Cooper walked into the kitchen to find Jake eating cereal at the table, and watching a video on his tablet. A plainclothes Mountie stood in the corner, hands folded in front of him, standing guard. Jake looked up and said “Dad!”
Cooper sat down opposite the young man, and asked “So what did you do last night, buddy?”
Jake replied “I had pizza for dinner, then I watched a video until Agent Roy said it was time for bed.” His face soured at the last, before he put another spoonful of the cereal in his mouth. “What did you do, Dad?”
Cooper smiled, and said “Rick, Lise, and I went to Dinner at the King’s residence. He asked me to tell you he said hello, and he thinks he’ll have a new train to show you soon.”
Jake’s face broke out in a big grin. “I like the King.” he said.
Cooper leaned forward and asked Jake “What do you remember about Mom, buddy?”
Jake’s face clouded, and he looked back to his tablet. “She wasn’t around much, and you two used to fight. A LOT.”
Cooper squirmed at the memory, as he silently wondered just how much the young man really picked up on, and never expressed.
“Jake…how do you feel about Lise?”
Jake’s face lit up again. “I like her. She’s nice, and she knows a lot about trains.”
“How would you feel if she was around all the time?”
Jake looked at Cooper for a minute, then asked “What do you mean?”
“I’ve asked her to marry me, and she said “Yes.””
Jake looked at Cooper with an expressionless face, then asked “So she’ll be…my Mom?”
Cooper inhaled slowly, and said “No. Your Mom was your Mom. Lise can be like your Mom…if you want her to be.”
Jake looked at his cereal, and appeared to think it over for a minute, before saying “I think I might like that.”
Cooper smiled, and gave his son a hug, which the young man enthusiastically returned.
An icy voice shattered the moment as it said “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
Upon hearing it, Cooper immediately turned toward the voice, and for the second time in six months, saw a ghost standing in the kitchen of the safehouse.
Taxes, Stupidity, and Death 
Speak, thou apparition!