Sorry I took so long to upload this guys, but I hope you enjoy it. I kinda don't wanna say anything about it since the title pretty much gives it away anyway. Tell me what you thought about it and I'll see you with the next chapter. :)

P.S: In The Battle of Seaford Hill, who else freaked out when Jack just went to hug Jerry? and I mean really went for it, like he woulda shoved Milton outta the way- don't even get me started on him. xD

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No strings attached - Klaus/Damon - The vampire diaries

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Title: Baby Jack

Summary: Eight in the morning and Jerry doesn't think much of the toddler at his door. His life's pretty crazy anyway.

Nothing in Jerry Martinez's life was normal - he belonged to a karate dojo that was always at war with the rival dojo, he had beaten a Shaolin Monk, supposedly the 'Chosen One', he helped beat a crazy freak with amped up strength gloves and had free-falled back to Earth from Space and landed in the school's ceiling - yet it still came as a shock to him when his eyes landed on a toddler one morning.

The little boy had a mess of shaggy brown hair and dark brown eyes, was wearing clothes that were strangely familiar - he didn't want to think about the argument he and Jack had had that day - and was just sat on the step patiently, wisps of his fringe moving with the breeze. It was strange to say the least, but Jerry had to admit the kid was adorable.

"Awww," he cooed out loud, the toddler turning around when he heard his voice, eyes lighting up. "What are you doing here, buddy?" he asked, bending down to the boy's eye-line, chuckling as tiny fingers made a grab for his own.

"Are you looking for your Mamma?" he guessed, although it seemed unlikely since he had just been sat on the step without making a fuss or seeming like he was going to burst into tears. It was almost like the kid wanted to be sat there, but why?

"No..." the toddler shook his head, something of a cheeky grin on his face as he outstretched his pudgy arms. Jerry reluctantly scooped the kid into his arms, being rewarded with gurgling laughter and the toddler cuddling into his chest contentedly. Jerry sighed and patted the boy's hair.

"Well, I can't leave you here..." he decided, looking around his driveway, luckily finding it empty. He thought to himself for a moment, fingers lightly tapping the boy's back rhythmically as he pondered what to do. "Maybe Rudy'll know what to do," he said, although more to himself since the boy would have no idea who Rudy was, nearly missing the toddler's snort.

"Oh, Rudy's a right goofball, but he's smart," he said proudly as the toddler leaned back slightly in his arms, looking attentive until something caught his eye and distracted him. "You'll love him," Jerry said confidently, his smile fading somewhat when he followed the length of the toddler's arm to where it was insistently pointing.

"What?" he asked, hesitantly glancing back at the open door he had been about to lock. "Are you hungry or something?" he suggested and the little boy nodded almost dejectedly, biting his little lip nervously.

Jerry frowned to himself; what a great day for his Mum to leave early. "Well, my Mum's out, so I'll have to mush something in a blender," he said - toddler's ate slightly mushed food, didn't they? - with an expectant look. He wasn't exactly equipped for running into a toddler at eight in the morning, and the last time he had been around a 'baby' had been Health class and Grace had not been happy that day.

"Sound good?" he asked for affirmation and the toddler laughed, so Jerry took it as a go-for-it.

He shut the door beside him and walked down the hallway, into the kitchen. He set the boy on the countertop and he dutifully watched as Jerry opened the cupboard and started searching for anything blendable that was edible. As he had found out, the two weren't even close.

Salad, supernoodles, leftover pizza... he thought to himself, having to put his arm further into the cupboard. Mum's leftover empanadas'? He took them out and pondered it for a moment, before putting them back quickly. He had tried blending them before when he had had braces so nothing would get stuck in them, but the whole experience had been bitter; the empanadas' tasted like corn juice.

Finally, Jerry came across a reasonably good-looking packet of steak, putting down on the counter. He shut the cupboard and stood back up, getting ready to read the instructions when he saw the toddler scowling and folding his arms, huffing.

"What? You don't like steak?" he asked lightly, showing the toddler the packet.

"No." The boy shook his head.

"Umm..." Jerry thought for a moment, but nothing came to him. In all honesty, it was giving him a headache. "I'm not good at child care! Every experience with one ended badly," he blurted out to the toddler, who looked slightly confused. "Well, how about I take you to Phil's and get you some falafel?" he suggested, thankfully the toddler started clapping.

