Fan Fiction - Written by Doug Fowler - Book & Television Universe

"Ho'," Michelle repeated, echoing what Jesse had just said about the woman as she turned toward them.

"Isn't that funny?" Jesse said with a laugh. "I'm sure it sounded like my little niece just said 'hot' to you. What she meant was, uh..."

"Hi, I'm Ginger," she said with a smile, extending a hand. "She's cute," she said as she and Jesse shook hands.

"Well, thank you. She gets it from her uncle. So, I guess you like music, too, huh?"

"As a matter of fact, some of my friends and I are trying to form a band; I was waiting for the cashier to ask where we might find a store that sold guitars."

"Cool. I can show you. I'm Jesse Cochrane." He was still using a stage name, and for right now he had no plans to change it back and call the band simply "Jesse and the Rippers." He would return to his original later, to honor Pam. "Say, you know, I give guitar lessons where I live; I'm helping my brother-in-law raise his girls since their mom died."

"Oh, how sweet." Her warm smile seemed very inviting. Her eyes sparkled as she heard of his caring for these girls. "I do quite a bit of babysitting myself."

Jesse carried Michelle and they walked toward a store that sold musical instruments. "I haven't really run the ad that much in the paper about the guitar lessons, but I figured I'd mention it. Or, if you'd like some help with your band. I'm with Jesse Cochrane and the Rippers."

"That's nice," she said politely. "No, I don't get out too much, between college - U. of San Francisco - and my babysitting. But, that might be a big help, I could widen my skills then."

"Sweet." Jesse was excited to meet lovely lady - that was one of his main interests, it seemed. After talking for a while, they exchanged addresses and phone numbers, and Ginger promised to come by that Saturday.

Jesse was so happy, he decided to stop by the school and pick up the girls. He always wanted to make sure anyone he brought home was safe - he'd learned that lesson when Danny made a lady named Vanessa leave his first day there. But also, he really cared about his nieces, and in fact really hoped any woman he met would be the one for him. He was really excited about this prospect. She loved music, and actually wanted to be in a band.

"Hey, D.J., hey, Stephanie," he said with great enthusiasm as he poked his head out the window.

"D.J., this worked out perfect," Stephanie, five, said as she spun toward her sister. "You forgot your key, but now you don't have to dig in the flowerpot."

D.J. sighed. "Well, I guess we'll have to change the hiding place again."

"Aw, don't worry about it, Deej, I'll take care of it. Come on, get in the car." As D.J. got in front, and Stephanie in back, Jesse said, "You know how I complained that all we had for breakfast was Lucky Charms? Well, that turned out to be a big help after all."

"Why, what happened?" D.J. asked

Jesse told them as they buckled their seat belts and drove off, with Stephanie making sure Michelle's was still snug. "She's coming Saturday. I hope Danny doesn't have to work, but if he does, Deej, could you just watch your sisters for a bit."

"Sure. In fact, that's when my friends and I were going to get together for our first practice. We picked out a name, too?"

"For your band? Deej, that's great. What is it?"

"The Bracelets." She hemmed and hawed a little. "I know, it's a little cutesy for you, Uncle Jesse, you probably think of friendship bracelets like us girls like to make. But, it's not just a cute name. It's sort of to honor Mom, too." When Michelle came home from the hospital after being born, Pam gave Stephanie a stuffed bear named Mr. Bear, and gave D.J. a bracelet.

"Hey, I understand, kid," Jesse said, feeling a little wistful at the moment. "Your mom would be so proud of all of you." As they parked and went into the house, he couldn't imagine what Christmas would be like; he'd had a really tough time over Thanksgiving. Danny had said nobody should get out any Christmas decorations till Joey got back from his two-week comedy tour of colleges. Jesse imagined maybe Danny was stalling because all of them would feel it.

Danny was home that Saturday afternoon, so he was able to keep Steph and Michelle occupied while D.J. and her friends practiced in what was then D.J. and Stephanie's room, and Jesse gave his lessons in his room.

After their practice, Jesse and Ginger walked down to the living room, where D.J. and Stephanie were talking. D.J.'s friends were packing up their instruments. Danny was feeding Michelle in the kitchen.

