Thanks again to those of you who reviewed! Sorry it took me a while, but here is Chapter 4. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4

By 5 o'clock on Christmas day, Jack had probably paced fifteen miles back and forth in his apartment. He got up like any normal day to do the chores. The animals didn't really care that it was Christmas; they needed to be fed and watered just like any other day. When he finished, he took Heidi for a ride to try and clear his mind, but it didn't help. He was both excited and nervous about having to spend time with Molly.

Just before 5 o'clock, Jack picked up the bottle of scotch for Ted and got ready to go. He looked at the present for Molly sitting on the counter and couldn't decide if he should take it or not. In the course of the day he had gone back and forth between feeling that buying the necklace for Molly was the right thing to do and thinking that he must have been out of his mind when he bought it. He decided that he had a couple of choices. He could give the necklace to Molly as planned, he could keep the necklace and send it to Kim anonymously or he could simply return the necklace to the jewelry store and forget the whole thing. After much thought, he decided to put the small box in the inside pocket of his jacket just in case the chance to give it to her arose. If not, he would bring it back with him and choose one of his other two options.

The 100 yard walk between the barn and the house were possibly the longest of 100 yards Jack had ever walked. On the way he tried to figure out exactly what he would say to Molly if he gave the necklace to her. He knew that he needed to apologize to her but past "I'm sorry" what was he going to say? Would he tell her that he wanted them to be friends? Gee, there is nothing a girl wants to hear more after you've spent a night naked in bed with her than that you want to be friends! He could imagine her response to that. She'd probably punch him and in his mind that was about what he deserved. Jack arrived at the house and stood on the porch for a second before finally ringing the bell.

Despite Jack's misgivings about having dinner with the Anderson clan, after a couple of drinks, he found himself having a good time. Dinner was spectacular. The dining room table must have had three leaves in it to make it long enough for everyone to be seated. Jack and Molly sat at opposite ends of the table. Not really by design, it was just that the men seemed to congregate at one end while the women sat at the other and all of the kids sat in the middle. Jack stole an occasional glance in Molly's direction. She looked so pretty that he had trouble keeping his eyes off of her. He was used to seeing her dressed in jeans and casual shirts and sweaters, but today she wore a tight black skirt with a black lace tank top covered by a red herringbone tweed blazer. The jacket rested on her hips accentuating their soft curve. When Jack first saw her that day, he wondered how he was going to be able to concentrate on eating. For her part, Molly was having as difficult a time keeping her mind on dinner as Jack. She, too, was taken by how good he looked dressed up. She thought she had caught him looking her way once or twice, but both times he was able to avert his gaze in such a way that she wasn't sure if he had really been looking at her.

Everyone ate what seemed to be an endless supply of steaming standing rib roast surrounded by potatoes and at least a dozen other dishes. Jack couldn't remember the last time he had eaten so much. By the time dinner was over he wondered if any of his pants would still fit. The adults sat back and sipped coffee while the children ran off to play with their new presents. It was Ted who finally pushed his chair back and, looking at the inordinate number of dirty dishes on the table, announced that the men would clean up.

"The girls did the cooking," he said. "It's our duty to clean up, boys" That had been the holiday custom around the Anderson house since long before Ted's wife died. She had always done the cooking but Ted and the boys cleaned up. Both Ted, Jr. and Andy groaned remembering long hours in the kitchen trying to clean up what seemed like a mountain of pots and pans and serving dishes. "I don't want to hear it!" Ted told them. "Molly and Carolyn and Sandra, you go sit in the living room and have some eggnog. We'll be in the kitchen."

And so it went, Jack accompanied the other men into the kitchen. They all rolled up their sleeves and donned aprons and started clearing and scraping and washing and drying. Somewhere in the middle of it Jack realized why Ted, Jr. and Andy had groaned. This was a task that looked like it might never end.