He bent back down to the cupboard and opened it, reaching into the back and finding his sippy cup. The toddler was giving him an odd stare; it seemed too familiar...

"I had it from, uh..." he trailed off and the toddler had the nerve to look expectant. He felt sorry for the parent's when it was the kid's bath time. "Look, sometimes I get tired of chewing, 'kay?" he said in exasperation, not knowing why he felt the need to justify having one to a toddler, and by extension someone who probably did too.

He turned around when the toddler giggled and started filling the sippy cup with water, not thinking too much of the sloshing sound; he was filling a cup with water after all.

The cup nearly slipped from his hands when he looked back at the toddler to see he had somehow smeared the creamed spinach across the countertop and was wiping his fingers in it.

Jerry stared in disbelief. "Aw! Dude, what are you-"

He stopped abruptly through his tirade as he saw what the boy's fingers had spelled out in the spinach. He finished off one of the tails of the K and shuffled back slightly so Jerry could see all of it.

His eyes narrowed in confusion at the J-A-CK. "Jack?" he murmured out loud and the baby nodded. "Yeah, he's my best friend, but how do you-?" he trailed off as he saw the toddler frantically pointed to himself and the spinach again and again.

Jerry's eyes widened as he realised what the boy was getting at, but how in the name of Sasquatch was it even possible?

"Jack?!" This time he did drop the sippy cup, the loose lid slipping off in mid-air and splashing water all over the tiled floor.

"Dude," he said in disbelief, reaching out to pick the boy - Jack, he guessed - up from the counter before the spinach smeared over his jeans. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked and Jack shrugged.

His day just got a lot more interesting.

"Hey, Jerry!" Phil greeted Jerry cheerfully as he pushed open the door to the restaurant, Jack's fingers hooked into his shirt, handing a customer her order. "Who's the little fella?" he asked as Jerry walked closer.

"Uh." Jerry and Jack looked at each other in sync, one head looking down and the other looking up. Jack bit his lip. "He's my, brother's, cousin's son," he lied quickly, perching Jack on the counter and ignoring his snort. "They're on vacation and my Mum's out today, so..." he trailed off, unsure of what else to say. Jack probably wouldn't be pleased if anyone other than him, Rudy, Kim or Milton knew that he had been turned into a toddler.

Fortunately, Phil didn't press. "Alright," he nodded with a grin, turning to Jack briefly and tickling him in a way that made him gurgle with laughter; Jerry felt tempted to slap his hands away from Jack, but he didn't want to upset him. "Well, what can I get you?" he asked.

"Some falafel," Jerry said, discreetly picking Jack up while Phil was working out the price on the till so he wouldn't touch Jack again. "But can you mush it up for the little guy?" he asked.

"Sure thing. It'll be ready in a minute." Phil walked away from the counter and to fryer while Jerry found his usual booth and slid into it, Jack pressing himself against Jerry's leg as much as he was able.

"This is bad," Jerry said suddenly, lowering his voice. "How are we gonna change you back?" he asked, then an icy feeling of horror struck him. "What even changed you?" he panicked, not giving Jack a chance to even try and respond; well, as much as a three-year old with limited vocabulary could. "Oh man, I'm freaking out!" He started hyperventilating and thrust his hands into his hair, receiving several strange looks from customers.

He saw Jack rolling his eyes before he snuggled up to him, all-but scrambling up onto his lap, his head resting on his chest and his fingers splaying against his leg. Jerry took a deep breath and put his arm - or rather hand - around Jack.

"Right, stay calm," he agreed, managing to relax. "It's just that you're a freaking toddler!" he hissed under his breath and Jack raised an eyebrow. Even when he was three and could hardly talk, he seemed to have as much sense as his sixteen-year old self. Definetely more than Jerry, which he had to begrudingly admit.

A plate of falafel, blended and unblended, suddenly slid in front of him. "Here you are, Jerry," Phil said brightly.

"Thanks, man," he smiled gratefully, turning to Phil and shoving his hand into his pocket and pulling some money, handing it to him.

He turned back around and couldn't contain his burst of laughter; Jack had shovelled his falafel into his mouth - most of it missing his mouth and smearing around it and even on his nose - and giggled at his shocked expression. Jerry grabbed a napkin and wiped it off Jack's mouth, tapping his nose playfully as he scrunched the napkin up and sneakily deposited it into a passer-by's hoodie.

