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thanks for all the great reviews! Time for the rest of the dinner... lol...

Chapter 30

Jack followed Irina into the dining room placing the two plates that he was carrying onto the table. He looked at Irina and watched as she placed her plates down and discreetly adjusted the place mats. Jack shook his head, amazed at how things never changed. When they were married Irina was always fixing things that Jack would do, making sure that everything looked perfect. He had never known anyone to be such a perfectionist.

"Remember what I said Jack. Be nice!" She gave him one final warning before walking into the living room to get Sydney and Vaughn.

"Dinner's ready you two!" They smiled at her as she stood in the doorway. Sydney stood up and took hold of Vaughn's hand, walking towards her mother.

"Did you talk to him?" She whispered so that Michael wouldn't hear her.

Irina nodded and smiled. "Everything's been taken care of." She placed her arm around Sydney's shoulders and led the couple into the dining room.

Jack took a deep breath and smiled at them both as they walked in. Looking at Sydney, he had to admit that Irina was right, she did look really happy. Ok, try not to ruin this Jack!

"Have a seat." He gestured to the two seats infront of them, opting to seat Sydney and Michael together so that he could sit next to Irina.

"Dinner smells lovely dad!" Sydney commented as she took her seat next to Vaughn. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she tried her best to ignore any fears that she had and to focus on the fact that Irina had taken care of Jack. Surely he wouldn't do anything to make mom angry…

"Yeah it looks great." Vaughn added, speaking politely. He had always hated the meet the parents stage; but he had never come across anyone as unique as Jack Bristow.

Jack forced a smile and watched as Irina took a seat opposite her daughter. Irina looked up at him expectantly and casually pointed to the empty glasses that were on the table, indicating that he should get them drinks. Jack shook himself out of the trance that he had been in and cleared his throat.

"Can I get you any drinks?" He asked, his eyes moving from person to person.

"Red wine would be nice!" Irina smiled. At least he's making an effort!

"A glass of diet coke please!"

"Yeah make that two!" Vaughn replied. He drew in a deep breath. Ok, I've been here for fifteen minutes and I'm still alive! Maybe I'll be able to escape with only minor injuries!

Jack walked back into the kitchen and came back with the requested drinks. He took a seat next to Irina.

The room grew silent as everyone started eating. "So Michael," Irina thought that she would be best to start of the conversation; anything that Jack said had the potential to go wrong. "Sydney tells me that you moved here from France!"

Vaughn looked up and nodded. "Yeah that's right. I was born in Normandy, but we moved to Paris a couple of years later when my father got a new job."

Jack put down his fork and picked up his glass of wine. "What does your father do?" He asked curiously.

"He works in banking. He got a promotion over the summer and with it came the chance to manage the LA branch of the bank, which is why we moved here." Irina smiled at Jack, silently thanking him for making an effort.

"Are you liking California?" Irina asked as she took another bite of her lasagne. She had to admit that Jack was actually a good cook, despite certain cookery disasters in past years.

Vaughn nodded, a smile playing on his lips. "Yeah it's been great. I miss back home, but I'm finally starting to settle down here."

"That's good." The room fell silent again, except for the occasional clatter of the metal forks on the dinner plates. Irina glanced at Jack, urging him to start a conversation.

He sighed and said the first thing that came to his mind, which was obviously a mistake. "You had many girlfriends Michael?" Sydney almost choked on her food when she heard his question. She took a quick sip of her drink and cleared her throat, throwing her mother a worried glance. Here we go…

Michael looked at Sydney, then to Irina, before his eyes finally met Jack Bristow's cold stare. Is it getting hotter in here? His heart began to beat faster than before, as he tried to think of an answer to give him. But luckily for him Irina spoke before he did.

"Jack," She voice was firm as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. He looked at her innocently and shrugged.

"What?"

Vaughn watched Sydney's parents, relieved that the pressure was no longer on him. Sydney also watched her parents curiously, there was something different between them, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I was making conversation!" Jack tried to convince her that he was just doing as she said, but somehow Irina remained unconvinced.

"I need more wine. Jack kitchen now!" Irina picked up her glass of wine, which was still full to the top and walked into the kitchen, closely followed by Jack. She placed the glass down on the kitchen counter and turned to face him, her hand resting on her hip.

"What did I just tell you like 10 minutes ago?" She asked.

