CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jack sat in the kitchen; tapping his fingers impatiently on the table. He was waiting for Lucas to get home.
"Don't be too hard on him," Tony said.
"Why not?" Jack scoffed. "He lied to me, and he thought that he was going to get away with it".
"Jack...," Tony started, but was cut off by Lucas's cheerful voice as he walked through the door.
"Hey all," he called.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Jack snarled and strode towards him.
"Lucas Holden," Lucas joked.
"Don't get smart with me," Jack yelled at him.
Lucas was shocked. He didn't understand where all these sudden outbursts were coming from. "What is your problem?" he said to Jack.
"You knew Martha was pregnant, and you didn't tell me," Jack started. "Instead, I had to find out from Megan after she overheard you and Tasha talking about it this morning," he continued.
"Wait. What? Didn't Martha tell you last night?" Lucas asked.
Jack laughed. "No Lucas, she didn't. But what I want to know is why you didn't tell me," he said, raising his voice again.
"For starters, I've only known for a week. And besides, it wasn't my place to tell," Lucas told him. "Martha spoke to me in confidence, and I wasn't going to betray her trust," he finished.
"But it was okay for you both to break my trust? Lucas, I'm your brother. How could you keep something like this from me," Jack snapped at him.
"Like I said, I promised Martha I wouldn't say anything," Lucas started yelling back at Jack.
"Oh, well that makes it alright then" Jack said sarcastically.
"Okay you two, calm down," Tony intervened.
"Yeah, what dad said," Lucas exclaimed as he pushed past Jack.
"Hey, don't walk away from me," Jack grabbed Lucas.
"Don't touch me," Lucas pushed him away.
Jack then pushed back at Lucas, which then lead to Lucas raising his fist to swing at Jack.
"Stop it," roared Tony, as he grabbed Lucas and stopped him from hitting Jack. "That's enough. Why don't the both of you just grow up," he snapped.
"Lucas, go to Beth's. I'll deal with you later," Tony told Lucas, and pushed him out the door.
He then spun around and glared at Jack. "Sit down," he ordered. "The way you just acted then was totally inappropriate. I'd hate to have seen the way you treated Martha earlier. Especially if the way you just treated Lucas is anything to go by," he spat out.
"I may have yelled at her a bit, so what?" Jack looked away from his father.
"She's pregnant Jack. She doesn't need that kind of stress.," Tony started. "But lets talk about Lucas. Let's just say I never want to see you get violent with him again. It's unacceptable," he explained.
"He pushed me first," Jack tried to defend himself.
"Yeah, but you're older and should have known better," Tony snapped.
"Whatever," Jack started to get up.
"Don't even bother," Tony said pushing him back down. "You and I are going to have a long chat".
"You promise you'll be back before the wedding," Tasha wanted to be reassured.
"Yes Tash. I already told you that I'll be back before the wedding," Martha sighed. "I wouldn't miss it for the world," she told Tasha.
"Good. It wouldn't be the same without you there," Tasha calmed down.
Martha had decided to drop in and say goodbye to Tasha, Robbie and Kit before she left. Tasha had felt really bad when Martha told her what had occured with Jack earlier that day. Tasha kept blaming herself because she and Lucas were the ones who were talking about it in public. And because of that; Megan had overheard them. But Martha kept telling Tasha that it wasn't her fault. Or Lucas's. The only person to blame was herself.
"I still can't believe that you're having a baby," Robbie smiled at her.
"Yeah, it's pretty exciting," Kit exclaimed.
"It's quite overwhelming. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that there's another person growing inside of me," Martha told them.
"Well, no matter what happens, we'll always be here for you," Tasha reassured her.
"Thanks," Martha smiled. "Look, I better head off. Auntie Morag will be expecting me in a few hours". Martha got up from her chair, giving them all a hug.
Robbie bent down to look at her stomach. "Seeya later little baby," he said.
"You are such a loser," Martha laughed at him.
