THIRTY-TWO

Cate hummed softly as Jon’s lips stroked gently over hers, comforting and encouraging.  The corners of her mouth curved in a half-hearted smile, though her body remained unresponsive.

When the kiss broke, Cate sighed wearily.  “Jon… you have less than an hour until you have to be on set.” 

“So?  That’s plenty of time.  I don’t really need to go over my lines again.”

“Maybe, but…”  Cate gave a little shrug and lowered her chin, feeling his thumb slide along her jaw.  “Just… not here, Baby.  Not now.”

“But Cate… we have to do this on schedule, right?” Jon’s husky tone held a hint of annoyance.  “Isn’t that why you came here?”  His hand dropped from her face to his lap.

Cate sat back, turning her gray gaze to his face.  Her smile faded.  “Is that what you think?  That I just came here at ten o’clock at night because it’s time for you to fuck me?” 

Her query was accusatory, her disappointment masked by her abrasive tone.  Cate’s tired eyes told the truth, though.  Jon cringed at the hurt he saw there.

“Baby… No.  Of course not.”  Jon sighed, dropping his own chin to his chest.  He took a deep breath, pausing to collect his thoughts.  He didn’t want to say the wrong thing again.  He had been too good at doing that all day long.

“I just thought…” Jon looked up at Cate, his expression serious.  “…Maybe you were worried we might not get to make love tonight.  Because I’m stuck here late.”  He gave her a tight-lipped little smile.  “I guess I misread the signal.  Sorry.”

Cate sighed heavily and slumped sideways against the couch.  She raised a hand to pull through her thick auburn hair, sweeping it away from her face.  “Yeah, seems like we’ve both been doing that a lot lately.  Misreading each other.”  Her comment was tinged with bitter lament.

An uneasy silence permeated the little room as they both considered that truth.

When Cate spoke, her voice was small.  “Jon, I came here because… I just wanted to see you.  Talk to you, face-to-face.  Since you weren’t… weren’t there, today.  And you’ll be late tonight, and I have to be up and gone before you tomorrow…”

Jon’s eyes closed as a stab of guilt pierced his heart.   “Cate, you know I would have been at the clinic with you if I could.  But I don’t call the shots here.  There are hundreds of people involved in this:  actors, crew, production people...  I have to follow the schedule I’m given.”

“I know, Jon.  I’m not blaming you.”  Cate swallowed hard.  “It’s just that these past couple weeks… Oh…I don’t know.”  Her chin dropped against her chest as she let out a frustrated sigh.

“What don’t you know?”  Jon’s voice gentled though he felt an uneasy tightening in his gut.  The distance between them had been more than just physical during Cate’s trip, a fact they had both chosen to ignore during their daily conversations and electronic exchanges.  He waited for her response, watching her profile closely.

It took her a full minute to reply.  When she did, her words were carefully chosen.

“I just feel like… like I’m failing, Jon.  No matter what I do, how hard I try to do all the right things… I…”  Her husky voice cracked slightly.  “I’m doing everything they tell me.  The doctors, the books, the websites…”  When she turned her face to look at him Jon saw the tears welling in her eyes.  “The schedules, the shots, the vitamins…”

“Cate…”

His gentle utterance of her name made her crumble.  “I’m doing it all, Jon.  Everything.  Just like I’m supposed to.  And it’s not making one fucking bit of difference.”  Tears slipped down her cheeks as her words tumbled out in a choked rush of bitter frustration.  She reached up to swipe angrily at the evidence of her emotion.

Jon reached for her other hand, pulling it gently from her lap and wrapping it in his.  “Baby…”  He hesitated, not knowing quite what to say to bolster her obviously-shaky confidence.  He took a breath, hoping somehow the right words would just slide off his tongue.

“You’re doing everything you can, Cate.  And you are doing it right, obviously.  Didn’t you just say Dr. Klein was pleased today?  The ultrasound was good?  Your blood work too?”  He gave his wife’s hand a little squeeze.

She gave a stuffy sniffle and nodded dispiritedly.  “Yeah, but so what?  It’s the same thing every month.  ‘All normal, looking good, think positive’…”  Cate hoarsely mimicked her doctor’s repeated pep-talk.  “And then… nothing.”

“Baby, it’s only been a few months since you started the drugs.”

