30 August 1999 - Hospital Road, Shirley, Massachusetts

Jeff dropped the three kids off at the day care center on Keiko’s first day of school. The center was right across the street from Devens Regional High School; Keiko would do the drop-off the next morning while he fought traffic on his drive to Medford. Jeff was glad the center opened well before she’d need to be in her classroom.

“Yay! The Knox kids are back!” cried Marie Falcone, director of the Big Steps Childcare Center. The boys sprinted to her while Sabrina waddled to Sophie Sherman, the woman who’d watched over her last year.

“Look at you, Sabrina! Walking! You’re such a big girl!”

“Tofie!” she giggled while giving Sophie a hug.

“Hi, Jeff,” Marie said while hugging the boys.

“Hi, Marie,” he replied, shaking her hand. “You ready for these three this year?”

“You bet! Keiko’s first day of school is today, huh?” she asked while motioning to the crowds in front of the high school.

“Yeah. Keiko will pick them up after school today; she’ll drop them off tomorrow morning while I’m at work, too. I’ve got a pretty good-sized ‘honey-do’ list waiting for me at home while these guys are here today.”

“Lucky you.”

Shawna blew her nose for the third time in thirty minutes. “I swear I start with a runny nose every time we’re here lately.”

“With the change in the seasons do you think that might be it? More rain, wet musty leaf piles... ?”

“Maybe, but I’ve been fine unless I’m here.”

“Any of the firefighters reporting similar problems?”

“No, not that I’ve heard but I’ll start asking around.”

“How’s your six year-old?”

“I can’t believe she’s that big already,” Shawna said, shaking her head. “A First Grader! That makes yours one and two and a half now, right?”

“Yep. Hey, I don’t think I’ve ever showed you the best picture from Sabrina’s first birthday...” Jeff pulled out his wallet and extracted a photo.

Shawna began laughing. “Did she eat any cake, or did it all wind up on her face?”

“She didn’t get all of it on her face! Some of it ended up on her dress, Shawna.”

“Oh, my apologies, sir,” she giggled.

“I don’t know why I put up with your abuse; I can call my sisters if I want to hear that!”

“Yeah, but they pay you to listen to me!”

“I hear you, but I’m not sure how much I listen to you, Shawna.”

She blew him a raspberry.

One Friday in mid-October Keiko left school as soon as the students were dismissed, picked up the kids at Big Steps and headed home. The following day Jeff’s and Kara’s families would gather at his parents’ home to celebrate his father’s fiftieth birthday and his parents’ twenty-eighth anniversary. They would leave for Enfield early the next morning to spend the whole day with his family. The solo part of Jeff’s workout was nearly complete when Keiko arrived home with the kids; his feet pounded out a steady rhythm on the treadmill while the four trouped into the workout room.

“Dada!”

“Hi, Princess!” he answered Sabrina while she waddled up to the treadmill. The noise his feet made, as well as the whirring of the machine, kept her at a distance. Ryan came over to join his sister and make sure she stayed back. Alex looked on from a distance, holding a book in his hand.

“Jeffrey, I will change into my gi and return shortly.”

“‘Shorter?’ You’re already only five-six, Keiko.”

“Shortly, Jeffrey. Do not make me use foul language with you! Based upon your lack of respect for this dojo’s Sensei, perhaps we should adjust the intensity of our sparring session today?”

“I like a challenge,” he replied with a smile. Since Keiko was almost fourth-dan and Jeff only first-dan, he liked to refer to her as “Sensei” during their sparring sessions. She usually rolled her eyes at the term.

“I shall remember you said that,” she retorted and walked out.

The treadmill signaled the end of Jeff’s interval running program and slowed into the cool-down program. Five minutes later it slid to a stop, allowing Jeff to dismount and give Sabrina kisses.

“No hugs yet, Princess,” Jeff said while pulling at his t-shirt. “Daddy’s all stinky-sweaty.” He traded high-fives with Ryan.

Sabrina put her hands on her hips as she’d seen her mother do. “Dada smell!” she stated with a scowl on her face.

