We're back! Sorry about the lack of updates, life has gotten crazy! We just loved all of the small and even big Jandy moments in season 5 and are looking for hopefully more in season 6 once we find out where he went. We're still not over the fact that his family up and gave him away. Even more of a reason to love this story where we can finally give him justice and the family he's always wanted. More updates to follow! Remember to review, review, review! We love to hear your thoughts! Happy reading!
-D. H. Caldwell and HAS5245
After they left, Maya ushered the kids into the playroom and left Rowan in charge for a minute while she cleaned up the kitchen and pulled herself together. She was scared to death too for her friend. She distracted herself by silently scrubbing the dinner dishes until they were spotless and her knuckles were raw. She cleaned up Rowan's lunch on the floor and made a turkey and cheese sandwich for his lunch, which she put in the fridge. It was inevitable that she was going to be there all night. "These kids must be petrified", she thought as she put the dishes away. She couldn't blame them. Their parents had died en route to one. Jenna and Carl had died in one, and before that she could count on her hand the amount of people that she knew died in a hospital. She shrugged off any emotion for the sake of the kids and walked into the playroom once she had the kitchen and dining room in order. She noticed that each of the kids had engaged themselves in a quiet activity. Amelia was drawing a picture on the easel while Rowan and DJ were engaged in a game of checkers. "Hey guys", Maya greeted as she took a seat on the couch beside Rowan and DJ. All three of them ignored her at first, even when she cleared her throat. "Ummm, hey guys. Remember me? Aunt Maya?", she asked, trying to get at least one of them to pay attention.
Moments like what happened tonight were some of the reasons why she hesitated on having kids with Carina. Tonight was unlike anything she's ever had to deal with before and she didn't exactly have the best role model growing up to look to as an example for dealing with children. Lane would have yelled at her for being so upset had that been her mother and had she been any one of those kids. He would have called her a wimp and weak; something that some part of her refused to do a few minutes ago. She thought to herself that for every part of her that had been brainwashed by Lane, at least she wasn't screaming at small children; only making them cry harder. She had to fight the urge not to do it and was proud of herself for staying as calm and level headed as she was in that moment. Katherine would be proud; that was something that she still struggled with and admitted to Maya. Her live-in boyfriend from the office where she worked had shut a door hard yesterday because of a draft and she still flinched at the sound. She had called Maya up to tell her about it and her daughter reminded her just how strong she was for getting herself out of the situation with Lane. Maya forgot that she was strong too for being a better Aunt than Lane ever was a father to her. She took a deep exhale out and repeated herself again. "So am I just going to talk to myself here or….?", Maya questioned impatiently.
"Hi Aunt Maya", Rowan answered back as he acknowledged her for a brief second before going back to his game where he moved all of his pieces to the other end of the board. "I win again", he grinned as he turned his attention back to Maya. "Did Dad call you yet?", he asked, concerned.
Maya shook her head as Amelia ran over to her and climbed onto her lap, "No buddy. He's probably listening to the doctors talk right now so he won't call for a while. But I'll let you know as soon as he does, okay?". Rowan nodded as Maya looked around the room. It certainly looked different from when it was Jack's office. Gone was the desk and chair; in its place was a tiny table and chairs, a couch with a TV, a play kitchen and a tool bench. "This room looks like fun. I remember when it was your daddy's office. Does anyone want to talk about what happened tonight? Aunt Maya doesn't do this whole feelings thing so I'd appreciate it if you guys could help me out here and talk to me about how you feel, and if you don't, that's okay too", Maya questioned as DJ put the checkerboard away in the bookshelf and sat back down next to Rowan.
"Where's Mommy?" Amelia asked with wide brown eyes as she looked up at Maya. "Is Mommy sick?"
Maya sighed as she hugged Amelia close. If this was scary for her, she couldn't even begin to imagine how the kids felt. "She is, but Uncle Ben and Aunt Teddy are taking your Mommy to the best hospital around. Mommy has a ton of friends there who are going to help her get better", Maya assured the kids.
"Are you sure Aunt Maya? When people go to the hospital, they don't get better. My mom and dad died in one. Jenna died in a hospital after Dad said his friends would help her. Are we going to lose another Mom too?" Rowan asked, worried. "I already lost two moms and I don't want to add this one to the list. She's my favorite besides my original mom".