“But every fucking month, Jon… We do it all right, cross our fingers and start thinking ahead, and… and…”  Cate sniffled loudly again and let out a choked, growling whimper of aggravation.  “And now, it’s like we have one last shot…  To do it right, or…”

Jon sighed heavily, her defeated tone making his heart wrench in sympathy.  Obviously Cate’s disillusionment had been building for some time, for it to come spilling out of her so easily.  His wife was not one to lose control of her emotions; when she was overwhelmed she turned inward, shutting everyone out until she could place her feelings under tight rein.

He scooted closer to Cate on the couch, the leather crinkling and squeaking with his shift.  Gently Jon pulled his hand from Cate’s and slipped it around her waist, urging her toward him.  She resisted for a second, then allowed him to pull her into a loose embrace.  She turned to slump back against the couch, leaning into Jon as she again raised a hand to swipe away her tears.

“Cate, it’s not our last shot.  Just because Dr. Klein thinks we should try IUI next month doesn’t mean we’ve failed.”  Jon suspected there was more to Cate’s frustration than the planned progression of their treatment, but this was a place to start.

She let out a long, defeated sigh.  “I know.”  Again she sniffled, this time more quietly.  “But Jon… what if that doesn’t work?  I mean, Jesus.  It’s hard enough to keep things on track without all the extra lab visits.”  She let her hand fall weakly to her lap.  “The vitamins and pills are easy enough, but doing the shots at the same time every morning and night…”

“It was hard to keep up with while you were in the field, huh?”

Cate nodded slightly.  “I had to carry my kit with me, sneak off to the ladies’ room or somewhere when the alarm on my phone went off.”  She sniffled again, then chuckled hoarsely as she realized how silly her words sounded out loud.  “Some days it wasn’t so hard, but when our Target was on the move…”

Jon smiled gently and gave Cate a little squeeze, encouraging her to keep talking.  That was obviously what she needed right now.  “So what did you do?  Carry your vial and syringe around in a pouch on your belt?  Next to your gun?”

Cate smiled weakly.  “No.  I just had it in a little case in my bag.  I was carrying concealed.  We try to blend in when we surveil, remember?”

“Ah.  Well, walking around Miami with drugs and a syringe in a case in your purse will make you fit in, alright.”  Jon chortled softly with his ironic tease. 

That earned a more genuine giggle from his wife.  Encouraged, Jon gave her another squeeze.  “So, what did Gus think of you dashing off to the ladies’ room to ‘shoot up’?”

“He didn’t know.  And he thinks I had to bail on the op early to come back and brief the AUSA in Newark.”  Cate frowned.  “Gus doesn’t know anything about me trying to get pregnant.  And he’s not going to.”

“Well, don’t you think he’ll figure it out when you gain about fifty pounds and look like you’re trying to smuggle a watermelon under your suit?”  Jon turned his head to give Cate a wry smile.

“Well, then I’ll tell him, obviously.”  She sighed again.  “If it ever happens, anyway.”

“It’ll happen, Baby.”  Jon leaned to press a gentle kiss against his wife’s temple.

She was silent for a long moment, her gaze lowering to her hands in her lap.  “But what if it doesn’t, Jon?  What if I never…”  She couldn’t finish the awful thought.

“We will, Cate.”  Jon raised his free hand to hook a finger under her chin, encouraging her to look up at him.  “I’m sorry you’re having to bear the brunt of this, Baby.  If I could do more, I would.”

Cate shrugged.  She knew Jon was sincere, but his apology was just a platitude.  She was the one with the barren womb, the one who for whatever medically-mysterious reason couldn’t conceive a child.  She sighed again.

“I feel like a shit, leaving Gus down in Miami by himself.”

“He’s not really by himself, is he?  You guys were working with the Miami agents, right?”

“Yeah.  Silvio’s backing him up.”  Cate tipped her head to rest against Jon’s shoulder, a gesture of weariness.  “But still… it just feels so… I don’t know… selfish, I guess.  For me to pull out of an op for personal reasons.  In all my years as an agent, I’ve never done that before.”

“Never?”

Cate shook her head slightly.  “Never.”  A wan smile curved her lips.  “The only way I’ve ever come out of the field is on a stretcher.  Ask Danny.”

Jon frowned.  “I don’t want to think about that.”  A sick feeling flooded him as his mind flashed back to the incident over a year ago, when Cate had been randomly attacked while working in the Caribbean.  She had been pulled from that undercover operation over her vehement objection.

