her hand. “Not yet. But soon. Maybe tomorrow. I’m taking the day off and so is Frank. He’s coming over to help.”

“Wait - you’re talking the day off? “I knew nothing of this and--“ Kendall spluttered.

“Kendall, I have approximately half a million comp hours accrued to me over the years. I’m taking a few of them tomorrow. Or your department could start beginning to pay me for those hours. As the personnel department explained it to me, that would decimate your budget and you’d have to play off a number of the most recent hires ---“

“All of my people I brought in from the Bureau? I don’t… Okay, take tomorrow off,” Kendall growled and grabbed his trash from the floor.

Judy began to pick up and offered, “Well, given how I don’t like that roof very much, I’ll volunteer for KP duty.”

“I’ll help,” Susan offered, To Judy’s surprise, Sydney and Nia joined them in the clean up.

“Sydney,” Judy said, as she stood at the kitchen sink. “You prefer to be outside, so why are you in here?”

“Oh, just felt like it tonight. Besides the men made most of the mess, so they can clean it up.”

“Oh…” Judy said absently, looking out the window. Curious, Susan came to stand behind her and giggled. No wonder Judy was distracted. Jack had changed into one of those t-shirts she had bought for him. Apparently that was his costume for the first part of this op.

“Syd…” Susan called out. “Um.. You might want to go outside. Your dad and Vaughn are arguing….”

“No. Just no.”

“You’re taking Nia home because----“

“I’ve spent most of the day with her. That’s enough. I’ve kept my mouth shut, learned not to rise to the bait. But I want to go home with Syd, by myself, stop at the beach maybe…So. NO!”

“Vaughn, don’t argue about it because Sydney-“

“Sydney…” came her voice from behind them. “Sydney already agreed to have Nia stay with us for a few days so-“

“STAY with us? No. Absolutely not. I forbid it.”

“Dead meat,” Jack said under his breath.

“You what?” Sydney said quietly. “What did you say?”

“Regroup, regroup,” Jack whispered as Vaughn looked at him desperately. “Tell---“

“And stop looking to my father for advice!” Sydney called out, crossing her arms over her chest. “Get yourself out of this trouble.”

“I…really wanted to go home, just you and I…Take a walk on the beach…In the moonlight…”

“Good try,” Sydney said. “But Nia’s coming home with us. After all.” She smiled. Vaughn groaned. “I don’t get to spend enough time with her. This way - having her stay with us - we’ll have so much more time to…say, play with Barbies. Or, even better, start making wedding plans. I was planning on stopping on the way home and buying an entire armload of wedding magazines and going over them page by page. Starting tonight. Won’t that be fun? Talking about possible destinations. Or - oh, you’ll love this - what kind of clothes we might wear. Wow, maybe Nia and I will even sew up some sample ensembles for the dolls and have a fashion show. Surely, surely , you’ll enjoy watching that.”

“I’ll…What? Oh no-“ Vaughn groaned, while Jack began to laugh. Sydney was starting to excel at torture techniques. He was proud of her. His little girl was growing up. He winked at her.

“Oh, but you’re the groom,” Sydney cooed, clutching onto Vaughn’s arm. “Don’t you want to be involved in every little detail? It will break my heart if you’re disinterested in…” She sniffed. “The important day of our lives.”

“The sniff was a little overboard, sweetheart,” Jack said, rolling his eyes.

“Well, I was debating about using a southern accent,” Sydney noted.

“You do about as well at that as you do at a French accent,” Jack commented. “But let’s go inside. I want to give Michael something.”

Standing in front of the safe, Jack showed both Sydney and Vaughn how to open it, just in case, he said. Pulling out the slim white box Vaughn had seen the day before, he handed it to him.

