Jett was lying in bed listening to the sounds that crept through the Hansen house. She could hear Sig and June downstairs watching tv, Music playing softly from Nina's room, Mandy talking on the phone with her boyfriend, and Edgar snoring across the hall. Jett rolled onto her side and looked at the mural painted on the wall. The lights that crept into the room from passing cars created the illusion that the Northwestern was moving. She rolled back onto her stomach and played with a lose string on her pillowcase. She couldn't believe that she was actually living with Nina. They had originally planned on moving in together after high school but June wasn't too keen on the idea of her daughter moving out. Jett was forced to find a place on her own and bounced around from apartment to apartment for a year. College was not an option for Jett she simply couldn't afford it. Nina on the other hand would have no problem paying for college she just didn't want to go. Jett jumped as a she heard a door open. She heard a rough cough and knew it was Edgar. Jett listened to the floorboards creak as he made his way to the bathroom. She was extremely fascinated by Edgar and couldn't place why. It wasn't because he was on TV she had known Sig far too long to think that reality stars weren't normal people. Undeniably Jett thought he was attractive. He was the average good looking man but the way he carried himself made him much more than average. Still, that wasn't what had Jett so fascinated. 'It's because he's cool.' Jett told herself, 'It's nothing more than that.'
She closed her eyes and within minutes fell asleep.

"Wake up!" Nina yelled as she jumped up and down on Jett's bed. Jett slowly opened her eyes and groaned as she sat up. "What time is it?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes. "Its 9:00." Nina replied as she jumped up and landed cross legged on the bed.
"What time do we have to be at work? 10:30?"
Nina nodded and twirled her hair around her finger. Jett crawled out of bed and pulled a pair of gray skinny jeans, a cut off Quiet Riot t-shirt, and her converse out of one of her suitcases. Nina brought her a towel and she hopped in the shower. The last thing Jett was looking forward to was going to work. It was a Tuesday and the record store was bound to be dead since most of their customers would be at school. More than likely she and Nina would spend the majority of the day sorting CDs and sitting on the counter talking. Jett quickly washed and got out of the shower. She quickly dressed and applied a fair amount of eye liner. Jett pulled her wet hair onto her shoulder and exited the bathroom. She walked directly into Edgar and almost stumbled. Edgar grabbed her arms to keep her from falling. "Woah tiger." He said with a smile.
"I'm sorry." Jett said uncomfortably.
"Don't worry about it Kid." Edgar said before continuing to walk down the hall. Jett watched him disappear into his room and shook her head. 'Nice one Jett.' She thought to herself as the image of her walking into him replayed in her head. Jett walked into Nina's room where she was sitting on the floor applying makeup. Jett sat down on the floor across from her and smiled as she watched her friend apply foundation, blush, eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, and lip stick. The girls had very different styles when it came to make up. Jett only wore eyeliner and lip stick while Nina wore a lot of everything. Jett had always thought Nina was way too beautiful to cover her face up with all of that make up but Nina didn't see what Jett saw. In reality both girls held a small amount jealousy for one another. Jett wished she had Nina's curves and ability to exude confidence. Nina was always demanding and got exactly what she wanted. Nina wished her body was toned and graceful like Jett's. Jett had a way of making guys fall for her without even trying that Nina had always wished she possessed. Each one thought the other was the most beautiful girl on the planet.
"You ready?" Jett asked when Nina closed her makeup box.
"Unfortunately." Nina replied.
Jett laughed and stood up. She grabbed her bag from her room and then met Nina downstairs.
"Bye dad!" Nina yelled as they exited the left the house. They climbed into Nina's car and sped down the street. Nina blasted the radio and they spent the drive singing and making fun of the artists they hated.

