Jacob loved having a little cousin. He didn't have a younger sibling, so when Maggie came along, it was as if he did have one. With how much Fred, Barbra and Maggie where over, they where basically siblings and Jacob loved it, but it seemed that his parents forgot about him when they where over. He was his mother's miracle baby. She had a hard time conceiving him and now that she had one baby, she didn't want to go through the pain of having another miscarriage. So she reveled in having a baby niece to take care of whenever she could, but that took a toll on eight-year-old Jacob. He thought that his parents, especially his mother, didn't love him as much. So he figured he would get his mother alone and ask her. He knew it would be hard with the entire family over, but he had devised a plan. He would ask his mother to hold Maggie when she was holding the infant and then spring the question on her.
His plan worked beautifully because when he asked her to hold the baby, she sat down on the armrest of the chair Jacob was sitting in and softly handed the baby over to him.
"Watch her head, sweetheart," Lucille said softly. Jacob looked at the baby in his arms and smiled at her, who was looking intently at him, trying to figure out who this strange person was staring at her. Lucille just watched her son with his cousin for a while before he broke the silence.
"Do you still love me, Mom?" Jacob asked as he diverted his attention from Maggie to his mother. Lucille was taken back by the question. Why would he think such a thing? She had thought she would never be a mother, so when she got pregnant with Jacob and carried him to term, she was over the moon.
"Jacob, honey," she said, trying to suppress the urge to cry. Right then, Henry walked by so she picked Maggie up, called out to her husband and handed him the baby, who took her into his protective arms and held her carefully. She slid down the side of the couch and pulled her son into the biggest hugs. "Jacob, I love you more than anything in the world," she said as she pulled back. "Why would you think such a thing?" she asked. Henry sat down in the same spot his wife had just been and looked at his son curiously. He wanted to know why he would think his mother didn't love him anymore.
"Your mother and I love you more than anything in the world, monkey," he added as Jacob looked down at his hands. He was ashamed at thinking that his parents didn't love him anymore, especially after the reaction he got from both of them.
"You always pay so much attention to Maggie," he said when he finally looked up at them. Lucille pulled her son into another hug.
"We love you more than anything in the world, sweetie," Lucille repeated and she planted a kiss on his head. Jacob smiled up at his mother and leaned into her body. Lucille then wrapped her arm around his shoulders and with her other hand, intertwined her fingers with her husband's. She looked up at him and smiled. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.
"I love you," he said softly when Lucille kissed him back. "And I love you, monkey," he added as he looked at his son. Lucille and Jacob just smiled at their husband and father and Jacob never once thought about if his parents loved him or not.