Oh my God! What the Hell are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked Duke,
staring at him incredulously. Jacob's smile faded rapidly. "I brought my
son a birthday present!" Duke retorted, glaring back at her. He reached
inside his coat and withdrew a small present and card from an inner pocket,
and handed it to Jacob. Glancing uncertainly as his mother, Jacob took the
present from his father and sat down in one of the wing-backed chairs and
began opening it. "It's not a lot," Duke began. Elizabeth snorted and
muttered, "nothing new about that." Jacob glanced up at her and gave her a
pleading look, as he ripped the paper off his present. She just looked
away. "Oh wow!" Jacob said, as he opened the box to reveal a gold necklace
with a celtic cross hanging from it. Elizabeth had a sour look on her face
as Jacob lifted the necklace out of the box and said "help me put it on!"
Duke took it from him, and as he fastened it around Jacob's neck, he said,
"it was my father's. He gave it to me when I was about your age. I used
to wear it all the time, but now I want you to have it." "It's beautiful,"
Jacob said, as he held the cross out and looked down at it. "Thanks Dad!"
he said and he turned and threw his arms around his father and hugged him.
"Oh please," Elizabeth muttered almost inaudibly. I looked at her and said
quietly, "Elizabeth, it's the boy's birthday. Cut them some slack. Let's
give them some time to visit." As Elizabeth turned and glared at me, Andy
prodded Harry, and the two of them got up and snuck out to the kitchen.
"Elizabeth!" I said, looking at her pointedly. "I will NOT allow them to
be alone together!" she hissed at me. Jacob spun around and faced his
mother, glaring at her. Before he could say anything, I said firmly, "Then
I'll stay with them!" Elizabeth glared angrily at me, as I stared back at
her. "Fine!" she said, "but you're NOT to leave them alone!" "They'll be
fine," I said. She sat glaring at me a few more moments, but finally, she
said, "You'd better make certain of that!" Then she stood up and stalked
out of the room, and went upstairs. "I'm sorry Dad," Jacob said, looking
sadly at his father. "You have nothing to be sorry about Jacob," Duke
said, "Don't forget to open your card yet too." "Oh yeah," Jacob said, and
he picked up the card and opened it. "Money too?" I heard Jacob say, as I
began quietly straightening things up. "Well, I thought you might want to
buy some CD's or something," Duke said, "and I wasn't sure which ones you
would want." Jacob grinned at his father and thanked him again, and gave
him another hug. Then he said "C'mon, sit down Dad." They went and sat on
