Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been hard at work on my other story that I'm co-writing with the talented HAS5245. We started "You're My Home", a prequel to this story, a while back and have now moved the whole story to our page 'station19lovers'. If you like this story, you should check that one out. You'll love it! It covers everything from Robert's death to the beginning of the year the kids came. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please, please review! I love hearing from all of you and your thoughts!
-D.H. Caldwell
Jack soon drove back to the house, listening intently to the boys talking with each other about that they wanted to bring to Maya's for the night. He smiled to himself as he pulled into the garage and looked at them in the rearview mirror. He loved seeing them so happy, a distinct change from yesterday. Eager to get into their swim clothes, DJ and Rowan hopped out of the car as soon as Jack put it in park. He stepped out and shut the drivers' side door, while watching both of them charge out of the garage and to the front door of the house. He chuckled to himself and shook his head as he watched them unsuccessfully try to jiggle the door handle to open the door. "You guys aren't getting anywhere without the key", he called from the garage door as he jingled the house keys in the air and met them at the door to the main house. As soon as he opened the door, both boys raced under his arms and upstairs to get their swim trunks on. He cringed as he watched DJ trip on the stairs, only to stand back up again, yelling "I'm okay!". Jack put the car keys on their hook beside the door and called up to the boys, "Careful on the stairs, we don't need any more of you kids in the ER"
"Whatever Daddy", DJ excused as Jack sent him a warning look. "Fine, I'll be careful. You're no fun sometimes", he pouted as he stomped the rest of the way up the stairs behind Rowan.
Jack stood in the kitchen and poured himself a quick glass of iced tea to wash down the five cups of gross hospital coffee he had consumed between waiting for Andy to get to the hospital and waiting for Lia to wake up. He threw the empty glass in the sink and took a minute to listen to the sounds of Rowan and DJ laughing wildly as they raced each other to see who could get ready the fastest. "Why can't I get them to move this fast when I ask them to clean their rooms or get ready for school or Lexie in the morning?" he thought to himself as the boys' laughter radiated through the downstairs. He then went upstairs to change quickly, knowing damn well that both boys would be banging down the master bedroom door if he didn't move fast. He read a quick text from Andy as he multitasked, throwing the old clothes in the hamper and brushing his teeth at the same time. DJ had made a comment earlier about his breath stinking and come to find out, it was true. Toothbrush in his mouth, he quickly typed back a text, "Boys are moving at superhuman speed to get ready for the pool. Maybe we should tell them that camp has one and they'll get ready this fast for camp"
He quickly spit the toothpaste in the sink and tied the front of his swim shorts when he heard two hands pounding on the bathroom door, followed by a "Hurry up Dad, we're waiting", from Rowan. Jack grabbed a stack of pool towels from the linen closet and walked out of the bathroom to see both boys standing in the master bedroom, looking at him as if he had made them wait ten years. DJ immediately grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the door, giving him no time to reach for the magazine he wanted to bring outside. "Let's go already, you're taking forever", DJ sighed dramatically as the three made their way towards the hallway.
"That's funny. Almost sounds like what I tell you guys before we leave for school in the morning", Jack replied with a light chuckle.
DJ simply shrugged, "Yeah, but the pool is more funner than school. No one runs to school, that would be silly"
"School is important though, it teaches you things like funner not being a real word", Jack explained as DJ scowled at him and put his hands on his hips.
"Is too. Rowan said it was. He's my big brother and everything he says has to be true", Dj explained seriously as Rowan nodded at him with a wicked smile on his face. Jack arched an eyebrow at him and gave him a look, all the while asking him why he would trick his brother like he did.
Rowan sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "If you cant mess with your little brother, what's the point in having one?"
"I'll never understand you two's relationship", Jack chuckled as both boys fell silent. Jack took advantage of the silence, chuckling at them. "Last one to the pool gets thrown in" he warned. Both boys looked at each other and ran from him through the house, screaming and laughing so hard that the sound of their excitement echoed through the whole house. By the time they made it out the back door and to the pool gate, their cheeks were beet red and they were out of breath. As soon as Jack made it to the pool gate, he put his hands on his knees and pretended to catch his breath. "You boys beat me, that's not fair", he expressed, breathlessly, as both Rowan and DJ went behind him, grinning victoriously.
"You told us that the last one to the pool gets thrown in", Rowan reminded Jack. "You're big and we're small so we're going to push you in", he added as DJ grinned.
