Author's Note: Thank you for your feedback and reviews. They really do encourage me. You guys are awesome! Also wanted to thank TurtleDove for the beta reading - glad you're feeling better!


The phone was ringing when Jack got home that night. He grabbed the phone off of the table, pressing the button to turn it on as he walked back through the room heading for his kitchen. He was starving and he wondered if Lanie had left anything for him from the day before. "O'Neill," he said into the receiver just as he reached the kitchen table.

"Jack?" came a voice from his past. Jack stopped walking and stared numbly at the refrigerator he was heading for. It couldn't be him, he thought, his mind suddenly kicking into gear as he realized that it probably was. Oh man, now what?

"Jack? Are you there?" his father's voice spoke out through the receiver that Jack held tightly in his hand.

"Yeah," Jack responded. His mouth had suddenly gone dry and he decided that he really did need to sit down. "How are you Dad?" he asked as he sat down at the table.

"I'm fine boyo," his father responded and Jack wondered why Thomas O'Neill felt the need to call him by a name only his grandfather had ever used. "Henry called to tell me that you were looking for me," his father rushed on to tell him. "I just thought I would follow up to see what it was you wanted." Jack thought he detected a slight pleading in his father's voice.

"Didn't Henry tell you what I wanted?" Jack asked, deliberately keeping his tone light. The anger that was racing through his veins surprised him.

"Yes, he did. But I was hoping that maybe you wanted to talk to me about something else." There it was again, the pleading. Jack now knew what it was his father wanted, the man just didn't know how to pose his feelings to the son he'd practically disowned all those years before. They were so much alike, Jack realized. Neither one was able to express themselves or their desires, choosing instead to hide behind a quiet demeanor, hoping no one would find out that they were totally inept at this kind of thing. He may not be the man's natural son, but Jack had learned a lot from him.

That last thought brought the anger back into the forefront and Jack stared at his clenched fist. They had kept their secret from him all these years, leaving him to believe that he was their flesh and blood, only to find out 50 years later that they had lied to him.

"Jack?" his father said again. "Can we talk about this, please?" The guy was definitely begging now, Jack thought with a grimace.

"Yeah sure, why not?" he replied, not quite able to keep the anger out of his response. This was the son of a bitch who had lied to him, turned on him and beat the shit out of him, before dropping out of sight for thirty years. Now he wanted to make amends?

"We loved you Jack – your mother and I. You were our son and we were happy. Nothing can change that, even the last thirty years."

"You turned on me," Jack snapped at him. Breathe O'Neill, he told himself to make another attempt at calming down.

"Yes I did," his father responded. "It was the stupidest thing I have ever done and you have no idea how much I regretted it years later."

Jack didn't respond; he was too busy working on calming himself. All those years of wondering what it was he had done to make his father hate him. He had worked hard to become the better man, working his way up to Colonel, just to prove to his father that he wasn't whatever the man had deemed him to be. The fact that he'd made it to General was just the icing on the cake. Of course, Jack had given up proving anything to his father a long time ago.

"Jack?" his father tried again. "We are a lot alike, you know. Neither one of us is very good at talking about our feelings," he admitted. Jack just stared at the table - he had already come to that conclusion. "It was your mother who had me hating you," he continued, causing Jack's head to come up and his hackles to rise.

"Excuse me?" Jack snarled, no longer trying to control anything. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? She's dead. What did she do to cause you to hate me?"

"Even though she loved you more than life itself, she never forgave me for bringing you into this world," his father said wearily. "Don't get me wrong, we had a happy life - the three of us, but her dying words to me told me that you were the one who brought on her happiness, not me."

Jack knew of his mother's love for him. He remembered her smiles, her pride in his accomplishments and her fears and concern when he was sick. He had been devastated when she had died, taking her love with her. She had left him alone to deal with a grieving father, a man who had no feelings for the son that was left behind.

"I couldn't believe it at the time," his father continued. "I loved her, yet she had been harboring a hatred for me because of one little mistake, even if that mistake did bring on her happiness."

"You hated me because she never forgave you?" This guy was definitely on the senile side of the tracks, Jack thought. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"It's not as simple as that. I had an affair with another woman," his father explained, completely shocking Jack into numbness. An affair? His father? His life had turned into a soap opera and he wasn't sure he wanted it to continue.