“Well, it happens.”  Cate’s reply was weary but matter-of-fact.  Jon swore he heard a tinge of steely pride in her tone, too.

“Never again, as far as I’m concerned.”  Jon gave Cate another squeeze, turning his head to again press a kiss into her hair.

“I don’t like having to lie to my partner,” Cate observed quietly. 

Jon nodded silently.  Now he understood.  While Cate’s fears about their ongoing fertility challenges were real, now they were compounded by her guilt about compromising her duties and her loyalty to her colleagues.  That was why she had been so uncharacteristically stoic over the past few weeks. 

And him continually snarking that she was away working instead of home focusing on getting pregnant probably hadn’t helped.

“I know, Cate,” Jon agreed softly.  “It’s hard.  But you really don’t have a choice.”

“Yeah.”  Cate breathed an ironic chuckle.  “It was hard enough explaining those tabloid pics with a straight face.”

“Gus saw them?”

“Everybody saw them.  I had to just laugh it off, say what unethical, fabricating idiots the tabloid people are.”

Jon smiled wryly.  “Well, that’s true.”

“Yeah.”  Cate mirrored Jon’s wry smile.  “But mostly I got razzed about spending my holiday jet-setting to the Caribbean with a rock star.  Not exactly in keeping with a blue-collar civil servant profile.”

Jon chuckled but didn’t reply.  Instead he turned his head to give his wife a tender look. 

“Cate.”

She raised her head in silent response, turning her weary gray-blue gaze to his.

 “I’m glad you’re here.  I’m sorry the past few weeks have been rough.  Lord knows, Baby… I wish I could have done something to make them easier for you.”  Again Jon reached up to caress her cheek.  “And I’m sorry I made… assumptions, about why you came tonight.”

Cate shrugged and looked down, sniffling slightly.  “I… I’m sorry too, Jon.  The last thing I wanted tonight was to argue.  We’ve done enough of that over the past week, don’t you think?”

Jon nodded slowly, his expression sobering.  “Yeah.” 

“I just… it’s all been so hard.  Since… since New Year’s.”  Cate smiled though she felt her eyes again filling with tears at the painful memory.  “I guess I’m just tired, and a little stressed out.  And the fact that I have God knows what levels of hormones running amok in my body probably doesn’t help either.”  She recalled the excuse Dorothea had given her earlier.

“I think we’re both a little stressed, Cate.  We have a lot going on right now.”  Jon sighed.  “We have to figure out how to make some time, just for us.”

“Other than scheduling our sex, you mean?”  Cate intended the quip as a sarcastic joke, but it fell flat.

Jon gave Cate a long, serious look.  “Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean.   But, speaking of sex on schedule…”  He dropped a glance to his watch.  “My call is in twenty minutes.”

Cate shook her head, giving Jon a wan smile.  “I’m just not up to it right now.  Besides, you’re already in hair and makeup and wardrobe...  You’ll be even later getting home if your shoot gets delayed because you mess that up.”

Jon returned her smile, silently grateful she had realized the practicality of delaying their encounter.  “Yeah.  And Melissa will be pissed if she has to redo all this spackle.”

Cate rolled her eyes at Jon’s self-deprecating remark.  “Oh, sure.  You hardly have any pancake on, and you look great.  All they gotta do is fix your hair.  It’s sticking up in the front.”

“Yeah, well… I’ll take the blame for that one.”  Jon chuckled.  “So… you still want me to wake you when I get home?”

Cate shrugged.  Suddenly she felt very, very tired.  “We’ll see.  Maybe we’ll just sit this one out, try again in the morning.”  She gave Jon a hopeful look.  “But at least kiss me and tell me you’re home?”

“You got it,” Jon tipped his head forward, giving Cate a gentle preview of his welcome-home kiss.  “You gonna be okay?”

Cate nodded.  “Yeah.  I’ll be fine.  I just… I’m glad I came.”

“Me too.”

They shared an understanding smile before Cate sighed wearily and sat forward.  She carefully stood and reached for her coat.  Jon pushed himself off the couch and helped Cate don her winter outerwear, then pulled her into a tight embrace.

“I’ll see you at home in a few hours, Baby.”

“Jon?”

“Hmm?”

“I really missed you.”

His heart melted as he smiled down at Cate, seeing her eyes were again shining sapphire-blue.  “Me too, Baby.  So much.”