"You know, I think I see a little bump sticking out there," Rob smiled, poking her gently in the stomach.
"Gee Rob, thanks for reminding me that I'm going to look like a porker," Martha pushed him.
"You'll look great," Kit said.
"Come on, we'll walk you to your car," Tasha linked arms with Martha.
Once Martha was on the road, she started thinking about Jack. She knew she probably should have told him that she was going away for a little while. But she didn't have the guts to face him. He was so angry with her when she left his place earlier, and she didn't think that he would actually care if she left anyway.
Maybe a bit of space between them would be good.
LATER THAT AFTERNOON
Jack had calmed down a lot over the last few hours and after a long chat with Tony he had decided to go and talk to Martha. He was still really angry with her though. She had lied and kept secrets from him, and it wasn't something that he could get over so quickly. But she was still carrying his child, and they had to talk about it.
He walked up the stairs to her apartment and knocked. A few moments later Alf answered the door. "Jack, come in," Alf said, and moved away to let him in.
"Hey Alf," Jack said as he walked in. "Did Martha tell you about what happened?" he asked.
"Ah yeah. I found her in a right state earlier. She was quite upset," Alf answered.
"Well I did get pretty angry with her," Jack told him.
"I can understand why. She kept something very important from you, but she knows that she made a mistake," Alf said.
"So, Is she here? I'd like to speak with her," Jack asked.
"Actually, she's gone," Alf paused on the spot.
"Oh. Well I suppose I'll have a wander around to see if I can find her then," Jack said as he walked to the door.
"No, I mean she's gone. She's left town," Alf broke the news.
Jack snapped his gaze back onto Alf. "What? What do you mean she's left town?" he demanded.
"She's gone to stay in the city with Morag for awhile," Alf explained.
"Oh, well it was sure nice of her to tell me that she was leaving," Jack said sarcastically. He paused for a while and then started speaking again. "When will she be back?" he asked.
"Well, Tasha and Rob's wedding is in three weeks, and she said that she'd be back before then," Alf told him. "So, I suppose she'll be gone for a couple of weeks or more".
"So instead of facing her problems, she runs away from them," Jack shook his head in disbelief.
"She just needs some space and some time to think. All this stress isn't good for the baby either. Some time away will probably do her a world of good," Alf said to Jack.
Jack couldn't believe that Martha had just left without telling him. She could have at least dropped in to say goodbye. Even a phonecall would have been acceptable. She was the one who wanted to talk so desperately; but then she was the one who took off without even telling him.
"I have a shift at Noah's in ten minutes so I'm going to have to kick you out," Alf began. "But there's something I want to give you before you leave. I found it in on Martha's bed, and thought that you might like it," he continued as he picked the item up from the table and handed it to Jack.
Jack looked at it; it was the ultrasound photo of their baby.
"Martha had her first ultrasound last week," Alf told him.
"I should have been there for that," Jack said softly.
"Yeah, I know," Alf sighed.
Jack turned around and walked to the door. "Thanks for this," he said as he left.
"Seeya mate," Alf called.
Jack looked at the photo again. His baby. And Martha had kept it from him. But he didn't feel anger anymore. All he felt was hurt. It hurt that he hadn't been at the first ultrasound, because he would have loved to have seen it.
And now Martha was gone; and that hurt even more.
Martha pulled her car into the driveway of Morag's home. Within a few moments, Morag was walking down the pathway towards her.
"Martha, it's so good to see you," Morag said.
"Hey Auntie Morag," Martha smiled and gave her a hug.
"So, what have you gone and done to yourself?" Morag exclaimed.
"Oh you know. Got pregnant, pissed off Jack, amd now I've ran away," Martha said sarcastically.
Morag laughed. "Ah well, at least you're not as young as what your mother was when she had you," she explained.
Martha smiled. "I guess," she said.
"Come on, lets go inside. You can rest after your long drive, and then you can tell me exactly what's happened," Morag picked up Martha's bag.
She wrapped an arm around Martha and they walked off towards the house together.
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