David MacTavish sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in his hand. It was early in the morning and he couldn't sleep. They had heard last night that their son had been in some kind of trouble and had three bullets to the stomach. His wife, Jamie, had worried herself sick until four in the morning so she was just now falling asleep. His adopted daughter had rushed over when she heard the news last night so she and her fiancée were fast asleep in her old room. He rubbed his temples sleepily as he looked at the rising sun that finally decided to show its face. He had been around when he came to tell about his deceased fiancée years ago, but since then they hadn't heard much from him. The usual phone call every now and then out of the blue. He'd usually call just to let them know he was okay and that things were finally getting to normal. He often talked about his somewhat girlfriend in his calls. David thought he never added much emotion in them. He couldn't blame him; if the same thing had happened to Jamie at a young age like John, he'd probably act the same. He sighed and placed his face in his hands worrisome.

"Didn't sleep either?" A light voice with a British accent appeared from behind him. He jumped and looked back at his daughter who was still wearing the same clothes but were slightly creased and fit crooked on her arms and legs and stomach. Her hair was slightly wadded on one side of her head and others stuck out wildly. He could tell she must've tossed and turn all night long.

"No, I'm too worried. John hasn't come and seen us since after that girl, uh, Melody died. He didn't look right; didn't act right. I knew something was up, but I didn't say anything." He said turning and looking at the young woman as she pulled her a seat beside him.

"I know what you mean. Usually John and I have a lot of fun together. At times, it was usually me starting the fights, but he never complained about bored around me. He would barely even look at me in the eyes. He wouldn't grin, unless it was forced." She said folding her arms against the sleek wood top and leaned slightly towards him.

David sighed. "I would go and visit but that boy's all the way up in New York. Why he is I will never know. Away from his family. I always worried something would happen to him like this ever since he was a kid and found interests in military things." He said taking a sip of his coffee and looked at her recovering-from-sleep face.

She nodded to herself and laid her head against the wood. "I miss him. The real him… Do you think that Melody girl brought that guy back? Maybe that's why he acted so depressed. That must suck so badly right now. Poor Bub." She murmured against the table top.

He reached over and squeezed her hand with his. "It'll be fine, Jess. Hopefully, John will recover nicely and we either go up and see him or we make him drag his ass down here." He joked trying to make her feel better.

Jessica just scoffed at the light joke and looked up as she heard more feet shuffle across the wooden floor. It was her mother, Jamie. Her long ink black hair was messy and ruffled and long black streaks trailed her cheeks since she had been crying so hard last night. David sighed and stood up and wrapped his arms around his wife. He smoothed her hair and held her tight as more tears appeared in her eyes.

"Everything's going to be fine, Jamie. I promise." He murmured against her hair and kissed her temple.

Jamie forced to collect herself and tried to wipe away the tears in her eyes. "I know. I got a call this morning, that's why I'm up. It was from a man named John Price, the one that John talked about on the phone and in e-mails. He said he's doing fine and he wants to come and visit soon. He says he has a surprise." She said happily holding her cell phone in her hand with a smile.

"Really! That's amazing! What's his surprise?" Jessica said happily standing up and hugging her mother's neck.

"Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if we knew, Jess. Where's Dillon at?" She said with a laugh.

Jessica pulled back and looked around a second. "He must still be asleep. He hasn't met John yet. He said he felt bad for not being so worried about him. I told him not to sweat it right now. I'm just so freakin' happy! I'm gonna go wake him up!" She said joyfully jumping and running down the hall towards her old room near the end of the hall.

David chuckled at the girl and looked over at his wife. "Will he be able to call soon?" He asked looking at the back of her head as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"I'm not sure, I sure hope so though. I wonder if his surprise is that girlfriend of his. They've sorta together for three years. I hope it's some girl that he really cares about. He needs some happiness after that whole General betrayal and after Melody's passing. Oh, I wish he was here right now so I could hug him and lock him in his room." She said slightly moaning in impatience.

David chuckled. "Like you did when he was a kid and he was out too late? Thank God he's alright then immediately start yelling and saying how worried you were?" He joked taking a sip of his coffee.

She just arched an eyebrow at him with a grin. "It's called motherly instincts. My mother did that to me and now I'm doing the same to John and Jessica. I don't suspect you to know anything about that, Dave." She joked standing up and stroking his chin lovingly as she walked past him towards the living room towards her book.

David just scoffed at her and turned to see her give him a look as she crossed her legs and sat on the couch. He grinned at her. He could tell she was happy about hearing John's recovering, but he could tell from the slight frown in her features that she was still worrying about him. She couldn't help it. She wasn't going to take that he was perfectly fine until she saw him. With the occasional lecture that he could've been killed. He stood up and smiled as he passed her to go outside.

"Where are you going?" She asked forcing herself from her wary thoughts to look towards her husband.

"Outside. I have to work on that crib for Mary and James' baby. 'Member?" He said with a grin.

Mary and James were good friends of the family. "Yes, now go before you make me lecture you." She teased pointing her finger at him with a bright smile.

"Oh, I'm scared." He said in a fake tone.

She playfully glared at him and he faked a terrified face and stumbled out the door. Jamie let out an uncontrollable laugh at her husband and shook her head.

"I swear, I think I have three children instead of two." She joked taking a sip of her coffee and began to read where she left off.


"Mom, what's going on?" Krista asked hearing her mother's loud voice and followed her out the door. She saw her staring up at a man with slightly graying blonde hair and light blue eyes. Identical to her own eyes. He was rather tall and wore a long-sleeved gray T-shirt and long faded blue jeans. A black truck sat in her mother's driveway and she looked over at the man as he grabbed her arms. She glared and jogged towards them.