“Looking at it curiously, Vaughn commented, “I don’t think you’ve ever given me a present-“ he looked up and smiled at Sydney. “In a box, before.” Turning the box the other way, he read in Jack’s distinctive left-ward slant, ‘From one meddler to another.’ Raising his eyebrows, he lifted the lid and pulled back white tissue paper to find nestled within, one sharpened pencil. Lifting out a small piece of paper, he read, again in that left-ward slant of Jack’s handwriting, ‘Instructions: tap against cheekbone or insert in eye whenever urge to meddle occurs. Repeat as necessary.’

Sydney burst out laughing. “Is this a symbolic passing of the baton?”

“Well…” Jack said, “I’d like to say it is. But the truth is…”

“Once a meddler, always a meddler?” Vaughn asked, nodding, his head. “I’m gonna go put this in the car. This, this is a keeper. Or maybe, I’ll just pass it back to you the next time I see you overwhelmed by the urge.”

Jack nodded. “That would be…fun. But…Back to business now.”

“Vaughn, is everything ready to go up?”

“All equipment is in place and awaiting deployment. The flatness of the roof in the targeted area allows maximum efficiency of all movable goods,. Troops are in position and awaiting your signal.”

“Confirm signal type?” Sydney asked, grinning.

“The shower going on,” Jack said blandly.

“The shower?” Vaughn asked. “But…given the amount of time estimated to set up the op, do you think you can distract Judy for long enough for us to do---“

“Surely, you jest,” Jack commented, walking away. Then he paused, “After all, Vaughn, it’s not me who came to you asking for advice about my sex life the day of that lunch. Hope it worked out for you two, Sydney,” Jack said with a grin and a wink as he darted out of the room. “But I don’t want any details. Your…satisfaction is all I need to know.”

“Michael Vaughn! You did not, did NOT ask my father for advice…” Sydney began to shriek. Vaughn threw the pencil out the door.

“Hey, Judy…” Jack said quietly from the doorway. He leaned against it and waited for her to turn.

“Jack…you look you’ve been working hard,” Judy said as she turned unconsciously licking her lips as her gaze roamed over the damp skin of his shoulders and neck and…Sigh. “It must be…hot outside still?”

“One might say,” Jack said and pulling his shirt out of his jeans waistband, bent his head and lifted his shirt up over his damp torso, until he could wipe his face with it.

Judy gripped the edge of the counter hard. Why were all these people in their house? She turned her head and gave Susan a look.

“You know…” Susan said with a smile. “We should probably get going.”

“It is getting late,” Jack said, as he rubbed the tshirt across his torso. “And I have some things I need to do…Come find me when you’re done, okay, Blondie?” He left the room, whistling.

Judy nodded. Wait, what had he said?

“He said,” Nia whispered, “To come find him when you’re done.”

Susan snapped her fingers in front of Judy’s face. “Earth to Judy? You in there somewhere?”

“Wow… He…I.… Wow.”

“Yeah, I’d have to agree with that assessment,” Susan said.

“It wasn't just me?”

“Um, well, no. But you don’t care that we saw him like that?” Carrie asked.

“Huh?”

“You…don’t care-“ Susan repeated slowly, smiling.

“Were there other people in the room besides me and Jack?” Judy asked, blinking her eyes slowly. “Wait a minute. Where did he go?”

“Did you notice how his hair curls at the ends when it’s hot?” Carrie asked.

“Pul-leeze, like I was looking at his hair?” Judy sighed. “The man is standing there in jeans and not much else and you want me to notice his hair when there is all that…skin?” she sighed again. “Wait, where did he say he was going?”

“To take a shower?” Carrie asked, grinning. “Susan, I think it’s time for us to leave.”

“I would agree,” Susan said with a smile.

“Later, girls,” Judy said, obviously distracted. “I need to…” She dropped he towel she had been holding and left the room to the laughter of the three younger women.

“Jack!” Judy called out as she darted into the doorway, then pulled up short when he was standing before her in the hallway. She smiled as he held out his hand to her.

“I was waiting for you.”

“I thought you might.” She gasped his hand in hers. “I can take a hint.”

