At the Cabin

Monica's red jaguar pulls off the road, stopping near the cabin door only just sideswiping Charlie's truck.

"God monica. I see your driving's changed as much as your personality has."

"Shut the hell up Charlie...." Monica looks around her distaste obvious. "God, what a dump."

Charlie sighed. "It's a cabin monica. Get to know nature... that kinda thing. It's not supposed to come with six bathrooms and a doorman. Could your nose be any further up your ass?" Charlie wasnt even sure monica heard him, she walked up to the front door of the little cabin turning the doorknob with two fingers, touching it only as much as necessary. Charlie followed her inside, seeing no escape, but hoping to be able to calm someone down when it became necessary.

"JAQUELINE. HERE. NOW." Monica stood in the quaint loungeroom with her hands on her hips, fully acting the outraged parent complete with tapping foot.

"Wow mom, what an entrance. Great to see you too." Jake walked out followed closely by hamilton, holding tightly to his hand.

"Dont give me attitude young lady. What are you doing out the middle of nowhere in a dump like this with him? He's probably slept with the entire school..." Hamilton angered at the way monica was looking him over like he had a tatoo on him somewhere that read 'walking std'.

" I dont think you are really in a position to tell me what to do mom, considering in the last year and a half ive seen you for all of an hour or two. And whatever your problem with me leave Hamilton out of it. Now. How can i help you mom? Coz we'd kinda like to get back to our vacation."

"You little biitch..." Jake prepared to flinch for the impact of her mothers hand. Eyes closed she waited, but it didnt come. When she opened her eyes she saw that Charlie had caught her mothers hand and Hamilton was standing in front of her shielding her. She held his hand tighter.

"SIT DOWN." Charlie locked eyes with Monica. She opened her mouth to say something but Charlie barked the command at her again. Slowly she sat on the edge of the couch. Charlie sat beside her. He guestured for Jake and Hamilton to sit on the couch opposite them.

"Sit down kids, we all need to talk."

Charlie walked outside to the dock to get bella, scout and will who were sitting in uncomfortable silence trying to give jake and her mom some time to sort things through.
"Daddy?!" Bella jumped up, hugging charlie tighter than she had intended to. She was so glad to break the awkward silence that had enveloped them.

"hey baby. Scout, Will. I need you three to come inside we all need to have a talk with Monica." He was met with three confused faces. He stopped them before they started asking questions. "Please, just come inside." The three teens followed charlie inside, walking into another awkward silence. Charlie re took his seat next to monica and the kids sat on the floor around Jake and Hamiltons feet.

Monica cleared her throat. " I dont see why we need all these kids here Charlie. I wanted to talk to Jaqueline not the rest of them."

"You are going to talk to them Monica. We've kept secrets too long. Nows the time to set things right." Charlie saw monica's anger flare back up.

"You can't order me to do anything charlie."

"Fine monica. You tell them or i will."
"Screw you."

"Fine i'll tell them." Jake and the others watched the interaction between the two supposed adults infront of them. They were talking like they're known each other for years. It was all very strange.

"ok..." Just as Charlie was about to start another car pulled up outside and Kate and Finn came rushing into the cabin.

"Hamilton... you;re ok! I was soooo worried... why didnt you tell me where you were going? How did you even know about this place??? Are you ok?" Hamilton tried unsuccessfully to fend off his mothers affection, and her questions. "Mom I'm fine. stop. please... I'm sorry i didint tell you but i just needed to get away for a bit. ok?"

Kate looked around the room, saying hello to everyone there. Stopping with supprise when her eyes fell on Jaqueline. "Ahh. hi Jake... uh... thats an awfully nice skirt...you can explain that right?" Jake nodded. "ok... we'll talk later then."

Kate and Finn took a seat in the two lounge chairs left in the loungeroom and Charlie continued, starting from a different angle than he had planned.

"Jaqueline, perhaps you should explain your... um... femininity?" Charlie looked embarassed as he searched for the right way to put it "Just so everyone's caught up before i tell you all what i need to." Jake couldnt help but smile at the stupidity of it all. It was like everyone had a secret. Bella and Scout, Monica and Charlie, even Finn and Kate.

"Ok... Mrs Flemming, im really sorry you're finding out the way you are, but i'm a girl... obviously you can tell that by the skirt... but i guess it needed to be said outloud. I came here, to Rawley boys because in the past 4 years i've been enrolled in 9 different schools all without mom ever knowing. I guess that tells you all how much time mom and i spend together." jake turns to look at her mother. "9 schools mom. Anyway i enrolled at Rawley boys thinking that i'd only be here a term and then i'd go somewhere else. It was kinda a thrill sometimes to think about being a completely different person. I could tell people whatever i wanted about my mom because i couldnt tell them the truth otherwise someone might have found out who i was. I needed to do something really drastic to try and get your attention because it didnt matter how many times i rang you or wrote to you or emailed you telling you that i wanted to spend time with you, you never listened. The one time you did invite me to come with you on tour, i got stuck babysitting your boyfriend's 3 year old girl! So i did something really stupid. I got my hair cut off, i bought a corsett from one of your old costume people and i enrolled in a boys school. I met Hamilton on my first day at Rawley and he kinda got under my skin. After a while we were like best friends, then i made the mistake of kissing him, forgetting that i wasnt Jaqueline... that i was Jake. That kinda led to him finding out the truth eventually. Finn stumbled across me in the shower on the last day of term, but i hadnt seen him to see if he knew what was going on." Jake looked over to see finn nodding his head yes. "So that's the whole story. It was a stupid thing to do, but i had to do something. And by the time you came to see me at the regatta, i couldnt risk leaving Hamilton. So i keept lying."