"Thank you, Jesse; that was really nice. You sure have a great family," Ginger said.

"Thanks. You'll be playin' the Smash Club in no time."

Ginger wasn't interested. "Oh, I don't really think that's..."

"Aw, come on, I know you're feelin' some jitters, everyone does at first," Jesse said, ignoring her tone. "Why, the first time I snuck in there to watch, I knew I wanted to play music, but it was a couple years before I felt I could achieve that." He took her money. "Hey, wait right there, okay? I gotta go get change." He ran back upstairs.

"He's really nice, isn't he? He's teaching me to play guitar, too," D.J. said.

"I heard your band a little. I think yours is closer to what I picture us doing than what your uncle thinks, though. I'm just not into rock and roll like he is."

"Really?" D.J. said, a little disappointment in her voice. "I mean, that's great, but, I guess you seemed so nice, I was hoping you'd get along."

Ginger smiled "Well, it's not that we don't; I guess I just had higher hopes when I met him in the music store. I'm the oldest of seven kids, and I just hoped that he'd be less macho and prideful, you know."

"That's okay. You get used to it," Stephanie said. "He's still great at playing ballerina."

"I'm sure he is great with you girls; and, he's probably changing. But, we're probably going to be playing what to him are kiddie songs."

After they talked for another moment, Jesse came down with some music. He handed her the change, and said, "Hey, look, I know you probably need a little confidence boost. I told you about how to get some good gigs, and how to promote yourself. Here's some more help. Now, I wrote this little piece, but I can't seem to get the right words to it."

"Well, I don't know, we haven't actually written any songs yet..."

"That's fine; look, you wanna know the secret to good writing. You take what you love, and you pour your heart into it." He swayed slowly as he added, "Take those feelings for whatever it is, and let it move youlet the music just sort of flow from you. Okay?" She nodded. "Good. Take it home, and for your lesson next week, after Joey gets back, you can play it, and maybe start to figure out some words, okay?"

She was still very hesitant. "Well...okay, I guess."

"Hey, I've put other bands together too. Even put an all-girl one together once. I know you'll do great," he said excitedly.

Danny entered the room carrying Michelle as Ginger left, followed by D.J.'s friends.

He could tell Jesse looked happy; he figured Jesse must like Ginger. "Hey, Jess, how'd the lesson go?"

"Super. Listen, thanks to D.J., I even knew the word for when two words begin with the same letter. Alliteration. See, your uncle's pretty sharp, huh?" he asked the older girls as Danny put Michelle down and she ran over to play with some stuffed animals. "So, we even came up with a name for their band. The Ginger Girls."

"Jess, the letters have to sound the same, too, for it be alliteration."

"Okay, so what do I care," he said flippantly. He had never cared much for school or learning. "Look, the point is, I got a girl who not only likes me, she's in a band, and I'm gonna try to make sure with my guidance, they become superstars. I gotta go see if I can talk some of them smaller clubs into letting them play." He ran upstairs, feeling very excited as usual about meeting a nice young lady.

Stephanie looked oddly at D.J. as Danny went back to the kitchen to wipe off the mess that remained from the toddler's meal. "Did he just say that?" She assumed, as did D.J., that Ginger had told him her intentions.

"Love must do weird things to people."

A few weeks later, D.J. and her band had been practicing in Joey's new room. They came upstairs just as Ginger arrived. "Hey, Ginger, thanks so much for the song. I think we've got it."

"Whoa," Jesse said happily as he came down the steps. "You're not gonna leave us and go on tour, are you, Deej?" he kidded her.

"No, don't worry. She just let us have a look at what they did with your music."

"Great." He suggested they play, so D.J. and the other Bracelets set up their instruments. "This is such a proud moment for me."

D.J. called the others into the living room.

As the others came in, Ginger said, "There's something I wanted to tell you about the music. I...well, I sort of made a few changes."

"Hey, that's okay," Jesse said with a shrug, "I know they can't be expected to play like veteran musicians."

"Not like that. I mean, the beat isn't as heavy, and..."