“What else can you take?” he asked, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her close.

“What do you have to give?” she asked, leaning forward and licking the base if his neck. “Mmm,” she moaned, then flicked her tongue out again.

“A little more than I had a minute ago.”

Judy pushed back to say with a teasing smile, “We are in the hall. A hall is a narrow space through which people, many people, may pass, like all the people still in this house-“

“If you want to talk about a narrow space through which this particular person likes to pass-“

“Jack!” Judy exclaimed, then laughed. “Well, glad to see you’re over that claustrophobia so…completely.”

“Oh, I’m cured. And…I think I’d like to try an experiment…”

“Hmm. I’m all for experimentation. That is, after all, how we learn. But…” she teased again. “You did say you had things to do…”

“Yeah, like get everyone else out of the house. I’ll take care of everyone upstairs, if you’ll handle the others.”

“Sure,” Judy agreed eagerly.

A few minutes later, Judy had Susan’s agreement to finish locking up and went looking for Jack. Standing on the office her hands on her hips, she frowned. Where was he? Was this some kind of hide and seek game? Then she heard a noise form the bathroom adjacent to the office. She smiled and picked her cell phone from the top of Jack’s desk and dialed his number.

In the bathroom off of the office, Jack heard his phone ring and laughed. “Yes?” he said as he answered it.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m about to get into the shower. Oh, wait, you got all flustered the last time I was talking to you on the phone in the shower. You’d better hang up on me before you---” Click. He stared at the phone. What was that about ? He began to punch his speed dial button, saying aloud. “Where is she, anyway?”

“Right here,” she said and the door opened. He put his phone down on the sink.

“Can I come in?” she asked.

“I believe,” he said grinning, “That is what I’ve been asking you for a while today.”

“Hmm, true.” Judy smiled as she approached him, leaning against the sink. “But…you know, ever since that morning, I’ve…wished that…”

“Yes?” Jack asked as he reached out and took her hands. “Tell me what you want.”

“Remember? You were shaving, then you got into the shower? Can you do that?”

“You just want to watch?”

“To start,” Judy said firmly. “Just…fill in the blanks in my imagination from that morning and them…”

“We’ll fill in the blanks in my imagination from that morning too,” Jack said, dropping his hands to open the cabinet and find shaving equipment.

“Take of your shirt.”

“What?”

“Take of your shirt. Slowly.”

“I do love a woman who knows what she wants,” Jack said, pulling his tshirt out of his jeans.

“And…I love a man who knows how to give it to her,” Judy said, licking her lips as his hands pulled up the shirt inch by inch.

She would not whimper, she told herself firmly. No, she would not. When he pulled the shirt off and began to fold it neatly, she reached out, grabbed it and flung it to the floor. “I’ve changed my mind.”

“You’re still thinking? I must be losing my touch,” Jack laughed, as he pulled her against him.

“My turn to touch.” She slid her hands up and over his bare chest. “What I want is to get straight into the shower. Forget the shaving. I want to see you wet.”

“How fortuitous,” Jack said, pulling back to strip off her clothes, then his jeans. “Because that’s exactly how I want to feel you. Wet.” He reached back and turned on the shower full blast.

“Move it!” Vaughn hissed.

“Quietly!” Nia hissed.

“Did you hear something?” Judy asked much later, as she toweled Jack dry.

“No. Did you? Jack asked, distracted as he closed his eyes to better concentrate on what she was doing. Then he shook his head. Wait, he had a game in play. “Did you?”

“I think…it came from the roof.”

“Maybe Santa’s here early?” Jack winced. That was…lame. But he was distracted, damn it, her hands were….

“Those kids should have been done long ago. Are they having a party up there or what?”

“I don’t know. I suppose we’ll have to go see. Although…” Jack reached out and grabbed Judy around the waist. “If we stay in here long enough, maybe they’ll just go away.”

