The Start

At the start of something new there must always be something that has to end, that's something we can not control. I am sitting here at the end of the counter thinking about when I first came home to this wonderful town, it was because of something drastic but it turned into the rest of my life. I got to keep the little Cafe down by the Willow tree and I was reunited with someone who's become the one I'd marry later that next spring. Life is good, but like the river near my home it can change on a dime and there's nothing that we can do to stop it.

This is the chapter of my story where I find out something that will change the course of history forever. This might be a short chapter of my life but it's not the end of me and my Little Cafe Down By the Willow.

Today is the first full year that I've been home, much has happened to me, and this whole town. From the party in October to the huge new year's party at the end of last year, it seemed to be only a short time here. I was in my kitchen looking out the window thinking about the cafe and everyone that worked for me. "Maybe I should have a small party for the crew or something special for them?" I said to myself just when Amy came into the room with the morning mail, I saw a blue letter in the pile of mail and letters. "What's that one, my dear wife?" I asked her and she handed it to me, I opened it and I saw it was from the Mayor."Dear my friend Jacob Hall, I invite you to my home for dinner with me and my wife," It read, and I was confused for a moment, "Arent we in the twenty-first century Amy right, He could have messaged or called me for this invite." I said to Amy showing her the invite in my hand ad she laughed, "Ole Tom is very old school, he hates to use cell phones and thinks handwritten letters are more formal." She told me and I agreed with the part of them being more formal, Though it was an old-school way of thinking. We decided to take the invite and that night I went to the directions written on the letter.

From there I saw not one but over twenty cars in the parking lot of the Mayor's home, Then when I walked to the door a butler guy stopped us. "Are you the Halls' or someone else?" He said with a low tone, when we told him I was invited to attend dinner with the mayor and that I was Jacob Hall he changed his expression. There was everyone that I've I had some kind of contact with, from the bank to the kids and their family coming into my cafe all the time, I even saw that My Aunt Lacy was there. She was dressed nice and was the frist one that came up to me, "it's good to see you Jacob, I heard that your birthday is in a few days, I hope this is a good time to give you a gift?" She said to me and when I looked at what she had, It made me cry just a bit, It was a nice stanless steel coffee press that I've been after for the last few months. Then she handed me a box with a watch that she had handmade for me, it matched the outfite I wore for the Cafe, I looked at Amy for a moment and she was smiling for that moment. "You should give her a hug dear, I think shes earn your forgivness for that one." Amy pushed me and I gave my Aunt a heavy hug almost cracking her back, "ah ok, you can let me go now Jacob." Lacy said and then the mayor told me why I was really invited to out for dinner, he told me that with me helping everyone in our little town, that they wanted to thank me. They though didn't have a solution for that so instead they throw a huge party for me, with food and drinks, the night was fun and I was drinking my favorites, Then I looked over to Amy and I saw she wasn't parting with everyone, she wasn't drinking anything.

A normal person wouldn't put two and two together, I put my drink down and I walked over by her and I asked, "How long have you known that you were pregnate Amy?" She looked at me like I was crazy of how I would of known that till I told her not drinking a beer at party was not like her. "You were pretty fast at those kind of things, I found out a couple days ago after I felt sick at work, I didn't know how to tell you so I was going to wait till tonight." She said to me and I saw my mother getting closer overhearing the conversation like she liked to do, "Did I hear that right, are you two going to have a child?" She asked us loud enough for everyone to hear, that is when I heard the clapping and people congradulating us for the next step in my adventure. I was annoyed by everyone crowding us like they where, my cousins saw this and so they had everyone continue with the party till the night faded. I went home that night to thinking about what type of father I was going to become in the winter, will I be like mine who's been pretty decent or will I be distant with my kids because of the Cafe? Amy saw I was thinking pretty hard till I turned to her, "You look really nice in that extra large shirt honey" I said to her and she blushed as she looked at herself in the mirror, we went to bed after that and for the next nine months I spent all of my free time getting our kids room ready for the special day.