With another gentle kiss Jon guided Cate to the door.  They walked hand-in-hand across the cordoned street and through the big warehouse, following Cate’s earlier escorted path.  Once he had delivered her safely to the security desk Jon gave Cate a final embrace.  Then he turned and retraced his steps to this trailer, mumbling to himself as he tried to focus his reluctant mind on the upcoming scene.  

“Time to go to work.”

*****

The shrill electronic double-ring startled Cate from her concentration.  She automatically looked up from the file she had spread open on the kitchen island, scowling across the room at the telephone dock.  

Pulling her reading glasses from their perch on her nose, she dropped them onto the paperwork before sliding off the stool.  Unhurriedly Cate padded over to pull the cordless handset from its cradle.  She could tell from the ring pattern that the call was from the building's front entry.

“Yes?”  Cate’s inquiry was instinctively cautious.

“Hello Cate… we’re a little early.”  Dorothea’s slightly breathless voice floated through the speaker.

“Oh…”  Cate’s brow furrowed with puzzlement as she wondered why Jon’s ex-wife was visiting so early on a Saturday morning.   Then she remembered.  It was Jon’s weekend with his youngest boys.   “Oh!  Sure… come on up.”  She stepped over to the panel on the wall and pushed a white button, granting them entry.

“On our way.”

Cate replaced the phone in its dock and stepped briskly back to the island.  She quickly gathered the documents from the counter, stacking them back inside the heavy cardboard jacket.  Retrieving her briefcase from the floor beside the island, she shoved the file indelicately back inside. 

Cate quickly detoured into the office to stow her bag securely out of sight and reach of Jon’s sons before approaching the apartment’s foyer.  As she reached the entry Cate heard a soft ding from the vestibule, announcing the elevator’s arrival on the private floor.  She pulled open the front door just in time for two short, loud whirling dervishes to burst across the threshold and into the apartment.

“I get it first!”

“Nuh UH! It’s MINE!”

“It is NOT!”

“Yes it is! JAKE!”

The urgent argument was accented by twin heavy thuds as laden backpacks hit the foyer floor, unburdening the youngest Bongiovis.  Their sneakers pounded across the hardwood as they raced into the apartment, in pursuit of some soon-to-be-contested device.

“WHOA!”  Dorothea’s shout knifed through the air.  “Freeze!”  She stepped through the door, momentarily ignoring Cate’s greeting.  “You two get back here RIGHT NOW!” 

From around the corner came Jake’s sarcastic reply.  “We can’t.  We’re frozen.”

“Jacob Hurley…. NOW!”  Dorothea barked.  “You too, Romeo!”  She gave Cate a sideways glance.  “Little Smartass,” she grumbled through clenched teeth.

Realizing their mother meant business, the two boys trudged back around the corner and across the living room to the foyer.  Jake stopped and glowered at Dorothea, dropping his chin and crossing his arms across his chest.  He sighed impatiently. “What?”

It was all Cate could do to keep from laughing.  Jake’s expression was exactly that of his father, a miniature version of Jon's infamous “stink-eye.”  But Dorothea was obviously displeased with his behavior, and Cate didn’t want to undermine her.  She held her neutral mask.

Dorothea’s eyes narrowed as she scowled at her son.  “You better lose that attitude, Mister.”  Her warning was delivered in a low, lethal growl.  She pointed at the backpacks Jacob and his brother had abandoned in the middle of the foyer floor.  “Pick those up, right now.”

With an eye roll and an exaggerated body-slump, Jake sighed loudly.  He shuffled toward the spot his mother indicated with her fierce point, followed by his younger rival.

“Just because this is your Dad’s place doesn’t mean you can come tear-assing in here and dump your stuff in the middle of the floor.”  Dorothea continued her scold.  “You don’t get away with that at home, you don’t get away with it here.  And say hello to Cate.  You’re in her house.”

Romeo reached down to grab the strap of his backpack, then stood up, half dragging it from the floor.  “Hi Cate,” he singsonged listlessly.

“Hi Cate.”  Jake’s staccato greeting was begrudgingly half-muttered in pseudo-defiance of his mother’s demand.

Cate couldn’t hold her smile, despite her intention not to get in the middle of this conflict.  “Hi Guys.”

“Now take those to your rooms.  And WALK.”  Dorothea waved a hand toward the back of the apartment.  She watched sternly as Jake and Romeo sullenly turned and trudged away, dragging their backpacks behind them.  When they turned the corner, the boys’ voices drifted back into the foyer.

