Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

CAUTION - Sex / Sexual Scenes
CAUTION - Highly Emotional Content

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Erica once told me that the night she and Jack talked upstairs was one of the most romantic experiences of her life. Sounds great when you say it, but if you think about it you come to realize that the logical corollary to that is that it must have been all worse after that! Luckily for her, Jack was only getting started. Besides, Erica had a tendency to exaggerate!

Jack told me that they talked, cried, kissed a few times, and professed their love for one another. That and a bunch of stuff about living in contentment with pain and such. Blah, blah, blah. Richard was a wreck. He hid it well, but I knew him better than anyone except Jack, even better than Heather. He was torn between wanting to see Jack happy against his protectiveness of Erica. I guess that means protecting her from ever growing up, having fun, sex, a marriage, children... etc. Men are idiots!

The rest of New Years morning was uneventful, unless of course you count Jack's proposal to Erica, but then I'm pretty sure they both knew it was only Jack being Jack. I told you that story already, though. The next few weeks were hard on them. Jack had no Liberty and Erica was swamped with school. Richard and Heather had gotten to the 'comfortable' part of being a couple, so they were used to the separation. Plus, they were sleeping together, which took off a lot of the tension. Jack and Erica... well... Erica told me what they weren't doing.

It got difficult for them to go slowly after only six weeks. Their needs pushed them father and faster than they'd planned to go, but sometimes you realize you gotta to take hold of life fast, and live it while you still have the chance.

---

Just as Jack closed the door to her apartment, Erica was on him. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she could feel the hunger inside smoldering like a fever as she showered him in kisses all over his face. "Jack!" she panted between kisses, "I know... I said... I wanted... to go... go slow... but..." She covered his mouth with hers as he tried to move towards the couch. "Jack! Please?" she mumbled against his lips.

Aching with desire, Jack didn't know how much longer he could put off the inevitable. "Erica!" He had to stop her or else he was going to lose control, and he knew it would end badly if he did. Returning her kisses, he was able to lower her down to the couch, their lips still searching for more pleasurable contact even as he did. Stepping back, he struggled for breath as he forced them to stop their passionate assault. Even being in top physical condition, her sensuous attack had left him with difficulty breathing.

Yearning for him badly, Erica wanted to cry. "Jack!" she whined. Tucking her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs. Rocking back and forth while Jack gasped, she lost control as tears began to flow.

Not being able to stand seeing her so distraught, Jack knelt on the floor in front of her. "Buttons? I... I don't think our original plan is going to work!" he stated, referring to the six-month 'getting to know you' time they'd agreed on, to be followed by whatever they felt comfortable with after that. It was to be discussed beforehand all neat and tidy. Unfortunately for their plans, their bodies craved more, and love is neither neat nor tidy.

She nodded, trying to stop her tears. "I know, Jack! It's just so hard! I never get to see you! It's been weeks! I can't stop thinking about you! I dream about you! I can't focus in class! I don't know what to do!" She buried her eyes in her knees, letting her jeans soak up her tears as she vented her frustration.

Knowing they were fighting a hopeless battle, Jack hung his head in defeat. They either had to take the next step, or never see each other again. Their hearts and bodies gave them little other choice. "Erica?" He looked at her longingly. "I... I want you to know, I love you more than life itself! I can't breathe without you near me! I... I want to make you happy, content..." He paused, taking a breath. "...pleasured."

His words nearly made her take him there in the living room. Controlling her need for him by only the smallest of margins, she let out a ragged breath. "God, do I want you, Jack! You have no idea!" She chucked a little. "OK, so maybe you have some idea!"

Closing her eyes and taking a long slow breath, she forced herself to calm down. When she opened them, she looked at him kneeling in front of her smiling sweetly; almost shyly. She moved to him slowly, uncurling her legs until her feet were on the floor by his knees. Helping him to stand as she did, she took him by the hands and led him to her bedroom.

He followed Erica helplessly into her room and stood numbly as she closed the door. Walking up to him slowly and carefully, as though too quick of a movement would scare him off, at last she stood in front of him. Her hands reached up and started undoing the buttons on his uniform blouse.