“I guess she told me,” he said to Ryan with a chuckle. “If your Mom comes back while I’m in the bathroom, tell her I’m changing, okay Ryan?” Ryan gave him a thumbs-up. Jeff ruffled Alex’s hair and gave a kiss to the top of his head when he passed; Alex looked up from his book for a second before returning to it. Jeff returned a few minutes later; Keiko was already on the large mat doing her stretches.

“Do you need time to stretch, Jeffrey?” The children were safe beyond the edge of the mat, each with something to occupy them during their parent’s workout.

“Only a minute or two, Keiko. I’m pretty well warmed up from my workout.” Five minutes later they faced each other at the center of the mat and bowed. Slipping into their preferred starting positions they began to spar.

Jeff and Keiko adjusted their teaching times at the dojo after Sabrina was born so one parent could always be home with the kids. Their joint workouts usually occurred after the kids had gone to bed at night; cameras and baby monitors alerted them if any of the kids needed them. Alex and Ryan had been to the dojo as infants and saw them spar, but Sabrina never had. When they paused following their opening flurry she came running over, crying.

“NO HIT! NO HIT!” she screamed while standing between her parents, tears streaming down her face, unsure of who to go to first. Alex and Ryan stared from the edge of the mat. Both Jeff and Keiko stopped immediately and knelt by their daughter.

“Princess, what’s the matter?” Jeff asked while gathering her into a hug.

“No hit Mama, Dada!” she sobbed. “Mama, no hit Dada!” Jeff rocked Sabrina while trying to soothe her.

“Sabrina,” Keiko said softly, “your father and I are not mad at one another. We are practicing a skill known as ‘karate.’ It allows us to protect ourselves and others from bad people who try to hurt us.”

“‘Tay?” Sabrina sniffed.

“Yes, Princess, karate,” Jeff answered. “We were practicing with each other so we can get better at it. Your mother has been doing this most of her life and is very good. I started practicing again when I met your mother and I’m getting better because I learn from her. Practicing like we were helps us stay good.”

“Not mad?” Sabrina asked looking from parent to parent, wiping her face.

“No, Sabrina, your father and I are not mad at each other. We love each other very much; we would never hit each other, nor you, nor Ryan, nor Alexander.” Keiko ran her hand over Sabrina’s dark hair, smoothing it and further calming her daughter. “Hitting another person is wrong, unless you are practicing like your father and I. We practice to stop others from hitting us when we do not wish it.”

“Bina do ‘tay?”

“When you are a few years older yes, Sabrina, should you still wish to. Your brothers also, should they wish to. We did not mean to scare you, daughter, and we are sorry. Are you alright now?”

“Yes, Mama. Okay now.”

“Why don’t we give this up as a lost cause?” Jeff asked his wife. “You go relax on the couch with the kids while I shower before starting dinner?”

“Perhaps that would be best, yes. I will speak more with Sabrina about what she saw.”

Two weeks later Keiko and Jeff brought the kids to the dojo. They’d alerted Emily and Ben so they’d be available to help watch the kids; they’d also be able to help explain what Sabrina would see there. Alex and Ryan both ran to Emily when they caught sight of her; they gave Ben “five” after hugging his girlfriend.

A children’s beginners class occupied the mat when the Knox family arrived. Sabrina watched while kids her cousin Jenni’s age practiced their first forms. Keiko and Jeff pointed out what they were doing and why. Emily drifted over once Ben was reading to the boys.

“Emlee!”

“Hi, Sabrina!”

“Day do ‘tay?” she asked, pointing at the class.

“Yes, they are. Do you see that man teaching the class?” Sabrina nodded. “That’s my dad.” While Emily was about to get her license at sixteen and a half Ben already had his, so Sabrina had never met Sensei Daoust; the teenagers drove themselves to Lancaster when they babysat.

“That your dada?”

“Yes. My Dad has been studying karate for his whole life, like your Mom. See the gold stripes on the black belt he’s wearing? The only reason he has more than your Mom or Dad is he’s been taking karate much longer than they have.”

“I doubt he’d appreciate the ‘much longer’ part,” Jeff muttered to his wife. His comment received one standard eye-roll from Keiko.

“You do ‘tay?”

“Yes, Ben and I both do.”

“Your dada teach you?” Sabrina asked Emily.