“I’m still getting it first.”

“Nuh-UH!  Jake, Dad gave it to ME!”

“Who cares?  I’m bigger.”

Dorothea growled with exasperation.  “You two SHARE!” she hollered after her obstinate sons.  She rolled her eyes and shook her head when her order received no response.  She was sure it would be ignored.

“Sorry about that.”  Dorothea turned to give Cate a tight-lipped smile. 

Cate laughed softly and waved a hand.  “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.  They know better than to act like little Hellions.”  Dorothea rolled her eyes.  “And I swear, one of these days I’m gonna smack the mouth right off-a that kid.”

“Jake’s usually fine when he’s here.”  Cate smiled.  “But that look… that’s pure Jon.”

“You’re telling me?”  Dorothea chuckled.  “Jake is his father’s spitting image, in every way.  Stubborn, defiant, everything has to be done his way…”

“And he knows when to turn on the charm.”  Cate nodded.

“Yep.  Master manipulator, that Kid.”  She sighed again.  “Thank God my Baby is still sweet and obedient.  For the moment, anyway.”

Cate snorted.  “Yeah, enjoy that while you can…”  She had long recognized the mischievous sparkle in Romeo’s deep brown eyes.

“Tell me about it.”  Dorothea nodded in resigned agreement.  “So, where is Jon, anyway?  He didn’t leave you here to deal with these heathens by yourself, did he?”

“He went out for a run, about a half-hour ago.  Should be back any minute.”

“Ah.  Well, I guess we were a little early, too.  What do you all have planned for the weekend?”

“I’m not sure.”  Cate smiled wistfully .  “We’ve both been so busy this week we’ve hardly seen each other, let alone talked about the weekend.”

“Oh, I can imagine.   I know what it’s like when he starts a new acting project.”  Dorothea gave Cate a sympathetic smile.  “Probably a good thing you’re busy now, too.  You won’t see much of him for a few weeks, until he gets settled in.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.”  Cate sighed.  “But he did make me promise I won’t work this weekend, so at least we get a few days together.”

“Good.  It will take both of you to wrangle the Chuckleheads.”  Dorothea tipped her head in the direction of the boys’ bedrooms.

“Nah, they’ll be fine.  They always are.  Jon’s really good with them.”

“Well, that’s true.” Dorothea's smile softened.  “Jon is a good father.  I’ll give him that.”  She nodded silently, then brightened.  “And, speaking of Jon… I looked into a few things, like we talked about.  For his birthday.”

“Oh?”

Dorothea nodded.  “I was originally thinking maybe we could do something at the Kitchen, but it’s such a small place.  There’s no way we could fit everybody we’d want to invite in there.  Plus I don’t want to disrupt the schedule.”

“No, of course not,” Cate agreed.  She felt a little twinge of unease at Dorothea’s implication that this would be a large party.  “So, what else do you have in mind?”

“Well, I was trying to come up with a theme, something other than ‘Halfway to Dead.” Dorothea grinned at Cate’s snorted giggle in response to her joke.  “I know, I should be nice.  I’m not far behind him.”  She chuckled softly.  “Anyway, I was thinking of nice ways to say ‘old’, and I was kicking around something about a half-century:  ‘vintage,’ ‘classic’… And then it hit me.  Classic.”

Cate’s brow furrowed, failing to make the connection.  “Classic… in what way?”

“Jon loves old music, right?  Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke, Elvis…  And what’s more classic than… Sinatra?”  Dorothea grinned.  “We throw a Rat-Pack themed party for the New Ol’ Blue-Eyes.”

“Wow… Dorothea…” Cate’s eyes widened at the possibilities.  “That would be... fantastic.  But he said he doesn’t want anything big, and this sounds pretty… well, big.”

“It doesn’t have to be.  We can have it here in the City, just rent out a restaurant or something.  Maybe someplace Sinatra used to frequent, like the Copa, or Patsy’s.”  Dorothea nodded at her own suggestion.  “Yeah, Patsy’s.  Jon loves that place, but it’s kinda small…” 

She waved a hand dismissively.  “Whatever.  We can find a venue.  But I was thinking we could ask guests to come dressed in ‘Mad Men’ style, we could get an orchestra, maybe somebody from Broadway to sing all those old standards… And of course we’d make it a surprise party.”

Cate nodded slowly.  “I think Jon would really enjoy something like that… as long as we don’t go too over-the-top.  But I’m not so sure about the ‘surprise’ part.”

