A/N: Well, we're nearing the end. I have the last two chapters written and I am so nervous about chapter nine, I'm sending it out to be read by someone who will give me their honest opinion. Someone whom I trust enough not to let the outcome of the chapter spoil the ending of the story. For this she deserves a major shout out. The author/reader formerly known as SarcasticRockinLC, you are my hero! I love your work and I'm glad you've decided to stick with me until the end.

Everyone else, I'm sorry that I didn't go more into Evelyn's death and the return of Bobby and whatnot, but this story is about Jack and Lauren. Have no fear though, for those of you who like Bobby; he makes an appearance in the last two chapters, I promise. Anyway, I do not own Four Brothers. I own Lauren and Cammy, that is all. Oh. I also don't own New Kids on the Block OR Donnie Wahlberg. On with the show!

CHAPTER EIGHT: STEP BY STEP

Jack entered the house only to be slapped in the face with a blast of New Kids on The Block. Kicking the door shut, he hurried into the kitchen, arms bursting with grocery bags. He caught a glimpse of Lauren as she slid across the tiled floor in her sock feet, mop in hand, and nearly knocked him over. He huffed and shook snow from his hair as he set the bags on the counter. She looked up at him, singing "Step By Step" into the mop handle and moon walking back in the direction she had come from. Jack couldn't help but laugh at her, watching her twirl and slide around the kitchen in her gym shorts and one of his old T-shirts. She slid up to him, inches from his body and he could see the perspiration on her upper lip. He was mesmerized by the rise and fall of her chest as she panted from her workout. But it didn't stop her from singing. Jack smiled and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her into a kiss to shut her up. She pushed him back in time to sing along with step three.

"It's just you and me!" she sang, barely able to contain her laughter. "Hey honey. Just mopping the floor."

He smiled. "I see that. I really hope you don't plan on teaching our daughter that shit you call music."

She stuck out her tongue and resumed her mopping. "I do, because you plan on teaching her about the shit you call music. So we're even. And when she's old enough, she can decide which one she likes more."

"Well I can guarantee she won't like the homosexual styles of New Kids on The Block," he snorted, setting about his task of putting the groceries away. His comment earned him a smack in the back of the head. "Ow! What the hell?"

"Donnie Wahlberg was my childhood dreamboat. Don't talk about him that way," she snapped.

"I weep for your childhood," he retorted.

"You're an asshole," she shot back.

Another smirk crossed his face. "Where's Cammy? Is she still with Jerry?"

"If she were here, would I be playing the music this loud?"

"Smart ass," he muttered. "So what are you making for Thanksgiving?"

"Dessert. Pumpkin pie to be exact. Your mom asked me to make it," she replied, finishing up with her mopping and brushing off her hands. "I'm going to have a shower. If Jerry stops by, invite him in this time. You make him feel like a baby-sitter."

He rolled his eyes. "Well he is. Technically. But alright. I'll invite my brother in to partake in a discussion on the way our wives boss us around."

"We only boss you two around because you let us get away with it. Camille and I talk about our ability to make our husbands do anything. It's really quite nice," she stated, turning and running up the stairs.

---

She sat awake, curled in the armchair watching the orange-yellow flames lick the logs of wood in the fire. Long dark shadows crept up the wall opposite the fireplace, while the close proximity of Lauren's armchair, allowed an unsettling gloom to form on the soft features of her face. Her fingers curled around a hot cup of hot chocolate, slowly growing cold with the reminders of adandonment. Her sudden bout of insomnia was brougt on by the thick lining of irritating worry eating away at the pit of her stomach. With a heavy sigh, she brought the hot cup to her lips only to put it back in her lap and rub her furrowed brow. Soft, thudding footsteps brought her attention to the stairs and she saw Jack appear in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. He yawned and padded into the livingroom, dropping into the chair opposite Lauren. His eyes twinkled under the light of the fire as he stared into the glowing flames. Lauren cleared her throat, to the desired affect as Jack looked over at her. He suddenly remembered why he had ambled downstairs in the first place and he shook the sleep from his mind.

"Why are you up so late?" he inquired, rubbing his tired eyes.

She shrugged. "I can't sleep. My stomach is just in knots Jack."

He frowned and crossed the room to sit on the arm of the chair. "Over what? Something about Cammy?"

"I just have this aweful feeling that something horrible and life changing is going to happen," she replied, shaking her head softly to rid herself of her thoughts.

"It's probably nothing. Maybe you're just nervous about your job interview. And having to take Cammy to daycare..." he suggested, hoping to ease her mind.

Before she could reply, their quiet moment was pierced by the shrill, hollow wail of the phone. Lauren looked up at Jack as she brought the hand set to her ear. "Hello?"

"Lauren, it's Jerry."

"Jerry, what...why are you up so late?" Lauren asked, rising from her chair and placing her long forgotten cup of hot chocolate on the end table. "Is everything alright with Camille and the girls?"

"With them, yes. But everything is not alright with...is Jack there with you?"

She looked over at Jack, silently telling him to pick up the phone in the kitchen. "He's just running into the kitchen now."

"Jerry, what is it?" Jack demanded.

"Jackie, ma's been shot. In a robbery at Samir's store."

"Well is she alright, dead, mortally wounded, what, Jerry?" Jack pressed, knowing he would be unhappy with the answer.

"She's dead," Lauren and Jerry whispered in unison.

Lauren covered her eyes and shook tears away. "No. No that can't be right that-I just saw her this afternoon! She asked me to bake pumpkin pie!"

"I called Bobby and Angel, which was no easy task at this hour. The funeral is in two days," Jerry explained, unable to conceal his grief any longer. "They said they would be here, but who knows with those two. I can count on you guys to make it right?"

"Of course you can Jerry. That woman was a saint. I wouldn't miss her funeral if I was in fucking Antarctica. No way I'll miss it if I'm this close," Jack stated. "She was our mother too."

Jerry let out a noticable sigh of relief. "Thanks guys. I'll stop by tomorrow afternoon."

Lauren and Jack listened for the click signalling the end of the call. Once it came, they hung up their phones and Jack rushed into Lauren's open arms, where he broke down into an uncontrolled mess of sobs. She tried her best to soothe him as she did when Cammy cried, but she knew this was on a completely different level and that Jack would never really be the same Jack she had known since their pre-teen days. His hot tears, full of sorrow and pain, soaked through the thin material of her tanktop and she looked up at the ceiling, praying that Bobby would make it home to remind his brother that he had more than one brother who cared about him. He looked up at her, his ice blue eyes a world away from reality.

"She's gone. I'm an orphan again," he sobbed, covering his face and dropping to the floor. "I'm an orphan."

Lauren dropped to her knees and encircled him in an embrace once again, feeling debilitatingly helpless as Jack managed to cry himself to sleep in a fetal position on the forest green carpet of the living room, in front of the dwindling fire.