Slowly, she worked her way down until she reached his belt, her eyes never looking away from his returning gaze. Pulling his top up to free the last two buttons, she undid them just as slowly until she could push the shirt off his shoulders without more than the slightest touch, which she provided with a smile and listened as it rustled to the floor behind him.

"Erica..." he started to say, but her finger moved over his lips, staying his words. Her hands drifting down to his belt, she pulled the strap to loosen the buckle, letting the strap glide freely through and out. Not done, she started undoing his uniform trousers, unzipping them and letting them fall to the floor with a satisfying sigh.

Guiding him to her bed silently, not a word spoken nor a sound made until her bedsprings creaked with his weight, she stepped back slightly and began to unbutton her own blouse while he watched, almost frozen with a hunger for more. She removed her light green blouse, exposing her naked abdomen and leaving her lacy bra the only thing between Jack's eyes and her breasts. Undoing the buttons on her jeans, her smile seemed contented and peaceful. She knew exactly what she wanted, and this time nothing was going to stop her. When her jeans fell to the floor, she stepped out of them and her flats, leaving her almost completely bare to him.

Scanning the curve of her body, he tried to memorize every millimeter. When she lowered herself down to her knees, she at last pulled his shoes, socks, and trousers off, tossing each one over her shoulder with an almost wicked smile. Moving up, she sat on the bed beside him and reached for his T-shirt, letting her fingertips brush the flesh of his belly. Jack's eyes rolled back in his head, overcome with sensation. Slowly tugging it up his chest, she let her fingers drift gently along his sides, forcing a low moan from his lips.

Just as she started to push him backward to lie on her bed, Jack caught her hand; his breath ragged. "Erica!" he gasped. "I need you to stop for a just minute!" he begged. Trying to move his hand away, he wouldn't release it, moving around her wrist until their fingers were joined together. When his emotions slowly gave way to his thoughts, he looked at her desperately. "I... I don't want you to stop..." he began.

"Then don't stop me." she interrupted. Trying to untangle her hand from his, she found he wouldn't let go. "Jack..."

"Buttons, please!" he begged. "I... I need to tell you something, first! I... I've never... I mean, I don't really know what I'm doing." Just as she couldn't say the words on New Years Eve regarding their passionate reunion, he too was having difficulty finding the same ones. He'd said enough, though.

Leaning back, she regarded him confusedly. "But... Didn't you and Wendy..."

He shook his head as a smile crept over his lips. "The only thing Ox ever got right in his entire life!"

Looking at him in astonishment, she couldn't help but join in his mirth after a moment. Soon the two were rolling on the bed, both in just their underwear, holding their stomachs from laughing so hard. Eventually, as their giggles faded, they lay next to each other looking into each other's eyes.

Jack reached out a hand and watched as Erica intertwined her fingers with his. Their delicate touch seemed to satisfy more need than anything else they could have been doing at that moment. Gone was the hunger from both of them, their love for each other having taken its place.

"Jack?" she smiled. "Tonight. Now, if you'll let me. I want you." she looked at him expectantly. "Do you still want me?"

He sighed, lost in the green of her eyes. "Yeah. I do."

She moved gently, rolling over his body and letting her bare stomach press into his. Her lips found his and they kissed delicately, slowly, and lovingly as their hands roamed freely over each other.

Rising up, Erica's legs straddled his hips as she reached around behind her back with one hand, unclasping her bra. "I love you, Jack." she whispered. "I have a confession to make. I've had a crush on you since I was ten!"

"Who me?" he replied routinely with a smile.

She giggled as she slipped her arms free. "Just remember who loved who first!" she teased, the only thing holding her bra in place being her free hand. Shyly, she let it slip down until she finally dropped it to the floor. Leaning forward, she lowered her bare bosom to his nearly hairless chest, pressing her open mouth to his once more. She moaned with pleasure as he ran his fingertips along the side of her naked breasts.

