Fated

Summary: Jessie finds herself in exile, forced into captivity with a mysterious stranger. With nowhere to go and seemingly no hope of escape, they share the stories behind their miserable fates. Hers is filled with questions. His is filled with answers.

Chapter 37: Messed Up Family Tree

You didn't ask for this; nobody ever would
Caught in the middle of this dysfunction
It's your sad reality; It's your messed up family tree
And all you're left with is all these questions:
Are you gonna be like your father was and his father was?
Do you have to carry what they've handed down?

No, this is not your legacy
This is not your destiny
Yesterday does not define you

Cause you're my child
You're my chosen
You are loved. You are loved
And I will restore
All that was broken
You are loved. You are loved

And just like the seasons change winter into spring
You're bringing new life to your family tree now
…Matthew West – Family Tree

"Ready for the next part of that Christmas present," Jack said, leaning back in his chair.

"After that cliffhanger?" Jessie protested.

"You promised Jessilina," Jack shrugged, "So what happened when James's parents came calling?"

James's chimecho and mime jr. were very invested in the twins, almost as much as Meowth was. After James explained to Chimecho that he was a father, Chimecho was thrilled to perform for the babies, not that they really did much, but it was kind of cute to see them stare wide-eyed at the pokemon. And Mime jr. was always a performer and enjoyed new people and pokemon.

So while James and I sat frozen on the bed with a terrified Teddy Parker, Mime jr. and Chimecho took it upon themselves to hover over the bassinet to distract the whimpering babies.

"What do we do?" I asked, still holding Teddy. James got out of bed and walked over to the window, opening it just a bit. Voices floated into the room.

"Of course we're happy to see you," Nanny was saying, "We're just surprised."

"We were actually on our way to Celadon City and we thought it would be nice to see you, Mother," James's mother said, her southern accent crystal clear. Teddy shrank closer to me.

"A day trip," James's father added, "Say, who's vehicle is that parked in the drive?"

"We're borrowing it from a friend. See how we like it. Maybe get one someday," Pop-pop said. James's father let out a chuckle.

"Kojiro, you know that we're more than happy to offer you a chauffer-"

"A real man is able to drive himself around, Son," Pop-pop dismissed, "I think it's a nice car."

"Father, at your age, you really should not be driving," James's mother said.

"Nonsense," Pop-pop grumbled, "Now let's head inside before we all catch a cold."

"What do we do?" I whispered again.

"I think…I don't know…" James stammered, moving to open the door a crack so that we could listen to what was going on downstairs.

"Mother, why are there car-seats in the entryway?" James's mother asked. I silently cursed our stupidity for leaving them out. Nanny and Pop-pop were silent for a moment, then it seemed Pop-pop had found a believable story.

"We bought them for James," he said. More silence.

"James?" Mrs. Morgan asked, her voice sharp.

"He called us. He and his girlfriend just had twins," Pop-pop explained, which was technically the truth.

"Girlfriend?" Mrs. Morgan hissed, "Girlfriend?"

"She don't sound happy," Meowth commented dryly.

"Anna, dear, perhaps it's time to sit down," Nanny suggested.

"Sit down?" Mrs. Morgan gasped, "Mother, do you realize what that boy has done? He…he…" she stammered in a very unladylike way.

"Darling, please calm down," Mr. Morgan said, "Perhaps the situation is still salvageable."

"What is his number?" Mrs. Morgan asked, "I want to speak with him."

"Anna-"

"Mother, I want to speak with my son!" Mrs. Morgan demanded.

"Okay, seriously, what do we do?" I hissed to James. Before he could answer, his cell phone rang. We looked at it as if it was a bomb, knowing who it was.

"What is that?" Mr. Morgan asked.

"He heard it!" Meowth winced.

"I have to go down there," James said, throwing on a shirt.

"But what about us?" I questioned.

"If I don't go, my father is going to come up here and that's the last thing anybody wants," James told me, "I'll go down, argue and that'll be it. I'll be back."

"James, I don't know…"

"Jessiebelle's not with them. I'll be fine. I'll be back," he promised, quickly kissing me before he opened the door and left the room.

"Shit," I muttered, moving from the bed to stand by the door.

"James!" I heard his mother gasp.

"Son, what are you doing here?" his father questioned.

"I came to visit Nanny and Pop-pop and tell them the news," James said.

"It's not true. Tell me it's not true!" Mrs. Morgan begged.

"I'm a father," James told her, "Their names are-"

"How could you do this to us?" his mother cried in anger, "Have you any idea what a disgrace this is?"

