Chapter 8.

The next morning Jessie got up and slowly made her way downstairs. John was cooking breakfast in the kitchen, he was already dressed and ready to go. Randy was sitting at the table, fully dressed as well, sipping on a cup of coffee. Jessie slowly treaded in and sat at the table.

"Morning babygirl" John said, stirring the eggs around the pan. Jessie waved in his general direction and put her head on the table. Randy chuckled at her and sipped more of his coffee.

"Not used to getting up so early are you" Randy asked Jessie who made a 'no' head shaking gesture. Randy chuckled at her.

"Baby girl why don't you go up and take a hot shower and get dressed and all, maybe then you'll be more awake. I'll make breakfast wait on ya" John said as he turned the heat down on all the various pans he had on the stove. Jessie got up and made her way slowly back up to her room to get clothes. She decided on a yellow shirt that said 'Cute' on it and a pair of jean shorts. She grabbed some socks and her birkenstocks and made her way to the shower.

Back downstairs John had finished cooking everything and put the food in glass bowls and sat them inside the oven to keep warm. He got himself a cup of coffee and sat at the table beside Randy.

"Are you ready for today" Randy said sparing a look at John who had looked preoccupied all morning. He looked like if someone touched him he'd take a swing.

"As ready as I can be I guess" John said sipping his coffee "I mean I know mom had a talk with my brothers and basically threatened that if they did anything to scare Jessie that she'd make their lives hell for the rest of her life, and then come back to haunt them once she died". Randy laughed when John said this knowing that it was true. John's mom was always saying things like this to John and his brothers, it didn't help but she was always trying. Randy could picture each of John's brothers rolling their eyes over the phone as they heard their mom's words.

"Hey" Randy said "you wanna go work out today after we get back from your mom's" he felt a bit lazy since he hadn't worked out in over a week.

"Yea why not? But what are we gonna do with Jessie? I doubt she's gonna want to go to the gym and watch us work out" John said "in fact I can pretty much guarantee it".

"She can go to the mall and shop. I mean we won't be but like an hour, maybe two at most she'll be ok" Randy said.

"We'll see what she wants to do" John said getting up and getting himself another cup of coffee. He brought the pot to the table and poured more in Randy's cup before returning it to the maker to keep it warm. He sat back down and sipped his coffee, wincing as the hot liquid hit his tongue.

About that time Jessie came down freshly showered and dressed. She looked a bit more awake but still kind of worn out. She sat down at the table and smiled at the two guys. John smiled back and got up to get the plates out of the oven. He got them out and juggled them over to the table where he dispatched one to each person.

"You sure are" Randy said looking at what Jessie's shirt said. She blushed heavily, not one to take compliments well, and concentrated on her food. Randy laughed and dug into his food.

"Baby girl" John said once everyone had started eating "Randy and I were thinking about going to work out tonight after we leave my parents house. You can go to the mall while we do it if you want, or if there's something else you wanna do. You can also come with us".

"Going to the mall sounds alright" Jessie said biting into a piece of bacon. She was kind of worried about going to the mall alone but she shrugged off, what was the worst that could happen to her there? It wasn't like anyone would try anything in a crowd of people.

"Good" John said. The rest of the meal was eaten in relative silence with the occasional comment thrown in to combat the loud silence of the house.

After they finished eating John, Jessie and Randy were on their way to John's parent's house. John and Randy were sitting up front and Jessie was in the back of the car. John and Randy were keeping up a steady stream of conversation while Jessie was lost in her own thoughts looking at the scenery going by. She was never good at meeting new people, it made her nervous. Plus she couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong, even if her logic told her it wasn't.

Sooner than Jessie would have liked they pulled up to John's parents house. John and Randy got out of the car while Jessie just slumped down in the back seat hoping that no one would notice her. John quit walking when he noticed Jessie wasn't with them and looked back toward the car, a small smile on his lips. He walked back and got in the back seat with Jessie "planning on staying in the car all day" John asked smiling at Jessie and nudging her.

