(So I originally was only going to write one little fanfic about Defending Jacob, but then I got some really cool reviews both on this story and some others that I worked on from aliqueen16 and ended up writing another one just for her since she enjoyed my story so much. I hope you all enjoy! Sorry this one kind of ends on a sad note, but I had a lot of fun writing it. Especially all the brother and sister bickering parts haha. I own nothing but my OC.)
...
"Jake?" Andy called lightly into his son's bedroom, turning off the alarm clock before sitting down on the edge of the bed
"Hey! Come on Bud. Time to get up." He gently nudged the lump under the comforter before turning leave the room, pausing at the door and watching to see if Jake would get up on his own.
"Jaaake..." Andy continued, when the boy didn't make a single move. "Got to see those eyes."
When he was met with silence yet again, Andy shook his head and walked back into the bedroom. "All right. You give me no choice." He said, plopping down on the edge of his son's bed before pulling out his cellphone.
There was a soft muffled groan and Andy turned to face the blanket cocoon that was his son after scrolling through his itunes playlist for a moment.
"Last chance." He warned. When Jacob failed to elicit a response once again, Andy sighed as if he really didn't want to do what he was about to then hit the play button on his phone.
A definite, loud sleepy groan came from the pile of the blankets behind Andy as he lifted his phone and continued to let the loud rock music play directly above Jacob's ear.
Finally Jake threw the covers back. "All right! All right! I'm up!" He moaned, wincing when the sunlight hit him directly in the face.
With a soft laugh, Andy playfully nudged Jacob in the side before getting up from the bed. "Hey there he is! Good morning Buddy." He strolled out the door, peeking back one last time to make sure Jake was getting up before heading over to his daughter's room.
"Hey Beca?" He knocked on the door before walking inside the bedroom, taking care not to trip on her backpack which she had left on the middle of the floor.
Seeing the book report she'd finished yesterday laying haphazardly off the side of the bag, Andy picked it up with a light sigh and a shake of his head.
"Hey Rebeca!"
Like Jake, Beca groaned when Andy sat down on the edge of her bed and rolled over, pulling the covers up over her face.
Andy sighed and grabbed at the blanket. "Come on Bec. It's time to get up now, Sport." He tugged feebly at the comforter for awhile then he let go, sighing and pretending to give up.
"All right. Fine...You've got about five seconds to move that blanket and get going before I bring in the tickle monster." He warned, grinning down at his daughter who let out another sleepy grumble in return.
Raising his eyebrows, Andy lunged out and began scribbling his fingers quickly up and down Rebeca's sides, instantly making her flinch and shriek with laughter.
"Ahh! Daddy no!" Beca yelped, twisting and writhing and swatting her arm out in a weak attempt to get away from the tickling.
Andy let out an amused laugh and paused in the tickling. "Are you gonna get up now or do I have to bring in the tickle monster back for round two?" He asked half teasingly.
Instead of responding, Becca threw the covers off and made a fast roll off the other side of the bed, hitting the floor with a soft thud.
Andy chuckled again as he watched her stumble up to her feet. "There's my girl." He cheered, getting up and starting for the door.
"Don't forget your book report, Sport." He reminded, holding out the paper he'd picked up from the floor for Beca to take.
With another groan, Beca grabbed the book report and knelt to open her backpack and take out her homework folder as Andy walked out of the room, catching a glimpse of Jake strolling across the hall into the bathroom as he headed back to the Master's bedroom.
It was the start to a promising day.
...
"Kids! No running down the stairs!" Laurie looked up and shouted towards the staircase, shaking her head when she heard her kids charging down to the main floor anyway, pushing each other and bickering as usual.
"Hey Mom! Can you quiz me for my Vocab Test today?" Jake asked, popping into the kitchen first and handing his Mom a sheet of slightly wrinkled notebook paper before heading for the fridge.
Laurie smiled wryly and took the sheet, glancing over the list of the words and definitions that were written on it just as Beca wandered in, heaving a sigh before dropping her backpack on the floor by the breakfast bar.
