With my love's picture then my eye doth feast

It was tough that first morning, letting Jared leave the house. I didn't want him to go at all. "Mr Policeman! Jackson and I, we need you to be here. Suppose a burglar comes? Or a fire?"

"Cat! Please! It's hard enough to go to work as it is. Don't make it harder." He lifted my chin to give me a goodbye kiss. "Besides, trying to sound like you worry as much as your dad isn't working. I can tell the difference."

I hadn't actually thought of it that way. "I'm sorry. I'm just greedy and want you to myself."

"I'll be back this evening. You can count on that." He gave me another hug and went out the door.

Somehow, Jackson and I managed to survive the whole day while Jared was at work.

Although at one point, I had the oddest dream. There was a lot of noise and I went out in my lingerie to investigate.

I found this large thing in my yard and meet a time traveller who asked me to help fix it. I found his missing parts and he vanished by walking into the thing - which he called a portal.

I'm sure that was a dream. Time travel? Portals? Me walk around outside in the lingerie when Jared isn't around to appreciate it?

Eventually Jared came home. I served some spaghetti. Easy, tasty and a fav for Jared.

After the first few bites and a lot of sounds of approval, Jared started a conversation, "Hey, Cat, you have an Aunt Brooke?"

"Yes, she is dad's older sister."

"I thought so. Is your aunt prone to hysterics?"

"Not in the least. She's not at all like dad. Why on earth are you asking?" Any time I think about Aunt Brooke, I feel a bit guilty that I don't know her or my uncle or my cousins as well as I should. It's not like the island is that big. But somehow, I never seem to get around to visiting. Then again, they could visit me as well but it just doesn't happen.

"Your aunt reported a zombie outside the hospital last night. I had to spend most of my day today investigating her report."

I nearly choked on my spaghetti. "Zombie? You are kidding, aren't you?"

"That's what I said when they told me to investigate." Jared waved his fork in the air for emphasis, unfortunately splattering sauce everywhere.  "I think they gave it to me because the other officers were already out and doing real police work."

I sighed. "They still think of you as the rookie, don't they?"

"They do." He shrugged. "I am still the newest cop. Until the next time someone joins up, I will stay the new cop." He finished the food on his fork and started to twirl more spaghetti around for another bite.

We both concentrated for a couple of minutes on our dinner. After a few more bites, Jared continued the story. "So I interviewed your aunt. She told me that she didn't believe her eyes or that she had such bad luck. She had been visiting a friend at the hospital. She was just leaving when she noticed the zombie."

"She told me that it scared her so much that she couldn't move. It lurched closer and closer. She wanted to run but was frozen to the spot."

I put down my fork and touched the back of Jared's hand gently. "Poor Aunt Brooke. Did it hurt her?"

He shook his head. "She said that it then it just wandered away into the night. It hadn't actually attacked her. It had come close enough that she had gagged from the stench of rotten flesh. But it never touched her."

"So what did you do?" I asked as we continued eating.

"I went over to the hospital to look for any signs of zombies. I searched around the area but didn't see anything weird."

"No bits of goo or ooze?"

"Nope. Not anything at all out of the ordinary. That's why I was wondering if your aunt was prone to hysterics." He shook his head. "I got to spend the rest of the afternoon filling out reports."

"Aunt Brooke may be an artist but she's also very down to earth. I know my dad trusts her more than anyone else in the world. If she says she saw a zombie, then there was definitely something odd going on."

We finished our meal quietly. I wonder if I should ring my aunt, make sure everything is all right? Probably. I know she'd love it if I rang.

After dinner, Jared said, "I'm so tired of feeling unappreciated. Always getting the annoying or odd jobs at the station."

"I know just the thing to cheer you up," I told Jared.  "I have a song for you."
I grabbed my guitar and started to sing.
"Oh policeman mine,
You've locked my heart away,
Now when you walk the line,
I have to keep the blues at bay."

He smiled, "I'm not sure that will be the song that will make us rich and famous."

"As long as it makes you happy, love. That's what is important."

Eventually we fell into bed.  I had some weird dreams about my aunt and zombies. But I think my dreams didn't keep Jared awake.

That job fell to Jackson.

Fortunately for me, Jared doesn't mind taking care of the baby at 1 in the morning. I usually get the second shift at around 4am. This time I had gotten up as well though.

"Cat, you didn't have to get up. You can go back to bed. I have the baby."

"Thanks Jared. But I think I might wait a little."

"Why Cat?"

I snickered. "Because I'm awake and can just stand here admiring you. You look great in your uniform, don't get me wrong. But sometimes less is more and the less clothes you have on, the more of you I can admire."

He put Jackson back in the crib and turned to face me. "Thinking of that, I wouldn't mind if you were wearing less. Like, um, nothing at all..."

I grabbed his hands, "As long as it's mutual, I think nudity is a splendid idea. Shall we retire to our room?"

The next day, Jackson and I went to the park to earn a bit of money.

I must admit, Jackson wasn't going to be the same as playing with my band, but maybe the sight of the baby would cause people to drop more money in my case.

I spent hours playing. My feet grew sore, my fingers very sore.

And yet, I only had a few people pause to listen, like my cousin Elizabeth's husband Derrick.

To be honest, at first glance I thought it was Clayton because of the hair colour. But when I looked again, I knew it wasn't Clayton. Clayton looks like he eats from time to time. Derrick still is stick thin.

I played in the park long enough that Jared got off work and came over to watch.

His presence must have frightened the local burglar too much, she fainted on the spot.

Jared later said that was the easiest arrest ever.

After we got home, I had a shower and contemplated my day.

I spent hours in the park playing again. There were people there, it wasn't as though it was deserted. And yet, I'd earned nothing. Not a single tip was thrown in my case.

I love music, I really do. But we have bills to pay and a baby who is going to be needing a lot of toys and diapers and...

Well, I had to think about this. If playing for tips simply isn't pulling in enough money, then what can I do?

While I thought about it, I decided to invite Dad over for a visit.

"Hi Daddy. I thought you'd like to meet Jackson, your first grandson."

"Kitten, he's such a handsome baby. I am so happy for all three of you."

"If he takes after his father or his grandfather, he'll be handsome forever, won't he?" I asked with a smile.

"I don't know about that. But he's a keeper, that is for sure."

I sighed as I thought about my frustrating day. "Daddy, I wanted to talk to you about being a musician. It's been really horrible, I've been getting almost no tips at all."

He shrugged. "I know it's tough out there at the moment. You could try something other than music. Your grandfather made most of his money from novels. I've found that sculpting isn't too bad for cash once you get past using clay all the time." He cleared his throat, "I guess you could even try a regular job, though that does break family tradition."

"I think I might try something else. I love music a lot but I can't cope with being out there and getting nothing for my efforts."

"Hey, Mr G. How's it?"

"It's great but I want you to call me Johnny or call me dad. Either will do."

I do love that my husband and dad get along very well. It's nice to be part of a happy family now.

---
Bonus pics


Brooke wasn't the only one to have zombies.

There was one outside the house but with no gardens to eat and all the people inside, it caused zero damage.

I do love the dip kiss, even when it's some random couple doing it in the park.

This is apparently the outfit of an up and coming musician.

Yeah, I wasn't impressed either.

John Edward

Looks so very much like Sammy.

I never did know why one of Cat's cousins Leo, moved in with her dad and family. But Leo no longer actually lives here, he has a house and a kitten.

They do flirt adorably on their own.

Then Cat wanted to serenade Jared. He was very happy to listen too.