Jack walked back out into the dining room to stack some clean dishes on one end of the table and to pick up another load of dirty ones. He glanced into the living room and saw Molly alone in the room straightening out pillows and picking up bits of wrapping paper that hadn't quite made it to the trash. He watched her for a moment and was overcome by his need for her. It wasn't just a physical need, it was an emotional need. He had been alone for so long now, and this evening spent with a big, close family had simply underscored his desire to be part of that again. He wanted to stop relying solely on himself and have someone to love and help him through each day.

His jacket hung on the back of one of the dining room chairs. He retrieved the small package from the pocket and held it behind his back. His heart was pounding and he had no idea what he was going to say to Molly but he took a deep breath and walked into the living room.

Molly's back was to him as he entered. "You're supposed to be relaxing not cleaning up," he told her.

She turned and smiled. "Sandra and Carolyn were herding the kids upstairs to get ready for bed and I decided to straighten up."

"Dinner was wonderful," Jack said changing the subject. "Thank you for asking me."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," she returned. She wanted to say more but didn't quite know what to say.

"I, ah, I have something for you," Jack stuttered. He pulled his hand from behind his back and offered the present to her. "Merry Christmas. I saw it and I thought it was perfect for you. I wanted you to have it."

"That was so thoughtful. You shouldn't have," Molly said. She tried had to keep her hands from shaking as she took the little package and started to open it.

"If you don't like it, it can be returned," Jack suggested nervously.

Molly opened the little velvet box to reveal the necklace. The light from the fireplace played off of the diamonds. "Oh, it's beautiful, Jeff! I love it" Tears filled her eyes. She touched the necklace carefully as if it were fragile.

"I thought it would be pretty on you," Jack said as he reached for the necklace and took it from its velvet nest. He opened the clasp and indicated for Molly to turn around. She did so without speaking and held up her hair so that Jack could fasten the necklace around her neck. Molly turned around and Jack smiled, satisfied that he had made the right choice. "I was right. It looks beautiful. You look beautiful," he added softly. He was standing close and she could feel the warmth of his body.

Molly's lower lip trembled and she knew that tears would soon tumble down her face. It was Jack who spoke again. "I love you, Molly. I've been a fool and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I need to have you in my life and if you'll have me, you would make me the happiest man in the world."

"Oh, Jeff," Molly whispered as the tears finally cascaded over her cheeks. She threw her arms around him and he pulled her close. "I love you so much. I want you to be part of my life forever." They kissed, sweetly at first, but allowed themselves to be carried away by the moment. Soon their tongues were wrestling gently and the world around them had ceased to exist.

"So that's where you went." Jack and Molly were startled back to reality by Ted's voice. "We thought you were just trying to get out of doing more dishes," he said with a jovial lilt. Jack and Molly pulled back embarrassed and looking down both trying hard to suppress smiles. "I take it you two have made up."

Jack recovered first. "Yeah, we have," he said finally allowing himself to smile. "Let me, ah, go back and help with those dishes." He smiled at Molly and went back toward the kitchen. Molly watched him go, her lips still tingling and wet from his kisses.

"Did I miss something? A couple of hours ago you two were barely speaking," Ted commented. He stepped closer to his daughter and touched the necklace. "This is new."

"I'm as surprised as you are," Molly told him, "but I'm not complaining." She stopped and took a breath. "I love him, Daddy."

"I know you do," Ted assured her.

Molly looked surprised. "How did you know? I've never said a word about this to you."

"I know you better than you realize," Ted sighed. "Mary Louise, for almost as long as I can remember now, it's been you and me. You were only four when Andy went off to college and Ted had already been gone for two years. Without your mother, well, you were all I had to focus on. I got pretty good at knowing what you were thinking. I think mothers usually have that instinct with their children. Your mother always seemed to know what Ted and Andy were up to and what they were thinking. I couldn't understand that. After she died, I realized that I spent so much more time with you that I got to be the same way. You didn't have to tell me that you loved Jeff. I sensed it; I could feel it."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"For the same reason that I never told you that I didn't like Zach and that I knew your marriage was destined for failure, it was none of my business. You were going to tell me about Jeff when you were ready."

