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Day Five - Tuesday, June 20

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Early the next morning, downstairs in the restaurant

Clay yawned as he stood behind Kate in the line for breakfast. His body was still operating on California time, and he was coping with jet lag.

"Stop that," Kate ordered, yawning only a moment later.

"I can't help it, darlin'," Clay told her.

Sarah raised a wry eyebrow. "And what did you guys do last night that you're still tired in spite of that nice, long nap in the van?" Catching the warm but sheepish looks the couple exchanged, Sarah chuckled. "I figured as much."

"You already told me as much last night, dearie," Kate accused.

"I know."

Clay and Kate made their way through the simple buffet laid out for the hotel guests. Choosing between fruits, pastries, and other breakfast items, they gathered enough food before finding a couple of seats at the long table.

Sally claimed the seat next to Kate. "Isn't this the day you find out?" she asked.

"Should be," Kate replied. "We're awaiting Mom's call."

"You'll let me know what Aunt Trish tells you."

Kate snickered. "You'll be second to know."

"Only second??" Sally complained. "What gives?"

"I really think I should tell my husband first," Kate winked.

"And how does he rate?" Sally teased back.

Several minutes of light conversation passed before a desk clerk beckoned over Pastor Macy. The two men whispered for a minute. "Clay, phone call for you at the front desk," Pastor Macy informed him as he returned to his seat. Almost knocking over the chair in his excitement, Clay eagerly ran to the desk to take the call.

"Speaking of who rates," Kate frowned, "something's wrong with this picture..."

"Maybe it's someone other than Aunt Trish," Sally speculated.

A loud, long cheer rang from the front desk area. Sarah laughed aloud, amused at Kate's wide-eyed expression. "Or maybe not."

Kate slowly shook her head, placing a hand over her mouth to muffle her own giggles before they came out. "That leaves little to the imagination..."

"Congratulations," Sally told Kate, gently hugging her.

"Thanks," Kate breathed, slowly letting out a deep breath through pursed lips. We're going to have a baby... she marveled.

Clay bounced back to the table with his eyes lighting up like sparklers, effectively broadcasting the good news to everyone in the room. Gently Clay placed both hands on Kate's shoulders and rubbed them affectionately. He dropped a light kiss on her temple before whispering into her ear. "And how is the mother-to-be doing this morning?"

Doing wonderful, as long as you keep doing that... Kate moaned delightedly as he continued to knead her shoulders. She wasn't sure which made her happier right now, his massage or his words. Of course, the thing that made her happiest was just being with him. "Just fine, now that we know for sure."

"Better than you were earlier?" he asked hopefully, referring to another bout of morning sickness she had experienced in the middle of the night. When Kate nodded, he heaved a sigh of relief. "You need me to get you anything? Some more orange juice, some fruit - "

An unladylike noise that was a mixture of a snicker and a snort came from Sarah seated across the table. "Here we go..."

Let the doting begin, Kate thought dryly, knowing that was exactly what Sarah was thinking. Aloud she said, "I'm doing fine right now, thank you. Maybe I'll take you up on that seven or eight months down the road when it'll take a crowbar to pry me out of my chair."

Sarah disagreed. "Try six months, for someone your size."

Sally quickly shook her head. "I agree with Kate. She'll start showing early because she's tiny, but her stomach won't grow to the 'swallowed a watermelon' stage until months eight and nine."

Kate snorted and rolled her eyes at the speculation between Sarah and Sally before casting a playfully offended look up at Clay. "Either way I'm going to have to harass Mom later, that she would rather talk to you instead of her own daughter."

Clay sat down beside his wife, taking her hand in his. "That's because she knows you, honey. All her attempts to tell you to take it easy and not overdo it this week would fall on deaf ears."

"Hunh?" Kate asked, a frown crinkling her nose. This time she did take offense.

Firmly Clay nodded in spite of the fact that it might irritate his wife further. "She knew that if you didn't want to hear her suggestion, you wouldn't listen to it. You would ignore it, throw yourself right into the thick of things, and without meaning to put the health or life of our child at risk. As for me, on the other hand, she knows that I'll do something about it." Clay met her eye straight on, knowing that he was absolutely right about this. "So she asked to talk to me instead of you. And she even gave me suggestions to make sure you take it easy on this trip."

Kate growled under her breath. "My own mother, plotting against me."

Clay's expression did not change in the slightest at Kate's declaration. "You knew she's that way, honey. After all, she helped me arrange the details for our wedding." When a slight smile turned the corners of Kate's mouth, Clay knew she was finally ready to listen to him. His eyes softened with love. "It's in your best interest, honey. Yours... and our child's. It's my job to take care of both of you. After all, we agreed on this last night..." he reminded her.

Leave it to Clay... Kate sighed, realizing that she was fighting a losing battle. There were times to stand up, and times to give in... and she knew that this was one of the times to give in. "All right, so I won't do any heavy lifting. But I am not missing bucket brigade."

"I wouldn't dream of spoiling your fun," Clay insisted.

"I'm going, I'm going," Will grumbled as he entered the room with Jerome following behind. The two bodyguards placed their backpacks against a pair of chairs and went back to the buffet line.

Sheila eyed the two of them as they left. "Will's not a morning person, I take it."

Clay, Kate, and Sarah all shook their heads with varying degrees of vigor. "I think the entire week he was out at the farm, there was only one day he got up before nine." Kate turned to Clay. "That was the morning we drove down to Lincoln, right?"

"That's the one," Clay agreed. "And you had to give him coffee to help get him going."

"Some people," Sarah snickered with a raised eyebrow, "just need a little something to jump-start their motor in the morning."

Kate stopped chewing mid-bite, not entirely sure how to take Sarah's statement. She turned to Clay, who had a guarded look on his face. The two of them exchanged a glance, knowing that they were both wondering the exact same thing. Kate made a mental note to discuss the subject with Clay first, rather than take a chance insulting Sarah by asking her the question outright.

Will and Jerome joined the others about that time, and several of the other team members slowly filed down to get breakfast before the group went over to the church. Once breakfast was over, the crew grabbed their backpacks and their tools before going out of the hotel gates. One by one they stuffed themselves into the vans, dealing with backpacks and tight spaces as necessary.

The team arrived at the church and building site, entering the church to begin work on the new day. Pastor Macy and the local pastor took the time to introduce a couple of local students who would be doing translating for them. The translator for the construction crew was a young man named Jayme Cadet, and the translator for the bible school teachers was a young woman named Prosper Michelet. Pastor Macy told the team that they were among students graduating from the school.

Kate studied the serious look on Sally's face as the local pastor talked at length with her and Pastor Macy about something. "I wonder what that's all about..."

Pastor Macy had the team sit down. "Two things before we split up to begin our work. One is our morning devotion, which we'll have after I talk to you about the other thing." Pastor Macy went on, quietly but loud enough the team could hear him. "Apparently there is still plenty of discontent going on right now in Haiti. President Beauvoir is making a lot of headway among the general populace of Haiti, because he's trying to implement a lot of lifestyle and policy changes that will make their lives a lot better. However... those who had all the power and money and prestige while Aristide was president are not too happy with him. They like things the way they are. Word has it that there are protests planned against Beauvoir, but that they're supposed to remain peaceful protests." Pastor Macy looked at each member of the group individually. Sarah felt an uneasy rumble in her stomach as his eyes lighted for a single moment on her. And since she had just eaten breakfast, she knew it wasn't hunger pains. Pastor Macy continued. "Let's add the social and political situation of Haiti to our daily prayers, shall we?"

"Let's," Tracy voiced, and the rest of the group quickly agreed.