"Well. your table manners are still the same," he joked, lifting his own piece of falafel to his mouth, nearly dropping it at a sharp pain in his bicep. He looked at Jack, who looked triumphant. Cheeky little shit had hit him.

"Even for a three-year old you hit hard," he said with a pout, rubbing his arm where it was starting to go dead.

Jack smirked smugly and resumed scooping his falafel into his mouth and Jerry was struggling to hold back his laughter. Giving him a fork would probably have been the right thing to do, but Jack would probably struggle and since when was the right thing a funny thing when concerning a three-year old?

A few minutes later, Jack pushed the empty plate away from him and Jerry stood up, shielding Jack from view as he sneakily wiped his hands on the seat. "Alright, let's go," he said.

Jack gave him a bewildered look and wiggled towards the end of the booth, his legs dangling and not being able to touch the floor. "Huh?"

"Like I said earlier, Rudy'll know what to do," Jerry said confidently, but Jack did not look convinced, his usual frown looking much cuter with his chubby cheeks.

"Wha'ever," he snorted, laughing to himself.

"Sassy Jack is sassy," Jerry chuckled, grunting as Jack hit him again.

Scooping him up into his arms, he got out of the booth and walked out of the restaurant, feeling Jack's little fingers curling into his shirt as they walked towards the Dojo and his head slipped neatly into the crook of Jerry's neck.

Jerry reached the Dojo and backed into the door, turning back around and walking inside. He went over to his locker, glancing at Kim and Milton who were alternating kicking a focus mitt while Rudy watched. He cursed under his breath; it was his third time being late again and he did not want to have to clean those mats.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," he apologised quickly, beginning the not-so-easy task of toe-ing his shoes off and throwing them into his locker one-handed, while Jack looked around.

"Sowwy," Jack said sadly, pouting out his bottom lip.

Kim stopped mid-kick when she heard him and Jerry turned around as she walked over, Milton and Jerry following. "Aww," she cooed, reaching out a hand which Jack extended his tiny one to, fingers brushing against Kim's palm. "Jerry, who's the little guy?" she asked excitedly.

"Jack," he said without thinking, his head and Jack's darting to look at each other in apprehension, Jack nervously biting his lip. Thankfully, everyone burst out laughing, Jerry momentarily joining in until Jack kicked him.

Kim wiped under her eyes. She let out one last giggle before straightening and folding her arms. "Okay, good one, Jerry," she smiled, looking ready to burst into laughter again while Rudy was openly guffawing, Kim having to elbow him to shut him up.

"No, I'm serious," Jerry deadpanned, putting Jack on the floor just so he could make the display of folding his arms.

"No, you're Jerry," Milton said from the sidelines, chuckling at his own joke.

Kim rolled her eyes. "Do yourself a favour and lay off the Harry Potter," she advised, albeit harshly. "It's making your sense of humour worse than usual," she pointed out.

"Everyone laughed when someone else did it..." Milton said in a quiet voice, trailing off with a pout.

"That's because it was a Facebook comment," Rudy interjected with a chuckle. "And everyone knows it's easier to type LOL than actually do it," he said knowingly and Jerry nodded in agreement.

"Like we're gonna believe that this baby's our Jack," Kim said suddenly, diverting everyone's attention to the little boy sat by Jerry's legs. He knew after the week that he and Jack had pranked her she had sworn not to believe anything, but he needed her, and Rudy and Milton, to believe him now.

"He is!" Jerry insisted, picking Jack back up. "He's got the same table manners - ow! - and c'mon, he looks just like... himself, I guess," he chuckled, rubbing a hand against his ribs.

"A lotta babies look like Jack probably did when he was younger," Milton pointed out reasonably. "But to suggest the fact that Jack could have de-aged would suggest a new theory of the universe that hasn't been discovered yet," he explained, slowly losing everyone's attention.

Jack snorted with laughter. "You silly, Mitton," he said off-handedly, waving in his direction.

Milton looked at him incredulously. "Did he just call me 'Mitton'?" he asked in disbelief.

"The dude's three again, give him a break!" Jerry said defensively. "And he was trying to say 'Milton'," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"How would he know my name?" Milton asked.

Jerry clenched his fist, about ready to tear his hair out. "I already told you, he's Jack!" he said in exasperation, restraining himself from waving the toddler Jack in Milton's face. "Only more cute and a... toddler," he shrugged, not really knowing how to phrase it.

