AUTHOR: Cindy Wylie (RkieFan1960@AOL.com) 
ARCHIVE: At
www.fanfiction.net
and www.angelfire.com/TV2/rookies_fanfiction.
Otherwise, not without the author’s permission.
FEEDBACK:
Of course, but email me privately at RkieFan1960@AOL.com.
AUTHOR’S NOTES:
I want to thank Bridget for beta reading. I also want to apologize
for taking so long between stories. I’ve been seriously blocked since
the fall. This idea has been swimming around in my head for some
time. As a matter of fact, I’d started a very different version of
this story, but couldn’t finish it, so it got scrapped for what you’re
about to read. I hope everybody enjoys.
CHAPTER ONE: PREPARING FOR THE INEVITABLE
It was an early August morning. Mike Danko and his wife, Jill, returned from California a few hours ago after a disastrous visit with Mike’s parents. Mike had just dropped their luggage in the middle of the living room floor and they both collapsed in bed from utter exhaustion. Mike picked up the alarm clock by his side of the bed and squinted at it in the early morning gloom. It was just after six in the morning. He couldn’t believe he’d only been asleep just over four hours. He glanced over at Jill who was curled up in a tight ball on her side of the bed. He couldn’t believe how badly his father had treated her. Deciding that he wasn’t going to sleep any more, he quietly got out of bed and padded to the kitchen to make coffee.
Jill sleepily rolled over when she felt the bed dip under Mike’s weight. “I smell coffee,” she whispered as Mike settled back against the headboard of the bed. “What time is it?” She cuddled against him as he pulled her closer to her and kissed the top of her head.
“Six fifteen,” he told her as she grimaced. “Go back to sleep.”
“I can’t. You woke me up with the coffee,” she smiled, reaching for his cup.
“Do you want me to get up and make you a cup?” He offered as she handed his cup back to him.
“No, I don’t want you to get back up,” she sighed, snuggling tighter into his body.
“Baby, I’m so sorry about the way my father treated you,” Mike suddenly said in the darkness.
“Mike, you don’t have anything to apologize for. They raised a wonderful son, so it’s obvious that they did something right,” she smiled up at him as he leaned down to kiss her.
“Well, I turned out okay in spite of them and not because of them,” he tersely said, taking a swallow of his coffee.
“Mike, I could choose to be upset over the way I was treated if I really wanted to, but it wouldn’t change anything. Your father made his feelings known and there isn’t anything either of us can do about it. It doesn’t change the way we feel about each other, does it?” She asked him pointedly.
“No, it doesn’t change the way I feel about you,” he whispered tenderly as he gazed into her eyes. “I love you. I just wanted them to be as crazy about you as I am,” he told her, tightening his arms around her.
“Well, they aren’t and we were both kidding ourselves if we thought they were. I mean, your father’s phone conversations should’ve been indication enough of the way he felt. Look, you’re going away in a month. I don’t want to spend our last few weeks together agonizing over this. Come on, get up and I’ll cook you one of those huge Southern breakfasts that we’re supposed to be so famous for,” she grinned, taking his hand and pulling him out of bed.
He had to grin back, caught up in her mood. She was right. He was just going to make himself crazy if he kept thinking about the visit to California. By the time he threw some jeans on and made his way into the kitchen, Jill was already busy throwing breakfast together.
“You realize we’re probably going to fall into bed at six o’clock tonight,” he informed her as he sat at the kitchen table.
“Hey, just remember that you’re the reason why we’re up at the crack of dawn. If it had been up to me, we wouldn’t have gotten up until at least noon. Tomorrow,” she grinned at him as he rolled his eyes.
“So, what’re you going to tell your uncle and Jimmy when they wonder why we’re back so early?” He asked as she poured scrambled eggs into an old skillet.
“Well, if I make myself scarce, they won’t know we’re back. I used to be good at hiding,” she reminded him with a twinkle in her eye.
“I’ll call Jimmy later and let him know we’re home,” he promised her as she set his plate in front of him.
