"Sit down."
Harper was pulled out of her state of disbelief as her father told her to take a seat. She moved toward the chair across from Jack and sat down.
"So how's your mother?" Jack asked.
"She's doing alright," Harper answered, "She's working for the U.N. again, Economic and Social Council this time."
Jack nodded as silence fell between father and daughter. Neither of them knew what to say. What did one say after being estranged for so long? There was so much to talk about and they both knew it but neither of them knew what to say. The silence was so heavy that even when Ianto came in with their coffees, he didn't even bother to say anything. He just left them on the desk and made his exit.
This time it was Harper who broke the silence, "I got your gifts by the way," she said, "Well, all the ones up to my nineteenth at least. You see, Mum tried to hide them from me. Thought I'd ask too many questions, but I found them anyways. Once I moved out I didn't get them anymore. I figure Mum's still hiding them but thanks anyways. The microwave came in handy once I got my own place."
Jack couldn't help but smile. He was amazed that his daughter wasn't ready to kill him after he'd abandoned her and her mother not only once but twice, "I'm sorry," he said, "For leaving. The first time I was scared and the second time…" he trailed off, "I thought you'd both be better off without me."
For some reason Harper had never been able to stay mad at him. She tried hating her father when she was about twelve or thirteen but somehow it just didn't work. Instead she spent her life trying to find out all she could about her mysterious father or trying to get his attention. She felt like she should be furious at him. Hell, he left her mother then came back six years later, then left again after two more. Harper had been too young to understand but her mother never seemed overly bitter about the whole thing. At least she hadn't been around Harper. It was strange. The whole thing was strange. "I'm just happy that I found you," Harper said, "you have no idea how long I've spent trying to find you. So much of my life spent trying to get your attention somehow. I was such an overachiever in school. I thought that maybe if I did well enough that you'd find out and at least make contact with me. Obviously it didn't work but I guess at least I got an International Baccalaureate and a free History degree." Okay maybe there was a hint of bitterness in her tone but Jack had to expect that. Harper was finally realizing, now that she'd found him that in fact she did have some bitter feelings towards him. It made sense in a way. Yet at the same time it was all new and it worried her a bit.
Jack wondered if he should have kept tabs on her after all. He had tried to keep his distance as a way to stop himself from going back again but all those years he had wondered what both Harper and Anna were up to, "an overachiever," he repeated, "just like your mother."
Harper nodded and half smiled, "yup, I guess I sort of followed in her footsteps to a point. Up until I decided to study history. Then figured out that the degree had no value and went back to study architecture. Mum says that I'm pretty damn lucky I got that free ride for my history degree or else she wouldn't be paying for this one."
"I'm sure she's proud of you," Jack said, "I am."
Harper looked up at Jack, stunned. She'd only just met her father for the first time in fourteen years and already he was telling her that he was proud of her. For a second she felt tears of joy welling up in her eyes but she held them in. She was not going to have a sentimental family reunion moment. Not yet. "You mean that?" she said, her voice breaking slightly.
Jack nodded. He could see that it meant a lot for Harper to hear those words. She had probably waited for most of her life to hear them. To hear her father say that he was proud of her. He saw tears starting to form in her eyes, along with the smile on her face. She had her mother's smile, yet something made her different from her mother. Maybe it was just the fact that she was his daughter but still Jack felt like there was something more that differentiated Harper from Anna.
Harper was giving up on the whole keeping it together routine. She genuinely couldn't contain her joy any longer so she let her tears fall freely. "I can't believe I'm crying already," she said, "I told myself I'd keep if together but I just can't. It's just…I've finally found you. After all that searching, all those times I begged my mother to tell me everything she knew about you, I finally did it and part of me isn't sure that it's real but somehow I know it is." She was caught up in a flurry of emotion. It was a sort of emotion that she was unfamiliar with, a weird mixture of happiness, love, success and the smallest bit of bitterness. However that bitterness was killed when she found herself flat out sobbing in her father's arms.
"It's alright," he said, rocking her back and forth as though she was a small child again, "I won't leave you again. I'll stay right here as long as you need."
Those words sounded all too familiar. Even though she couldn't remember everything from when she was younger, she could remember a time when she was seven, hearing words that sounded all too similar. Hearing them again made her bitter, somewhat angry feelings start to rise to the surface again but she found herself almost instantly pushing them to the side. This wasn't her, she wasn't going to hold onto this grudge.
Silence had fallen, all except for the sound of Harper's sobs. The silence lasted until she finally managed to sit up and break away from Jack's embrace, "sorry about that," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. So much for looking half decent.
"It's okay," Jack assured her, looking his daughter right in the eye, "you know what? Once Ianto and Gwen are gone, how about I order some take out, we sit down and just talk about whatever."
Harper smiled, "isn't it a little late for dinner?"
