Chapter 7: And the awkwardness begins

As Jack walks the path to the house, he can feel Ronnie, or Onica she goes by now, whatever, on his heels. He has no idea what to expect as this weekend unfolds. He had told Sam that things would go better than she was thinking, however that was before he knew his ex fiancé was involved. He knows he is going to have to tell Sam, but how? And what will it mean for their relationship? Jack had been angry when Ronnie walked out all those years ago, he never understood why she left, just that she had found someone else. Over the years, the sting of that betrayal eased, but now that she's here, it's stinging much harder again. He wants answers, wants to know what he had done to make her leave, why she had stopped loving him. He pauses for a second as he wonders if he has ever really gotten over her.

Jack opens to the door and sees Sam in the living room with her brother, she smiles at him and his insides twist in a knot. He's got the answer to his question. He might still like an explanation, but he's definitely over Ronnie. How could he not be? Look at Sam, she's gorgeous, and only she can make him weak in the knees with a single look.

Jack hears the door close behind him and he glances over and sees Ronnie, Onica, he corrects himself, standing there. Suddenly Jack feels frozen, he has no idea what to expect next.

Sam walks up to him and places a hand on his chest and stretches up and kisses him gently on the lips. It didn't last long, but for the instant that her lips were on his, all his worries and stresses faded away. He has the strongest urge to kiss her more but feels it would be inappropriate with Ron...no Onica, and Mark standing here watching. Whatever, throwing caution to the wind, he pulls Sam back to him and kisses her more soundly. He could kiss her all day long and never get tired of it, but decides now is not the time to do that and so he ends the kiss, but stays close to her.

Sam pulls back, but leaves her hand on his chest and says, "Hey."

Jack reaches up and takes her hand in his and gives her a soft smile and replies, "Hey."

Sam takes a step back, but Jack keeps hold of her hand, she gives him one last smile before gesturing with her loose hand and says, "Jack, this is my brother Mark, and you've already met Onica."

Jack starts at the last part, he looks nervously between Sam and Ronnie and asks shocked, "You know?"

Sam looks at him confused and says, "You came in together, I assume you met outside."

"Oh, yeah, right." Jack says, looking down at the floor.

Mark amusedly watches the exchange. Since finding out about the man's son, Mark has felt a sort of sympathy for him. He still doesn't like that Sam is dating her boss, but seeing them together and how Jack looks at his baby sister, he has to admit that this guy really does seem to care about her. He decides in that moment to give this whole thing a chance. Besides, now that he sees Jack in person, he realizes that he's much taller, and much better built for a man his age, than Mark expected. He feels a bit intimidated. Mark concludes that if things come to blows and there was a physical altercation, he would probably not win. Mark remembers Sam telling him that Jack used to be in the special forces, and looking at him now, he decides that Jack could take him down without breaking a sweat. Mark doubts he'd even get one hit in before he's sprawled on his back in disgrace.

Mark clears his throat and steps forward, his right hand outstretched, "Jack, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Jack says, accepting Mark's hand and shaking it.

"Thank you for having my wife and I over to your home." Mark says as he releases Jack's hand and puts his arm around Onica.

Jack glances over at Ronnie, Onica, he reminds himself...again, and sees her studying the floor rather intently.

Jack gives an uncomfortable smile and says, "You're welcome."

Glancing over at Sam, then back to Jack, Mark says, "I, uh, also wanted to say that I'm sorry about your son. No parent should have to go through something like that."

Jack loses the smile he just had and his features go dark as he says, "Excuse me?"

Feeling a little self conscious, Mark says, "Sam told me."

Jack shoots Sam a look that would have most System Lords quivering in their shoes and hiding behind their personal force field. Sam stands her ground but doesn't say anything. Instead she runs her hand up and down Jack's arm.

Onica breaks the silence by saying, "I didn't know you had a son."

Jack gives her an icy cold glare and says, "Why would you?"

Looking back to the floor, Onica says quietly, "I'd like to meet him. What's his name?"

He scowls at her and then in a very dangerous tone, Jack says, "None of your business."

Oncia backs up a step and says, "I'm sorry."

Sam looks at Jack wondering where all this hostility is coming from, but she doesn't ask. It could have something to do with work, in which case, he wouldn't be able to talk about it in front of their current company. Though, she's pretty sure that he's upset because she was talking about his son with Mark. Instead of thinking about it too much, she asks, "Anyone thirsty?"