"Yeah Daddy, fair is fair. That's what you always tell us", DJ laughed as Jack walked in front of the boys, letting them think they were pushing him in the pool. He laughed as he fell in with a splash, spraying both boys while they stood on the brick patio laughing uncontrollably. Rowan immediately went to the box with all the floats and sifted through the endless abyss of dive toys, a random Barbie doll whose hair changed color when wet, and the numerous plastic arm floaties at Andy kept buying for Amelia. He fished out a few of the blue and orange dive sticks as well as DJ's life jacket; the green and yellow one that Andy made him wear if he wanted to swim in the deep end. After throwing the dive sticks into the water, Rowan jumped onto the giant pizza float while DJ ran and cannonballed next to him, splashing both Rowan and Jack with a large stream of water. "Got you guys", he smirked with all the six-year-old sass.
"Nice one little bro" Rowan complimented, giving DJ a high five. Rowan laid back on the float, not knowing that his dad was underwater, swimming over to the float. The next thing Rowan knew, he was in the water with his brother and his dad, laughing. "Hey, that wasn't fair", he argued, laughing, as Jack smirked at him.
"Of course, it was. Now how about we play some water basketball?" Jack grinned as he held the inflated red basketball near the floating hoop. "Who's afraid to lose?", he asked, spinning the ball in his hand.
"Not me. I'm going to win", DJ yelled as he swam over and grabbed the ball out of Jack's grip. "I'm just too good Daddy", he bragged as he threw the ball into the basket with a swish.
Jack smirked at DJ as he watched him do a little victory dance in front of the hoop. "You stole the ball from me", Jack pretended to argue as DJ shook his head, smiling wider than the Cheshire Cat.
DJ shrugged, "Oh well, I guess I win then"
Everyone stayed in the pool until two, when Jack decided to give the side lawn a much-needed trim. While he mowed the lawn, the boys played Battleship up in the treehouse. Jack was finishing the patch of grass by the swing set when he felt his phone buzzing away in his pants pocket. He took it out and sure enough, Maya's picture of the two of them at Andy and his wedding lit up his screen with the words 'Bishop Monster' under it. He chuckled as he shut off the lawnmower and walked over to a deck chair to answer Maya's call.
"Hey, Bishop Monster. What can I do for you?" he asked, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead. When he and Andy built the house, he never envisioned how much upkeep the yard and the house itself would be.
"Change my nickname, no, I called because I have to stay at the station a little later than planned to do some paperwork that I missed during the conference. Carina's coming in like 30 minutes to pick Rowan and DJ up. She doesn't like to wait, so make sure they're ready", Maya reminded him. Jack quickly glanced up towards the treehouse where both boys were stretched out on the wood floor, lying on their pool towels, with the Battleship board between them. He looked at the time on his phone and cringed, it was 3:30, he had completely lost track of time. He cringed as he realized that he would have to interrupt their game to get them to get ready. His train of thought was broken by Maya, "Helloooo, are you still there? You forgot, didn't you? Didn't you?", she asked.
"I'm sorry, I was cutting the grass and I lost track of time. I promise I'll have them ready to go", he assured her. He was just about to hang up when he heard yelling come from the treehouse. He quickly glanced up there to find DJ scrambling down the ladder while Rowan stood on the porch yelling something inaudible. He felt DJ tug at his shirt yelling, "Rowan wears cheater pants. He cheated". Jack ran his fingers through his hair and took a long slow breath out, wondering how to confront the situation. He closed his eyes as he heard Rowan come towards them trying to prove his innocence in the situation. "Daddy, you have to tell him not to, because it hurt my feelings", DJ whined as Jack put a finger to his lips and pointed at the phone. "Who are you talking to? Are you talking to Mommy? Did you tell her about Rowan?"
Rowan groaned as he glared at DJ, "For the last time DJ, I didn't cheat. You're just a sore loser"
"I'll have to let you go Maya, so I can handle this, before it turns into a brawl", Jack sighed as Maya chuckled on the other end of the phone.
"No problem Gibson. Tell the boys I'll see them at home in an hour and that if they don't stop arguing, we won't get ice cream. Talk to you later" Maya chuckled as Jack rolled his eyes.
"Will do Bishop Monster. Talk to you later", he answered as he hung up the phone. Rowan and DJ were still carrying on with their argument about the Battleship game gone wrong. DJ was adamant that Rowan cheated while Rowan tried his best to defend himself, something that was unusual for him if he ever did something he shouldn't have. Rowan and Lia were the only two out of the three that ever admitted to wrongdoings. DJ was the one that would usually make long, drawn out excuses before owning up to the truth. "What's going on now?" Jack asked evenly as DJ pointed a finger at Rowan.