"Mommy, can you please read over my book report before I take it school?" Beca asked as she made her way to the pantry and opened it to look for her favorite box of cereal.
Laurie raised an eyebrow at her before looking back at Jake who still had his head in the fridge.
"Well good morning to the two of you as well." She joked and Jake laughed coyly while Beca moved her head out of the pantry sporting an instantly sheepish and apologetic expression.
"Sorry. Morning Mom."
"Yeah sorry. Good Morning Mom. Did you buy more waffles? I don't see any in here."Jacob asked, opening the refrigerator again and re-combing through everything inside.
Laurie nodded.
"If they were on my list, I did. Beca, I'll read over your report after I quiz your brother. Okay?" She responded, glancing at her daughter as she walked past balancing a bowl, a spoon and a box of frosted mini-wheats in her arms.
"Okay." Beca agreed, pulling herself up at the breakfast bar.
"Perspicacious." Laurie nodded, taking a sip from the cup of coffee she'd made for herself as Jake began searching through a shelf.
"Uh having a keen understanding. They're not in here, Mom." Jake frowned with a shake of his head.
"Did you put them on my list?" Laurie asked and Jake nodded. "Yeah I did."
"Then they're there. Cursory." She continued to quiz him as Beca walked to the fridge and paused seeing that her brother was blocking the door.
"Uhh...brief and lacking depth. I don't see them." Jake murmured just as Beca tried to reach for the carton of milk, mumbling an excuse me as she ducked under Jacob's arm.
"Hey! Move out of the way, Shrimp!" Jake lightly shoved her. Rebeca retaliated by jabbing him in the side in protest. "Ow! Jake, I said excuse me!"
"Guys." Laurie spoke warningly before using Jake's vocab sheet to gesture towards the right hand side of the fridge. "It's on the second shelf, Jake. Behind the peas. Myopic."
"I'm telling you they're not...oh! Here they are." Jake grinned eagerly grabbing his prize. Laurie lightly rolled her eyes while Beca stuck her tongue out at him before carefully carrying the milk back to her spot at the counter.
"Myopic."
Jacob gave his Mom a sheepish smile. "Possessing a narrow view."
Laurie playfully nodded and glanced back down at the list just as Andy sauntered into the kitchen, fixing his tie before bending to drop a kiss on his wife's shoulder.
"Hey beautiful family! How was your run?" He asked Laurie as she ran a hand through her sweaty bangs. "Recalcitrant."
Andy raised his eyebrows at her response. "Yikes." He murmured causing his wife to glance up at him and point at the piece of paper in her hand. "Jake has a vocab test." She explained.
Andy started to nod. "Ahh..."
"Dad, can you read over my report before I take it to class, please?" Rebeca asked, holding out her report again towards her Dad this time as she finished pouring milk into her cereal.
Andy turned and nodded his head. "Sure Sport. Jake, would you mind throwing one of those in the toaster for me too, Buddy?" He asked his son, reaching to grab the paper from his daughter as Jake nodded and pulled an extra frozen waffle out from the page.
"Sure. Recalcitrant...uh I don't know." Jake shrugged turning to shoot his Mother a lightly confused look before grabbing an apple from the fruit basket.
Laurie raised an eyebrow at him. "Defying authority." She responded turning to grin at her husband as he walked past to pour himself some coffee while holding Rebeca's book report in front of him.
"What? Are you sure?" Jake asked, walking over to peek at his Vocab sheet. Nodding, Laurie pointed towards the middle of the paper.
"That's what you wrote down here."
"Huh..." Jake scratched his head.
"Jacob, can you give me an apple from the basket?" Rebeca asked, motioning towards the fruit basket with one hand while spooning up more cereal with the other.
"Get it yourself." Jake muttered, missing the look his parents shot him as he went to check on the waffles.
With a huff and a light scowl, Rebeca jumped up from the stool with a noisy scratching sound, purposefully shoving past her brother before jumping up to grab an apple.
"So, are you two going to need a ride to school today or are you walking?" Andy asked to change the subject, earning a look from his wife.