Both Mark and Onica nod, then Sam tugs Jack's hand, indicating he should go with her. He doesn't resist, just silently turns and starts off toward the kitchen.

Mark watches them go, then turns to Onica and says quietly, "His son died sweetheart."

Onica gasps and puts her hand to her mouth and says, "I had no idea, if I had known I wouldn't have asked."

Pulling her closer to him and kissing the top of her head, Mark says, "It's okay, you couldn't have known. I didn't even know until Sam told me a few minutes ago. Though it's probably best not to bring it up again with how upset he seemed to get."

Hugging her husband tightly, Onica asks, "How did it happen?"

Mark shrugs and says, "I don't know, Sam said that would be up to Jack to share."


Once in the kitchen, Sam pulls her hand out of Jack's and turns to face him with her hands in front of her and says in a hushed voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't plan on telling him, he was just asking questions and it came out. I know it's not my business to tell anyone about your son."

Jack looks down at the floor and says, "It's fine."

Looking at him skeptically, Sam asks, "Really?"

Finally looking away from his spot on the floor and looking tenderly at Sam, Jack says, "Sam, we're in this," pointing his finger between the two of them, "together, everything about me is your business."

Sam shakes her head and says, "Then why did you seem so upset?"

Ignoring her question, Jack looks back down to the floor and sighs, "Sam, there's something I need to tell you. Something I swear I didn't know about, and I don't know how you're going to take it."

Sam notes the uncomfortable look on Jack's face and the uncertainty in his voice. She wonders what he could possibly be about to say that would cause him to act this way, and says wearily, "Okay."

"Sev…" Jack starts, but is interrupted when Mark comes into the kitchen.

"Hey," Mark calls, then at Jack and Sam's looks, he says, "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

Jack and Sam look at each other, Sam remains silent, unsure if Jack wants to finish whatever it was he was about to say. She isn't surprised when Jack answers, "No, Mark, it's fine, what's up?"

Feeling like an intruder despite Jack's words, Mark says lamely, "Uh, I was wondering what we were drinking." He looks between them, then at the floor, then back up and says, "We talked about drinks but didn't say what we were drinking."

Neither Jack nor Sam spoke right away and the lingering silence grew more and more awkward by the second. Sam looks over to Jack who is studying that spot on the floor he seems to find interesting and says, "Uh, we have water, beer, and some soda."

"We'll take a soda if that's alright." Mark says, feeling really stupid.

"Sure, we'll be right out." Sam says by way of a dismissal.

Mark turns and leaves, thankful to get out of there. Though he can't help but to wonder what exactly is going on.

Jack silently turns around and opens the refrigerator and starts grabbing out the sodas. Sam stares at his back for a moment then asks, "Jack?"

Jack sighs and without turning around, responds, "Yeah?"

Jack has finished getting the sodas out of the fridge and is now getting glasses out of the cabinet, Sam steps over and stills him by putting a hand on his arm, and she says gently, "What's going on?"

Still not looking at her, Jack says, "We can talk about it later."

Sam gently pushes his shoulder, forcing him to face her and says, "Jack, you were about to tell me something, something you weren't sure how I would react to."

Sighing again, Jack says, "I'll tell you later, okay." He pauses for a moment then adds, "I promise."

Sam wishes he would just tell her whatever it is that he has to say, if nothing else it would alleviate her curiosity. However, she trusts him, and she figures he must have a good reason for waiting, so she just nods in acceptance.


As soon as Mark left to find out what drinks were available, Onica made a beeline for the picture of Jack and his broken family hangin on the wall. She smiles a little as she sees how happy he looked, his wife was beautiful, and his son, wow, what a handsome boy. Her smile fades as she thinks about how quickly he married this woman after their engagement ended.

She remembers calling a mutual friend about 10 months after she and Jack broke off their engagement…

"Hey, Angela, it's Ronnie." Ronnie said nervously into the phone.

"Hey," Angela said surprised, then added, "Didn't think I'd hear from you again,"

"I know, I'm sorry Ange." Ronnie said.

"What do you want?" Angela asked defensively.

"I, I know you're mad." Ronnie said, hoping she sounded genuine.

