Author's Note-See, the weird thing is, while I was writing this, I could see it in my mind, and in my mind, they were in Old Navy. I even pictured those little plastic children models watching them, with their flag tshirts and vintage cargo pants. Can you say "too much spare time?"

Kat began to stalk away, but Jackson grabbed her arm.

"Listen to me," he ordered. Katie pulled against his grip but he held tighter. "Katherine."

"Don't tell me what to do," she snapped. "You may have known my dad, but you're nothing like him, and you can't tell me what to do!"

"I beg to differ," he snarled, his temper rising. Kat froze.

"What?"

"I'm more like him than you think."

"Yeah, okay," Kat snorted in disbelief. "How so?"

"I am him."

"No, you're not."

Jackson paused, sighed, and pulled out his wallet. He folded it open and held it out to Kat, not looking at her. She gasped. Her face was staring back at her. But it wasn't her present-day. It was her baby picture. The only people she knew who had it were her grandfather and her parents.

"This doesn't prove anything." Even though it did.

"Kat, think about it. Your dad is blonde, your mom is a redhead. Your hair is straight and brown like mine. You look nothing like your so-called father. And I'm not sure if you know or not, but Lisa was pregnant with you before she even met Lucas, despite common tale. The reason she married him so quickly was to hide her pregnancy out of wedlock. Your mom's family was too religious for her to admit that."

"But...but no," Kat shook her head, on the verge of tears. "She would have had to...to..."

"She did."

"Not with you. Not willingly."

He sighed, clicking his tongue. "If you must know, yes, she did. It was during the flight."

Kat squeezed her eyes shut to urge away the thought.

"I'm sorry, Kat." He said it so quietly she almost didn't hear, and she knew people were staring at them.

"Those threats, all those threats," she cried, but not loudly. "To kill me, to...rape...me...you..."

"They were empty," he admitted. "Never. If I thought I could have told you, I would have. But I couldn't. And I needed to make you behave."

"Where were you all these years?"

"Jail."

"Why didn't Mom tell me?"

"Would you want to admit that you slept with a terrorist who tried to kill you?" Jackson shook his head. "Besides, when she came to tell me about the pregnancy, in jail, she told me that she didn't do it out of...love. She did it to try and save her father. She underestimated me."

"I don't believe you," Kat hissed. "Mom would never give up her chastity for you."

"She didn't."

"So you lied when you told me you didn't rape her," Kat grew angrier and angrier. "You sick, twisted ba-"

"No. I didn't rape her. Seventeen years ago she was raped. Remember?"

Kat couldn't speak. "What?"

"You didn't know? The whole parking lot thing?" Now Jackson felt guilty. Boy, was Lisa going to kill him...

"No, I...I didn't..." She felt faint.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Katie. I didn't want to be the one to tell you." She was crying steadily now.

"I don't even know what to believe anymore." They drew even more stares now, so finally Jackson set the clothes gently back on the rack and, his arms around her shoulder, led her from the store.

And later, as he hugged her and brushed away her tears, he finally felt like a father.

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"Wow," Adella shook her head. Lisa broke down and pulled the car over, sagging against the back of her seat and erupting in tears.

"I just didn't know what else to do," she cried quietly. "I was hopeless if I made the call, hopeless if I didn't. I didn't even really consider it until he kissed me."

"Did you have...feelings for him?" Adella tilted her head questioningly. Lisa frowned and finally shook her head.

"I don't think so. There was something...physical...there, I guess. Nothing beyond that attraction, and I certainly didn't, or don't, feel anything for him after I found out his ulterior motive.

"Oh," Adella said simply. Then, she wrapped her short thin arms around Lisa, and together they cried. Cried for Kat, and cried for their mistakes.

Author's Note-I was originally going to have this whole story take a completely different turn. But since you haven't read the next chapters I'll shut up. Sh...