The Journey: Chapter Twleve Chapter 12

A few days later, Rachel pulled into the water police car park, and noticed a girl in her late teens standing near Jack's car. She didn't exactly look like she was about to break into it, but Rachel's detective instincts kicked in all the same. She pulled up beside and leant out the window.

"Hello," she said.

The girl did look a little guilty when she answered, "Hey."

"Can I help you?" Rachel asked

"No, no, I'm fine, thanks." The girl smiled at her, and then turned to leave.

Rachel watched her go to make sure, and then put it in the back of her mind. If she had been up to no good, surely she would be scared out of it now. Besides, who would be stupid enough to break into a car in a cop car park?
~~ * ~~

The topic came up again the next day, however, when Rachel walked into the meal room to discover the same girl sitting opposite Jack. Serious conversation from the look on his face, Rachel thought. Maybe she had tried to steal his car and he'd caught her at it?

Unable to squash her curiosity, Rachel sauntered over. "Hey, Jack, let me know when you've got a minute will you? I think we might've found our bag snatcher. Sykesy and Tavita caught him on the Manly ferry a few minutes ago." She turned to go, but he called her back

"Uh, Rach, this is Sophie Ferguson," he introduced her.

Rachel smiled politely, "I saw you in the car park yesterday."

Sophie smiled back, somewhat nervously.

"Sophie needs somewhere to stay for the next couple of days," Jack began, sounding more than a little uncertain of himself.

Rachel frowned; this was not like him at all. She didn't, however, expect the next question.

"Is it all right if she stays with you?"

She opened her mouth to refuse; to ask him what the hell was going on.

"You see, Sophie thinks I'm her father," Jack explained.

Rachel closed her mouth, and nodded. "Yeah, she can stay in David's room. He won't be needing it again for a couple of weeks. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to after I put the baby to bed." She tried to smile reassuringly at Sophie, who thanked her.
~~ * ~~

"So are you guys on together?"

"Huh?" Rachel frowned, handing Sophie a plate of macaroni cheese.

"You and Jack."

"Oh! No, we're not."

"Have you ever done it with him?"

Rachel's eyebrow rose. She refused to volunteer an answer to that question.

Sophie seemed to realise she'd gone too far. "I'm just trying to figure out if he's the type to screw around."

"Not since I've known him," Rachel finally answered.

"Well, I mean there he is on my birth certificate, but he says he's never heard of my mother. What does that tell you?"

Rachel shrugged. "It *was* a long time ago."

"So howcome you live on your own, anyway?"

"Do you ever stop asking questions?"

"Nope. Does he have a girlfriend?"

Rachel shook her head, "I think you'd better ask *him* questions like that."

"You see, him being so old, I don't know if he's attractive. Would you bonk him?"

Rachel sighed. She could see this girl had inherited her father's tenacity.
~~ * ~~

"Jack, would you mind getting Sophie *off* the wharf before Hawker blows a gasket?" Helen asked.

Jack sighed in annoyance.

Behind her desk, Rachel chuckled. "Welcome to parenthood."

Jack shot her a dirty look and headed downstairs.

He was back a few minutes later, looking a little relieved, but mostly frazzled.

"Look, Jack," Rachel began, "We don't have much going on at the moment, why don't you go and sort all this stuff out?"

Jack looked for a minute as if he was about to argue the point, but instead he conceded it. "Yeah, I guess. Call my mobile if you need me for anything, then."

"Yep."
~~ * ~~

Rachel had just gotten the baby to sleep when her doorbell rang. Jack stood on the doorstep, looking uncertain. "Is Sophie here?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course she is, she's in the shower," Rachel answered. "Are you okay?"

"It's true," he told her, "She's my daughter."

"Well, that's great," Rachel smiled.

"I just talked to her mother," Jack continued, not hearing. "Rach, she doesn't want anything to do with her. How do I tell her that?"

Rachel shrugged. "There's no easy way around these things. She'll understand there's nothing you can do about it."

Jack sighed. "Will she?"

Rachel squeezed Jack's arm as Sophie appeared in a dressing gown "Hey, Jack," she smiled. Then she saw the look on his face. "What's the matter?"

"It's true," he told her. "I'm your father."

Even though she'd never doubted it, Sophie looked like she didn't quite know how to take the confirmation.

Rachel broke the silence. "Jack's gonna stay for dinner."

The pair walked to the dinner table looking anywhere but at each other.

After dinner, Rachel went upstairs to check on the baby, hoping Jack and Sophie would take the opportunity to communicate with each other. Unfortunately, her hopes weren't high. When she came back down fifteen minutes later, Jack stood up almost immediately and made his excuses. Rachel saw him out with the admonition he'd better fess up soon or live to regret it.

She feared the latter would happen first.
~~ * ~~

Unfortunately, Rachel was proved correct the next day, shortly after lunch.

