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Title: Jesse's New Girl
Author: Janet Rampley
E:mail : trevor.rampley@virgin.net
Rating: PG
Challenge: 36) I would love to see Steve find out that he has a
daughter in her early 20's. -- Karen Meisel
Summary: Jesse has a new girfrend. Steve gets a shock when he
sees one of her family photos.
Disclaimer: All the characters from Diagnosis Murder remain the
property of their originators. All other characters come from my
imagination.
Jesses New Girl
Part One
Jesse whistled as he drove to the hospital. Life was good.
Work was going well, the ER was running smoothly. He had just
finished decorating his new house he had bought on the beach, a
few hundred yards away from Mark and Steve. Then there was
Stephanie. They had met by chance just a month ago. Jesse thought
back to that meeting…………
Jesse walked onto the deck of his beach house after breakfast and
looked around. It was a clear sunny day, just right for clearing
and painting the deck. He'd been putting it off for the last
month, but today he had no excuse.
'Better get started Jess', he said out loud to himself.
After clearing the furniture and plants off the deck, Jesse began
to sweep it clear. Damn, he'd forgotten to buy a dustpan
yesterday! He looked quickly around him, there was no-one in
sight. So Jesse swept the dirt he had piled up off the edge of
the deck and onto the sand below.
'Hey, what do you think your doing?' came an angry disembodied
voice.
Jesse looked over the rail into two of the most beautiful brown,
and very cross, eyes that he had ever seen.
'Gee, I'm sorry', stammered Jesse,' I didn't think that there was
anyone about'.
'That's obvious', snapped the girl crossly, shaking the dirt out
of her hair.
'What on earth are you doing down there?'queried Jesse
'I got a shell in my shoe and was trying to get it out. I didn't
think that I had to stick up a warning flag every time I stopped
on the beach.'
'No, you don't.' replied Jesse, 'Look I am sorry. Please, come on
up and clean yourself off.'
The girl stamped her way up the steps and , in response to
Jesse's direction, made her way to the bathroom. Minutes later
she emerged , cleaner and, more importantly from Jesse's point of
view, calmer. She even managed a smile.
'I'm so sorry', Jesse apologised for the third time, 'please let
me make you something to drink'.
'Thanks, an OJ would be good,' replied the girl.
As Jesse rummaged in the refrigerator he called back, 'My name is
Jesse Travis and I work at Community General in the ER. What's
your name?'
'Stephanie Sanger. I've just arrived in LA. My mom still lives in
Colorado with my brothers. My step-father died last year'.
'Step-father?', queried Jesse, Mark's penchant for asking
questions was rubbing off on him,' what happened to your real
father?
'I don't know', answered Stephanie,' He was a GI in Vietnam. He
and my mother had an affair, but my grandfather found put and
sent her away without either of them knowing she was pregnant.'
'Have you ever thought of looking for him?' asked Jesse, 'What
was his name?'
'I don't know', replied Stephanie,' my mother would never tell
me. She was angry with my father for not coming after her'.
'Maybe I can help, if you'd like', said Jesse, 'my best friend is
a police lieutenant who was in Vietnam himself'.
' I don't know, I've never thought about actually looking for
him. Perhaps, later.'
The time wore on and the two of them sat talking all day. They
cooked dinner together and sat on the sand talking until the sun
went down.
…….That was a month ago and Jesse had seen Stephanie
every day. Jesse pulled into his parking spot at Community
General and entered the building to begin his shift. The first
person he spotted was Steve Sloan who greeted him with a cheery,
'Hi, Jess, how's the big romance going?'
It's going just fine detective', grinned Jesse
'Dad's cooking tonight. Look why don't the two of you come over
and eat with us?'said Steve.
'Let me call Stephanie and I'll let Mark know during the day,'
replied Jesse, 'Thanks for the invite, I was running out of
recipe ideas'.
Jesses shift that day was busy , but he still found time to ring
Stephanie and tell her about their dinner invitation. They
arranged to meet at Jesses and walk along the beach to Mark and
Steve's house.