Slowly, she slid her body upward until she was straddling his stomach, and gasped when the tip of his tongue flicked over her taut nipple. Now certain she was ready, Erica slipped a hand down and hooked a thumb into Jack's boxers, pushing them lower until she could grab them with the toes of her right foot; stretching her leg out and dragging them down his legs until they slipped off his feet.

Feeling Erica remove his last bit of clothing, Jack felt a burning need in him to see her lost in pleasure. Rolling them both over so that she was below him, he supported his thin but athletic form on his arms as he kissed his way down her body. Reveling in her lusciously sensuous movements, every kiss seemed to make her squirm with pleasure. He kissed lower and lower until he at last came to her own final garment. Feeling her hips lift off the bed, Jack slowly slid the panties down her thighs, kissing the skin below them as if preparing it for their passage.

When at last the two were completely bare to one another, Jack slid up her legs, using his hands to caress the smoothness of them and causing her to part them on instinct. In no hurry toward his own fulfillment, and desperate to make her happy, he leaned down and began kissing the inside of her thighs, working his way slowly toward the place the two limbs joined.

Erica's breath became ragged and heavy, her head thrown backward against her pillow as she arched her back. When Jack stopped just before reaching the center of her desire, she looked down at him wantonly.

"It... it's not too late to stop." Jack pointed out, offering more than wanting.

Shaking her head, her breath came rapid and deep until a smile crept over her lips. "You do, so help me God Jack, I'll throw you down and rape you!"

They laughed together, both reveling in each other's passionate desire for one another.

Slowing his chuckles, Jack looked up Erica's body as it lay before him and into her eyes. "I love you." he said softly, his breath just barely reaching her highly sensitive skin and making her tremble.

"I... I love you, Jack!" she panted. "Please?" she moaned beggingly.

Certain of her desire, he lowered his open mouth until it covered the lips of her womanhood and made her gasp, her entire body tensing up in desperate need. His tongue pressing forward, she felt it enter her, making her eyes snap open widely as she stopped being able to even breathe. After nearly a decade of fantasy, the reality was so intense that her mind almost couldn't handle it. She'd utterly underestimated the effect actually having him touch and taste her would have on her body as she convulsed.

"Jack!?" she almost screamed as her first orgasm ripped through her body at so simple an intimacy, her pent-up need breaking through every part of her as her hands gripped the back of his head and her legs wrapped around his back. She forced her mouth closed, screaming through her nose in an effort to hide the enormity of the pleasure from her neighbors.

Sitting perfectly still, he looked up her naked body in awe of her pleasure. Even as she convulsed, he could feel the muscles of her entire body tense and contract, the flesh of her sensitive womanhood pulsing against his tongue and her moisture wetting it further as she continued to grip him in place. Her loss of control almost scared him, it was so powerful.

When at last her first wave of pleasure passed and her limbs started to relax, he pulled his mouth away from her. "Are... are you OK?" he asked, concern making his voice shake.

"I... I'm fine, Jack!" Erica managed after a moment as her body vibrated with the pleasure coursing through her. "Please... please don't stop!"

Returning to his ministrations, he explored her. Using his tongue and fingers, he learned every part of her, memorizing every inch of her as though it was the most important thing in his life to know. When his fingertip brushed the nub of her pleasure, her sudden gasp made him pull back. "Did... did I hurt you?" he asked concernedly.

She shook her head vigorously. "N-no! Th-that was... Ungh!" Her words left her as his tongue took the place of his fingertip, sending waves of ecstasy through her and threatening to push her rapidly to climax once more. Guttural sounds escaped her lips as his tongue slowly circled her pleasure, rocketing her skyward in an ever-expanding burst of bliss. She screamed once more, this time incapable of holding back her vocalizations as the most powerful orgasm of her young life tore her mind apart. No longer caring who heard, for several minutes she only cared about Jack and the ultimate pleasure he was giving her. Nothing else in the entire world mattered at that moment.

Her mind returning to her, after Jack slowly ended their first frenzied time as one, she covered her mouth with a hand as she started to laugh. A languid feeling washed over her while her body slowly shook from her giggle fit. Moving her hand up to cover her eyes, a smile shone across her entire face.

"What's so funny?" Jack asked confused.