At 3:30pm Edgar picked up his keys and then headed downstairs. "Where are you going?" Sig asked as he walked past him. "To go see my kids." Edgar replied.
Sig ran his hand through his thinning blond hair, "Good luck."
"Yeah. I'm sure I'll need it."
Sig shook his head and then walked into the living room. Edgar quickly hopped in his truck and drove to what should have been his house. He drummed his fingers anxiously against the steering wheel and prayed that Louise wouldn't act like she was completely out of her mind. There was no way he was going to let Louise take his kids away. If she really did file for custody he would fight her with everything he had every step of the way. Edgar honked his horn a few times as he pulled into the driveway. Immediately his youngest son Logan's face appeared in the window. Logan smiled and waved excitedly before disappearing from the window. Edgar felt an aching in the pit of his stomach as the front door swung open and Logan raced down the driveway. There was nothing Edgar hated more than being away from his kids. Edgar plastered a smile on his face and stepped out of the car. He lifted his son into the air and ruffled his hair. "How are you little man?" Edgar asked. Logan pulled at Edgar's facial hair and smiled, "I drew a picture of a dinosaur eating a shark at school today."
Edgar laughed, "Did you bring it home for me to see?"
"Yes but Stefanie ripped it."
Edgar frowned, "Why would she do that?"
"Cuz I bit her on the leg."
Edgar chuckled, "Where are Stefanie and Erik?"
"Stefanie is in the backyard and Erik is playing a game in his room."
Edgar nodded and sat his son back down on the ground.
"Daddy?" Logan said hopefully.
"What?"
"Can you tell Erik to let me play his game too?"
"I'll see what I can do."
Logan grabbed Edgar's hand and pulled him inside the house. Louise appeared from the kitchen with her arms folded. "Hey Louise." Edgar said already exercising volume control. "Edgar." She replied sourly. Edgar crouched down in front of Logan, "Why don't you go out back and tell your sister I'm here."
"Roger." Logan replied before running out of the room. Edgar laughed and stood back up. As soon as his eyes landed on his wife the smile was wiped off of his face. "What do you want Edgar?" She asked coldly. "Don't worry I'm not here to see you. " Edgar replied, "I just want to see my kids. I have to make sure they don't hate me since I'm sure you've been filling their heads with lies about how horrible a man I am."
Louise unfolded her arms and placed her hands on her hips. "I don't have to lie. They can see it with their own eyes. They don't understand why everyone else doesn't have daddies who are gone for months out of the year."
"I'm doing my job Louise! If it weren't for me being gone you would have this big house that you love so much. Or all those expensive clothes that you just had to have. I'm a damn good father and you can't tell me otherwise."
"Well you better spend as much time with them as possible because I haven't changed my mind. I'm still taking you to court."
"You aren't taking my kids away."
"Do you really think the courts are going to award custody to someone who's never here? Especially an alcoholic." For the first time in his life Edgar had the incredible urge to hit a woman. It was true that Edgar was a recovering alcoholic, but he hadn't so much as touched a drink in almost two years. Edgar opened his mouth to retort angrily but was drowned out by his daughter. "Daddy!" Stefanie yelled as he raced in from the back yard. She jumped into Edgar's arms and he spun around her around a few times. "How are you princess?" He asked. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and looked down at him."I miss you daddy." She said softly.
"I miss you too sweetie. Did you have fun at school today?"
"No."
Edgar chuckled, "Why not?"
"Alan Mchardley pulled my hair and called me ugly."
"Uh oh." Edgar replied with a smile, "You know what that means don't you?"
"What?"
"It means he has a crush on you."
Stefanie's eyes widened and she squirmed out of his arms. "Daddy that's gross!" She said as she placed her hands on her hips. Edgar laughed and ruffled her hair, "It's true."
Edgar kissed her on the cheek and then headed upstairs. His heart was racing. While Stefanie and Logan were too young to really understand what was going on his eldest son Erik knew exactly what was going on and was furious with Edgar because of it. Edgar rapped on Erik's door and impatiently waited for his son to respond. "What?" Erik yelled. Edgar slowly opened the door and stepped inside. "Hey Erik."
Erik's eyes narrowed, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you." Edgar said as he sat down on the bed next to Erik.
"Whatever."
"I miss you Erik."
"No you don't." Erik spat.
"Why would you think that?"
"If you cared about me you wouldn't have left."
Edgar shook his head. Clearly Louise didn't tell Erik that she was the one who filed for divorce.
"You're mom and I have some stuff to work out, but I would never leave you. I'm only a phone call away Erik. I can be here in ten minutes if you need me."
"I don't want you to get a divorce." Erik said softly.
Edgar wrapped his arms around his son and held him close. "I'm sorry Erik but not all marriages last forever. You'll still always have me and your mother. Both of us love you and your little brother and sister more than anything."
Louise was completely out of her mind if she thought he would ever allow her to take his kids from him. He would never in a million years do something like that to her, so how could she do it to him?