<><><><><><><>
Jimmy was sitting at one of the tables in the bar a few days later when Jill walked in. He looked up as she made her way behind the bar to get a soda. “You look great behind there. Are you sure you don’t want your job back?”
“Are you kidding? My husband would have a proverbial fit,” she replied, sitting down across from him.
“Speaking of your husband, where is he? I thought you two were joined at the hip,” he grinned as she slapped at him.
“He had maneuvers or some other Army thing to do. I was kind of left at loose ends, so here I am,” she rambled as Jimmy looked at her.
“How was your trip? Mike didn’t say much when he called the other day,” Jimmy commented in a neutral voice.
“It was okay, but I’m glad to be home now,” she replied off-handedly, wanting him to drop the subject already. However, Jimmy was like a dog with a bone. He never knew when to let well enough alone.
“What were his parents like?” Jimmy wanted to know.
“I don’t want to talk about his parents, Jimmy. I just dropped by to let you know I was still alive and we made it back in one piece. I’d better get back home before Mike gets home and wonders where I am,” she stood up and started walking toward the door.
“They hated you, huh?” He guessed.
Jill stopped mid-stride, then turned to face him. “Jimmy, I don’t think ‘hate’ is strong enough a word for how his father felt about me. His mother was polite, but it was pretty obvious how she felt about me being married to her son. Like I said, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I have to get home,” she insisted once again, practically running out of the door before Jimmy could say anything more.
Fortunately for him, Mike dropped by with his squad after their maneuvers. One of the guys ordered a couple of pitchers of beer and the group all sat around one of the tables in the back. Jimmy saw Mike walk over to the pay phone to call Jill before coming back to the table. He waited until Mike came up to the bar to order more beer before saying anything. “Can we talk later?” Jimmy asked him.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Mike asked alarm.
“Nothing’s wrong. Just talk to me later when you’re free,” Jimmy begged him as Mike nodded.
After the bar had closed for the night Mike sat down at the bar as Jimmy stacked the chairs on top of the table and ran the carpet sweeper over the floor.
“So, what’s going on?” Mike pressed anxiously.
“Jill was in here earlier today. The visit to your parents upset her a lot,” Jimmy informed him.
“Yeah, I know,” Mike admitted in a rueful voice. “It was pretty bad. But she told me she wasn’t going to let it get to her. I guess she told you something different,” he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.
“No, not in so many words,” Jimmy replied.
“Jill tried to warn me before we left that my father hated her. I tried to justify it by explaining to her that it was just the way he was. I promised her that if she weren’t happy, we’d leave. Well, we’re back early, so that should tell you something,” Mike said.
II’m sorry, Mike. I know how much it meant for you to have them accept her,” Jimmy told him.
“It’s not going to change my feelings for her, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Mike informed him in a tight voice.
“Mike, that’s not what I’m saying. I know how much you love her. I’m just saying I know that you wanted your parents to accept her, too,” he told him.
“Yeah, well I’m going to have to accept the fact that’s not going to happen. Look, I need to get home. I promised Jill I wouldn’t be out too late,” he admitted bitterly, standing up and walking out of the door.
Jill had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for Mike to get home. She struggled awake when she heard his key in the front door.
“Hey, I thought you’d be in bed,” he smiled when she walked over to kiss him.
“I was watching Carson and I had this dream that James Taylor was sitting in your chair singing ‘Fire And Rain’. Then you walked in and he left,” she smiled, wrapping her arms around him.
“That’s okay. He needs a haircut, anyway. Plus he’s a former mental patient,” he grinned back.
“So am I,” she reminded him.
“Jimmy said you seemed a little upset when you were in there this afternoon,” he told her, wrapping his arms tighter around her.
“Do we have to talk about that? It was more fun when we were trying to boot James Taylor out of your favorite chair,” she groused, disengaging from his embrace and walking toward their bedroom.
“Jill, please talk to me about this,” he begged, following behind her.
“Mike, it’s pointless! I’ll be okay. Jimmy reads too much into everything. Now can we please return to our former conversation?” She grinned at him, trying to lighten his mood. It seemed ever since their return from California he’d been a million miles away.
