Stan took a puff off his favorite pipe . . ."Yes, Regina, I was offered my first position as Lighthouse Keeper up there off the northern coast of Maine, on BOON Island!”

Everyone "Whoo'd, BOON! BOON!"

"Yeah, and you and I left every person that ever came into our lives. . . the ones that ever gave a damn, and said our I do’s and hopped the bus. . . All the way from Saint Augustine to Portland
and . . ."

“Oh here we go again . . . another Lovers in the Lighthouse story!" puffed Noel, while tufted comfortably below Chef Boy R. Pete’s resting arm . . .Now, Pete was known for his own, “Over at the Restaurant After Hours" stories . . . so, to pave the way for this one, Noel was . . . I guess, somehow, trying to make himself feel like he had a tale or two on him!

“Boys! Boys! Keep the snickers to a good candy bar and let Regina continue!” Mary chimed.

"I remember getting into that very, very small, open power boat, stepping off those rocky shores, the wind. . . already pinching, and, it hadn’t even been two weeks into the month of October! ...The sun was on its way out . . . like it is right now . . . Look Stan! What a beautiful day for a picnic! I’m so glad we came back here to visit! Oh! ...and remember those two young coast guard officers, they were about our same age . . . And the looks on their faces when they took a first look at me? ...my small statue . . . my, so they thought . . . fragility . . . Well, back then, who had any idea what pity looked like? When I looked back to the mainland that day, guys . . . and seeing how the shore kept getting smaller and smaller . . . the waves, becoming more and more rougher . . . the air at a stinging bite, by now . . . Let me tell ya, I felt a little more than scared! I honestly was silently terrified! But, I didn’t want Stan to think his dreams of a lifetime would be shattered in those first few hours!"

“Go on, Regina,” Mary said inquisitively, coaxing . . .

"Finally, when we reached the other side . . . Thank God! ... because, not soon after losing complete sight of land, and my stomach started doing those reverse actions on me. . . well, that little wee piece of jagged rock they called Boon Island, looked mighty inviting!"

"Boon! Boon!"...they all sang out!

"Yes! . . my brand-new Boon home, a lighthouse, no less . . . It was surely a welcoming site, my friends! Bittersweet, but welcoming . . ."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, my Ave Regina . . . It was just you and me, When those two boys left, belly laughing . . . Do you remember what they said to you as they boated off into the wild blue?" Stan asked.

Mary interrupts . . . “I know, I know!”

And she and Regina both mouthed the words in unison . . . “See ya out and about the time you have your first one, egh" The nerve!

Chef Boy R. Pete could only paint pictures in his mind . . . like baking a sweet potato pie and putting it on a ledge to cool . . . he just couldn’t resist! “So, was it after the first child or the eleventh, when they came for you . . . I can’t recall!”

Everyone burst out laughing! . . . Stan took another hit off his favorite pipe. . . "Pete, go get them hamburgers off the grill already! You and Noel have been single way too long! Can you believe the park is still here, Regina...it still looks the same around here by the lighthouse..."

...Mary wanted to hear more! "Tell us about the time you went into labor, was it with little David? ...that same night Hurricane Karen hit the coast!"

"Oh, no . . . now it’s a labor and delivery scene!" ...Noel fidgets with the loose top on his cane . . . "Let’s get to the real story! Stan, weren’t you wearing that same old, over sized water repelling banana in that hurricane? ...puffing on that same ole' bleached out pipe, even . . . ?"

“Yesiree!...but, was no time for puffin’ that night!," Stan interrupted . . . "Although Regina could have used a few hits of somethin’, the poor girl . . .The coast guard couldn’t get to us, and we couldn’t get to them! . . . It was just me, myself and I at the helm!"

"HA! At the helm, you say?" Pete torts!

"Oh, Stan . . ." Regina sighs . . . "You were my hero! You were the keeper of lights and a young laboring wife that night! . . . running up and down those stairs, checking the lamp, then checking on me . . . checking the lamp and then . . . and then it was time!"

"Spare me the details! ...Geez!” Noel broke the top off his cane . . . then stood up and then, sat right back down . . . “Mary, how old are you?"

"Stan, she doesn’t need to hear such goings on...stop your wife! Here, give her a Mint Julep and take that stupid bandanna off, will ya? It’s a beautiful day in St. Augustine, and her lighthouse is beckoning all of us to climb! I hear the sunsets are beautiful from the top...ever been?" Regina said as she sipped on her Mint Julep and started reminiscing again... "Stan was a lighthouse baby, too? Yup, right here, 219 steps up, 219 steps down...up and down, up and down, round and round...his mama climbed herself right into labor with Stan!"

"Not again!..." shaking his head, Noel stood up, and sat back down again... "I’m going to get my 'I climbed the Lighthouse' sticker!" Then, he stood up, threw his broken cane down and walked off... “See ya’s at the top you Keepers of the Light...Last one there is a laying egg!"