Milton shook his head. "It's impossible," he said confidently.

But it was Jerry who actually had something to be confident about; if only he'd know it would come to this, he would have taken a picture. "If it's so impossible, why did he write his own name in creamed spinach before I went to get him something to eat?" he said smugly, Jack nodding beside him to add insult to injury.

Milton's entire facial expression changed; now he had him. "What?" he looked like someone had just told him he won a Nobel Prize or something.

"Yeah," Jerry nodded, looking at Kim and Milton who were slowly turning slack-jawed as they studied the little boy and no doubt found the same traits as their friend. "And he'll prove it," he said smugly, putting Jack down on the floor. "Go on, Jack," he encouraged him, giving him a gentle nudge in Rudy's direction, since it seemed to be who he looked at first.

"Roody," he said slowly, Rudy's face lighting up as Jerry smirked.

Milton scoffed and folded his arms. "Well, I mean, anyone could-"

"Aww!" Rudy cooed loudly, a touched look spreading across his face. "He just said my name," he said proudly, touching his heart as he sniffled through fake tears. "High-five, little guy!" He bent down and held out his palm, Jack's whole hand fitting into it as he slapped it against Rudy's.

He rounded towards Kim and pointed a finger in her direction. "An' Kimmy."

Kim did not look amused at her nickname, having to bite on her tongue. "He's lucky he's cute," she said through gritted teeth, her act of annoyance not lasting very long as Jack pouted at her.

"I'm still not convinced," Milton said, making Jerry roll his eyes, although a smirk spread across his face as he saw Jack toddling towards Milton, unseen by him. "You could just be pranking us- O-w-w-w-w!" he screeched suddenly, bending over backwards towards the floor.

Everyone found it impossible not to laugh; Jack had somehow gotten Milton into a very tight, and painful looking, arm-lock. Milton's face was screwed up in pain, gasping out when Jack started giving him a chinese burn.

Jerry bit on his fist to stop himself from laughing harder. "What more proof do you need?" he asked, his plan failing as Jack kicked Milton over onto the floor and jumped on his chest, making Milton hold his hands up in surrender.

"Okay! Okay!" he panicked, gently moving Jack's small fist away from his nose. "I believe you," he gave over, nose scrunching up as Jack tapped it, giddily running back towards Jerry, who caught him before he could collide with his legs and swung him up into the air.

Kim looked over at Milton on the floor. "Ha-hey, I'm startin' to like the little guy," she smiled, tickling Jack under the chin until he squealed with laughter, burying his face into Jerry's chest.

"Kim!" Milton said, looking affronted as he got up from the floor, nursing his leg. She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Wait, wait, back up," "How is Jack now a toddler anyhow?" he asked in confusion, Jerry and Jack both shrugging.

"You see what I was saying?" Milton said in exasperation, throwing his arms up in the air. "For the idea that someone could- woah!" He dived to the floor as Jack leapt out of Jerry's arms and shot towards him with a flying side-kick. He tumbled onto his chest as he landed, struggling to push himself up off the floor.

Jerry ran towards him to help him up, passing Milton who sat up, rubbing his head, shouting an affronted, "Jerry!"

"What?" he asked innocently, letting Jack take a hold of his hand, swinging him from arm to arm like a little monkey. "Jack's the one who nearly Jackie Chan'ed your head off," he pointed out, making Jack snigger.

"Right, we're keeping him away from the ninja channel on the TV," Rudy declared quickly, making a break for the remote before someone could run over and show it to him on purpose.

"Rudy," Kim interjected quickly, Rudy pausing in his haste. "He could be the ninja channel," she

"Nin...ja?" Jack repeated, testing out the unfamiliar word.

"Yeah," Jerry nodded, crouching down beside him. "Like Bobby." He pointed at a poster of Bobby from Nanna Was A Ninja, and Jack stared intently at the poster, before mimicking the pose, puffing his chest out as much as he could. Kim cooed from the side and Milton rolled his eyes.

"What's so cute about it?" Milton asked with an annoyed snip to his voice. "Just 'cause he's a toddler," he begrudgingly admitted.

"Toddler that can kick your ass,"

"Can not," he shot back, prompting Jack to grab his arm and easily swipe his legs out from underneath him, Milton crashing onto the floor with a painful groan.

