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Chapter Thirty One – Aunt Merlin
The sound of a dial tone rang out over the phone line three times, and unfortunately for J.J the sound of her Mom's voice came through the line, reciting a prerecorded message.
"Hey, we're not home, leave a message."
She waited until the tone sounded before speaking, "Hey guys, its just me, I was just callin' 'cause, um, something happened and –"
"-Hello?" Harry's voice cut her off as he picked up the phone.
"Harry?" she asked.
"Hey Jay, what's going on?"
They'd become accustomed to her calling in the middle of the night due to the time change and with a twelve hour difference between them, so he wasn't immediately worried about her, but she wished he was.
"Not much, um… is Mom awake?"
"No, she had a hard day, she passed out around eight. Why, is something wrong?"
She gulped, "Um… I'm not sure."
Harry hesitated for a second. "Gimme a sec, I'm gonna go sit."
She heard him shuffle around the house, and she heard the sound of nails clicking on the floor as the two terriers followed him through the house. He pulled a chair out from the table and she heard him groan as he took a seat.
"Okay, shoot. What's goin' on over there, is it a boy? Your Mom told me you had a guy named Andrew you were talking to."
Likewise, she pulled the chair out from under her kitchen table and took a seat there. "Um, kind of, I guess, but its not about Andrew, he and I aren't really anything anymore," It came out as more of a question than an answer, "Um, I found out some information yesterday that I'm having a really hard time processing. I'm not really sure what to do with it."
"What was it?" he asked, "What d'ya find?"
"My, um…" she hesitated, "I found out that my Father is stationed here."
He was quiet for a really long minute or two, and Jess looked up as Atari trotted into the kitchen and stopped beside her, looking up at her with her ears pulled backwards in her trademark pity-me look. Olly was right behind her, and took it upon himself to jump onto the other chair, sitting at the table with her.
"You mean Daniel?" he asked.
"Um, yeah, Daniel. He tried talking to me but I made it clear to him I'm not interested in talking to him, and I'm not really sure what to do with it."
The two remained silent, and before he could come up with a response, J.J added in, "He also found out I changed my last name," with a chuckle and a smirk, "Can't say he seemed to like that too much."
Harry chuckled, but seemed to be serious as he spoke, "Okay, look Jay, I don't want to overstep here. This is your Father so I can't tell you what you can and can not do, but I do think that no matter what route you take that you should set boundaries with him. I mean, he's your Dad so—"
"You're my Dad," She interrupted him, "You're the one who was there every time I needed you."
He chuckled, and she could see envision the smile along his lips, "You know what I mean. He's the one who taught you how to ride a bike, he was there when you took your first steps, and your first word was for him. If you want to have a relationship with him then do that, and if you don't then don't. And if you're uncomfortable with him, make that clear to him. I mean, I never met the guy but from what your Mom's told me, he needs to be shown and told what the rules are otherwise he makes his own up."
She huffed, "Nothing sticks to him either, he isn't responsible for anything he does."
He chuckled, "Look, Jay, we love you very much, remember that. And we're going to support you no matter what decision you make, and we'll always be here if you need advice. If you want, I'll tell your Mom to call you in the morning."
She nodded, "Yeah, that would be great. Thanks Harry, I love you."
"I love you too, Jay, and I'm really thankful that I stuck around and your Mom let me become a part of your life. I couldn't have asked for a better daughter."
X0X0X0X0X0
Erin called her right around five thirty that night, which would have been five thirty in the morning for her, and listened to what J.J had to say, then gave her two cents on the topic.
"Maybe he has changed, Jay. But we wouldn't know because he hasn't spoken to us in years, and I want you to keep that in mind when you're making your decision. If you want a relationship with him then do it, but don't forget that you had a relationship with him before and he decided to end it. He no longer talks to your Gran or Papa because he cut his relationship off with own parents, and he barely speaks to his sister. When was the last time you talked to your Gran or Aunt Merlin and they told you that they'd spoken to your Father recently?"
"Never," she mumbled, "They always ask if he's tried to contact me so that they can find him."
"Exactly. So if you want to have a relationship with him, you go ahead and do that, I'll be okay with it, but I don't want you thinking that its going to be what you're dreaming it'll end up like right now."
