Epilogue

Bill and Collette Parker's dining room table had been a wedding gift from Collette's parents, nearly thirty-seven years earlier. The huge, four-insert, dining room table, was large enough for an infantry company. At least, that was what Bill had blurted the first time he saw it. He did, eventually, get back in the good graces of his mother-in-law.

"Mom gave us that table as a hint to fill it up," Collette complained time and time again, but she wouldn't give it up. The table filled up an entire room, even without inserts, in their first, tiny apartment. She finally explained to Bill that the table was a symbol. It symbolized that they wouldn't quit trying for the six children that they both had wanted. Jane was their only child, no matter how much they tried.

Now, thirty-seven years later, they had hopes to fill it up with grandkids, and eventually great-grandkids. Or lots of close friends like today's planned Sunday dinner.

Normally, one insert was all the Parker household needed, so they kept the other three in storage. Bill had been tasked with getting the extra three out of storage and dusting them off.

Collette looked proudly at the expanse of solid cedar. She had a bottle of liquid furniture wax in one hand and a rag in the other. Bill was standing on the other side of the table, nursing a sore thumb where the skin got pinched when the inserts were forced together.

Collette smiled, watching Bill, and walked around the table offering to kiss it and make it well. They were arguing about whether he would get cooties if he let her kiss it. Well, not exactly arguing.

"Not here too!" Blake complained. "Everyplace I go, everybody's smooching.

"We were not smooching," Collette corrected her grandson. "We were arguing."

"So who won?" Blake asked with a smirk.

"I did, of course," his grandmother said primly. "I'm the girl, so I win. Haven't you learned that in school yet?"

Blake rolled his eyes and asked, "That's not true, is it, grandpa?"

"Those are words to live by, son, if you want a happy life," Bill said seriously. "Words to live by," he said again, nodding to himself, before walking towards the front door.

Bill had almost reached the front door, when the door-bell rang.

He hesitated for a moment, until Hunter said, "All clear," then he opened the door.

Bill Parker was a naturally paranoid person ... not in a psychotic way, but as a well trained police officer that knows his city is a battle-field. He considered his Companion an extension of his senses, and thought that it would be stupid to not use those extra senses.

"You must be Bianca and Francisco," Bill said in greeting, holding out his hand. "I'm Bill Parker. Welcome to my home."

"The cute one is Bianca," Francisco said with a smile and a jerk of his head towards his wife, as he grasped Bill's hand.

"Yeah, that's how Caleb described the two of you, too," Bill said grinning. He looked around and asked, "I thought your daughter was coming, too."

"She's tubing with some friends down the Salt River," Francisco explained. "It's the last river outing planned for this year."

"We didn't press the issue when she asked if we minded," Bianca explained as she entered the house behind her husband. "Dinner, today, is kind of like a clan meeting. If she were here, significant conversations would need to be made via our Companions. I'm not really accustomed to that yet," she concluded apologetically.

"Don't feel bad about it," Bill replied. "Collette and I aren't either. Speaking of my better half ... honey, this is Francisco and Bianca. Bianca is the pretty one."

"I hope someone else had to make that observation for you, dear," Collette said with a smile. "It's good to meet both of you."

Bianca could tell from Collette's eyes that the woman enjoyed teasing her husband, and maybe even as much as her husband liked being teased.

"This is Blake, our grandson," Bill said proudly in introduction. "Blake, this is Mr. and Mrs. Santiago."

"Would you mind if we just stuck with Francisco and Bianca?" Bianca asked.

"Not at all," Bill said. "In our little group, respect is necessary, but formality is kind of silly," Bill admitted.

"Are Caleb and JJ here yet?" Bianca asked.

"Caleb is helping mom in the kitchen," Blake said. "Apparently, she needed help watching the timer," he continued drily. "When I looked, they weren't watching anything."

A loud 'ding' was heard through the doorway, and JJ sang out, "It's ready. Get the table set. Are Bianca and Francisco here yet?" she asked, her voice getting louder as she walked towards the door to the kitchen.

JJ walked through the door carrying a glass casserole dish with padded gloves. Caleb was right behind her, dutifully, with a trivet to set it on.

"Hi, Bee," JJ greeted Bianca with a smile.

"Hi, guys. I didn't hear you come in," Caleb said, setting the trivet on the table where JJ directed.

