Jenny's eyes opened, struggling to adjust to the invasive rays of sunlight streaming in through the half opened curtains and blinds. It took a while for her to realize exactly where she was. She was used to waking up in strange places. In her years, she had moved around…a lot. From Seattle to Reno to Minneapolis to Memphis to Dallas and even a short stint at Nikki's parents in Durham, North Carolina. It seemed they were always on the go leaving with no time to get adjusted to a new house or new school or even make new friends.

She'd had plenty of rooms in her day and was not impressed with the effort her father and stepmother had gone to in order to fix one up for her. In fact, nothing impressed her about anything. She didn't even feel bad when she saw the shocked and hurt looks plastered on the faces of her new "family". Sure they had been nice and had the elaborate banner and snacks and hugs of warm welcomes. But she didn't even know these people. They were nothing to her. And as far as Jenny was concerned, she could take care of herself. She'd been doing it forever anyway. Where had the loving father and stepmother been when she really needed them? As far as she was concerned, the only thing she had in common with Jake and Peyton was a last name.

Jenny groaned as the minutes ticked away. She dreaded opening that bedroom door and seeing what was on the other side of it. She didn't want to face it. She wished she could stay protected under those covers forever but eventually an hour after lying wide awake and staring at that stupid doll collection, the girl knew it was time to face the music. Crawling out of bed, Jenny trampled down the steps in her sweat pants and plain tee shirt. The strong aroma of freshly cooked food greeted her.

"Jenny…hi", Peyton said as she turned from the oven.

Jake smiled as well as he closed the refrigerator door.

"Sleep well?"

"I guess", she mumbled.

There was an awkward silence but Peyton motioned towards the table.

"I made breakfast. I didn't know what you liked so I kind of made everything. So let's see…pancakes, waffles, French toast, oatmeal, bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs."

"No thanks", Jenny shrugged.

"Um, Jenny, you have to eat", Jake said carefully, trying to ignore the hurt expression on his wife's face.

"I don't like any of that stuff."

"But Peyton worked really hard to make a nice breakfast for you."

"I didn't ask for it."

"I know but Jenny…"

"It's okay", Peyton interjected. "It's no big deal…"

Jake sighed. So much for hoping that the last 24 hours had just been a one time bad mood.

"What do you like to eat?" he sighed. "Anything you want?"

"Got any Pop Tarts?"

Peyton shrugged at Jake.

"No. Sorry. But um, I could go get some…"

Jenny stood with her arms folded, not moving.

"I'll go", Jake volunteered.

"No, it's okay", Peyton said, already grabbing her keys.

She hurried out the door and father and daughter were left alone.

"So…" Jake clapped his hands. "Um, how do you like it here so far?"

"I don't."

Ouch! He flinched. Nobody could ever accuse the kid of not speaking her mind.

"Well, there are some kids your age down the street. Maybe you could go play…"

"I don't like to play."

Jake bit his lower lip.

"I know it might suck now but it'll be better once you enroll in school."

"I don't like school."

"No one likes school but you have to go. It won't be so bad. You'll probably meet some cool kids and it'll be fun."

"Whatever."

"And about school…you need to register next week but the thing is, I will be gone. I am the athletic trainer for the Miami Heat, if you didn't know. So that means when the team travels, I have to go, too. Will that be okay?"

"You don't need my permission", she shrugged.

"I know but I want you to know what's going on. I'm sure you've had enough surprises just sprung on you. I want to be fair."

"Okay."

"Jenny, just so you know, even when I'm gone, I'll still be here for you. I'm just a phone call away. And Peyton will take real good care of you. Who knows, if you give her a chance, you guys might have a lot of fun together. You might even become friends."

"Doubt it."

She had a comeback for everything. Jake knew it wouldn't be a bed of roses but Jenny was making it harder. Way harder than it had to be.

"Listen, is there anything Peyton or I can do to make any of this easier? Make it better somehow?"

"No."

Jake was sinking fast.

"Okay. How about this? We'll have a glass of milk together and wait for Peyton to come back. We could talk, catch up on old times."

"I don't like milk."