"Jack, Sophie's downstairs, she wants to see you," Tayler announced, poking her head around the door.

"Oh, shit!"

"What?" Rachel asked, frowning.

"I was supposed to meet her for lunch, but I forgot. Damn!" He ran downstairs, leaving Rachel shaking her head.
~~ * ~~

Jack returned a few minutes later, looking more than a little down in the dumps. Rachel followed him onto the roof and sat down beside him. "Didn't go too well, huh?" she asked.

Jack shook his head. "I told her what Gabrielle said, but she didn't understand. She thinks I don't want to know her."

"Did you tell her she was wrong?"

"Yeah, I did, but she doesn't believe me. She says she's going home tomorrow." Jack sighed. "I just need some time to get used to the idea. I mean it's a pretty big thing to suddenly find out you've got a daughter you never knew about."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Rachel replied, staring into the distance.

Jack realised what he'd said. "This is a totally different situation, though," he added quickly.

Rachel smiled, and turned to him. "Not that much," she corrected him. "Frank is going to be just as angry and hurt as you are."

"Rach," Jack admonished. "I'm not..." he began, then sighed. "I guess I am a bit pissed off Gabrielle didn't tell me about it, but that doesn't stop me wanting to know Sophie. It wouldn't stop me wanting to be with Gab, either, if there wasn't too much water under the bridge."

"But there is," Rachel reminded him.

"Yeah, eighteen years worth. And she's married. And we broke up, you know? There were no promises, just bang, that's it, finished. Totally different scenario. Frank's gonna have to adjust to a few things when he gets back, but he will."

Rachel smiled. "Thanks, Jack. And you know Sophie will come around, too."

"Yeah, I hope so," he sighed, then suddenly, he frowned. "I just thought of something," he told Rachel.

"What?"

"Can you cover for me for half an hour? I gotta go home and find something."

"Yeah, sure," Rachel assured him, confusedly. He didn't seem inclined to explain any more, however, and she didn't ask. "I'd better get inside and at least pretend to be working, anyway," she laughed.
~~ * ~~

When Jack returned to the office, he said nothing to Rachel about where he'd been. The rest of the afternoon was spent on an enquiry into a boat break-in. Rachel, as usual, finished her report first, and picked up her jacket, ready to knock off.

"See you, guys," she called to Jack and Mick, who were still working on theirs.

Jack looked up. "You mind if I drop in, later on?" he asked. "You know, to see Sophie."

"Of course, Jack. You know you can come over anytime. Well, except in the wee hours of morning, of course."

Jack grinned cheekily, "You didn't used to mind."

"Well, we're all allowed to make one mistake in our lives, you know," Rachel quipped back, smiling.

Mick snorted.

"Keep laughing, spunk rat," Jack answered back sarcastically, "I don't see the women beating down your door."

Rachel took her cue and quietly left.

"Hey! What about Woodsie?" she heard as she walked down the stairs.

"She dumped you like a hot potato!" Jack retorted.

Rachel shook her head and kept walking.
~~ * ~~

"Hey Rach." Sophie appeared as Rachel came in.

Ali twisted in her mother's arms, and held her hands out to Sophie, who grinned. "Hey, Munchkin," she smiled, as Rachel passed the baby over.

"She's going to miss you, you know," Rachel observed.

"Jack told you I'm leaving."

"Yeah. You don't have to," Rachel offered.

Sophie sighed. "Yeah, I do. Jack doesn't really want me around, disrupting his life. I guess it's just too late." She handed Ali back. "I'd better go and pack my stuff."

"He does want to know you, Sophie," Rachel called after her.

Sophie turned, halfway up the stairs. "He has a strange way of showing it."
~~ * ~~

Rachel was feeding the baby when the phone rang, about fifteen minutes later. It was Jack.

"Did you tell Soph I was coming over?" he asked immediately.

"No," Rachel told him. "Aren't you?"

"I had an idea," he told her. "I want to talk to Gabrielle again before I talk to Soph, so I won't be coming over tonight."

"She's very hurt, Jack," Rachel warned. "You should come and talk to her."

"She doesn't want to know me unless I tell her who her mother is, does she? I might be able to do that tomorrow, but I can't, not yet."

"All right, Jack. See you tomorrow." Rachel hung up the phone thoughtfully. She finished feeding baby Alex, and dealt with the inevitable clean up of the surrounding area before changing her and putting her bed.

Passing David's door on her way back downstairs, Rachel knocked. There was no answer. She knocked again before quietly opening the door and peering inside.

Sophie lay on her back on the bed, eyes closed, wearing her walkman. Her face was red, and it was obvious she'd been crying.

Rachel couldn't tell whether she was asleep or just thinking, so she decided to leave her be. She went downstairs and put on a load of washing before flopping down on the couch to watch a bit of television.
~~ * ~~

Read on, MacDuff! Chapter 13.

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