A/N: I do not own OTH, the characters in this fic, or any other recognizably licensed product.
Who Could've Guessed
Nineteen year old, Jenny Jagielski couldn't sleep. Tomorrow, her life would change in a way she never imagined possible. Tomorrow, her parents Jake Jagielski and Nicole Turner-Bryce were getting married. The wedding was a shock to most of her father's old friends. They were convinced that Nicki, as my Mom was called when she was younger, was somehow forcing him into it. When I first heard the news, I had a similar reaction. You see, I've lived with my grandparents, George and Michaela Turner in Savannah, GA since I was two years old. Before that, I had lived with my teenaged father and my other grandparents in Tree Hill, NC. I never really understood how my parents went from being young and in love, to being sworn enemies, and back to being in love again. My Dad says it was because my Mom really let him down after I was born and he couldn't forgive her for a long time. My Mom says that she ran away because she was scared and when she finally got the courage to come back, she found some blonde chick trying to take her place. That, of course, made my Mom furious and she decided to get a little revenge. My parents went through a bitter custody battle that involved of both them kidnapping me (at different times) and my grandparents stepping in to end all fighting. My parents both decided to settle in Savannah with my grandparents. My Dad finished high school and my Mom decided to go back to college.
Three years later, just as she was about to graduate, my Mom met Henry Bryce. My Mom hadn't been in a real relationship at that point she since and my Dad had been together. Grandma likes to call those year's "Nicki's Nympho Stage" and my Grandfather prefers to call it "Nicki's Troubled Late Teens-Early 20s." Apparently, falling in love with a hot young minister can change anyone. Henry was afraid of my mother when they first met. She just screamed sex and he was very a much an innocent, virginal student of religion. It's still a complete mystery to me how a girl like my mother could ever fall in love with such a man but then again Henry and Dad are very similar in that respect. As Henry was finishing his studies, my mother accepted a job at a local bank. She had a degree in nursing but she couldn't commit to a long-term contract because she and Henry might have to move out of the area if he received his own church. Nicki Turner, Tree Hill's Biggest Bitch, became a preacher's wife and she couldn't have been happier.
I spent my summers with Mom and Henry in Athens and my winters in Savannah with my grandparents. My Dad also lived in Savannah but he was very busy with Med School. He visited me every other weekend and he came and visited me in Athens for two weeks every summer. To say that Dad was amazed at the change in my mother would be an understatement. He told me recently that seeing her with me in Athens was his favorite memory. Because for the first time in years, Dad was able to call Nicki my mother without hatred or regret. When my brother, Henry Xavier Bryce III, was born, my parents and grandparents discussed a new custody arrangement that would have had me living with my Mom and Henry during the school year and staying with my father in the summer with plenty of visits to my grandparents' house in between. My Dad was offered an internship in Atlanta and because it was such a great opportunity, he accepted. This caused my grandparents to worry that after raising me for four years they wouldn't be able to be a part of my life anymore. Another custody battle seemed imminent. And then Henry got sick. It was months before the doctor's could diagnose his illness.
Henry was diagnosed with Primary-Progressive MS and it was one of the worst cases doctors in Atlanta had ever seen especially in a man so young. Dad was an intern in the hospital where Henry was diagnosed. Henry was able to keep his church for two years but his disease progressively worsened until he needed a walker to get around. Then they decided to move to Atlanta so that they could be closer to his doctors. My Mom was very concerned about Henry. As his condition worsened, so did his mood swings. Things got so bad that my mother had to send Xavier to live with my grandparents and me. I had no idea at the time but my Mom spent two years after she sent Xavier away trying to keep Henry fighting while working full time at the hospital to pay the bills. But Henry didn't want to fight. Henry wanted to die. He attempted suicide twice before finally succeeding on his third attempt. About a year after Henry's death, my mother decided that she wanted to go back to school, specifically to med school to study psychology. My grandparents were skeptical but Dad and I supported her decision. She moved back in with my grandparents to save money and she finished medical school in three years.
While my mother was married to Henry, my Dad had a series of girlfriends to whom he could never quite commit. My mother's theory was that he was still in love with a woman named Peyton Sawyer. My mother and I never talked about Henry. Mostly, we stuck to the safe topics like school and boys. But we also talked about the important things like sex and teenage pregnancies. And why my Mom left me when I was a baby. She was always honest with me and I appreciated it. When I had a pregnancy scare junior year, I didn't call my best friend. I called my Mom and she managed to stay calm. She also vowed to support me no matter what happened. I wasn't pregnant. When I told my Dad about my pregnancy scare, he wrote me a prescription for the pill right away. He also called my mother to thank her for convincing me to tell him. And that's where this whole wedding idea started. All it took for Jake and Nicki to get back together was for their teenage daughter to have a pregnancy scare which was eerily similar to their own teenage experience. They had become friends again over the years and my Dad had been very supportive when Henry was sick and even after he died. My grandparents told me that they expected Jake and Nicki to get back together years ago. Apparently, it was obvious to everyone but me that my parents had fallen in love again. Well, me and some of his Tree Hill friends. Apparently, Peyton wasn't very happy when my Dad told her the news. Oh, and Henry's mother who accused my parents of having an affair while Henry was dying and then threatened to sue for custody of Xavier. She still won't speak to my mother directly. She prefers to leave obnoxious voicemails demanding to see Xavier once every few months.
Mom asked me to be her maid of honor and I agreed even though I hate weddings and silly bridesmaids' dresses. My Dad told me that I could have been his best man expect for the fact that I was a woman and that Uncle Rick probably would have been mad if dad had chosen someone else.
So tomorrow's the day that Jake and Nicki finally get married. Nineteen years after having there first child and about 5 months before they have their next one. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention the part where my parents told me that I'm going to be a big sister again. It's a funny story . . . .