Jesse held up his hands. "Look, don't tell me any more, I want to hear what my niece and her band have to play fro us."

"Don't you think you should listen to Ginger first?" Danny asked.

"Why should I? I've given her half a dozen contacts, a whole bunch of advice, she's goin' to the top, man. Lay it on us, Deej."

D.J. shrugged. "Okay."

As the Bracelets began playing, Jesse's mouth flew open. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He'd made a great melody, with a fantastic beat, that he felt could be hit love song. Instead, not only was it incredibly mellowed out, the lyrics were, well...

"Lollipops and gummi bears are my favorite treat," D.J. sang. "When I'm bein' good, I ask my dad for a sweet...."

Jesse gawked at Ginger, and once they girls were done playing, exploded, "You took a perfectly good rock and roll melody and turned it into a song about lollipops and gummy bears?"

"Well...I thought you understood..."

Jesse was speechless, so he simply whirled and stormed into the kitchen, with Danny and Joey following. "Jess, what's wrong?" Danny asked.

"What do you mean, what's wrong? You heard the song; I'm sure both of you could tell..." He paused, and looked at Joey, considering the comedian's very childish nature. "Okay, Danny, at least you could tell that that was not a song that would be enjoyed by anyone older than about five."

"Hey, c'mon, D.J. and her band love it," Joey remarked.

"Okay, but I'm trying to teach my nieces the joys of rock and roll here" He threw up his hands.

Danny said, "Jess, there are other types of music."

"Sure. Ginger came by a few days ago when you were out shopping with Stephanie, and showed D.J. her ideas. D.J. loved them."

"Yeah, but...I told her to write about what she loved, man. I thought for sure she would love my kind of music."

Danny couldn't help but snicker. "I think what you really wanted was for her to love you. But, not every woman's going to love everything the same way you do."

"Right. And, at least she has more musical sense than whoever wrote the 'Jetsons' theme. I mean 'Meet George Jetson,' and the other words? That's not a song. Those lyrics are just the same thing you say when you're introducing them at a party."

"I think what Joey's trying to say is, you have to look on the bright side when it comes to the women you meet. When I first went to get your sister for a date, my mom was waiting out front, and I was waiting for twenty minutes in your living room while she finished in the bathroom. But, she came in, we got the chance to know your parents better, and we even dusted the china cabinet for them."

Jesse sighed, finally agreeing that Danny was right. He walked back into the living room, "Hey, Ginger," he said softly, "I'm sorry I blew up at you a minute ago."

"That's okay. I'm sure it's a lot different than what you're used to. But, you said write about what I love, and I love working with kids. Siblings really inspire me."

"I didn't even know it, but one of her brother's is in my class at school," Stephanie said.

"Cool." Jesse asked, "Can we still be friends, even if there's nothing between us?"

"I never knew there was anything between us. But, ysure. You're really good at what you do, Jesse. I hope you meet someone who's just as good for you and your family "

"How come he didn't tell us?" Nicky asked.

Jesse had snuck into the room, and heard the end of Stephanie's story. "'Cause I was embarrassed. He sat in the chair Stephanie had been in, with Stephanie kissing them good night and leaving. "I didn't want to be known as a writer of kiddie songs. Besides, she did the words and arranged the tune a little."

"But that's a cool song," Alex said.

Jesse agreed. "To you boys, sure. Who knows, maybe I shoulda run with that type of stuff. After all, a year later I was inspired to write 'Michelle's Smiling,' 'cause that's what inspired me was your cousin Michelle." They recalled the song. "You daddy was just really different back then. All he cared about was rock and roll."

"Did you think Mommy was perfect?" They asked almost at the same time.

Jesse laughed as Becky entered. "Are you kidding? She was nuts about Nebraska, and I was afraid I'd end up living on Hee Haw. But, there was something about her I couldn't resist. I took your Uncle Danny's advice, and I learned to love her, even if I didn't like the idea of farm life, and at first she said I reminded her of her youngest brother."

He kissed them good night and tucked them in, and he and Becky embraced. Nicky and Alex complained it was too "mushy."