An hour later Edgar was in his truck driving back to Sig's house. It had been incredibly hard for him to leave. Logan cried and held onto his leg with every ounce of strength he had, Stefanie climbed into his truck and sat there with her arms crossed until Louise came and dragged her out, and Erik watched him get into the truck sullenly from his bedroom window. Edgar was furious. How could Louise be so selfish? How could she not see how she bad their kids were hurting? Despite everything Edgar loved her. He was not in love with her. He hadn't been in love with her for years, but he had the kind of love for her that all fathers had for the women who gave them their children. Edgar pulled into Sig's driveway and slowly stepped out of the car. He walked inside and found Sig sitting in his office working on his laptop. Sig glanced up at his brother as he entered the room, "How'd it go?" Sig asked.
"I hate leaving them." Edgar replied.

"Finally!" Jett said excitedly as she climbed back into Nina's car. It had been another long boring day at the record store. It was completely dead until 4:00PM and then they were jam packed until 6:00PM. "I'm starving!" Nina said as her stomach rumbled loudly. Jett laughed and rubbed her stomach, "Me too."
"We should cook tonight for everyone."
Jett raised her eyebrows, "what should we cook?"
"I don't know. Chicken tacos?"
"Mmmm ok."
They stopped at the grocery store to get ingredients and then headed home.

"We're home!" Nina yelled as she slammed the door shut. June appeared at the foot of the stairs and smiled, "Must you always slam the door?"
Nina shrugged, "at least you know it's always me."
"What's in the bags?"
"Jett and I are cooking chicken tacos."
"That's nice of you. Mandy and I already ate but your dad and uncle haven't."
"You better eat some of these tacos mom!" Nina called as her mom disappeared back up the stairs.
Jett followed Nina into the kitchen and felt immediately felt nervous when she spotted Edgar and Sig leaning against the counter each holding a beer. Jett noticed that Edgar looked unhappy and wondered what happened to him. 'It's none of your business.' She told herself.
"How was work?" Sig asked.
"Horrible." They replied in unison.
"We're cooking chicken tacos." Jett added with a smile. She made eye contact with Edgar and quickly looked at Sig instead. Sig laughed, "Oh really? Well I better take some medicine for food poisoning ahead of time."
"You're going to love our cooking." Nina said while crossing her arms.
"Highly unlikely." Sig responded with a laugh.

"Ok ok so maybe you two can cook after all!" Sig said as he finished his fourth taco. "Told you!" Nina said triumphantly. "What do you think Edgar?" Jett asked with a smile. Edgar cleared his throat and wiped his mouth before responding. "They're ok."
Jett raised an eyebrow, "Only ok?"
"Yep." Edgar said smacking his lips.
"Maybe I'll have to make something else for you one day. I don't want you to think my cooking is just ok."
"I'll hold you to that."
Jett felt herself blush and quickly looked down at her plate. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' She wondered. Nina's uncle definitely shouldn't have been making her blush.

That night Jett tossed and turned for hours. Even though she felt exhausted she just couldn't fall asleep. In the end she threw the blankets off of herself, pulled on a jacket and boots, grabbed her pack of cigarettes and crept downstairs. Jett eased the door open and slipped outside. The cold night air stung her face but it was oddly pleasant. Jett lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. She Immediately felt relaxed. She watched the cars pass by and wondered what the people inside were thinking and talking about. "Those things will kill you."
Jett jumped and turned around to see Edgar easing the front door closed.