After the morning devotion ended, Sarah fell into silent pondering as the groups split up to see to their respective tasks. She didn't like hearing about these protests - they made her uneasy. Sarah debated about bringing a confidant alongside of her in her concerns, someone strong of faith and spirit and prayer, someone who understood the spiritual gift of discernment. But not Kate...

Finally Sarah decided to approach Sally about her dilemma. "Sally, I know we need to prepare for this morning's lesson... but can I talk to you sometime later today about something serious?"

Sally caught the somber expression on Sarah's face immediately. "Later... or now?"

"Later - when Kate isn't around," Sarah mouthed.

"Something wrong between the two of you?" Sally asked, having noticed the interesting dynamics between Sarah and Will. If Sally's suspicions were right, it was bound to be a tense subject.

Sarah shook her head. "Not exactly. I need to confide in someone who understands and trusts the spiritual gift of discernment, and the occasions when God chooses to reveal things to people."

Sally paused, remembering Kate's own gift for insight. Why wouldn't you go to Kate, unless - She took in a deep breath, very slowly, as she realized the truth of why Sarah had come to her instead. Unless God chooses to reveal something about her. "I see... Yeah - we'll find time to talk in private. Either here, or later at the room, if you want."

"As long as the two of them are nowhere in sight," Sarah agreed, "then it sounds like a plan to me."

Completely unsuspecting of the serious discussion planned about them, Clay pulled his camera out of his backpack and hurried over to his wife. Taking Kate by the hand, he led her towards the door of the church. "Come with me, honey. I want to see where we're building the orphanage," he told her as Will quickly followed after them.

Kate grinned at him, amused and pleased at his enthusiasm. "Sure."

Clay led the others out to the construction site, currently a gigantic cement slab where the foundation had already been laid. He quickly prepared his camera and took several "before" photos of the place where the orphanage was to be built. "How big do you think it's going to be?" he asked Kate.

"Dunno," Kate admitted with a shrug. "Ask one of the guys on the construction crew. They'll have an idea." She pointed over where Jayme stood in the middle of the united American and Haitian building crews. "We could ask Wayne or Frank."

"All right." The trio waited until the group broke to attend to their tasks before approaching Wayne. "Wayne, question for you. How big is this orphanage going to be?" Turning towards the foundation, Wayne told them how many rooms each floor of the two-story building was going to have and roughly how many children it would be able to house in its facilities. In between Wayne's descriptions, Clay asked a handful of clarification questions to get a better idea for himself. Finally satisfied, he smiled. "Thank you very much for your help, Wayne."

"Anytime, cousin," Wayne told him with a grin.

Clay waited until they were out of earshot before releasing an excited squawk. "Did you hear that? He called me cousin!"

Snickering with warm amusement at Clay's reaction, Kate shook her head. "You're in Haiti on a mission trip... you're one of us."

"Wow," Clay breathed, taking Kate's hand in his. The three of them entered the church again with Clay still practically bouncing. Catching the eye of Sally and Sarah, he beamed at them. "Wayne just called me 'cousin'," he told them.

Both Sarah and Sally started laughing, though it was unclear whether they were laughing at Kate's renewed giggles or Clay's infectious enthusiasm. "Boy, you're easily entertained."

Making an offended face, Clay puffed out his chest. "I resemble that remark," he sniffed, borrowing from one of Andrew's many attempts at humor. Kate pretended to poke Clay's head, making a popping sound followed by letting a breath slowly hiss out of her teeth. Clay cast a puzzled glance at her. "And what, darlin', was that all about?"

"Don't mind me, honey. I'm just deflating your ego."

Clay's jaw dropped as the others near by burst into delighted laughter. "Why you little..." Grabbing Kate firmly, he swept her up into his arms. "Pardon me while I go debacle my wife."

"Clay!" Kate protested as he started to carry her off. "Clay...!"

Will mopped the sweat off of his forehead as Clay returned back to the group and placed his wife back on the ground. "It's only nine in the morning, and it's as hot as a frying egg."

"I know what you mean," Sarah agreed, fanning herself. She was very warm in this room, and she was wearing a tank top and shorts.

"Welcome to Haiti," Sally muttered.

"Is this normal?" Jerome asked.

"For the middle of June, yeah, it is."

Sarah stuck out a tongue as if panting. "At the rate I'm going, I'm probably going to be spending every evening in the pool."

"Late afternoon or evening," Sally nodded, "you'll find me there."

"I'll probably join you two this afternoon," Kate informed them as Clay wrapped his arms around her.

Clay's attention perked up. "This afternoon? For sure?" When Kate nodded, he grinned. "I won't be right there by the pool, but I'll be somewhere close. Make sure you come by so I get to see your swimsuit."

Blushing lightly, Kate gave Sarah a knowing glance. "I think I can arrange that."

The group arranged the tissue paper and the pipe cleaners for the craft to get ready for the students. Since Sally had already given everyone folders with copies of all the lessons contained inside, they all knew for future reference what was going on each day... and how the lesson was going to read. Sarah volunteered to read that morning's lesson as the others acted out various parts as a skit.

Shortly a classroom of elementary students walked in and sat on the pews of the church sanctuary. Their teacher talked in hushed tones to them, making sure that they were all behaving well for the group of missionary teachers. Sally and Prosper stood at the front of the team, ready to teach the songs to the children (and the Haitian Creole to the team). In their own language Prosper told the students to echo Sally as she sang a phrase at a time to them, and Sally began with the first familiar song, I Will Call Upon the Lord. Sally taught the English version of the song to the children a line at a time, with Prosper and the rest of the team echoing along with the students. Once they finished it in English, Prosper taught them the song in Creole much the same way. The team spent the first ten minutes or so teaching familiar bible school songs to the kids in both English and Creole, thoroughly enjoying themselves as they sang, and as the kids sang enthusiastically back to them.

With the singing complete for this group, Sarah and Prosper stood off to one side, making sure to stay visible while not blocking the action for the skit up front as Jerome took his place front and center. Sarah read off the scripture a short phrase at a time, giving Prosper the opportunity to translate the words into the language of the kids. Meanwhile, Jerome and the others pantomimed everything in back of them. Jerome directed the rest of the crew towards certain places, and they acted out being stars, trees, elephants, or whatever else was depicted in the lesson. "In the beginning, God created the world. God made the light, God made day and night, and that was the first day. God made water and sky, and that was the second day. God made land, God made plants and trees and flowers, and that was the third day. God made the sun and the stars, and that was the fourth day. God made the birds and the fish, and that was the fifth day. God made all the animals that live on the land. And God made man. God made the man from the dirt of the ground, and God made woman from part of the man. And that was the sixth day. When God saw that everything was good, he rested on the seventh day." Seeing that all his "work" was done, Jerome sat down on the steps with a smile.

The teacher gave the kids verbal instructions, and they all got up from the pews and scrambled up front to find patches of floor where they could work on their craft for the day. The team members came around with colored tissue paper (the same kind used in wrapping gifts) and pipe cleaners while the teacher and translator continued with the instructions. Each team member sat among a group of students to help out as needed, both showing an example of how to make a flower out of the supplies and being available in case a student needed help somehow. The students and team members used a lot of hand gestures since they didn't know each other's language.

Kate glanced over once at her husband, smiling warmly as she noted one of the littlest girls had taken the opportunity to crawl into his lap. The girl was reaching up to feel his hair, running her hand over and through it to see if the texture was as different as the color. Is this how sweet and gentle he's going to be with a daughter? Kate wondered, sighing with pure contentment as she watched him.