“They never go away, Jack. They’re always here. That’s why we’re in here, for privacy.”

“True. I suppose we need to go and kick them out of they’re still here.. which they shouldn’t be.” Giving her a last kiss, he grabbed his jeans and dragged them on while she watched. “Aren’t you getting dressed?”

She sighed happily. “Why would I split my attention between you bending over to pick up those jeans and getting dressed myself? I know how to set priorities too, you know.”

“I recall.” Jack rubbed his hand across his chin. “I never did shave. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll-“

“I like the little bit of roughness,” Judy shrugged, as she reached for her clothes. “Leave it.” Jack heaved a sigh and hoped that Nia had successfully organized the gang to be outside already. But, he shouldn’t worry. Nia had no trouble whipping people into shape. Between her, her cousin, and Judy last time at Querencia, so much work had gotten done that they were ahead of schedule. He only hoped the same held true tonight, he thought, as he reached for his tshirt.

“Leave it,” Judy said, laughing, as she whipped the tshirt away from him and tossed it over her shoulder. “You know I prefer you without a shirt.”

“You are so bossy,” Jack said, grabbing her hand and pulling her from the room.

“I’m bossy?” Judy gasped as he moved swiftly through the house and up the stairs.

“It’s my turn,” Jack said, pulling her into the master bedroom and stopping.

“Oh, those kids!” Judy said, hands on hips as she looked up at the hole in the roof. “They were supposed to clean everything up and look- The ladder is still there. Who knows what they left up top?”

“It’s disgraceful,” Jack agreed, trying not to laugh aloud. “I am shocked and appalled.”

“I suppose you’ll have to go up and check,” Judy urged, waving her hand toward the ladder.

“Me? How about us both? C’mon, I thought you were over your fears of heights.”

“Well, I am, but…”

“Are you governed by fear? Are you, Judy?”

“Oh…Shut up.”

“Go up first. I’ll be right behind you.”

“It’s not necessary,” Judy demurred.

“Don’t tell me you don’t have faith in me - I’ll be right behind you. Faith, remember that?”

“Oh…You’ve got me,” Judy surrendered and took a step up the ladder. Turning her head, she called out, “You’re right behind me. Right? Jack? Are you there? Answer me!”

“Oh, yeah, right here. Just enjoying the view,” Jack said with a hint of mischief in his voice.

“The view?” Judy said, perplexed. Looking down without thinking she laughed as he raised his eyes and gave a pointed glance at her rear end. “Jack!”

He reached a hand up. “Do you need a push? I’d be happy to---“

She scampered up the ladder without another thought and then when she reached the roof top and took a deep breath, turned around to face him as he emerged from the opening and joked, “You just played me! You got me up here-“

“No kidding. I can’t believe you feel for it.”

“You, you…”

“But,” Jack whispered, “I wasn’t really just playing you. I mean, if you ever need a push…I’m your man.”

Judy burst out laughing, then turning she stopped abruptly as she saw the roof before her. “Oh…Jack” She stared, shocked speechless, for once.

“Judy?” Jack asked, coming up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her up against him. Was this worth conquering your fear of heights?”

She turned in his embrace and kissing his chest, his neck, then his mouth, whispered. “It would have been worth conquering my fear just to be up here with you alone amidst construction equipment. This…”

“This…is our reward, both of us, for conquering fear and finding faith,” Jack said softly, nuzzling her cheek with his nose before finding her mouth with his.

She turned around again and took in the roof, that had been changed into something she could have never imagined. The roof, like the greenhouse last night, had been transformed. Vaughn and Jack must have worked on this together, she thought. Scattered around the small area were numerous orchids, all in shades of lavender and purple, nestled amongst large green plants brought up, she knew from the greenhouse. Threaded throughout were the white lights, that glittered in the deep blue darkness like the stars from above they imitated. A large Persian rug on the flat roof top, under the hammock and a small table, on which rested glasses and a large ice bucket with champagne and…She laughed aloud. Whipped cream.

