I can't resist...but cath...if you were reading Sponge Bath into Bed Bath, what on earth were you imagining the Beyond referred to?

kav

I wouldn't mind shopping if I had a Jack to accompany me!!!

Beautiful last post, Tracy!! I'm glad they both think alike!!!

Joy

i didn't get beyond sponge bath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i got a little flustered at that point!!!!!!!

cath

Cath, Kav.... stop it already. People at work are going to look at me strange when they notice my mascara running down my cheeks!! Thank goodness I carry a spare mascara in my purse, but I don't have a wash rag to scrub my cheeks clean...

Traci... I just fell in love with Jack all over again too! And I didn't think it was possible to be any MORE in love with him. Gee... sure wish "him" was real....

I'm crossing my fingers for you to finish on time... but if you don't and want to move this whole thing over into WIP and make it last for days and days... that's OK by me as well <sneaky grin>! I know you won't be eligible for any awards, but we'll all make up for that by telling you how wonderful you are... K?

Tina

that was wonderful how alike they are more soon please
Lin

Be still, my heart. Tracy, that was wonderful. No wonder Sue felt like she had fallen in love with him all over again. I melted as I read the part where he shared his convictions with her.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your wonderful comments and your encouragement! The comments have made me alternately , , and !

Tina, what do you mean you wish "him" was real? "Him"'s not real???? Now you've crushed me...I'm not sure I can continue on with this story knowing "him"'s not real!

I think we all wish "him" was real!!!!

Ok, well the one post I had left to write has turned into 2 or 3 posts, I think. I still have to type it up, but the story is completely written!

There's no avoiding it - I'm gonna have to have somewhat of a posting spree this evening to get it all posted before the deadline. I hope y'all don't mind!

I have to go finish typing it up now...be back in a bit to post again!

Thanks again,
Tracy
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having recovered from her swoon and able to stand on her own two feet now, Sue asked “So, Jack, was that a proposal?”

“Umm...no” he said.

“Oh...” she said disappointed.

He cupped her chin to get her to look at him “But it was...it is...the promise of a proposal...in the future...when the time is right” he said, smiling as her face brightened.

“Well, then...I guess it’s time to get cookin’” Sue said with a wink as she clapped her hands together and moved them rapidly together in show. “Which recipe do you want to try first?”

“Well, which do you recommend?” he asked her. “You are the cooking/baking expert here and you’ve made all of them before, right?”

“Yes, numerous times. I think you should start with the No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies...I think they’re probably the easiest to make”.

“What do you mean ‘you’ should start? Aren’t you helping me?” Jack asked.

“I’m supervising. If you need any help, I’ll assist. I’ll offer suggestions, but I’m not gonna do it for you” Sue said firmly.

“Okaaay” Jack said nervously.

“First suggestion - get everything you need to make the cookies and put it next to the stove for easy and quick access!” Sue said.

“Good suggestion!” he said pointing his finger at her.

“Here’s the pot you’ll need to cook it in” she said handing it to him, as he then placed it on the stove.”

Looking at the recipe card, Sue read to Jack the ingredients he needed to gather to place by the stove. He reached into the refrigerator to fetch the butter and milk then placed them by the stove. Then he placed the remaining ingredients there as well. In addition, he retrieved the necessary measuring cups and spoons.

“Now, another helpful suggestion” she began. “The mixture starts to get kind of crumbly if you don’t drop it all into cookies right away, so it’s best if we go ahead and line several cookie sheets with waxed paper first so we can quickly drop them once the mixture is ready.”

After preparing the cookie sheets, Jack turned to Sue and said “So now what?”

“Now you make the cookies. I’ll read the recipe to you and you can follow along, how does that sound?” she asked.

“Great...” he said.

Jack was surprised at how quick and easy the cookies had been to make and he smiled in satisfaction as he finished dropping the last of them on to the third of the wax paper-lined cookie sheets, leaving just a little of the mixture for both he and Sue to sample.

