Acceptance

Jack looked up at him scared trying to bite back the tears. He wanted to be brave and strong for him but he'd never seen his dad like this. His dad had never shouted at him or held him this tight not even when they were reunited twice. Had he done something wrong? All he'd done was hold his dad and all he'd wanted was to ask what had upset his dad and if he was alright. Had something made his dad angry?

"I'm sorry, dad," he gulped emotionally. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to make you better."

Seeing the tears and fear and hearing the emotion in his son's eyes he felt everything crashing down on him again. What had he just done! The tears that had been biting behind his eyes now came to the forefront of them. He'd never meant to do that to his son. Never in his right mind would he yell or hurt Jack. As Jack took his arm from him and he noticed the white marks where he'd just grabbed him forcefully his tears became more forthcoming as he saw he'd done both.

God, he needed help! He couldn't stay like this. He couldn't turn away from his children. They needed him as much as he needed them. They were the only thing pulling him away from the darkness currently. They were all he had. He was single and he highly doubted the man he loved, though he'd never left his side while he was in the hospital, loved him back as much as he did him. He couldn't let them lose him to the feelings he yet hadn't been able to control or the nightmares. He couldn't let Norwood win. The only good thing to come from Norwood was Abby and he couldn't let her lose her true father. She'd already lost her mother at the merciless hands of a psychopath in the name of 'his experiment'. She couldn't lose her father too. Neither could his son who'd also lost his mother to the merciless hands of a psychopath.

He held Jack close to him and placed his hand on his back trying desperately hard to keep his tears inside. He couldn't cry in front of his son. He had to be strong for his little boy. "Oh buddy, I'm so sorry, I never meant to shout at you," he replied trying to keep the tears in. "You never made me upset. You never could. You always make me feel better."

"Really?" Jack asked nervously.

"Really," he answered smiling a little. "Buddy, I never meant to take my anger out on you or scare you..."

"I know, dad, I understand. It was because of what the bad man did to you, isn't it?" He nodded looking down but Jack broke out of the hug and lifted his dad's chin with his hand. "You need to speak to somebody, dad."

"I know, buddy," he replied looking down.

"Dad, you've got to speak to them soon. If you don't it'll only worsen your anger and it'll only upset you further."

"I know, buddy, and I will. I want to get better for you and your sister."

"I'm glad but, dad, you've also got to get better for yourself. You've got to feel good about yourself because you're a good guy and I want you to be happy."

"You and your sister make me very happy," he replied with a slight smile and tears in his eyes. When he saw his son beam up at him he smiled even more.

"Will you eat your food now, dad?"

"Of course," he replied as Spencer pushed the meal back in front of him.

He looked around a little nervously then tucked in feeling a little guilty that no-one else had anything to eat. He tried to offer a bite to everyone else but they turned it down assuring him they weren't hungry. Dave and Spencer assured him they'd eaten in the cafeteria while he was asleep while Jessica assured him that she and Jack had eaten before they'd come. The only one who hadn't eaten yet was too young to have a bite of his food.

Once he'd finished Spencer called the nurse to take the empty plate away and bring a bottle for Abby. She beamed when she saw the finished plate and agreed to bring the bottle straight away. Dave placed the baby into Aaron's arms while Jack sat up close to them both smiling down at his little sister. Aaron smiled as every time Jack saw Abby he became more and more attached to her.

Once the bottle came Abby looked up at the bottle while her father shifted her into his right arm. He then took the bottle in his left hand and placed the nipple into his daughter's mouth. As soon as the nipple of the bottle was in her mouth she started sucking on it greedily. Aaron smiled at both his children with tears in his eyes as she carried on feeding off the bottle and his son gently stroked the hairs on the top of her head. There was no way he could leave either one of them.

Soon it was time for Jack and Jessica to leave so he hugged his dad carefully and kissed his baby sister's forehead. "I'll be back tomorrow," he assured while Jessica nodded. "Dad, please speak to someone. It'll help the nightmares go away just like when I lost mum."

He smiled and assured him he would as soon as possible. The last thing he could lose was his family. He needed them more than anything and the last thing he could do was push them all away like he'd tried to. He needed help; he saw that. It was the only way of letting Norwood take his mind again.

Tears filled his eyes as he remembered the day Norwood had finally broken him. It wasn't even waking up to find his testicles had been replaced with a vagina against his permission. It was a few days later. In shock and despair over what he'd done to him he'd refused to eat after he'd found he'd been turned into a woman against his will. He'd wanted to kill himself. There was no way he could have carried on living like that. Even that hadn't broken him. No it had been when Norwood had climbed on top of him ,as his body was still adjusting to the mutilation he'd forced upon it, and raped him repeatedly. He just hadn't been able to take it any longer and he let his mind wander far away from him. He'd just become Norwood's puppet and 'prized experiment' until his team had come to remind him exactly who he was and had given him the strength to free himself and rid the world forever of one Dr Stephen Norwood.

Jack seeing the tears hugged his dad close again, being careful of his sister, and whispered, "Dad, it's all over now and he can never hurt you again. It'll all get better, promise. You're home now and we're all going to help you."

Aaron pulled back and gently holding his baby in one arm he traced his hand down the side of his son's face asking softly, "What did I ever do to deserve a son as good as you?"

Jack looked at him concerned and took his free hand. "Dad, you're a hero," he said gently. "You've saved many people including me. Never forget that."

He smiled slightly and nodded, "I won't."

Once they'd left Dave turned to him and asked, "Why don't we get you a haircut? It might help you feel more like yourself and I could get my barber to come into the hospital to cut it for you. I've gone to him for over twenty years."

"I'd like that," Aaron smiled a little more. It would feel good to lose all this hair and have his old haircut back. Dave was right it would make him feel more like himself and maybe even shake off the last remnants of the woman he'd been forced to be. The only things remaining would be his precious daughter and the scars left behind. Abby was the only silver lining in all this and he'd never turn against her. It wasn't her fault how she'd been created. The scars would fade in time and he'd learn to adapt to them just like he had the ones Foyet had left.