Full Summary:
James Lake Sr. and Barbara Wilson met in high school and fell in love. They dated for four years, he proposed on stage at prom. They were married at eighteen, had a child together at the age of nineteen. At twenty-two Barbra was accepted to med school. Things were going well, but at age twenty-five James left. Barbra, unable to support herself, her son, and her college career had to make a choice. She packed up the house and left Arcadia with her son to move in with her parents in Hoboken New Jersey.
So, James Lake Jr. didn't grow up in Arcadia. He did find the Amulet. He didn't grow up across the street from Toby Domzalski. He did meet Blinky and AARRGGHH. He didn't go to Arcadia Oaks High School. He did go to Heartstone Trollmarket. Jim Lake didn't grow up with a normal childhood, and he was alright with that.
What he's not alright with is his mom deciding it was time to move back to Arcadia Oaks after he turned fifteen. Now they're back, in their old house, with their old neighbors, and a much higher possibility of his mom finding out about his night life. Not to mention the suspicious blue haired bistro worker, the mayors nosey daughter, and the red-haired kid next door who won't leave him alone!
Chapter 1: Time for A History Lesson
When James Lake Jr. was five years old his father left. He tucked Jim into bed that night gave him a kiss on the forehead and said, "I love you Jimmy. See you in the morning, sleep tight." The next morning, he was gone, and Jimmy's mother sat at the kitchen table in tears hugging a soggy piece of paper to her chest. When Jimmy asked her why she was so sad she dropped the letter and held him close to her chest. He felt like she held him there for hours, her tears wetting his hair, shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. Jimmy just sat there in her arms confused, not knowing what was happening, asking where daddy was because he always knew how to make mommy feel better. Those questions just made her cry harder and in turn made Jimmy start to cry as well.
It was a long time before his mom was able to compose herself enough to tell him why she was so upset. She hugged him in her lap on the floor in the front hall, tears still streaming down her face. She told him that his daddy wasn't home and that he wouldn't be coming home. She told him that his daddy wasn't happy, that maybe he had never been, and so he left. He left to because he thought he'd be happier without them.
Jimmy told his mommy that his daddy couldn't do that since he had promised him they'd build his first big boy bike together so that daddy could teach him how to ride it. He told her that daddy would be back they just had to wait until the little hand on the clock was at the five and the big hand was in-between eight and nine and then he'd be home from work. His mommy smiled at him, but it didn't look right, her smiled looked sad and Jimmy didn't like that. Then she kissed him on the forehead, just like daddy had the night before, and went to the kitchen with tears still in her eyes.
The rest of the day was different than usual. His mommy didn't take him next-door to Mrs. Domzalski's house when the little hand was at the eight and the big hand was at the six. She didn't go to school so she could learn to fix people's boo-boos. Instead, the two of them spend the whole day together curled up on the couch watching Gun-Robot and eating popcorn. Jimmy kept an eye on the clock hanging above the tv the whole time watching the hands spin around so he'd know when his daddy would be home to make his mommy feel better.
But then the big hand was all the way at the six and he still wasn't home, then the seven, and the eight. When the big hand made its way to the nine Jimmy's mom told him that it was bedtime. He listened for the door to open while his mommy gave him a bath. He listened while he brushed his teeth. He listened while his mommy tucked him into bed, gave him a kiss on the forehead and told him that she loved him. He listened while his mommy got ready for bed. He listened while she cried herself to sleep. He listened until the numbers on the clock next to his bed had gone from two big numbers back to one. He listened and waited because he never went to bed until his daddy tucked him in up to his chin and wrapped him in his blankets like a human burrito.
He fell asleep listening and waiting.
The next morning his daddy still hadn't come home. His mommy cried as she made their breakfast. She didn't go to school again that day. Jimmy sat in front of the tv as his mommy ran around the house cleaning and crying. He didn't know what to do to make her feel better, so he watched the clock. He watched the hands but just like the day before his daddy didn't come home when the little hand was at the five and the big hand was between the eight and the nine.