Sue kissed him passionately in reward for finishing successfully.

Coming up for air after a while, Jack asked breathlessly “So, do I get one of those each time I successfully finish each recipe?”

“Yes...on one condition...” she said.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“You kiss me after I finish making you dinner!”

“No problem!” he said and signed with a wink and a chuckle.

“Now, I saved a little bit of the mixture for each of us to sample and verify it’s fit to eat” Jack said taking out two spoons and handing one to Sue, as they then proceeded to feed one another, which, not surprisingly, led to more kissing.

“So, what do we do next?” Jack asked, as they were waiting for the No Bake cookies to set until firm.

“I think we should make the Butterscotch Brownies next, I think they’re the next easiest to make” she stated. “They take about 25 minutes to bake, so while they’re baking, we can mix up the Monster Cookies and start dropping them on to cookie sheets” she said.

“Sounds like a great plan, Thomas!” he said as they then continued to follow a similar process as before of setting out all of the ingredients before starting to make the recipe.

It took Jack a few attempts, but he was finally able to crack an egg that was useable and didn’t end up with any shell in it.

The baking spree lasted even longer than expected, being delayed repeatedly by frequent bouts of making out and at one point, while making the butterscotch brownies, a flour fight had broken out. Jack had ended up with flour in his hair and Sue had smiled fondly at the picture it had created, visions of an older and distinguished-looking Jack with salt and pepper hair, growing older, and better, alongside her, as her husband, as they spent time enjoying their children and grandchildren.

Having successfully finished making all three recipes, Sue ordered Jack out of the kitchen so she could quickly make dinner. They sat down to dinner a short time later, after Jack had rewarded Sue with her promised kiss. Dinner was followed by a sampling of each cookie and discussion of which Jack would enter for the bake-off.

“So what do you think, Jack?” Sue asked.

“They’re all three delicious!” he said. “I wasn’t exactly sure about the butterscotch brownies before I tasted them. I’ve never really been a huge fan of butterscotch, but they’re delicious! I don’t really think they taste like butterscotch. I think maybe they should more appropriately be called Brown Sugar Brownies, but I guess that sounds kinda silly!”

“I agree - I’ve never much liked butterscotch either but ever since I was little, I’ve loved these brownies!” Sue said. “I’ve always thought ‘Brown Sugar Brownies’ would be a more appropriate name too!”

“Great minds think alike!” he said with a wide grin.

“So which do you think you want to enter?” she asked.

“Actually, I think I’m gonna go with the Monster Cookies” he said.

“Really?????” Sue said surprised. “I thought you’d go for the No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies?”

“Well, they were definitely the easiest to make! And they are delicious, but I think I’m gonna go with the Monster Cookies because...” he said.

“Because why?” she asked.

“No, you’ll laugh!” he exclaimed.

“Why will I laugh?”

“Because, I’m gonna enter them instead of the other two, which were both probably easier to make, because I just think they seem...”

Looking at him questioningly with raised eyebrows she waited.

“Manlier” he said shrugging his shoulders, not caring that she was laughing at him because the laughter made her more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

Learning-how-to-bake-cookies-while-making-out Jack is adorable!!!

Joy

Monster cookies are manlier/!!!!! Now I've heard it all! Oh well, as long as he has a recipe to work with then they can get down to kissing while the cookies bake!

kav

In the weeks that followed, Jack and Sue continued to grow closer and closer, learning more about one another and their hopes and dreams. They discovered that many, if not all, of their hopes and dreams for the future were virtually the same.

Jack became an expert at making the Monster Cookies, even without Sue’s supervision and help.

It came as no surprise to anyone that both Jack and Bobby made it into the semi-finals, as well as the finals. Much to the relief of him and his wife Donna, D had not made it into the finals. Unfortunately for Myles who was more than willing and eager to be part of the Hunk of the Month calendar, he, like D, had only made it as far as the semi-finals.