She was right. The part of her that was still a little girl and wanted her Daddy to be there for her was hoping that maybe, just maybe, if she actually gave him a shot that he'd prove her wrong, he'd make up for everything and they could build off of the relationship they'd left behind them. But the realistic part of her – the part of her that was aware that she hadn't spoken to the man in question in way too long – knew that he wasn't going to do that. If he wasn't willing to keep a relationship up with his own parents, his own sister, then he wasn't going to keep a positive relationship with her. Instead, she was just dreaming of a way to hurt herself over and over again.
When she called her Aunt, the conversation went a similar way. It started out super positive.
"Hey Jaylicious, good mornin'. How's she hangin'? How's the constant sun treating ya?"
J.J chuckled. "Hey Aunt Merlin, its good. Its treating us with a lot of sea storms lately, but whatever. But I'm calling because I need your advice. Mom gave me her thoughts, but I figured I'd ask you too."
Then she dropped the bomb – Daniel Jennings was stationed here, and she was trying to decide if it would be worth it to try and repair their relationship.
"Fuck no," her Aunt exclaimed, "Fuck that shit, Jay. Fuck him. I know he's my brother, and I know I'm supposed to love him, but you don't deserve to let that slimeball hurt you again and again just because you share DNA with him. Just tell him to screw himself. And don't go ask Gran for her thoughts because she'll use you to finally get to talk to him."
And thus, she had two points on don't bother and Harry's do whatever point because he didn't want to offend anybody.
She decided she'd sit on it for a few days and just try to avoid him as much as possible, distract herself with anything possible.
Literally anything.
It really didn't take long at all for the framing of the new garage to go up, but right now all she could see when she looked up at it was a bunch of boards put together, clearly not finished, and inside there was a bunch of wood fitted in certain ways and nailed together. But it was up, thankfully. The construction team was focused more so on getting the house aspect done, in finishing the part of the garage that she'd be living in so that she could move in and get everything moved from the barracks, there.
"You like how its lookin'?" one of the construction workers asked as he approached.
She smiled and nodded as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Yeah, it looks amazing. I'm excited to see what it'll look like finished."
The sound of dogs barking pulled her eyes to the side to see Olly chasing Atari, running after her tail as she sprinted away from him, and their game of Tag began.
"They always that crazy?" he asked.
She chuckled, "Always. They're either asleep, or running."
In her peripheral vision she noticed a glimmer of red and blue as a Peterbilt drove across the tar mac, and butterflies spread their wings in her stomach, getting ready to take flight. She hadn't seen Optimus in about two days, but she hadn't forgotten how he'd made her feel the last time they'd seen each other. He'd seen her in such a vulnerable state, so easy to break or say the wrong thing and hurt all over again, and rather than doing such he instead showed her how vulnerable he could be, and insisted that he didn't want to overstep and hurt her in the process. He'd been so close, if she'd wanted she could have just leaned forward and closed the distance between them. She'd wanted to so badly, but again she stopped herself – maybe she'd been too scared, maybe Sunstreaker hadn't done a good enough job insulting her into taking action.
Maybe she was worried he wouldn't reciprocate. He was supposed to be an alien leader, he was a leader. He couldn't be bothered with some little, human girl who had a tidal wave's worth of unresolved daddy issues and a middle school crush on him just because he made her feel safe. No, he had bigger fish to fry than her.
"Eh, J.J?"
Her attention got pulled back to the man from the construction team that she was still standing with.
"What? Sorry, I thought I saw something weird."
He chuckled. "On this island? Everythings weird here."
She nodded. "Yeah, you could say that again."
X0X0X0X0X0
She couldn't tell if she was dreaming or not. She figured she was, except for the fact that this felt so real. She was at home, her first home, the home she grew up in until she and her mother moved back in with her grandparents; 1198 Maple Avenue. And she wasn't a kid anymore, at least it didn't feel like it. She was the same height as she'd been since she was sixteen and stopped growing, and when she looked down at herself she found that she was dressed in a pair of work pants, an old tank top that used to be white and was now a beige-ish brown from being through so much work with all sorts of fluids, and her good work boots. She was sitting on the edge of her old bed, tucked in the corner of that tiny room that was more of a closet than a bedroom.
"Mom?" she called out.
No response, prompting her to stand and walk towards the door.
"Hello?"
