CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Jack stood in the doorway of his bedroom; looking at Grace who was still asleep on his bed. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see who it was. It was Megan. He moved quickly away from her touch.
"What?" Jack asked her.
"Please don't be like this Jack. I know that if we just try, we could be happy together," Megan answered.
"Why can't you just understand that I don't want to be with you? I mean, why would I want to be with you? You've ruined everything that I had with Martha," Jack sighed.
"One day you will realise that Martha isn't the one for you, and you will thank me for it. You and I should be together, and right now I'm just trying to help you understand that," Megan explained.
Jack looked at her in disbelief, and he shook his head and walked back out into the lounge room where everybody was still standing.
Jack was just about to speak to his dad when he saw Martha standing at the front door. And Jack couldn't help but notice that she had a strange look on her face. The front door was already open, so she walked straight in.
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"Martha, hey," Jack said to her. But Martha ignored him and walked straight up to Megan.
"You actually thought you were going to get away with it, didn't you?" Martha spat out.
"Excuse me," Megan exclaimed.
Martha felt something overcome her, and before she even knew what she was doing, her hand was swinging threw the air; her palm connecting with Megan's cheek. Megan flinched back in shock, and moved her own hand up to rub her cheek.
"Nice work," Lucas couldn't help but put his two cents worth in.
Martha looked around the room; Beth, Matilda and Tony were looking at her in shock. Lucas was giving her thumbs up.
Martha," Jack scolded. "What the hell did you do that for?" he snapped at her. He couldn't believe that Martha had just slapped Megan, and for no apparent reason. He was shocked.
"Believe me," Martha said to Jack. "Once you hear what I have to say; you'll be the one wanting to hit her," she shot out.
"You're nuts. What is it that I've supposed to have done?" Megan cried.
Martha laughed in her face. "I had the most amazing conversation with your mother this morning, and guess what she told me?" she started. "You know what? Why don't we invite her in; she's standing out on the front porch right now," Martha smirked.
Martha turned her face towards the door, and smiled when Leanne walked in. Martha noticed the look on Megan's face. She went as white as a ghost.
"Mum. What have you done?" Megan cried.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, but I can't do this anymore," Leanne said to Megan.
"What's going on?" both Jack and Tony asked at the same time.
Leanne smiled lightly and walked up to Jack. "I'm so sorry," she said to him. "If I had of known that you were in love with another girl, and that you were having a baby with her, then I would never have agreed to go along with this," Leanne added.
Jack was confused. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Mum, stop this right now," Megan ordered.
"No, its over," Leanne exclaimed.
Martha was just about to walk to the door to grab Bryan, when she noticed Grace walk into the room; wiping her eyes sleepily. Martha walked over to her, and bent down so that she could look at her.
"Guess what sweetie? You're daddy is here to see you," Martha said softly.
"Get away from my daughter," Megan screeched at Martha.
Just at that moment Bryan came striding into the house. "Gracie," he called. Grace turned to look at the man, and she started jumping up in excitement. "Daddy," she squealed over and over. Bryan waltzed across the room and scooped the small child into his arms. "Hey baby, daddy has missed you," he said softly.
"Will somebody please explain what the hell is going on?" Jack roared. "And Bryan, what are you doing here?"
Martha groaned in frustration. "I thought it had been made pretty obvious; Grace isn't yours Jack. Megan lied to you. Bryan is her father," she told him.
"What?" Jack was even more confused. "But what about the test? It said that I was her father," he pointed out.
"Megan made a special friend at the lab, if you know what I mean?" Martha spat out.
Jack turned his gaze onto Megan. "You got the test results changed? Why? How could you do that?" he glared.
"It was the only way that I would ever get a chance with you," Megan cried. "Does it really matter if she isn't yours? We can still be together," she smiled at him hopefully and reached out to touch him.
"Don't touch me. Get away from me," Jack shot out.
"Megan, stop this right now. Jack does not love you, he loves somebody else. And they are having a baby, so you need to leave them alone," Leanne spoke up again.
"Will you shut up," Megan snapped at her. "This is your entire fault. You had to go and open your great trap to Martha. I'm your daughter; doesn't that mean anything to you? You are supposed to help me, not her. God, when is everyone going to realise that Martha isn't meant to be with Jack," she yelled out.
