"I don't know, it's just hard you know? Sometimes I just wanna shake her and tell her to remember me, but I know that she's sick and doesn't need that. I just miss her. I'm used to always having her around and with me. I used to call her every night when I was at college or anywhere. I'd give anything to be able to pick up the phone and hear her on the other end. Hear her call me Darlin' like she always did." Jessica said as she brushed by a wild strand of straight, dark hair from her eyes and looked over at her older sister.
They sat calmly on the park bench, the sun peeking in and out at them between the branches and leaves of the trees above them. It was a rather warm, summer afternoon and Jessica knew she was in need of her sister's presence and advice after her previous visit with their mother and the affect it had on her. Michael had helped her greatly, but she needed her big sister's advice. Melanie had always been the mother hen of the Woods children. Though they all teased and brought each other down when they were children and Melanie thought they were all pests when she was a teenager, there was no denying that they all loved each other dearly.
Melanie squinted against the blazing sun as she looked upon her screaming, giggling grandchildren that were running around the playground. When Jessica asked for the right time to meet up with her, Melanie suggested this afternoon at the park since she was going to let the children run some energy out while also meeting her daughter, Melody, when she came by to pick them up.
"I know, Jess. I miss Mom so much. She tried so hard to help me when I first came to her and told her about Benjamin's struggles and the way he was...relieving them. Well, more like she discovered it and demanded every bit of information from me. She didn't like my plan and tried to keep me from doing it, but I didn't listen. I'd give anything also to talk with her and tell her that I was sorry and hoped she didn't take offense from it. But, at least she's not scared or aggressive with anyone like some people are. She's living happy in the home and adores the nurses there, even though she thinks she's leaving the next day when she goes to sleep. We should be happy that she's happy, at the moment. I wish there was something we could do to bring her back, don't get me wrong, but I'm just glad she's not suffering in there." Melanie said as she reached over and patted her sister's hand while also checking on the children from the corner of her eye.
Jessica sighed and shifted her legs, throwing one over the other as she turned herself towards Melanie on the park bench. "You're right...Of course, you're right." Jessica said as she ran a hand through her hair, taking in the warm sensation that danced around her body as the sun poured down on her. Just like her mother, she always adored the outdoors and loved to be in the sun.
"When have I ever been wrong?" Melanie teased with a smug look on her face, a grin stretching at her thin lips.
Jessica rolled her eyes and chuckled softly. "What is with you and Michael today? Always reminding me of my lack of knowledge! I swear, you and Mikey are the most cocky people in our family! Even Dad wasn't that bad! Though, Mom would've said otherwise." She said with a smile on her face as a memory of her parents "arguments" came to mind. She missed their playful banter so much.
"How is Mikey? I know it's gotta be hard on him too. He lost Marcus when he was young and just when there was the possibility of a reconnection, and now with Mom, it's gotta be tough. Mom's been his rock for years." Melanie questioned as she noticed one of her granddaughters walking towards her with an angry, upset expression on her face with her arms crossed tightly across her chest.
"He's doing okay, actually. I think he just enjoys being around Mom more than anything. He hadn't had the chance in a long time. Ever since Carol passed away, he's been a little different, even with Sierra in his life, but there's a bit of joy kicking back in him with Mom in his life again. I think it's doing him some good actually to think back on the good times and listening to Mom's stories, even though he's also reminded of how Marcus treated both him and Mom." Jessica replied with pride in her voice. Michael was always able to pick himself up during tough times better than the rest of their siblings. That was something she was jealous of, actually.
Their attention was interrupted when Gracie came up to Melanie with that glare that Jessica thought would burn a hole through a brick wall.
Melanie grinned at her little granddaughter as she picked her up and placed her on her lap; brushing back the six year old's light brown, tight curly hair from her face. "What's the matter, Gracie-Lou?" She said as she wrapped her arms around the girl's stomach and hugged her tight.
"Noah's being dumb again! He keeps taking my toys away!" She grumbled under her breath, glaring at her baby brother as he laughed and giggled with his older brother.
Melanie glanced over at Jessica with a wry face. She could tell that she was remembering the times when Jessica was the same way about their baby brother, Frankie, when they were young.
"Are you sharing your toys or being stingy?" Melanie countered, looking down at her with an arched brow.
Gracie opened her mouth to speak and slowly closed again, obviously baffled by her grandmother's question. She wanted to refuse the idea, but she also didn't want to lie. "Well...Momma bought those toys for me on my birthday! They're mine no matter what!" Gracie finally said, crossing her arms once again. She was looking and acting more like her daddy every single day. Almost every time Melanie saw John upset, he had his arms crossed tight across his chest with a slight glare set on his face.
