I own nothing - Except original characters (Andrew + Ellis Johnson)
Five years later
It was years later, upon her ninth birthday that Ellis first met ten-year-old Jack, and she was surprised to see how different he was to his adopted brothers. He was very quiet, he isolated himself and seemed to cower away from trouble instead of running towards it. Jack had been living with Evelyn for nine months; and in that time Andy and Ellis had not visited Detroit, as Jack struggled to settle in and Evelyn didn't want him overwhelmed by strangers. Andy easily understood this, especially after Evelyn told him of all the horrible things past foster parents had done to the young boy. But Ellis, on the other hand, didn't understand why she couldn't visit Evelyn and the boys, which only caused her to feel low and dejected.
When Andy received a call from Evelyn, the week before Ellis' birthday, asking if they would like to visit, he was relieved. He didn't like seeing his daughter so sad, and believed that this would be just the news she wanted. So, a week later the two found themselves at Evelyn's house, Ellis rambling on to Andy about all the things she needed to tell everyone.
"I need to tell Evelyn about my spelling test last week and then I'll tell Bobby all about that stupid boy Peter, he'll beat him up for me right Dad?" Andy laughed, and lead Ellis to the houses front door, opening it and letting the two of them into the Mercer house, just like they did any time they visited. The first person they came across was Bobby, who was immediately excited to see them.
"Hey little ass-kicker! Happy Birthday!" He shouted as he picked Ellis up, spinning her around as she laughed. Upon hearing commotion Evelyn came down the stairs, smiling when she saw the interaction between Bobby and Ellis. The young girl jumped out of Bobby's arms and ran to Evelyn, hugging the elder woman, who wished her a happy birthday.
"Me and Daddy have missed you all so much!" Ellis said excitedly.
"We missed you too sweetheart." Evelyn replied, and then looked over at Andy, "But Jack's all settled in now, so you're welcome to visit whenever you want. Talking of which, I think you should meet him. Follow me." Andy put his and Ellis' bags down by the coat rack and then held his hand out to Ellis who took it and then followed him and Evelyn upstairs. They arrived at a door which was closed, and Evelyn knocked on it, calling out to Jack.
"Come in." A low voice replied. Evelyn opened the door and stepped into the room, Andy and Ellis following. On the far side of the room was a desk and at it, sat a young boy, who Ellis presumed to be Jack. After finishing what he was writing, he looked over at them and smiled slightly.
"Jack, sweetie, these are the people I told you about, Andy and Ellis, come and say hello." Evelyn spoke softly, and Jack stood, walking over to the three of them. He looked over at Andy first and smiled,
"It's nice to meet you, sir." He spoke politely, holding his hand out to the older male.
"It's nice to meet you too Jack, but please just call me Andy." Andy replied, shaking the young boys hand. Jack nodded and then turned to Ellis, who had a sour look upon her face. If this boy was Jack, then from what she knew from her father, it was because of him that she hadn't been able to visit Evelyn or the boys. It was because of him that it had been almost a year since she last visited Detroit.
"Hi I'm Jack, you must be Ellis, I've been looking forward to meeting you." He said, once again holding his hand out.
"Well, that's nice but I don't like you, I haven't seen Evelyn for months and that's all your fault. Jack." She replied, ignoring his hand. Andy gasped at her choice of words, but Ellis didn't seem to understand what was so shocking about it. Evelyn and Andy looked at each other, and Andy smiled apologetically,
"Tell her." Evelyn mouthed, looking down at the young girl who was glaring at Jack. Andy lead Ellis out of Jack's room and into Evelyn's bedroom, lifting her up and sitting her upon the bed. She looked back at her Dad, confused about what was going on.
"I want you to listen to what I'm about to say, do you understand that?" Andy spoke, taking Ellis' hands in his own. The young girl looked back at her father, her wide green eyes staring back at him. She recognised that her father's tone was serious, and therefore knew that the upcoming conversation was going to be a consequential one. Andy took a deep sigh and then looked at his daughter.
"Just like Bobby, Jerry and Angel, Jack has been adopted by Evelyn. Some children are left behind by their real parents, so other people choose to take care of them. But some of these people, they aren't good and they don't look after the children properly." Andy started, and Ellis just nodded, keeping silent.
"And then sometimes, these people would hurt the children. Bobby, Jerry, Angel and Jack have all lived with people who hurt them; who would hit them and throw them around. Eventually Evelyn finds the boys, and she treats them nicely and she takes care of them. But by time they meet Evelyn, they've seen so much bad, they can't recognise the good. Do you understand?"
"I understand." Ellis said, the stories of bad people, bringing tears to her eyes. Andy wiped the tears from her cheeks and then kissed each of them.
"So, that's why we couldn't visit Evelyn. Jack had seen so much worse that he needed a little more time to get used to having a good family. So, we had to wait a while so that Jack could feel happy and safe here. You know I love you very much and so does Evelyn, but Jack isn't used to people loving him like you are, he just needed time was all." Andy finished. Ellis nodded and jumped down from the bed.
"I think I need to say sorry. I wasn't very nice to Jack, just like those bad people." She explained to her Dad, who looked at her in confusion. Andy smiled at his daughter, feeling proud that she had understood what he had said, and that what she had said was wrong. Andy kissed her hair, telling her that he was very proud of her and that he loved her.
"I love you too Daddy." She spoke and then walked over to Jack's bedroom, where she saw the boy sat on his bed as Evelyn comforted him. Ellis saw that he had been crying and she felt very bad. She walked further into the room and stood in front of the boy, smiling sadly at him as she herself, tried not to cry.
"I am very sorry for the mean thing I said. My Daddy told me about how the people were bad to you and I'm sorry for that too. But Evelyn, she is very nice and she'll look after you like she looked after my Daddy." Ellis explained, her voice stuttering as a few tears fell from her eyes. Jack smiled at Ellis,
"It's okay, you didn't know." He looked over at Evelyn, who nodded at him. While Andy was explaining Jack's situation to Ellis, Evelyn was talking to Jack. She told him that Ellis was only young and she didn't understand a lot, and then told him that he should forgive her. Evelyn then told him that he should make a peace offering to Ellis, telling him that she believed that he and Ellis could be very good friends.
"Would you like to see my guitar?" Jack asked as he pointed at a black bag which was sat at the foot of his bed. Ellis looked over at the bag and then back at Jack, nodding.
"Yes please." She spoke, wiping away her tears, attempting a smile. Evelyn then left the room, leaving the two kids to get to know one another and spend time together. Andy stood outside the room and smiled at Evelyn, who just smiled back.
"Come on Andy, let's go get a drink and you can tell me about this new job position of yours." She spoke, both briefly looking back at the two children; Jack was playing guitar and Ellis was watching with admiration.
Evelyn was right about Jack and Ellis, the two children quickly becoming good friends. Every time Ellis was in Detroit she spent ninety percent of her time with Jack, who always looked forward to the Johnson's visits. Both had plenty of friends at school, but they were each other's best friends, talking to each other at least once a week. Andy calling Evelyn once a week to catch up on each other's lives turned into Ellis and Jack talking for hours. But neither of the adults minded, knowing that their children had found a friend for life.