“I’m going to go take a shower,” he mumbled, grabbing a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts from his dresser drawer.
Jill returned to the living room and turned the TV back on. The late movie was playing. Jill didn’t know what it was…just some old black and white movie. She turned it on mainly for the noise. She tried not to think about the time she had left with Mike. Every time she looked at the calendar she was reminded of it. She felt like she was watching sand fall through an hourglass. There were times when she felt like grabbing onto him and never letting him go and other times when she couldn’t wait for him to leave. The way she looked at it, the sooner he left, the sooner he’d be back home and they could get on with a normal life. She looked up when he walked into the room.
“Is there room for two on this sofa?” He whispered, squeezing behind her and pulling her close to him.
“You smell wonderful,” she sighed, pressing closer to him.
“A combination. Pepsodent and Dial Soap,” he murmured, kissing her neck.
“I like it,” she smiled, putting her hands over his.
“If I’d known my father was going to be so awful to you, I never would’ve taken you up there. I am so sorry,” he stressed, once again tightening his grip on her.
“Mike, like I told you, it wasn’t your fault. He’s either going to accept me or he isn’t. There isn’t anything you or I can do to sway him. I’ll admit his behavior upset me, but I was more upset about him hurting you,” she slowly turned over to face him.
“He did hurt me, baby. Him rejecting you like that was as if he’d put a knife in my back. It’s hard to forgive something like that,” he whispered.
“You said it yourself…he can’t help being the way he is. You’re sweet and wonderful and the kindest person I know. I never in a million years expected to meet someone like you and I certainly never thought I’d ever marry you. I want to spend the next three weeks creating wonderful memories, not rehashing what happened during one awful weekend,” she kissed him to emphasize her words. “Now, can we please go to bed before you knock me off of the sofa?”
“Yeah, we can go to bed,” he grinned, getting up and helping her to her feet.
He lay in bed waiting for her to get out of the shower. He knew that the visit to his parent’s wasn’t the only thing weighing on her mind. He saw it in her eyes every time she passed by the calendar hanging on the kitchen wall. He saw it in the way that she suddenly didn’t want to let him out of her sight any longer than she had to. He had told her before the trip home that he had his last month in Alabama free, but that wasn’t entirely true. When you were in the military, your time was never entirely your own. You belonged one hundred percent to Uncle Sam. He had to make sure all of his papers were in order, plus he had training exercises that had to be completed before he left. He was trying his best to at least keep his last week to ten days free. Those last few days he intended to devote one hundred percent to his wife without any distractions. He looked up to find her standing in the doorway smiling at him.
“You looked like you were a million miles away. What were you so deep in thought about?” She asked, getting into bed and curling up against him.
“You. You’re the only thing I ever think about,” he whispered, kissing her.
“You’re a liar, but I’m too tired to argue with you,” she whispered back.
“Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about that fact that I threw James Taylor out of my chair,” he grinned, running his fingers down the front of her nightgown.
“Well, I doubt you would’ve acted that way if it had been Nancy Sinatra,” she teased back, feeling her body respond to his touch.
“Why are we having this conversation when we could be doing something far more interesting?” He inquired, kissing Jill’s neck and shoulder as she began to squirm against him.
“I thought we were doing something far more interesting, or at least we would be if we’d both stop talking,” Jill acknowledged, slowly stroking her fingers down Mike’s leg and smiling at his gasp of surprise.
“So I’ll shut up, already,” he promised, moving down to further tease and tantalize Jill’s body.
Lying in his arms later, Jill fought sleep. If she slept, it was just going to be that much sooner that he had to leave. If she stayed awake, she could keep him all to herself just that much longer. When she was lying with him like this, she could forget what it was like to always be afraid. She didn’t want to be like that again. She rolled over toward him when she felt his Saint Christopher medal pressing against her back. He tightened his arms around her in his sleep when he felt her resting her head in the hollow of his shoulder.
“I love you, Mike,” she whispered, but his only response was to press her more tightly against him, making her smile. Fatigue finally overtook her and she fell asleep as well, trying not to think of the remaining 26 days.