"He cheated. He said my ship sunk and it didn't. He's a liar liar pants on fire who just didn't want me to win", DJ yelled as Jack tried to hold back laughter, thinking about DJ's attempt at an insult.
"Wow, a liar liar pants on fire? Sounds like a world of trouble", Jack chuckled as Rowan rolled his eyes, refusing to play along. All three Gibson men walked over to the deck table and sat down, DJ and Rowan still looking as though they were in the midst of a stare down with each other. Rowan looked more than willing to be the one to speak first, so Jack calmly asked him to share his piece, "Ro? What's your side to this? Did you cheat?"
"No way, I sunk his Battleship and he knows it. He's just pretending he doesn't know to get me in trouble", Rowan explained as DJ crossed his arms and buried himself deeper into the chair across from him. Jack could tell he was waiting to say something and was surprised at how well he was waiting for Rowan to finish talking. "He always does this. He can be such a little dingus sometimes"
"Rowan Andrew, what did we say about name calling?" Jack asked, having to remind him of the rule against that for the third time that week. He gave Rowan a warning glace when Rowan tried to argue that DJ deserved it for being mean to him and that Jack's rule was unfair. "It's not unfair Ro, I don't like you calling your brother or anyone for that matter names. Now apologize please"
"Fine. Sorry DJ", Rowan grumbled as DJ snickered at him. Rowan sighed and turned to Jack, pointing at DJ's grinning face. "See what I have to deal with? He's just happy I got in trouble"
Jack shook his head and messed up Rowan's hair, "I know, I'll talk to him about that". He turned to DJ as DJ's smile faded, "And you, stop laughing at your brother. Also, people can sink your ships in Battleship. That's kind of the point of the game little man". DJ attempted to protest but realized that he had no argument, Jack was too good at figuring out the truth. "How about this? Maybe next time your mother and I can play with you guys that way we can show you how to play?", he suggested, thinking that it might do the boys some good to have a family game night.
"Like referees in hockey? You guys will make sure everyone follows the rules?" DJ asked "And wear those striped shirts or maybe blow a whistle if Rowan does anything silly like Aunt Maya would?"
Jack nodded affirmatively, "Exactly like a referee, but without the whistle and striped shirts. You two know I can't stand Aunt Maya's whistle. So do we have a truce?"
"Yeah, we have truce", Rowan and DJ answered in unison as they shook each other's hands and hugged it out. "I can't stay mad at him forever. He's my best friend besides Dustin", DJ explained as Rowan threw his arm around him, adding that DJ was his favorite friend too.
Jack smiled and shook his head, it was times like this where he felt like a war mediator, trying to bring peace to both sides, regardless of who was right or wrong. He wanted all three of his children in a disagreement to feel heard and try to come up with the solution together. After watching Rowan tell DJ the rules of Battleship, Jack interrupted them to get them moving on packing for Maya's. Carina would be there in fifteen minutes and the last thing Jack wanted to do was see her angry. "Alright you two. Aunt Carina's going to be here very shortly so here's the game plan. I want the towels out of the treehouse and hung up on the railing. Then I want both you boys to go right upstairs to get dressed and pack a bag for your Aunts' house. No messing around, Aunt Maya won't be pleased if you two aren't ready when Aunt Carina gets here. Do you copy?" he asked in a captain-like tone that both boys knew enough to listen to.
"We copy" Rowan and DJ answered in unison as they ran up to the treehouse and hung up their towels before racing each other inside. While they were getting ready, Jack put the lawnmower away and went upstairs to get ready himself. He quickly threw a pair of khaki shorts and an old t-shirt, one of the only ones still washed. In all the commotion of Lia being sick, he had forgotten to do laundry that day and his street clothes sat, overflowing in the bathroom hamper. He groaned that the thought of what Andy would say when she found that. Then again, she would probably be sympathetic, knowing the situation, and do it herself. Jack quickly packed a small bag to take with him bag to the hospital and threw in clothes and a toothbrush for Andy. He knew that despite his objections, she wasn't going to leave Amelia's side to go home. She may have been able to convince him to go home, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do the same thing. On the way downstairs, he walked past DJ's room and noticed him playing with one of his RC cars.
"Focus DJ. Aunt Carina will be here any minute and when she gets here she wants to head out, she had a long shift at the hospital today" he reminded him as DJ sighed and threw the car and remote into his duffel bag.
"Can we take the Switch?" DJ asked as Rowan walked past his room and downstairs to wait on the couch.