“The hammock?” She thought to ask, “How in the world did they get this up here?”

“Well!” Marshall called out and Judy laughed. Taking Jack’s hand they walked over to the roof edge. Judy laughed aloud when she saw everyone gathered below.

Marshall continued, “It was quite the engineering problem, actually. Luckily, I had brought along this handy device I’ve developed…”

Is there a handy device for shutting his mouth?” Kendall muttered.

“Sure,” Dixon answered. “I’ve got it in the same patent application as my device for giving you a personality.”

Jack laughed. He called out, “You all were supposed to be gone. How did this become a group project?”
Vaughn smiled and pulled out a box of…what was that? Jack wondered, as Vaughn and Sydney, with Piggy under her arm, began handing out…was it pencils? No….

“Well,” Vaughn said, “Since we were all here at the beginning at that lunch and you wouldn’t be here without my meddling…” He pulled the pencil out of his pocket and waved it around.

“I think we could have---“ Judy protested, but with a laugh. Well,” she whispered to Jack, “We could have, but it may not have been as much fun, I admit it. To you.”

“But who knows how long it would have taken?” Weiss asked.

“True. And given your advanced years, time is of the essence,” Susan added, pulling out a book of matches.

Jack and Judy watched quizzically as they all lit…oh, it was sparkles and then placed them in the ground around the garden area Jack had begun to lay out.

“What is this?” Judy asked.

“It’s because Dad always says how much he loves to see your eyes sparkle,” Sydney called up. “And what he doesn’t know is how much his eyes light up whenever he sees you. This way you can both see what you do for each other.”

“Thank you,” Judy said, then realized no sound had come out of her mouth. Swallowing hard, she lifted her hand to her mouth and blew a kiss.

Jack called out softly, “Thank you so much.” Then he grinned. “Now Good night and goodbye.” And taking Judy’s hand, he pulled her toward the hammock.

“You did good, Vaughn,” Sydney said softly, as they paused to watch the sparklers for a moment as everyone else headed toward their cars. She reached out and hugged him. “Thank you. This meant so much to my father and to me.”

“How could I say no to either of you? I’ll always say yes to the people who love me,” Vaughn admitted, leaning down to kiss Sydney.

“Yes…That word is the most powerful word in any language, isn’t it?”

“The happiest, anyway.”

“Judy…” Jack whispered. “That, every time with you is… Was…I…” He tightened his arms around her.

“Take your time,” Judy urged, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He closed his eyes and breathed in her words just as he breathed in the warm scent of her skin. She was not going anywhere. His arms relaxed and she smiled, sighed and resettled herself, her muscles softening as they lay together.

“All of me…wanted you. Not just my body, or my mind, or my heart…But all of me, wanted all of you. My… soul wanted yours, wanted to connect with you. I wanted, needed…”

“Everything? Did you find it?”

“How could I not? You gave it to me.

“All you had to do was ask. And I’ll always say yes.”

Jack lay down on the hammock and pulled Judy next to him. He looked down at her smiling face, then smiled himself when she kissed his bare shoulder. He reached a tentative finger out and stroked the length of her hair, still damp from their shower. Judy held still and then cautiously looked over at him. “I…Can I tell you the truth?” Jack asked.

“Of course,” Judy answered. “I always have approved of your option C.”

“I never much cared for blondes. I always thought they were cold - This isn’t sounding the way I want it to-“

“I know what you mean, Jack. Unless you’re colored like Malibu Barbie, a blonde can appear somewhat cold with the pale skin and pale hair. And you’ve always wanted warmth.”

“Yes. But…I realized something sitting outside with you some other day. And again today on the hammock and tonight. Your hair reflected the light, reflects the sun and the moonlight and the stars back at me. It looks golden…warm, beautiful.”

“You truly mean that, don’t you?” Judy asked, sighing against him.

