Prologue – A Split Second Mistake

Updated: April 12, 2022. I shortened the chapter. The missing and extended scenes can now be found in Snapshots.

Disclaimers: I do not own CM or the characters. I do own all OCs.
Spoilers: None
Rating: T for child kidnap scene.

Trigger Warning: Kidnapping. Please read with caution. I will have it marked. Suicide Scene! I will have it marked, please read with CAUTION!

Notes: Here is the prologue to JJ's prequel! We have her big brother, Caleb, and his point of view in it. I shorten this up so if you are re-reading, please go to Snapshots for the extended/missing scenes. If you are new to the story, welcome! Please feel free to check out The Snapshots (of): Chronicles & Treasures as there are A LOT of missing bits of pieces for these chapters.

Here we go! :)


July 3rd, 1978


*Jareau Residence (Sandy & Michael) – Caleb's point of view*

My name is Caleb Jeremiah Jareau. I am 11 years old.

Right now, I am in my room. I share it with brothers, Elijah and Gabriel, who are 11 and 6 years old.

My twin sister, Emma, also 11, shares a room with Roslyn who is 6 years old, too, because she is Gabriel's twin sister. They also shared a room with Lexie, but Lexie went missing last year.

Tomorrow will be the one-year anniversary, actually.

I know that my mom blames me for what happened.

You see, one year ago tomorrow, I took my little siblings to the park. It was me, Gabriel, and Lexie. They were 5 and 3 years old, respectively.

My other siblings, Elijah, Emma, and Roslyn were at soccer and gymnastics practice, so I decided to take the younger kids, who were not in any sports, to the park.

Everything was going fine. I was pushing Gabe on the swings and Lexie was playing tag with our cousin, who had come to the park, also. His name was Kevin. He was three years old, also, but almost four. I say 'was' because he went missing, as well.

He was there with his little brother, Will. Will was 2 ½ years old. Thankfully, he did not go missing.


Flashback:

Date: Monday, July 4th, 1977 (1:30 p.m.)
Place: East Allegheny, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Point of view: Caleb

Mom had just got done yelling at me. I did something wrong; I was a screw-up – again, but what else is new? She slapped me in the face and made me cry. But she didn't care. Why would she? She doesn't care ever.

I took Lexie, my little sister, and my little brother, Gabriel, outside. We sit on the back porch until Mom says she is going to take Elijah, Emma, and Roslyn to soccer and gymnastics practice.

After a few more minutes of silence, Gabe says, "Pease, we go park, Bubba Caleb?" I say yes and he jumps up to go inside. Once we have everything we need, and I call Dad to get permission, we go to our Aunt Judy and Uncle Charlie's house to pick Will and Kevin up.

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/

Once at the park, Gabe and I put our bikes up, we put sunscreen on, and then we run to the playground. I push Lexie on the swings for a while, and then she gets bored and goes to play with Kevin.

*Normal point of view*

Kevin is over playing with Lexie. They are making sandcastles and just giggling about the normal little kid stuff.

"Look, Lex," Kevin dumps the bucket upside down.

"Woah!" Lexie is amazed, as the sand mold did not fall apart.

"Daddy showed me how! Now the castles will be perfect!" Kevin giggles. "Do yours, do yours!"

Lexie turns hers upside and it falls apart. Seeing his cousin near tears, Kevin says, "Aw, Lex, its ok!" He gives her a hug, because he knows how disappointing it is for him to have his own castle fall apart.

"I'll show you, okay?' Lexie sniffles and nods her head. "Ok. First, we hafta put the sand in a little bit, and pat it down. See? Pat, pat, pat!" He pretends to play the drums and smiles when it makes Lexie giggle.

"Pat, pat, pat!" Lexie copies him.

"Next, we put more in. Pat, pat, pat. And some more. And more, and more. Pat, pat, pat." It takes two buckets full of trying before they get a sand mold that stays together.

Lexie squeals and giggles, clapping when she dumps it upside down and it doesn't fall apart.

