deep. There’s no way you’re backin’ out of it now, Baloo.”

Dourly, Baloo agreed, “Yeah, Becky’ll hunt me down an’ drag me by the ear to the altar.”

Louie laughed. “She would, too!”

Baloo sighed in resignation. “Maybe you’re right, Louie.”

“‘Course I am. I’m always right, right?”

“Wrong,” Baloo retorted with a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He pushed the Kamikaze Killer away. “Uh, thanks, man, for the pepper-upper.”

Louie reached across the bar to give Baloo’s hand a hearty shake. “What are best buds for?”

“Ya got any pizzas cooked up to wash down the taste of that Kamikaze Killer? It was worse’n those scraps ya scrape up for your All-You-Can-Stand-For-A-Dollar Special.”

“I can slap one together faster than you can say ‘pepperoni’.” Louie hurried back to the kitchen area.

“Wait a sec, man. Make that two.” A slow smile spread across Baloo’s face and his fingers began tapping on the bar to the beat of the song that the band was playing. “One for me ta work on here an’ one ta take home to Becky an’ the kids.”

Louie’s happy expression mirrored his best friend’s. “Two pizza pies comin’ right up, cuz.”

Higher for Hire
An Hour Later

Night had fallen. Baloo sat in the Sea Duck, just staring at Higher for Hire. He’d never seen it like this, with all of the windows lighted up. Knowing that there were three very dear people inside waiting for him made him feel comforted and a little frightened at the same time.

His mind drifted back two years, back before he knew Rebecca, Kit, or Molly. He had been absolutely free to do whatever he pleased. No bosses. No troubles. No obligations. He only worked when he had to. Partied at Louie’s every chance he could. The only things he needed were the Sea Duck, the open sky, and three square meals a day plus snacks. He returned to this building - then known as Baloo’s Air Service - only when he felt like it. He often stayed away for days at a time.

It had been a carefree existence - and a lonely one.

True, when he said ‘I do’ on the morrow, he would be saying ‘I do’ to all of the responsibilities that went along with being the head of a family. If there was one thing that Baloo hated, it was responsibility. But, recalling what Louie had said about being lucky, Baloo realized that he never wanted to go back to the old days of freedom. If the ball-and-chain meant gaining a lifetime of happiness, he was more than willing to strap it on.

With a queer lopsided smile on his face, Baloo swiped the back of his hand across his eyes and disembarked, pizza box in hand.

Upon opening the office door, he saw that the room had been put to rights - sort of. There were fewer boxes and the boxes that remained were stacked against the walls. A large pile of flattened boxes were by the door leading to the warehouse. Rebecca’s sofa, armchair, rocking chair, and end tables had been arranged to make a cozy sitting area on the left side of the room. Even his old red chair, now part of the semi-circle of furniture, had an afghan draped neatly over the back. The room was aglow with the lights from Rebecca's lamps. It looked less like an office and more like a home - the home that he was going to share with his wife and children.

“Baloo’s home!” Molly cried joyfully, racing towards him.

“Louie’s pizza. All right, Papa Bear!” Kit said, setting down the box that he had been carrying upstairs.

“I brought home the bacon. Well, sorta,” Baloo chuckled, handing the box to the cubs, who eagerly opened the box’s lid.

“Did I hear someone say pizza?” Rebecca asked, leaning over the third story banister. She had been putting her clothes away while simultaneously packing for the honeymoon. “With anchovies?”

The cubs made a face.

“Louie don’t got any anchovies, Beckers. He’s allergic to ‘em.”

“Good thing,” Molly said in an aside to Kit.

“That ape doesn’t know a good thing when he tastes it.” Rebecca quickly walked down the stairs, grinning at her fiancé. “Thank you, Baloo, for bringing home the bacon so to speak.”

“Hey, I just said that,” Baloo laughed, wrapping an arm around his fiancée. “Great minds think alike, huh?”

“I hope not!” Rebecca said in mock-horror.

“Aw, it’s got pepperoni,” Molly complained, examining the contents of the pizza box.

“If you pick all the pepperoni off, it’ll be a cheese pizza,” Kit suggested.

“Take it to the kitchen. We don’t want to get pizza sauce on the furniture,” Rebecca said.

The four bears filed into the kitchen, which, like the living room was lined with boxes. Rebecca rummaged around for napkins while the others cleared boxes and other miscellaneous objects from the circular table. Then they all sat down.

“Who wants this?” Molly asked, picking pepperoni off of her pizza and piling it on the edge of her napkin.