Maya watched heartbroken as DJ nodded in agreement with Rowan's statement. "If you could tell her friends to fix her you'd be my favoritest aunt", DJ explained. "I want her back right now. I'll be good all the time, honest. I'll never be bad again"
"I know buddy. I know you want her back right now and that you guys love her so much. That is why I'm going to tell you what I know when your father tells me what he knows. I'm into telling the truth. I don't baby anyone, I don't keep secrets, and I don't sugar coat. You guys are old enough to know what's going on. Well, you boys at least", Maya explained matter of factly. "Now, I can assume no one wants to sleep in their own rooms tonight?" Maya correctly assumed as DJ and Rowan nodded. "I have an idea. Follow me", she explained as they walked out to the living room. "Wait there", she ordered as she went into the laundry room with Amelia and came back with an armload of sheets and blankets. "Who's up for a blanket fort? My brother and I loved these when we were kids"
DJ and Rowan raced each other into the dining room to grab the table chairs. Amelia tried to pick one up herself but gave up when she saw it didn't budge. Once all the sheets were hung from the chairs and the couch, Rowan peeked inside to marvel at his and DJ's handiwork. "Aunt Maya, maybe I can hang my twinkle lights in here so we can see", he suggested as Maya nodded affirmatively.
"And I'll get one of the camping lanterns Daddy keeps in his closet for if we lose power", DJ added.
"All great ideas you guys. How about this? I know it's a school night, but I'll make some popcorn and fill a huge bowl with candy. Does that sound like fun?" Maya asked, completely ignoring what Jack said about candy and bedtimes. "We'll have a giant campout while we wait to find out about Mommy. How do you guys like that?"
DJ and Rowan looked at each other and grinned. They loved Aunt Maya so far. DJ smirked sneakily as he asked Maya, "Aunt Maya, can we watch a movie tonight?". He grinned like a Cheshire Cat when she agreed and told the three of them to pick one of Disney plus once everyone was settled in the fort.
"Wait, we're grounded DJ, remember?" Rowan reminded him while DJ brushed him off. Rowan shrugged "Well I guess what Dad doesn't know won't hurt him"
"Now you're thinking like me. Welcome to the dark side, we've been expecting you", DJ chuckled.
Rowan gave a fake shudder and replied, "I know, it's scary"
"Aunt Maya said it's okay"
Maya sighed as she listened into their conversation. She didn't know that they had been grounded. "Look boys, you had a rough night. I'm sure your Dad would be okay with you two watching a movie or two. I'll tell him I let you. Now go upstairs and get your lights and sleeping bags", she told them. She watched as the boys ran upstairs while Amelia stood at the bottom of the stairs. "And take your sister", she called up to them.
Rowan turned around and met Amelia at the bottom of the stairs. "Memember me?", Amelia asked with all the two-year-old sass as she followed him upstairs. While the kids were getting ready, Maya made up the snacks. She filled three bowls with ice cream, a large mixing bowl with candy and another large mixing bowl with popcorn. Everything that she wasn't allowed to have as a kid, she was giving them. She licked the whipped cream from the sundaes off her finger as she set the tray on the floor of the fort. After everyone was in their pajamas and teeth were brushed, they all settled down together around Maya in the fort and happily dug into their snacks, "What movie do we want to watch?", Maya asked as she pulled out her best friend's laptop and propped it up on a chair.
"Frozen!" Amelia yelled "Or Encanto"
Rowan and DJ looked at each other and made a face in mock disgust. "Gross", they yelled in unison. "No way Lia, I want to watch Star Wars. You've seen Encanto 50 times. If I have to listen to "We Don't Talk About Bruno" again, I'm going to lose it. Let's watch Star Wars", Rowan suggested.
"We don't talk about Bruno no, no, no. We don't talk about Bru….", DJ needled purposefully, trying to annoy Rowan until he felt Rowan's hand go over his mouth. "You're so annoying", Rowan commented while DJ stuck his tongue out and licked the hand that was over his mouth. Rowan pulled his hand away instantly while DJ laughed so hard that he fell back into the pillows. Amelia even found it funny and started laughing too. Rowan on the other hand wasn't as amused and turned away from DJ to think of a good comeback. "You should have seen your face", DJ laughed, trying to catch his breath.
"Go ahead, keep laughing. I'll just tell Mom that you tried to dig up her daffodils the other day", Rowan commented.
DJ scoffed, "You wouldn't do that"
"Wanna bet?", Rowan asked before Maya got in between both of them before there was a more physical fight. "I want to watch Star Wars and that's that.
"Well I want to watch Toy Story 4. Star Wars is long and boring", DJ argued
"You always want to watch that one. Aunt Mayaaa, he's being impossible", Rowan whined as Maya scrolled through Disney + to see what she could find. She was praying that they would all agree on something sometime soon. "He never picks good movies. And Lia always picks the same one. It's always Frozen or Encanto with her", Rowan added, annoyed that his much younger siblings always got the majority vote when it came to movies.
