Out of the Mouths of Babes

By Anne Mikusinski and Ayesha Haqqiqa

 It had actually been a good morning in court for a change, Jack thought as he rode up in the elevator.  When the doors swished open, he walked along the hall, headed towards Nora's office to tell her the good news.   Maybe they could grab a quick lunch together to celebrate the progress of the Riley trial.   It'd be nice to get this sleaze who waited at the Port Authority and got the young runaways he found there immediately into drugs and prostitution.

Her door was closed, and he knocked, opening it at her muffled "Come in", thinking that it didn't really sound like Nora.

  It wasn't.  A young, blonde girl, about six or seven, Jack thought, sat on two phone books on Nora's chair.  Without them, she wouldn't have been able to see over the desk. 

She turned to see him, and Jack saw she was wearing Nora's half glasses, which were dangerously close to slipping off her nose.  "Well, she looks like Nora, “ he thought, "so I'm either dreaming, or...”

"Are you looking for my aunt?"  The girl asked.  

Jack nodded.

"Hi, “ she smiled.  "I'm Lexi...well, Alexis...Nora's my aunt.   It's Take Your Daughter to Work Day today, and well, my mom's busy with my baby brother, and she doesn't really work, and so mom is letting Aunt Nora "borrow " me today..." she giggled.  "She said she went to ‘powder her nose’...isn't that silly?  Anyway, " she tried looking serious.  "Can I ask who you are?"

Jack grinned, glad to finally get a word in edgewise.   "I'm Jack McCoy...” he told her.  "I work for your Aunt Nora.”

"Oh! "  Lexi interrupted.  "You're Jack!  My aunt talks about you all the time!  She says..."

"I see you've met my niece, Jack...” He turned to see Nora standing in the doorway...was he imagining things, or was she blushing?

“Yes,” Jack grinned. “She’s quite…charming.”

“Mr. McCoy is one of my Executive Assistants, Lexi,” Nora explained to her niece.

“You put the bad guys away in jail, don’t you, Jack?” Lexi asked.

“Call him Mr. McCoy, dear,” Nora said, embarrassed.

Lexi looked at her aunt. “But you call him Jack,” she said. “You said he’s—“

“He’s my assistant, and that is why I can call him Jack,” Nora said, a bit sharply. “He is a grown-up, so you call him Mr. McCoy.”

Lexi hung her head. “Yes, Aunt Nora.” She looked at Jack. “Sorry, Mr. McCoy.”

She looked so pitiful that Jack wanted to tell her it was okay to call him Jack, but one look at Nora’s face told him not to. “It’s all right, Lexi,” he said gently. “And, to answer your question, I help your Aunt Nora make sure the bad guys go to jail.”

“You do that in a courtroom, right?” Lexi was eager to talk again. “You talk to people in a jury and convince them to put the bad guys away!”

“That’s right,” Jack said, impressed with her knowledge.

“Aunt Nora let me watch a trial once,” Lexi explained. “It was somebody who had stolen a car. She explained about the jury and the prosecutor then. She likes to watch her assistants work a trial, I think. She talks about watching you all the time.”

“Uh, Lexi, Mr. McCoy came in here to see me,” Nora said hastily. “Why don’t we find out what he wants.”

“Nothing much,” Jack said. “I just wanted to report on the Riley trial. It looks like we’ll get a conviction on all counts. I thought we could celebrate by going out to lunch.”

“Oh, goody!” Lexi clapped her hands. "Can we eat lunch in the park, Aunt Nora?"  Lexi asked as she waited for her aunt to gather her purse and jacket.  "It's a sunny day, and you told me you like having lunch outside and sitting on a bench with Jack-oops-Mr. McCoy and..."

“I'm ready."  Nora said hurriedly, as she walked towards the door, taking Lexi's hand..."And yes, we can have lunch in the park, but don't you think we should ask Mr. McCoy if he'd like to join us?"

Jack grinned, "I would, ladies, very much!"

Lexi beamed.  "Excellent! This will be such fun!"  she cried.

Nora sighed.  "Just remember what your mother said Alexis..."