"You didn't like Zach?"

Ted made a face and shook his head as if to clear a bad smell. "No! He was a bum and he never loved you."

Molly laughed. "I thought you liked him. I was so afraid to tell you that I left him."

"I did everything but get up and dance the jig when you called to say that you two separated. I wasn't happy that your marriage had failed, but I was happy that he was out of your life."

"How do you feel about Jeff?"

"It really doesn't matter how I feel, Molly, what is important is how you feel."

Molly rolled her eyes. "Oh, please! What kind of psycho-babble is that? Are you watching afternoon television again? Answer my question," she was laughing now and Ted loved the sound of her laughter.

"He's a good man," Ted said softly, "and he loves you. I hope things work out between you because I think you'd make a wonderful couple."

Molly reached out and hugged her father. "Oh, Daddy, thank you. It means a lot to me to hear you say that."

"Okay, now who's trying to get out of washing dishes?" Jack called from the dining room as he set a new load of clean dishes on the table.

"I'm coming! I'm coming," Ted said as he turned and walked to the dining room. "A man can't even spend a couple of minutes with his own daughter around this house!"

Eventually dishes were clean and the children were on their way to bed followed by their exhausted parents and grandfather. Jack and Molly snuggled on the living room sofa drinking brandy and enjoying the crackling of the fire and the glow of the Christmas tree. They occasionally kissed but mostly they just enjoyed being in each other's arms. The day was ending so differently than it had begun for them and they were both basking in the wonder of it. Christmas had changed their lives forever and they both knew it.

Jack turned his head slightly so that he could kiss Molly's temple. "Thank you," he murmured.

Molly closed her eyes against the sensation. "For what?" she whispered in return.

"For asking me to dinner. It was at dinner that it finally hit me how really alone I am in the world and how wonderful it is to be part of a family. And there you were sitting half a table away from me ready to give me all the love I could ever hope for and I was letting it slip away."

Molly laughed. "Wow! After having dinner with my crazy family you decided you wanted to be part of it? Don't get me wrong, I love them, but most men would take the first opportunity to run away after spending an evening with my family."

"You have a great family. Everyone's been so nice to include me. And I love the kids. They're wonderful kids."

"The kids like you, especially Janie. When I kissed her goodnight, she told me that she saw us kissing, but she wouldn't tell anyone because Nicholas got in trouble for kissing the little girl next door and she didn't want you to get in any trouble."

Jack laughed. "She's a doll."

"You're really good with the kids." Molly thought for a second before continuing but finally decided that the question had to be asked. "Do you have children?"

Jack's initial instinct was to lie and say no. Jeff McCarthy didn't have any children but Jack Bauer did and something in his soul stopped him from denying it. He looked away as he spoke. "I have a daughter."

"How old is she?"

"She's almost 23."

"Where does she live?"

"In California, with her husband."

"Do you have any contact with her?"

Jack shook his head. "No, it's better that way." It's for her own safety, he wanted to sayHe wanted to tell Molly everything, but now just wasn't the time. He didn't know if the time would ever come.

"What about her mother?"

Jack closed his eyes for a second not sure how to answer. "My wife was killed," he said softly. He deliberately chose the word "killed" over "murdered." Killed had the connotation that it had been an accident and he hoped that Molly would imagine some horrific car accident had claimed Teri. Had he told her that Teri was murdered, it would require further explanation.

"Oh, Jeff, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Was that when you came here?"

"No, Teri died several years ago. I drifted for a while before I ended up here. It's taken me a long time to put my life back together but now that I'm here, I think it's all falling into place." Jack was trying to end the conversation without making it obvious.

"I'm sorry for what happened, but I'm glad you ended up here," Molly said kissing him and settling back down in his arms. She suddenly felt satisfied that he had opened up to her. She had always known that he was hiding something and she was comfortable that he had finally allowed her to know what it was. Knowing that he had unburdened himself, Molly decided that it was her turn. The conversation about children allowed her an awkward opening.