The years was like last years but it was slower, even the second holloween party seem to be slower but just as fun, and even my singer friends came again with more of their buddies from the road. The Mayor took that opprotunity to make it something more than a simple party. He turned it into a new fall festival to help make money for the whole town, and it worked for everyone, even my little Cafe down by the Willow tree got a ton of customers. Then when the day came I got the call from my mother that Amy went into labor, I hung up the phone and closed up my Cafe for the day. A customer was coming to the door and saw me locking the door, "Sir whats going on, you never close up early even on a slow day." They said to me and I told her, "I'm about to be a father!" I ran to my truck and headed to the hospital at break neck speed. I flew past the cop near the intersection and I made it to the hospital with in seven minutes, when I got to the door the cop pulled me aside and said. "Son why are you in a rush like that, you know that you went way over the speed limit right?" He looked right at me then I told him to follow me and he'll understand when we got to Amy, She was in middle of having my first and the cop then understood what was going on. "I'll give you a written warning today Jacob, just be more careful in the future." The cop tip his cap to me then patted me on the shoulder while I went in to see my child be born, after a few good pushes and Amy yelling at me for twenty minutes my daughter was born.

She was small, and very light but she looked just like her mother but she had my hair, Amy was had fallen asleep and I held her gentley as she woke up to she our child. The look on her face when I gave our daughter to her was tear jerking to the eleven, I sat on the edge of the bed watching both of my girls. (Amy noticed my gaze and she smiled,) What's with that look on your face Jacob?" She asked me and I said to her, "Just happy that my life has become this, having my bestfriend as my wife and now that little bundle of joy in your arms." Amy smiled a bit more then she asked, "What should we call her, she needs a good name," I looked at the window and I saw a figure in the sky, it looked like a woman but not one that I knew. "What was your mother's name?" I aksed her and she said that her mother's name was, "Hope, my mother's name was hope." I smiled, "That's a perfect name for our daughter don't you think?" I said and Amy like that Idea, just then my whole family came through the door and rushed to the see the baby, mother saw it was a girl and looked like she was smirking about it. "Ah so you'll be having an easier nights compared to me when I had these two, hope you appricate that," Mom said and I laughed, "Yeah and when she turns into a teenager you get to have her over more right?" my mom punched me in the side when I said that and my dad you could see was laughing in the background.

After everyone left the room Amy had went to sleep again and I held our daughter a bit more before the nurse came to put in the cribe, I was talking to little Hope for that bit and Amy over heard me a bit. "Hope when you get older and you hate me for a bit I hope you can find something that you love, me having That Cafe was the corner stone of my fresh new life. If it wasn't for that I wouldn't have you or your mother in my life, I know you're too young to know what I'm saying but I know you can feel my love. What I'm trying to tell you little Hope is find what you are meant to do and never look back." I heard the nurse behind me and Amy woke a bit to tell me to go rest, I smiled when I handed Hope over and I crawled next to Amy, she looked over at me still tired and said, "You talk to much you know that, how is anyone going to sleep with you talking all night?" I laughed then I put her head on my shoulder and then I kissed her on the forehead, "I love you too Amy now lets rest for a bit." Amy laid her head on my shoulder all the way and we fell alsleep on that little hospital bed together.

In my dreams that night my Grandpa and Grandma came to me, we were sitting in the Cafe at my favorite spot drinking a tea I liked, They sat on either side of me and then Grandpa spoke to me. "Jacob my boy, you've done of proud you know that, taking our little shoppe and turning the community into something great. We can rest easy knowing that you'll be fine and having that little one with Amy, well that's just a blessing in our lords plan, keep up the good and when we see eachother again we'll drink to our fill and swap stories." Grandpa got up and Grandma turned me around and kissed my forehead then told me, "You make sure you make time everyday for Amy and that Little Hope for me and her Grandma big Hope." I watched them walk away and I saw a woman who looked like a older version of my Amy greating them at the door. The woman looked at me and she smiled, "Take care of her, I know you will be a great..." I woke up to the nurse and my Employees coming into the room to see the baby and me, Everyone all said that Hope was the cutest thing in the world and wondred when I was going to be back at work. "He can go back when we get home tomorrow, today is just for us." Amy said to them and James stopped her, "You should spend sometime with the child before returing sir, give it a week, we can manage without you for a bit." He said and I smiled at everyone, I gathered them together hugged them all the best I could and they left not to long after that.

When we left for home the next day, we stopped just at the front door and looked out to the town and saw how much it had not changed but it felt different for us, "Well it's time to start our forever with Little Hope and make our Families proud."