The day of the finals had arrived – the 4th of July. Jack’s hand-picked team consisted of Sue, of course, Charlie, and Deanne, while Bobby’s consisted of Myles, Tara, and Lucy. Troy had offered to take photos of the days events, while D, Donna, and their kids Tanya and Davey were coming to offer moral support to both teams.

Each finalist had been assigned an outdoor oven station which consisted of an oven, a stove, a refrigerator and cabinets which they could stock with their ingredients and supplies the previous night, a sink, and counter space. Jack and Bobby were assigned to adjacent outdoor stations.

The finalists were given a couple of hours to prepare and bake their cookies and place them on plates for the public to come around and sample. After sampling the cookies, the public would vote on their favorite.

Team Hudson had started mixing up the cookie batter when Sue excused herself to go visit with some friends she had seen across the way. Jack excitedly pulled a small velvet box from his pants pocket and removed an engagement ring from it to show Charlie and Deanne.

“Beautiful” Deanne signed smiling big. “She’ll love it!”

“So, when are you going to propose?” Charlie asked.

“Later today, after the bake-off” Jack said, and signed, for the benefit of Deanne, with a grin from ear to ear. His signing had improved immensely in the last few weeks as he spent more and more time with Sue and with her Deaf friends.

“I’m just so happy for you both!” Deanne said and signed, misty-eyed. “I’m glad you finally admitted how you felt for each other and I hope and pray that you will have a long and happy marriage”.

“Thank you!” Jack signed with a smile. “You’ll both be an important part of the wedding!”

Charlie continued to stir the cookie dough as he looked away and noticed Sue approaching, warning Jack, who scrambled to ensure that the ring was out of view from Sue. Turning his back to her, Jack was startled as Levi excitedly leaped at his back and the ring flew from his hands. His eyes widened in horror, as he heard a loud clinking noise, assuming the ring had landed down the sink.

Oh, dear. The ring went flying. Well, I have an idea that Jack's moment is going to be just a bit different from what he expected.

No! You're supposed to be wrappin things up, not giving us more angst!

kav

QUOTE(Ivory @ Aug 15 2007, 10:02 PM)

Oh, dear. The ring went flying. Well, I have an idea that Jack's moment is going to be just a bit different from what he expected.

Yeah, you could definitely say that, Ivory!!!! I didn't call it Recipe for Disaster for no reason!!!!

As Myles returned to the bake-off area, he noticed Bobby had a stunned look upon his face.

“What did I miss?” Myles asked.

“Jack and Eleanor are engaged!!!” Bobby said shocked.

“What?” Myles asked, sure he must have heard him wrong.

“Jack and Eleanor are engaged!!!” Bobby said once again.

“What?” Myles repeated.

“No matter how many times you ask, the answer will unfortunately still be the same!” Bobby said.

“First, I go out for a tuna sandwich...I come back and Jack and Sue are married! Now, I go to the restroom and I walk back into some bizarre parallel universe where Jack and Eleanor Rippendorf are engaged?” Myles asked confused.

“As hard as it is to comprehend, that appears to somehow be the case, mate” Bobby said, unsure of exactly what had transpired.

“I liked it better when I came back from the tuna sandwich! You realize I’m going to be afraid to go to the restroom for the remainder of my life now? Of course, at least I’m not engaged to Eleanor!”

“That’s looking on the bright side of things” Bobby said with a small humorless chuckle.

Pausing thoughtfully, Myles asked, “Do you think it would help if I went out for a tuna sandwich?”

“Couldn’t hurt, Harvard! Someone has to do something...soon, before Sue returns!”

“I give and I give and I give and does anyone ever appreciate my sacrifice? No! What I won’t do for this team! I don’t even like tuna! It just so happens that the deli was out of everything else that day!”

I had to laugh!! How did Eleanor get a hold on that ring?? Was she right there when Jack dropped it?? And, how could she ever think that Jack asked her to marry him?? Oh, this is really funny!! I can't wait to see how this turns out!!!