Nearby Sarah with her long, auburn hair was getting a similar treatment at the hands of a couple little girls. They each had a section of her hair and were playing with it, making temporary braids and ponytails as Sarah assisted a little boy with his flower. Will smiled warmly as he watched her with the kids. She's gonna be a great mom some day.

But Will was being watched with the kids as well. Sally secretly studied him as he sat with his own youthful entourage, and it was quite obvious to her that Will had a love for and a gift with children. And it was plain to see that they liked him and trusted him. Maybe this will work after all...

The kids gathered back in the pews with their flowers as the team led them in a couple of the songs they had learned earlier. Once their time was up, team members passed out the snack as the students filed out - each student received three or four tiny "Goldfish" crackers as a tangible reminder that God had created all living things.

As soon as the children left the room, Clay gathered Kate into his embrace with a brilliant smile. "So what do we do next?" Clay asked as the others went about their own things to kill time.

"Wait until the next group comes," Kate replied. "Time is fluid in Haiti - the next one may come shortly, it may not come for an hour or so. We may get all our groups this morning, we may get one or two this afternoon." She shrugged. "Time is fluid in Haiti."

Clay snickered, and brought Kate over to sit down beside him on one of the pews. "If that's the case, then I'm going to enjoy my time waiting."

Kate leaned back in Clay's arms. "I know I'll enjoy it like this."

But that time was not meant for them to spend alone. Two little girls from the school wandered into the room and climbed up on the pew with them, interrupting their solo time. Knowing that they would have plenty of time to themselves later, the couple opted to spend time with the girls instead. Clay watched Kate without blinking as she interacted with the two little girls - the first one playing with Kate's hair as Kate braided the hair of the second one. He sighed contentedly, imagining for a moment how Kate would be with their own children... their own sons or daughters as God chose to bless them.

Without warning the two girls scrambled down from the pews and scampered out the door. Kate giggled warmly, turning back to Clay. She blinked with surprise to find him staring at her with a look of total enchantment on his face. "Wh-what?"

Slowly, haltingly, Clay opened his mouth and took a breath. "You're beautiful..."

Kate blushed furiously. She was never going to understand how she got that kind of awestruck reaction out of him. After all she was nothing special - she was just Kate. "Thank you."

"I - I'm going to ask a really dumb question," Clay whispered, clearly embarrassed.

"There are no dumb questions," Kate insisted. "At least not from you." She paused a moment. "Go ahead and ask your question, honey. If you think it's dumb, it probably isn't."

"I bet it is." Clay bit his lip, studying her for another minute or two before asking. "Wh-What color are your eyes, honey? I know we've been married six months, but I've never been able to figure it out..." Clay mumbled sheepishly. "I just can't tell, darlin'. I've tried and tried to figure out your eye color since the day we met, but I've been too embarrassed to admit that I couldn't figure it out. About the time I think I have it figured out, they... they change on me... And even now, it seems as if they change colors... with the light, with what you wear, with your moods..."

Unexpectedly, Kate laughed openly and warmly. "There's a reason for that." She smiled gently. "Tell you what, honey... I'm going to give you as much time as you want to look, really look, into my eyes to see why my eye color is so hard to figure out."

Surprise flickered across Clay's face and was gone in an instant. That was the last thing he expected from her. But he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to stare into his wife's eyes for a while. "All right," Clay told her with a smile as she slid closer to him. Kate looked up into his eyes, hardly blinking, never glancing away as Clay gazed deeply inside of hers. He found it so incredibly easy to get lost in her expressive eyes that occasionally he had to close his and shake his head to clear it. Finally something clicked as he focused one more time and discovered the answer. "Oh my gosh!"

"You think you figured it out?" Kate asked, her voice low and quiet as she laid her head on his shoulder. If he had, it was just in the nick of time. One more minute of those intense green eyes gazing into hers, and it would have been all over... Or more accurately, she would have been all over him - in ways that would have made everyone around them blush furiously.

"Yeah," he nodded in awe. "Your irises have two different rings of color in them."

Kate grunted acknowledgement. "I'm a dualie..."

"So if your eyes are part green and part brown," Clay asked, curious, "what do you call them on your driver's license?"

"Depends on what mood I'm in the day I fill out the paperwork," Kate muttered with a mild snort. "I've called them green, I've called them hazel. Unfortunately there's no 'other' category for eye color like there is for race. I've been known to call them blended before..."

Clay chuckled. "They're not blended, hon, they're definitely half and half."

"Yeah, I'm kind of a mutt that way." Kate glanced up at him. "Are you okay with that?"

He stared with amazement at her, not believing he was hearing uncertainty from her over such a little thing as eye color. "Are you kidding? They're unique. I think they're beautiful." Pulling her deeper into his arms, Clay snuggled close to his wife. "I've never seen eyes like yours before."

Kate smiled gently. "I'm the only person I know with eyes like that. My eyes have always made me feel kind of weird. I mean, what kind of weirdo can't figure out their own eye color until they're an adult?"

"You're not a weirdo," Clay told her, poking her gently in the side.

"Am too a weirdo."

"Are not."

"Too."

Clay glared at her. "Am I going to have to smooch you until you agree with me?" he threatened.

"Please." Snickering at the smirk that turned the corner of Clay's mouth, Kate shrugged. "I may admit that I'm a weirdo, honey... but I'm okay with it. For the reasons that make me weird, I'm comfortable in my weirdness."

"Okay, now that is weird," Clay teased. He fended off Kate's poke with a giggle. "No, honey, you're not weird... Or if you're weird, we're both weird together."

Kate laughed aloud. "That I can handle." A comfortable silence passed between them for a moment. "So are you gonna kiss me, or not, Aiken?"

Clay remembered discovering a little out-of-the-way nook in his earlier exploration of the church - if he was going to kiss her now, he wanted to do it right. Quickly he stood up and offered his hand to Kate. "Come with me and you'll find out." Immediately Kate took his hand and joined him, the look in her eye telling him she knew what he had in mind.

Sally and Sarah glanced after the newlyweds as they walked out of the room to their secret destination. With a sigh Sally shook her head. "That's what they get for getting into a staring contest."

Remembering the bare-bones story about their "tour game", Sarah stared at Sally. "Do you think they're going to - "

"Smooch?" Sally asked, cutting that thought off before Sarah could complete it. "That's a guarantee. Probably even heavy smooching, if I read my cousin's face right. But they aren't going to do any more than that right now. The next batch of kids could come at any time, and they know it."

"Do we have time to have that talk while they're out of the room?"

Sally glanced at Sarah. "If you really want to have it now."

Sarah nodded. "I don't want to carry this alone. I've got to be able to talk with someone about it."

"That's what I'm here for, sweetie." Sally turned to face Sarah straight on in order to use her very best listening skills. She knew that she needed to catch every word and nuance of what Sarah said, and every bit of her body language too, if she was going to get the whole picture. "What's on your mind?" Sally asked gently, knowing that she would need few other prompts with Sarah.

Speaking very quickly with slight agitation in her voice, Sarah began with the entire contents of her own recurring dreams before going on to her conversation with Patricia about her recurring dreams and Patricia's ominous prediction for the team and for the couple. She finished up by sharing her gut reaction to Pastor Macy's words about the scheduled protests for today.