The rest of the week went about the same way. Jimmy's mommy called his Grandma Cynthia and his Papa Edward, they talked for a long time before she finally handed the phone to Jimmy. His grandparents told him that they couldn't wait to see him soon, and that they were going to have so much fun. Jimmy was excited that his grandparents were coming to visit, maybe they could cheer his mommy up.
More time went by and his grandparents never came to visit. His mommy started going back to school and he started going over to Mrs. Domzalski's house again. She introduced him to her grandson Toby who she said lived with her now. Jimmy was happy to have a new friend, his best friend Steve could be a little mean sometimes, and it was fun to have a new friend so close to his house. Everyday his mommy would pick him up when the little hand was on the four and the big hand was on the twelve, he'd say goodbye to Toby and Mrs. Domzalski ("Jimmy darling we've been over this, you can call me Nana.").
That was normal, it had happened every day for as long as he could remember. When his mommy went to school and his daddy went to work he went to Mrs. Domzalski's house. His mommy would pick him up and they'd go home and cook dinner together and listen to loud music until his daddy came home. Except his daddy still hadn't come home and now every time they got home his mommy started packing all of their stuff up in big brown boxes that he wasn't allowed to play in.
When he asked her one day, while she was wrapping a pretty glass vase in the bubble wrap he wasn't allowed to pop and Jimmy helped by coloring pretty picture on the taped-up boxes, she told him they were going to visit Grandma Cynthia and Papa Edward. When he asked why they were taking everything with them she told him it was because they'd be staying there for a while.
Jimmy wasn't sure how long it took them to pack up everything in the house but one day after everything was in boxes stacked neatly in the living room and the front hall his mommy took him to school with her. His mommy talked to a woman who sat behind a big wooden desk talking in big words like "final transfer of credits" and "University of Medicine and Health Sciences" that he didn't understand. When they finally got home there was a big truck and a lot of strong-looking men all wearing the same thing waiting for them. His mommy let them inside and they started taking all the boxes with all of their stuff in it out to their big truck, and they took the couches and the beds and the dressers and everything.
When he asked him mommy why they were asking all of their things she told him they were helping them take everything to Grandma Cynthia and Papa Edward's house. When the big truck was all loaded with stuff and the men had driven away with it she took him over to Mrs. Domzalski's and told him to say goodbye. Jimmy was confused but he gave both Mrs. Domzalski and Toby a hug and told them goodbye and that he'd see them tomorrow.
That made his mommy cry and she told him that he wouldn't get to see them tomorrow and he probably wouldn't see them for a long long time. When he asked why she told him it was because they were going to stay with Grandma Cynthia and Papa Edward for a while. Jimmy nodded his head although he still didn't really understand.
After saying their goodbyes Jimmy and his mommy got into their car and drove away. They drove and drove and drove and drove until Jimmy was woken up late one night. There wasn't a clock anywhere, so he didn't know where the big hand or the little hand were, but the sky was dark, so he thought it must've been really late. His Grandma Cynthia and Papa Edward were waiting for them at the door.
They brought them inside where Jimmy saw all the boxes from their house stacked in piles around his grandparents living room. His Papa Edward gave his mommy a big hug and told her that there was hot chocolate waiting for her in the kitchen. Then he took Jimmy from his mommy's arms and hugged him close to his chest. Jimmy was too tired to ask if he could have hot chocolate too and Papa Edward must've known that because he took Jimmy upstairs without even asking if he wanted some.
Papa Edward took him past the guest room where he and mommy and daddy usually stayed when they spent the night. Instead, he walked all the way to Grandma Cynthia's craft room, which was usually covered in glitter and yarn and other thing that his grandma used to make his Christmas presents. So, Jimmy was confused when they entered the room and his bed was set up in there, and his dresser, and his clock. Papa Edward set him down on the bed, pulled the covers up all the way to his chin, and wrapped him up like a human burrito. Then he gave him a kiss on the forehead and said, "Goodnight Jim. I love you. Grandma's making chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast tomorrow."
As Papa Edward left the room, pulling the door closed just enough to let the light in, Jimmy thought that he liked being called Jim better then he liked being called Jimmy. He decided to tell mommy in the morning when they had chocolate chip pancakes, and then he could ask why his bed was in grandmas craft room.