Mark was in the kitchen preparing dinner when he heard the front
door open and a voice call out,
'Hi dad. Boy something sure does smell good. Hamburgers?'
'No' called back Mark,' it isn't. How on earth I managed to
produce such a gourmet philistine I don't know. We're having
chicken a la Sloan'.
'Great,' replied Steve,' Did Jesse say whether he and Stephanie
are coming?'
'Yeah, he did. They'll be along later. Boy, he certainly seems
taken with this one doesn't he?'
Just then they hear voices drifting up from the beach.
'They're here', whispered Mark grinning at Steve as he threw him
a large white napkin, picking up one himself. Jesse and Stephanie
entered the house to find father and son standing side-by-side,
with white napkins neatly folded over their arms and silly grins
on their faces.
'Welcome sir. Welcome madam to Chez Sloan' grovelled Mark moving
smoothly forward,' May we take your coats?'
Mark gently helped Stephanie off with her jacket, whilst Steve
grabbed hold of Jesses collar and yanked the whole thing
downwards so that Jesse stumbled backwards.
'Would you care to sit down Madam?, asked Mark, pulling a chair
out and allowing Stephanie to sit down. Jesse meanwhile, was
being dragged to a chair and unceremoniously dumped on it by
Steve.
'Hey guys, give over,' laughed Jesse, ' I'm not sure that
Stephanie will want to come to this establishment again'.
In unison both Mark and Steve dropped to their knees and shuffled
to either side of where Jesse was sitting chorusing, ' Sorry
Jess. Never again Jess. Forgive us Jess'.
By this time Stephanie had figured out that she hadn't been taken
to the local mental asylum, just to a place where all three men
were really good friends and who didn't mind showing it.
'Stephanie, I'd like you to meet two of my best three friend in
the world. Dr. Mark Sloan………' Mark bowed ' and
Lieutenant Steve Sloan'. Steve curtsied.
Stephanie grinned, she was going to like these people .
'I'm very pleased to meet you both', she said,' Jesse has told me
so much about you all. Mind you, he didn't mention the comedy
routine.'
'That's something we reserve for special guests,' laughed Steve,'
Can I get you a drink?'
'Yes please,' Stephanie said, 'White wine if you have it,
please.'
'Sure thing,'said Steve moving towards the kitchen.' Jess?'
'Beer for me Steve', answered Jesse.
Stephanie felt relaxed and happy. In fact, she couldn't remember
when she had felt this good, especially in front of strangers.
She never used to feel like this, even at home with her mom and
step-father. As the evening wore on the four moved out onto the
decking overlooking the beach to sit, watch the stars and talk.
Stephanie said, ' You know, it's wonderful to see a father and
son with such a strong relationship. My step father would never
had done what you did earlier. Makes me wonder what my real dad
was actually like.'
As always, Marks curiosity was roused. He knew that he and Steve
had had their rocky patches, particularly after Steve's mother
died. However,he couldn't imagine not getting on with Steve, or
worse not knowing him at all.
'How come you didn't know your dad?' asked Mark.
' He abandoned my mom. He was a GI serving in Vietnam and my mom
was a waitress in a bar. They met and fell in love, at least she
did. My grandfather didn't approve and sent her to love with
relatives. Before she left she managed to give a note for him to
another GI who knew my father. He promised to give him the note'.
'Maybe he didn't get the chance, ' said Steve, 'plenty of guys
didn't at that time'
Stephanie shook her head emphatically, ' No, he got the note
okay. Before he was due to be shipped home, the GI who took the
note came to see my grandfather. He said that my father had just
thrown the note away.'
'What a creep', said Jesse, ' he doesn't know what he's missed
out on all these years'.
'He doesn't even know he has a child,' said Stephanie,' my mother
didn't find out she was pregnant until later, just before she
heard about the note'.
Stephanie's voice lowered, 'I think that it was the one good
thing my step-father did. He offered to marry my mother and bring
her back to America with him'.