Sally let out a slow, deep breath. "Oh boy." While she had not had as much opportunity to verify the accuracy of Sarah's dreams, Sally had been given plenty of opportunity over the years to witness the accuracy of Patricia's dreams and displays of discernment... as well as the accuracy of the rest of her aunts. "You're not going to like to hear this, sweetie, but right now there's not a lot we can do. But let me tell you what we can do." Sally leaned so that her elbows were resting on her knees. "We're going to keep praying for the whole political situation of Haiti. We're going to keep praying for Kate and Clay so that when the time comes, if it comes, they will be equipped to handle whatever God sends their way. And in the words of the prophet Moses... we need to keep our cloak tucked into our belt, our sandals on our feet, and our staff in our hands. If you and Aunt Trish really are getting a message... then we need to be ready to make a run for it at a moment's notice."

"How do we tell the others to be prepared for that scenario," Sarah asked, "in a way that they will be ready but not afraid?"

Glancing up as the next batch of kids entered the room, Sally replied. "Why don't we think on that the rest of the morning? There's got to be a way to tell everyone without making them paranoid."

Sarah stood up with a slightly distasteful face. "I suppose I should be the one to go get those two."

"If you think you can handle it," Sally teased.

"Not many can," Sarah returned. "I'm just used to them."

Sally laughed as Sarah went to find Clay and Kate and let them know the next group was here.

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Lunch at the church

Kate tried not to make a face as she looked at the main course that had been placed on the makeshift table for the reassembled mission team: some sort of spaghetti with onions in it. Blech. Kate was thankful that the onions were large - she could pick those out. There was also fruit available, and bottled pop (with old-fashioned metal bottle-caps on long, slender glass bottles) for them to drink.

"Yum," Matt replied as he eyed the spread. "Looks good enough to eat."

Clay cast a mischievous glance at him. "I thought we were all just going to admire it for a while." The young pre-med laughed warmly, knowing that Clay was just teasing him.

Sure enough, the team and their translators filed through the line to get lunch, and everyone ate it there in the sanctuary of the church.

"If you're not going to eat those onions," Clay told Kate, "I'll take them."

"Be my guest." Using her fork, Kate gave him the few onions that she had found in her pasta. "Good thing you stole your kisses earlier, mister..." Clay stuck his tongue out at her but otherwise made no reply.

Sheila watched as Kate placed them on her husband's plate. "You don't like onions?"

"No," Kate admitted, "and they like me even less. Now if they're properly fried or otherwise cooked then all the kick seems to be gone and I can handle them. I've never been able to eat spicy foods."

"These aren't spicy!" Clay protested.

"Tell that to my stomach."

"Onions aren't spicy," Sheila agreed.

"My wife seems to think they are." Clay turned a conspiratorial eye to Sheila. "It's so bad that she turns her nose up at my mother's barbecue," he whispered.

Kate smacked his leg. "I do not turn my nose up at her barbecue! I just can't eat it. It's spicy."

"Of course it's spicy. It's supposed to be spicy." He shook his head with a sigh. "Can't believe my own wife not eating Carolina barbecue..."

Skewering him with a glare, she scowled lightly at him. "Fine. You supply the Pepto, and I'll consider eating your mother's barbecue. It's not because I'm trying to be rude..." Grumbling under her breath, she went on. "I just can't eat it."

Sally chuckled. "I have to ask, sweetie. Since he likes his barbecue and your stomach can't take it, how do you handle that when you prepare meals?"

Kate shrugged. "Easy enough. I barbecue or marinate his meat to his heart's delight, and leave mine completely unadulterated by any sauces or spices beyond meat tenderizer."

"Unadulterated?" Clay asked, giving her an offended look. "You make it sound like sacrilege."

"I did not," Kate denied as other team members started laughing at their minor spat. "All I meant by that was that I don't soak it in sauce or marinade like I do for yours. I don't add or do anything to my meat before they both get thrown onto the fire."

"But that's not what that word means," Clay told her.

"It's not?"

Clay shook his head. "No. Look it up, hon. You really do make it sound like sacrilege."

Kate glanced over at Sarah, whose hand was clamped tightly over her mouth to quiet her uncontrollable laughter. As the tears ran down her cheeks, Sarah nodded confirmation at her friend. "Oh." Kate grimaced. "That's not what I meant..."

"This," Clay snorted, as he eyed his wife, "coming from the woman who knows more ways to cook eggs than anyone I know..."

Oh really? Kate raised an eyebrow. "You have a problem with my cooking, mister?"

"You're a good cook, honey, but my tastes are pretty simple," Clay qualified. "My favorite way to have eggs is scrambled with cheese. Plain and simple. You, on the other hand, will make your eggs scrambled, hard-boiled, fried, poached, omelet style... that one creamed egg recipe of yours... You know more ways to cook eggs than anyone I know!"

"Variety is good," Kate told him, a smirk on her face.

"Maybe we should call you the egg queen," Will guffawed.

Glancing down at Kate's stomach, Sarah broke into helpless giggles. Considering how little it had taken for the two of them to get pregnant, the title fit. "I should have put Cadbury eggs in your Easter basket," Sarah gasped.

For a moment Clay and Kate gave each other a puzzled look as they tried to figure out Sarah's secret joke. At last understanding filled Kate's eyes, and she mimicked rabbit ears over her head. Catching the reference immediately, Clay smacked his forehead and groaned.

"Well, Kate," Sheila began, "now that you're expecting you shouldn't be eating spicy food anyway. Spicy food tends to irritate the baby."

Clay's eyes widened with surprise as he paused mid-bite. "Really?"

"Oh yeah," Sally agreed. "Even the Haitians with all their spicy foods know that, because their women stay away from them when they're pregnant." She smiled at her cousin. "I've already taken the liberty of asking the staff at the hotel to prepare food that isn't spicy for you."

"Oh, bless you..." Kate sighed. "You've saved a life. Or two."

"Since you're eating for two, it seemed the least that I could do," Sally agreed.

"So how's the progress on the orphanage coming?" Will asked, curious after having seen it at its beginning stages.

Frank and Wayne quickly told the group about what they had already gotten accomplished that day - the bricks were several layers deep already, forming walls that were about waist-high. Frank was very pleased with their progress and thought they would finish with an entire floor by the end of the week. Wayne agreed, but expressed that a few of the new people on the construction crew weren't getting enough water or taking enough rest breaks. He was concerned about some of them getting sick if they didn't watch themselves out on the site.

"We need to make sure everyone gets plenty of water," Pastor Macy urged. "There's plenty of Culligan available in here, and there's plenty out there as well. Don't be afraid to drink water, folks."

Kate chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully before leaning to whisper into Clay's ear. "You guys have everything under control here. For the rest of the afternoon, I'm going outside to play nursemaid to the construction crew."

Clay turned a shocked eye to his wife. "What? You're not going outside!"

"Clay - just for the afternoon, and I plan to stay in the shade most of the time and not lift anything," she promised. "You heard Wayne and Pastor Macy. People are going to start getting sick from heat exhaustion if somebody doesn't start taking steps to do something about it." Kate raised her eyebrow. "I saw it happen back in 2002. We thought we were going to have to run a guy to the hospital. As long as I stay in the shade and don't lift anything, I should be all right, and so should little one."

"I still say you shouldn't - "

Pastor Macy turned at Clay's rising whisper. "Something to add to the discussion?"

"Yes," Kate spoke up as Clay scowled. "If we're worried about people getting enough water, we could always designate someone to head up the canteen... water the herd, so to speak." Hearing snickers from people in the group, Kate grinned. "Okay, bad term, but you get the idea. It's a proven fact that most people - especially guys - will push their limits unless someone is monitoring them and making them drink their water and take their breaks. I still think that's what happened to George back in '02."

Pastor Macy nodded. "I think you're exactly right, Kate. We need a person out there to make sure that all the construction crew gets plenty of water and wears sunscreen and takes their shade breaks."