“Not at first, no. Dad was just beginning to teach when I started and he didn’t think he was ready to teach younger kids. I didn’t take any classes with him until I was ten.”

“Wanna do ‘tay.”

“When you’re older, maybe about five or six, you can start taking lessons here. There are some really good teachers who help my Dad here,” Emily said while looking at Keiko and Jeff.

“‘Sander an Ryan do ‘tay, too!” Sabrina pronounced.

Jeff had visions of his family sparring at home. That’ll make for an interesting family game night...

With a yard the size of the one in Lancaster came an equally sizable problem: the volume of leaves that needed to be raked in the fall. Jeff purchased a riding mower when he and Keiko’d first moved in. After spending three days raking by hand that first fall he tried gathering the leaves using the mower with a bagging attachment; the volume of space the mulched leaves took up still required frequent emptying of the bagger. By the time the boys saw their first fall he’d bought a separate riding leaf vacuum.

Now that the kids were all old enough to walk Jeff used the vacuum everywhere except near the house; there he used a hand rake to pile the leaves for them to jump in. When they’d enjoyed themselves he picked up the large pile. Once mulched it joined the larger pile of decaying material in the woods. Jeff found Keiko by the grill outside after he’d parked the vac and returned to the house; the kids were reading at the outdoor table next to her. Whatever she was cooking smelled terrific.

“Hey good lookin’,” he said while hugging Keiko and nuzzling her ear. “Whatcha got cookin’?”

Keiko smiled, pulling herself deeper into his arms. “Beer can chicken. Baked beans are on the side burner and there is a salad in the refrigerator.”

“You’re not on the menu?” he asked in a whisper.

Keiko kissed her husband. “Perhaps later,” she whispered back.

“Hubba, hubba, hubba. How soon will dinner be ready?”

“The chicken will be finished cooking in five minutes, but will need another fifteen to twenty to cool. Everything else is ready.”

Jeff stole another kiss before walking over to the kids. Ryan and Sabrina were coloring together, but Alex was coloring his own picture. “Whatcha doin’, Alex?”

“Coloring.”

“Can your Dad join you?” Alex didn’t respond verbally but slid the picture towards an empty seat; Jeff sat next to his oldest. “Which part do you want help with?”

Keiko smiled at the scene. Alex, who’d been more talkative before Sabrina’s arrival, withdrew once the focus shifted to his younger sister. Now that Sabrina was more independent Alex started to emerge again; he still seemed to avoid Sabrina where possible, though. Keiko was thankful Jeff didn’t need many hours at a second job like so many in EMS seemed to, just one or two nights a week at the dojo. He made sure he was home with the family as much as possible.

This would likely be the final time they could eat outside with the kids for the year. The forecast for the coming week was for daytime temps in the fifties but with nights dropping into the mid-thirties; too cold for young kids to be outdoors and be comfortable while sitting still. Keiko would not be surprised if they saw snow by the middle of November.

“Jim, I’m telling you, I’m getting uneasy when I think about my tech stocks these days,” Jeff said to his broker, Jim Teller, a week before Thanksgiving. “I want you to get me out.”

“Jeff, I agree; there’s too much volatility lately. You know I’ll do what you ask me to, so don’t worry. You told me when we started working together that you liked my conservative approach. Just tell me how far out you want to get.”

“About three-quarters of the way out, Jim. Find someplace with a moderate level of risk to invest for about five years or so; I want to protect what we have. I also want to cash out a portion of that tech portfolio to invest elsewhere.”

“Can you tell me where?”

“I wish I knew if I could, Jim. It’s still a privately held company, one not being traded on the market, but I don’t know where the line is for you.”

“It’s not a public company? I should be in the clear.”

“I’ll have to ask if they’ll let you invest at this stage, but here’s what the company’s doing...”

“Are you still getting those runny noses?” Jeff asked Shawna in early December; they were in the small room set aside for EMS crews at Medford’s Station Five.

She shook her head. “It seems to have gotten better. I’m not blowing my nose every five minutes.”

“Was it the change of the seasons do you think?”

This time Shawna shrugged. “It must have been. I haven’t had much of a problem since the cold moved in.”

“It moved in alright,” Jeff muttered.