Jett cocked her head to the side. "Do you want one?" She asked.
"Absolutely." Edgar replied. Edgar saw her face redden as his fingers brushed against hers while she handed him a cigarette but he assumed he imagined it. He quickly looked her up and down and had to force himself not to lick his lips. She was wearing a mens' Johnny Cash t-shirt that almost went to her knees, a leather jacket, and her cowboy boots. She officially could make anything look good. "What are you doing out here?" He asked.
"I couldn't sleep." She replied, "You?"
"Same."
Edgar sat down on the porch steps and lit his cigarette. He inhaled deeply and signaled Jett to sit down to him. She immediately complied and gave him a small smile.
"So," Edgar said after a few moments, "What was Russia like?"
Jett wrinkled her nose, "I always hated it. Even when I was little I knew I didn't belong there."
"Why did you hate it?"
"There was just a lot of crime. I was scared to go outside and play. I would just watch the other kids play from my window." Jett laughed and took a drag off of her cigarette,"They wouldn't have wanted me to play anyway."
Edgar's eyebrows furrowed, "Why not?"
"They all called me krasivaya devushka. Ugly girl. All the girls where I lived had beautiful blond hair and blue eyes." Jett smiled, "Like Nina. And I had black hair and eyes that looked like factory smoke."
"Jett you're beautiful. All those little girls were just jealous."
Jett bit her lip and Edgar could tell that he had embarrassed her. 'Great she thinks your some creepy old man.'
"Thank you." Jett said softly.
"It's true."
"Umm...When Nina and I got home from work you seemed sad. Are you ok?"
Edgar was taken aback. That was the last thing he had expected her to say and he didn't know how to respond.
Jett placed her head in her hands, "I'm so sorry! I don't know why I said that it's none of my business."
Edgar smiled, "It's ok don't worry about it. I... uh went to see my kids today and it's just hard to leave them. I never thought I'd be getting a divorce."
"I'm sorry Edgar."
He shrugged, "It's not your fault. I should have been around more. Between work and all this TV shit I'm never home."
Jett shifted uncomfortably and Edgar wished he hadn't made the situation so awkward.
"What are your kids like?" Jett asked.
A wide smile spread across his face, "I'm so lucky I ended up with three amazing kids. Erik just turned 13 and he's just like me. So stubborn and sarcastic. I see myself in him I just hope he makes something better of himself. Stefanie is 9 and still thinks boys are gross thank god. Nobody can make me smile like that little girl can. Then there's Logan he's 4 and sometimes he reminds me of Sig. Once he's set on something its damn near impossible to change his mind."
Jett smiled, "You really love them."
"With all my heart." He replied.
"You're an amazing father. I can tell."
"Nah they deserve better."
"I would have given anything to have a father that cared about me the way you care about your kids. Don't sell yourself short Edgar."
Edgar turned to look at her and leaned in closer to her. Jett was so beautiful he couldn't stand it. Those eyes were driving him crazy. They were telling him to kiss her. Jett leaned in so that they were dangerously close. It would be so easy to capture her lips with his. 'No this is wrong!' Edgar pulled back and scratched his head. "Uhh. It's late I'm going to head inside." Edgar stood up and walked over to the door, "You should probably come inside too." 'What the hell is wrong with me?'
Edgar asked himself as he quickly walked up the stairs. 'She. Is. A. Kid!' Edgar closed the door and quickly got into bed. 'From now on I'm staying the hell away from that girl.'

Jett stood up and crept inside feeling disappointed. For a moment she had thought that Edgar was going to kiss her. 'You imagined it.' She told herself, 'Why the hell would he kiss you?' Jett crawled into bed but was still unable to sleep. She laid there for hours trying to keep herself from thinking about Edgar and telling herself that she did not have a crush on him. Due to the lack of snores from across the hall Jett knew she wasn't the only one lying awake.

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