"Now we hafta get flags for our castle!" Keven jumps up, and runs over to the fence, where the trees drop sticks and twigs when the wind blows. He gathers a few up, along with some acorns.

"We can make a circle of dese corns," Lexie tells him. "And da twigs are da flags and dese are da windows."

Kevin giggles as he listens to Lexie and how she speaks. Unlike he and his siblings, Lexie has yet to learn how the properly pronounce the blended sound of 't-h'. So, instead of "these," "the," etc., she says, 'dese', 'da', and so on.

"Yeah, and this can be the castle for the parents, and this one for the Pwince and Pwincess!" Kevin points to each one. "So, this one gets two windows, and this one gets one."


*20 minutes later*

"You go hide and I'll count!" Kevin yells to Lexie. The two are now playing hide-'n-seek; Kevin is the counter and Lexie is hiding.

"1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10! Ready or not, here I come!" Kevin runs around, listening for Lexie. She likes to give her hiding spot away by giggling.

He listens as he looks. By the monkey bars, by the slide, until he finally spots her in the playhouse.

"Found you!"

"Aw, man!" Lexie pouts as she climbs out.

"Your turn!" Kevin walks Lexie to the spot where he was counting. "Count to ten, ok?" Lexie nods and closes her eyes, covering them with her hands.

**TW for kidnapping starts here.

She giggles. This is her favorite game.

"1! 2! 3!" She continues until she hears a noise. Being a young child, her attention is immediately drawn from counting and the game.

She turns around. There is a space in the fence behind her. It leads to a path that people take for jogging, biking, or just as a walking trail. She sees Kevin standing there.

Not understanding why her cousin is standing there, where they are not supposed to be, instead of hiding as part of the game, she goes over.

"Kevie! What're you doin'?"

Kevin looks at her. He has to tilt his head down, as he stands a good three inches taller than she does. He doesn't look happy. He doesn't even look scared. Or mad. Or worried.

In fact, he has a blank expression on his face.

"The man said to come with him, or he will hurt our brothers." If Lexie thought about it, then she would think her cousin's voice sounded like a robot. Even, emotionless, and monotoned.

Lexie is very easily persuaded by people. She loves to give out hugs and say hello to everyone she sees. Her mommy and daddy are trying to teach her about Stranger Danger.

Would this count as Stranger Danger?

"What man?" Lexie asks, because even she is weary of the "come with me or your *insert person's name* will be hurt" type of person.

"The one in the woods." Kevin points to the left, off the path and into the trees.

"But Mommy says I shouldn't go wif stwangers, Kevie, 'member? Don't go wif people you don't know." She repeats what Michael and Sandy have told her.

"The man will hurt our brothers if we don't go with him," Kevin repeats, his voice still in a monotone. He takes her hand. "He won't hurt them if we listen to him." Kevin begins leading her away. "Come on, Lexie."

The two walk through the fence, down the path, then veer left towards the woods, all the while Caleb is not paying attention.

You know what they say.

I only turned away for a second.

*End of flashback*


Once again, if you are re-reading this, you may have noticed A LOT is missing. Those scenes have been cut and can now be found in Snapshots. I wanted to shorten this up because I felt it was too long. Also, I could not combine these and part 2 without messing up the Chapter List.

The Jareaus have three more babies. A sister and a brother, and another baby, who has yet to be born. Can you guess which one is Jenny?

Here are some important details to remember(!):

1. There are now 5 kids, and will be more – right now (July 1978), Caleb & Emma are 11, Elijah is 10, Roslyn and her twin brother, Gabriel, are 6.
2. Elijah is now 10 years older than JJ, and 4 years older than Roslyn. Rosyln is spelled this way as that is what her Wiki page says. She is still 6 years older than JJ.
3. Sandy and Michael had two babies born premature... with Sandy still pregnant with one. Which one of these babies is JJ? ;)

Please review and let me know what you thought! I am excited to get this story rolling! :)