Dorothea chuckled.  “I know, he says he doesn’t like surprises.  But trust me, he’ll be secretly delighted by this.  He totally loved the Tarts and Vicars surprise party I threw for him at Forty.”

“Well, maybe…”  Cate’s thought was interrupted by the quiet ding of the elevator.

“Just think about it, Cate.  I’ll do a little more research and see what’s available.”  Dorothea smiled.  “Then we can sit down and start working out the details.”

“Details of what?”  Jon sauntered across the vestibule and through the open front door.  He grinned.  “You two planning a bank heist or something?”

“Just something for the school.”  Dorothea’s lie was smooth and nonchalant.  “I’m roping Cate into helping out again.”

Jon frowned, directing a questioning look at his wife.  “You sure you have time for that?”

Cate nodded, giving Dorothea a little smile as she tried to ignore the twinge of annoyance she felt at Jon’s mild rebuke.  “Yeah, it’s not that big of a time commitment.  And I’m happy to help out when I can.”

“Well, okay.”  Jon ran a hand through his sweaty hair and turned his attention to his ex-wife.  “So, what are your plans this weekend?  You going out to Jersey?”

“Actually, we’re going up to Providence.  Teddy has a family thing tonight.”

Jon arched a brow.  “What about Jesse?  You trust him to keep his curfew without you breathing down his neck?”

“He’s sleeping over at Connor’s tonight.  They’re at indoor lacrosse practice all morning, then Connor’s parents are taking all the boys out for pizza later.”  Dorothea snorted.  “What do you think I am, stupid?”

“Nope.  I know better.”  Jon grinned.  “I’ll give him a call later.”

“So, what are your plans?  Cate’s not sure.”

“Plans?  We don’t need no stinkin’ plans.”  Jon chortled as he quoted the cheesy movie line.  “I dunno.  Thought we’d just hang out, maybe catch a movie.”

“Jon, I don’t want them playing Xbox all weekend.  They need to get out and do something.  And Jake has a book in his backpack he’s supposed to read before Monday.”

“Alright, alright… We’ll go out in the City or something.”  Jon leaned forward, peering into the vacant living room.  “Hey!  Chuckleheads!”  His shout was followed by a shrill whistle.  “C’mere!”

Seconds later the thunder of galloping sneakers preceded Jake and Romeo’s return to the foyer.  The boys raced over to the front door, where Jake stopped short of the group of adults.  Romeo barreled into Jon, the impact almost knocking Jon back against the open door.  Romeo wrapped his arms around his father’s waist, hugging him fiercely.

“Hey, Buddy!”  Jon leaned down to give his youngest son an awkward hug.  “Miss me?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”  Jon looked up at Jake.  “What’s up, Dude?”

Jake shrugged and crossed his arms.  “Nothin’.”

Dorothea gave Jon a sideways look.  “Yeah, good luck with that one.”

Jon ignored Dorothea’s warning.  She was the full-time disciplinarian, which often put her at odds with the boys.  Jake was apparently starting to follow his older brother’s example when it came to butting heads with his mother.

“So, what do you guys wanna do today?”  Jon pried Romeo loose from his waist and leaned back against the door.  “You wanna go to a movie or something?”

“I wanna play hockey.”  Jake’s announcement was firm.

Jon’s brow furrowed at the unusual request.  “Hockey?  You mean like air hockey?  At the arcade?”

“Nope.  Hockey.  Skating.  With sticks.”

Jon looked questioningly at Dorothea, then back to Jake.  “Where do you do that?  Do you even know how to play hockey?”

“Evan plays every weekend.  He invited me to come whenever I want.”

“Oh.”  Dorothea nodded and turned to Jon.  “Jake’s classmate plays PeeWee Hockey.  They have open ice after his practices on Saturdays.  But…”  She looked back at Jake.  “I told him not this weekend.  If he’s good, maybe next Saturday.”

“Why can’t I go today?  Dad can take me.”  Jake’s challenge held a threat of a whine.

“Because, Jacob.  I told you ‘No’.  This is your father’s weekend to spend time with you.  He’s not going to drop you off at some hockey rink in Brooklyn for a whole afternoon.”  Dorothea’s tone made it apparent the discussion was over.

“We could go ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza,” Jon suggested by way of compromise.  “You know, where they have the big Christmas tree?”