'Your step-father was the GI who took the note?' said Jesse
'Yes he was'.
'So I take it you wouldn't want to meet your real dad,' said
Steve
'I have thought occasionally about looking for him,' Stephanie
replied' but I know so little about him that I wouldn't know
where to start.'
'Maybe I can help, ask around a few buddies.' said Steve, 'What
do you know?'
'I was born in October 1970, so that would have him there January
/ February time. They met in a bar called Charlie's, it was well
known to all the GI's in the area'.
Steve was looking thoughtful. 'I was there early '70 and I know
Charlie's. I may even have known your dad or step-dad. What was
his name?'
'Sanger', replied Stephanie', Robert Sanger he was a
………….'
'Master Sergeant', finished Steve,' I knew him. Sorry for saying
this Stephanie, but I would never have pegged Sanger to take on
someone else's kid. That was totally out of character. He didn't
seem to like women very much.'
'No, I think you had him just right,' said Stephanie, 'he was a
brute. I think he only married mom to gain a live in maid'.
'Was', queried Mark
'He died last year,' put in Jesse.
'If I knew Sanger, I may have known you mom', said Steve,' Do you
have any photos? Maybe if I saw her, I could place her with a
GI'.
Stephanie opened her purse and got out a faded photo. ' I do have
this one, it was taken outside the bar. Perhaps even by my
father.' She handed the photo to Steve saying,' Her name
is……….'
'Sue-Lin,' whispered Steve, going pale.
Mark sat forward, 'Son , are you okay?'
Steve put the photograph down on the table in front of him and
without saying anything disappeared into the house. Jesse and
Mark looked at each other in surprise. Steve emerged from the
house a few minutes later and placed an equally faded photograph
on the table next to the one Stephanie had produced.
Mark, Jesse and Stephanie all looked down in shock. It was the
identical shot.
'Where did you get that?', asked a stunned Stephanie.
'I took that photo,' said Steve ' Your mother and I were seeing
each other and then she disappeared.' He was silent for a long
moment.'I think I may be your father'.
Part Two
In the shocked silence that followed, all that could be heard was
the lapping of the waves on the shore. Then Stephanie jumped up
and ran down the steps onto the beach. Steve started to go after
her, but Jesse stopped him.
'No, leave it Steve. I'll go after her. I'll talk to you
tomorrow'.
After Jesse left, Mark and Steve sat looking at each other for a
long time. Steve spoke first, ' Dad, I swear I never got that
note from Sanger. I loved Sue-Lin and I would have gone after
her'
'I know son.' replied Mark, ' Was she the girl you told me about?
The one who disappeared?'.
'Yeah, now I know why. Hell, what a mess. How do I explain this
to Stephanie? Will she believe I didn't get that note?'
'Let Jesse talk to her son,' advised Mark,' Leave it until
tomorrow. I think we all need to sleep on it'.
'I'm not sure that I'll get any sleep tonight dad,' said Steve
Meanwhile, Jesse ran after Stephanie along the beach. By the time
he caught up with her, they were almost at his house.
'Stephanie, wait!' he called.
'I can't believe what just happened back there Jesse,'Stephanie
sobbed. ' Steve seems like such a nice guy, I can't believe that
he would abandon my mom'.
'You're right. Steve is a nice guy and there is no way he'd do
something like that. There has to be another explanation', Jesse
consoled Stephanie as they walked up the stairs to his door.
'I can't deal with this tonight Jesse.' She paused,' I don't want
to go home, can I stay with you tonight?'
'Sure ,there's always room for an extra one,' Jesse said
He emerged from his bedroom a few minutes later with pillows and
a blanket that he dropped on the sofa.
'Thanks Jesse, I really appreciate this.' Stephanie began to make
the sofa up into something resembling a bed.
'Hey, wait a minute,' said Jesse ,'I'm sleeping out here. The
bedroom is for you. I've laid something out for you to sleep in.'
'No I insist,' he carried on as Stephanie began to protest, '
besides the sofa is plenty long enough for me. My legs aren't
exactly going to dangle over the end now are they?'