"Your mother would have my head if I let you take that. Aunt Maya has an Xbox, so you may each take one game. Anyways, I think she's going to have you two so busy that you won't even be needing it", Jack chuckled. After shoving a book and his Flash Flashlight in his bag, DJ slung his bag over his shoulder and followed Jack downstairs. After hearing that they were allowed to bring two games, Rowan ran into the playroom and came out a second later with his and DJ's favorite games for the Xbox. Jack eyed the two games suspiciously before Rowan slipped them into his bag. "I hope Grand Theft Auto isn't one of them. You know Mom doesn't like you playing that with DJ", Jack reminded him as Rowan reluctantly handed him the game. "You're lucky Uncle Travis bought you this, otherwise you wouldn't have it. Go hurry up and pick another game" Jack suggested as he messed up Rowan's hair. "Your mother's right. We do need to get you both a haircut"
"Nooo, really?" DJ answered with mock surprise. "We were at the grocery store with Mommy last weekend and a lady told her what pretty girls she had", DJ answered. "Lia doesn't have sisters, yet. She might if the new babies are girls", he added remembering the twins on the way.
Jack was shocked. Andy hadn't told him about that one. How could a stranger comment like that about his kids? About their kids, when the woman didn't even know them. "What did Mommy say?" he asked wanting more information.
"Mommy was mad, but we told Mommy that we wanted a haircut. I want spikey tips", DJ answered "No more bangs", he laughed as Jack joined in.
"I'm going to miss doing this", he laughed as he messed up both boys' hair again, sending their hair in a variety of different directions. Rowan and DJ's faces lit up when they heard Carina honk the horn three times outside. Rowan and DJ raced out to her car with their bags. Jack followed behind them and got DJ's booster seat from his car to give to Carina. He quickly threw his duffle bag in the front seat of his car before going to help Carina get the boys settled in.
Carina stepped out of the car and put the bags in the trunk while Jack secured DJ's booster seat into the backseat. When he was done, Rowan and DJ wasted no time in climbing into the car. "Wow, they move fast", Carina laughed as Jack chuckled.
"You should get them ready on a school morning. I can assure you it's not this fast. More of a slow crawl with lots of refusing to get up and messing around when they're supposed to be getting ready. We were later ten times last year" Jack laughed as Rowan rolled his window down. "You left the car running?" Jack asked skeptically as he felt the blast of the AC hit him.
"Relax Jack, it's not like they can go anywhere", Carina smirked as she shook her head. "I never thought I'd be doing this. Babysitting your kids. Having you plan my wedding party. Considering how you hurt me a few years back. Italian women never forget these things you see", Carina laughed as Rowan rested his arms on the rolled down window and looked at Jack, confused.
"How did you hurt Aunt Carina?" he asked innocently as Jack ran his fingers though his hair and glared at Carina who simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
"Never mind Ro. Now, you two have a ton of fun with your aunts tonight" Jack smiled as he kissed both Rowan and DJ through the window. He turned to Carina as she got in the car and rolled the passenger window down to talk to him. "Thank you again for doing this. It will be good for them to do something fun to get their minds off everything happening with Lia. Just make sure they don't go to bed too late. And no rated R movies this time please, or my wife might actually kill your future wife", he reminded her as she laughed.
"Yes, I know. Your wife already texted me the rundown. Even stressed out she's organized" Carina laughed.
"That's one of the many things I love about her. We'll be at the hospital all night if you need anything", Jack answered as the boys waved from the backseat. "Bye Rowan and DJ. Best behavior and listen please", he reminded them.
"Bye Daddy", DJ yelled
"Later Dad. Say goodnight to Lia for me", Rowan yelled over him as Carina backed out of the driveway and onto the road.
Once the boys were gone, Jack took care of a couple last minute things at the house before picking up some dinner and driving back to the hospital. Him and Andy were thrilled that Carina and Maya had the kids, so they could have a worry-free night with their little girl, making sure that she was healthy. While Amelia slept, later that night, Andy and Jack used the time to methodically plan out what they were going to say to the social worker they were seeing in the morning about Jack's birth parents. The anticipation of finding out information other than the fact he was born in Kersey, Pennsylvania, kept him awake the whole night while Andy slept. He was beyond excited to find out more about his family, and if any of them were still alive. Part of him felt guilty worrying about that while his little girl laid next to him, sick, but Andy had done a great job of assuring him that he had every right to feel what he wanted to. He was more than excited to see what her "gift" to him, the search, would dig up.