"I don't know why you didn't hear us," Francisco said with a straight face. "We rang the door-bell about five times and knocked as loud as we could. You're usually pretty good about knowing what's going on around you. Were you distracted by something?" Francisco asked innocently.

JJ blushed, but Caleb just grinned and pulled JJ close with one arm, after she set the hot dish down, before saying, "Yep."

"Blake, get your sister," JJ instructed, trying to deflect some attention away from her flaming face.

"They're in the game room," Blake said, disgust on his face. "They're 'playing pool, ' according to them," he said as he walked through another door.

"I think he's feeling a little like a fifth wheel," Bill observed.

"His time will come," Caleb said, smiling after the boy. "He's a good kid. He'll be okay."

There had been a marked change in Kim and Blake's attitude toward Caleb in the five days since the episode in the General's office. Kim decided that her mother wasn't a 'loose woman, ' and that the rapid progression of the relationship between Caleb and her mom was an anomaly. Caleb suspected that it had something to do with the rapid progression of her own relationship with a certain former gang member. Caleb had spoken to Jorge about the burgeoning relationship, and was satisfied with the answers that he got.

Blake, on the other hand, simply decided that his mom was safe in Caleb's hands. His fears that Caleb would hurt his mom receded, with Aaron's help. Blake also liked the fact that Caleb talked to him, instead of at him or down to him, like some of his teachers.

Jorge was embarrassed when he entered the room and saw Francisco, but he didn't release Kim's hand.

The table was quickly set, food brought out, and everyone was seated in a very short amount of time. Coordination with thoughts had an effect on efficiency.

Bill looked at all the people sitting at his table and smiled before saying, "I'd like to say something before we start eating."

Everyone sat forward, and conversation ceased as eyes turned towards Bill.

"One week ago, we found out my brother-in-law and best friend was dying of cancer," Bill began. "Now he's as healthy as a horse, and we all have Companions in our heads. Collette and I had a good relationship before last Sunday, but it was nothing compared to the relationship we have now," Bill said with a warm smile for his wife. "I feel closer to JJ than I have since she was a little girl, and my grandkids are no longer a mystery," he said, his smile turning into a grin. "My point is, Thanksgiving may have been last week, and Christmas is still a few weeks away, but the blessings that I have received in the last week overshadow all but a few events in my life."

Bill lifted his glass of iced tea and said, "I propose a toast to our Companions."

"I'll drink to that," and similar comments were uttered around the table before everyone sipped their own iced tea. Then they got down to the serious business of eating good food.

Caleb groaned, holding his stomach as he leaned back in his chair after finishing a another slice of peach pie.

"I think I need to open another restaurant, or add another menu at Refugio. That was delicious," Francisco said, in agreement with Caleb's groan.

"It was so good that I want to eat more, but I can't hold another bite," Caleb agreed.

"That was good," Bill agreed. "You ladies have outdone yourselves, again." He looked around the table before continuing with, "The first part of the week was insane, and the rest of this last week was just mind boggling with the speed that things are happening. A few of us still have some unanswered questions about Monday and Tuesday, and a few of us have some news, too. The answers to the questions that we have probably won't have much of an impact on the future, but they would settle some minds. The news might solve some problems, and create others. Caleb, since you started all this, why don't you start."

"Where should I start?" Caleb asked.

"I think you need to start from when you bought that ugly truck," Francisco said. "Bee and I have heard bits and pieces, but we would really like to hear the whole story."

Caleb began recounting the events of the previous Monday and Tuesday. It didn't take him long to give the highlights verbally. All the details behind the verbal words were passed by Al to the other Companions, and their hosts. Short stories gained a lot of depth when the story-teller is communicating verbally and mentally.

"Kim was wearing that guy's shirt after you rescued her," Blake said. "She had regular clothes on, when she got home. How did she do that?"

"BLA-ake!" Kim cried, rolling her eyes.

"I was so happy to get you back in one piece that I didn't even think about how you were dressed," JJ admitted. "Where did you get the clothes?"

"I ... I got them from Linda's," Kim admitted.

"But they were your clothes," JJ pointed out, confused.

"I keep a change of clothes at Linda's, and she keeps a change here," Kim said.

"Why," JJ asked, even more confused.

"MO-om," Kim said uncomfortably, casting a surreptitious glance at Jorge.

"It is in case she has an 'accident' while she's out," Alice explained on a private connection through Amy, frustrated at her host's embarrassment. "Primarily, she's concerned with accidents during normal monthly bodily functions. Kim and her friend discussed what would happen on a date if there was an accident, and a change of clothes were needed before going home."