In spite of her agitated state Stephanie managed a grin.
No-one in either house slept well that night. They were all too
consumed with their own thoughts. The sun rose next morning and,
one by one all four emerged from under their respective covers
ready, more or less, to face what the day had to hold for them.
Steve and Mark sat in distracted silence around the breakfast
table. Mark was the first to break the silence ,' What do plan to
do about all this son?'
'I don't know dad. I'd put Sue-Lin out of my mind years ago. I
thought she'd just been having fun and decided to move on. It's a
crying shame Sanger is dead. I'd like to beat him to a pulp. I've
missed all these years!' Steve finished despairingly.
'I think ,'said Mark gently,' that this is something you ought to
be saying to Stephanie son.'
'Jesse said he'd contact me today. I guess I'd better wait until
then', said Steve.
A few hundred yards along the beach much the same conversation
was taking place at Jesses breakfast table. 'What are you going
to do, Stephanie?' Do you want to talk to Steve?'
'No , not at the moment. I need to go back to Colorado and talk
to my mum. Now I know a name maybe she'll tell me a bit more'.
'What shall I tell Steve, he's bound to be along some time
today', queried Jesse.
'Tell him I've gone home. I don't know what I'm going to do after
that.'
Later that morning Steve could stand the quietness of the house
no longer. Mark had reluctantly gone to work, when Steve made it
clear he still needed some space to think. Now that space was
closing in around him and he needed to do
something…….anything! He changed into his jogging gear
and started off along the beach. Unconsciously he chose to run in
the direction of Jesses house.
He was lost in a world of his own when a voice brought him back
to earth ,
'Hey Steve…………..Come on up!', it was Jesse
calling from the deck of his house.
'You look as bad as I feel', commented Steve as he ran up the
stairs.
'I didn't get much sleep last night', admitted Jesse. Then
realising what he had said and to whom he hurriedly carried on ,'
O..o..on the couch. Alone. Stephanie slept in my
bed……….with the door shut.'
In spite of his preoccupation Steve laughed. How many times had
he and Jesse sat talking about their girlfriends and how things
were going. You know, guy stuff, Steve thought. Yet one meeting,
one photograph could change the nature of their
friendship……………perhaps forever. It all
depended upon what happened between him and Stephanie, Jess and
Stephanie. 'Where is she, Jess?' Steve asked.' Did she say
anything when you got back here last night?'
'No Steve. We were both too shocked to think straight. Stephanie
is going home to see her mom. She said to tell you that she
doesn't know what she's going to do after that.' Jesse replied,'
I hope she does come back, I really like her Steve'.
'Okay Jess, thanks. I guess I'll keep on with my run. I need to
clear my head. See you later'.
For the next week there were three very pre-occupied people going
about their daily routines. It was only their sheer
professionalism and pride in their work that kept them from being
a danger to anyone.
However, it was Stephanie and Sue-Lin that occupied much of their
off-duty thoughts, particularly Steve's. He thought more about
Sue-Lin than he had done in over twenty years. Also, for the
first time, he was talking. Steve was a private man, not always
given to sharing his most private thoughts, even with his father.
The lights were late into the night in the Sloan household that
week.
Mark asked,'Is Sue-Lin the reason that you never married son?.
'No, I don't think so dad,' replied Steve, 'Sure I was upset by
her disappearance, but I got over it eventually. What's hurting
now is that she has obviously been hating me all this time for
something I didn't know about and was caused by Sanger'. He
sighed, 'Dad I've missed out on all these years of Stephanie's
life,' he couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice,' How can I
make it up to her?'
'You don't try son', Mark answered softly,' It wasn't your fault.
All you can do is to tell her exactly what did happen and that
you want to build a relationship now. You do, right?' 'Of course.
But what if she doesn't want to know?'
'That is something that you are just gonna have to deal with
when, and if, it happens son'. replied Mark.