Erica shook her head, her hand still over her eyes. "Me! That's what!" she answered in a hushed throaty voice between giggles. "My God, Jack! That was... that was the most intense experience of my life!" She tried to move, to pull him up to her, but her body was as weak as a newborn kitten and she could barely move her limbs. "Come here, Jack!" she purred.

Moving up alongside her naked form, one hand propped his head up while the other rested on her belly. Her giggles still shaking her, he couldn't help himself. "You know, I've made people laugh before, but this is humiliating!"

His humor only intensified her giggles into fits of full laughter as her love for him and who he was poured through her. She rolled over to push him flat on his back, snuggling up next to him and laying her head on his chest as she continued to laugh. "I... I'm sorry, love!" she giggled. "I just... I can't help it! You make me so happy it... it just comes bubbling out like this! I love you so much!"

Running his fingers through her soft red hair, he smiled. "A guy could get a complex, ya' know! I thought women were all hot and wanton afterwards, not chuckling like they just got done watching 'Your Show of Shows'!"

Continuing to giggle, she enjoyed the feel of her skin against his. "I have no idea what that is, Jack! I love that about you!"

"Sid Caesar? Imogene Coca? No?" he inquired. "Oh, well. I guess I'll have to show you sometime. You have a lot of catching up to do!" He wrapped his arms around her, holding her until her laughter was spent.

At last, she was able to stop her guffaws and looked up at him libidinously. "What about you, love?"

"Me?" Jack shrugged. "I've seen 'Show of Shows'!"

She lightly slapped him on the chest. "No, you goofball! You know what I mean!" She slowly slid her body against his sensually and started running her fingers down his side.

His breath caught as she touched him, raising gooseflesh everywhere her fingers roamed. "Oh." he moaned. "Y-you mean..." his voice trailed off as she moved on top of him, straddling his belly. "Y-you know, you don't h-have to...."

"I know I don't." Erica shook her head slowly. "I want to, Jack. No, I need to! I need to make you feel just as good as you just made me feel!" Lowering down until their lips met once more, kissing him slowly and seductively, she moved her hips toward his. When she felt his manhood press between her legs, it raised a need in her unlike any she'd ever felt before, the need to feel him inside her seeming to overwhelm her senses. She raised her hips slightly, feeling him press against the outside of her wetness. Ever so slowly, she pushed down, relishing the feeling as he slipped inside her, forcing a moan to escape her lips as she closed her eyes.

Gasping as he felt it, Jack's eyes went wide and his hands found her hips all on their own, a desire burning in him to push her more forcefully onto him. Not wanting to rush her or force it though, he fought the urge and just let his hands follow her hips slowly down, the warmth and wetness of her on him threatening to send him over the edge at any moment. "Oh God, Erica! You... You're incredible!"

When he felt their hips meet in conjoined ecstasy, his eyes fluttered and his grip on her hips strengthened, pulling them tightly together. They sat there like that, unmoving, for what seemed to be an eternity. Erica looked down at him with eyes wide and her lovely face contorted into an expression of almost pain.

"Does... does it hurt?" he asked concernedly.

"N-No." she stammered. "Well... o-only a little." She smiled at him, their faces only inches apart. "It mostly just feels wonderful!" Slowly, she began to rock. Small movements, both patient and deliberate, she loved how her slightest move would send him into absolute fits of pleasure. Soon, much sooner than she would have liked, she saw his eyes tighten.

"E-Erica! I... I'm..." he mumbled.

Slipping a hand under his head, she ran her fingers through his short-cropped hair. "Good! I want you to, love. Take your pleasure from me!" Hearing her words sent him flying, his body trembling as she gripped his hips with her legs; her feet wrapping around his knees to pin her in place on top of him. Pulling him into a kiss, she felt his pleasure explode in her, Erica gripping against him and holding him tightly to her as they finally consummated their love for one another.

His breath rapid and shallow, he pulled slightly away from her lips as his desire peaked. "I... I love you, Erica!"