Lexi turned to Jack, rolling her eyes.  "I know, Aunt Nora...no more than two hot dogs, and only one soda.... C’mon, let’s GO!"  She held out her free hand towards Jack, who smiled at Nora before he took it, and together they all walked towards the elevator.

Lexi looked up at Jack and beamed. “I think you’re handsome, too,” she said.

“I beg your pardon?” Jack asked.

“Aunt Nora says that you are handsome,” Lexi said, “and I think so, too.”

“Oh, well thank you.” Jack glanced at Nora, who was staring at the elevator doors. They finally opened and they got in.

“Are you married, Mr. McCoy?” Lexi asked as the elevator made its slow descent.

“No, Lexi, I’m not,” Jack said.

“Why?”

“Lexi!” Nora exclaimed. “You don’t ask questions like that!”

“Oh.” Lexi hung her head in thought. Then she looked up at Jack and said, “Don’t you get lonely? Aunt Nora has been lonely since Uncle Dan died.”

Luckily, the elevator doors opened at that moment, and the trio walked through the lobby and out into the sunshine. Lexi was momentarily distracted by the vendors, and went from one to another, looking at all their food before deciding on a hot dog with mustard. Jack paid for the food and they all went to a bench where they sat down to eat.

“Is this where you sit every day?” Lexi wanted to know.

“Not every day,” Jack said. “I don’t eat outside like this very often.”

“But when you do you eat with Aunt Nora, right?”

Jack thought a minute. “You know, I think you’re correct,” he said. He glanced at Nora, who was giving her full attention to her sandwich. “I didn’t realize that before.”

“You like to eat with Aunt Nora, don’t you?”

Jack took a bite of his sandwich, glancing at Nora out of the corner of his eye. Was she blushing again? “Oh, yes,” he said finally. “Your aunt and I have a good time when we eat lunch together.”

“Aunt Nora isn’t lonely when she’s around you. At least, that’s what she tells my mother.”

“Lexi, let’s go get some ice cream for dessert!” Nora said, taking her niece’s hand firmly and walking toward a pushcart with a colorful umbrella. Jack sat there, watching them. He noticed Nora bending over and saying something to the little girl, but he couldn’t catch what it was. They came back with ice cream bars, and Lexi handed one to Jack.

“For you, for being so nice to me today,” she said. She was quiet as she ate the ice cream, and Jack talked with Nora about the progress of the case, using general terms so as not to upset the child. Nora seemed to relax and become more her old self as she listened to him tell what happened in the courtroom.

“I think you are right, Jack,” she said when he concluded. “Since the witnesses were so convincing, I feel the jury can reach only one conclusion—the man is guilty.”

“And another bad guy goes to jail!” Lexi had finished her ice cream and was carefully wiping her hands with a napkin.

“Oh, you’re sticky!” Nora cried. “I’ll go wet a napkin at the drinking fountain and be right back!”

As she bustled off, Lexi looked at Jack and smiled.

"I like you, Jack."  Lexi said.  "You are nice, and handsome, and even though she doesn't want me to talk about it anymore I know my Aunt Nora likes you--a lot.  She told me that she doesn't want me to say anything, because she doesn't think you're interested, and even if you were, you dating her would be inup-inam-"

"Inappropriate?"  Jack asked.

"Yeah, that's it!"  Lexi smiled.   "She says it would be a comflict of distress…since she's your boss and all..."

Jack tried not to smile.   "So, " he asked.  She talks about me a lot?"

"Oh yeah, she and my mom sit and have coffee.  She misses my uncle Dan a lot. I remember we used to go to the park a lot when I was little.  I think she loved him lots and lots.  But my mom says she's been "out of circles" for long enough.  She says, "Get out, Nora, " but my aunt just shakes her head and says "who would want me at my age.. " Lexi was thrilled at having such a personal discussion with an adult …"And then Mom says, well, what about Jack McCoy, and Aunt Nora always gets real red and..." she lowered her voice to a whisper.  "We'd better stop, Aunt Nora is coming back.  But Jack..." he leaned closer so he could hear her...  "I think you'd make a nice husband for her, really!"

