Chapter 52: Back to Normal
My eyes are open wide
By the way
I made it through the day
I watch the world outside
By the way
I'm leaving out today
Tell my mother, tell my father
I have done the best I can
To make them realize
This is my life
I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Please don't cry one tear for me
I'm not afraid of what I have to say
This is my one and only voice
So listen close it's only for today
...The Afters - Ocean Wide
Jessie slept like a rock, spooned with James on the bottom half of a bunk bed with their twins crammed into any available space. Teddy slept up top while Meowth opted to make himself a little bed out of a drawer on the end table in the small, cramped room.
It was a small knock on the door that woke the little family. Rose and Henry got to the door before Jessie could even move.
"Hi, Mrs. Ketchum," Rose said, grinning up at the kind brown-eyed woman.
"Good morning, guys," Delia greeted with a smile, "Breakfast is on the table. Waffles for Henry and pancakes for Rose."
"Yay!" the twins chorused as they bolted from the room. They had their father's appetite.
"Toast and eggs for Teddy, as well," Delia said, looking up at the eleven-year-old, who nodded sleepily,
"Thanks," Jessie said appreciatively as she sat up in bed.
"Don't move," Delia advised her, "I'm sure I can get Meowth to bring you some breakfast."
Jessie frowned, wondering what was going on and then Meowth barked, "Alright, Ted, ya heard the lady. Up and out."
Teddy responded with a groan and dragged himself out of bed. He shuffled for the door. Meowth followed, slipping past Delia. Once the kids were gone, she explained, "It's time to change James's bandages. Their in the drawer underneath Meowth's bed."
Then she gently shut the door and left Jessie and James alone.
"Bandages?" Jessie questioned. James shuffled, embarrassed, and avoided looking her in the eyes.
"From my parents' place. It's nothing...you don't have to-"
"I want to," Jessie cut him off. She found the bandages where Delia told her to look and then she turned to James expectantly, "Well?"
James sighed and began to unbutton his nightshirt. Jessie's eyes grew wider with each button. He had a large bandage wrapped around his chest and then smaller ones on various cuts and abrasions. He shrugged off the shirt, letting Jessie see his arms for the first time. His wrists were scarred from restraints.
"Okay," Jessie said in a controlled and measured voice, "Tell me what I'm working with."
James still didn't look at her as he listed off, "Two cracked ribs, whip marks, burns...most of it isn't that bad."
Jessie nodded and set to work unwrapping the bandage around James's torso, unveiling more abrasions, this time deeper. His back was even worse. There were long wounds from the whip. Jessie had to swallow down a lump in her throat as she worked on changing the bandages. She couldn't imagine the horrors that he had gone through in that house, but she did have the sense to know that the emotional wounds probably ran deeper than the physical.
"James...I'm here if you need to talk…"
"I know," James replied, "but there's not much to really say at this point. What's dwelling on it going to change? It's bad enough that...that it happened."
"You're right," Jessie conceded, "but just know that I'm here whenever you're ready and I'm not going anywhere, James. It's always been you and me and it will always be you and me."
James nodded and for the first time that morning, he looked at her and smiled, "I know that. Double trouble time, right?"
Jessie smiled too.
"Always sounds great to me, James."
They were silent for a moment as Jessie continued to tend to him. James was the one who broke the silence with a simple request.
"Marry me?"
There was no trembling this time. No shaking. It wasn't something that he was being forced to do or thought that he should do. It was something that he wanted to do. It was just a simple, honest request for forever. There was only one answer that Jessie could give.
"Yes."
0
"Ninetales is pretty," Rose gushed as she sat on the floor, stroking the fox pokemon, who trilled in delight. Jack smiled at the sight, knowing that Ninetales was genuinely enjoying the attention.
"She likes you very much," Jack told her.
"Is she a strong pokemon?" little Henry asked from his chair at the table.
"Very," Jack confirmed, "Do you know who trained her?"
"You?" Henry asked. Jack shook his head.
"No, your grandma did. She was a really good trainer," Jack told him. Henry frowned.
"What's a grandma?" he asked.
"Like a grandpa, but a girl," Jack explained.
"Where is she, Grandpa?" Rose asked as she cuddled closer to Ninetales. Jack froze. He hadn't anticipated for the twins to ask that question. He could feel Meowth, Teddy, Catherine, and Delia watching him over the table.
"Uh, she had to go to Heaven," Jack answered, not really sure if the kids even knew what heaven was.