"DO NOT", Amelia argued as Rowan stuck his tongue out at her.
Maya, already sick of the arguing, rolled her eyes. "If you guys can't agree on something then I'll be the one to pick something and I'll make sure it's something none of you like. Maybe one of those Earth documentaries or a movie about running". Maya threatened as the kids looked at each other and got silent. How did Andy and Jack do this every single day? Before tonight the Olympics was the hardest thing she had accomplished, besides her job, but taking on her role as an Aunt and managing Andy's horde of children was a whole different kind of hard. At times it made her feel like she had run 10,000 meters all over again. "So are we picking something or am I?", she asked impatiently as she scrolled through a few more movies that were quickly vetoed by the kids.
"Ohhh, What's that? That guy with the big swords looks super cool", DJ asked when Maya accidentally stopped on the Deadpool movie. "He looks like a ninja, except instead of black, he's wearing red", DJ pointed out.
"Wow", Rowan and DJ marveled together. Maya couldn't believe it, after nearly fifteen minutes of arguing, the boys had finally settled on something. It was even better that the movie they picked looked like a movie she might like too. Maya glanced over at Amelia who was snuggled under her blankets and distracted by her dolls. The toddler looked like she could care less now when it came to the movie they were watching as long as she had her toys to occupy her. She was currently mesmerized by a brush that appeared to be changing the color of her doll's hair. Maya's attention snapped back to the boys who were now begging her to play the movie. "Can we watch it, Aunt Maya please?", both boys pleaded in unison. "We'll get along", DJ added, trying to negotiate. "And I'll share all the popcorn with Rowan. Promise"
Maya chuckled and selected the movie. Her smile quickly turned to a grimace however, when she saw that the movie was rated "R". Andy would kill her for sure if she let the kids watch something like that. "That's a rated R movie with a lot of strong language. I don't know boys. Your sister is way too young for that as are the two of you", Maya tried to explain. "Also, your mother would be very very mad at me and I really don't want to see your mom mad. How about we pick something else? Endgame looks pretty good."
"But we watched that a thousand times. Besides, he looks like a superhero Aunt Maya" Rowan pleaded. "Mom lets us watch Spiderman and the Eternals and don't worry, it doesn't give me nightmares", he boasted while gesturing towards DJ who stuck out his tongue at Rowan.
"It doesn't give me nightmares either. Deadpool probably fights the bad guys and saves the good guys from danger! Pleaseeee Aunt Maya. We won't repeat the swear words and Amelia sleeps through all the movies anyways", DJ added, hoping to sway Maya's decision as Amelia put her little hands on her hips.
"I do not!", she protested.
Maya clicked on the movie and reluctantly gave in to avoid anymore arguing. "Alright, you guys win. I guess he does help people so why not. I just have one rule. Never tell your father that I let you watch this, or your mother for that matter. Especially not your mother", Maya warned as she put on the movie. If Andy found out they were watching this she would never hear the end of it. Especially since it was her first time babysitting, Maya wanted to convince Andy that she could do it. Within minutes, the boys were completely engrossed in the movie while Amelia fell asleep after the first 30 minutes, proving DJ's prediction correct. Maya didn't get that luxury with Rowan or DJ as they begged her to watch the second one which she gave into again, taking her role as the fun aunt seriously. She didn't remember how or when anyone fell asleep but she later assumed that it was midway through the sequel.
Meanwhile at the hospital, Jack was pacing the waiting room up and down, eliciting stares from some of the people waiting in there. He had been waiting there for five hours as Miranda ran a series of tests on Andy. Bloodwork, CT scans and the like to find out what exactly was going on with her. It seemed as though each time Miranda came out to update him, they were running another test. Teddy and Ben had decided to wait with Jack, figuring that he would enjoy the company so he wouldn't have to be alone for this. Ben was sitting in a chair watching his friend pace when Teddy walked in with four cups of coffee and set them on the table.
"I'm sorry that took so long. I saw Owen in the cafeteria and he had to tell me something about Leo. Ok, that pacing is making me really dizzy", she explained as she sat down in the chair. "Jack, come sit down. I know you're worried. We all are. I texted everyone at the station already and they've all been asking for updates. You're not helping anyone by pacing like that"
"I'm not sitting down. When I sit down I cry and all these thoughts run through my head and—",he continued as Teddy put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I just hate hospitals. Last time I was in this waiting room…."