Joy

“Ahem...ahem...” Eleanor began in her trill voice “I have an announcement to make people.”

“Uh oh, here we go...” Bobby mumbled.

“As all of you know, the public will be voting for their favorite cookie to decide who our top twelve finishers, who will appear in the Hunk of the Month calendar, will be. However, in the case of a tie, it will be up to the judges to make a final decision, as we can only have twelve winners, since there are, of course, only twelve months in the year. Seeing as how I’m now engaged to one of the contestants in the bake-off – very Special Agent Jack Hudson...I am disqualifying myself as a judge. Wouldn’t want to be accused of giving preferential treatment to any of the contestants” she said winking at Jack “...and I have to admit it would be very hard to be impartial...we’re talking about my fiancé here!” she said in a husky voice as she attempted a sexy, come-hither look at Jack, which only served to make him feel as though everything he had eaten that day was going to come hither and expel itself from his body.

“So, I’ll need a volunteer to take my place in the judging, in the event of a tie. Any volunteers?” she asked, just as Sue reappeared, having excused herself again earlier to walk Levi. “Ah, Miss Thomas” Eleanor approached “I was just telling the crowd how if the public votes and there’s a tie, it’s up to the judges to decide how to break the tie. I am disqualifying myself as a judge in the competition, seeing as how I am now engaged to one of the contestants” she said with a look of smugness as she gleefully shoved her left hand in Sue’s face flaunting the beautiful engagement ring.

“Oh, really?” Sue asked. “Congratulations! I didn’t even know you were dating anyone Eleanor. Who’s the...ummm...lucky guy?” she said looking over at Jack with a grin. Her grin began to fade as she noticed he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Well, I wasn’t really dating him!” Eleanor said. “In fact, it was very sudden...and came as quite a surprise to me as well...but then who could say ‘no’ to Special Agent Jack Hudson?”

“Excuse me?” Sue asked. “Did I read that right?” Sue asked confused, looking at Jack for confirmation.

“Why yes, Miss Thomas...looks like the better woman won this time!” she said gloating, having always resented the fact that Sue Thomas had one-upped her at the Bachelor auction.

“Jack, how could you?” Sue cried. “I don’t understand!” a look of pure anguish on her face.

“Sue...please...it’s all just a big misunderstanding! You have to believe me! I would NEVER propose to Eleanor! I don’t even like her, much less love her!” he said giving Eleanor a look which thoroughly conveyed his displeasure with her behavior, as she stomped off in a huff mumbling.

“Sue, I love you, you know that! I was going to propose to you! But I lost the ring! I thought it had gone down the sink drain, but apparently it ended up in the cookies somehow! When Eleanor took a bite of one of the cookies she bit down on it. I just happened to kneel down around the same time she realized it was an engagement ring and before I knew it, I was somehow engaged to her!” he stopped, having been interrupted by laughing.

“Sue, stop laughing...Sue, this is NOT funny! Sue, please, stop laughing!” he begged.

“I’m not laughing at you Jack; I’m laughing with you!” Sue said barely able to control the bouts of laughter which had overtaken her.

“But I’m NOT laughing!” he said upset. “Sue, it’s not funny! How would you feel if you somehow became engaged to...RANDY???!!!!”

“Ugghhh!” Sue exclaimed with a shudder. “That’s not funny Jack!”

“EXACTLY!” Jack said.

“If that happened, I’d think I was having a nightmare!”

“EXACTLY!” Jack said once again.

“Yes, EXACTLY, Jack!”

“Huh? What?” Jack asked confused.

“You’re having a nightmare Jack! Wake up! Jack! Jack! Jack! Wake up!” Sue exclaimed, gently shaking him at the shoulder trying to wake him from the sleep he’d fallen into on his couch.

Jack woke up in a cold sweat, sitting bolt upright on the couch, and obviously disoriented.

