Chapter 24

Nesting Dolls

Gabi Morgan

April

PROMPT: The Declaration of Co-Dependence (Party of Five)

"What?!"

Gabi closed her eyes, gripping Jack's hand tightly. She'd known her father probably wouldn't accept the news as graciously as her mother would.

"Derek, sit."

Jack squeezed her hand and Gabi bit her cheeks against her smile. Thank God for her mother.

Derek sat, running a hand over his head. He looked to his wife. "You're okay with this?"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm okay with it."

"She's young!"

"She's a twenty-two-year-old MIT graduate," Penelope countered.

"Exactly!" Derek replied. "She's too young to be moving in with a guy."

"It's not just 'a guy', sweetcheeks, it's Jack. You remember him right? Son of the FBI agent you respect the most?"

"I know who Jack is," Derek was on his feet again, unable to stay seated. "She just graduated. Doesn't that mean she's just starting her life?"

"Isn't that what she's doing?" Penelope inquired in response. She sat on the couch, her legs curled beneath her and her post-dinner cup of tea in hand. Gabi and Jack had arranged to have dinner with her parents. Well, Gabi had invited Jack to dinner to spring the news on her parents that she and Jack were moving in together.

"She's a child!"

And that set Gabi off.

"She's right here," she snapped. Her parents turned her face her, Derek freezing where he stood. She blew out a breath. "Look, I wasn't looking for permission here, Daddy. Jack and I are looking for a place in Baltimore, end of story. I just wanted your support."

"Now, Princess –"

Gabi put her hand up, stalling her father's words. "It's not up for negotiation. I'm twenty-two, I've graduated, I'm starting my job soon. I'll be living in Baltimore and I'll be living with Jack. It's that simple." She sucked in a deep breath, then turned to her mother. "I'm going to get Jack to drive me to Aunt Em and Uncle Aaron's place, okay?" She glanced at her father. "I'll be back in the morning."

"Ellie-"

This time, it was Penelope who held up her hand as Gabi and Jack gathered their things. Once she was ready to leave, she went back into the living room. She hugged and kissed her mother, then turned to her father. With a sigh, she hugged him. "I love you, Daddy, but you don't get to make the choices in my life anymore."

When Derek turned back to his wife after Gabi and Jack had left, her lips were pursed and she looked extremely unimpressed. He sighed. "You think I overreacted."

"You did," she replied simply, pushing herself up. Her tea had gone cold and admittedly, she was irritated with her husband.

"You're not disturbed by this?"

"By the fact that your adult daughter wants to move in with the man she's loved her entire life?" Penelope shot back. "Of course not."

"Mama…"

Penelope sighed. "Derek, I get it, okay? She's my baby too, my little girl. But she's not the child who came crying to you when she scraped her knees on the playground. She's a grown, mature woman whom we both trust to make the decisions that will make her happy. That includes who she lives with."

"But now? Isn't it better for her to live by herself for a little bit?" Derek asked, brow wrinkling.

The blond turned, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Derek, stop," she said, unable to stop her chuckles.

Derek huffed out a breath. It was a variation on the same theme, a conversation he and Penelope had gone through a number of times since Gabi had started high school. It was extremely difficult to absorb that the woman who had left the house not ten minutes before was the same little girl to whom he told stories of dragon slayers and knights in shining armour, the same child who curled up against him for Saturday morning cartoons.

"Listen, my gorgeous hunk of overprotective love, she's an adult now. I know you want to lock her in a tower, but she's her own person. And I know there's no one else you trust more with your daughter's well being than Jack. So when Gabi gets back tomorrow, you're going to tell her that you know you overreacted and you want to support this decision. Got it?"

Derek wasn't too pleased about it, but he knew his wife was right. "Got it."

She patted his chest with a wide smile. "Good answer. Now I need a cuddle."

Derek grasped her elbow as she went to walk past, pulling her into a tight embrace. "I love you, Hot Stuff."

Penelope beamed up at him. "I love you too."

"Hey," Jack said gripping Gabi's hand over the center console of his car. They were on the road, just turning off of her street. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

Gabi squeezed his hand, a tight smile curling her mouth "Yeah."