The outside temperatures hovered just below freezing, as they had for three weeks; there hadn’t been any snow yet. Jeff and Shawna dressed for the outside weather but had to find ways to stay cool while waiting inside. They’d lowered the thermostat in their office/bunkroom to the low sixties so they wouldn’t sweat to death.

“How are the kids?”

“Good, thanks. They’re ready for the snow, even if their parents aren’t quite as enthusiastic about it.”

“Didn’t you tell me you and your sister used to play in the snow for hours growing up?”

“Yeah, that’s the part I’m looking forward to: Keiko and I playing with the kids in our back yard, that kinda stuff. It’s the shoveling, driving in the slop, trying to carry people over unshoveled walks - that’s the part I’m not looking forward to.”

“Oh, cry me a river.”

Sabrina joined the boys on the ice at Thompkins the week before Christmas; Jeff and his family were visiting his parents for the week which included the annual Christmas party. Jeff and Keiko coaxed Alex onto the ice for a half hour, but he was not as enthusiastic about skating as his brother and sister.

Sabrina chased Ryan around the ice, laughing even when she fell; she already looked at home on her skates. The two youngest Knox children stayed on the ice until the hockey team arrived for their afternoon practice. They bumped fists with the players while the high schoolers strode through the boards.

“Jeffrey, your mother will take Alexander and I back to your parents’ residence while you, Ryan and Sabrina watch the practice.” Marisa stood behind her holding Alex’s hand.

“Keiko?” Jeff wasn’t clear on why she’d suggested that.

“They do not wish to leave,” she explained while motioning to their two younger kids. “It will be far easier to convince them to do so at the end of practice.” She kissed Jeff and turned to go. “I will help your mother with dinner. I love you, my husband.” Marisa kissed the grandkids before she left.

Jeff joined the two children who sat watching the happenings on the ice. He explained what the coaches were teaching the players and why the players did what they did; Jeff knew that most of his explanation went right over their heads, but they loved the action nonetheless. Ryan and Sabrina followed the action as close as they could. Jeff led them back to the tunnel at the end of practice so they could give the players fist bumps when they stepped off the ice.

“Are these guys Mrs. Knox’s grandkids?” one of the players asked when he stepped off the ice.

“They sure are,” Jeff answered. “This is my son Ryan and my daughter Sabrina.”

“Hi, guys! I’m Peter Gibbons.” Jeff, who’d been taking a drink from his water bottle, nearly snorted the liquid out his nose; Peter caught the reaction. “I’m guessing your name is Michael Bolton?”

“That no-talent uh ... performer? No, it’s Samir Nagheenanajar, actually.”

Now it was Peter’s turn to laugh. “Loved Office Space; I can’t wait for it to come out on VHS.” He held his hand out to shake with Jeff and the kids.

“I’m Mrs. Knox’s son, Jeff. When did you start here at Thompkins?”

“Sixth Grade; your mom was my math teacher that year. How long has she been here? It’s almost thirty years, isn’t it?”

“Yep, this is her twenty-seventh school year here; she’s been here since ‘72. She’s starting to talk about retiring, though I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“So many of my friends credit your mom for giving them a great introduction to what to expect from Thompkins, and how to get ready to succeed here. They’ll have a hard time finding a replacement for your mom when she does retire.”

“That’s kind of you to say, Peter, thank you. I’ll be sure to tell Mom when we get back to my parents’ place.”

Turning back to Ryan and Sabrina, Peter asked “Are these two going to play hockey?” They both nodded.

“Two out of three isn’t bad. We’ll concentrate on the skating first with guys, then add the pucks and sticks later.”

“Wanna play like you, Daddy!” Ryan exclaimed.

“You’re a hockey player?” Peter asked Jeff.

“Not since I graduated in ‘87, but I was once. I was on the championship team here in ‘84-’85 and was an assistant coach in ‘91-’92 when they won that year. I’m a paramedic now.”

“Tomorrow’s the first day of vacation but I’m not leaving until the day after, so I’ve got some time to kill. Are you up for a little one-on-one?”

