[legendsport]

Egypt, GA: June 5, 1919:

Claudia still didn't know. Alice, though emotionally wrung-out, still had enough wits about her to convince Rufus that - for now - it was better to let Claudia continue to assume that Marie's baby was Jack's. The poor girl had been through so much already. Alice knew that Claudia's mother had died of typhoid during the war and both her only brother and her father had been killed in battle. Jimmy had been a lifeline for her as much as she had been one for him... and now he was gone too.

Rufus agreed, though reluctantly. "She deserves to know," he pointed out.

"It won't do any good right now. The pain is still so raw, Rufus," his wife said quietly.

"Yes, it is," he agreed and hugged her. Alice whispered in her husband's ear, "If he were here, I'd wring his neck for what he's done to those two poor girls."

The entire family was back in the farmhouse. Though Rufus had built the place big to hold his large family, the extra guests necessitated some shuffling. Claudia had offered to share a room with Marie, but Alice had deftly steered her daughter-in-law away from this. Claudia slept in Betsy's room while the youngest Barrell child shared with her parents. Marie and Jack had stayed in the room Jack had once shared with Jimmy - Alice didn't even bother to say anything about that to her son. She knew him too well.

Before going to bed, Rufus had spoken with Jack at length. He got the complete story on what Jack had learned from Marie. He also took time to discuss Jack's career - both baseball and hockey. As usual Rufus acted as the voice of reason for his hot-headed third son - Jack agreed with everything his father told him; stubborn pride was not going to be productive.

After the talk, Jack had gone quietly into his old bedroom, climbing into his childhood bed. A thoroughly exhausted Marie was already asleep in Jimmy's bed. Jack was a bit surprised at the crush of confusing emotions he felt about this French girl he barely knew.

Now a new day had dawned and Jack remained attentive to Marie. He stayed by her side, held her hand, and treated her as if he were in fact her baby's father. Though obviously tormented, the French girl was just as obviously thankful for Jack's attention. Alice reflected that all other considerations aside, Jack was the only one there who could carry on a conversation with Marie.

Jack's two older brothers had been keeping an eye on him too. So it was that when Marie had to visit the bathroom, Joe and Rollie cornered Jack in the dining room.

"Explain," Joe said simply.

Jack did just that, telling his brothers the whole story. How Jack Blaney had delivered the very pregnant Marie to him in Montreal. How he'd learned about Jimmy's death and then invited Marie to stay with him, sleeping on the couch that night before beginning the long trip to Georgia, bringing Marie with him and all the while dreading what would happen.

"Does she know about Claudia?" Rollie asked.

Jack nodded. "I thought it only right to tell her that Jimmy had gotten married. It damn near broke her heart," he said. Averting his eyes, he added, "She's a sweet girl. I really feel for her."

Joe and Rollie locked eyes and shared a smirk.

"Umm... are you falling for her, Jack?" Rollie asked. As the blunt one, it usually fell to him to ask the tough questions.

Jack turned red, but he denied it anyway, saying, "No! Of course not!"

Joe shook his head and Rollie patted Jack on the shoulder saying, "You're lying, Jack. You can kid other people, but Joe and I know you way too well for you to pull the wool over our eyes."

Jack frowned and shrugged. Then he said, "It doesn't matter anyway."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Joe said with a small smile.

"You know that Claudia still thinks you're that baby's father, right?" Rollie asked.

Jack nodded and said, "Yes, I know. But we'll have to tell her eventually."

Rollie said, "Maybe. But maybe not."

Joe chuckled ruefully and nodded. He glanced at Rollie, then back at Jack and said, "I would assume she'll go back to France now?"

"It might be too late, I think the baby will be coming soon. Why would she want to give birth at sea?" Jack replied.

"A fair point," Rollie said. He was still smirking and it was starting to irritate Jack.

Jack wasn't sure what to say next and the conversation ended as Marie returned a moment later. She smiled at Joe and Rollie. Jack said something to her in French and she replied in her soft, melodious voice. Both Joe and Rollie could easily see why both Jimmy - and now Jack - had found this girl so enchanting.

"Marie said that she can see Jimmy in both of you," Jack reported. Beside him, Marie started sobbing again. Rollie's smirk disappeared - now he just looked uncomfortable. Joe caught Jack's eye and tilted his head at Marie, and Jack put his arms around her. She clung to him, crying on his shoulder.

As they left the room, Rollie said to Joe, "Holy smokes... that Jimmy. Not one, but two beautiful foreign girls..." He shook his head and Joe, equally baffled, nodded in agreement.

Rollie stopped and said, "You know this whole situation... it's so Jimmy. Even when we were all kids, he'd have his fun, make a mess and we'd be left having to clean it up. That's why Jack was always hard on him - Jack bore the brunt of the blame a lot."

Joe chuckled and said, "Too true. Now that I think about it, Jimmy always had a way with the fairer sex - he sure had Mom wrapped around his finger, didn't he? How else could he get away with all the crap he did?"

Rollie nodded and said, "Yep, it all makes sense now."

Meanwhile, Danny was in the living room, sitting on the sofa beside Claudia.

"Would you like some more tea?" he asked.

"No, thank you," she replied. She nodded her head at Marie, who was visible through the open door in the dining room. She was leaning on Jack and crying. "Why is Jack's friend so sad?"

Danny, who didn't know the full story, shrugged. "Maybe she's sad because Jack and Jimmy were brothers. Jack was the closest to Jimmy in age, even though Rollie was always more of a friend to Jimmy. Jack used to bully Jimmy a bit when they were kids."

Claudia asked what "bullying" meant and Danny was trying to explain when Claudia abruptly turned green, stood up quickly and ran towards the bathroom.

Harry came over to Danny. "I think Claudia is sick," he said.

"Wow, good deduction, Sherlock," Danny snapped and went over to stand outside the bathroom door. Sure enough, he could hear her being sick.

Ten feet away, Rufus and Alice shared a knowing look.