Disclaimer: Not mine

Twenty Five

Kate smiled at her computer screen. Jack had sent her pictures of the houses he had seen, as well as links to their online listings, and she found that she totally agreed with his opinions. The last house he'd seen was perfect. She studied the rooms again, and then she closed her eyes. She could see them there, as a family, she and Jack, her boys and his girls, and it didn't terrify her. It felt right.

She took out her phone, texted him a message. It's the one.

In New York, Jack got her message and smiled. He looked up at the real estate agent who was awaiting his decision. "I want to make an offer today," he said, his heart feeling lighter than it had in years.

Kate had never seen so many boxes in her life. She directed the movers while keeping one eye on the people milling around her yard, snapping up so many pieces of her life like hungry fish. Her washer and dryer, her sofas, her heavy oak bedroom furniture, even the clunky old TV set. Tomorrow they'd get in the car and drive thousands of miles to their new home. She almost pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming; everything had happened so fast that it seemed surreal. As a concession to Jack's worrying, she had traded in her half-dead car for a sleek nearly-new SUV. It sat waiting at the curb now, a rented U-haul trailer attached to it already loaded up with her prized Harley.

In New York, Jack alternated between unpacking boxes in the new house and pacing. He knew Kate and the boys had driven halfway and stopped for the night, because he'd already talked to them. They would leave at dawn, and drive all day again, and he was just so nervous, even as he knew he was being paranoid and irrational. They'd be fine. Kate had been taking care of herself for a long time; he knew she'd be fine. And still he worried.

There was a knock on the door, and he sighed and went to open it. Samantha stood there, with Finn, who immediately launched himself into Jack's arms. Jack took him with a laugh, kissing his soft cheek, as Samantha pushed past him, followed by Martin, Vivian, Elena and Danny.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, closing the door behind him.

"Thought you could use some help," Martin said, as he tossed off his jacket and tie and rolled up his sleeves before heading for the nearest stack of boxes. Elena sat down the huge sack she'd brought and started pulling out cartons of food.

"We brought dinner," she said with a smile.

Samantha stopped in front of him. "We didn't want you to be alone tonight," she said quietly.

"I appreciate that, but I'm fine." All of them stopped at that and looked at him, hard, until he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay, I'm going out of my mind. I'm worried about her, okay?"

Danny said it best. "Well, duh."

Vivian smiled at him. "We're here to help. You could just say 'thank you' and be done with it."

He looked at her. "Thank you."

They all looked up as Hanna's footsteps pounded on the stairs. She grinned when she saw them. "Oh, thank God! I thought I'd have to stay locked in my room all night!" They laughed, and sat down to eat at various places in the still-furniture-free room. Samantha put on music and Hanna danced with Finn while they all laughed.

Hours later, boxes unpacked and food demolished, Jack went to pick up a sleeping Finn from the couch when Martin stopped him. "It's okay, I got him," he said, lifting the little boy effortlessly over his shoulder. He clapped Jack on the back. "It's a great house, Jack. Now you're ready for her."

"Thanks for the help. I'll see you tomorrow."

Samantha followed Martin out the door. "'Night, Jack."

"Good night." He wondered about them, watching from the doorway as Martin carefully laid Finn into his car seat and stopped to talk to Samantha at her door. He wasn't going to say a word, he told himself. He'd been an ass when the two of them had been together. It wasn't one of his proudest moments. If they found their way to each other again, he vowed to do better. And if they didn't, he still vowed to do better.

At her car, Samantha looked up at Martin as he closed Finn's door and walked around to her side. There was something different about him lately, and she wondered where his head was these days. He had been so angry at her when he'd broken things off, and their friendship had suffered for it. Now, it was like things had always been. He searched her face. "Are you okay?

She just looked at him with a smile, shaking her head. "I'm fine, Martin. You can stop worrying about me. I'm totally okay with everything."

He nodded. "Okay. How's Brian?"

"I suppose he's fine. Haven't seen him since he moved out a couple of days ago."

"He hasn't been back to see Finn?"

She shook her head again, looking away. Brian had been a mistake from the beginning. She could never regret having Finn, but she hoped to get to the point in her life where she'd never have to talk about Brian again. Every time his name came up, she just felt so stupid.

He didn't say anything else, didn't make any platitudes about how she was better off, and she was glad. "Do me a favor, this time. Ask for help, if you need it."

She snorted, knowing exactly what he was talking about and beyond thankful that he was too much of a gentleman to come right out and say it. "I will." He looked at her dubiously and she laughed. "Really. I will. Good night, Martin." She pushed lightly on his chest until he stepped out of her way with a smile.

"Good night."

Kate and the boys took off at 4:30 in the morning and made it to New York State late in the afternoon. It wasn't long after that that she was getting close to the coordinates of their new house on her GPS. Butterflies that she didn't even know were there launched themselves suddenly to violent life in her stomach, and she sighed loudly. She had nothing to be nervous about, she told herself firmly. This was going to be a new life for all of them. She texted Jack to let hew know they were close, and his answer came right back to her. He was waiting for her. She pictured him in her mind, and it went a long way toward quelling her ridiculous anxiety. She really did love him more than she'd ever thought possible. They wanted to get married as soon as they could, Friday at the latest, and as it was Tuesday, she thought it was entirely possible that she was insane.

Pulling into the long driveway finally, she gaped at the house Jack had found. How can we even afford this? she wondered. It was beautiful, set far back from the street on what had to be half an acre at least. There were neighboring houses, but their space was huge. It was an unbelievably lovely house, old but obviously well-kept, two stories but simple, with clean lines that appealed to her. There was a long wraparound porch and she could see him sitting there in the porch swing, and had a sudden flash of the two of them there in the evenings, talking together after a long day, or waiting for one of their kids to come home from a date. He met her in the driveway, coming around to her side while she could do nothing but sit there, spellbound. Her reaction amused him, and he felt a deep satisfaction for getting it right. He thought he knew her well enough to deduce that a brand-new cookie-cutter house smashed between a dozen others just like it wouldn't have been her thing. The character of this one had appealed to him, and he'd thought immediately that she would love it. He'd shown her pictures, but he knew that they didn't do it justice, and he knew that right now she could see them here as he did, living and loving and growing old together.

Her eyes shining, they met his, and she smiled. It was perfect. He was perfect. Getting out of the driver's seat slowly, listening to the boys' excited exclamations as they ran across the yard and into their new house, she walked straight into his arms, sealing the deal with a kiss. They were home.

TBC...