Jake looked around the room. Will, Scout and Bella all smiled at her, showing their support. Kate was smiling slightly, as were Finn and she knew she had their support. Monica was just sitting silently on the couch.

"I thought you were ok with my work. I thought you were proud of me." Monica's voice was quiet and shaking slightly as she tried to process all the thoughts in her head.

"I was proud of you mom, But i was also a 15 year old kid who needed her mom. I told you that. time and time agian. but i never came first. You never made time for me. I spent more time looking after you than you did looking after me."

"im.... I'm so sorry..."

End Chapter

Start Chapter

"Now that we're all sharing... Mom,.... Finn... I just want to let you guys know that i knew about you being together. I've known for a raelly long time... and i'm completely ok with it.. I know you've been feeling really guilty about cheating on dad and everything, but You guys deserve to be happy... " Kate looked at Finn with tears in her eyes. "Actually Munchie... we arent together anymore.. We thought it would be best if we didnt see each other... I didnt want to take a family away from you." Finn looked from Kate's tear stained face to Hamilton's shocked one at the revelation.

"Ahh... Kate..." Screw it, he thought. Time to take a chance.

"You decided we weren't going to be together anymore. I'm still as much in love with you as i was when we were at Yale." Kate looked shocked. "I..." Kate rushed over to Hamilton and hugged him hard.
"Mom you've got to do something to make yourself happy. It's not worth being unhappy for dad's sake. God knows he does whatever he wants to do regardless of who it hurts... Finn loves you. That's special. " Jake and Kate were the only ones who heard Hamiltons whispered words, But everyone gasped at their impact when Kate let go of Hamilton and rushed over to Finn, throwing her arms around him, holding onto him for dear life while telling him over and over how much she loved him.

It was Charlie's turn to interrupt. "I know theres alot to digest for most of you guys at the moment. But there is one thing we need to talk about while we're all together. It concerns pretty much all you kids. I'm really sorry that you guys are going to be upset and mad with what i have to say, but i'm hoping you'll hear me out if nothing else.

"Bella... You know that i'm not your real dad..." Bella nods sadly. "And, I know your mom told you that John Calhoun isnt your father either...." Bella nods again, recieving a startled look from scout. He goes to say something but Charlie speaks again. "Just that alone is a huge family secret. I can't tell you who your dad is. I really dont know. Your mom says its the guy she's living with, and it's possible but i dont really know for sure. What i do know is that when your mom was giving birth to you we got a bit of a suprise. See your mom, she hated doctors and she refused flatly to go to one when she was pregnant. I think she was afraid they'd somehow tell me i wasnt the father, but by the end of the pregnancy she'd told me herself. Still she never went to a doctor. When she gave birth to you, we were glad that you were safe and sound. But ten minutes later, it appeared that you had a sister coming with you."
"i dont understand daddy... what does this have to do with everyone here?"

"I was having a really hard time dealing with the affair your momma had. I automatically loved both you and your sister, but your mother said if we wanted to be a family she was only going to keep one baby. I told her that was rediculous but she said either we kept one baby and she stayed or she'd give away both and leave. I wanted to keep both of the babies... Even though they werent mine, i was there the whole time she was pregnant, and i loved your momma so much. I thought maybe things would be ok if we were a family you know? But after alot of fighting she won. She put the youngest baby girl up for adoption, at least that's what she told me."

"The way you said that Mr Banks... She didnt give the baby up for adoption did she?" Scout piped in automatically, enthralled in the story Charlie was telling.

Charlie shook his head sadly. "No Scout she didnt. She went to your dad, told him i was threatening to kill her and the second baby. She told him that if she could just find a home for one of the baby girls she'd be ok. Your dad believed she was telling the truth and arranged something. Years later i found out that he knew someone who had just had a still birth. Apparently they desperately wanted the baby, and It was all arranged. I talked your dad into giving me the name and address for the people who had taken the little girl, and once your dad knew the real story, after your momma left he agreed."

"So... where is my sister dad? Why havent you told me about her before??"

"I made a promise that i would keep quiet. In return i recieved letters telling me how your sister was doing. I got a few photos too. Before we gave her up i insisted that i name her. I felt like she was a part of our family even if she wasnt here. I named her...."

"Jaqueline." A voice piped up from the opposite couch, and everyone turned to look at Jake.

"How did you..." Charlie looked confused. Jake shrugged

"Just caught on. Mom always told me i never wanted to go to new england. Always hinted that i never wanted to come to this part of the country, even though it contains one of the best schools in the world. Dad must've know Scout's dad." Jake turned to look at her mom and continued when sshe confirmed the statement. "So mom and dad lost their baby, and dad really wanted one. Mr Calhoun knew a couple who couldnt keep their baby, and it seemed like an ideal situation, except that dad died when i was three, leaving mom to look after me even though she couldnt deal with losing dad."

"Losing your dad hurt so much i couldnt let you find out about your sister. I couldnt face losing you when you found out you werent mine. But i was so upset over your dad that i pushed myself into work and by the time i realised what i'd done i never saw you, and you were all grown up. And now, i guess i lost you before you even found out. " Monica started to cry, Jake moved over to comfort her.

"You havent lost me mom. It'll just take some time to get through all this. We just need to get to know each other, without any lies in the way." Monica nodded and the small family hugged tightly.

"Umm.,. Bella? Are you ok??" Bella looked more shocked than anything. The room fell into silence.

"I dont believe my sister dressed up as my brother. god, looks like i got all the brains huh" Bella broke out into a huge grin, and the room erupted into laughter.

"So you're ok about all this?" Bella nodded.

"But what about Grace?" Charlie smiled

"She's all mine. Had a strange moment where i thought your mom and i could work things out. I think she gets her attitude from your momma."