"Why not? I mean I got pretty much all I need; clothes, radio, air condition" Jessie smiled cheekily at John hoping he would buy it. John smiled at her and got out of the car. Jessie's jaw almost dropped, she actually thought John was going to leave her in the car. He came around to her side and opened the door, took off her seatbelt and picked her up out of the car. Randy followed them up to the house looking as if he was going to laugh his ass off any minute.

John walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A few seconds later a short, red haired lady answered "hey boys, John what are you doing carrying that child for" she said looking at Jessie who felt like a fool.

John sat Jessie down on her own too feet and said "hey ma" and kissed the woman's cheek. He put his hand on Jessie's shoulder and guided her into the house. Randy stopped to hug Carol, John's mom, and ask her how she was before continuing on in behind John. John pushed Jessie gently into the living room where it seemed like there were a million people who all looked at her when they entered.

"John make introductions" Carol said stepping in the room and going to sit in an old, overstuffed chair. John smiled at her and came to kneel beside Jessie. He pointed over toward four guys sitting on a long sofa.

"Those are my brothers Stephen, Dan, Sean, and Matt...the guy sitting on the floor in front of the couch is my cousin Marc aka Trademarc...the guy sitting beside the window is my dad John Sr. but everyone calls him Pops to avoid confusion...oh and the lady who came to the door is my mom, Carol" John stood back up "everyone this is my daughter Jessie". Jessie felt panic start to set in, her chest constricted and she felt like she was starting to sweat.

"Excuse me" Jessie said running out of the house and to the other side of the car where she couldn't be seen. She was feeling overwhelmed, she couldn't breathe. She took a few deep breaths and got herself under control before she felt someone come up and stand beside her. Without looking up she said "I'm sorry for running out like that, I've never been really good at meeting new people, I just freeze up and feel like I can't breathe, I know its kind of pathetic but I can't help it I just get freaked by it".

"It's ok everyone reacts differently to different situations" she heard an unfamiliar male voice say. She looked up and saw that it was John's...um...cousin...what was his name?..Trace?...no that's not it...

"Marc" he said smiling at her, he sat down on the ground and looked up at her, the smile still on his face "don't worry about it I'm forgettable I understand. Anyway what I was saying was everyone handles things differently. But anything your thinking or wondering put it outta ya mind. We're normal people. We like you. And the only thing that could possibly happen today would be John getting thrown into the pool but that's a regular occurence. Don't worry though no one's gonna do anything like that to you though, its kind of a boys thing. I mean I don't want to sound like I'm discriminating or anything if you want to be thrown into the pool I'll personally do it" he bumped his body teasingly into the side of Jessie's body, letting her know he was kidding.

"I'll pass" she said smiling up at him.

"Your loss" he said standing up "ready to head back in now? I think we're getting ready to watch
Armageddon, it's your grandma's favorite" Jessie nodded and followed Marc back into the house.

As she and Marc came inside they saw that everyone had already sat down to the movie, the opening credits were starting. Jessie looked around and saw that there was really nowhere to sit. She was trying to figure it out when John's brother Sean got up, coming over to her. He picked her up in his arms and resumed his spot, Jessie sitting in his lap. She was a little taken aback by it but shrugged it off and turned her attention to the movie.

At the end of the movie where Bruce Willis decides to stay behind and Liv Tyler looks into the sky and yells "DADDY" Jessie lost it and began crying her eyes out. She got up and launched herself into John's arms who was shocked by the sudden action. He figured it out soon though and began rubbing her back and hugging her to him. He whispered little nonsense things to her to help her calm down. After a few minutes she calmed down and looked up at John "sorry that part just got to me really badly".

"Its ok baby girl I understand" John said, hugging her to him more.