"Ali-ice," Kim groaned mentally, steeling herself against the onslaught that she knew was coming.

"If you don't think your mom hasn't 'been there and done that, ' then you have another think coming," Amy said drily. "You two need to sit down and have a good talk, and I'm not talking about the little discussions when you go to bed at night. Do it soon. Trust her, Kim. Your mom is a lot more understanding than you give her credit for."

"Yes, ma'am," Kim thought to Amy.

"Never mind," JJ said to Kim aloud. "We can talk about that later. Right now, I want to know about the Senator."

"I already told you," Caleb protested. "He's just a guy that I met in the Army."

"Scotty?" Francisco snorted. "You told her Scotty was just a guy that you met in the Army?"

"Well, he was," Caleb protested, clearly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.

Kim smiled gratefully at her mom for redirecting the conversation.

"Ri-iiight," Francisco said with a chuckle, before turning to JJ. "Scotty was the First Sergeant of the company Caleb was in when he went to boot-camp."

"If his company First Sergeant knew him in boot camp, he was either very good, or very bad," Bill said with a chuckle.

"Actually, he was both," Francisco said with a nod of agreement and another chuckle. "It seems that our Caleb likes to fight. He got into several fights in boot camp, and even tried to mix it up with one of his drill instructors during hand-to-hand combat training."

"That was an education," Caleb said drily, nodding at the memory.

"What were you fighting about?" JJ asked curiously.

"There were ... um ... a couple of little guys in my squad," Caleb said hesitantly. "They weren't very aggressive, and some of the other guys tried to pick on them. I didn't like it, and the only way to stop them was to fight them. I didn't think our DI was doing enough to protect them, so I decided to do something about it during hand-to-hand training. He asked if anyone wanted to take a shot at him. I was the only one stupid enough to raise my hand."

"What happened," Blake asked breathlessly.

"He kicked my ass, royally, and didn't even break a sweat," Caleb admitted with a chuckle. "When I refused to quit, he used me as the practice dummy for the rest of the class. I think 'dummy' is the operative word there."

"What did Senator McGowan do?" Kim asked, excited about hearing more about Caleb's sordid past.

"He made me the recruit platoon sergeant," Caleb said, chagrined at the memory.

"I think the situation had reached the point of kicking him out, or putting him in a position of authority," Francisco explained, grinning at his friend's discomfort. "If I remember right, his platoon finished boot-camp as the honor platoon for the Battalion, and both of those little guys graduated with everyone else."

"Now, that's an accomplishment," Bill said with a chuckle. "How did you manage that?"

Caleb shrugged uncomfortably before saying, "I just acted like the DIs did, but focused on making everyone work together. There are some things that little guys can naturally do better than larger guys. When I could, I concentrated on doing things little guys could do better, and that gained them the respect of the guys that had picked on them. They learned that a successful team requires many different types of skills. Brawn can only take you so far. It ended up making the whole platoon a lot tighter."

"What does tighter mean?" Blake asked, confused.

"It means they were a more cohesive unit," Francisco answered. "A team can always do more than a collection of individuals. Their cohesiveness probably had a lot to do with his platoon coming out as number one in the Battalion."

"Scotty retired about a year later, and I kept track of him," Caleb explained. "Or maybe he kept track of me," he added with a chuckle. "Scotty went into politics. He was the reason I was looking at the Texas colleges. The only reason I came to Arizona was my ex." He grabbed JJ's hand under the table, and said, "I'm sure glad that I did."

"How did you ever get Scotty to come to Arizona?" Francisco asked. "He usually only comes out during Elk season."

Caleb sighed before saying, "I kind of keep track of which committees that he's on. Knowing the committees, I figured that somehow, he would be involved with an extraterrestrial space ship crash recovery. I just called him and said the secrets around a rocket crash in the desert was in danger of being exposed by the loose-cannon officer in charge. That was Monday, after JJ told me about Branch's visit to her office. I called him a couple more times. The last call was letting him know that Branch was supposed to be in General Key's office, and I gave a time that was about fifteen minutes after the meeting would start."

"The DES case that you were talking about was a complete fabrication," Bill said thoughtfully. "Yet, you pushed it, ensuring they would torture General Branch. Why did you do that?" he asked, sounding troubled.