"Is everything the same?" He asked. Jacob found himself wrestling with old terminology that used to be second nature to him. Now he could barely remember these words meaning.
"Pops, I told you don't worry about things like this anymore. You're a big time Alderman… You don't have time to sweat the small stuff now…" Markus said easing his spirit. "Take care of the community and I'll take care of the home front from now on." He added as he took the remote control off the desk and then unpaused the video.
"Pig!" Young Markus was heard calling his sister over the TV. The two men looked up to be greeted with Dinah's small angelic face covered in chocolate ice cream. The two of them instantly broke into easy gregarious laughter at the sight. Jacob hastily scribbled his signature onto the documents and then stopped at the date. What was today's date, he wondered. His hand slightly shook as he sat there trying to recall not only today's date but also the year.
"Mark don't call your sister names…" Jacob was heard chastising young Markus as they watched him using a napkin to clean his daughter's face. Dabbling the napkin into a small cup of water he then wiped at the chocolate smudges covering her face.
"July seventh… two thousand seven." Markus volunteered noticing that his father was having trouble remembering the date.
"Thanks…"
"Mm-wa…" He said planting a fatherly kiss on her nose causing the girl to break out into a gaggle of childlike giggles. "That's better." He said as he held her away from him to get a better look at her face.
"You always did favor her best." Markus teased as he watched the display of fatherly love between his stepdad and his sister. He picked up the documents that his father had completed and then very carefully signed his name to them also.
"Oh don't you even try it… I don't know how many times mom and I had to referee between you two because one or the other one thought we favored the other one." He groaned out as he turned his eyes heavenward. Markus laughed as he got up and walked around his father's expansive desk and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"You've been real good to us Pops. We know that you love us both."
"Finally, after all of these years the message finally sunk in." Jacob teased.