"Ok lets all go out and enjoy the sunshine" Carol said, standing up "there's no need to be cooped up in this dingy old house when we could all be outside getting some fresh air". Everyone got up and began moving to the back yard where there was a few picnic tables, a pool, and various sports equipment laying around. Jessie sat down on the picnic table and so did Carol and Pops. The boys immediately migrated to a football and began messing around with it. Soon they had a full game going. You would have thought it was the Jets vs the Patriots by the way they were playing and arguing. Jessie found it quite amusing that seven grown men were acting like little kids.

"So" Carol said getting Jessie's attention "how is John as a father? I can't believe my little boy has grown up. It seems like just yesterday when I was watching him go around the house in a diaper and a Hulkamania t-shirt". John, who had heard this, stopped midway of making a touchdown and looked at his mother with a wide eyed, open mouthed expression.

"MA!" John said "no embarassing stories about me to the kid figure ok". Carol rolled her eyes and waved his comment off and John went back to what he was doing before the interruption. Carol continued her talk with Jessie. They talked about how she had been handling living with the two men and how she was getting adjusted with everything. All of a sudden they heard a big splash. Jessie looked over in time to see Randy coming up from under the water in the pool, a shocked expression on his face. The other guys took off their shirts and jumped in the pool with Randy, who had taken his shirt off and thrown it over the side of the pool. They horsed around like a bunch of five year olds. Jessie watched them with an amused expression on her face, she wished that she had, had siblings like that she could play around with and act like a fool with.

"Hey baby girl come get in with us" John yelled over to her. She looked at him with an 'are you kidding me' look "come on baby the waters warm and all I promise".

"I dont have a bathing suit" Jessie said thinking of an excuse she could use to get out of going in the water. She didn't want to and she had her reasons for it but she didn't want to reveal them to everyone.

"Just take off your jeans and I'll let you wear my shirt when we leave so you'll have dry clothes." John said trying to persuade her, he really wanted her to get in and join the fun, he felt she was a bit too shy and didn't really join in on things.

"I can't..." Jessie mumbled the rest of her sentence. She really didn't want to say it.

"What baby girl I couldn't hear that last part over the splashing Randy and Marc are doing" John said leaning a bit out of the pool and acting like he was straining to hear.

"I said I can't swim" Jessie said looking down at the table. She was embarassed because here she was a 14 year old and she had never been taught how to swim. She felt like a freak.

"That's ok" John said, a patient smile on his face "you can come and get on my shoulders or I could hold you with your feet around my waist and arms around my neck or piggy back even come on I wont let nothing happen baby girl I promise please it'll be ok I swear" John crossed his chest where his heart would be and made a pouty face. Jessie got up reluctantly and made her way to the side of the pool. She took off her jeans and slowly climbed up the ladder to the side of the pool. John was there waiting on her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he slowly lowered her into the water. She held him tightly and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Its ok baby girl I got ya. You know one day when I know I'll have some time off I'mma teach ya to swim so you don't have to be afraid of the water. It's really cool, I love it. See isn't it nice, just peaceful and not too deep. Just water. H2O. Whatever that means" Jessie wasn't concentrating on the fact that she was in water she was just concentrating on John's voice so she could stay calm. After a while she relaxed and loosened her grip on John a bit. He walked around the pool with her in his arms and they talked and talked with the others and had a good time. Jessie was beginning to enjoy herself.

"Why don't you all get out of the pool and dry off and go inside and I'll fix some grilled cheese sandwiches for you all" Carol said bringing over a pile of towels for everyone. Everyone got out of the pool and dried off. John surprised Jessie by taking her towel and helping her dry off. She found it sweet that he did these little things for her without thinking about it. After he dried her off enough to his liking he picked up his jersey, wiped the grass and dirt off of it, and slipped it on her. He kissed her forehead and lead her inside the house where the others were apparently hooking up a Play Station 2 video game system. Jessie sat on the floor and watched them work.

"Oh hey" Randy said out of the blue "Jessie has never played video games before, I say we teach her the finer points of it" Jessie gulped at the guys looks, their eyes lit up and they had big smiles on their faces. John pulled Jessie in front of the tv and sat her down.