Kate snuck a glance at her husband. The expression on his face told her that he didn't disagree with her point at all... it was her choice to volunteer that he was taking issue with. "Since all we have is just the rest of the afternoon to worry about, I'm willing to take my turn today. I'd volunteer for a whole day, but I think Clay would have a problem with that." Placing an affectionate kiss on Clay's cheek, she continued. "We have a good number of teachers in here, but not a lot of workers out on the site. I'm thinking we the teachers could take turns with that duty. Each of us, on days we don't have key roles in the skit," Kate glanced up at Jerome with a smile, "can take a half-day turn at making sure the construction crew stays well-watered and well-rested."

Wayne pointed a finger at Kate. "Sounds like a winner to me. Let's do it!"

"Hold on," Clay interrupted. When everyone else paused, he turned to Kate. "I think you should stay inside. There are plenty of other people capable of doing the job." He studied her with an unflinching eye. "Besides, I know you - you're going to find a way to help them out."

Kate winced, knowing that she was caught. "All right, maybe I was going to carry a brick or two - "

"What??" Clay spat.

"They're not heavy," Kate responded. "Most of these guys carry two or three at a time, but out of consideration to you and our child, I was going to stick to one at a time."

"Absolutely not."

Kate grumbled and rolled her eyes. "Fine." She glared at him. "Tell you what - how about I plan on staying mostly in the shade, and the heaviest thing I'll plan on lifting is a bottle of water." She held up one of her own individual bottles of water to illustrate. "If you're that worried about me, you can even send people out at random intervals to make sure I'm behaving myself. I'm pregnant, not breakable."

"Kathryn Joy Aiken," Clay chuckled once with irritation in his voice, "you have to be one of the most single-minded, stubborn individuals I know."

"Thank you." Ignoring the annoyed expression on his face, Kate raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that's one trait we share."

Rather than see it digress further in front of everyone, Sally broke into the conversation. "Well, it ought to be easy enough to settle this argument. Those of us teaching inside can get together and plan the rest of the week. Let's figure out today who has what roles in the skits so that we can also plan on who's watering the herd when."

The team quickly cleaned up from lunch, and the construction crew went back outside to start working again. Pastor Macy, however, remained inside to monitor the discussion of the bible school teachers as they planned the rest of the week.

"All right," Sally began. "Tomorrow the lesson is the birth of Jesus, so our main characters are going to be Mary and Joseph. Thursday the lesson is Jesus loves children, so our main character will be Jesus. Friday the lesson is the death and resurrection, so our main character remains the same." Sally studied the faces of her fellow teachers. "I would definitely like Jesus to be the same person both days... and I was hoping that Will would do it."

Will's head jerked up in total surprise. "Me? I thought for sure you'd ask Clay."

Kate noticed Clay's equally surprised reaction at Will's recommendation. "What makes you say that? I mean, he's an obvious choice to me too, but you sound so certain that she was going to pick him."

Clay stared at his wife, unable to believe his ears. "Honey..." he breathed, swallowing a large lump in his throat as Kate took his hand and threaded her fingers in between his.

"His faith means a lot to him. He fits the kind of person in the lesson better than me." Will shrugged. "Clean cut and charismatic and real good with the kids..."

Sarah placed her hand on his. "You're more of those things than you think, ya big oaf."

"Princess..." Will began.

Clay slowly shook his head. "I... I can't play Jesus. I just can't. I could only hope to be the kind of man that Jesus was..." Slowly he let out a long, deep breath.

Pastor Macy smiled gently at him. "Welcome to the human condition, Clay."

Sally's eyes warmed as she studied him and his awestruck reaction. "That's all right, Clay. While you'd be an excellent candidate to play Jesus for the reasons Will mentioned, I wasn't planning on you doing it for reasons of my own." Sally sighed. "Will, I was hoping to keep my reasons to myself, but if it's going to be the only way to convince you that you're the man for the part then I'll do it." She looked him in the eye. "For one, I had a different part in mind for Clay. I was going to ask him to play Joseph tomorrow, and ask Kate to play Mary."

"That's a good idea," Tracy agreed. "Have an expecting couple play an expecting couple."

Shaken loose from his initial shock, Clay laughed warmly. "Poetic justice."

"We're going to have to stuff a pillow up Kate's shirt to make her look pregnant," Sarah giggled.

Kate made a face. "If it's the same to you guys, I'd rather not look pregnant before it's time."

"Aw, honey..." Clay pouted. "It's just for one day."

"I'll consider it," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Sally bit back a chuckle. "My second reason isn't so honorable among a group like this, but it makes all the sense in the world once you understand the Haitian frame of mind." She shrugged helplessly, a guilty look on her face. "It's the race thing, Will. Now among all of us in this room, race doesn't mean anything... but unfortunately it matters to the Haitians. Race, and especially color, plays a lot into their social and economic structure. It's part of their way of life. I want them to accept the idea of being in the image of God... so if I can give them an actor in their own image, I can paint God in their image." Sally sighed deeply, her shoulders hanging as she went on. "Like I said, not an honorable reason... but if it means one more child comes to faith in a personal God, then it's a valid one to me."

Fortunately Kate seemed to understand. "He becomes all things to all people so that some may know him," she murmured gently, paraphrasing the apostle Paul's words.

"Exactly." Sally turned to Will. "What say you, Sir Will?"

Will already knew his opinion on the matter - that Sally had miscast the roles, and that her reasons didn't hold any water. But he hadn't counted on Sarah's pleading eyes... and he couldn't disappoint her. "All right," he mumbled. "I'll... do it."

The rest of the team cheered, clapping the shoulders of both Will and Clay as they gave both men congratulations on their acting roles. Kate also received congratulations, but not in quite such a vigorous manner. Sally sighed with satisfaction - one task was taken care of. Now... "All right. We have our parts for the skits figured out. Jerome, of course, is inside the rest of the day. If Will wants to help out anywhere outside, it's got to be either today or tomorrow. Clay and Kate are definitely inside tomorrow. Other than that, it's wide open. We're ready to take volunteers for canteen duty."

Knowing that it was a bone of contention for the newlyweds, several of the other teachers quickly moved to volunteer for times. The two college boys took Wednesday and Thursday afternoon while Jerome took Friday afternoon, and Lisa, Sheila, and Tracy volunteered for all the mornings... which left that afternoon yet. Kate opened her mouth to volunteer, but Sarah beat her to it. "I had better grab my hat and my sunscreen," Sarah purred smugly as she stood, "if I'm going to water the herd this afternoon."

Kate stared slack-jawed as Sarah grabbed her backpack and walked by to place a kiss on Will's cheek before going outside. She turned to Clay with a surprised blink. He raised his hands defensively. "Don't look at me, hon. I didn't plan this."

"Um, no," Kate agreed. "Not even you are that good."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Back at the hotel

Clay sat at a patio table with Will, a fair distance from the pool but still within sight of it. After the third class had left the sanctuary, the teachers ended up getting sent home for the day. Kate had insisted on rescuing Sarah from outside too, saying that a dip in the pool was exactly what she needed. Then all nine of them (Jack and the two college guys remained to help the construction crew) stuffed themselves into the van for the ride back to the hotel. From their perches on the laps of their men, Kate and Sarah had held a rather odd and cryptic conversation.

Clay never got the story from Kate. She had remained in their room long enough to pull a mystery bundle from her clothing in the drawer, stuff it into a plastic shopping bag, and place a light kiss on Clay's cheek before escaping down the hall to Sarah and Sally's room. "I don't suppose you know what those girls have up their sleeve," he asked Will hopefully.