"Okay…"

"And I don't like talking."

The kid drove a hard bargain. Jake laughed in spite of himself.

"Well, what exactly do you like?"

Jenny thought for a minute.

"I don't know. I like to watch TV."

"Good. TV is good. I like to watch TV. What are your favorite shows? Maybe we can watch together."

"Nah, I like to watch alone."

Jake sighed heavily.

"Okay. I know this is rough on you. And I know it isn't fair. I know you didn't ask for any of this and sometimes things happen between grown ups that little kids just don't understand. Look…I know I haven't seen you since you were a baby. I'm sorry about that. Believe me, it's not my fault. I always wanted you with me. I don't know what kind of life you had with your mom and if you don't want to talk about it just yet, that's okay too. But I want you here. And Peyton wants you here. We both love you, Jenny and we'll do whatever it takes to make you happy."

"Okay", she shrugged simply.

"Just okay?"

"That's what you want to hear, isn't it? I mean, what do you want me to say?"

"The truth. Whatever you're feeling. Whatever's on your mind. You can talk to me, Jenny. You can trust me."

She looked away.

"I'd like to watch television now."

"Jenny…" he practically pleaded with her, trying to break through that wall anyway he could. "Okay…um, you're excused. I'll let you know when the Pop Tarts get here."

Without a smile or a "thank you" or anything, she simply turned and marched right back upstairs. And suddenly he was alone, standing in the kitchen wondering what would happen next. A few minutes later, Peyton returned from the market.

"Hey", she said.

"Hey", he answered softly.

"Where's Jenny?"

"She wanted to watch TV…alone…in her room."

Peyton nodded.

"Okay."

"Babe, I'm sorry about breakfast…"

"It's okay. Like I said, it's not a big deal."

"Yes, it is. It's a very big deal. You worked really hard."

"So she's a picky eater? If she'd rather have Pop Tarts, I'm fine with that, Jake. Really."

"She's so angry", he sighed.

"We don't know what she's been through. We don't know anything about her and obviously it's going to take a while to get through to her."

"Maybe I should take some time off…"

"Jake, don't be stupid."

"The timing sucks but it's not fair for me to go on the road and leave you to deal with this."

"I can handle it, Jake. I can manage."

"I know but I feel bad. It's not going to be easy and this is something we should do together."

"We will but we have to be realistic. You just started this job and it requires that you be gone a lot. We'll just have to deal."

Jake pulled her close.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine. Jenny will be fine. Have a little faith. Besides, if I can survive the kids at school, I can make it through anything", she managed to joke. "Hey, at least Jenny hasn't thrown anything at me…yet."

Jake kissed her nose.

"You are amazing, you know that?"

"I've been told it a time or two", she winked. "Now here's the plan. I am going to go up and give Miss Jenny her delicious Pop Tart breakfast and when I come back down, I am going to take one fork and give you the other and we'll both start at opposite ends of the kitchen and eat our way to the middle. Sound good? Because we can't let all this food go to waste."

"We could or I have a better idea. We could call Lucas and Brooke. We both know she doesn't cook and he's probably force fed Pop Tarts for breakfast so I'm sure they'd be willing to help us get rid of this gourmet feast."

Peyton smiled and pecked his lips.

"Give them a call. I'll see you in a few."

Taking a deep breath, she nervously headed upstairs. The door was closed so she gently knocked. No answer. Peyton knocked a second time more forcefully. Still no answer. Sighing, she opened the door.

"Did I ask you to come in?"

Peyton froze for a second.

"No, I mean…um, here are your Pop Tarts."

Jenny reached out her hand but Peyton was distracted. The girl seemed to be sketching on a pad and from what little bit she could see, the drawing was actually quite good.

"Hello! Starving child here. Pretty soon I'm gonna be in a commercial with Sally Struthers with flies buzzing around my head…"

"Oh", Peyton said, quickly handing over the box.

She couldn't stop staring. Jenny noticed and was more than annoyed.

"Can I help you with something?"

"No", Peyton said. "Um, I guess I'll see you later."

No response or acknowledgement. Big surprise.