"Like where Nanny and Pop-pop went?" Rose questioned, looking over to Meowth. James's grandparents had been killed by Team Rocket when they wouldn't disclose Jessie and James's location. Meowth had discovered that unfortunate truth when he and Silver, after dropping the twins in Pallet Town, went to get the older couple.
"Yeah, Kid. Dey's in Heaven too," Meowth replied.
"Why do people go to Heaven?" Henry wondered. Delia answered that as she placed breakfast on the table.
"Because they're too special to stay on Earth. Now eat your breakfast. Rose, to the table."
The twins obeyed and began to eat their breakfast, but the conversation was far from over.
"How do you get to Heaven?" Rose asked.
"Lots of ways," Teddy answered, "but before you go, you have to-"
He stopped talking as an older woman entered the room. She had light purple hair and grey eyes. She had look of someone who had been used to wealth and had lost everything. Dark circles lined her eyes. She wore a long, pink robe and her left arm was in a sling. Delia smiled kindly at the woman.
"Good morning, Mrs. Morgan. How did you sleep?"
"Fine," the woman answered. Jack knew who she was now. Annette Morgan, James's mother.
"Can I get you some coffee? Tea?" Delia offered. Meowth muttered something about not wasting her time, but Jack suspected that only he heard.
"Tea would be lovely."
Silence seemed to wash over the breakfast table. It almost felt like Annette Morgan's presence was unwelcome to many at the table. Jack wasn't totally surprised, given Jessie's stories of the woman.
"Excuse me," Rose piped up, leaning over the breakfast table to peer over at her paternal grandmother, "My last name is Morgan too."
"Me too!" Henry added.
"What a coincidence," Meowth muttered, "Eat your breakfast, Kids."
But Mrs. Morgan simply stared at the innocent faces of her grandchildren. Jack knew how that felt, but he also knew the situations were different.
"What's a co-co-indecidence?" Henry tried to ask.
"It means ya got da same last name, but ya ain't related," Meowth said grumpily, casting a glare at Mrs. Morgan.
"I would like to speak to my son," Mrs. Morgan requested.
"Jessie is changing his bandages. I'm sure they will be out momentarily," Delia answered, "Jack, eggs?"
"Sure," Jack said, reaching over for the plate of eggs.
"Can I have eggs too, Grandpa?" Henry asked. Jack pushed a small egg onto his plate and then dished himself up. He didn't miss the look of surprise that he got from Mrs. Morgan. He said nothing, though, and sat patiently as some of the others filed into the kitchen to dish up. Brock and Olivia took their children outside to eat. Seto grabbed a plate for himself and a plate for Miki and then went back into his room. Silver and Akira ate in a corner. Misty, Ash, Dawn, Gary, and Professor Oak sat at the table with them. Motorcycle was passed out on a lawn chair outside.
Then, finally, Jessie and James emerged from their room, smiling and holding hands. Jack grinned, enjoying the sight of his daughter so very happy.
The smile slipped from James's face, however, when he saw his mother at the table. In fact, he grew quite pale.
Annette Morgan stood up and announced, "I need to speak to you, James."
Jessie opened her mouth to speak, but James managed to find his voice, "What could you possibly have to say to me?"
"In private, Son."
"Then let's get it over with," James said. He pecked Jessie on the cheek and then walked to the door. Mrs. Morgan followed him outside, leaving the breakfast table watching after them curiously.
"Where's Daddy going, Mommy?" Rose asked.
"Just to talk," Jessie said, gently lifting the girl so that she could sit on Jessie's lap.
"Waste of time," Meowth growled, stabbing a sausage with his fork.
"Maybe, but he needs to deal with it," Jessie said, "and I think that might start with her."
At that, she looked over to Jack and smiled softly. He smiled back.
0
James walked a little ways from the cabin, intent on finding privacy. Finally, he managed to find a secluded clearing. He stopped and waited for his mother to catch up. When he heard her approach, he asked, "What do you want?"
"I wish to apologize to you, my son," his mother stated. James turned slowly to face her.
"You can understand why that wouldn't mean much to me, Mother," he said. She closed her eyes for a moment as if the words pained her. James refused to let that bother him. This was the woman who had signed him over to Team Rocket when he was an infant and then watched as he was tortured. Her pain was nothing compared to the pain that he had endured.
"I know," she replied, opening her teary silver eyes, "I do. I understand. We've...I've...made so many mistakes when it comes to you….and I'm sorry that it took that Rocket girl at the mansion to made me realize-"
"Rocket girl?" James asked.