"Mad!" Angela said in a huff, then added, "Are you kidding? Ronnie, you were my best friend, I was supposed to be your maid of honor and you left without warning, I haven't heard from you in 8 months! I didn't even know if you were dead or alive." Angela started breathing heavily after her rant.

"I'm really sorry, Ange, please, I'm sorry." Ronnie said, she tried to hold back tears as she added, "Please let me explain."

After a long silence, Angela said, "Fine, explain."

"Before I left, I met someone." Ronnie started, only to be interrupted by Angela.

"You met someone!" Angela spat, then added, "You were weeks away from marrying Jack, I thought you loved him. How could you just meet someone else?"

"I know, it sounds really bad, I swear though, nothing happened between me and this other guy." Ronnie said with conviction. She took a breath and started again, "I met him about 2 months before I left. All we did was hang out and talk, he made me feel so special."

"Did he know that you were engaged to be married?" Angela demanded to know.

"No." Was all Ronnie said in response.

"So what, you hang out a few times, and you thought it was a good idea to leave your fiancé and all your friends behind?" Angela said accusingly.

"I'm sorry, it was the wrong thing to do, I know that now." Ronnie said quietly into the phone.

"Sighing heavily into the phone, Angela said, "I take it you're not with this guy anymore then."

"No, it turned out that we didn't want the same things." Ronnie said bitterly.

"And now...what? You want to come back?" Angela asked with sarcasm.

"I," Ronnie started, then took a breath, and finished, "I don't know. I miss you, I miss my home, I miss…" And she paused.

"Jack." Angela supplied.

After a slight pause, Ronnie said, "Yeah, I miss Jack. Oh Angela, what did I do?" Ronnie sobbed.

"Ronnie," Angela started, until Ronnie interrupted.

"Do you think he'll ever forgive me?" Ronnie asked between sobs.

"Oh Ronnie, I." Angela tried.

"I made a mistake, Ange, a huge one." Ronnie interrupted.

"Ronnie." Angela tried again.

"How is he?" Ronnie interrupted again.

"Ronnie, Jack was never the same after you left." Angela said.

"What do you mean?" Ronnie asked.

"He was even quieter and more standoffish than normal. Before long he pretty much stopped spending time with me and Steve. I always thought he only hung around us because of you anyways. Seems as though you weren't there, I guess he didn't feel the need to stick around either." Angela explained.

"He'll never forgive me, will he?" Ronnie asked.

"Oh honey, I don't know. Like I said, I haven't seen him in a while." Angela said.

"Oh." Ronnie said sadly.

"No, Ronnie, you don't understand, it's not just that he stopped hanging around so much, Jack doesn't live here anymore. He moved to VIrginia about 4 months ago." Angela said.

"Virginia, what's in Virginia?" Ronnie asked.

"I guess there's an Air Force base there or something that he got transferred to, I didn't even know he had moved. I would email him every now and again, he would always respond, though sometimes it took days or weeks. Ronnie, there's something else you should know." Angela said.

"What's that?" Ronnie asked quietly.

"I emailed him a couple months ago just to check in, say hello, catch up a little, it took a while before he responded. Ronnie, Jack met someone and got married about 3 weeks ago." Angela told her friend. A long silence followed.

"He, he got married? Are you sure?" Ronnie finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes, I'm sure, Steve and I went to his wedding." Angela replied.

"You...what? How could he get married so soon after…" Ronnie stammered.

"I don't know the whole story, only that he hadn't known her for very long. I'm not even sure when he met her, or how he met her, or if he moved to Virginia before or after meeting her, but Ronnie, he looked happy. And after what happened with you and him, and how closed off he was, I was glad to see him look so happy. His wife seemed nice too, her name is Sara."

"It should have been me, we'd be preparing for our first anniversary right now." Ronnie said, sounding hollow.

"You still care about him, don't you?" Angela asked, but meant it as a statement.

"I still love him, but I guess it's too late now." Ronnie said sadly.

"I'm sorry Ronnie. Look, I don't mean this to sound harsh but, you're the one who left. I don't know the details about that, Jack never told me. Then again, he and I only hung out because I was your friend, I was surprised when he invited us to his wedding, but he did, so we went. I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to live with your choices and move on." Angela said, matter of factly.

Ronnie kept in touch with Angela after that, though they weren't as close as they had once been, and Angela and Steve did come to her wedding to Mark. However, they never spoke of Jack again. She often wondered if Angela still had contact with him but didn't ask, and Angela didn't volunteer any information.