Will shook his head. "I know nothing, except that those girls are up to no good."

"That much is certain." Clay glanced over at Will. "Would you believe that in the three years I've known her, I've never seen my wife in a swimsuit?"

"You hate the water."

Clay couldn't argue with Will's logic. "I still want to see her wear one..."

"I haven't seen Sarah in one either." Will lifted his eyes to the door of Sarah's hotel room. "Today's the day..."

"Today's the day." Clay leaned back in his chair, hoping to look calm and controlled when Kate finally came by in her swimsuit. If fortune was on his side, his wife wouldn't somehow turn him into a puddle of drool and testosterone.

The sound of feminine laughter filled the air, and the two guys looked up to see the three women walking toward them. All three had various cover-ups over their swimsuits, much to Clay and Will's disappointment. Sally wore an oversized hooded pullover while Sarah and Kate both wore some sort of wrap around them like a sari. Kate walked up to Clay with her towel in one hand and a bottle of sunscreen in the other. "Sweetheart, would you do me a favor and help me with my sunscreen? I can reach my arms and legs just fine, but I can't seem to get my back."

Clay felt his excitement build knowing that he was not only going to finally see his wife in a swimsuit, he was privileged to help with her sunscreen. "All right," he offered, taking the towel from Kate and placing it across his lap. As Kate undid the knot in her sari, Clay flipped the lid to the sunscreen. Placing some sunscreen in the palm of his hand, he looked up just as Kate removed the sari. Clay's heart skipped a beat, and when it resumed the rate seemed to have doubled. With wide eyes and slack jaw, he scanned his wife from head to toe. Her lack of tan did not matter to him - the fact that she was wearing a two-piece swimsuit did. It may have been a very modest two-piece, but the color and the cut seemed to flatter her in all the right places. Kate may not have been swimming yet, but his head sure was.

A low whistle came from Will beside him. "Dang, girl... You make it hard to forget you're a married woman," he mumbled.

Kate, however, had not forgotten that she was a married woman... because the entire time her concentration had remained on Clay as a slight smile turned the corner of her mouth. Clay finally looked up into her eyes, eyes that were at the same time both bashful and confident. All at once he had the sudden realization that she wanted to affect him, she wanted to drive him crazy. And it was working. More than anything he wanted to stand up and take her into his arms for a passionate kiss... but there was no way under the present circumstances he was standing up at all. "Go ahead and turn around, honey," Clay breathed, "and I'll take care of your back for you." She obeyed, sitting gently on the edge of his knees.

As Clay started rubbing sunscreen onto Kate's back with slow and gentle motions, Sarah leaned over to Sally. "So was I right? Do we have three?"

Sally snickered. "Three? Try four or five, and those were just what I saw!"

Sarah cheered. "And we have a winner!"

"Hunh?" Will asked, completely bewildered by their behavior.

"I'll tell you later," Sarah said as she undid her own wrap. A hoarse exclamation came from Will, and Sarah knew that she had his complete and undivided attention. With a self-conscious smile she handed her own sunscreen to Will, who beckoned her closer.

Sally shook her head with amusement at the two mesmerized men attending to their women. While it was true that the guys were currently eating out of their hands, she knew that the feeling was quite mutual. Given the right time and opportunity, the women would just as likely make fools out of themselves for the men that they so obviously loved. "I'm getting in the water, guys. Join me when you're ready."

Clay glanced up as Sally placed her cover-up on the table between them and got into the pool. There had been some secret conspiracy at work here, and he was going to have to get the full story out of Kate later. Much later... and he knew exactly how he was going to do it.

Once the sunscreen had been painstakingly worked into her back, Kate lightly rose from her seat on Clay's knees. She turned to her husband, leaned over, and placed a warm kiss on his cheek. Noting his sharp intake of breath and his flushed cheeks, Kate knew that he approved of her swimsuit. She winked at him. "I love you."

"Love you," Clay breathed back as she slowly walked towards the pool. Sarah followed shortly after, and for the first time Clay noticed her as well. Oh my... With a physique like hers, Sarah could have easily graced the cover of any number of modeling magazines. And if the truth were told, Sally retained just enough of her youthful figure to catch the attention of several of the guys at the hotel too. Of course the one who Clay's eyes kept returning to was Kate... his wife, and soon to be the mother of his child.

"Clay man," Will's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Do you ever regret waiting until you married Kate to do it with her?"

Immediately Clay shook his head. "No. Not for a minute." He continued to watch his wife as she relaxed in the pool, talking and swimming with Sarah and Sally. "I don't regret saving myself for her one little bit, and she doesn't regret waiting for me." Not noticing Will's somber frown, Clay sighed and continued. "But I know that we both would have if we had gone through with it."

Will turned a surprised eye to Clay. "Gone through with it? You mean you guys almost did?"

Slowly Clay nodded. "Y-Yeah. That Monday night of the blizzard. We had a... a big fight and..." He took a deep, shaky breath. "...and as we were trying to make up to each other, we almost let our hormones get the best of us."

"You're kidding. You? You and Kate?"

"It can't be that much of a shock," Clay laughed. "We're just two regular people. I mean, Kate's absolutely the most amazing woman I could ever imagine knowing... but even she's not perfect, any more than I am." A slight smile turned the corner of Clay's mouth. "She deals with all the same stuff that any other woman would, including hormones. She sure was that night."

"I remember how much you two were getting it on Tuesday afternoon in front of the fire," Will recalled. "It was obvious to Sarah and me that you two couldn't keep your hands off each other. But seriously - you almost did?"

"We almost did."

Will shook his head in shock. "Dang..."

Clay hung his head. "I still feel guilty for the way I handled myself that night. I'm just thankful that Kate's forgiven me for it."

"She knows it's not like you, man," Will responded.

"I'll say." Clay took another deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Kate deserves only the best. She deserves a man who not only loves her, but respects and honors her enough to wait for her and for the two of them to be properly married... and she feels that I deserve that kind of woman. And we did wait for each other." He laughed once. "Barely."

"Dude," Will said, still surprised to hear this admission from Clay. "What happened? What stopped you guys, if you were that into each other?"

"This." Clay held out his right arm, the one that had his "W.W.J.D." bracelet on it. "There was a sharp edge or something on the clasp that scratched her on the back. I never did find it. But it was hard enough to stop us in our tracks." An ironic smile slowly crossed Clay's face. "It reminded us of what we believed... and if we took our beliefs seriously, we had no choice but to stop. If we hadn't, then it would have made our beliefs and our words worthless."

"I see." Will pondered Clay's words thoughtfully.

"There are days I still feel like she deserves a better man than me," Clay sighed, watching Kate do a lazy backstroke in the pool. "But we suit each other in every way. We complete each other in ways we could never have dreamed. Mom Kirche calls us soul mates..." Still mesmerized by his wife, Clay was unable to take his eyes off of her. "I don't know if she's right or not... but I do know that I don't want to live without her in my life. I want to be with her as long as I live." A light scowl marred his face. "Heck, I want to be with her right now. It makes me wish I weren't afraid of the ding-dang water."

Will snickered. "You ought to look into what it would take to get over that."

"Maybe, but with my luck the cure will be worse than the disease."

Careful to hide his motions from Clay, Will caught Sarah's attention. He pointed once at Kate and gently thumbed towards Clay. In spite of his minimalist signals, Sarah got the message. She swam over to Kate and started whispering to her. As soon as Sarah finished, Kate immediately swam towards the steps close to them. Kate carefully climbed out of the pool and walked over to Clay. "How are you doing, sweetheart? Everything all right here in the shade?"