“Of course. Carrie…mentioned to me today that she had taken a picture of us from up on the roof. Of our faces and she made a comment that the contrast between our hair - the gold and the silver, it was a nice complement to each other. But…do you get this hair business?”

“Oh, you have nice hair. But I’m more interested in hands actually.” Judy smiled and twining her fingers through his, she whispered, “And you have great hands.”

“I do?” Jack looked down at his hands and frowned. He thought he had finally understood, more or less, the hair thing. And now this woman could care less about the hair and was staring at his hands? She had surprised him again. He looked upward at the sky and gave a wry smile. Then, he looked down swiftly when Judy laid a fingertip on his hand and drew his attention back to her. Looking up at her, he saw her looking at his hands. He would never understand women. He blurted out, “These hands have committed many acts of violence.”

“And many acts of tenderness and love too. They held Sydney when she was a baby. They have never touched me except out of love, laughter and need. They give me joy and happiness. Beautiful hands…” She whispered and lifted his free hand to her lips and kissed it.

“Look up. What do you see?” Jack asked, leaning over her, but taking care not to block her view.

“A million stars. What do you see?” She asked, still looking up even as she snuggled closer to him.

“A million stars, a million possibilities all in your eyes,” Jack said softly, looking down at her and smiling softly as her eyes met his. “I love you so much. I hope that you see a million possibilities when you see me.”

“At least a million. I see…options I never knew existed.”

“I hope that this possibility, this option is one you’ll consider favorably.” Jack reached onto the table and give her a spoon that had been hiding behind the ice bucket. She sat up and took it, noting how carefully how was handling it. She looked at him, wondering about it. The spoon was unusual, with a wide bowl and a long, narrow handle.

“A…spoon?” Judy asked.

“Because it’s perfect that a spoon, in a way, brought us together.” Jack smiled happily at her.

“Is it?” She smiled, back and entranced by the glow in his eyes.

“Yes. Your love, your faith…it feeds me. Nourishes my soul. As I hope mine does yours.”

Judy nodded, unable to say anything for a moment. Jack continued, speaking softly, not able to trust his own voice, “I hope…” He paused and put his forefinger down on the handle, right above the bowl of the spoon. “I hope that together…we’ll always have a life and hearts full of love.” She looked at him and whispered yes, then looked as his finger tapped the spoon. Then looking at it more closely, she gasped.

Her mouth hung open in astonishment and when she looked up, Jack laughed aloud at the gleam in her eyes, partly tears, partly amusement. He had a feeling…

“But Jack. It’s…huge!” Judy exclaimed, as she looked up with a smile. He burst out laughing. Only with her…

Below, as Vaughn and Sydney walked to their car, Sydney winced at Judy’s words, the groaned. “Talk about to much information…”

Vaughn deliberately misunderstood, “I saw it. It is huge.”

“You…It…what?” She twisted to face him, clutching the pig to her.

“It is huge. He showed it to me. Amazing, frankly.”

“He showed it to you? Why? Forget it. I’m just going to say that perhaps you two are becoming a little to…close for comfort.”

“But why wouldn’t he show it to me? We’re all family after all…”

“There’s family and then there’s…”

“He wanted my opinion.”

“Your opinion of what?”

“If she would like it or not.”

“Why in the world would you know if…Argggh. Forget it, just drop it. I think I need a drink. A big one.”

“A huge one?”

“Vaughn!” Sydney exclaimed, then her eyes narrowed. She looked away for a moment, then smiled.

“Well, is sounds like she was…impressed. Maybe I should have gone that route?” She held the pig up to her face as she walked. “What do you think, Piggy? Is bigger better?” She made the pig nod. Vaughn stared at her. Sydney sighed, “Perhaps, Vaughn, we need to reexamine our choices, because-“

“Um, I hate to tell to you this, but I think a person pretty much has what’s he’s born with.”