Onica is pulled out of her memory when her husband comes back into the room with a strange look on his face.

"Something is going on in there." Mark whispers.

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"I don't know, but it looked like they were having a pretty serious discussion." Mark replies, looking back toward the kitchen.

"Abo...um about what do you think?" Onica asks nervously.

"I have no idea, but it felt very uncomfortable to be in that room." Mark stated, "If he hurts her, I swear…" he adds, and let's the rest hang.

Sam and Jack reenter the room and pass out the drinks. Mark and Onica say a quick thank you, and Mark asks, "So, everything alright?"

"Everything is fine, why?" Sam asks in return, as she takes a sip of her own drink.

Looking from Sam to Jack and back again, Mark says, "It seemed like something was going on in there." He nods towards the kitchen with his chin.

Sam glances over to Jack but when he says nothing, Sam says again, "Everything is fine, Mark."

Mark looks at his sister, then at Jack, who is now staring into his cup, and says, "Okay." In a tone that indicates that he doesn't quite believe her.

"Why don't we all sit down, maybe the three of you can get to know each other a little." Sam says, gesturing between Mark, Onica, and Jack.

"Alright." Mark says as he guides his wife over to the two recliner chairs, while Jack silently walks over to the love seat and sits next to Sam. The furniture is arrayed so that all have a view of the TV but can also comfortably see each other.

When they sit, Onica notices how Jack and Sam are sitting rather close together and how he reaches over and takes Sam's hand in his. She can't help but remember how he used to do that with her. She also can't help but to notice that Mark picked the recliners that are sitting a couple feet apart. Onica figures that after 12 years of marriage and 2 children, they aren't as lovey dovey as they once were. Though she can't help the small pang of jealousy she feels. She tells herself she's jealous that she and Mark don't hold hands as often. She refuses to entertain the idea that she could be jealous that Sam has Jack's attention.

"So, how are the kids?" Sam asks, while absent-mindedly stroking Jack's hand with her thumb.

"The kids are doing well." Mark answers.

"What are they into these days?" Sam asks, trying to get the conversation going.

"Uh, Luke plays video games all the time and has recently taken an interest in the guitar."

Mark says rolling his eyes, then adds mockingly, "He thinks he wants to be a musician."

"That's really cool, is he any good?" Sam asks with interest.

"He mostly makes noise with it, he's been begging to take lessons." Mark says with a 'yeah right' look on his face.

"So let him take lessons." Sam replies.

"Do you know how much that would cost?" Mark nearly shouts.

Sam looks over at Onica, who is staring at the floor and asks, "Onica, what do you think?"

Onica looks up startled. She feels very uncomfortable discussing her children in front of Jack, and all she says is, "I, uh, I think he's talented."

"Of course you do, you're his mother." Mark soothes, then adds, "But it's not a realistic career. It's a nice hobby but he needs to focus on something stable. Aubry, on the other hand," Mark smiles proudly, " has been showing an interest in cooking, and she's rather good at it."

"That's great, perhaps both of their interests can be explored." Sam suggests.

"Ideally yes, however, guitar lessons would cost an arm and a leg, whereas, " Mark says gesturing over to his wife and adds, "cooking lessons are free. Oncia, here, is an amazing cook."

"Since when?" Jack blurts out before he can stop himself, causing everyone to look at him. He clears his throat and tries to cover his flub by asking, "I mean, since when has your daughter taken an interest?"

Mark waits for Onica to answer, but when she remains silent, he answers, "She's always tried to help in the kitchen, but in the last year or so she's really made some headway. Even cooking entire meals on her own, though, I'm pretty sure she likes baking better," he says laughing.

"She makes a really good chocolate cake." Onica says glancing at Jack knowingly.

Jack stiffens and asks, "Anyone want another drink?" After a round of nods, Jack gets up and says, "I'll get them." As he passes Onica, he glances down at her and when their eyes meet, he gives her a look that indicates he wants her to join him.

Taking the hint, Onica offers, "I'll help."

When they enter the kitchen, out of sight from the others, Jack whips around and says angrily, "You can't do that."

Taken aback, Onica asks, "Do what?"

"Act like you know me." Jack says, taking a step closer he adds, "Maybe you knew me once, but don't pretend like you know me now."