Martha moved towards Megan, and smiled. "And when are you going to realise that you're nuts? You need some serious professional help," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job that I have to get to. Have a nice life," Martha finished and turned to walk away.
"Um, Lucas and Matilda, why don't we go home aswell," Beth suggested and quickly ushered them out of the house. Tony decided that he was going to stay.
Martha stopped and smiled at Bryan. "It was very nice to meet you. And I'm so glad that you got Grace back," she said.
Martha then turned and looked at Jack. Even though this was all over now; they still had a lot to work through. "See you all later," she called and walked out.
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Jack stood on the spot speechless; watching as Martha left the house. Right now the only thing going through his head was that Grace wasn't his, and that Megan had lied.
"So, who wants to start explaining?" Tony asked as he looked around the room.
Megan slumped down onto the couch sobbing, but Jack felt absolutely no remorse for her. She deserved everything she got. She'd just about ruined his life, and he was never going to forgive her for that.
"What I want to know is how this all began. Why did Megan come here trying to pass Grace off as mine?" Jack asked. He looked at Bryan; hoping to get some answers from him. He couldn't believe that Bryan was Grace's father. Bryan had actually been one of Jack's best friends at school.
Bryan moved towards a chair, and sat down; still holding Grace tightly in his arms. "First off I just want to say that it really sucks that you and I had to meet up again like this," Bryan exclaimed.
Jack nodded. "Yeah, I know".
"Okay, so you remember that massive party we had just before you left?" Bryan asked.
"Yeah, that was the night that I spent with Megan," Jack said.
"Actually, you never slept with her. You may have woken up in the same bed as her, but you never touched her. She just said that you did. And you had been so drunk that you couldn't even remember anything. Megan used that to her advantage and made you think you slept with her. I was actually the one who slept with her that night," Bryan explained.
Jack shook his head in shock. But he was so glad now that he knew he had never spent the night with Megan.
"Anyway, Megan and I were together for a while after Grace was born, but then she started to get really clingy and was whinging all the time, so I broke up with her," Bryan continued.
"You're an arrogant jerk," Megan finally spoke up.
Bryan just ignored her and continued with his explanation. "Six months ago I started dating another girl named Lisa. She's great, but Megan completely flipped when she found out I was seeing somebody else already. And then I asked Lisa to marry me, and that just sent Megan over the edge," he kept on; ignoring the dirty looks that Megan was sending in his direction. "So, she decided to punish me. She took Grace away from me, and today is the first time I have seen her in three months. I only just found out last night that Megan was here with her, and that she was trying pass Grace off as yours," Bryan finished.
Jack turned his attention onto Megan. "How could you? You tried to ruin my life. You kept me away from Martha, and not to mention you took an innocent child away from its father," he said to her. "I want you to get out of my house right now. I want you to pack your bags, and get out of Summer Bay. I never want to see you again. Do you hear me?" Jack told.
Megan looked at him with hurt in her eyes. "You don't mean that Jack. I know you have feelings for me," she cried.
"No, I don't. Get it through your thick head," Jack snapped at her.
"Come on Megan," Leanne pulled her up. "I think it's time to go now. We have a lot of packing to do," she added.
"Fine," Megan shot out. She then walked over to Bryan and held out her arms; she wanted Grace.
"Grace is staying with me," Bryan told her. "I suggest that when you get back to the city you get a good Lawyer. Because there is no way that I am handing Grace over without a fight," he exclaimed.
"Come on. Let Grace stay with Bryan for now," Leanne started walking Megan towards the door. When she reached it Megan turned around and looked at Jack one last time.
Jack just glared at her. "Go," he demanded.
Megan glared back at all of them. "I'm never going to forgive any of you for this. Just remember that," she spat out. She then turned and walked away.
"So, boys, how about a coffee?" Tony sat up. He had been quiet throughout the entire conversation. "You two haven't seen each other in a couple years, so I think it's time for a catch up," he smiled.
"Sounds good," Bryan exclaimed.
Jack felt different. He was calm and happy, for the first time in a good while. Finally it was time for everything to go back to normal. Just the way it was supposed to be.
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