“I’ll take it,” Kit said. He reached across the table, scooped up the meat, and put it on his own slice. He took a big bite. “Mm...Louie makes the best pizza ever.” He furtively watched Baloo and Rebecca as they watched each other across the table. Neither was eating much.

“I’m thirsty, Mommy. Can we have sodas?”

Rebecca reluctantly tore her eyes away from her fiancé. “Say the magic word, Pumpkin.”

“Please.”

Smiling, Rebecca got up. As she walked around the table to the refrigerator, she brushed her hand gently across Baloo’s arm as she passed, prompting a big grin from the big bear. She got three bottles of Orange Fizzie out and popped off the caps. She placed one each down in front of Baloo and Kit.

“Thanks,” Kit mumbled through a full mouth.

Rebecca poured some of the third bottle into a glass for Molly. They sat there, eating in companionable silence. But though they weren’t saying much, they were all thinking about the same thing - the next day’s big event.

Kit caught Molly’s eye. He gestured with his head at the adults, who were staring at each other, their pieces of pizza forgotten in their hands. Molly nodded and giggled. The cubs flashed bright smiles across the table, almost as if they were sharing a secret.

After a long time, Rebecca snapped out of her daze with a sigh. She reached over to wipe pizza sauce off of Molly’s chin with a napkin, saying brightly, “Time to get back to work.”

Baloo crammed the rest of his pizza into his mouth and followed her through the door, his jaw laboriously working up and down.

Kit hopped up, tossing his napkin into the trash can. “What now, Rebecca?”

“I think you’ve done enough for today, Kit. Go have fun with Molly.”

“Yay!” Molly tapped Kit on the arm and took off across the room. “Tag! You’re it!”

“Not for long!” Kit shouted, chasing after her.

“I think I’ve done enough today, too, Becky.” Baloo headed for his easy chair.

“Nice try, flyboy.” Rebecca caught him by the back of the shirt and spun him around. She piled one unwieldy box, then another in Baloo’s arms. “These go up to our room.”

“Our room,” Baloo echoed with an embarrassed chuckle. He glanced over at Rebecca. A pale pink fleck adorned each of her cheeks. Staggering under the weight of the boxes, he trudged up the stairs. “What’s in ‘em, honey?”

“Oh, a few odds and ends. Toiletries mostly,” Rebecca answered, following him and carrying a box herself.

“Toiletries? Doohickies that go with the toilet? Don’t that stuff go in the bathroom, not our room?”

“No, silly,” Rebecca giggled. “It’s makeup and stuff like that.”

Baloo got to the middle of the second floor landing and put the boxes down to rest. “Feels like you got enough face paint in there ta paint this place a coupla times over.” He leaned on the banister, watching the cubs playing below. “Place looks swell, sweetheart.”

“It would have gone faster if you and your strong muscles had been here, but Kit and Wildcat helped me.” Rebecca put her box down, placed a gentle hand on his arm, and looked with concern up at him. “Are you feeling better now, darling?”

“Was I sick?”

“The way you bolted to Louie’s I thought you must have been worried about something." She tried to read his expression. "Was it the wedding? The kids? Me?” Her eyes narrowing in suspicion, she asked, “Or did you just want to get out of rearranging furniture?”

Baloo was astonished that she had basically read his mind. She knew him way too well. Quietly, he said, “Just pre-weddin’ jitters, Beckers. My cold feet are all toasty warm now.” It was true. As his eyes swept around the office/living room, he felt warm down to the tips of his toes. This was home - something that he hadn’t had for a long time.

“I’m glad.” Rebecca wrapped her arms around his, smiling dreamily at the cubs madly tearing around the office in their frantic game of tag. They looked so happy that she didn’t have the heart to scold them for running across the furniture. “Look at those two little monkeys, Baloo. So excited about tomorrow that they can’t keep still. There’s no doubt in their minds that you’re going to be a great father.” She nuzzled her cheek against his arm. “And there’s not a doubt in my mind that you’re going to be a great husband.”

“Yeah?” He straightened up. “You really think so?”

“I really think so.” She added matter-of-factly, “And I should know, because I think more than you.”

It took a few moments for him to notice that that wasn’t exactly a compliment. “Hey!”

Rebecca giggled as he pulled her into his arms.

The cubs ran up the stairs, panting from their exercise. Molly latched herself onto Rebecca’s legs, yelling, “Mommy’s base!”

“There’s no base in tag!” Kit tapped the little girl’s arm. “You’re it!”

“Am not! You’re still it!” Molly swiftly touched Kit’s hand.

Kit tapped her on the shoulder. “You’re it!”

While the children

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