"Ianto said you were standing out there for hours," Jack replied, "I get the feeling you didn't exactly stop for dinner."
"No I didn't exactly do that," Harper said.
Jack smiled and shook his head, "determined, like both your parents."
They waited around for a bit, exchanging pleasantries, discussing architecture. Well, it was Harper who did most of the talking. Jack just chimed in when he could and listened attentively to his daughter. Within a few minutes Ianto and Gwen had gone home so Jack went and ordered chinese. While they were waiting for the food to arrive they migrated down to the couch on the floor of the hub and stayed even once the food had arrived. Neither Jack nor Harper really wanted to go back up to Jack's relatively cramped office.
"So, tell me about everything I've missed in your life," Jack said. He was genuinely curious, he wished he could have been there all those years but he had to put his past mistakes behind him.
"Where do I start?" Harper said, overwhelmed, "I've already pretty much covered my academic life.." she trailed off, opening one of the many boxes in front of them. Where the hell did she start? So much had happened in fourteen years, "Well, you missed a lot of stressing over exams, a few bad breakups…Oh you missed my eighteenth when I got absolutely hammered then got in at three in the morning, apparently singing a very loud, out of tune version of 'Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen'. Mum said she tried to be mad but couldn't help but laugh cause it was just so bad."
Jack admittedly couldn't help but laugh. The father in him said he probably shouldn't be laughing but hell, if Anna had laughed it off he could too. Besides, he was no stranger to the whole getting hammered idea.
"A lot of the typical teenager stuff really," Harper continued, "And now here I am, an unemployed architecture student, living off her mother's diplomat salary," she nodded, wrapping up her extremely condensed autobiographical speech, "I'm happy enough though. I've got a nice place, good friends, I'm loving school and now I've found my father."
"Don't sell yourself short," Jack said, "once you finish architecture school you'll be making a decent salary of your own."
Harper shrugged, breaking apart her chopsticks. She genuinely had no idea why she didn't just ask for a fork. She still had no idea how to use chopsticks, even though many people had tried to teach her how. It just never worked. Yet still, she seemed to have this need to try and use them every single time, just to try and prove that she could.
"You know if you need money, you can let me know," Jack continued, "when you've lived this long, you build up a lot of savings."
"Yeah, alright," Harper responded, absent-mindedly. At this point she was too engrossed in trying to use the chopsticks. As usual it wasn't working and it probably looked ridiculous. She looked up to see her father smiling in amusement at her petty attempt, "okay so I can't use chopsticks. Do you have any forks?"
Jack got up and got Harper a fork. He watched as she took it and practically threw her chopsticks to the side before starting to devour her food. "Someone's hungry," he commented.
"Well when you've been waiting around for hours and you're pretty sure you're about to meet your father who you've been searching for, for a good fourteen years, eating doesn't exactly take priority," Harper responded, "besides, it's not like I could have stomached any food anyways. I felt like I was about to throw up as it was."
"You were that nervous about meeting me?"
Harper nodded, "yes, I was."
"And how do you feel now?"
"Glad that I waited."
There was another long pause, a pause of mutual understanding. They were both glad that they'd met today. Jack looked over at the clock, their dinner had been extremely late. He couldn't let Harper go home alone at this time of night. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to her. "Hey, are you planning on going home tonight?" he asked.
Harper shrugged, "where else would I go?"
"Stay here," Jack suggested. Well, it was more of a parental suggestion, which wasn't really much of a suggestion at all but more of an assertion, "It's late and I would be an even worse father if I just let you walk home at this time of night."
Harper wasn't sure how she felt about the idea. She'd only just met him for the first time in fourteen years. Then again, he was her father and he hadn't really made it sound like she had a choice, "alright, if it'll make you fell better." Why on earth did she feel like she owed him the feeling of security? Why on earth did she owe him anything? She couldn't help but ask herself those questions but in the end she figured that she liked him well enough so for now she would oblige. It was one night, she didn't have classes tomorrow and hell maybe she'd even get a free breakfast out of it that was more than a toaster pastry and fruit loops.
The rest of the night was spent just Jack and Harper talking and eating. Telling each other about stupid things they'd done, weird things they'd seen (though that part was mostly Jack) and cracking stupid jokes. Harper was so far really enjoying hanging out with her father. They seemed to get along so well that Harper nearly forgot about all those lost years. Talking like this made it easy to forget about any bitterness that she may have had. After awhile though, Harper started to become exhausted. Jack was nice enough to let her take his bed while he slept on the couch out in the hub.
"You sure you'll be alright?" Harper asked him, "I mean, I've slept on couches before. Slept on my own a few times, mind you it's covered in blueprints most of the time."
"You've had a big day," Jack said, "you should get a good sleep."
Harper smiled, "okay, as long as you're sure."
"Trust me, I'll be fine. Don't worry." Jack assured her as he headed towards the door, "now get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."
"Okay. Goodnight…Dad."