"Randy your the other player cause well lets face it your the worst outta all of us" John said dodging the cushion Randy threw at him. "Ok I'll sit beside you and give you pointers Marc you come sit behind her and help me give pointers between us we may can do wonders" John had a devilish look on his face when he said this and Jessie knew that something was definitely up. Randy didn't see the look though as he was too busy fiddling with his controller. Jessie felt Marc come up and sit behind her. He sat flush against her back with his legs on each side of her. She found it hard to concentrate when she felt his bare chest come into contact with the parts of her body that weren't covered by the jersey. 'I have to stop thinking like this' she thought to herself 'these guys are my family now and that's just ewww'. Still they were hot no doubt and if they weren't family...

"Ok now who do you want to be" John said snapping her out of her thoughts. She shook herself out of her thoughts and looked over at him with a confused look on her face "its Smackdown vs RAW what wrestler do you want to be? Randy of course is himself" John rolled his eyes when he said this "so who do you want to be".

"Umm you" she said not being able to think of anyone else. John selected himself and handed her the
controller. She got a bit nervous when he did this seeing as she had no idea what she was doing.

"Randomly mash buttons and we'll tell you some things as we go" Marc said from behind her. She did as he said and was surprised when John started actually fighting with Randy on the screen. She got into it after a bit and actually pulled off a couple of moves that she had no idea how she did it. Randy started getting the upper hand though and she was struggling not to lose.

"Hey Randy you have a piece of grass in your hair" Marc said looking at Randy. Randy got this panicked
look and started fiddling with his hair, not looking at the tv. John took the opportunity and took Jessie's control and hit a few buttons. Jessie looked to the screen and saw John giving Randy an FU. He then shoved the controller back at Jessie. The ref counted to three and the bell rang. When he heard the bell ring Randy looked at the tv and got a wide eyed look of shock on his face.

"You beat me?" he asked turning to Jessie. She nodded her head and tried not to laugh.

"It was you" Randy said pointing a finger at John and glaring at him. John shook his head and showed Randy his hands that were conveniently in his pockets. Randy was about to get up and pounce when Carol came in with the sandwiches. She had two big plates piled high with them, Jessie's eyes widened and she couldn't figure out why she made so many sandwiches. She soon figured it out though when she only ate two sandwiches and the other guys ate six and in John and Randy's cases ten of them.

After everyone ate they just sat around talking, well it was more like they sat around grilling Jessie about herself. She knew then what the celebrities felt like when they delt with paparazzi. They spent about an hour getting to know Jessie before John looked at his watch and decided it was time for them to go. John got up and he helped Jessie up and the two of them, along with Randy, said their goodbyes and made their way to the car. Jessie didn't escape without being pulled into a hug by everyone who wasn't leaving with them though. Carol almost didn't want to let go it seemed, until John reminded her that she would have plenty of other opportunities to see Jessie.

After Jessie was detached from Carol they were on the road. John was going to stop by the house so they could wash the chlorine off and change into dry clothes. They were in and out of the house in 20 minutes and on the road to drop Jessie off at the mall. John drove rather fluidly as he knew exactly where he was going and didn't want it to be too late when they got back home. It was going on 8 o'clock as it was and John knew that when he and Randy started working out that neither of them would keep a look at the clock to make sure they didn't workout over the hour or so that he told Jessie that they would be.

They got to the mall and John walked Jessie to the front door and took out his wallet "here baby girl" he said handing her $60 "this should be enough to last you an hour haha if you need more you'll have to wait until I come to pick you up. Oh meet me and Randy at the fountain in the middle in an hour, if we're not there wait on us". Jessie nodded and surprised John a bit by hugging him good bye. She walked into the mall without giving John a chance to say anything or hug her back. He shook his head and walked back to the car. "Ok let's go pump iron" John told Randy, starting the car and backing out of the parking space.