She lay on him as his body slowly calmed from their lovemaking. Feeling his entire body grow languid against hers, his hands slipping off her hips to flop lifelessly against her bed, but his pleasure still buried inside her, she looked him in the eyes once more, smiled, and said, "Yes!"

Laughing, he knew at last what she must have felt earlier, the giddiness of love and passion commingled. Slowly comprehending that she'd spoken, his eyes tightened in confusion. "Huh? Yes, what?"

"Yes, I'll marry you!" she replied. "You've only asked me five times. Did you want to make it six?"

He looked at her in awe. "I thought you wanted to wait! We've only been dating a month and a half, I thought you wanted to go slow to be sure?"

"Oh, I'm sure!" she smiled. "I knew before I saw you again!" She leaned down and whispered seductively in his ear. "I just didn't want to scare you away! I was going slow for your benefit, love!" She pulled slightly back from him so she could look at his whole face. "I never doubted for a second that you're the one man in this entire world meant for me! Seeing you again just meant I didn't have to wait anymore! I love you, Jack! I've always loved you, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and making you happy!"

"You are... amazing, Buttons!" he looked up at her in awe. "I don't think I could imagine life without you now!" His hands reached up and pulled her face close to his. "I love you, too... and I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing whatever it takes to deserve the love you have for me." He pulled her into a loving kiss, their bodies still joined together.

An hour later, they sat across from one another eating the spaghetti dinner that Erica had prepared before Jack arrived for their Valentines Day meal. The holiday was actually two days earlier, but they'd had to wait until that Friday to celebrate it. She smiled and giggled at seemingly nothing as they ate wordlessly.

"What's so funny?" Jack asked before taking another bite. "Do I have sauce on my nose or something?"

"No!" she giggled as she looked away from him embarrassedly. She stared at the candles that lighted their meal. "I was just thinking about how different tonight went from the way I planned it. We were supposed to have dinner, a little wine afterwards, and then I was going to drag you into the bedroom and have my way with you, even if I had to club you over the head!"

Jack nodded as he finished a bite. "Ug! No, me club you! Drag you!" he grunted. "Don't you know how these things are supposed to work, Buttons?"

His reply only made her laugh harder. After settling herself back down, she looked across her small table at him lovingly. "So, we still have the rest of the weekend before you have to head back. What would you like to do with it?" she asked seductively.

"I have a feeling I know what you would like to do with it!" he commented knowingly. "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the second reel, but I think we should talk."

Nervous that she'd jumped the gun and scared him away, she took a large drink from her wineglass. "Alright. Anything in particular?"

Shrugging, Jack looked over at her. "Well, there's the fact that you accepted my proposal. Understand, I'm elated that you did, but don't you think we'll need a new plan, now? The old one was kinda ripped to shreds earlier when you were clawing at my back!"

She chuckled as relief washed over her. "Well yeah, I guess we do need to figure things out! I have a year and a half of school left, but you only have four more months of service, right?" Seeing him nod through a bite, she took another drink and sighed. "Can you move in here while you finish up?"

"Only after we're married." Jack informed her, leaning back from his empty plate. "It's a violation of the UCMJ to cohabitate with a member of the opposite sex outside of marriage. I can't even leave a pair of socks here!"

"Well then, there's only one thing we can do." she sighed in a defeated tone. "We're just going to have to get married right away!"

He laughed a deep full laugh. "Oh, God! Rich is so going to kill me! I'm a dead man!"

Standing up, Erica walked around the table. Sitting on his lap, she wrapped her arms around him. "He touches you? He dies!"

"So how do you want to do this, then?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Justice of the Peace? A church wedding will take time, but I want you to have your dream come true. I'm told it's something a girl imagines her whole life and I don't want to deny you anything!"

"Jack, darling. I have everything that I ever dreamed of right here!" she said before she kissed him slowly and lovingly. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me! I just want to be Mrs. Jack Dunning for the rest of my life!"

"OK. You want me to plan it then? I will, if that's what you want, Buttons."

