Disclaimer: I don't own Four Brothers, but the plot and original characters are mine.

Chapter 14:

After hearing the muffled noise of the doorbell sounding off inside the Mercer house, my insides tied together in tighter knots than before. I had woken up this morning with them and they had stuck with me all throughout breakfast and my shower. Even as I fed Bree her morning meal, which I do before anything else, the knots were forming. I wasn't even sure why they were there, but I was hoping that when the door opened, they would go away.

"Megan, is that you?" Jerry whispered in surprise as he got a good look at me.

"Hey Jerry," I said with a shy smile as Jerry cried out joyfully and pulled me into a tight hug that lifted me off my feet. "Jer, put me down!" I yelled through my laughter. I didn't even notice the tension in my stomach dissolving.

"God, girl, what are you doing here?" Jerry asked as he set me down.

"Is Ma here? I kinda only wanna tell this story once," I said honestly.

"Naw, she went out to get some groceries," Jerry said incredulously. "But c'mon in outta the cold," he added, suddenly remembering just how cold it was outside.

"Thanks," I said as I slid off my jacket, scarf, hat and gloves as I entered the house.

"I guess Ma's lessons on how to dress properly for this weather stuck on you," Jerry chuckled as he watched me hang my things up on the coat rack.

"Yeah, well, what can I tell you?" I asked with a shrug as I rolled up the sleeves of my sweatshirt. It was always nice and warm in the Mercer house. "Any runts running around?"

"We have a few Ma's filterin' out. You wanna meet them?" Jerry asked.

"Why not?" I asked with a shrug.

"Callie, Henry, Jessie, Tommy, get down here," Jerry called.

"Four? Where are you housing these kids?" I asked in surprise. "Unless Ma added on a secret room that I can't see from the outside, there're still only the regular five bedrooms."

"Well, Bobby's not here and Angel ain't around either. I'm livin' about fifteen minutes away now, so really it's just Jack's room that Ma keeps for him, if he ever comes home," Jerry explained darkly.

"There'll be plenty of time for you to be angry when Ma gets here," I whispered to Jerry as the four foster children bounded down the stairs.

"Yeah Jerry?" a petite, Asian girl asked.

"This is Megan, an old friend of the family. Meg, these four delinquents are Callie, Jessie, Henry and Tommy," Jerry said pointing to the four in turn. Callie was the Asian girl while Jessie, nearly her polar opposite in just about everything, was a tall, athletic-looking and blonde. Henry had chocolate brown eyes and was the scrawniest thing I'd ever seen while Tommy had red hair, like mine, and a broader build.

"Nice to meet you all," I said.

"So what're you doin' here?" Tommy asked, a slight Irish accent showing through.

"Tommy!" Jerry scolded.

"Jerry please, from what Ma told me, you were much worse. Besides, Ma'll take care of it," I said waving my hand casually, lazily brushing off the complaint. I had complete faith in the older woman. She worked miracles.

"Me an' Tommy must've been here for two months. We ain't leavin' anytime soon," Callie spat. I saw the livid look in Jerry's eyes. It surprised me at first, seeing as though Bobby was the violent one, not Jerry. Jerry was generally docile. I'm not saying he hasn't gotten into his fair share of trouble, but as the three older Mercer boys go, Jerry's the best behaved. Luckily, I snapped out of my thoughts and disbelief in time to stop Jerry for totally lashing out on the teens.

"Hey, Jer, Ma got any of her chocolate chip cookies lyin' around? I'd like some while I wait if she does," I said quickly, setting my hand on Jerry's arm to get his attention. I knew Ma always had cookies lying around, so it was a foolproof plan. Besides, this way I got baked goods.

"Yeah, o'course," Jerry said, tearing his gaze from Tommy and Callie.

"Ms. Evelyn's been baking up a storm since Jack went missing," Henry whispered sadly, piquing my interest. Perhaps Henry would be someone to pester about Jack's whereabouts.

"Ma always bakes when she's upset," I said, the comment mostly directed Jerry as I remembered the many times Bobby, Jerry and Angel had been thrown in jail or were stuck in the hospital over night. Jerry's glare broke as I made this comment-the blush that was forming on his dark skin was nearly invisible.

"Ok, so, cookies," Jessie said with a weary look on her face. Callie and Tommy were the tough kids, Henry was the shy one and Jessie hated conflict. I guess Jessie thought all conflict lead to violence. Poor girl, she's probably seen a lot of that.

"Yeah, cookies," I said with a wide smile as I took Jerry by the arm and led him into the kitchen, silently signaling to the others to follow us. The kitchen was the smallest room in the Mercer house, which I always found odd. In my head it should have been bigger, like the one in Anna and Seth's house, seeing as though Ma always had more mouths to feed then anyone else. I grabbed the cookie jar and reached into the fridge for some milk. Jerry and Jessie took down the glasses while the other three didn't even bother squeezing into the kitchen. Instead they opted to go straight into the dining room.

"So, how old are you four?" I asked curiously after we were all seated and the milk was poured out.

"I'm 15," Jessie said softly. "Callie's 12, Henry's 9 and Tommy's 13."

"Oh," I said. Callie seemed a lot older then 12. I also couldn't believe the age gap between Henry and Tommy. I didn't know what I thought it was, but I definitely didn't think it was four years.

"Yeah, oh," Callie spat.