"I'm walking." Jake raised his hand and Beca took a bite out of her apple before sitting back down in front of her cereal. "I'm walking too."
"Copycat." Jake couldn't help retorting with a shake of his head. Rebeca responded by blowing a raspberry at him.
"Guys, knock it off. You both know there's no fighting during meal times. Jake, what's Disputatious mean?" Laurie stepped in before the bickering could continue and Andy nodded in agreement, walking over to hand his daughter her paper back.
"Argumentative." Jake responded in acknowledgement.
"Here you go, Sweetie. Looks good. You just missed a period in your second to last paragraph there. Good work." Andy smiled, pointing out the error and ruffling Beca's ponytail before handing the book report back to her.
WIth a half smile, Beca nodded and reached down to grab a pencil out of her backpack just as the toaster beeper went off. "Thanks Daddy."
Andy nodded. "Anytime. So, where did you run today, Honey? Listen to anything new?" He asked, slipping arm around Laurie's waist as Jake quickly plated the waffles and passed one to his Dad.
"Mm-hm. I ran down along Boylston Road today and listened to that new history podcast I told you about the other day." Laurie nodded, beaming at her husband before taking a sip from her own cup of coffee.
"I think you'd really like it. I lost track of time during my run while listening to it."
Andy smiled back at her. "Sounds great. I'll check it out today." Laurie shot him an incredulous look. "No you're not."
"No you're not." Beca echoed, with a giggle and mischevious smile. Shaking her head at her, Laurie moved to straighten her husband's tie.
"And anyway, Claudia Hoffman emailed me again. She said she can get the reservation for us."
"Claudia who?" Andy asked, furrowing his brows in confusion as he swallowed a bite of waffle.
Laurie felt her shoulders sag. "Lizzie's sister? The Travel Agent?...The one we've been contacting about Mexico? Remember?" She hinted.
Andy's expression snapped up. "Oh right! Right! Mexico! Awesome!" He grinned.
"Wait! What about Mexico?" Jake asked, looking up from his own breakfast with his mouth full.
"Swallow Honey." Laurie reminded and Jake nodded sheepishly before doing as he was told.
"Well, your Mother and I were thinking that we could spend Christmas this year in Mexico. The four of us. What do you guys think?" Andy asked, looking from his son to his daughter expectantly.
"Oh. Cool." Jake nodded, taking another bite of his waffles while Beca took the last bite out of her apple and got up to throw away the core.
"Yeah. Sounds fun." She shrugged. Andy and Laurie exchanged glances.
"Um, you guys could be a little more excited." Laurie gestured dramatically with her hands earning a grin from both her kids.
"We are."
"Yeah we are."
"Well tell your faces!" Laurie enthused, poking Beca in the cheek as she attempted to slip past her back to her seat.
"Mom, you always use that one." Jake shook his head with a laugh.
"Yeah you love that line." Beca nodded in agreement, catching a dribble of milk on her chin with her sleeve.
"You really do." Andy whispered before reaching to hand his daughter a napkin. Laurie playfully rolled her eyes.
"Okay look. We need to make a decision. Should we go to Mexico for Christmas? I mean...I can see you kids are obviously dying to go." She teased.
"Oh they're beside themselves. They can't contain it." Andy played along, using a napkin to wipe his face after taking another bite of his waffle.
"And we wouldn't break their poor widdle hearts." Laurie added on a fake pout making Beca laugh and Jake shake his head while trying to hide his own laughter.
"You guys are hilarious." He muttered, finishing his milk and not bothering to wipe it up when it spilled it a bit down the front of his shirt.
"Yeah and you're a slob." Beca retorted getting up in her stool a little and tossing a balled up napkin at her brother who flinched then used the napkin ball to dab at the little wet spot on his chest before throwing it back at his sister.
"Well you're annoying. What's your point?"
"Guys!" Andy stepped between them with a warning look on his face. Slumping back in her seat, Beca sighed and picked up her spoon from her bowl again.