Running her fingers through his close-cropped hair, she smiled contentedly. "Yeah! I think I'd like that!" Running her fingers down the side of his face and neck until her hand came to his chest, she pressed the palm of her hand against him. Pushing herself up, she captured his hand as it slipped off her waist and pulled him to his feet. Walking backward as she looked him lustily in his eyes, she led him once more toward her bedroom. "In the mean time love, I think I'm ready for a second course of the meal that you brought!"

"Well, if your reaction earlier was any measure, it certainly was a happy meal!" Their humorous journey to the bedroom was halted when the phone rang. He looked at Erica longingly and sighed as he started to pull away from her towards it.

"Jack! Let the machine get it! Come with me!" she begged.

"Can't, Buttons." he groaned. "I'm just on Liberty and I left your number at the base for a contact. Someone has to answer!" He released her hand and jogged over to the phone, picking it up before the answering machine did. "Hargrave residence. Dunning."

"Jack? It's Rich. I... I have some bad news for you."

Gritting his teeth, Jack punched the wall lightly. "Let me guess... Liberty's canceled?" he presumed. He saw Erica's shoulders slump and a pout cross her disappointed face.

"No, it's not that, Jack. We... we got a call from the home where your Mom lives." Richard had a hard time finishing the message.

"Rich? What's wrong? Is she OK?" Jack's mind raced with the possibilities; that she'd gotten lost, she'd run away, she fell and broke a bone...

"She... uh... she's in a coma, Jack. She won't wake up."

Seeing Jack drop the phone, Erica ran to him, grabbing him as he collapsed to the floor. "What is it, Jack? What's wrong?" Hearing her brother shouting from the dropped receiver, picking it up, she answered for him. "Richie?"

"Erica! It's Jack's mom. She's in a coma. She's... she's not expected to wake up. You need to get him back here right away so he can put in for Emergency Leave. The hospital told me she's not expected to survive the weekend."

"I'll get him there, Richie! Love you!" she said, hanging up the phone and hugging Jack as tight as she could. "Oh, Jack! I'm so sorry! I... I need to get you to the base right away! You can get Emergency Leave, and then we'll get a plane back to Pittsburgh. We need to hurry, Jack!"

Only numbly aware of his surroundings, he responded idly. "Emergency Leave. Right." His thoughts suddenly rushing back to him as the shock wore off, he looked at Erica. "We'll get a plane?"

"Of course!" she stated, heading to her room to pack. "I'm going with you! You don't think for one minute I'd let you do this alone do you?"

"Thanks." he smiled at her. "I... I think I may need you there, Buttons."

Four hours later, the two were taking off on a non-stop flight to Pittsburgh International. By seven the next morning, they were in a rental car driving towards Mary's nursing home. Jogging into the lobby half an hour later, they were greeted by one of the nurses.

"I'm sorry, visiting hours don't begin until..."

"I... I'm Jack Dunning!" he interrupted her. "Mary... Mary Dunning's son! This is my fiancée, Erica. We came as soon as we could!"

She nodded in understanding. "I see. Well, her condition is unchanged. She's not expected to wake up. You... you can go see her if you like. I'm sorry."

Jack and Erica walked somberly to her room. Entering slowly, he saw her lying in a hospital bed, monitors next to her showing that she was still alive. Creeping quietly into the room, Erica holding his hand, he carefully moved up to her bedside. "Mom? It's Jack. I came to see you. You've got the place buzzing! They all think... well... I know what you're going through!" He knelt down next to her bed, taking her frail fingers in his free hand.

"I... I have some news, Mom! You remember Erica? Rich's sister? We're getting married, Mom!" He squeezed her fingers gently, trying to coax a response from her, but none came. "She loves me, Mom! Always has, it seems!" He looked back at Erica only to see tears streaking down her face. He stood and held Erica as she cried into his shoulder, her heart breaking for Jack's sake once again.

When at last Erica stopped crying, regaining her composure, Jack returned to his mother. "Mom! I know you can hear me!" he almost shouted, not quite loud enough to be a disturbance. "Look, just... just follow my voice, Mom! You have to want to come back! You can't will it, you have to want it! Come on, Mom!" He was near to tears and heard Erica begin sobbing behind him again while he watched his mother for any sign, any indication of her return. When none came, he pulled up a chair. "Alright, then. I'll talk."