Clay stood up without replying to either of her questions. Quickly shaking out the towel, he wrapped it around Kate's shoulders. Kate smiled warmly at him, appreciating his thoughtful gesture. Not seeming to care that she was still dripping wet, Clay pulled her into a tight embrace and covered her mouth hungrily with his own. With a slight whimper Kate slowly slid her arms around him, clearly falling under his amorous spell.

Will hid a smile as the two of them finally broke the kiss after a couple of minutes. "Ehg," Kate breathed, a thoroughly dazed expression on her face. Keeping an arm around his wife, Clay picked up both Kate's sunscreen and her sari. Without another word, the two of them walked up to their room, their smoldering eyes still fixed only on each other.

Sally and Sarah giggled from the edge of the pool where they had come to watch. "And the Clayton has once more reduced a woman into a puddle of hormonal goo," Sally proclaimed.

"Those two won't be ready for dinner for a while," Sarah agreed, leaning on the edge of the pool.

A slow grin spread across Will's face as he appreciated the view from where he sat. The only way it would have improved would have been to close up the distance. If it weren't for the fact that he and Sarah had agreed to behave themselves while they were here, Will could have enjoyed some private time with Sarah. But they had agreed to behave this week, and behave they would. Then there was the matter of the conversation he had just had with Clay. Something about that whole chat was unsettling, something Will just couldn't place.

"What time is it?" Sally asked.

Will glanced at his watch. "About five."
"Eh, suppose we had better get out and hit the showers," Sally muttered as she climbed out of the pool. "You get the first one, sweetie, since your hair is longer."

"Thanks, Sal," Sarah told her as she walked over to grab her towel. After placing a kiss right next to his ear, she followed Sally up to their room.

The construction crew returned from the site, and Sheila walked over to greet her husband Jack warmly. From a conversation between the Hansons and the Aikens that he had eavesdropped on that afternoon, Will knew that they were celebrating twenty-five years of marriage towards summer's end. Twenty-five very happy years, if how they acted with each other was any indication. The Aikens had congratulated them and wished them twenty-five more - both of them expressing the hope that their relationship would not only remain strong but continue to grow in depth and love and faith.

Will sighed quietly, keeping an even face as he did. Most of his life he had grown up seeing fractured marriages and fractured homes. It wasn't until he started working for Clay that he had seen a different picture entirely. He had seen the relationship of Arthur and Patricia Kirche, Andrew and Holly Kirche, Clay and Kate... and now Jack and Sheila Hanson. These four couples - and he suspected there were more around like them - painted a whole new view of what marriage and family could be and should be. The family life of his dreams was no longer just that, a dream. If he and the right woman put all their effort into it, then it was every bit attainable.

Leaning back in his chair again, Will glanced up at the door of Sarah's room. Sarah was every bit the woman he wanted to end up with. While he knew that it was too late for him to wait, it had not been too late for Sarah. And for reasons of her own, she had chosen to give herself to him and had expressed no regrets. That didn't mean that Will didn't have them. Sarah was strong-willed. Disciplined. Not afraid to speak her mind. Very passionate about everything. Surprisingly gentle and full of love, especially around the children. Sarah was exactly what Will was looking for, and she deserved the best life could give her. Will frowned, wondering if he had done her a disservice by agreeing to take their relationship to the next level. He was going to have to think about this one at serious length. That conversation with Clay was messing with his mind...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
At dinner

Sally buttered her roll, having already finished her portion of the green vegetable soup like the one they had yesterday. "Lisa, tell me again the story of how you raised the funds for this trip so Pastor Macy and the others can hear it."

Lisa nodded, beginning her tale. "Ever since my divorce, funds have been tight. But I still felt that I was supposed to go on this trip - like there was a reason God wanted me to go. That's when I told Pastor I wanted to go and decided to trust that God could raise the money." Lisa scanned the faces of Pastor Macy and the others intently listening. "I went to give a presentation on mission work to Haiti at my parents' congregation, the church I was confirmed and grew up in. I hoped that I might be lucky to get a couple hundred dollars' freewill offering since they're in the middle of calling a new pastor." She paused to take a deep breath. "Imagine my surprise when my mom counted the money and discovered they had contributed enough to pay for my entire trip."

"Wow," Sheila breathed. "That's amazing."

"No kidding," Chris agreed.

"Praise God for your parents' church," Pastor Macy said, "for having the faith and the vision to send you into the field, and for you having the faith and the heart to follow His Call."

Wayne pulled a piece of paper and pen out of his pocket. "What's the name of your parents' church?" Lisa gave him the name of the church and the town it was in, and he wrote it down on the paper.

Sally grinned at Pastor Macy. "I love that story."

Pastor Macy nodded. "I do too. Lisa, thanks for sharing it with the group."

"No problem."

Kate smiled at Clay. The church at Kearney had been instrumental in raising funds for her 2002 trip. She squeezed his hand.

One of the wait staff paused by Pastor Macy to ask him a question, holding a plate with this evening's main course on it in his hand. "Clay, would you wave so this gentleman can bring your meal to you?"

Clay waved at the server, who immediately brought the plate over. "Is there something special about mine?" he asked, glancing down at a chicken-based dish of some sort.

"They made yours without mushrooms," Pastor Macy replied. "Everyone else's has mushrooms."

"All right," Clay said agreeably as staff continued bringing out plates of the main course for the rest of the team. He watched as Kate sampled the dish. "Is it as good as it looks?"

"I think so," Kate responded enthusiastically. "Hon, mine has mushrooms in it. Do you want me to pick them out?"

"Don't worry about it," Clay told her. It was one thing on a pizza where they might grab from the same dish. It was another thing when everyone had their own individual plates.

Team members conversed throughout dinner, talking both about the day and their own lives back home in the States. Once dinner was over Pastor Macy informed everyone that the devotion for the evening, led by Wayne and Sarah, would meet in fifteen minutes at the same location they had the night prior to this.

Clay and Kate walked up to the gathering area hand in hand. "Oh!" Kate exclaimed at seeing a rope in Sarah's hands. "She's doing the trust rope devotion!" she whispered excitedly.

Giving his wife an amused glance, Clay smiled. "You've seen this one?"

"Oh yeah! It's good." And with that, Kate fell into eager silence.

Sounds like we're in for a treat, Clay thought.

Wayne read the Bible verse they had selected, Isaiah 12:2, before turning the devotion over to Sarah.

Using the rope as an object lesson, Sarah challenged the team with the concept of trust. She invited six of the group - Chris, Matt, and Frank from the guys, and Lisa, Sheila, and Sally from the gals - to assist her, standing in two rows of three that faced each other. After securing a select knot into her rope to create one big loop, she instructed the six to grab certain locations of the rope. Soon she had created a makeshift net woven in between the six team members. "All right. If you two," Sarah said, drafting Will and Pastor Macy, "will hold the chair steady, I want one more volunteer to stand on the chair and fall backwards into the net. Do you trust the net enough, do you trust them enough, to make sure you don't hit the ground?"

Noting that Sarah had chosen exactly half men and half women, and mixed them around the edge of the net, Kate waited for a moment to see who would volunteer.

"I'll do it," Adam told her, standing up. He gingerly climbed up onto the chair braced by Will and Pastor Macy as Sarah maneuvered the others into place. Adam closed his eyes, and on the count of three he allowed himself to fall backwards from the chair into the outstretched arms of his teammates. The rope gave downward under the impact of Adam's weight, but it held. "What a rush," Adam breathed as they helped him back on his feet.