"Sorry." Jake mumbled something under his breath.
Laurie nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, so are we going or not? I need to let Claudia know soon." She waved her hands questioningly.
Andy nodded and raised his mug. "I say yes. Yes to Mexico! Right Kids?" He glanced back and forth between his kids.
"Uh huh." Beca nodded with a mouthful of cereal. "Yeah whatever." Jake shrugged.
"Okay! Great! I'll call her today then." Laurie beamed, running a hand across her forehead before turning to hand Jacob's Vocab sheet to Andy.
"All right, I got an early meeting at work today so I need to jump in the shower now. Can you finish quizzing Jacob, Honey?" She asked, bending to meet her husband halfway for a kiss as he took the paper from her.
"Sure." He said agreeably, missing the slightly grossed out look Beca gave her parents when they kissed.
"All right. Bye Jake! Bye Rebeca!" Laurie called back to her kids as she walked briskly out of the kitchen.
"Bye Mom!" The kids chorused almost simultaneously before Beca got up to take her now empty cereal bowl to the sink.
"Okay...Phlegmatic." Andy grimaced a bit as he read off the next word on the page. "Uhh...unemotional and calm." Jake responded after a moment while Beca grabbed her bag and made to leave the kitchen.
"Right. Bec! Don't forget your book report!" Andy called after his daughter, leaning across the breakfast bar to grab the paper on it before waving it at her.
With a soft sheepish grin on her face, Beca scurried back across the room to retrieve her report. "Oops. Thanks." She quickly shoved the paper into her homework folder before scurrying out back towards the foyer to wait for her brother so they could walk to school together.
"Hey! What about my hug?" Andy called after her, making Beca roll her eyes and utter a groan before turning to oblige her Dad.
Jake grinned amusedly while Andy chuckled and gave Beca a quick hug before she ran out again, hollering a goodbye.
"Cogent." Andy turned to face his son with a wry smile. The smirk slipped from Jake's face as he began to wrack his brain. "Um, let me think..."
...
Ten Months Later...
"Rebeca?...Honey, you're going to be late for school! Let's go!" Andy called up the stairs, frowning when there was no response.
Glancing back at his wife, he sighed when he saw the same blank helpless look on her face that she had the previous night since they left the detention facility.
"Are you sure we shouldn't take Rebeca with us? I mean she's his sister and this affects her as much as it-."
"Laurie, we promised when this is all started that we'd do everything we can to protect the kids as much as we could. Especially Rebeca since she has nothing to do with this and taking our already emotionally overwhelmed twelve year old to a prison where her brother is-."
"She should get to say bye to him!" Laurie cut off her husband, untentionally raising her voice bit.
"It's NOT bye! Jacob's coming home with us as soon as the questioning is over! You know that. There's no need to bring Rebeca into a place...!"
"She has a right to know, Andy!" Laurie pleaded for her husband to listen to her side. With a frustrated sigh, Andy started to retort again when a soft girlish voice spoke up first.
"I have a right to know what?" Both Andy and Laurie turned their heads simultaneously towards the kitchen entrace to see their daughter standing in the threshold with a wide-eyed bewildered look on her face.
Laurie reacted first. "Oh hey, Honey! How did your study session with Emma go? Are you hungry? There's leftover ziti-."
"What are you and Dad talking about?" Rebeca cut her Mom off. Sputtering softly, Laurie searched for words for a moment while Andy ran a hand down his beard.
"Hey! There she is! Would you like a waffle today, Becs?" Andy asked, waving at his daughter and trying to be as cheerful as possible when he finally saw her drag herself into the kitchen, not bothering to drop her backpack before going to open the pantry.
"No thank you." She murmured, bypassing the cereal and grabbing a package of strawberry poptarts out of an opened box before shutting the cupboard.
Andy stifled a sigh. "Okay. How about an apple or a banana to go with that?" He asked, gesturing at the toaster treat his daughter had opened and taken a bite from while leaning towards half empty fruit basket.
This time Rebeca gave no response. Heaving a sigh, Laurie moved to meet her daughter before she could slip around the corner of the breakfast bar.