"Now, that's not very nice now is it? Your Momma also bought Beckham's toys on his birthday, but you throw a big ole fit when he don't let you play with them. Don't you think you should let Noah play with your toys for a little while so he don't feel so sad like you did?" Melanie suggested, remembering the time Gracie herself was growing through that "mine" stage. Melody was always trying to solve fights every single hour and sometimes would even wake up in the middle of the night because they were still arguing over something. That was also around the time Gracie was learning to crawl out of her crib at night.
Gracie's glare softened slightly as she looked out at her baby brother. He was only three and didn't know that he was stealing from everybody. Her Momma did tell her to play nicely and share with her brothers and sisters while she was with Grandma. She also remembered that Momma was coming to pick them up soon and she didn't want to face her mother's possible wrath should she hear that they weren't playing together nicely.
"Maybe you're right, Grandma. Momma's gonna kill me if I'm not good, anyway." Gracie said as she crawled from her grandmother's lap and pulled out her toy cars and dolls from her pockets and dashed back over to her siblings and cousin.
Melanie chuckled as she watched the little girl nearly throw her toys at her younger brother and watched his face lit up in delight as he completely abandoned the baby doll he was dragging around and pulling on its hair.
"Reminds me of the way Frankie and I were back then. He was always stealing my stuff!" Jessica said with a fake, upset tone, mimicking her great-niece's tone.
Melanie smiled and watched her grandchildren playing again as Noah busied himself with the toy cars and buried them underneath the sand in the sandbox, dug them out again, and repeated the process.
"Yeah, you guys were always arguing about something! It's a good thing Martha was there to straighten you two out when Mom or Dad was too busy with other things." Melanie said with a chuckle, remembering the way she thought her sibling's banter was so annoying as a child.
"Martha and Walter...I miss them, too. They were our grandparents, biological or not. Martha used to scare the living daylights out of us, but she did it in love. I still remember the one time Dad and Walter accidentally broke Martha's old, favorite lamp when they were sneaking around in the garage. I seriously thought Martha was going to explode when she found Walter trying to sneak out the window, leaving Dad with the wild bull, otherwise known as Martha, at the time." Jessica said with a grin, remembering eavesdropping on their parents and Martha and Walter when the children were supposed to be asleep. Their mother and father eventually ended their conversation in laughs and hidden chuckles, fearing that Martha would somehow hear them and waking the sleeping baby, Frankie, at the time, in the room nearest them. Jessica missed seeing her parents like that. She always thought they had such an amazing connection between each other and could carry on a conversation just by looks. Jessica always wished to have a relationship like that with her husband, Roy.
"Walter...He was the greatest. I'm surprised Martha didn't kill him at some point though. You were the one who asked Dad if he and Mom were going to make another baby when they were alone before he left again because you lived to eavesdrop!" Melanie said, remembering the bright red expression on both Frank and Jesselynn's faces when they heard their four year old daughter make such a statement.
Jessica laughed softly, feeling blood rush to her face slightly in embarrassment at the memory. "Yeah, that was bad. I felt bad for Walter though, 'cause he got a lot of the blame for talking like that when little kids were roaming the halls all the time. He was out in the backyard with some of his buddies when I decided to listen in for fun. I was such the brat back then." Jessica replied, remembering Martha chew him out for speaking like that with the children around.
"Was? Back then?" Melanie questioned, a grin teasing her lips as she arched a curious brow.
Jessica rolled her eyes at her sister and mockingly laughed. "Ha ha ha, hysterical. It ain't like you were Ms. Innocent either, Mel. Should I remind you of the time you sneaked out with Ben when you were a teenager? I'm surprised you're still living after Dad got a hold of you." Jessica said with a smug expression on her face as she crossed her arms, a grin stretching her mouth.
"Please, don't remind me. How about this, we were all brats at one point, fair?" Melanie said, scoffing at the memory. She still remarked at her stupidity as a teenager. Then again, she was a teenager. She thought she was knew everything and was smarter than her parents at that age. Boy, was she wrong!
"How is Ben? How're things now that he's back in the picture?" Jessica asked, remembering the shock she and the rest of their siblings felt at the news that Ben was back in their life again.