Jeff didn’t like doing things which didn’t involve all three of the kids, but Alex hadn’t shown any interest in coming back to the Thompkins rink the next day. Ryan and Sabrina raced to the car before he’d finished asking if they’d wanted to skate again. Jeff would make sure to do something with Alex when they got back.

Peter had borrowed a shooting target which could be tied over a goalmouth very similar to the one Jeff had used with Darrin Whitmore years earlier. He was on the ice, waiting for Jeff when the older man arrived with the kids. Rather than the standard hockey gear the two men wore only skates and gloves with their sticks and street clothes.

Ryan and Sabrina watched their father duel with the high school junior for half an hour, each getting the better of the other while they battled. At one point Peter, playing defense, tried to muscle Jeff away from the goal as he approached. As they neared the outside of the net Jeff suddenly spun to the middle of the ice and flicked a wrist shot through the target.

“Damn!” Peter sighed. “I thought I had you!”

“Face it, son, I’m older and have more experience.”

“I’ll give you the ‘older’ part.”

“Be nice, youngster.”

“I think we’ve kept your kids waiting long enough; it’s time to let them take the ice.”

Peter joined Jeff in helping the two kids onto the ice. Showing them where he wanted them to stay, Jeff proposed one other contest to Peter.

“You bet! How many laps?”

“Three?”

“You’re on!”

The two players lined up on one goal line waiting for Ryan and Sabrina to tell them to start. When they heard the kids yell “GO!”, Peter and Jeff took off like two speed skaters; they both dug hard for the other end of the ice. Peter held the lead when they looped around the far goal on their first lap, but Jeff was right on his heels.

“I want those TPS reports, Peter!” Jeff yelled while they raced down the back straightaway.

“No way, Lumbergh!”

The kids cheered on both skaters during the race, thrilled with the speed they were exhibiting. Peter held Jeff off until the last lap when the older man pulled even with him. Jeff gained the inside track at the start of that lap, forcing Peter to try and get around him for a change. Jeff’s strides grew more powerful while Peter’s began to fade. Jeff curled around the final turn first, letting out a whoop when he crossed the goal line.

“Yay, Dada!” yelled Sabrina, hopping up and down on her skates. Jeff coasted down the ice gasping for breath when Peter pulled up next to him.

“Shit,” he whispered to Jeff in a voice the kids couldn’t hear. “I’m the fastest on the team! Nobody’s beaten me this year!”

“Sorry, kid,” Jeff gasped. “I run about six to seven miles a day of intervals.”

“What, like a quarter mile of sprints to each mile?”

“No, fifty-fifty.”

Peter blinked. “You sprint three to three and a half miles a day?”

“Well, not all at once.”

“No wonder you beat me!”

They glided back to the kids.

“Daddy, you’re fast!” Ryan yelled when they drew near.

“Peter fast, too!” Sabrina countered.

“Hey, thanks, Sabrina!” Peter replied.

“Yeah, thanks, Sabrina...” Jeff muttered, trying to tickle his daughter through her heavy clothes.

“Hey, partner.”

“Hey, Shawna. How were things last week without me?”

“Sane.”

“ ... She said, implying that working with her regular partner is insane...”

“Oh, did I imply that? I meant to implicitly state that...”

“You really know how to hurt a guy, Shawna.”

She smirked at Jeff in response. “Seriously, Jeff, how did your family’s Christmas party go?”

“As Grandpa would have said, Shawna: ‘The show must go on, ‘“ he answered with a sad smile. “It was a bit quiet in the sunroom this year; I think my uncles liked hanging out and letting him spout off like he did. It took them a few hours to have any sort of substantive conversation in there this year.”

“And your grandmother?”

“She’s no shrinking violet, that girl. As a young mother she waded right into an already established family, my Greek one at that, and fit right in with her little girl. My aunts remember their mother, of course, but they all eventually called Grandma ‘Mom’ and my mother was their ‘sister.’ This past year’s been tough for her; she was with Grandpa for over fifty years, but she’s got plenty of family to support her. She’ll move in with my Aunt Marilyn in the spring.”

“It’s good she’s got that kind of help around.”

“When she finally admits it’s time to accept it, yes. It’s been a bit of a struggle to get her to accept the help since the initial shock of Grandpa’s death wore off. It’s easy to see where Mom gets her stubborn streak from.”