"That Cassidy," Annette replied, "The other one, Domino, was torturing you in the basement with that tulip. I had to step out and she, Cassidy, asked me how I could...how I could condone their actions and how I could live with myself knowing that my son was suffering-"
"Cassidy said this to you?" James questioned, frowning. Why would Cassidy attempt to get his mother to care about him?
"Yes," Annette confirmed, "She had a little boy too. She said that she'd rather die than let anything happen to him. I told her that she didn't understand. The deal we made when we arranged your marriage turned out to be more deadly than I could've ever imagined. Back then, I thought that we were joining you to the daughter of one of my old schoolmates. I had no idea that Isabelle had married into Team Rocket. When we found out, it was too late. Your father and I feared for our lives if you didn't marry Jessiebelle. We should have been more concerned with your life rather than ours. I see that now...too late for your father, but for us…you and I still have a chance-"
"A chance?" James cut across her, his voice shaking as it passed over the lump in his throat, "You think we really have a chance after this? I have scars that will never go away. I have nightmares that keep me awake at night. There are moments in the day where I go back to that mansion in my mind and it's all I can do not to scream. You're my mother. You were supposed to protect me from that and you didn't. The only things that keep me together right now are Jessie and my kids. You...you aren't helping at all. Every time I see you, I see the woman that let me go through hell."
James was crying at this point. Tears streamed down his face.
His mother was crying as well, though her face remained quite composed as the tears slipped down her high cheekbones. When she spoke, her voice remained steady.
"Son, please. You're all that I have left. You and my grandchildren-"
"Now they're your grandchildren?" James asked, "I thought they were bastards that would ruin me. That's what you said."
"I was wrong. I was...blinded," she sniffled, "Team Rocket had your father and I fearing for our lives. We were willing to do anything to ensure that you fulfilled the promise that we made-"
"So I, your only son, was just a pawn in your plans?" James questioned incredulously, "My happiness didn't matter to you?"
"Of course, you mattered! You-"
"Save it," James demanded, shaking his head, "because all I've heard is how YOU were scared that YOU would be killed. You don't give a damn about me...not then, not now. You're just afraid of being alone. That's all."
"James-"
"I don't want you near me. I don't want you near Jessie and I certainly don't want you near my kids," James stated firmly, his voice steady and clear.
"And yet, you'll allow Jack Sakaki to be near them?" Annette wondered, "He's a brother to Giovanni Sakaki."
"He's also Jessie's father...and if she trusts him, so do I," James said, "But this isn't about him, Mother. It's about you."
"He's a criminal. I'm your mother."
James chuckled humorlessly and said, "Not all criminals are evil...just like not all mothers are saints."
With that, he walked away, leaving her there in the palm tree clearing. He walked back to the cabin, intent on finding Jessie and the kids. They were his peace of mind.
He found them still at the table. Ash was spouting off some grand plan to take back Pallet Town from Team Rocket and Jessie was rolling her eyes.
"Daddy!" Henry shouted out when he saw his father. Then, both twins were running towards him, while the rest of the room looked on. He couldn't pick them up on account of his injuries, but he did kneel down to hug and kiss them. James vowed that he would never, ever, put his needs above theirs. Then he approached Jessie and kissed her cheek.
"You okay?" she asked. James, mindful of the stares he was receiving, nodded.
"Yeah. She won't bother us. Did you tell them the news?" James questioned, changing the subject. Jessie shook her head.
"I was waiting for you," she said.
"News?" Jack asked curiously.
"Dey's tyin' da knot," Meowth announced.
"What the hell, furball?" Jessie exclaimed indignantly, "Were you listening at the door?"
Meowth scoffed, "Give me some credit. I can read youse two like a book. Wid da way youse two are lookin' at each other, it's either dat youse guys are finally stoppin' with the whole livin' in sin ting or youse knocked up again."
James's eyes widened and he looked over at his fiance. In fact, everyone was looking at her. Could she really be-
"No. Uh-uh," Jessie refuted, holding her hands up, "Joy did tests when I was in the hospital. We're just getting married. No babies."
"Not yet, anyways," Meowth added slyly. Jessie glared at him, that vein pulsing on her forehead. James couldn't help but laugh. If nothing else, Jessie and Meowth's arguing meant that everything was back to normal. James liked normal. There was nothing that he craved more than a perfectly normal life with his less-than-normal little family.
It was the life he was meant to live.
TBC
Next: The Epilogue