"Pretty good, actually. The kids love him, he's definitely back to the Ben I fell in love with. Yes, a much older version though. There's still some rough edges, of course, but I would never complain. After all, it could be much worse than how it is now. He and Melody and Krista are getting closer each day. It was hard for Krista, though. She's lived nearly her whole life without a father or father figure that the idea of one is strange, but she's really warmed up to the idea over the years. Ben certainly likes it, too. He's always wanted baby girls to awe over and now he's finally given his chance to connect with the girls." Melanie said with a proud tone in her voice. She was happy with things and how they were turning out. It was, honestly, a little difficult trusting him so easily at first, but after a while, it was so simple and almost instinct to trust him. Just like it had always been; ever since the day she first met him.
"How is Melody doing, by the way? I haven't heard much of them since that whole mess with Beckham. We hadn't had family drama like that since Dad and the whole Menendez thing, after '86." Jessica questioned, remembering her niece's panic and turmoil during the weeks that her baby boy was taken away from her.
"They're doing really good, as well. Beckham has the occasional nightmare, sometimes, but besides that, it's like it never even happened. I think they're all thankful, more than ever, just to have each other around. Especially Christopher. It's hard to break the two apart, actually. I'm surprised he agreed to the idea of staying with Melody and Jamie over the weekend instead of joining Beckham here. Noah here has definitely been a product of that blessing. Melody told me that she and John swore that Gracie was going to be their last baby, but once the drama died down and they realized how close they were to losing each other and their baby boy...Well, I won't get into details, but they definitely started spending a lot more time together, that's for sure. Noah's definitely the spoiled baby of the family and I think Gracie is honestly a little jealous of the attention, even now. John's thinking about retiring along with his friend, Price, for good soon and focusing on the kids. Even though they know that there's no one upset with Melody or their background or actions, he's still nearly terrified to leave them alone anymore. I don't blame him, I remember Dad hating to leave us, but I honestly think he was needed in the army. We had more selfish reasons in nearly demanding that he stay home with us." Melanie said, remembering her daughter's sorrowful, tearful face when they found out that Beckham was taken. It was like she was a ghost amongst them and it broke Melanie's heart into even more pieces of it all.
Jessica was silent as she thought of the times she cried and screamed over her father and the days it came to him leaving when she was a small girl. Looking back at it now, she still wanted him with her all the time, but now she could understand his reasons behind his career, even though his friend, Mason, retired, temporarily, at the time. His team needed him and she knew that she shouldn't try to keep him from doing his job just so she could force him into another one of her normal, childish games.
"Speak of the devil, there she is." Melanie said, unknowingly forcing Jessica out of her current thoughts when a familiar figure started walking towards them, two children following alongside her as they bickered about something, which was normal with the two as they were both getting older.
Jessica smiled and waved at the young woman, who arched both her brows and smiled in surprise at seeing her aunt accompany her mother this time around.
Melanie stood up from the bench and rounded up her little ones, though one had already escaped the group and was sprinting over to his mother, dark brown curls bouncing against his neck and falling into his eyes.
"Mama! Mama!" Noah cried, immediately earning Melody's attention as the toddler chased her down, ignoring his grandmother's slight scolding in the background.
Melody chuckled and scooped her little boy in her arms, happy to see him as well. They had been so busy with Jamie and the boys' summer activities and with John taking the weekend shift to help earn some extra money with school coming around that Melody just couldn't find the time to take care of her little army of children. She was honestly glad that school was just around the corner, now, it'd just be her and Noah at home. Gracie had had a hard time with school last year, so they did homeschooling, but now they knew that she had to be around other people and children than just family, so they were forcing the shy, nervous little girl into school with her older siblings.
Melody walked over to her mother and her aunt, immediately throwing one arm that wasn't supporting the bouncing, excited toddler around Jessica's shoulder in a gentle hug.
"What're doing here? It feels like it's been forever since I seen you last!" Melody said, a smile plastered on her face as Noah played with the strands that were falling from her loose ponytail. It was obvious that she had had a long day. That and the apparent weariness she showed in her face and the way she carried herself as she walked.
"Oh, just taking a trip down memory lane with Melanie, here. I heard you and John were doing well, I am truly glad to hear that." Jessica said.
"Yeah, thanks. Although, I might go insane if school time don't get here sooner! Summer has been hectic this year and I'm definitely looking forward to a little peace and quiet. Then again, I'll probably be the one clinging to them by the time we get to the school. Especially with Gracie, she and Noah are the babies of the family, it's going to be hard not having her at home all the time." Melody said, looking over at Christopher who was already by Beckham's side and talking about their day. Jamie was with Viktoria as they happily conversed about something "private" with each other.