"He's your dad, sweetheart." He pulled her hand to his mouth, one hand on the wheel. "He's always been overprotective."

"I'm not a kid, Jack," Gabi said, huffing out a breath. "I just don't understand why he keeps trying to treat me like one."

"Probably the same reason my dad always worries more about Annie and Kate than he does about me or Seth. You're Daddy's Girls, Gabs," Jack replied, as if it explained everything.

"Are you not insulted by this?" she asked. "He's basically saying he doesn't trust you."

Jack shrugged. "I know he's not aiming at me personally. Beyond the pregnancy thing…"

Gabi's eyes slid closed. It was still a painful memory.

"I know your dad trusts me," Jack continued. "He always has."

She blew out a puff of air. "I don't believe this doesn't bother you."

"We don't need permission," he reminded her. "We made this decision as two fully consenting adults."

"They're my parents," Gabi replied. "Their opinion matters."

"And your mom is talking to your dad as we speak, probably reminding him I'm a perfectly trustworthy man definitely worthy of his daughter," Jack answered calmly. "At this point, I figure I'm lucky I haven't gotten the hurt-her-and-I'll-kill-you talk." From her ensuing silence, Jack gathered his words hadn't had their intended effect. "It'll be okay."

She nodded, albeit reluctantly. Then she chewed on her lip. "Can I stay with you?"

"You're always welcome and in every other circumstances I wouldn't hesitate to say yes, but are you sure?"

"I don't care what my dad thinks," she said, though the quiet tone told Jack the exact opposite. "I just… I don't want to sleep alone."

Jack squeezed her hand, pulling it to his mouth briefly before dropping it. "Mi casa es su casa, Gabi. Always."

The next morning, Jack dropped Gabi off at her parents' house and Gabi made her way to the back patio. Her parents had their breakfast and morning coffee outside when the weather was nice enough. Her mother saw her first, leaning over to kiss her father's cheek before heading back into the house, leaving father and daughter alone. Gabi poured her coffee first, taking a seat at the table.

"Good morning," her father greeted warily.

Gabi added cream to her coffee, stirring it and taking a sip before meeting his gaze. "Daddy," she said softly. "We need to talk."

Derek passed the fruit bowl across the table to his daughter, watching her carefully.

"I know that I'm your first and only daughter," Gabi began. "I know I'm your little girl, but we need to come to a consensus and we need to do it now because this has to be the last time you question my decisions."

"I'm listening," Derek replied, sipping his own cup.

"I'm not a little girl, Dad. I'm twenty-two with my undergraduate degree and starting my career."

"I' know," Derek answered. "And I'm proud of you. We're all proud of you."

The young woman leaned forward on the table. "Jack and I are happy together and I want to move in with him," she said. Then she paused before continuing, "Jack is my best friend. I love him, and someday.." Gabi couldn't stop the smile that started sliding over her face. It was wide and bright and made her eyes glass over with scenes of a future with Jack. "I'm going to marry that boy someday, Daddy."

Derek watched her carefully. "You really love him?"

"Yes," Gabi responded.

"And this is something you really want to do?"

"We've been talking about it for months," Gabi agreed.

Derek waited a moment, watching her face. "You have my support, Princess."

Gabi smiled, wide and bright. "That's all I was asking for."

The two of them settled into breakfast, falling into a more regular routine and splitting the paper. Even Penelope came back out to join them, sensing the settling of the earthquake.

"Hey Dad," Gabi started as she speared a piece of fruit in front of her."

"Yeah?"

Her eyes were completely innocent as she looked up at him. "Does your support mean you'll help us move?"

Typos are mine! I didn't edit this as well as I probably should have. I blame exhaustion.

I've been penning this for a couple of days in bits and pieces and I finally decided to type it up. It's seconds before my bedtime so I figured it was a good wind down. Tomorrow I'm picking up my paper again and it has to be written by sundown! Silly Easter and it's insanity.

PS: I kind of lied. There's one more chapter, then the epilogue. The total is 26 chapters. Care to take a guess which one of our lovely ladies is up next and what the chapter's about? I bet you're all smart enough to figure it out. So smart, I'm not even going to tell you. I'm just going to give you the title.

Next: Sort of an Officer and a Gentleman