Title: His Girls

Summary: Jack is torn apart when Maria files for full custody of their daughters. How do the girls react though? (AU)

Disclaimer: I do not own Jack, Hannah, Kate, or Maria Malone, nor do I own Danny Taylor, Martin Fitzgerald, Vivian Johnson, or Samantha Spade. I do, however, own Nicole Malone, and I'm probably going to end up just making up the name of the girls' schools, and of Jack and maria's lawyers.

A/N: I saw the episode of WOAT last night that was the Jack's deposition for custody, where he ended up throwing a chair through the window, and it sparked ideas. I know that they only had the two daughters, but as in most of my stories, I needed an older main character to write through, thus the creation of Nicole Elizabeth Malone. I am making a lot of this stuff up, so please remember that it's just a story.

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"What do you girls think about New York City?"

Mom says, watching our faces in an effort to gauge our reactions. She's got Hannah, Kate, and I all sitting in the living room of our small Chicago apartment, saying that she had a big thing to talk to us about.

"Daddy was there."

"It was great."

"We miss New York, mom."

The three of us spout off our thoughts, answering her question. This 'family meeting' was a spur of the moment kind of thing, so none of us had any idea what it was all about. Since mom and dad had started what was sure to be a long custody battle, we hadn't seen dad, and mom had been acting more and more erratically.

"I know you miss New York, girls, that's why we're all going up there tomorrow. We leave tonight!"

Hannah and Kate are ecstatic to be seeing dad again, regardless of why we're even going up there. Being the oldest child, I know the tricks, and I know that there has to be a catch.

"What's the catch, mom? You never just do anything like this on a whim."

"Well, you know you're dad's deposition is tomorrow, and I want to be up there, to see what's going on."

"That's not a good idea. I can feel it already."

"Nicole, I'm the parent here. I know what is best for you girls, you're just going to have to trust me, okay?"

"Is Frankie going to be there?"

Mom's new boyfriend, who is also her lawyer, Frank Johnson. She has been dating him since she left dad, but mom likes to call it 'having professional meetings'. Personally, I don't like the guy, and probably never will.

"Knock it off, Nicole. You know Frank is going to be there, he's my lawyer."

"No mom, he's your boyfriend. I know that, you know that, and the girls know that."

Quickly losing control of my temper, I turn and make my way to my bedroom, falling back onto my bed. I look over at my bedside table, and see a picture of Dad and us kids when we were in New York last. Even though dad's work schedule was crazy, and he tended to work some serious overtime, he was still our dad, and to us, the greatest one there ever was. Dad made sure that there was always food on the table, a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and made sure that we were happy. Dad was always there to say good morning, and say goodnight. Mom may have thought it took more than that to make us happy, but that was all Hannah, Kate, and I needed in a dad. The five of us were always closer than us kids and mom were. I pull my suitcase out of the closet and start packing up my clothes. For some reason, I have a strong feeling that I'll be staying in New York from now on. I look around my room, taking it all in, because soon, my life would change forever, and I would never be coming back here again. Or at least if I had anything to do with it.