Rudy burst out into childish laughter and pointed down at Milton on the floor. Jack scowled and grabbed Rudy's wrist, neatly flipping him onto the floor, scrambling out of the way so Rudy wouldn't crush him, Jerry and Kim sniggering when Rudy rubbed his butt with a shocked look on his face, his laughter ceasing immediately.

Milton brushed himself up in a huff. "Is there someone I can beat in the Dojo?!" he demanded in exasperation.

"Yes," Kim said reassuringly. "The punching dummy that Eddie kissed two years ago," she smirked and everyone burst into laughter.

Jerry couldn't stop the remark that came out of his mouth. "Actually..." he trailed off and Milton's face fell, Jack picking up on it and walking over to tenderly hug his legs.

"Sowwy, Mitton," he mumbled into the fabric, letting go so Milton could crouch down and lay a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," he smiled and Jack full-on launched himself into Milton's stomach, making him chuckle.

"In all serious," Rudy cut in, making everyone look at him. "What are we gonna go with the little guy?" he asked.

Kim looked thoughtful, before he eyes landed on the vending machine and lit up. "Well, there's juice boxes and animal crackers in the-"

"Those are my animal crackers!" Rudy protested, seeming more of a child than Jack actually was.

"You're thirty-two," Kim shot back. "And it's one packet," she pointed out in exasperation, rolling her eyes.

"Forgive me, Sienna Seal!" Rudy squeaked, biting his fist in a mock sob as Kim put a coin into the machine and a packet of crackers tumbled out, that she took and gave to Jack.

"Come on, Jack, let's go watch TV," Jerry said, successfully coaxing him away from Milton.

"Do you wanna share my cwackers?" he offered and Jerry grinned - "c'mere you little munckin." - before picking him up and carrying him towards the sofa, Milton and Kim following.

"Stay away from the Ninja channel!" Rudy ordered them, reluctantly throwing them the remote.

"Well I'm not showing him the nature channel," Jerry replied with a disgusted look on his face as he switched the TV on. Some things on that show were not appropriate even for a PG-rated show.

"We now return to Bobby Wasabi in: Samurai Beach Party."

"Wanda!" Bobby said with urgency, crouching down near a tanned girl in a bikini and sunglasses. "Your decision to marry again will split the beach and cause a rift between the black and red ninjas," he explained in a panic while Wanda didn't look at all bothered about it and continued to bask in the sun. "Does it have to be a purple Samurai sword fighter?!" he asked in exasperation, Jack and Jerry both raising their eyebrows in sync.

"Yeah, it's not his best movie. Let's watch Mock the Week," he decided and Jack clapped his hands. Rudy hadn't said anything about a show with comedians, albeit comedians that seemed to swear every fourth word, but they were some of England's top performers.

A graphic on the large screen behind the microphone changed from, 'Unlikely lines from the final Harry Potter book' to 'Things that would change the atmosphere at a dinner party', and the first comedian walked over.

"Ignore the banging, she's been in there for twenty four years!" he said in a cheerful gusto, rousing laughter and applause from the crowd.

A second comedian walked over, Frankie Boyle. "Help yourself to nibbles, he was our favourite hamster, but it's what he would have wanted," he lamented, gaining a loud round of applause.

"Is that Frankie Boyle?" Rudy asked in surprise, Jerry nodded. "Move over and hit record!" He sprinted over and leapt onto the sofa, Jack backing into Jerry as much as he could, shielding his animal crackers from Rudy's view.

"Actually it's Frankie Boyle, Hugh Dennis, Russell Howard, Andy Parsons, Ed Byrne and Stephen Amos, if you wanna be specific," Jerry responded cheekily, feeling Jack snort with laughter against his shirt before he adjusted himself to watch.

"It's Mock the Week!" Rudy pointed out, neither Milton or Kim protesting anything on the matter. Jack and Jerry were too wrapped up in sharing the animal crackers to care.

"Are you sure this is pork?" Ed asked with a confused expression on his face, then it contorted into a look of surprise. "It's just 'cause my crackling has a tattoo," he added, the crowd breaking out into applause as he was buzzed a point, walking off and being passed by another comedian, Hugh Dennis.

"Don't worry, we don't say Grace," he said reassuringly. "We just sacrifice a child to the great God Imhotep..." he trailed off in a menacing voice, the buzzer for his point giving way to the audience's applause.