“Are you ok, Jack?” Sue asked and signed the question.

Rubbing his face with his hands to more fully awaken, he said “Yeah, I guess so.”

“That must have been some nightmare you had!” Sue said. “You kept tossing and turning and muttering something about Eleanor and a huge mistake!”

Still somewhat disoriented, Jack asked “So, how much of it was a dream?”

Leaning over to kiss him slowly and passionately, she stroked his cheek lovingly with her hand. Coming up for air, she looked deep into his eyes and asked “Does that answer your question?”

“Not exactly, but if you try it again, maybe it will all come back to me” he said with a wink.

“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do...” she muttered before kissing him again, this time even more passionately than before. “Did that help?” she asked after they parted.

“Well..it helped...just not my thinking...I can’t think clearly after that!” he said with a wink.

“We need to go pick up Charlie and Deanne before heading to the bake-off finals, come on” she said standing up and clasping his hand to help him off the couch.

“Oh, good...” he said. “So the finals haven’t happened yet!”

“Nope...the finals are today – the 4th of July! So does that answer your question about how much of it was a nightmare and how much of it was reality?”

“Yes, I think so!” he said smiling. “Let me just check something” he said, holding his index finger up before turning his back to her and reaching into his pocket to pull out the black velvet box. Slowly opening it up, he let out an audible sigh of relief when he discovered the ring was still there. Closing it back up quickly and slipping it into his pocket, he turned back towards Sue and smiled.

“Everything ok?” she asked.

“Yes, but there’s something I’d like to do before we go” he said.

“We don’t have a lot of time Jack. Can it wait?” she asked.

“No, it can’t! I had this all planned out perfectly, but after the nightmare I just had I don’t want to take any chances of a disaster like THAT happening! I’ve realized that no matter how or when I do it, the thing that will make it perfect is the woman I’m asking” he finished, taking her hand and kneeling before her, he reached into his pocket for the ring.

Tear of joy started to fall down her face as he propped open the ring box to reveal a beautiful engagement ring.

Signing, he said “Sue, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you! Will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Jack Hudson?”

Unable to speak, overcome with emotion, she simply nodded her head vigorously in response. Standing up, Jack pulled her to him and embraced her lovingly.

Pulling back far enough for her to read his lips, he said “Let’s see how this thing fits!” After easily sliding the ring on to her finger, he held on to her hand, marveling at the way it seemed to be made especially for her.

“Perfect!” he declared. “Just like the woman who’s wearing it!” he said with a smile from ear to ear.

Sue’s smile was radiant. She cupped his cheek with her right hand, leaning in to place a gentle kiss upon his lips before finally finding her voice and stating “Perfect...just like the man who gave it to me!”

“I have a request” Jack said.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Can we have a short engagement? I’m really looking forward to some of the...ummm...benefits of marriage” he said, blushing slightly.

Staring deep into his eyes, she said and signed “Absolutely...no problem!” Adding “...and Jack?”

“What, sweetheart?”

“Me too!” she said, winking seductively, then blushed furiously. Leaving him in shock, his mouth gaping wide open, she quickly turned around and went to retrieve, then attach, Levi’s leash, as she readied to leave for the bake-off.

“Jack...close your mouth or a fly will fly in!” she said with a smirk. “Let’s go!”

“Yes, dear!” he said saluting her before he placed his hand on the small of her back and led her out the door.

I did it! I did it! I did it! I finished before the deadline! This is the last post! <sigh of relief>

I want to thank everyone so very much for reading and replying - for the wonderful comments and words of encouragement! I can't begin to express how much they've meant to me! I had a blast writing this story! Knowing y'all enjoyed it and reading your comments has been like...well, icing on the cake!
Sorry, I can't seem to stop it with the cooking references!

I also want to thank whoever wrote the wonderful intro that inspired this story! I've never entered a challenge with this format before - where an intro has been provided, but this one really intrigued me. It's been a while since I've had this much fun writing a story!

