Frank took a glance in the rear-view mirror, then glanced at the clock. "It’s almost nine o’clock, it’s his bedtime."

"He really had a good time didn’t he?" Joe remarked, smiling.

"Yeah, that he did," Frank replied. He could still remember Jason’s delight at seeing the huge sundaes when the waitress brought them to their table, and the fun they had tasting each other’s ice cream.

In another couple of minutes, they were at their home, and Frank pulled the van into the driveway.

"You start getting Jason out of his seat, I’ll go open the door," Frank said, getting out of the van.

Joe nodded, and quietly got out of the van. He opened the side door as gently as he could. Jason remained asleep. Joe unlocked the seatbelts, holding Jason into his seat, and gently lifted him into his arms. Frank came back in time to lock van, and click on their alarm. Joe carried Jason into the house, and up to the guest bedroom, which had been converted into a bedroom for Jason. He gently laid Jason on the bed, and pulled out some pajamas for him to sleep in.

Frank came back in time to help Joe change Jason into his pajamas. Jason stirred a little.

He opened his eyes, just as they finished tucking him in.

"May I have a lullaby?" he quietly asked, looking sleepy. Both Frank and Joe smiled, and began singing to him. Jason barely heard the words as he drifted off, but still the sounds were soothing, and before he knew it, he was in dreamland. The brothers both gave Jason a kiss on the forehead before shutting off the light and leaving his room. Before they went downstairs, Joe made sure to leave the door open a little bit in case he needed them.

"Say, I have an idea," Joe said as they sat down on the sofa in the living room.

"What is it?" Frank asked. He picked up the remote and turned on the TV, making sure to turn down the sound.

"The fair is in town, why don’t we take Jason there tomorrow? I’m sure he’d enjoy it," Joe said, smiling.

Frank smiled back, "That sounds like a great idea. I’ll call up Staci, maybe she can come. Do you think Vanessa will be able to make it?"

"Well it’s last minute, but I’m sure she can go," Joe replied. He turned his attention to the news broadcast.

"Terry Andrews? Why is that name familiar?" Joe said out loud.

"Isn’t he part of the Bridgeport High School wrestling team?" Frank replied.

"I remember him after the meet at Bridgeport, we only got to speak for a few minutes after our match. He seemed like a nice person… Do you want to look into it?" Joe said.

"It’s tempting," Frank answered. He took a glance at the ceiling. "But we’ve got Jason to look after. We can’t endanger him again."

"I know what you mean," Joe replied, thinking back to the incident where Jason had been kidnapped from the Hardy household. Jason had been used as a pawn to get their father, Fenton Hardy to give up the plans for the president’s visit. They managed to get Jason back, but not before Frank had been wounded in trying to protect Jason from gunfire. Jason still occasionally had nightmares, and the brothers vowed they would try their hardest to keep him from harm.

"If nothing happens after Dad gets back, do you want to look into it then?" Joe suggested.

Frank nodded, "Sure, with Dad back home, Jason won’t have to worry."

After the news had finished they had decided to make it an early night. Vanessa was delighted by the offer when Joe had called her, and promised to be over to their house early the next morning. Staci was also excited, and said she’d skate down to Hardy house early in the morning.

Early the next morning the older brothers had risen early in order to be ready to greet their girlfriends. While Joe took his turn in the bathroom, Frank ready for the day had started making pancakes, Jason’s favorite thing to eat for breakfast.

Joe quietly crept into Jason’s room to wake him up. Joe gently shook his shoulder. "Hey little guy, wake up we have a big day ahead."

Jason opened his eyes, "Really how come?"

"How would you like to go to the fair?" Joe asked, smiling.

"Really? To the fair?" Jason replied, sitting up.

"Yeah, so let’s get you dressed, so you can have breakfast. Frank is making pancakes, we have someone special we’d like you to meet today," Joe said, putting a stack of clothes in Jason’s lap.

"Who?" Jason asked, starting to change into the clothes.

"It’s a surprise," Joe replied. He helped Jason with his clothes, then made their way downstairs.

"Hey, I hope you’re hungry," Frank smiled. Jason sat in the chair at the kitchen table and Frank put a plate with a stack of pancakes in front of him.