He talked for hours. He talked to her about his work, about Erica, about their plans, about Richard, about Brooke, about Heather; he talked until he ran out of things to talk about. Then he just started remembering things, telling her stories about when he and Richard were young and the things they'd gotten away with without her ever knowing. He talked the entire day. When Erica left to get lunch, he talked. He even talked while they ate, never stopping. He kept at it until the sun was going down and still he talked. He knew if he kept it up long enough she could find his voice and return to the land of the living. He just wanted one more moment.

When the nurse came to tell them they'd have to leave in five minutes at the end of visiting hours, he told the nurse he wasn't leaving, that he was staying with her until the end or she woke up, whichever came first. When the nurse called security, he demanded to speak to the facility administrator, insisting on staying with his mother and not even leaving to go talk to him until Erica finally spoke up.

"Jack? Go! Talk to him and get it straightened out. I'll stay and talk to her. I promise. I won't ever stop! Not for a second! Not until she wakes up or you tell me to stop!"

He looked at her with exhausted eyes, having been up for two days with only the short nap on the plane. "Alright. You promise?" Seeing her nod, he left with the security officer while the nurse stood by at the door as Erica turned to face his mother.

"She's not going to wake." the nurse explained. "He's just making it harder on himself."

"Jack knows what he's doing!" Erica defended him. "I'm staying and I'll talk all night if I have to!" She mumbled under her breath, "Why not? It worked before!" Walking over to Mary's bed, she started talking. She talked about Jack almost exclusively, how much she loved him, every memory she had of him, watching his successes and heartbreaks, and her own heartbreak at his leaving. She had just gotten to their wedding plans when she saw Mary's eyes move.

"Mary?" she asked hopefully. "Mary, it's Erica. Erica Hargrave! Richie's sister! Mary?"

"Jack?" Mary mumbled. "Where's Jack?" Her eyes were still closed, almost as if she were talking in her sleep.

Erica ran for the nurse. "She's waking up! Go get Jack! Now!" she shouted. Seeing the nurse nod in astonishment and head towards the administrator's office, Erica ran back to Mary's bed. "Mary? Mary, wake up! Jack's here! He's here to see you!"

She lolled her head over and opened her old and worn eyes, trying to focus on who was talking to her. "Who're you?" she asked groggily.

"I'm Erica!" she laughed. "Erica Hargrave, Mrs. Dunning! Richie's sister! Jack's here with me! He just stepped out for a few minutes! He'll be right back, OK? He's been with you all day!"

"Hargrave? Richard's sister? No! You can't be her! She's a little girl!"

Laughing through tears of joy and heartache, she nodded. "I'm all grown up now, Mrs. Dunning!"

"Grown up? Where... where am I? Where's Jack? I'm... I'm supposed to be getting ready. I... I'm taking him to the dance."

"He'll be here any minute, Mrs. Dunning! You... you look beautiful! He's going to have such a good time with you!"

Mary smiled. "I hope so! He... he's been hurt so bad! Poor Jack!" she laughed slightly. "Poor funny Jack! I hope he's not embarrassed by his... his old mom going with him!"

"He won't be, Mrs. Dunning! He's going to have so much fun! I... I have to admit, though. I'm pretty jealous of you! You see, I wanted Jack to take me to the dance!"

His mother looked at her hard. "You?" she asked incredulously. "That's right! You like my Jack."

She wiped the tears from her eyes. "No, Mrs. Dunning! I love your Jack! I always have! Ever since I was ten! I want to marry him!"

Mary's eyes cleared and Erica could see she'd subtly changed. "You're Erica Hargrave, all grown up." Becoming lucid and seeing Erica nod, she squinted. "You're still in love with my Jack? You want to marry him?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" she answered as she wiped another tear away. "I'd do anything to be Mrs. Jack Dunning! I've always loved him!"

"I know." Mary nodded. Waving Erica closer, she took the girl's hands in both of hers. "I've known you liked Jack a long time, dear. A woman can see it. I'm old dear. I think I might be going to see my Danny soon. Does... does Jack know you love him? He's never mentioned that he knew."