"It happened a couple of years after your mother and I were married. We were living in Chicago then, but we had been visiting with Henry in Minneapolis. Your mother and I had a major fight one night and I went out for a walk to think things over. I met Ellen in a neighborhood park, and well… we just seemed to hit it off right away. The funny thing is – she was having problems with her husband, who was away for a few weeks. We got to talking and I ended up making excuses to go for a walk every single day I was there."

"So you had an affair with another woman," Jack said, "What does that have to do with me?"

"I'm getting to that," his father said impatiently. "Anyway, Ellen and I ended up going to her place a couple of times and…," his father stopped to clear his throat, but Jack didn't need to hear the rest of the sentence. He was pretty good at filling in the blanks most of the time. "Our relationship only lasted for a few weeks," his father continued, a little defensively. "Your mother and I headed back to Chicago and Ellen's husband returned from his trip. I didn't think I would ever hear from her again."

"I repeat, what does this have to do with me?" Jack snarled. He wanted the condensed version, not this long drawn out history book.

"Jack, do you want to hear the story or not?" his father asked, frustration making an appearance.

"You are going to get to the point eventually?" Jack asked bemusedly. This was almost like old times, before his mother's death.

"Yes Jack, have patience," his father responded. Jack could hear the smile in his father's voice and knew that he was remembering too.

"About four months later, Ellen contacted me and told me that she was pregnant," his father continued. "She was terrified that her husband would find out that the baby was not his. According to her, the baby had to be mine because of her husband's absence and the fact that they weren't… well, you know." It was fill in the blank time again, Jack thought with a smile.

"I have to tell you that I was at a total loss for words, which is not unusual at the best of times, but this had me stumped. We finally worked it out that she would somehow convince her husband that the child was his and we would go on as if nothing had happened."

"Dad, I hate to jump in and ruin what could be a fantastic story for Jerry Springer, but could you get to the part where it's my fault?"

"Ellen called me several months later," his father continued, ignoring Jack's interruption. "She was hysterical. Her husband had found out about us and had left her. She didn't know what to do. I tried to calm her down, but your mother walked in as I was talking to her and my secret was out."

He had stopped talking and Jack could sympathize with what his father was remembering at that point. He had been on the receiving end of his mother's temper many times himself. "Dad?" he prompted, hoping to get the story moving. He was now anxious to hear the ending.

"Well, as you know, your mother's temper could stop a tornado from hitting our house," his father teased. "But she eventually calmed down and decided that we should adopt the baby. We had been trying, but our own child was not to be. So I called Ellen and arranged for her to come to Chicago to give birth."

Jack now knew where this was heading. He was his father's biological child. But did that mean that Mac…? Jack didn't dare interrupt now. He was hanging on to the edge of his seat wanting to know the whole story.

"But she didn't make it. She called me the next day to say that she was heading for the hospital. Your mother had gotten her hopes up that she was going to have a baby in her life, so she practically dragged me to Minneapolis to go get that baby."

"When we got there, Ellen's husband was already there and he and I almost came to blows, but your mother stepped in and set us both straight. I really did love your mother, Jack," he said fondly. Jack knew it was his adoptive mother his father was pining over.

"Anyway, we got the news that Ellen gave birth to twins. Shocked all three of us, I'll tell you. Your mother was ecstatic, and she was determined to take those babies home. But Ellen couldn't part with them. She loved both of her babies. Her husband, on the other hand, talked her into giving Kathryn and I one of them. Your mother had a good deal to say about that, as well. We took you home and we were one happy family, or so I thought."

Both men were silent at that point, lost in their own thoughts. Jack was trying to take in everything he had been told and still managed to get some of it mangled in this thoughts. According to his father, he and Mac really were identical twin brothers, a by-product of an affair that never should have happened. He wondered if Mac's father ever treated him badly because of his parentage. He had never thought to ask him.

"So Mom never forgave you for the affair?" Jack asked, breaking the silence that had been building up.

"I thought she did. She never mentioned it after that. Not until that day in the hospital when she was dying. She didn't want to take her sin of not forgiving me for all those years to the grave with her. She said that you were a constant reminder of my betrayal. You, the one thing she loved more than life itself…," his father sighed, then continued, "I was devastated that she didn't love me as much as I loved her. All I could think about was the fact that you were the one who had taken her love from me. If it hadn't been for you…"

Silence took over once again, as both men dwelled on the memories that were piling up on them. They both had loved Kathryn O'Neill with all their hearts. Jack remembered how he'd wished she could have met Charlie. She would have doted on him completely, he thought sadly.

"Dad, is this what you wanted to talk to me about when you called me several years ago?" Jack asked.