"Do you want some help?" Joe asked, sitting down.

"Please?" Jason replied. Joe cut up the pancakes into bit size pieces and put butter and syrup on them. Jason carefully ate his pancakes as Frank and Joe ate theirs.

They were just finishing cleaning up with Vanessa arrived at the house.

"Hi Vanessa!" Jason said.

"Hi Jason!" Vanessa smiled back. She stooped down, and gave Jason a hug. She straightened back up and gave Joe a hug.

"Hi sweetie, how are you?" Joe asked, as Jason went to put on his sneakers.

"I’m doing good. Mom says that the cartoon is going well, and is already working on the next episode," Vanessa replied.

"That’s wonderful," Joe smiled and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Frank went to answer it, knowing that it was Staci. Staci had never met Jason, so he was hoping he’d like her. It was her standing in her rollarblades, her sneakers in her backpack.

"Hey, you made it!" Frank said, kissing her.

"Of course, took me only a few minutes since the weather is so nice," Staci replied.

It was then that Jason came back into the living room after putting on his sneakers.

"Jason this is my girlfriend, Staci," Frank said, gesturing towards the pretty girl standing in the hallway wearing rollarblades.

"Hi Staci," Jason replied.

"Hi yourself," Staci said, "You should come over to my house and see my dog."

"You have a dog?" Jason excitedly said.

Staci nodded, "A big one. He’s name is Boomer."

"Can we see him?" Jason asked Frank.

"Maybe we can stop by Staci’s house when we get back from the fair," Frank suggested.

After Staci had taken off her rollarblades and put on her sneakers, they left for the fair.

He was watching them from a distance as they piled into the van. He grew angry with each minute. "They have girlfriends too!" he thought bitterly. "With that little brat and now those two they’ll never love me. His jaw clenched as he started to drive away too. "Oh yeah, they’re going to pay in every possible…"

Frank drove the van down to the fairgrounds and parked. The fair was an annual summertime event in Bayport, and the Hardy brothers had been coming here since they were old enough to walk.

"Well, since we already had breakfast, let’s go get some tickets and go in the funhouse," Joe suggested.

"I’ve never been in one before, is it scary?" Jason said timidly, grabbing hold of Frank’s hand.

"No it’s a lot of fun. There’s a lot of funny mirrors that make you look big or tall. There’s a moon walk, and lots of other fun things," Joe replied.

"Then let’s go!" Jason said.

After buying tickets the group went into the funhouse. After spending nearly an hour inside having fun, they emerged trying to decide where to go to next.

"How about the ferris wheel or whipplash?" Joe suggested.

"Hmmm, Jason might be too little for those rides," Vanessa said.

"How about Jason and I go on the pony rides, while the rest of you ride the bigger rides," Staci offered.

"Would you mind?" Frank asked.

"Not at all. Besides I have a friend who likes to make sure the animals aren’t abused," Staci replied.

"Would you mind Frank? I really want to ride the ponies," Jason said.

"OK, we’ll meet you back here in an hour," Frank said.

Frank, Joe, and Vanessa went off to ride bigger rides, and Staci took Jason’s hand and walked him over to the lines for the pony rides. They were in luck as there were only a few people ahead of them.

"Why would some people hurt animals?" Jason asked as he looked at the pretty little horses going around in the circle.

"I don’t know Jason, but so far they look OK. Say, if we get off this ride and we still have some time, why don’t we try our luck and see if we can win a stuffed bear?" Staci said smiling down at him.

Jason smiled up at her, "Yeah, can you win me a blue one?"

"A blue one? Well, we’ll see if we can find one," Staci replied. Jason continued smiling. He really liked this girl with the long ponytails. He couldn’t wait to see her dog.

"How do you think Jason is doing?" Joe asked as they waited in line to get on the whiplash. They only had two people ahead of them.

"I’m sure he’s enjoying the ponies. It gives him something that he’s big enough to ride," Frank replied.

"Say, after this do you want to ride the wipeout?" Vanessa smiled.

"You’re on!" Joe agreed. Frank could help but smiling as he watched Joe and Vanessa challenge each other to the various rides at the fair.

"Are you having fun?" Staci shouted as Jason rode the pony he picked out.