Shawna stared at Jeff. “At least you come by it honestly.”

“Whatever, lady,” he said while throwing his crumpled Dunkin’ Donuts bag at her. “How are those allergy attacks, or whatever you were calling them?”

“I get the sniffles if we’re here all day,” she shrugged. “Since we’re rarely here all day...”

“Welcome to Jeff’s House of Pain.” On cue the tones dropped, with a call being dispatched for them and Engine Five right after. “Time to ‘jump around, ‘ Shawna.”

“Please, just cue the song up on that fancy new iPod of yours instead of singing it yourself this time.”

Jeff took an overtime shift in Malden later that same week. He knocked on Sean’s office door with his foot while carrying two cups of coffee.

“I’ve missed this level of service since you started taking all of your shifts in Medford!”

Jeff settled into a chair in front of Sean’s desk and got comfortable. Not too comfortable, since putting one’s feet on the Vice President’s desk wouldn’t be a good career move regardless if he was a best friend. “Mud in your eye!” he toasted.

Sean looked at Jeff over the rim of his mug. “That toast is wasted unless the beverage is fine Irish whisky.”

“As opposed to getting wasted doing toasts with fine Irish whisky?”

“I believe the phrase is ‘gettin’ wicked hammahed, kid?’”

“You’re getting better, Sean! That sounded frikken awesome!”

“Well, that’s about the only phrase I’ve got nailed.”

“Have another, you boozehound!”

“Shh! Not so loud! Dad’s gonna check the bottom drawer of my desk!”

“More like your nightstand, you lush!”

“How are Keiko and the kids?”

“Better’n ever!” Jeff answered with a smile. “Ryan and Sabrina are practically living on their skates while Alex seems to prefer baseball; even though there’s still snow on the ground, we use the workout area to practice his throwing and hitting.”

“The twins will be three this year?”

“Yep, in March. Sabrina turns two in July.”

Sean sat up straight in his chair and folded his hands on his desk. “Would you mind closing the door, Jeff? I need to ask you about something.”

Jeff’s eyebrow rose but he did as his friend asked. “What’s up, Sean?” he asked once he’d settled back in his seat.

“You remember me mentioning working on a potential new division for Brophy?”

“Sure.”

“It’s ready to go, or at least to unveil.“

“Well don’t keep me in suspense, oh Grand Poobah of the Bed Pan. What is it?”

“We’re going to start up a non-transport division in Ayer.”

“Ayer? Why Ayer?”

“You live in that region of the state, Jeff; you know how underserved that area is when it comes to paramedic-level EMS. The reason we chose to base it in Ayer is due to its proximity to Fort Devens.”

“Okay, so why Devens then?”

“First, the Army’s building a new hospital on the Shirley side of the Nashua River, just down the street from where Keiko teaches. Donovan Army Medical Center will be accessible from both the base and Route 2A via Shaker Road. We’re planning a building for that division’s headquarters and garage in Ayer Center; it’ll capable of basing five or six intercept vehicles there.”

“And the second?” Jeff asked.

“We’re going to partner with the Army and use Devens Medical Defense...”

“Catchy,” Jeff interrupted, an interruption Sean ignored.

“ ... as a place for Army medics to gain practical experience in what working for a private EMS service is like, if they have none. And we hope to offer a ‘ride-along’ program for non-medics to see if EMS is a career they may want to pursue after they leave the Army.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me. Why did you want to talk to me about your plan?”

“Because the plan involves you, if you’re interested.”

“How so?” Sean definitely had Jeff’s attention.

“Dad and I want you to be the operations manager for DMD.”

Jeff blinked a few times. “Me?”

“There’s no one we trust more. You’re a vet who’s made the transition, one who’s worked for us for over six years. You make good decisions, you’re organized, you can speak and write effectively in more than one language and you’re from the area.”

“I’m going to have to think about this, Sean, and talk it over with Keiko. I don’t know if I’m ready to come off the road. I enjoy the work and who I work with. I’m also thinking of going back for my Masters.”

Sean nodded. “Dad and I figured you’d have these reservations. Take your time, think it over and talk to Keiko. We don’t need an answer right away.”