"Listen girl, you shouldn't be worrying about going to a new home. You're 12. I've seen Ma filter out tons of kids that are more Jessie's age then yours. Also, I dunno why, but 12's a golden number. It's like, they're not kids, they don't need so much attention and can handle themselves, but it still looks like you're doing a good thing by taking in an orphan. The only reason you haven't been placed is because Ma didn't wanna put you with some schmuck like your social worker might have. You wanna know why? Because Ma cares more then some social worker does. She loves all the kids who come through her house, no matter how long they stay or if they love her back. And because she loves you, she'll pass you off only to someone who will love you just as much as she does. So suck it up and wait, because you're in a good kinda limbo here and what's on the other side is for sure not worse," I said casually, as if I made a speech like this one everyday.

A smug smile grew on my face as I saw Callie drop her head in shame. Damn right. That girl needed to learn to stop being so bitter. I could also see the other kids with a shadow of hope in their eyes. I just hope to God that that wasn't all just total bullshit because I'll feel really bad about it later if it was. I noticed Jerry's reaction to my speech soon after studying Jessie's face for a moment. He looked at me with understanding in his eyes. It was as if he always knew what I had said to be true, but couldn't really verbalize it the way I had.

"Jerry? Callie? Tommy?" I heard Ma call from the front hall as the door closed behind her. "Henry? Jessie? Anyone here?" She continued. I smiled deviously at Jerry and motioned for all of them to stay seated. "Wanna give me a hand with some groceries?" Ma asked with a tone that was colored with both a request and a command.

"I'll help!" I called enthusiastically as my chair scraped against the wood floor. I ran into the front hall as quickly as I could to find the familiar face I had come here to see.

"Megan?" Ma asked in disbelief when she saw me.

"Hey Ma," I said with a smile growing on my face. Her hair had grayed a bit while her worry and laugh lines had deepened, but other then that she was still the same ol' Evelyn Mercer.

"Megan Olivia Steel, get you behind over here and give an old lady a hug," Ma said as she put down the grocery bags that had been up to her chin and hanging off of her wrists to pull me into a tight hug. I laughed as I wrapped my arms around her in return and squeezed her back just as hard.

"You're not that old, Ma," I whispered into her ear, causing her to laugh and release me from the hug.

"What in God's name are you doing here?" Ma asked as Jerry came into the hall with Tommy following to get the bags Ma had brought in with her. They each took two, leaving Ma and me to carry one each.

"How the hell did you carry all of this?" I asked, ignoring her question for the time being.

"Bobby and I weight trained together back in his boxing days and I never let up," she joked, allowing her question to drop for now, knowing I would answer later. That was part of the reason I loved Ma. She would never force me to tell her anything I didn't want to. She knew I would come to my senses and tell her in the end. I don't think we had one secret between us back when I was younger. We always had a special girl's day out the first day of my visits to Detroit so I could catch her up on what she missed. After that I would come over almost every afternoon and keep her updated. Even when I was 14 and I refused visit because Bobby had left and I was mad, I couldn't help but call Ma every so often and tell her about my life. She was good at listening, keeping secrets and giving advice.

After everything had been put away and the four foster kids were cleaning up upstairs, Ma, Jerry and I moved to the living room so we could talk. "So what are you doing here?" Ma asked again.

"Anna's been saving up some cash. Once she had enough, she flew to New York, found me and told me what's been going on with Jack. I was ready to hitchhike out here after she told me, but my dad bought both of us a one-way ticket to Detroit, first class. I spent last night with Anna and the boys, but I woke up nice and early today so I could come here and talk to you guys before heading out to find Jack," I said simply. There really wasn't very much story other then that.

"You're not going to find him," Ma said softly.

"That's what Jerry said. You guys think he's missing. Anna didn't seem to think so. Not to mention, the impression I got from Liam was that Jack's hanging around the area. Also, Henry, you're foster kid also seems to know something. I'm gonna talk to him before I leave," I said. It might not have sounded like I was asking for permission, but I was. A quick nod from Ma was all I needed to know that any questions directed at Henry were okay with her.

"Well, if you think you can find him…" Ma trailed off tiredly. She was giving up too. I mean, I can't really blame her, it has been a whole week since she's seen Jack and the last time she did see him, he looked like death itself, if I'm to believe Liam's description.

"I can find him," I said, my face hardening in determination.

"What do you say to us girls getting some ice cream, huh?" Ma asked trying to mask her exhaustion and upset with a smile. I knew she was happy to see me but she was also a little preoccupied.

"Time to do some catching up," I said as I stood up. Ma followed my lead, leaving Jerry to turn on the television and lounge around until we got back.

"Bye Jerry!" I called as I zipped up my coat and opened the front door, allowing Ma out in front of me, slamming the door behind us before Jerry could reply.

"How are you going to find him?" Ma asked as we walked to the local ice cream parlor.

"Ma, don't question my abilities," I said with a smirk.

"Megan," Ma said seriously.

"The same way you find anything. You look for it, ask if anyone's seen it and pray you have luck on your side," I said with a shrug as I linked arms with her. "Please don't worry. I know I can do this." I was pretty sure I could at the very least.

"What I know is that you're my best hope for him now," Ma said shaking her head.

"C'mon Ma, can't I get a few smiles? It's my first whole day back and I wanna talk about the last four years," I said. Ma opened her mouth to say something but I stopped her. "I wanna talk about the last four years but not about Jack's last four years. Our last four years. We'll talk about Jack later on our walk home. Scout's honor," I said raising my right hand as Ma smiled at me.

"Whatever you want," Ma said with a shrug. "So tell me about New York." I smiled as the grin on her face widened into her usual bright smile returned. I just hoped to God I could find Jack and help him, not just for me, Fox or Liam, then for Ma.

A/N: Yes, let's find Jack…

Love and Luck,

Gaby