“You mean the size is predetermined? No chance of---“ She bit her lip at the look of disgust on Vaughn’s face, as he opened the car door and she slid inside. She turned and faced Nia waiting in the back seat and winked.

“No! What…science fiction have you been reading lately?” Vaughn asked as he sat behind the wheel.

“None, actually, I’m talking about natural science and rocks, simple black and white facts of life…” She put Piggy on her lap and patted it.

“But…I…” Vaughn spluttered.

“Michael, if you are feeling…insecure about something, you must know there is no reason for that.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Nia said softly.

Vaughn glared at her and then turning to face Sydney said,” No?”

“No, darling, of course not,” Sydney said, her voice softening, as she leaned forward and kissed him. “I mean, you can’t help it that you’re not as tall as my father.” She bit her lip and looked ahead out of the car windshield and met Nia’s amused glance in the rear view mirror.

“What?”

“I mean… He’s a big guy. Always has been, always will be. And you…you’re just more…how shall I say this? Shorter? No. Hoe about…more delicate? Smaller-bonded perhaps?”

“Sydney Bristow!”

“Yes?”

“That… You know,” Vaughn said accusingly, then began to laugh. “You know.”

“That we’re talking about Judy’s ring? Yes. He gave her a rock, right?”

“A freakin’ boulder.”

“Oh, she’ll like it then. She says she likes things big.”

“Smart women,” Nia agreed.

They all looked at each other and laughed.

“What’s huge…is my need for you,” Jack said softly, once he heard the last car door slam. “I feel that I am, we are, going to have a hunger for each other that the years will never erase.

“I think…” Judy paused and blinked her eyes rapidly. Jack lifted a gentle finger and wiped away the tears. “I think I’m going to take a page from your book and go straight for Option C.”

“Ah…Option C. Always the best option.”
“The truth usually is. And the truth is I cannot imagine my life without you in it. I love you so much, Jack. You have given me so much. So…this isn’t particularly poetic, but it’s the truth.”

“That’s all I really need. The truth.”

“I love you and yes, I’ll marry you. Anywhere, any time. Even up on a roof.”

Once again, as she had so often, she held out her hand to Jack. This time, he slipped a ring on her left hand, explaining that it was a blue diamond, surrounded by smaller white diamonds in a good settling. She stared down at it, amazed at the beauty of the unusual ring.

“An oval…” Judy said, looking at the ring, running a fingertip around the shape. “I know it must mean something, the choice is not random.”

“No, you can figure it out?”

“My turn to figure something out?” Judy asked, Jack nodded. “Hmm. An oval…. is an ellipse. And I have been known to tease you about that elliptical thought process of yours that…”

“That perhaps took too long to figure out that we should be together?”

“Jack…It was perfect. Truly. This story we can tell Sydney’s children… Perfect, as far as I am concerned. Sometimes…you do get a second chance.”

“Yes. And in the end, we found our way…”

Judy whispered and leaned forward and kissed him. “Our way back home.”

“And what were Option A and B?” Jack asked.

Judy shook her head. “I have no idea. There was only one option. To say yes. To you. To love. To life. To hope. To faith. To happiness. Now and always, just… yes.”

Jack nodded and whispered, “Yes,” as he pulled her toward him and touched his mouth to hers.

“I do see a million stars out there tonight,” Judy said, snuggling closer to Jack on the hammock. When did not respond, she looked over at him. Smiling as he looked at her, then brushed a hair away from her face before stroking the curve of her cheek, she sighed happily. “But do you know what I truly see when I look in your eyes?” She slid a fingertip along his jaw line and rubbed his bottom lip.

“What?”

“Everything.” She reached up and kissed him.

“Yes,” he sighed when their lips parted. “Everything. So do I. I…have to thank you again---“

“Jack---“

“I know. But…You helped me find my faith again. Then. Now. And without faith, no matter what else I may have had, I had nothing. And with it, with faith…”

“With faith, everything is possible.”