"Do you want a ride to school today? I can drop you off, if you'd like." She offered softly, stroking back her hair as if to soothe her.
Rebeca shook her head. "No thanks." She mumbled, taking another bite of her poptart. Laurie tried her best to suppress her frown.
"Sweetheart listen...your Dad and I have to go out together somewhere tonight, but we won't be long so just have some dinner and-."
"What about Jacob?...Is he going? Is this about his case?" Rebeca asked, turning her confused gaze from her Mom to her Dad. Andy sighed and shook his head before pushing his weight off of the counter.
"Rebeca listen to me." He moved to join his wife and bent so that he was at eye level with his daughter. "Jacob's going to be fine. We just-."
"Then why were you yelling at each other?" Rebeca asked, startling her parents since she never interrupted one of them before.
"Jacob's in more trouble, isn't he?" The question came out like a whimper.
Andy felt his heart clench when he saw the tears in her eyes.
"Baby..." He hesitated before continuing, glancing at his wife. "Mom and I...Your Mom and I are going to go see Jacob right now...at the Detention Facility where he has to stay tonight..."
He winced as if he'd just been slapped as he spoke the words before looking up to gauge his daughter's reaction.
"I'm going to walk to school today." Rebeca continued, carelessly using a sleeve to wipe her mouth before slipping past her Mom to get the door, bumping her bag into the counter on the way.
Laurie turned as if to go after her. "Okay, just make sure you don't take the route by the park! I'll pick you up after school lets out." She called out, getting a barely audible "Okay." in return.
Andy sighed and quickly crossed the kitchen, grabbing the cellphone that had fallen out of a side pocket of Rebeca's backpack when she bumped into the breakfast bar.
"Rebeca!"
"But why?...Do they think he did it? Is that why he's going to jail like Grandpa?" Rebeca asked, tears now running freely down her cheeks as she looked desperately at her parents for answers.
Both Laurie and Andy shook their heads. "Honey no! This is just procedure. Jacob's going to be able to come home very soon okay? He's not going to prison like your Grandpa. I pro-."
"But he is! He is! You just won't tell me!" Rebeca screamed, stomping her foot for emphasis and stunning both parents for a moment into silence.
Laurie found her voice first. "Rebeca..." She tried to reach out again to her daughter, but Rebeca broke away, running up the stairs and leaving her parents to listen to her sobs echo from the stairs.
"Hey Sport! You dropped your phone. You might need it." Andy called out to Rebeca casually, holding out the device to her as she looked up from tying on her shoes.
"Thanks." She managed a slight smile on one side of her face as she took her phone back and swung her bag around to put it in a more secure place.
Andy nodded then cleared his throat as he watched Rebeca swing her bag back around and turn towards the front door.
"Can I at least get my hug before you storm out on me and slam the door?" He asked, half teasing as he held out his arms in a hopeful manner.
With a sigh, Rebeca dragged her feet over to give her Dad the hug they always had before she left for school ever since she and Laurie left for her first day of kindergarten together.
"Fine." She huffed, leaning into her Dad's arms for a moment before letting go.
"Hey, when Mom gets you after school, I promise we'll all go together to get Jacob. Okay?" He promised, hoping to appease his daughter somewhat and although she did not smile, she nodded.
"Okay." She turned and grabbed the door handle, pulling the door open and taking a second to adjust one of her backpack straps before stepping out onto the front steps.
"Bye Dad."
"Have a good-!" Andy started to call after her when the door shut before he could finish. "...day." He muttered and shook his head, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Give me another morning where the kids are cutting up, calling each other names and shoving each other down the stairs over another one like this anyday." Andy grumbled as he rejoined Laurie in the kitchen and reached to grab his coffee mug from where he left it by the toaster.
Laurie nodded in agreement. "Me too. I'd even take them yelling at each other over this." She muttered, finishing her coffee and dropping her mug in the sink before stalking off presumably to take a shower.
Andy sighed in agreement. "I would too."
I would too...