The small hallway led to the set of stairs that landed directly in the living room. She figured she'd find her Mom there, maybe even her Dad, or Harry, but shockingly, to her own respite, it was Optimus' sitting on the couch, his electric eyes looking out the large bay window that the couch sat beside. Dressed in a bright red short sleeve shirt that showed off just how massive his biceps were, and dark blue jeans tucked into similar boots to what always seems to materialize on his feet, he was leaning forward with his legs spread wide enough so that his elbows could rest on them, his left hand rubbing his right hand's fist as he seemed to wait for something to happen.
"Cap?" she called out, effectively catching his attention.
His head snapped to attention and their eyes met. He smiled softly upon seeing her.
"You look marvelous." He complimented gently.
"Um, okay? I'm dressed in what I wear all the time." She pointed out.
His response was only to shake his head, "Maybe so, but you also look marvelous everyday so the statement still stands on its own."
Her cheeks went hot as she smiled, her blush flushing deep red. "Uh, thanks. What are you doing, why are you here?"
He shrugged. "Because you're here. And I'd follow you anywhere, J.J."
She wasn't sure if her cheeks actually got a little redder or not, but it felt like it.
"Man's a keeper, Jaylicious."
From the kitchen, her Aunt Merlin walked over to the bottom of the stairs and winked at her, a glass of white wine in her hand. Her dark auburn hair was tied up in a bun that accentuated her high cheekbones, her slightly-too-large-for-her-face nose, a gene that she and her brother inherited from J.J's grandfather, and made her dark green eyes sparkle alongside the dimples along her thin cheeks.
"Aunt Merlin?"
"You know how hard it'll be to find someone that dedicated again?" she asked as Jess descended the stairs until she was on the bottom step, and as if on cue, Optimus stood from the couch. "Like a needle in a hay stack."
Optimus approached her, and slipped an arm around her waist, despite the look of shock that implanted itself along J.J's face. "If you need me, I'm right outside. I'll wait until the two of you are finished, then we'll head back to base," he leaned down and placed a kiss on her right cheek before pulling back, "Take your time."
He let go of her and exited the house swiftly, and she caught sight of the giant, red and blue Peterbilt sitting in the driveway.
"I'm tellin' ya, Jay, ya can't let this one go. He's too… good."
Jess nodded as she watched Optimus climb into his alt mode through the window pane beside the door. As he climbed in, he looked back at the house and must've caught sight of her because he paused, followed the smirk he let grace his beautiful face with a wink, before closing the door and cutting her view off from anything inside that he did.
"I am glad you didn't find someone like your Father. Your poor Mother didn't deserve to be treated like that, and I'd rather go to jail for murder than let my only niece fall for that same bullshit. But he seems genuine."
J.J nodded as she continued to stare out at the giant semi truck sitting right outside, "He is. He's the nicest man you'll ever meet."
"Well then don't let him go. You deserve a man that'll bring you all the stars in the universe."
The young mechanic chuckled as she glanced back at her Aunt with a small smirk, "I'm pretty sure if I asked him to, he could find a way to get that for me."
Merlin nodded strongly. "Good, you deserve no less."
J.J watched as her Aunt got closer to her shoulder, took a sip of the wine from the glass in her hand, and said, "Besides, with an ass like that, I'm surprised he doesn't have his own moons orbiting around him."
J.J's jaw dropped at the statement.
"Aunt Merlin!"
She shrugged. "I'm just sayin'. Enjoy every moment you can with whatcha got, Jaylicious, and don't let it slip through your fingers 'cause you're scared. You two look good with each other, you belong together."
With a gasp, J.J lurched upright in bed. Olly was laying at the end of the bed, sprawled horizontally along it, and sleeping so hard he was snoring. Atari was laying beside her, but her abrupt awakening prompted the brindled pup to perk up to, her ears pulled back as she looked around timidly, before the two made eye contact.
J.J huffed, "Its okay, babe, go back to bed."
Atari made a soft whining sound, but put her head back down, and J.J rubbed her face as she recuperated from the dream her psyche had just made up. The sound of her Aunt Merlin's voice echoed in her mind.
Enjoy every moment you can with whatcha got, Jaylicious, and don't let it slip through your fingers 'cause you're scared.
Was she letting this moment slip through her fingers?
Date Started: December 6, 2020
Date Finished: December 7, 2020
Last Edited: December 7, 2020