Jake shook his head.  “Lame.”

Dorothea threw up her hands at Jake’s petulant denial.  “That’s it.  I’m going.”  She leaned down to give Romeo a kiss on the cheek.  “Bye, Romey.  Love you.  Be good for Dad and Cate, okay?”  

Straightening, she stepped over to Jacob.  “You too, Mister.  I don’t want to hear you were a grumpy little brat all weekend.”  She leaned down to give her unresponsive son a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  “Love you.”

“Bye, Mama.”  Romeo spoke up on behalf of his sullen brother.  “Love you.”

“See you tomorrow, Baby.  Love you too.”  Dorothea turned back to the adults.  “Good luck,” she repeated with a tired smile. 

“He’ll snap out of it,” Jon predicted with a little smirk.  “We’ll be fine.”  He leaned forward to give Dorothea a light buss on the cheek.  “Have a good weekend.”

“I hope so, for your sake.”  Dorothea smiled and stepped through the open front door.  “I’ll come get them around six tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever.  Or we can drop them off.  Just text me.”  Jon waved a hand as Dorothea moved into the elevator.    She nodded her agreement before the doors slid shut.

Pushing the apartment door closed, Jon turned back to face his sons.  “Well, I guess hockey’s out.”

“Why?”  Jake protested whinily.

“ ‘Cause Mom said so,” Jon replied sternly.  “And I’m not gonna go against her ruling.”  He turned his gaze to his youngest, non-pouting son.  “What do you wanna do this weekend, Buddy?”

“Can we go to the beach?”

Jon gave Romeo an amused smile.  “The beach?  Romey, it’s January.  There’s snow on the ground.”

“No, we can fly to the beach.”  Romeo explained earnestly.  “Like we do at Christmas.”

Cate giggled softly at Romeo’s matter-of-fact statement.  Of course it would seem perfectly normal to him that they fly to St. Barth for the weekend, just to swim in the ocean.

“Sorry, Buddy.”  Jon shook his head apologetically.  “We can’t take the plane to the beach this weekend.  It’s too far away.”

“Oh.”  Romeo’s expression fell. 

Cate’s heart squeezed at Romeo’s obvious disappointment.  “Is there an indoor pool nearby, that we could all go to?”

“There’s the one at the gym, but it’s just lanes and stuff.  Not much fun for kids.”  Jon shook his head slightly as he answered Cate’s question.  “But… Wait a minute.”  He pulled his iPhone from the pocket of his fleece workout jacket.  His fingers swiped and tapped over the screen.

“I wanna play hockey.”  Jake’s muttered pout broke the silence while Jon manipulated his phone.   

“You can’t.  Mama said.”  Romeo’s reply to his brother was firm and a little smug, causing Cate to grin.  She half-turned away from the boys, hoping not to incite any further problems with her expression.

“Okay…”  Jon grinned up at Cate before turning back to his sons.  “How about this?  An indoor water park.”  He held up the phone, displaying the webpage on the screen.  “It’s got waterslides and games, the whole deal.  You guys wanna go?”

“Yeah!”  Romeo’s eager grin spread across his entire face.

“Where is it?” Cate asked, tilting her head to look at the screen when Jon turned his phone to her.  She quickly scanned the water resort’s page.

“Jersey, near Philly.  Won’t take us long to get there.”

“Don’t you have to be a resort guest to use the water park at these places?”  Cate took the phone from Jon’s grasp and slid her fingers over the screen, enlarging the image to read the fine print.

“I don’t know.  Maybe.” Jon shrugged.  “So what?  We’ll just get a room if we have to.”

Cate looked up at Jon, a disbelieving smile curving her lips.  “You mean you want to stay overnight at this place?  You don’t even know anything about it, Jon.  And I can guarantee it’s not a Four Seasons.”

Jon looked back at Romeo’s beaming grin, then to his older son.  Jake was trying hard to maintain his sullen countenance but it was obvious he, too, was excited by the idea.  His curving pout was almost comical as he tried to hide his threatening smile.

“Whaddya say, Jakey?  Wanna go do some waterslides?  It’s a helluva lot warmer than ice hockey.”

Jake shrugged.  “Whatever.”  His grin escaped, curving his mouth upward.

Jon laughed and turned his blue gaze to Cate.  He gave her a mischievous wink.  “Well, Baby… looks like we’re goin’ to Jersey’s finest indoor water resort.  Go pack your bikini.”