Jessica laughed once. "You're probably gonna be like our mother was. I think she threw a bigger fit than any of the kids when it came time for us to go to school and leave the nest for a couple hours. She was like that with all of us, especially with Melanie and Samuel and Samantha. Melanie was her first baby and it was just the two of them until she was about four. Samuel and Samantha are the babies, too. Samantha was ready to discover new friends, always been the adventurous type, but Samuel was the biggest Mama's boy." Jessica said, remembering her mother's constant babble of last minute advice and commands as her teacher practically ushered her mother out of the door.
"How is she doing anyway? Mom told me about you and Michael visiting her. How...How's she coping?" Melody asked as she felt a hint of sadness at the question. Though she barely remembered her, she missed her grandmother and wished she was well so she could meet her great-grandchildren and so she could reconnect with her as well, before it was too late.
"She's okay, I suppose. She thinks that we're little kids, like your kids' age, but other than that, she's fine. She seems to be happy where she is, though she thinks she'll be home with her babies the next day, every day. We've been asking a lot about her past, how she met Dad, and her time in Vietnam, as a medic. We're not very far along, but I know some new things about their shady past, though." Jessica said, recalling their normal visits.
Melody grinned, repositioning Noah in her arms. "Well, that's good. I think it's a good idea, what you guys are doing. I'm always writing down moments in my life every day. Now a days, I'm more than glad that I collected a lot of my thoughts and memories in a journal during my Military days. I like to look back and share a lot of moments of when John and I first met with the kids. I think that's what you guys should start doing. I hope you don't think I'm trying to tell you how to do this, but I think it'd be a good idea to collect the memories she tells you and tell them to your kids and future grandkids. I think they'd love that. I know I do." Melody advised, looking over and seeing Melanie pull Jamie in a tight embrace and doing her usual routine of marveling at how much they had grown.
Jessica didn't say anything as she let that sink in. Maybe her niece was right; she did certainly have a point. What else was Jessica going to do with this information once she knew it? The new of it would soon go away and she'd easily miss an opportunity to get any last piece of advice and lessons from her mother if she just stuck to the basics...What made her parents' relationship so special anyway? What really brought them closer? What details could her mother remember? She always wanted to know about her mother's and father's past and their past together, so maybe this was the perfect opportunity. That's what she was going to have to do now, she could see that now.
Jessica watched as Melody sat Noah down and started towards her boys, Christopher and Beckham, who were playing around the lake, dipping the legs in it. Jessica smiled as she saw Melody lift them out of the water and scold them both there. She remembered the times she and her brother, Frankie, were always getting into trouble. It seemed to follow them whenever they had a wonderful idea when they played together. It's probably why they fought so much, too. She missed those days and would give anything to have them back. Maybe, once they reached the moment in Jesselynn's life when her children came in, she'd be able to get a taste on that, just once more. Yes, it'd be only a reminisce, but it was better than nothing, she thought.
Jessica grinned one last time at the thought and started to make plans about her next visit with her mother. Now, she was just going to wait to call Michael and enjoy the rest of her day with her family as Melanie waved her over as Melody joined her, keeping a watchful eye on the identical boys who were forced to sit on the park bench partially away from the others. She definitely wanted to be there with her mother and learn about the past, but she knew that she needed to take a break and slip into the present world every now and then.
Hey! I'm back! Sorry about that crazy long wait! Our Internet was turned off at my house because I'm poor :P I couldn't update at my library because they blocked Fanfiction there (stupid library! :P) and I was never able to visit any family or friends with Internet because we were so busy with work, school, and family matters. But, we now have Internet again and that means more updates! Be prepared!
So, I guess, tell me what you think of this little MW Fanfiction cameo(s) and if you would like more like that! I guess I don't have a lot to say besides that, so...yeah :) Oh, thank you for all who have reviewed recently! Thank you so much for even showing interest in this story and giving it a chance after so long of a wait! You guys make my entire day!
Creative Question: What is your take on this story? How do you think things will play out? How do you think Jessica and Michael react to future news? What is your explanation to Jesselynn, Marcus, and then Michael mystery? How do you think Michael came to be since Jesselynn already says she will never be in Marcus' life again? Hmmm...
So looking forward to seeing your answers! I don't normally beg for reviews and answers, but please do review and answer! They help me so much and give me a sense on what you guys think of each chapter and help me update quicker!
Thank you everyone who is still even reading! You have no idea how much this means to me! I love you all and hope you have an amazing day/night! Also, Happy Early Thanksgiving! :D