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way," James replied calmly, "but I love my girlfriend and I love my kids."

There was a loud smack.

"Anna! What on earth-" Nanny've shocked voice was quickly drowned out by her daughter's.

"Love? You think love has anything to do with this? You just disgraced this entire family by thinking with your…your…"

Penis? Dick? Head between his legs? I finished for her, rolling my eyes from my spot by the door. Apparently she was too prim and proper to use such vulgar words.

"What about Jessiebelle?" she raged, "What about your fiancé? You were to marry-"

"I want nothing to do with her!" James shouted, angrier than I had ever heard him, "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want to marry her? I thought I made that clear!"

"It is your duty!" Mrs. Morgan snarled, "And what will we do now? Sweet Jessiebelle won't take you after this!"

"Good! I don't want her!"

"Darling, there may be a way to salvage the situation," Mr. Morgan said again, "Jessiebelle needn't know about this little…incident and-"

"If you think I'm abandoning my family, you're crazy!" James shouted.

"We are your family, James-"

"I have a new family. I'm not leaving Jessie or my kids!"

"Illegitimate children!" James's father said, "James, I told you before, the only children worth your time are those that are worthy. Illegitimate children are not real-"

And then shit hit the fan.

"Is that what you think of Teddy? Is that what you think of MY BROTHER?" James shouted.

"How do you know about that?" Mr. Morgan asked, his voice uncharacteristically small.

"Who do you think has been taking care of him? Huh? I bet you didn't even give him a second thought all these months!" James accused.

"James, you don't understand-"

"I understand plenty! When we found him, he had burns on his arms that were infected! He got those in YOUR house! He's terrified of you!"

"I didn't know," Mr. Morgan said softly.

"Sure," James said, disbelieving, "But the difference between you and me, Father, is that I love the woman I'm with and I love our children, including Teddy. You can't say the same, can you?"

James's father was silent.

"How could you speak to your father that way?" Mrs. Morgan interjected, "Your father knows his place and has since made his…mistake… right! You on the other hand, are dooming this family!"

"How? Explain that to me!"

"You are our only heir! And I have worked far too hard to ensure that you would inherit all of our fortune!" Mrs. Morgan revealed, "I worked too hard to ensure your security!"

"Well, I don't want it! I don't want any of it!"

There was another smack. Then there were feet pounding on the steps and the door burst opened. James stood there, livid, with an angry red mark on his cheek, the kind he would get after I smacked him in the same place twice.

"Ah, you're such a loving woman," Jack teased.

Jessie opened her mouth to make a sarcastic reply along the lines of James liking it rough, but then blanched, remembering that Jack was technically her father.

"I can change," she snapped lamely. Man, this hanging with her father deal was really cramping her style.

"We're leaving. I can't…we can't be in the same house as them," James said.

"James-"

"Let's just go," he said shortly. I followed his lead, packing up the children. Pop-pop and Nanny appeared in the doorway.

"Son, are you alright?" Pop-pop asked.

"We're leaving," James told him, "Thank you for everything, but we have to go."

"I understand, little James," Nanny said, reaching up to touch his cheek, "but dear, try not to blame them. They're set in their ways and are scared of some of the decisions they've made-"

"Sure," James sighed, "I love you both. Thank you."

"You'll come back soon, I imagine," Pop-pop said, "Make your way home to Silver Shoal. I'll take care of the rest."

"But Pop-pop-"

"Trust me," he said. Strangely enough, we did.

I carried Rose and James carried Henry as we made our way downstairs. Teddy was right beside us, trying to hide behind us. The Morgans stood in the foyer, their eyes wide as they looked to us.

"So this is what you've disgraced us for?" Mrs. Morgan hissed, "This…this…trollop!"

Trollop?

"It's a snooty term for whore," Jack supplied helpfully.

"I figured out that much for myself, thanks," Jessie replied.

"Don't rise to it," James whispered to me, "Just ignore it."

He knelt down and buckled Henry into his car-seat. I stood and watched his parents. His mother was glaring hatefully at me. His father was looking at Teddy, frowning. I could feel Teddy shiver against me.

"Honey?" James questioned, inciting his mother even more.

"Take Rose," I told him, passing him our daughter so that he could buckle her in as well. I was keeping an eye on his parents.

"You're going to destroy him!" Mrs. Morgan shook in fury, "All because you seduced my sweet child to sin and disrespect me!"

"You're crazy, Lady," I said back.

"You took my child! You turned him against us!"

"Now you're just being dramatic," I spat, "James always has a choice with me. He never had one with you. People tend to go where there's freedom."