"What the hell's going on? Who are you?" She immediately demanded towards the man as she grabbed her mother's shoulders and softly pulled her away from him.

The man just continued to stare down at Melanie until a look of shock and realization flashed across his face. She glared at him and glanced at her mother who hung her head sorrowfully. She was confused and didn't like it. "Mom, are you alright? Who is this guy anyway?" She whispered pulling her slightly away from him to speak in private.

Melanie chocked back sobs and let some tears fall towards the dying grass beneath her feet as she hugged her shoulders. She was trying to figure out if she should tell her. She deserved to know the truth, but was she ready for things to get complicated? She knew things would if she knew. Especially if she was like Melody, she'd probably dig into information until she got her answers.

"Mom, tell me. What's going on?" Krista said warily placing a hand on her shoulder and looking down into her eyes. Krista let her gaze follow her head as Melanie slowly raised her head and looked into her light blue eyes. Her green eyes had a tint of redness from tears as she looked at her daughter's face.

"He's your father, Krista." She said quietly. She could see it, the resemblance between the girl and her husband. She had his proud nose and the same blue eyes; the same mouth and smile. It wouldn't be hard to notice their father and daughter.

Krista backed up a step. "What? You told my father was dead." She said furrowing her eyebrows confused. She looked at Melanie's face and glanced at Benjamin. She guessed this man could be her father, but shook it off and stared back at her mother for her explanation.

"You told her I was dead? Why would you do that, Melanie?" Ben asked stepping towards just as confused as Krista was. Melanie glanced between the two and bit her lip.

"I know I've lied to both of you and I'm so sorry for doing so. Krista, when you were a baby, that's when Benjamin took your sister Melody with him. I was afraid he'd take you too so I faked my death, remember when I told Melody and you that day? I decided to keep you and raise you since I couldn't help Melody though I've always wanted to. I also kept my well-being secret too. I knew Melody would try to find me if she knew. She must've come to see you that day. Ben, I don't know what I'm saying, but I'm considering trusting you. You just have to promise me something, okay?" She said looking up at him and into his eyes.

Benjamin felt slightly relieved that Melanie was at least considering trusting him. He wanted to change. He wanted to be the man he used to be before all the mess that had started when his sister died. He looked down into the eyes that haunted him every time he closed his eyes with compassion. "Anything." He said with a grin, encouraging her to tell him the promise.

"You have to promise me you'll at least try to change. I know that may sound self-centered or selfish, but I want you back. And I mean you, the man I first met at the dance so long ago. The nervous and stumbling one who had me wrapped around his finger the moment he said the first sentence." She said with a grin remembering so long ago.

Benjamin chuckled in slight embarrassment recalling the moment. "My hi Benjamin name is." He said making her chuckle at the words.

"Exactly." She said with a smile. She stared into his eyes and she could almost see him, that teenage boy with the nervous smile and awkward stance. She sighed in contentment. Maybe, now things might change. Maybe there'd be peace amongst them. She wasn't saying she wanted her husband back so she could kiss him and other things, but she wanted her friend back. The one that made her feel happy and safe whenever she saw him. The man that her father despised because he knew he would be right for her. She smiled remembering her father. She missed him so much. She wondered if was even still alive. She was glad one thing had been passed down from him and into her family. His chocolate brown eyes; the same color as Melody's were. Her siblings, all three of them, had either blue or green or even hazel eyes. But, through the line, her father had passed down the eyes that made her joyful when she was younger every time he came home from missions before he finally retired. She sighed and looked over at Krista. At that moment, the three heard a loud squeal come from the backyard and Krista smiled when she saw her husband and their children playing. Her oldest, Viktoria, was climbing on him while Jazmine giggled and clapped her hands happily on the ground as she sat on a quilt near the back porch with numerous toys of different shape, size, and color lay around her.

"I think it's time you met your granddaughters, Benjamin." Melanie said taking his lower forearm with her hand.

"My granddaughters?" He asked with a grin and scoff.

"Yes, I think they'll be happy to meet you also. And, you can meet your son-in-law." Krista said with a slight grin and looked up at him. She walked backwards towards the yard then turned when Jazmine laughed happily at her mother's approaching figure.

Benjamin felt his heart skip happily at their sound of joy. At that moment, he vowed to himself to be better than he was with Melody. It was his mistake that made her the way she was, now he was going to pay for that by the pain he felt whenever he thought of her or someone mentioned her name. He hoped it wouldn't last long, the pain at least. He would always remember her and the times where he'd observe her when she was playing outside with Rebecca or some of the children that came with his old military friends. He remembered when she was about five or six and she stood behind him as she watched another child walk away from the facility. She had tried to slip her hand into his at his side. He remembered the hurtful way he forced his hand from hers and the look of pain and sadness in her eyes. He wished he could jump into that memory and grab her from her sorrowful stance. He wished he could tell her how sorry he was for all he had done and tell her that he did love her though he never dared say it then. Maybe things would've been different. Would she have joined Shepherd that day? Would she be happy and smiling when he visited her that day with that Captain MacTavish. He sighed and pushed those thoughts away as he walked into the backyard with Melanie holding his arm in a friendly fashion and Krista holding her youngest daughter and kissing her round, pink cheeks.


A/N: Sorry if it's been a while since I updated. Been busy with school and other crap:) But, what do ya think? Do you think Benjamin will change? Do you think Melody's family will ever learn of her secret and that she's actually alive? Though it may seem obvious, what do you think MacTavish's surprise is? Don't be scared to review and press the little button directly below. VVV it won't bite I promise VVV ;)

Well, you guys are awesome as always and I love ya all! Until next time, bye!