"About me being…" Irina cut him short.

"It was a rhetorical question Jack!" She pointed out, sarcasm audible in her voice. Jack rolled his eyes, preparing himself for what was to come. "What was that in there? 'You had many girlfriends Michael?'" She mimicked his voice, raising her eyebrows at him as she waited for an answer.

"I was making conversation!"

"Yeah because that was really a great conversation starter. If you were trying to make the pair of them feel more awkward than they already do, then score one for Jack because I think you just did that!" She turned away from him, and shook her head. She thought that he would have at least made it through half of the dinner without making at least one inappropriate comment.

"It was a perfectly good question!" Jack tried to defend himself.

"When I said that we were here to get to know him better, I was talking more along the lines of what his hobbies are, favourite colour, pets! Simple things like that Jack. Do you really think that Michael wants to tell us about his ex-girlfriends? Do you really think Sydney wants to hear about that?" Jack slowly shook his head.

Sydney rested her hand on Vaughn's knee and smiled at him. "You ok?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Sure I'm great! My girlfriend's dad hates me…" Sydney placed her lips on his preventing him from saying anything else.

"My dad doesn't hate you! He's just being all Jack-like. Seriously, you're doing fine!" She smiled as she reassured him, her smile making all of this seem worth it.

"Will you least apologise when you go back out there?" Irina asked throwing her hands up in the air.

Jack sighed, his eyes falling to the floor. He didn't have to look at Irina to know that she was watching him; her eyes waiting for some sign of agreement from him.

"Look Jack, if you won't do it for Sydney, will you at least apologise for me?" Jack raised his eyes, and slowly nodded. The truth was he would do anything for her; whether that meant swallowing his pride and at least trying to get along with Michael.

"Ok!" Irina smiled and nodded her head towards the door. "Come on."

Jack apologised to Michael, genuinely extending out his hand for Michael to shake. Vaughn accepted, and everybody went back to eating their dinner. The room was no longer filled with silence as Jack started talking to Michael about sports, while Sydney and Irina smiled at each other, both relived that Jack was actually making an effort with Michael.

A little while after they had finished eating, Sydney and Vaughn got ready to leave. Irina had told Sydney that she wanted to stay for a while to talk to Jack, so they would have to walk home. Sydney put on her jacket and hugged her father.

"Thanks for dinner dad!" She kissed him on the cheek and smiled. She was happy that most of the evening had gone well, and it looked like Vaughn wasn't going to do what Danny did and avoid her for the next few months.

"Anytime sweetheart." Jack smiled at his daughter and then turned his attention back onto Vaughn. He looked at him sternly for a minute and then shook his hand again.

"You take good care of my daughter!" It sounded more like an order than a request, but Sydney knew that he was only doing his 'protective daughter routine'.

"Don't worry, I plan too!" Michael placed his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He smiled at her and then turned back to see Jack's once expressionless face now holding a smile.

After they had left, Irina and Jack sat around the kitchen table finishing what was left of the wine. Irina's heart was pounding in her chest as she tried to pluck up the courage to tell Jack what she had been waiting all day to say to him. He sensed that there was something wrong with her, she hadn't said anything in over ten minutes, and she seemed to be finding her wineglass fascinating to watch.

"Is everything ok?" He asked, concern filling his voice.

"Yes. Actually…no it's not." Jack looked at her curiously, and urged her to continue. "I want to talk, about us."

"Ok."

"The past couple of days, all I've been able to think about is what's been going on between us. I thought back to our wedding day; it was the happiest day of my life and I honestly thought that the rest of my life would be like that. But then things changed between us Jack, we changed, we became different people."

"Where exactly are you going with this Irina?"

"The more I thought about us, the more I realised that although everything changed between us, one thing remained the same. My love for you." She wiped a fallen tear off her cheek and raised her eyes from her wineglass and looked at Jack. He looked shocked at her revelation, but a small smile was slowly creeping onto his face.

"You still love me?"

She nodded, her smile mirroring his. "Yes I do. I have never stopped loving you Jack, and I probably never will. I know that there are probably a ton of reasons for why we wouldn't work out, but I'm willing to give us another shot if you are!" She reached across the table and placed her hand over his. Jack's smile grew as he picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed it lightly and then held it gently in his own.

"I'd like that a lot."