"Freedom," Mrs. Morgan said the word as if it tasted disgusting in her perfect, painted mouth. She took a couple steps towards me, "There are more important things, things you have yet to learn, little girl!"

I had had enough. She hits my boyfriend, says my children don't matter, and pretty much called me a whore in snooty-people terms. So I rose to the bait…or perhaps stooped to her level and said, "Maybe if your son and husband had had a little freedom, they wouldn't have wandered."

Everyone froze.

"What did you just say?" Mrs. Morgan hissed.

"James ran away. Your husband had an affair," I stated, "and I bet both of them did it to get away from this craziness!"

"You insolent little-" she raised her hand to me, but I caught it before it hit my face. Suddenly Growlie let out a warning bark and put himself between me and Mrs. Morgan. She stumbled back.

"You mutt-"

"Hey!" Meowth chirped, jumping onto Growlie's back, claws unsheathed, looking ready to claw her face off, "You've said enough, Lady! Leave our family alone."

Looking thoroughly defeated, Mrs. Morgan clenched her fists together as she tightly crossed her arms. She glared at me and I glared right back.

"You can think this is over, but I have worked far too hard to let the likes of you destroy this empire!" she spat.

"Mother, shut up," James told her hatefully, as he picked up both car-seats and walked out the door. I followed, with Teddy clutching my shirt as he, Meowth, and Growlie followed me out. James was already to the car, strapping the seats down. Teddy and I were nearly to it when James's father called after us.

"James!" he called, hurrying down the front steps, "James, try to understand our position! The choices we made…the people we owe…"

He was mere feet away from me and Teddy. Teddy made an odd jerk that put himself in front of me, nearly tripping me, but it was the farthest point away from his father. I turned and noticed Mr. Morgan stop suddenly, his eyes on Teddy and showing something…conflicted. Fear maybe? Pity? Disappointment?

"Boy…Teddy…" I heard him whisper. I felt Teddy shake behind me.

"Look, Buddy! Stay the hell away from my kid!" I snarled, and then to Teddy, I instructed, "Get into the car."

He obeyed and ran to James, who shut the door after him. Then James stood poised, unsure of what to do as he observed the stand-off between me and his father. What happened next stunned me.

"Take care of him," Mr. Morgan whispered, "Them…all of them."

"Well, duh," I shot back, "What would your wife say if she heard you?"

He sighed heavily, looking more like an old man than anything else, "Whatever you may think of me, I love my wife and my son. And him…the boy…Teddy…I loved his mother too. I did what I could for her. It wasn't enough so please...please take care of him."

"Always," I said back, turning to hop into the vehicle. James walked over to the driver's side.

"Honey?" he questioned.

"Drive, James," I ordered. As he backed out, I felt Teddy reach around the passenger's seat to hug me. I let him for a moment.

"Buckle up, Sweetie," I told him. He obeyed and I saw his small smile in the rear-view mirror. Meowth hopped up onto the center console.

"Jess, you is a bad ass," he commented.

"Well, duh," I said as James and I cracked up.

"Well, I can see you're popular with the in-laws," Jack commented.

"Very," Jessie laughed.

"So where are we goin'?" Meowth questioned. I looked over at James and he looked over at me.

"Well, we have options…I imagine Pop-pop is going to need some time to figure things out before we go back to Silver Shoal," James said, "There's Cerulean City, which is closest and we could visit Misty. We could go back to Pewter. We could stop at Delia's in Pallet Town."

"And we could stop in on Seto and Miki," I added, "I said we'd stop in with the babies."

"Sure," James agreed, though he didn't sound too enthused. He really didn't like Silver.

"Well, let's go to Cerulean first," I decided.

"Well, that sounds like some trip home," Jack commented.

"Yeah, it really was," Jessie nodded along, "But what happened to you and your daughter? Did you have your moment to think?"

Jack looked at her for a moment. Her eyes were earnest, as if his story suddenly meant more than his. It seemed strange, just how she was so invested in his life when he only listened to hers for entertainment. Was there something to it?

TBC

AN: Well, I'm back again. The next update should be fairly soon. I've been making slight changes to my original plans for this fic and so far I'm happy with it. Please drop a review. I hope that there is still interest in this fanfic, which has now reached a very impressive length for me.

Next chapter: Jack and little Jessie are in a bit of hot water and he and Miya decide on a course of action.

Songs That Inspired This Chapter:
-Family Tree by Matthew West. It's amazing how this song inspired most of this fic.
-Second Chance by Shinedown. Love it and love how well it fits James's situation.