"I had heard that your son… my grandson had died. I had realized my mistake by that time, son. I just couldn't get up the nerve to contact you, thinking you would just spit in my face. You were pretty angry that day you left. Anyway, I wanted to be there for you if you wanted to talk, but his death had hit you hard. Your wife told me that you weren't even talking to her about it. I think you were still in shock, though because it seemed like you were there, but not there when we talked. I could tell you were still angry with me, and I left it at that, hoping that you would come around one of these days."

Jack couldn't respond. Dark memories were now swirling about in his mind, threatening to bring back the depression he was able to chase away just that morning. He was determined to not get bogged down in that stuff, so he turned his thoughts to the mystery of twins born in different cities.

"Did you say I was born in Minneapolis? How can that be? I thought I was born in Chicago."

"Oh that," his father said, sounding relieved to come out of his own thoughts. "Your mother was in such a hurry to take you home, we left without even thinking of a birth certificate. Actually, I think she wanted to get you out of there before Ellen changed her mind and not let you go. Anyway, we thought about the birth certificate issue on the way home and we decided to just say that she gave birth to you at home and the people at the County office believed us. So, by all intents and purposes, you were born in Chicago. This was fifty years ago Jack. We wouldn't have gotten away with it nowadays."

"Henry was surprised that I had a twin brother," Jack mused out loud, then asked his father, "What did you tell the family?"

"That we had adopted a baby boy. They didn't question the details and your mother just told them that we wanted to keep it quiet until we knew for sure. They bought it, especially since I am not one for telling anybody anything."

Jack had to smile at that. He was known for the same thing. Like father, like son, he thought wryly.

"Can we put all this behind us Jack?" his father asked tentatively. "I know that what happened between you and your step-mother wasn't your fault. I divorced her a couple years after you left when I found her with a neighbor. They were… well, you know."

"I'd like that Dad," Jack said, smiling at his father's refusal to actually say the words to describe what they were doing. He smiled as he wondered how his father and step-mother argued over her being caught with Jack when Dad couldn't even bring himself to say the words.

"Henry tells me that you've met your twin brother. What's he like? Have you met your real mother?"

"He looks just like me, although I think I am the one with all the charm," Jack said smugly. "From what I gather he is really smart – he's a scientist, studied Physics in college. I'm really just getting to know him, Dad, but he is married and has three children. I don't know anything beyond that."

"A scientist, eh? Yeah, but you are a General in the Air Force," his father said proudly. "I can't tell you how proud that makes me Jack. You always were strong-willed. You always had to have things go your way. Your mother told me once that she was sure you were going to be the President of the United States because you were too bossy for your own good."

"Thanks Dad," Jack said, feeling a tightness in his chest. Knowing that his father was proud of him was something that he had wanted for a long time, and here it was given freely. It meant a great deal to Jack.

"What about Ellen?" his father asked, trying to sound nonchalant. "Your real mother."

"She died quite a few years ago. Her heart gave out on her. Her husband had died in a car accident when Mac was young."

"Mac? Is that what he likes to be called? I'd like to meet him Jack. Do you think you two could come visit some day?" The hopefulness in his father's voice went straight to Jack's heart.

"I don't know Dad. I'll ask him and see if he'd be interested. Hey, I'll ask him when his wife is around. That woman will make sure he does even if she has to drag him all the way there."

"I'd like that Jack. I've missed you, son."

"Same here," Jack said. "I'll call you and let you know what he decides," he added, thinking that he needed to see his father again. He had to be nearing eighty, and there may not be a whole lot of years left in the old man.

They said their good-byes and Jack stared at the phone after he had pressed the button to end the call. His thoughts were in a jumble, a myriad of feelings and thoughts swirling around in his mind and he made a conscious effort to focus so that he could make sense of all that he had been told. He was going to be the one who had to relay all this to Mac and Lanie and he didn't want to screw it up. He figured it would be best to tell Mac while Lanie was around so that she could harass Jack about all the details and get it over with. This way he wouldn't have to deal with telling the story twice.

With that decided, he took the phone and dialed the number to Mac's room in the hospital. Lindsay answered and Jack had to smile when she enthusiastically said, "Hi Uncle Jack," when he'd asked for Mac. Lindsay had become a member of his own personal fan club ever since he had helped rescue her from those idiots.

"I've just talked to my father," he told his brother after asking about his health and getting an affirmative answer. "He confirms the fact that we are twins and the circumstances surrounding our birth. Why don't I come down there to give you the low-down?"