Onica stands there in shocked silence while Jack gets more drinks from the refrigerator, he shoves a couple in her hands as he walks past her.

Once Onica recovers, she returns to the living room to find Jack already seated and again holding Sam's hand. She hands Mark his drink and silently takes her seat in the empty recliner.

Taking the drink from his wife and nodding his thanks, Mark says, "So, Jack, tell me about yourself."

Jack freezes for a moment, then says, "About me? There's not much to tell."

"Surely there's something, what about your family growing up, how many brothers and sisters do you have?" Mark asks.

Onica perks up at the question, for as long as she has known Jack, he has never spoken about his family. She always asked him about his family growing up, especially when they got serious about their relationship, she wanted to know if she was going to have any future in laws. She always asked Jack if he had told his parents about her, and he always brushed off the question. Asking about his family usually ended in an argument. She demanded that she had a right to know, and he claimed there was nothing to tell. She was very curious as to what he would say now.

Sam, too, looked to Jack with interest. She has known him for nearly 5 years and never once has he spoken of his parents or any siblings. She never pushed, she figured he had a good reason for not talking about them, he would tell her when he was ready to.

Jack inwardly sighs at the question. He hates talking about his family, in fact, he usually avoids it at all costs. In addition to the subject bringing up bad memories for him, it's just not a fun story to tell. Pretty much all of his emotional issues stem from his childhood, not to mention many hours of mandatory therapy. Jack remembers Ronnie pestering him about his parents, it used to infuriate him. He did not enjoy his childhood and had no desire to reminisce about it, but she just didn't seem to get it. Sam on the other hand, has been patient, not asking too much and not pushing when he doesn't want to talk. He appreciates that about her, which is why he's decided that he's willing to tell her everything...in time.

He looks at what he hopes is his future brother-in-law and after a moment of silence, Jack closes his eyes and takes a breath, and says simply, "I have two sisters that I know of."

Confused, Mark replies, "That you know of? Shouldn't you know how many siblings you have?"

Jack is still for a moment, hoping he can answer this in a way that ends this particular discussion, he lifts his head and looks Mark square in the eyes and says, "They're my half sisters, at least one of them is anyway, not sure about the other."

Sam squeezes his hand and says quietly, "I didn't know that."

"Are they on your mom or dad's side?" Mark asks.

"Both." Jack says in reply.

Sam was surprised to say the least. She wonders what kind of childhood Jack had if he doesn't even know for sure how many siblings he has, whole or half. Her heart goes out to him and she says quietly, "You've never talked about them before."

"Why would I? I don't know them." Jack replies, indignantly, feeling irritated and wanting this conversation to end.

"I'm sorry." Sam says and squeezes his hand again.

Jack looks at her and feels his irritation fade away, he shrugs and says, "It's not a big deal."

"What about your parents?" Onica asks, looking pointedly at Jack. She figures it's worth a shot, seems as though he appears to be in a sharing mood. She's been trying to find out about his parents since the day she met him, and he always evades the question or gets irritated. All she wanted to know was whether they were still alive or not, it's not that hard. She had thought for sure he would tell her after they got engaged, surely he would want to invite them. As the wedding approached she asked more and more, and it led to more and more arguments. She could not understand why he just wouldn't tell her, even if he didn't get along with his parents, they still had a right to know their future daughter-in-law.

"I think that's a discussion for another time." Jack says, looking at Onica, irritated that after all these years she's still pushing him.

Sam notices the looks Jack and Onica give each other, it was subtle, Mark probably missed it.. Sam wonders what the looks are all about. She thinks it's almost as though they're having a secret conversation, but that's silly and she dismisses that notion. How could they possibly have a secret conversation, they've never met each other. Sam shakes her head at her ridiculous musings as she notices the atmosphere in the room getting tenser by the second.

"Why don't we figure out what we're going to do today." Sam suggests, as a way to break the tension.

"Good idea." Jack says, glancing back at Sam.

Patting his legs with his hands, Mark says, "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I thought we could go to the zoo, but I also thought the kids would be here, so now…" Sam says, putting her hands in the air.

"Why don't we just take it easy and stay here, go to a park for a picnic or something." Mark suggests.

Sam smiles, "That sounds really nice, what do you think Jack, Onica?"

"Yeah, sure." Jack answers, while Onica just nods.