A/N: See? It only took me A YEAR to update! Happy Anniversary! Yikes! But we got what we wanted, right? Great season, Eureka. Great season.
Jack Carter was confused; something that happened often in a town like Eureka, but never something he liked to admit if he could help it. And this time it wasn't due to a genetically-altered super plant or a rogue smart house. But as he took a seat back on the couch he wondered if he'd rather take that sort of confusion over what he was feeling now.
The source of the sheriff's disconcertment was upstairs tending to a riled newborn. Allison Blake. It always came back to Allison…and this evening with her seemed to cement that fact. It was comfortable and intriguing—and now that he'd had a little time to digest what Dr. Blake had done to get Zoe into her program—it was gratitude.
Where Carter's confusion came from was understanding how easily he was getting over Tess. He realized that maybe she'd just been a distraction all along. If Jack delved deeper, he might even wonder if his involvement with Tess was subconsciously motivated by a desire to make Allison just a little bit jealous. It didn't work. At all. Or so it seemed.
Dr. Blake was taking longer than was usually needed to soothe a child back to bed. Jack ventured up the stairs, eager to lend a helping hand if he could. The door to the nursery was open enough to reveal Allison and Jenna in the rocking chair. The back and forth swaying motion was rather hypnotic so it took Carter a second longer to notice Allison was half-exposed as she fed the infant, a cover-up blanket forgotten in her perceived seclusion. It was a breathtaking portrait and Jack found himself falling between desire and heartwarming sentimentality.
Allison was humming softly as Jenna was intently getting her final meal of the day. Jack softly knocked and was standing in the room before he knew what he was doing. Allison looked up and didn't let the shock she felt emanate through her body and disturb Jenna. Instead she shot Carter a "what the hell are you doing?" glare. Jack didn't care, he shrugged and came closer.
"Hey there, sweetie." He stroked Jenna's head, already thick with baby fuzz. Her sucking fervor increased at the sound of his voice. "Hey to you too," he let his hand caress Allison's long, dark hair. "I'm just going to go ahead and tell you this right now since you can't really jump up and smack me," Jack whispered, moving behind the rocker to block the very distracting view of Allison's exposed breast. "This is what I want. You, me, Jenna, Kevin—Zoe when she's home from college—it's all I've ever wanted." He took a deep breath. "I want to be your family." Pretty sure you read that in a Hallmark card, eh Jack?
"Would you mind waiting downstairs while I finish up?" Jack wasn't able to tell by her hushed tone whether she was pissed or not. He decided not to push his luck and left the room after one last caress of Jenna's rosy cheek.
As Carter made his way down the stairs he thought he'd either ruined any chance of happiness with Allison or opened a door that wouldn't easily be closed again. The five minutes he'd been sitting on the couch were the longest of his life. Finally, Allison made her way down the stairs, her robe tightly secured around her waist. She sat next to Carter.
"Ally, look, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable—" Allison stopped his apologies with a finger across his lips.
"I want that too, Jack. I've wanted it for a long time." She smiled. "It may be the post-partum emotions talking, but—" Jack stopped her rationalization with a kiss.
"We'll make it work, Allison. If we can't, no one can. Unless, of course, Stark rematerializes…" Allison rolled her eyes and was content to just lie in his arms while the house was silent. God knows how long it would last.
A/N2: Sorry it was short, I rushed it when I realized today was the year mark. Hopefully some more current JALLISON stories to come…