"I know. I remember. We were all a mess when Robert died", Teddy comforted. "But look, Andy's not dead. She was talking to you on the way here and Miranda just wants to run a few tests", she assured, as Jack got up and walked towards the doors ready to go through them whether he was allowed to or not. He hated waiting, and especially while the kids were at home without a clue as to what was going on.
Ben walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to the row of chairs they had been occupying, "Where do you think you're going Gibson? You can't go back there"
"To make sure my wife isn't dead", Jack snapped as he sat back down. "But it looks like you're getting in my way of doing that"
"Like we said, Miranda is just running a few more tests. They'll be out to update you any minute now", Teddy assured him. "Please don't worry"
"That's what you said an hour ago, but have I seen her yet? No!", Jack chuckled as he looked at the time on his phone. It was midnight and he had been sitting out there for five hours waiting. Teddy threw her hands up in frustration and sat down while Ben put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "They should have been done by now", Jack huffed as he sipped his coffee and looked at the twenty third text from Maya asking if he heard anything. She sent it an hour ago and stopped after that. He figured her and the kids must have fallen asleep. He took a deep breath and looked at Teddy and Ben with eyes full of worry, "I'm sorry I'm being such an ass. I just…I can't do this life without her. I can't go to work without her. I can't raise these kids without her. The kids are probably scared out of their minds right now". He let out a few stray tears as soon as he mentioned the kids and thought about the possibility of a life without his wife.
Ben grabbed him by the shoulders and locked eyes with him. "Pull yourself together Gibson. Maya has the kids so all you have to do is worry about your wife. Think about their night. She's probably feeding them all the sugary goodness or making them run laps around the house", Ben assured, trying to toss some humor in there as visions of Amelia running to the door and Rowan screaming that he was a liar danced in Jack's head.
"Pull myself together? My everything in this world fainted right there in the kitchen. Right in front of me. I had my arms around her waist and let go for one second. The next second she was on the floor, and I couldn't do a damn thing to help her. I called you, she woke up, and then our kids had to come downstairs to see that. Now you two are telling me to pull myself together?", Jack questioned as he turned stone quiet. "I must be the world's worst father, the kids must be terrified", he muttered to no one in particular. "How do you make it look so easy Ben? How?"
Ben chuckled as he sat down beside Jack, "Jack Gibson, look at me. You're just new to this. And believe me, I had times where I didn't think I could do it with Tuck. I got through it though because Miranda and I were a team. Just like you and Andy. Those kids love you already. I can already tell about the way your face lights up when you talk about them. You took three kids into your home overnight. You went from thinking about a single baby to having 3 children running around your house. Those kids already adore you and you love them, so I say that you are already making one hell of a dad"
"Thank you Warren. Look, I appreciate everything you guys are trying to do, but both of you can go home and be with your families. I'll be fine here. I need a little time to be alone" Jack expressed sadly as Ben and Teddy stood up.
"While we don't want to leave you, we'll respect your wishes. Call if you need to talk" Ben reminded him as the two shared a hug.
Jack watched as Ben left with Teddy and then took a slow breath out while walking back to his seat. They should be out here by now with answers. He quietly looked down at his coffee and then up again where he spotted Carina walking through the doors with a big smile on her face. He had to admit he was a little surprised when she walked over to him. "Carina, what are you doing here?", he asked. "Maya's with my kids tonight if you're wondering where she is. Andy fainted and I had to bring her here for tests. Miranda's in there with her right now and I'm waiting for answers", he explained as Carina shook her head. "What, what is it? Do you know something I don't?"
"Relax Gibson, hey, Andy's fine. She's pregnant, but she's fine. Her fainting was just stress which is a pretty normal thing to happen to someone who had no idea they were almost eight weeks pregnant", Carina explained as Jack breathed a huge sigh of relief. She was fine and he was going to see her. "Congratulations. You're going to have quite a full house"
Jack couldn't help but smile. After two months of trying, they were finally going to have a baby. "What? Oh my God! Thank you Carina. Can you do me a favor and tell Maya for me when you call her? I just want to go see my wife, so I'm giving you permission to tell your wife the good news because, well, you know how she gets", Jack questioned as Carina laughed.
Carina hugged him to congratulate him, "Of course. God knows she's probably waiting by the phone for an update. I have at least 15 missed texts from her asking if I can find out anything about Andy because apparently DJ and Rowan have been asking about her every five seconds". Jack couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Maya's waning patience as she listened to "When's Mommy coming home?" for the millionth time. Of all people to deal with explaining a crisis to kids in a way that wouldn't scar them, Maya didn't register in his mind as someone that would be good at it. "Before I call Maya, I can show you to her room if you want?", Carina offered as Jack happily accepted.