"Lots of fun!" Jason happily replied.

"So they’d rather come here with them instead of with me! I hate them so much. How could they do that to me?" he looked on growing jealous as the brothers enjoyed being with each.

Soon the pony ride came to an end. Staci watched and it looked like the fair was taking care of the horses as the ride was under a canopy. The assistant for the ride helped Jason off and he came running over. He gave Staci a hug.

"Thank you!" he said.

"You’re welcome, I’m glad you like it. Now let’s see if we can go find you that bear," Staci replied. Staci and Jason walked hand in hand to the games. After a little searching, Staci found the perfect bear at the watergun game.

"Is that the one?" Staci said, pointing out the bear.

"That’s the one I want!" Jason excitedly pointed out the bear he wanted. Having played the game before, Staci already knew what to do and had no trouble winning the stuffed animal. She was surprised at how big it was.

"Tell the man the one you want!" Staci said. Jason pointed out the bear he wanted and the man handed it to him.

"Thanks!" Jason replied.

"You’re welcome, now let’s see if we can find your brothers," Staci said. Walking around a little bit, they finally found them getting off the haunted house ride.

"How was it?" Staci asked.

"It wasn’t scary," Vanessa replied looking triumphant.

"Oh yeah, then why did you scream so loud the people in front of us turned around," Joe smiled at her.

"That was only because you tapped me on the shoulder, after that guy came out of no where," Vanessa said to her defense, causing Frank to laugh.

"Hey Jason where did you get the bear?" Frank asked, finally noticing the large stuffed bear in Jason’s arms.

"She won it for me," Jason replied happily hugging his new toy.

"Hey thanks," Joe said.

"No problem. Let’s go ride the ferris wheel!" Staci suggested.

Later, after having eaten lunch and couple more rides, the group headed towards Staci’s house so Jason could meet Boomer.

"Now I have to warn you." Staci said as they came to the door of her house, "Boomer is a big dog."

"I’ll be fine," Jason promised.

Staci opened the door and a large dog came to the doorway.

"Sit," She told Boomer. Boomer sat down still waging his tail.

"Go on," she told Jason, "He won’t hurt you." Jason timidly petted the dog’s head. His fur was very soft. He still couldn’t believe how big Boomer was.

"Why don’t you come inside while I check the answering machine," Staci suggested.

They stepped inside while Jason continued to play with Boomer. He then let out an involuntary yawn.

"It looks like this little guy needs a nap," Frank said, picking Jason up into his arms. Jason almost fell asleep against his brother’s shoulder.

They could hear Staci talking on the phone, "Dad….Dad….calm down. I was just at the fair with my friends…Yes I have Boomer with me…What’s wrong?"

There was a pause.

"Oh my god. Not another one," Staci groaned. "OK, I’ll be careful. Bye."

"What was that about?" Frank asked as Staci came back into the living room.

"I’ll have to tell you later, it’s something Jason shouldn’t hear," Staci replied.

"Are you OK?" Joe asked. He was a little concerned as Staci looked a little spooked.

"Tell you what, we’ll take Jason home for a nap, and I’ll call you," Frank suggested.

"Oh Joe that reminds me, Mom asked me to come home in the afternoon to help her with a new part of the website," Vanessa said, taking his hand. She had such a good time today, and really didn’t want to go home yet.

"That’s OK, do we still have a date on Friday?" Joe asked.

"You bet," Vanessa replied, smiling at him.

Twenty minutes later, the rest of the group were at the Hardy home. Vanessa said goodbye, promising to call as soon as she could. She got into her jeep and drove off.

Joe put Jason on his bed for his nap, then went living room.

"What do you suppose could have spooked Staci like that?" Joe asked Frank, who was sitting down watching TV.

"I have no idea. I tried calling, but I keep getting a busy signal," Frank replied, looking a little worried. Frank was channel surfing when he came across a baseball game.

Later on that afternoon, Jason was in his room playing with his trucks while Frank and Joe watched the early news.

"That’s why Staci looked spooked, her father must have been worried about her," Frank said.

"Another murder, my god who is this person?" Joe asked out loud.

"I don’t know, but we have to stop him?" Frank asked, looking at Joe with determination in his eyes.

"Definitely," Joe agreed.