Jack smiled, filing all this away, at least for the moment.

Nora bustled up and started wiping Lexi’s hands. “I can do it myself!” the little girl protested.

“I know you can, but I need to help you,” Nora said. “We’re going to visit Judge Rivera this afternoon, remember?”

“Is he the judge from the car trial?” Lexi wanted to know.

“Yes,” Nora said. “He will see us in his chambers at one, and he’ll answer any questions you have about what judges do.”

“Will Ja—Mr. McCoy be there, too?”

“No, dear, Mr. McCoy has other work to do,” Nora explained patiently.

“Oh, rats! I have fun talking to Mr. McCoy,” Lexi said.

“You’ll have fun talking to Judge Rivera, too,” Nora said, taking her niece’s hand firmly and glancing at Jack.

“I’ll walk you two ladies back to the building,” he said, taking Lexi’s other hand.

“That will be fine,” Lexi beamed. “But Aunt Nora’s the lady. I’m just a little girl.”

“Oh, I think you are quite a fine lady,” Jack said gallantly. He escorted them back to Nora’s office, and then went back to his own, grinning.

Nora and Lexi left to go to Judge Rivera's from Hogan place.  For the rest of the afternoon, Jack took care of some paper work and looked over the court schedule for the week.  The only interruption came at 2:30, when the court clerk called to tell him that the jury was in.   He rushed to the courthouse and five minutes later, emerged triumphant, hearing Riley pronounced guilty on all three counts of the indictment.  He was feeling so good that he actually stopped to give the waiting reporters a brief statement, with Abbie standing, smiling at his side. 

  "This was a great day, Abbie!"  He told her on the cab ride back to Hogan Place.   He was eager to share the news...

When Jack walked in Nora’s office, he found her talking to a lady that was obviously her sister. “Carol, this is Jack McCoy. Jack, this is my sister, Carol.”

"Oh, this is Jack!"   Carol's face lit up as she extended her hand and Jack shook it firmly.  He watched as Carol looked from he to her sister smiling, as she said.  "I hear so much about you...Nora's right…you are a handsome..."

"Well!"  Nora interjected.  "You should get on your way, Carol...you know how much babysitters charge these days, and little Danny probably misses his mom..." 

 "Your Aunt Nora's right, Lexi..."  Carol said, taking her daughter's hand..."We do need to get going and leave your aunt and Mr. McCoy to talk about..."

"Yes, " Nora agreed, maybe a little too quickly..."Hurry home, you two...I'm sure that Danny wants to play with his big sister.."

"Yay!"  Lexi clapped her hands. "Danny's fun when he's not pulling my hair or breaking my dollies.."   She stopped for a moment, and looked at Jack sadly..."I had fun at lunch today, Ja..Mr. McCoy..." she lowered her voice to what she thought was a whisper (both Nora and Carol could hear)  "I hope you remember what I told you about Aunt Nora and…."  

"Goodbye, Alexis!"  Nora said, pointedly, looking at her sister, who took Lexi's hand and led her out the door as the little girl looked back, grinning and waving one last time...

It was a little before five when Jack went back to Nora’s office. “Do you have any plans for this evening?” he asked.

“Not particularly,” Nora said as she put papers into her desk drawer. “Why do you ask?”

“I thought maybe you’d like to go out to dinner,” Jack said. “I feel like celebrating the Riley conviction, and I hate to eat alone.” He looked at her and smiled.

“Oh, I understand that,” Nora said. She closed her desk drawer and looked up at him. “Sounds good to me.”

As they walked toward the elevator, Jack said, “I enjoyed meeting your niece and sister today.”

“Yes, Alexi is quite bright,” Nora said. “Of course, I’m prejudiced.”

“No, you’re not prejudiced. She’s a charming girl, just like her aunt,” Jack said as they got in the elevator. Nora looked up at him in surprise. “And I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, ‘out of the mouths of babes’….” He took her hand in his and smiled at her as the elevator door closed.

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