Jack followed Carina down a hall to Andy's room where Andy was reading a magazine in bed. She had a wide smile plastered across her face as she put her magazine down and laughed. "Hi honey, did you hear the news?", she asked as he nodded. "You and I are going to be the proud parents of five adorable children", she told him as he laid down next to her.
What she said didn't register in his mind right away. He rested his forehead against hers and put his hand on her stomach as she rested her hand over his. Eventually he realized that she had said five kids when right now they had three. That meant….he smiled even wider, "You're having twins?", he asked.
"We're having twins", Andy corrected as they kissed. "They're already beautiful and you're going to get to see them tomorrow when Carina does the ultrasound. I'm so sorry we had to find out this way"
Jack kissed her and smiled, moving his hand to rest on her stomach, "I don't care about that. I'm just so glad you're okay. Never do that to me again. I can't lose you"
"I'm not planning on it anytime soon. How are the kids? Did Maya bring them here?" she asked as she looked at the door expecting a horde of children to run screaming into the room at any moment. She was surprised not to see them after a few minutes. "Where are the kids?", she asked again.
"They stayed home. Maya has them for the night", Jack assured as he kissed her.
"Maya has them? All of them?", Andy asked, narrowing her eyes at Jack as she thought about Maya, a person that didn't want children of her own, watching three scared, confused, and most likely energetic children for the rest of the night. When she met them, she had seemed pretty cool about wanting to babysit so what was the worst that could happen? "Well, I hope Fun Aunt Maya at least had them get a little sleep. They must be so scared after seeing all of that. Did she talk to them about it? Rowan probably had a million questions, there's no doubt about that"
"I'm sure she did. It's Maya. Maya Bishop and chaos aren't words that usually go together", laughed Jack. "They're probably behaving better with her than they do with us"
"They're probably scarred for life considering what happened last week. Right now, I just want to see them all and hold them and tell them that everything is going to be fine and that they're going to have two new siblings. I just want them to know I'm fine." she explained as she tried to find her phone so she could text Maya and tell her the news.
Jack held it away from her while she glared at him, "Right now, you need to rest. The kids are fine. Maya probably has them eating candy and running around the house", Jack reasoned as Andy smacked him with her pillow.
"Sure, the thought of our kids running around the house on a sugar high really helps me relax. Crap, Maya's going to hear I was dehydrated. She's probably going to kill me for overworking myself today", Andy remembered. "She was so mad when I refused to go home"
"Probably, I wouldn't be surprised. You were practically yelling at her to let you stay at the station", he answered. "I'd be pissed too"
"Oh yeah, I did do that. Well, I can't go anywhere so no better time to face the music. Should I call her?" she asked
"Rest for a few minutes. I already told Carina to give her the update", Jack assured her.
Andy rested her forehead against his and whispered, "What would I do without you?", while he smiled and kissed her. Andy started laughing soon after while thinking about the conversation between Maya and Carina. "I can already hear the phone sex going on right no between Maya and Carina", Andy joked
"Stop. Gross. The last thing I want to think about is my wife's best friend, future godmother to our children getting it on with her wife over the phone in our guest room. Besides, I would like to think that Bishop has more of a brain than to do that in a house full of children" Jack explained while Andy laughed even harder. "I really hope the Bishop Monster would have more sense than that"
"Oh, she wouldn't dream of it. She knows that she would have to deal with me", Andy laughed as she kissed him again.
Jack chuckled mid kiss, "You're terrible". He broke away and looked at her seriously for a second before resting his forehead on hers, "I was so worried that something happened to you. I was worried that you were going to leave me"
Andy smiled bittersweetly as she kissed him, "Leave you? Honey, I'm not going anywhere. Remember what we promised each other when you told me you still loved me?" Jack nodded as he climbed into bed next to her. It was a tight squeeze but after what had happened at the house, he didn't care. "We promised each other….", she started
"No leaving. No leaving, no running, and no crazy extremes on calls. I remember", Jack explained as she ran her hand over his cheeks and turned his chin to meet her face. "I love you so much Andy, and I love our family and I don't know what I would have done if I lost you. You're everything to me", he told her.
"And you're everything to me. You and our crazy little family. I say it all the time and you're probably sick of hearing it, but you are my home Jack Gibson", Andy answered as she stared into his eyes and kissed him softly.
"I know I am, and you are mine", he answered back as they kissed again, only pulling apart to breathe.