With the volunteers released from their duties, Sarah once more took up the message. "At one time or another we've all experienced situations where we've had to place our trust in another person. We've all asked ourselves if they would do what we ask or keep our secret... or whether they would somehow betray that trust." She went on. "Some people find it easier to place their trust than others, and some people are just more trustworthy by nature." Sarah saw as Kate met her husband's eye and squeezed his hand - their trust in each other was obvious to all. "How much more can we trust God in every little thing? God, who is perfect in every way and keeps all of His promises. God, who says He will neither leave us or forsake us. God, who promises that He will take care of us and won't give us any challenge we cannot handle. If we cannot trust in a perfect God, then we cannot trust in an imperfect human being."

When Sarah left them with that simple thought, Wayne led the prayer. He asked for blessings and safety for the team, and that the seed they planted bear fruit. He also gave thanks for the churches involved in helping support and send the team, namely the sponsoring church, the church of Lisa's parents, Arthur and Patricia Kirche's church in Kearney, and the church Clay and Kate attended in L.A. Wayne concluded with prayers for the Haitian people, covering the political situation and their individual need situations as God knew them best.

The group disbanded for the night, and several chose to thank Sarah for the devotion, complimenting it on how it made the issue of trust more personal for them.

"Awesome job, Sarah!" Clay told her. "Kate said it was good."

"Thank you."

At that moment the power flickered, and the hotel was thrown into darkness. From a room farther down the hall a pair of teenage girls shrieked and came barreling out of their room at high speed. Clay and Kate glanced over at the spooked kids, who were obviously not used to the Haitian power surges. A few of the team members started snickering, casting amused eyes at each other even as the power came back on. "Well, we've had our entertainment for the evening," Clay quipped.

"We could always get you to sing," Tracy suggested.

A slight smile turned the corner of Clay's mouth. "Another time, perhaps."

"Hey!" Kate exclaimed. "How about a card tournament!" she suggested, making Clay groan under his breath at the idea.

But Kate's idea was greeted with enthusiasm from the rest of the group, and several of them quickly volunteered for the impromptu games. The game of choice was pitch, and Clay felt secretly grateful that Kate and Sarah had taken the time to teach them how to play it last Christmas. He and Will had learned it then, and had ended up playing it several more times when he and Kate returned to Kearney. Clay thought he had the hang of the game well enough, but he was still working on strategies. He hoped he could fake it well enough make his wife proud.

He need not have worried... because against this crew of players, Kate's strategy was completely different than he remembered seeing at the Kirche household. Sally glared at her cousin. "A ten?? You bid six! Who leads a six-bid with a ten??"

"I do," Kate told her firmly, staring Sally in the eye.

"Either you're fishing, or you're bluffing."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "Lay a card and find out."

Sally paused a moment and laid the off-jack to cover the ten. Clay laid a seven and shrugged apologetically at her. "Sorry, honey." Much to Clay's surprise, she shrugged back.

Jerome fingered his cards thoughtfully before laying the queen. "Looks like I got two out of that."

"Looks like it," Kate agreed. "What next, Jerome?"

"Errrr..." Jerome mumbled. "I only have one card left." He laid the jack.

"All right," Kate nodded and promptly laid her ace.

Sally glared at her cousin. "I knew you were fishing."

"Yep."

The cards fell quickly, and within two more rounds Clay was out. With two cards left each, Kate and Sally gazed each other down. "Your lead, sweetie." Kate played a six, which Sally covered with a nine and a grumble. "Ah, heck," she said, casting her last out-of-suit card off to the side as Kate put down her three. "You held out your trey!"

"I figured I probably would," Kate chuckled, "when the boys each took so many cards. The only one I was worried about was you, whether you drew one, two, or no trump."

"I drew one," Sally muttered. "One more, and I would have had you."

Clay shook his head at his wife. "You don't play like this with your parents!"

Sally glanced first at Clay, then at Kate. "Let me guess - Aunt Vivian?"

Kate nodded. "Aunt Viv and Uncle Herb."

"Say no more."

"Aunt Viv?" Clay snapped his fingers. "Your mom's younger sister, right?"

"That's the one," Kate acknowledged.

"Wow," Sally said, glancing at Clay. "You're remembering everyone even though you haven't met them yet. I'm impressed."

Clay shrugged. "I figure I'm related to them now, I had better remember them."

Kate grinned at him, slipping a bare foot over to where she thought his leg would be. "Sarah and I were always going over to their house for cards while we were at college. They kind of adopted us while we were there, really."

I'll get the Kirche family roll call right yet. Both of Kate's parents had large families, and every now and then he would sneak a look at her scrapbooks to refresh his memory on who was who. Fortunately Kate was an avid scrapbook maker, and her family scrapbooks were easy for him to follow. Although he didn't have the advantage of well-documented scrapbooks, he was doing what he could to help Kate (who claimed to be horrible with names) remember the rest of his family too.

Sally skewered her cousin with a mild glare. "That's me you're playing footsie with, sweetie."

Instantly Kate squawked and blushed furiously as both guys collapsed into delighted laughter. "I-I... thought I was..." She pointed at Clay, obviously thinking that she had been engaging in harmless flirting with her husband.

"Just be thankful that you weren't doing that to Jerome." Sally grinned wickedly as Kate squawked again and clapped both hands over her mouth with embarrassment.

Jerome groaned and shook his head. "I already am."

Kate finally uncovered her mouth. "I think I'm going back to my room now..." she squeaked.

Sally pointed at Clay, who had turned a brilliant shade of red from laughing so hard. "Take him with you. Obviously you didn't get in enough time together after your swim."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Kate gathered up the cards to shuffle, eager to get back into the game and put the incident behind her. When she finally started dealing, she couldn't help noticing Clay's bright green eyes watching her merrily. Kate's cheeks colored again. She knew was going to get teased mercilessly later this evening...

The games finally ended with Chris and Pastor Macy the overall winners, and the players started filtering back to their rooms. Clay moved his chair around beside Kate's, and he placed his arm around her shoulders. "Want to try that round of footsie again?" he whispered in her ear, giggling when she started poking him in the side. Grabbing both of her hands to keep her fingers still, Clay held her close as the two of them sat in agreeable silence. He closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of her shampoo as the night breeze tickled the surface of his arms and legs.

Sally and Sarah sat off to the side, away from everyone else. They watched the couple without making it known that they were watching. "They have no idea, do they?"

Sarah shook her head. "Not that I know of."

"Who knows, since it's just you and Aunt Trish with the dreams." Sally sighed. "But that's usually pretty good. Aunt Trish's dreams and hunches come true about seventy-five percent of the time. That's better than Aunt Viv, Aunt Cindy, or Aunt Mona. They've got a fifty-fifty ratio." Sally shrugged. "Then again, that's pretty good when you consider most people don't have the gift in the first place. And you?"

"If it's a one-time dream," Sarah began, "then mine are about fifty-fifty. The more I have a dream, the more likely it is that the dream comes true."

"You've said that this one keeps happening?"

Sarah nodded. "I can't shake it."

"Boy." Sally made a buzzing noise with her lips. "Well, I think I've figured out what to tell the team about our predicament."

"What?"

"We can make the suggestion to have our bags packed every morning 'just in case' but that it's only a precaution," Sally mused. "We don't see anything happening, but we would rather be ready if the worst comes to pass and we have to evacuate in a hurry. Look how fast everything happened in 2004."

Sarah chewed on that for a moment before nodding. "That might be our best bet. Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best."

Sally agreed. "Let's go talk to Pastor Macy. Either way we're going to have to get his approval."

Go to the next day, Day 6 (June 21)

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