For Aubrey the day drags on until it seems it that it will never end. Every time she opens her bible to read the comforting words they start to swim around. All the tv shows are boring and remind her of the years she has lost with her parents, that she will never get back. The news indeed hit her hard, but aside from that what hurt her the most is that her parents didn't want her to know. Not being happy with her choices is one thing, but it would have been nice for them to leave instructions for someone to tell her. However, she takes comfort in knowing Lacey did tell her.

The only thing that keeps her from melting into a crying heap is Jedediah. He cuddles her on the couch, reads her his favorite passages from the bible, and even buys a gallon of chocolate ice cream just for her.

"Jedi, I can't eat all this!"

Her calling him Jedi lifts his spirits a little. For some reason that he can't quite pin point why her saying the name means so much to him. He laughs and takes the extra spoon from her hand. "Well I don't want you to be sad because I won't eat ice cream with you," he says with a shrug and a smile.

She smiles and holds out the tub of Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate ice cream. He smirks slightly and instead of taking the tub pulls her into his lap and then takes a scoop of the dark creamy substance. He closes his eyes dramatically and slowly sides the silver spoon out of his mouth. "Deeeeeee-lisious!"

She laughs and sits the tub of ice cream on the table behind the couch while his eyes are still closed. When he opens them he looks from her empty hand to the spoon in his hand then back to her hands before dropping his spoon and starting to tickle her sides. She kicks her legs and squeals. "Jedediah Williams stop it right now!"

He laughs. "Why?"

"Because. I. Can't. Breathe!"

He pulls her back to a sitting position and holds his hands up in surrender. "I guess that's a good enough reason."

She rolls her eyes with a smile before covering his eyes and reaching behind the couch. "Magic," she whispers as she lifts her hand from his eyes. He laughs and makes an 'airplane' with lump of dark brown ice cream resting on the spoon he has in his hand.

The rest of the day goes on like the others of the past week. They drown themselves in ice cream, play around, snuggle, and he takes naps while she simply stares off into space. Until around five they go to pick up Cole, only she stays in his pickup while he gets Cole's toys. Raely waves from the back door and Aubrey smiles weakly, it just doesn't seem right to smile right now.

"Momma are you feeling better now?" Cole asks as Jedediah lifts him into the car seat installed in his back seat.

Aubrey smiles at him and tickles his knee. "Of course I am big boy! How about we make cookies when we get back to the house?"

"Yay! Is Jedi going to help too?"

Jedediah finds himself immediately releasing a breath as 'Jedi' comes from the boys mouth instead of 'Dad'. Right now is definitely not a good time for Aubrey to hear that. With everything that she is facing right now he feels like that would be the last straw to her mental break down. He knows she is a strong woman, probably the strongest he knows, but at some point everyone breaks. Even the strongest of people.

The mother son pair stare at the cowboy with expectant looks. He doesn't miss the small glimmer of a tear in Aubrey's eye, but she doesn't look away. "Of course I will! Just might not get the cookies in the oven."

They all laugh as the pickup turns back for town. The laughter brightens the mood and Jedediah takes Aubrey's hand in his. He gives it a gentle squeeze as they bump over the last cattle guard before town. She smiles at him and he swiftly returns the gesture. Her smile wasn't as glowing as it usually was but it wasn't forced and that brought him comfort in knowing she was going to be okay with whatever happen with her family.

When they get to the house Jedediah helps Cole wash up while Aubrey gets out her favorite cookie recipe and the ingredients. For a minute she can't help stare at the worn piece of paper her aunt had written the recipe on for her. In the right hand corner Psalm 100:1-2 is written. Shout for joy to the Lord all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing.

By the time boys get back to the kitchen she is ready to begin the nightmare of baking with two very rowdy boys. "All washed up?"

"Yes ma'am!" They both exclaim at the same time. Cole is sitting on Jedediah's shoulders and is running his hand through his hair.

Aubrey looks at the pair for a moment and can't help but to smile and shake her head. Cole's hand which were once clean are probably taking on a grimy feel from the dirt and sweat in Jedediah's hair, but at this point she couldn't care less. "First we need the dry food in the bowl."

"Like dog food?" Cole asks with a giggle.

Jedediah lifts him off his shoulders as he says, "No, silly, like the dirt and rocks."

This causes both boys to fall into fits of laughter and Aubrey to shake her head.

"Which one of you sillies is going to dump the flour in?"

"I will!" Cole declares sticking his arm in the air.

Cole insists that he and Jedediah take turns dumping his momma's carefully measured ingredients in the bowl and of course Jedediah is not one to object the little boy's wishes. However, when Aubrey hands him the egg to crack he gets a little worried.

Carefully he taps it on the edge of the bowl, but it doesn't crack. Then he bangs it on the bowl harder. It does crack, but when he tries to pull the halves apart it slips right out of his fingers and into the bowl.
"Well I'm a bachelor cowboy that eats eggs for a living and can't crack one to save my life!"

Aubrey laughs with a shrug and wraps her arms around his neck. "Well shells aren't so bad. Just a bit crunchy. Might give you some extra muscles."

He laughs and kisses her forehead. Hearing her more freely again let's him know that she is getting over the shock. It's just taking time, as he figured it would. "Yes, I've eaten some on more than one occasion. I guess that's what happens when you try to cook in the dark."

Cole grabs the egg from the bowl with his little hand and holds it out. "Here you go Daddy!"

The bomb of tears hiding in Aubrey will either explode or fizzle out now. For Cole and his own sake Jedediah hopes that it fizzles out. He isn't sure what he would do if she stayed in her room and hid all day. Not to mention how Cole would feel.