She hesitated and then started. "I was pregnant once," she said softly, "a few years ago, when I was married. I was so happy. I wanted a baby so much and my husband couldn't have cared less. I knew that our marriage was shaky, but I was sure that if we had a baby that everything would be okay. I know, that was stupid of me." Jack could hear the pain in her voice and he pulled her closer and pressed a kiss onto the top of her head. Molly pulled away as if not wanting to be close to him while she told the story. She walked to the window and stared out at the snow slowly drifting from heaven to earth.

Molly had never told anyone this story, not her father, not her sisters-in-law, not her best friend. It was too painful and too degrading. It so deeply underscored how bad her marriage was and how badly she had misjudged Zach but after listening to the man she loved open up about his past, she knew that she had to open up about hers as well.

"I would talk about the baby and Zach would say 'It's not a baby. Right now it's a bunch of cells. It's a parasite that's growing by sapping everything it needs from you.' I couldn't believe he felt that way about his child. I kept telling myself that as the baby grew and when I started showing that he would be happy about it. Then one morning I got up and I had terrible cramps and I was bleeding." A soft sob escaped from her throat as she relived the memory. "I knew that I was having a miscarriage. Zach was already on his way to work. He was a surgeon so by 7 o'clock he was in the operating room. I called him on his cell phone and told him what was happening. I asked him to come home to be with me. He said, 'What good with that do? I can't stop it from happening. If I come home now, all of the surgeries I have scheduled for today will have to be rescheduled. That's just going to put me behind. Do you want that?' I was devastated. That was when I finally realized that there was no point in trying to save our marriage. I stayed in it for another six months or so before I got up the courage to leave."

Jack was behind her, his arms around her. He understood now why Molly was so reluctant to fall in love again. Ted had told him that Molly's ex-husband had broken her heart, but Jack suspected that even Ted didn't know how deeply she had been hurt. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry," he whispered. "Come here." He turned her around so that he could hold her. He kissed away her tears. "You know that I would never do that to you. I love you too much."

Jack and Molly stood holding each other in front of the window for a long time both drinking in the wonderful feeling of loving and being loved. They eventually made their way back to the sofa in front of the Christmas tree where they curled up together under a blanket and fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve was busy for both Jack and Molly and the two barely had a moment alone to share a kiss. Things began to settle down on December 30th when Andy and his family left to return home. On the 31st, Ted, Jr. packed his family up to go back to Toronto. Ted was accompanying them to Toronto and then was continuing on to New York to spend the next two weeks with his sister. Molly drove everyone to the airport and as much as she enjoyed having her family home for Christmas, she felt a certain sense of relief as she watched the plane taxi down the runway. Molly headed back to the ranch all the while mentally planning her perfect New Year's Eve celebration alone with her new love.

Jack was just bringing Heidi back to the barn when Molly drove up the driveway. "Hey," she called. "Are you almost finished?"

Jack leaned into the driver's side window to kiss her. "I just finished up. Give me a half hour to brush Heidi and then run upstairs to take a shower."

"Sounds great." Molly gave Jack a quick kiss and handed him a set of house keys. "I'll be waiting."

Jack took the keys and watched her go. He took Heidi into the barn and gave her a quick brushing. "Sorry, girl," he told her as he scratched her behind the ear. "I don't have a lot of extra time today. I'll make it up to you." Given the choice between spending time brushing Heidi and spending time doing whatever it was that Molly was planning in that big ranch house with just the two of them, Jack didn't have to think very hard to know which one he was going to choose.

By six o'clock, Jack was showered and dressed and on his way across the yard to the house. He let himself in with the keys Molly had given him. "Molly," he called as he entered the kitchen. "Where are you?"

"I'm upstairs. There's a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator. Can you bring it up?" Molly called down the stairs. Jack found the champagne and trotted eagerly up the stairs.

"I thought you'd never get here," Molly said seductively as Jack reached the first landing.