"I was afraid to tell him, Mrs. Dunning." Erica explained sadly. "I... because I was so much younger than he was, just a little girl, but now..."

"Now you're a woman, and you still love my Jack." she looked at her sternly. "You promise you'll take care of him? Stay with him always? Never hurt him? Never leave him?"

"I'd sooner die myself than live without him, Mrs. Dunning!" Erica sobbed.

"Good girl!" she cackled and patted her hand. "I knew you'd be good to him. He'll need all the love you can give! Dunning men can be that way! You'll see!" she laughed.

"I will, Mrs. Dunning!" she laughed along with her.

"And call me Mary or Mom! If you want to be my Jack's wife, we can be on a first name basis!"

"OK... Mom!" Erica laughed as Jack came running into the room.

"Mom! You're awake! Thank God!"

"Jack!" Mary growled. "Good! Get over here! Siddown, boy!" she barked.

Gulping, he slowed to a walk, crossed the room, sat next to his mother, and looked over at Erica. "Thank you! I don't know how you do it!"

"Do what?" Erica asked.

"My miracle girl! Something about your voice just helps!" he said with a half smile before they both started laughing together.

Seeing them laugh made Mary smile before her face turned serious. "Jack? I want to talk to you. Alone." She looked at Erica and the nurse. "If you two wouldn't mind?"

Erica practically had to drag the nurse from the room. "We'll be right outside if you need us." she promised.

Once the door was closed, Mary looked at Jack sternly. "That Hargrave girl. She loves you, Jack. Has for a very long time, you know. Do you love her?"

"Yeah, Mom! I do!" he nodded. "I asked her to marry me and she said yes!"

His mother smiled and clasped his hand in both of hers as her entire body seemed to relax with the release of decades of worry. "That's good! I told you that you just needed to look where you weren't expecting. I was thinking I'd never live to see you two get together. She promised me she'd take care of you, and I know she will. Love that lasts that long isn't going anywhere!" She looked sternly at him. "I didn't see a ring!"

Swallowing hard, Jack looked at the floor. "I... I couldn't afford one, Mom. I'll have one before we get married, though. I promise!"

Pulling at the ring surrounding the third finger of her left hand, when at last it came loose, she held it out to him in her wrinkled and barely functional fingers. "Here. Take this. Your father's ring is in the shoebox in my closet there. Take that, too. Sell 'em and get her a real pretty one!"

"Mom! I... I can't sell your and Dad's rings!" he almost cried.

Sighing, she sat back exhausted. "Then if she likes it, you can give it to her! Girl's got to have a ring or she won't feel properly engaged!" Beginning to feel drowsy, her mind started slipping back into the light that she'd drifted away from to come back here. "Jack? You know you're my gift, right? My precious gift from God? He blessed us, me and Danny, with you!"

Tears rolled down his cheeks. "Yes, Mom! I know! And I... I love you! When you see Dad, tell him... tell him I'm alive! I'm alive again! And I'll see to it Erica and I spend the rest of our days together alive, too!" Pausing a moment, something she'd said finally clicked. "Wait... Erica... you knew?"

"'Course I did!" Mary furrowed her brow. "I've got eyes, don't I? Every time I saw that girl I could see it, the way she watched you, hung on your every word. You'd have to be blind to have missed it!" Looking at him carefully, she grinned. "Didn't have a clue, did you baby?"

"Not one." he admitted bashfully.

Cackling, Mary looked at the ceiling. "Same as your father."

"Is it alright if she comes in again?"

"That's fine, dear." she said wearily. "I said what I needed."

Calling her back in, Erica came and stood next to Jack. "Mom?" she asked delicately.

Mary Dunning reached out a hand to her. When she felt the young, fresh fingers against hers, she guided Erica's hand to Jack's. "There!" she sighed contentedly, her words beginning to slur. "That's where it belongs! Where it's always belonged and always will! Don't you two ever forget it!"

"We won't, Mom!" Jack cried happily and sorrowfully, "Ever!" but she was already unconscious again, this time never to awake.