Hugh and Russell passed each other and Russell went up to the microphone. "Doorbell!" he cheered happily, pumping his fists into the air. "That'll be Heather Mills and James Blunt; hope he's brought his guitar," he added dryly with a forced smile, crossing his fingers before he walked off.

Frankie was up again. "I hope nobody's allergic to nuts, because I like to rest mine on the table."

Through the midst of the gang's laughter, Jerry felt Jack shifting uncomfortably beside him, stretching his arms and his body out and gave a loud yawn.

"You okay, kiddo?" Jerry asked, ruffling Jack's hair.

"Tired..." he mumbled back, yawning again and trying to force his eyes open.

"Go to sleep then," Jerry chuckled at him and he didn't argue back, just snuggled down beside him, curling himself into a tiny ball that Jerry put his arm around and Rudy discreetly swiped the packet of animal crackers from Jack.

He gave another loud yawn, his hot breath fanning into Jerry's t-shirt. "I wuv you, Jerry," he murmured sleepily, closing his eyes.

It seemed like forever until Jerry opened his eyes, his body waking up much quicker than he had. He sat up to see his curtains drawn, light spilling into the room, the leftovers from what must have been two pepperoni pizza's that were still in the grease-stained box on his carpet, and the still flickering TV that was endlessly playing the menu music from the movie that he must have been watching, until Jack walked over and turned to TV off.

Wait... Jack?! Jack who was six foot again, muscled and well, not a toddler. Jerry groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"Mornin', sleepyhead," Jack greeted him ceremoniously, a bright grin on his face.

"Jack?" he said in confusion, eyes narrowing. Ugh, his mouth tasted disgusting. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a bewildered voice.

Jack's eyebrows furrowed and he laughed nervously. "I stayed the night, remember?" he reminded him, coming to sit with him on the bed.

"Oh... oh yeah," Jerry nodded with a reassuring grin, although he saw Jack's eyebrows raise. "I had the weirdest dream..." he muttered to himself, throwing the covers off of himself and walking over to his drawers to get some jeans.

"Really?" Jack asked almost teasingly, his curiosity piqued.

"Yeah," Jerry nodded, blushing slightly at being heard. "You were a toddler again," he told him, hearing Jack's snort of laughter. "And you had the worst table manners..." he trailed off, shooting Jack a devious grin as he started pulling on his forgotten jeans.

Jack gave him a wry smile. "Hah-hah, very funny," he retorted, sticking his tongue out. He was trying hard to look annoyed, but his increasing smile ruined it. "That movie must have really played on your mind," he said, giving the DVD a strange look from where it was balanced ontop of the TV. "Not that there's much to play on," he joked.

"You were much cuter when you could hardly talk and just laughed!" Jerry said accusingly, pointing a finger at Jack whilst trying not to burst out into a fit of laughter.

"I'm sure I was adorable," Jack smirked at him.

Jerry rolled his eyes and groaned and the worsening taste in his mouth. "Ugh, I need water," he announced, half-hoping Jack would get him some. He was still tired.

But Jack didn't move, only folded his arms with an amused smile. "You know where it is," he said poignantly.

"You're up," Jerry pointed out almost pleadingly. It was half-six in the morning and Jack couldn't be decent enough to go and get him a glass of water? What had they become?

"Your house," Jack argued back with a smug smirk, both knowing full well Jerry wouldn't be able to rebutt that even if he tried.

Jerry flung his arms up in annoyance, groaning loudly in exasperation. "Fine!" he gave over, making sure to give Jack his best scathing glare when he left the room, masterfully - more like scrambling back when he realised his nose would have hit it - dodging the door jamb before he could hit into it.

"Now who's the toddler?" Jack's teasing remark followed him down the hallway and Jerry frowned at that, choosing not to say anything back.

It was strange to think all that could have been a dream. The feel of a three-year old Jack in his arms - and Milton's cries of pain whenever Jack had somehow arm locked him - had felt real. Too real for it to have been a dream. But Milton, dream Milton he supposed, had been right; it was impossible.

But all that immediately flew from his mind when he entered the kitchen and caught sight of the countertop, the idea of water forgotten and the taste in his mouth going unnoticed.

Across the countertop was the same creamed spinach that had been smeared over it, as well as the wobbly J-A-C-K that Jack's little fingers had printed out.

"Jack!"

Kickin' it with you!