Jack looked up and Molly stepped out of the bedroom. He gasped when he caught sight of her. She was wearing a wine colored negligee that fell to her ankles and had a deep slit all the way up to her left thigh. Her hair was pulled up and away from her face. "My God! You look beautiful," he whispered.

Molly blushed red and smiled. "I, ah, I know this isn't our first time, but I wanted it to be special. Not that our first time wasn't special," she added hastily, "because it was. It was wonderful. I just wanted this to be, I don't know…"

Jack pressed a kiss to her lips to silence her. "Molly, every minute that I spend with you is special."

A couple of hours later, Jack and Molly were propped on pillows in bed drinking champagne and feeding each other shrimp cocktail. That had already made love twice and both knew that they weren't finished yet. After more shrimp and champagne and love, they toasted the New Year and, just after midnight, fell into a blissful sleep.

Come morning, the bright winter sun was low in the sky and shining in their window and across the bed. Molly awoke still wrapped in Jack's arms. They were lying on their sides, her back pressed solidly against his front. She marveled at how perfectly their bodies fit together. Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, every curve matched to create an almost seamless continuum. She smiled as she felt an early morning erection pressing gently against her thigh. Hating to let that go to waste, Molly turned over and began kissing Jack's face and neck. He groaned and rolled onto his back to give her unfettered access to his entire body.

Molly placed soft kisses across his chest taking a moment or two to suck on his nipples and then made her way to his left shoulder. Slowly she descended his left arm kissing along his biceps. She opened her eye as she worked her way down toward his forearm. It was then that she noticed it. The marks, old and well healed, but nonetheless there. Track marks. Early in her nursing career she had worked in the emergency room of an inner city hospital. She knew track marks when she saw them.

Jack was simply lying back enjoying the attention that Molly was doting on him when he realized that she had stopped. He turned his head to look at her and saw her staring at his arm. Instinct told him to pull away, to hide the evidence, to pretend that it was something else, but he knew that he couldn't. Molly loved him and he had hurt her enough.

"I've been clean for over three years, Molly. I swear to you I haven't touched the stuff since the day I went into rehab." He stroked her hair with his other hand. "I should have told you, I know. I just didn't know how to do it." He was babbling, trying to explain and to fill the dead air. "How could I tell you that I was an ex-junkie? I was afraid that you wouldn't love me. I was afraid of what you'd think of me."

Without a word, Molly lowered her head and covered the track marks with kisses. Jack swallowed hard to hold back tears that were filling his eyes. He was so afraid that he'd lost her and in that simple gesture she had told him that it was alright and that she still loved him.

"They're old, I can tell," Molly said finally facing him. "There aren't a lot of them. You didn't do it for long."

"About a year," he confessed. They were both quiet for a moment. "After my wife died, I just couldn't get my life back together. It hurt too much. She was everywhere I looked and I didn't want to live anymore. I got the chance to try it and I never thought I'd get hooked, but every time I shot up I felt so much better. The pain was gone, just for a little while, but it was gone. Every time I told myself that I could stop, but I'd go back. I wanted the pain to go away. Finally I knew I was addicted. I hated myself and who I'd become. I was lying to everyone: my friends, my employers, my daughter. I tried to stop on my own but I couldn't. I ended up in rehab and I got through it. I've never used again. There were times I wanted to, but I never did it." He touched Molly's face. "And I swear to you that I have never had any desire to use again since I've been here and since I've known you. I love you, Baby, and I won't jeopardize our relationship for a cheap high. You take me higher than any hit I ever took."

"I love you and I trust you," Molly said as she kissed his lips. Her heart ached for him. She had begun to realize how difficult his life had been before he came here and she desperately wanted to make him happy now. "Promise me that if you ever feel like you need to start using again that you'll come to me. I'll understand, Jeff. I'll make sure that you get some help."

Jack pulled her gratefully into his arms. "With you here, I don't need heroin, but I promise that if I ever do, I'll tell you. God! I love you, Molly," he whispered as he pushed her onto her back to make love to her one more time.