Part Thirteen:

Jack Bristow stood in the shadows as he watched his daughter play with his granddaughter. He smiled as Sydney held Abby up above her head, simulating an aeroplane.

"Woosh!" He heard Sydney exclaim as she moved Abby around up in the air. Giggles erupted from the young girl.

Their small little family had come a long way in the last three years. Looking back on when Sydney had been first born, he'd never have thought that he'd be a grandfather at such a young age. He loved Abby with all of his heart and if he had to choose between a life with or without her, he'd have chosen the path that would lead to her arrival.

A teen pregnancy had never been something that he had factored into his daughter's life. He was sure Sydney hadn't either. From his vantage point, he saw the whole ordeal through the eyes of a protective father. He knew how he felt and he was sure, through the actions of others, the way everyone else felt. Laura, he knew, was ecstatic over the fact they had a baby in the house. Of course at the time that it all occurred, she'd experience periodic breakdowns at night in their bed. He'd roll over and hold her tight against his chest in an effort to show support and his strength. It took a lot to not let her feel his body shudder with his own tears. He figured, though, she'd known either way.

On those nights, he knew why Laura was crying. She didn't need to tell him. It was the same reason he had sometimes found himself sitting at his desk at work staring at nothing of importance, not really thinking at all about what he should have been. His tears, he found, would slowly trail down his cheeks when he'd lock himself in his bedroom after watching his daughter struggle to bend over, or when she would fold the baby clothes that she'd bought with her well-earned money. His guilt over not being able to help her more tore through his very soul.

She'd refused any financial help for a while; Abby's father was helping as much as he could. Laura and he had discussed it many a times, when the car was being washed, when they'd be doing laundry, fixing the sink. It didn't matter what they were doing, they'd be discussing Sydney's stubbornness to accept their help. Blame was set on both of them. She'd inherited her father's reasoning and her mother's stubbornness. Both traits had worked against them this time.

"Mommy!" Abby squealed with delight as Sydney began tickling her mercilessly.

Jack looked at his watch checking the time. 4:45pm. Abby and Sydney time. Every day, be it weekday or weekend, Sydney had always made a point of spending time with her daughter. Weekdays were harder to spend time with her, but some days she refused to come down for dinner, as she'd have to make up for the time she'd lost when she'd spent a half-hour more with Abby.

Jack was saddened by this. The fact that she had to schedule in time for her daughter. He knew Sydney loved Abby more than anything in the world, but Sydney was set on creating the best future for her daughter, and studying sometimes had had to come before Abby. He's seen the depressed and miserable expression she'd wear after realising that she couldn't spend alone time with Abby. School holidays were too few and too far in between to allow her time to make it up to Abby.

Francie Calfo and Will Tippin were heading down in a few weeks, and Jack couldn't be happier to see The Three Musketeers together again at last. Through everything that had happened from Abby's conception to this point in time, Francie and Will had been her true friends. The ones Sydney could count on for the much needed support and encouragement only they could provide.

They were sure to have a packed house full of laughter and giggles, fighting and trickery. Jack couldn't wait. He knew Laura was excited. The three of them had sat down months ago to decide on moving. They'd made a list of pro's and con's together and decided that although they'd all miss Francie and Will, they knew that for Sydney, they had to move. They left the decision entirely up to Sydney, secretly hoping she'd agree to move. If she hadn't said yes, Laura and he would still have supported her every way possible. Sydney had fortunately agreed. She justified her leaving her friends with a simple, "It's not good bye, it's cya later." Jack was sure she'd gotten that from a movie.

"Are you ticklish?" Jack heard Sydney ask her daughter with a laugh and tickle around her chin.

Jack smiled before leaving the two alone.

"Mom told me you accepted the extra credit." Jack said digging his fork into the lasagne on his plate.

Sydney turned her head to glance at her dad before returning back to helping feed her daughter. "Yeah. He said that I might not have to go to some of the classes. Which is good cause they're usually in the mornings. Means I can spend a little time with Abby in the mornings as well."

"Well, congratulations. I'm very proud of you. We both are." Jack said with a smile.

"Thanks." Sydney said looking at her father and smiling in appreciation.

"Have you thought about what you'll do when Francie and Will visit?" Laura asked before taking a sip of her water.

"Not really." Sydney said fitting a fork-full of her food in before catching a piece of lasagne off Abby's plate before it hit the floor. "I figure, they'll decide and we'll make sure Abby can come and then we go wherever they want to."

"You should all go to Disney Land. Abby'll love it!" Jack suggested.

Matty.

That was Sydney's first thought. Matty would love it as well. She wondered if Mr Vaughn might let her take him with her. Abby would have a playmate and Matty would have fun.

"Sounds like a great idea." Sydney said with a saddened smile once she realised that she wouldn't be able to take Matty because Mr Vaughn didn't know about Abby.

"So, I thought that we could get you working on some parallels between MacBeth and some of Shakespeare's other plays, perhaps you know of other novels, playwright's that you could use as well." Mr Vaughn explained to her carefully as they sat side-by-side at a desk in one of the study rooms of the library after school.

Sydney nodded briefly running through a few playwrights and novels she read that she might be able to find parallels or recurring themes in. Romeo and Juliet. Hamlet. The Crucible. Salem Falls.

Michael stared at her for a few seconds. She'd hardly spoken since they'd met up together at his classroom. A lot of nodding, but hardly a word or full sentences.

"Are you ok?" He asked suddenly.

Startled, Sydney looked up at him. She was a little nervous in his presence, but she didn't think he'd pick up on it.

"Fine." She replied before looking down at the desk.

Michael studied her for a few seconds. "Ok." He finally relented.

An hour later they were packing up their belongings and heading towards the exit.

"Have you got everything?" Michael asked her as they walked down the hallway together.

Sydney did a mental check and remembered her Maths book in her locker. "I just need to grab something from my locker.

"That's fine, I'll come with you." He offered with a smile.

Quietly, they made their way over to Sydney's locker.

2147. Michael memorised the number for which he thought there was no particular reason for but did anyway.

She spun her dial carefully with slightly shaking fingers. She opened it with little hassle to reveal a very neat and tidy locker.

"Wow. I don't think I've seen a locker like yours before." He commented with a grin. He spied the only two photos on her open door.

"Friends?" He asked as he pointed at the top one showing her in the middle of Will, Francie and another boy.

"Uh." Sydney looked at the photo for a few seconds. "Yeah."

"From your old school right?" He asked again stepping up close to her to take a better look at the photo.

Freezing up a little in surprise, Sydney felt his body heat behind her; she closed her eyes to try and get a grip on her pulse and to regain a steady breathing pattern. "Yeah." She answered after a few failed attempts.

"Oh! Who's this?" Michael asked pointing at a new born baby in the photo below. "Cousin?" He asked with a smile.

Sydney stared at the photo of her daughter before replying, "Yeah something like that." She quickly grabbed her book out and shut the door before turning around to find herself extremely close to Mr Vaughn.

He looked down at her, his green eyes melting into her brown ones. A blush crept up her neck, tinging her cheeks with a shade of pink. Michael's breathing became slightly laboured and he quickly stepped back.

"Sorry." He mumbled an apology before turning his gaze down to the ground.

Mentally checking her pulse, she replied with a soft, "It's ok." Without thinking she reached a hand out to place on his arm to get him to look up at her.

Masking his face, he quickly stepped out of her reach. "We should probably go. I'll drop you home." He said before starting to walk down the hallway leaving Sydney to stare at him for a few more seconds.

'Idiot!' She screamed to herself in her head.

'Dickhead!' Michael mentally beat himself up.