A special thanks to my beta who has been gracious enough to put up with my craziness! Thanks so much for everything!

Hope you enjoy!

Thanks,
Tracy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue:

The finals for the bake-off had occurred without any major, or even, minor disasters, as Jack had originally feared. Both Jack and Bobby had been chosen by the public as two of the final twelve to appear in the Hunk of the Month calendar, along with their winning recipes.

Having received the most votes, Jack had first choice of what month he would appear in the calendar. After much debate between May (because it was the month Sue’s and his birthdays were in), July (since that’s when he had proposed to Sue), or December (because he and Sue both loved Christmas so much and were marrying in that month), he wisely decided on December.

Jack and Sue had married in an elegant, meaningful, and touching Christmas wedding ceremony. Much of the ceremony had been signed, as well as spoken. All of their family and friends were in attendance, eager to finally see them married after waiting so long for the two to realize what they’d ALL known immediately – that they were made for each other!

Their honeymoon, spent in Hawaii, was truly a testimony to the belief that True Love Waits and that it is indeed well worth the wait. They had returned just in time to spend their first Christmas together as a married couple, at home.

When December, and their first anniversary, rolled around, Jack was the featured Hunk of the Month on the calendar that hung proudly on the refrigerator in their new house. They had recently discovered they were expecting their first...and their second child – twins!

A wife, a couple of kids, a house, and a dog...it really was all coming together for Jack and he felt truly blessed.

The bake-off, which had started out as a recipe for disaster, had turned into a recipe for fun, happiness, success, romance, and love, the most essential ingredient in a life well-lived.

The End

I'm so glad you were able to finish this before the deadline. And I absolutely loved Jack's nightmare! I was afraid I would wake someone up, so I needed to cover my face with a pillow while I laughed.


I could see this entire scene playing out, but this part especially.

Lovely ending to a wonderful story! Twins... ... can I just say awwww!

A nightmare! Oh, I soooo didn't see that one coming... I was right along with you, gasping when the ring went flying and then scratching my head trying to figure out how in the world he became engaged to Eleanor of all people!! I've had nightmares where I woke up OH SO THANKFUL it was a dream, but never one THAT bad!

But all's well that ends well and it certainly did that... and on time to boot! Congratulations. I couldn't have written a paragraph in the time it took you to complete this story!!

Oh, and I'm soooo very sorry about the whole "hims" not real thing. I don't know what I was thinking. Bad Tina. Of course him's real... and him's wonderful, him's in DC, and him's taking care of America as we speak, err... type. And as long as I at it... him's kissing Sue!!!

Congratulations again!

Tina

congratulations on finishing

great story, loved it from beginning to end

cath

I was out for the count and then Myles and Bobby's dialogue was so funny! I am eternally grateful that it was a dream. congrats on finishing the story in time.

kav

Wonderful story, tis*me. Congratulations on meeting the deadline. You really had me laughing when Jack's disaster with the ring turned out to be a dream. He certainly turned it around. The epilogue gave a lovely glimpse of their settling into a happy marrriage.

that was great from start to finish

Lin

Tracy, you had me worried there for a minute!! I'm so glad it was just a dream......I mean, a nightmare!! Jack was very smart to ask Sue before they left for the bakeoff!! No sense taking unnecessary chances!!!

Cute story from start to finish!! Thanks for sharing!!!

Joy

Fabulous post loved it and the story

I could just see it!


Great job on your story...so enjoyable from beginning to end!

Tracy

Sorry I got behind on your story and couldn't comment. I decided to enter the challenge myself, at the last minute, and was furiously writing! Nothing like waiting until the last minute, is there?

So Jack and Sue were already a couple! I would get distracted too, with Jack's kisses!

