Gabe adjusted the settings and sat down to do leg presses on the machine attached to Jamie’s weight machine.  In L.A., he had a personal trainer who came to his house to workout with him three days a week.  When they were in Italy, he and Jess would have a personal trainer on site.  Today, though, he was on his own.  Joey came in and went straight to the punching bag.  Interesting. He wondered what message Joey was trying to send.  He had no doubt for whom Joey intended it.

There was a 60-inch flat screen on the wall opposite the weight machines and the local, early morning, news anchors were providing the background banter.  The sports guy came on and talked about the championship football game.

Three sets of Bellini eyes kept glued to the screen until the reporter signed off, “This is Shane McGuire reporting from Rockhurst High School.”  The newscast was obviously pre-recorded the day before.

The news anchors immediately went into a story about the head football coach being found dead Tuesday afternoon by a student, “whose name was being withheld because he was a minor.”

Ben and Jamie looked at each other. “It’ll be fine, Bambino.” Ben said.

Jamie smiled.  “Hey, I’m a Bellini, what’s there to worry about?” However, his face was incongruent with the words.

The punching bag went still and Joey moved to the free weights, putting him directly in Ben’s eye line.  Gabe saw the two exchange a glance, but neither spoke.  He knew that if he hadn’t spoken Italian to Dante Bellini at the restaurant yesterday, the brothers would be deep in conversation right now.  He’d done it to be respectful, but right now, he regretted having done it.

Jamie looked at Gabe.  “Gabe, could we trade places now?”

Gabe nodded and got up to trade machines with Jamie.

Ben finished his workout, got up and nodded to Gabe.  “I’m going to go shower and dress.  We’ll have breakfast around nine o’clock.”



Ben quietly opened the door to master suite and, as usual, paused to watch Lane sleep before going in to shower and shave.  They’d been married about eight weeks and he still marveled at how lucky he was.  He was married to the love of his life, he considered the Parker Kids his children from the moment Lane had said, “I do.” Even before that, if he was honest.  He had set up testamentary trust accounts in his will for all three Parker kids over two years ago.  After the wedding, he’d changed his will a bit naming Lane as heir.  He’d added that clause about his issue and now he needed to talk to his cousin Daniela about adding Jamie by name.  So much, change in such a short amount of time.

Lane murmured, stirred, and opened her eyes.  She smiled and patted the bed inviting him to join her.  He walked closer to the bed.

“I’m sweaty and smelly.” He said as he bent and kissed his wife.

She lifted the covers.  “I don’t care.  Hurry, you’re letting all the warmth escape.”

He stripped out of his workout clothes and climbed in next to her.  He lay on his back and she snuggled next to him nestling her head on his shoulder as he put his arms around her and kissed her head.

“How’s Jamie this morning?” She asked.

“He’s fine.  I left him in the gym with Joey and Gabe.”

He glanced at the bedside clock.  It was nearing eight o’clock and he still needed to shower, dress, and get breakfast started, but he’d lay here holding his wife for as long as he could.  He stroked her hair with his right hand and gently kissed her as she fell back asleep.

Ben quietly and carefully eased out of bed, picked up his workout clothes and went into the bathroom.

After he showered and dressed, he paused again to watch Lane as she slept.  The first trimester of the pregnancy had worn her out, and while Dr. Sennette had told them on Tuesday that Lane should start getting some energy back now, he planned to let her sleep as long as she could.

He gently closed the bedroom door and headed toward the kitchen.  He found Joey and Gabe already there, each cooking.  Joey had set the electric griddle on the island and was making pancakes. Gabe was standing at the stove, frying bacon and taking orders for omelets.  Each had a cup of coffee and they seemed to be getting along. Jess was hovering near Gabe trying to get a slice of bacon, but he was playfully slapping at her hand with the tongs.

“Back away woman, I’m warning you.  It’s not crispy.”

“I don’t care.  Give me a piece.” Jess whined.

“For God’s sake give her the bacon.”  Joey growled.

So much for getting along.  Ben thought.

Gabe picked up the slice that appeared to be most cooked.  “Do you have any idea what under cooked pork will do to you?”  He said as he put the bacon on a plate and handed it to Jess.

“I’m not afraid of a little trichinosis.”               Jess said, practically moaning in delight, as she took her first bite.

Jamie got a tablecloth out of the butler’s pantry and was in the process of setting the dining table.  Ben didn’t know whether Evie, Joey, and Pauli would be going with them to volunteer and had begun to suspect that if everyone went, the servers might outnumber the diners. Obviously, Ben’s presence in the kitchen was unnecessary.  He commented that someone needed to call Pauli about breakfast as he made a cup of coffee and went into the hearth room to join Evie.

He bent and kissed her cheek.  “Good morning.  Did you sleep well?”

She patted his hand.  “As well as usual.  It’s something that happens as we age.  We don’t require as much sleep which is a good thing, considering I’m up two or three times a night to use the facilities.”

He sat on the opposite end of the sofa.  “Ah, something to look forward to.”

Evie folded the paper and looked at him.  “How is Lane, really?  She looked tired last night.”

“We had her 12 week appointment Tuesday and the doctor said her energy level should come back to normal now that she’s started her second trimester.  I’m letting her sleep as long as possible…”  He raised his voice “…although I may have to kill someone in the kitchen if all that noise wakes her.”

Lane walked into the room and bent to kiss Evie’s cheek before sitting in the chair adjacent to her husband.

“Actually, I woke up to use the bathroom, and found myself alone.”  She leaned over and kissed Ben.  “I saw the time and thought I’d better get up.  We have a lot to do today.”

“You don’t have to lift a finger in the kitchen today; I’ve got it under control.  You just relax and spend time with Evie.” Ben told her.

Gabe poked his head into the hearth room and looked at Lane.  “I’m taking omelet orders.  What’s your pleasure?”

Lane smiled, “I’m a purest.  I’ll just have two scrambled eggs.”

“One Adam and Eve on a raft; wreck ’em coming up, but that’s only if you want bacon with them.”

Jess looked at him and shook her head. “Where do you come up with this stuff?”

“It’s diner lingo.  You really need to get out more.  Actually, I learned it for a role a couple of years ago.  I was playing a short order cook.”

Jess laughed, “So what you’re telling me is, you hung out in a diner for a week listening to what the waitresses and cooks said.”

Jess knew that some actors used ‘the method’, a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so they could develop lifelike performances.  Gabe’s way of accomplishing this was to immerse himself in the life of the character.  He didn’t take it to the extremes that some actors did though. Some actors immersed themselves so much that they became the character on and off the set.

The garage door opened and Pauli walked into the kitchen.  Gabe went through his omelet routine.

Gabe had five skillets on the stove as he cooked omelets in three, bacon in the fourth and ham in the fifth.