A few days later Steve was sitting at his desk in the precinct
house. The sun was streaming through the barred windows making a
gentle dappled pattern on the witness statements that he was
laboriously sifting through. Suddenly a shadow moved across the
desk. Steve looked up and found himself staring into a face that
he had not seen in over twenty years and had long since convinced
himself that he would never see again. 'Sue-Lin!', Steve didn't
know whether to hug her, shake her hand or what.
'Steve. It's good to see you'.
'Is it? Good, I mean? From what Stephanie said I thought that you
hated me. Listen…', Steve said as he became aware of a
number of VERY interested looks from around the precinct office ,
'We can't talk here. Come back to my place'
'Now that is something I've not heard from you in a long time,'
said Sue-Lin mischievously . Steve, in the middle of putting his
jacket on,looked up in surprise. That was not the response that
he had been expecting, perhaps things might be okay after all.
The drive along PCH was quiet, but it didn't feel as strained as
Steve had expected it to. They drove up to the house and Sue-Lin
whistled, 'Nice place Steve. Cops must get paid better in LA than
in Colorado.'.
Steve laughed, 'No, I share this with my dad. He has the upstairs
unit and I live downstairs. Would you like a drink?'.
'No thanks. I think I'd rather talk.
'Sue-Lin I didn't abandon you,'Steve decided to jump right in at
the deep end, unable to keep it held in any longer,' Sanger never
gave me that note. Last I heard of it him he'd gone Stateside
with a new wife. I never dreamed it was you'.
'I believe you Steve, you always were honourable. But you must
understand how hurt and betrayed I felt. I thought you'd left me.
Do you understand what that felt like?'
'I do understand', said Steve,' I'm sure it was similar to how I
felt when I thought that you had just disappeared, only I had not
idea about the pregnancy'.
He paused 'Sue-Lin, I have to ask this. Is Stephanie my daughter?
I'm sorry if that upsets you.'
'Yes Steve, she is your daughter. You were the only man I'd ever
been with'.
For a few seconds Steve sat as still as a rock, seemingly unable
to have, what he knew to be true in his heart, confirmed.' Wow. A
daughter!', Steve jumped up and whirled Sue-Lin around the room.
They were still twirling as Mark walked up the stairs.
'Dancing lessons?' he enquired
'Dad this is Sue-Lin. Stephanie is my daughter!' Steve shouted
Mark held out his hand, 'I'm pleased to meet you Sue-Lin. I'm
doubly pleased to have gained a granddaughter. I'm only sad it's
taken this long'.
Steve asked the second most important question on his mnd,' Where
is Stephanie? Did she come back with you?'
'Yes she has . Last time I saw her , she was on her way to find
Jesse.
'He'll be pleased to see her,' said Mark, with a grin.
Steve frowned, he still wasn't sure how he should react to his
best friend dating his daughter. Then an evil grin spread across
his face. The situation was ripe for a few gags, Jesse was so
gullible where his girlfriends were concerned. Just then the
phone rang and Mark answered, 'Hi Jesse. Yeah, sure come on
over'. He put the phone down,' They'll be here soon. I think this
calls for a celebration. NO Steve,' he saw Steve's mouth open,
not at Bar b Q Bobs. Today calls for something sophisticated'.
Minutes later, Jesse and Stephanie arrived, looking slightly
dishevelled from an obviously enthusiastic reunion. Stephanie
stood looking at Steve for a few seconds, remembering their last
meeting, not knowing what to do. Mark looked at Steve, who was
equally undecided and jerked his head towards Stephanie. Steve
slowly moved forward and engulfed her in an enormous hug that
lasted for ever ( at least twenty seven years). He said , with
tears glistening in his eyes,
'I'm so glad we met. I've missed out on so much, can we start
from here?'
'I'd love to …………dad.' said Stephanie.
'Make yourselves comfortable everyone, dinner may take a little
while,'said Mark.
'Good, 'said Steve with a grin, firmly propelling Jesse towards
the deck outside.' First things first. There's just time for you
and me to take a walk and have a talk about the do's and don'ts
of dating my daughter!'
THE END