The recipes look very good, except I'm with Cath on the butterscotch. Never cared for it myself; but, it would be a different recipe to take to a church function, especially youth, so I'm gonna give them a try once I get back home. I actually made the first recipe with my kids when first teaching them to cook, so that recipe has been around a long, long time! The Monster Cookies sound wonderful. And with such a large recipe, that would be perfect for youth group snack or our fall craft fair coming up in Sept where we have baked goods for sale! Definitely going to try that one.

Loved these lines: Gots to agree with everyone...meltilicious Jack it is!

Yes, you definitely had Jack enjoying what most men abhor...grocery shopping! Just goes to show that when you're in love, anything you do with that love is a joy; and, you portray that very vividly, Tracy. Wow! Cath, Sunday morning before church is not the time to be reading a comment like that! Dare I say I loved it? I had to laugh at this, Tracy...as the same thing happened to me! It's so hard to turn the darling character's mouths and minds off when writing them. They just seem to take over the story! You're doing a great job here..very enjoyable and getting to read all at one time, too, although that does seem to make for a very long comment!

So, going to go ahead and post this and finish in another comment.

Lynn

Oh, WOW!!!!! Now, that was a powerful post, Tracy...Jack saving himself for the woman of his dreams! Thanks for taking us there! I'm swooning too!

Yeah, I'm with Kav...what were you thinking Cath? Whoops! Better wait until Monday to answer that!

Oh, you aleady answered! Phew! My imagination was working overtime there!

Tina, I don't wear mascara; but, if I did, I'd be right there with you! Tracy, since you did finish on time, I'm gonna say you could start a sequel and give us some more heated moments in the kitchen. And we haven't even gotten to the baking yet!

QUOTE

Tina, what do you mean you wish "him" was real? "Him"'s not real???? Now you've crushed me...I'm not sure I can continue on with this story knowing "him"'s not real!

I think we all wish "him" was real!!!! [tis*me!]

Have faith gals! *****as Lynn goes skipping merrily, well as merrily as a 67 year old lady can skip, off to get ready for church, singing "some day, my prince will come".....and he's gonna look and act, just like Jack! (Oh, that rhymes!) and believing it with all her heart!*****

Oh, I hate to stop here, Tracy; but, I m gonna have to go take a cold shower so I can get to SS on time! Wish I didn't have to catch the last of your posts later!

Lynn

Jack's task was baking,

Sue's task was making

out with a reward;

Jack was not bored

Neither of them faking!

Oh, never mind me....I'm in a silly mood this afternoon, made even more so by all the :kissing: in that last post!

And, I'm glad Jack is baking the Monster Cookies, only I think they should be renamed MANLY MONSTER COOKIES!

Sweet talk with Charlie and Deanne! Oh, NO! the ring hit something metal! No, No, it couldn't have gone down the sink...must have hit the stove, fridge, anything but the sink! Well, the best laid plans....it will be something for them to laugh about and tell their children and grandchildren! Off to find out!

Can't help it Tracy...Let me read some more! More

Got to quit now and feed dad! What a place to leave it! Be back after while!

Lynn

Aw, this is much better...reading with a good 5 hours sleep under my belt! It did cross my mind Jack was having a nightmare; but, not until the very end of that post! Very nice touch of angst, there at the last second, Tracy!



Beautiful proposal!

Short engagement!

Well, I wouldn't say July to December was a short engagement; but, I liked it anyway...No, I loved it anyway! Fantastic story, Tracy, with just the right amount of humor, angst, teasing, kissing and most of all, love, flowing through the words. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Lynn

Thanks again everyone for the wonderful replies!


Tina, I'm so glad you have seen the error of your ways on the whole "him's" not real thing and have amended your statement! You really had me worried there for a few minutes! Him's not real - PUHLEASE!!!! Next thing ya know, someone's gonna try to tell me that Dr. Clint Cassidy's (Doc) not real!!!!!


Thanks for the laugh, Lynn!

Tracy

lol jack getting engaged to elanor. loved the banter/teasing between sue/jack. yay they got the house, kids and dog...a happy ending!