“Ugh…why are you up? It’s too early to be awake,” Michelle droned. “Come back to bed.”
“It’s a tempting offer, but I can’t. Today’s moving day. We’re picking up Ken at Dr. Vincent’s this morning.”
Michelle nodded, yawned again, and reached for him.
Alan went to her and got down on a knee. He took her hand and kissed the warmth of her knuckles. “Can I get you anything?”
She squeezed his fingers with hers. “Just you.”
“You haven’t had enough of that yet?”
Michelle shook her head as it lay buried in the pillow. “Never.”
“Then I guess I’ll stick around for a while and see what can be done about it.” He leaned over and kissed her temple. “See you in a bit. I love you.”
Michelle snuggled into her covers, opening her eyes wide as he strode away. “Alan, did you want me to come with you?”
“You can if you like, but it isn’t necessary. It’s more of a formality, us being there for him. Jade could just as easily get him here by herself, but I wanted to help him get settled in. Knowing her, she’s probably been up for an hour already. Might even be waiting on me.”
“You should make her wait longer,” Michelle said, though not loud enough for Alan to hear.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay. Sure I can’t get you anything?”
“No, I’m fine. Just let me sleep in. It’s good to sleep in. You should try it.”
Alan smiled, kissed Michelle’s cheek, and left the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him. On his way through the hall, he noticed Jade’s bedroom door was open, and took it to mean she had already risen, as she rarely left her bedroom door ajar while inside. Once in the kitchen, he went about getting the wood-fired stove going and whipped up a pot of coffee, then added a few pieces of seasoned oak atop the embers inside the Timberline. Once the coffee was done, he transferred the hot beverage contents into thermoses, donned his outerwear, and strolled outside.
As expected, Jade was waiting for him, seated now in the driver side of the Marauder armored personnel carrier, a beast of a vehicle she rarely went anywhere without. The diesel engine was idling, and the dashboard vents were wafting heat on full blast.
Alan rearranged the thermoses to one arm and pulled himself into the passenger side, handing one to Jade. “Good morning. I come bearing warm gifts.”
Rubbing her palms together, she took the insulated container of goodness willingly. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again with emphasis—you are a wonderful man.” She sniffed the contents before chancing a sip. “God in heaven, this smells good, like genuine coffee. What brand is it?”
“Coffee brand. The one that tastes and smells like genuine coffee because it happens to be genuine coffee.”
“Mmm…real coffee, my favorite. From real beans picked from real plants.”
“That’s the one.”
Jade blew on hers and took a long drink, ignoring the scald. “Anything beats the swill Butch tormented us with at his hideaway.”
“Agreed, wholeheartedly. That sludge was garbage…with the consistency of raw sewage.”
“Eww, Alan. Don’t ruin the moment. My stomach doesn’t respond well to nauseating stimuli, if you’ll recall.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Alan said, tapping the side of his head, “this is the new and improved Alan Russell brain. Put together like a steel trap.”
Jade sent him a look marred by playful skepticism and engaged the APC’s transmission. “You are pretty hardheaded, that’s a fact.” She led the Marauder out of the driveway, pulled onto Trout Run Road, and drove the short distance to Dr. Vincent’s at the old Ackermann home. Once there, she found a parking spot and shut off the engine. The pair climbed out, strode to the old farmhouse’s front porch, and Jade wrapped her knuckles on the storm door. A minute later, Dr. Vincent’s wife, Pamela, a doctor herself, came to answer. She met Alan and Jade with a smile and a delightful British-accented morning greeting, but only invited Jade inside, asking politely if Alan wouldn’t mind remaining on the porch.
Alan acquiesced, with no idea as to why the request had been made. Several minutes after, Jade reopened the door and held it for Ken, who staggered through the doorway and past her on a set of crutches.
Alan looked Ken over and backstepped to view his friend’s new predicament while Jade did something of the same.
Ken soon became annoyed with their silence and the looks they were giving him. “Okay, just what in the hell are you two staring at?”
Jade replied with an innocent, “Nothing.”
“What Jade said,” Alan added, “just…you and your new…augmentations.”
Ken squinted. “My augmentations? Okay, I get it. It’s obvious you two jokers missed me. I missed you guys, too. But I can sense an abundance of jeering and wisecracks coming on. I can even see them painted on the tips of your tongues. So, go ahead, spit them out, get them out of your system.”
Jade snickered, holding back any verbal response.
“I wouldn’t call them jeers or wisecracks per se, Ken,” Alan began, “just some observations coupled with a little offbeat humor. Seeing you this way is…inspiring, in a way. It brings about memories of the past…of, say, maybe even myself in a similar dilemma.”
Ken tried folding his arms, finding it difficult with crutches underneath them. “Oh, it does, does it?”
Alan nodded. “If memory serves…I remember something said to me once about my…limitations. Heh…and I think it was you who said it to me. Guess the…shoe is on the other…foot now. So to speak.”
Ken pursed his lips, unamused. “Yeah. It would seem that way.”
Jade put a hand to her mouth, attempting to mask her delight.
“What about you, Army?” Ken asked, turning to her. “You’re awfully silent for times such as these. Care to add anything colorful?”
“Nope. I think Alan is doing a superb job thus far. I wouldn’t want to mess up a good thing.”
“Right. Neither would I.” Ken scoffed. “Well,
