Jack looked at the man and then back at Kate. She was clearly upset, her hand unconsciously digging into his waist almost to the point of it becoming painful. He shifted slightly to get her to loosen her grip a little and decided that since Kate wasn't going to speak he would.
"Is there something I can do for you?" Jack asked.
"Who are you?" The man asked.
"Who are you?" Jack asked.
"Name's Eddie, Katie and I go way back." The man answered.
"Call me crazy, but she doesn't seem all that thrilled to see you so is there something I can do for you before I close the door?" Jack asked, growing impatient with the scene.
"Is this your new boyfriend Katie?" Eddie asked.
"Stop calling me that Eddie!" Kate snapped.
"Aw now is that any way to talk to the father of your dead son?" Eddie taunted.
Kate turned her face into Jack's chest, wrapping both arms around his waist tightly, upset and in tears. He put a comforting hand on her back and shot Eddie a look that made him step back and put his hands up.
"Easy man, I don't want any trouble." Eddie said.
"What do you want?" Jack asked.
"That boy was half mine which means I'm entitled to at least half of this." Eddie said holding out a folded document.
Kate turned around, wiping the tears from her face and watched Jack unfold the document. It was a life insurance policy. Kate's sadness turned to rage immediately and she lunged at him, her fist landing squarely in the center of the man's face, breaking his nose. Jack pulled her back and held tightly to her, trying to get her to calm down.
"You son-of-a-bitch! Your name isn't even on his birth certificate! Get out of here!" Kate screamed.
"I think you should leave." Jack said.
"I'm not going anywhere until she signs this paper and gives me a copy of the death certificate." Eddie said.
"Kate, please go inside and let me deal with this." Jack told her, kissing her on the forehead and doing his best to reassure her.
She walked away, saddened and disgusted. Jack turned to the man standing in his doorway, walked forward and closed the door behind him, bumping into Eddie in a threatening manner.
"Man, I think she broke my nose. Can you get me a towel for the blood?" Eddie whined.
"She did break your nose, I heard it from where I was standing and no I won't get you a towel." Jack said as he reached for his wallet, pulled out a business card and handed it to the man.
"What the hell is this?" Eddie asked.
"It's a phone number where you can reach me during the day. Call on Monday and we'll schedule a time to talk about this, but it's not going to happen tonight." Jack insisted.
"Man, I'm only here for the day. I can't afford to stay all weekend. Am I supposed to sleep in my car until Monday?" Eddie complained.
"Not my problem. You're upsetting her and I won't allow it. I suggest you go now or I'll call the police." Jack threatened.
"Oh you'll call the police huh? Too big of a pussy to settle this like a man?" Eddie taunted.
"No, I'm too civilized to stoop to your level." Jack shot back.
"She's not worth your trouble man. Selfish little cock tease bitch is all she is." Eddie accused.
"Whatever man, just leave." Jack said and turned around.
Eddie grabbed him by the shoulder, refusing to let it go. Jack swung around and landed a hard punch to the side of Eddie's head, sending him stumbling backwards off the porch and onto his back on the sidewalk. Jack held his hand, having felt at least two bones crack as soon as he'd made contact with the man's head.
"I'm going inside to call the police. I suggest you leave before they get here." Jack said and entered the house.
Jack walked into the house and straight to the kitchen. He grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer, wrapped it in a towel and placed it over his hand. He picked up the phone, called his father and after a short conversation hung up the phone and walked into the living room to find Kate. She was sitting on the couch, legs bent and pulled up into her chest, her chin resting on her knees. She saw Jack enter the room with his hand wrapped and immediately stood up.
"What did you do? Oh Jack, not your hand." Kate said her concern shifting away from what had upset her and onto Jack.
"I broke it. My dad is coming to drive me to get it taken care of. Will you be okay with the boys?" Jack asked.
"Jack, I would've driven you." Kate said.
"I know, but the kids and well, I want to make sure it gets taken care of properly. My career depends on my hand healing properly." Jack said.
"This is my fault. I'm so sorry Jack." Kate apologized.
"It's not your fault some jerk grabbed me Kate. It's my fault for punching his thick skull instead of going for the soft tissue like you did." Jack told her with a slight grin.
"Your father is really going to hate me now." Kate sighed.
"You let me worry about my father. Will you be okay with the boys?" Jack asked.
"Yes, I'll be okay. I want to tell you about him, about Eddie." Kate said.
"Okay, when I get back. My dad will be here any minute." Jack said.
"I never wanted you to know about Eddie so another few hours won't matter." Kate said sadly.
"Kate, it's going to be okay. I'm more concerned about what his suddenly appearing is doing to you." Jack said.
"You always say everything is going to be okay, but maybe I just need for this not to be okay because sometimes Jack things are so fucked up they'll never be okay. Kate snapped.
"Hey, I'm on your side. Are you sure you're going to be okay? I don't want to leave if you're too upset to be alone." Jack said.
"I'm okay Jack. I was just foolish to believe my past would stay in my past, that it wouldn't eventually play a role in destroying my future happiness." Kate said.
"Stop it Kate. I mean it. I don't care about your past so if you don't feel comfortable sharing it with me that is fine, but no matter what we are going to have a future together and it will be happy and sad and angry and glad and all the things it's supposed to be." Jack said his tone serious.
The doorbell rang just as Jack had finished his short rant. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him gently.
"Go get your hand taken care of; we'll talk when you get home." She told him.
Jack kissed her back and left without bothering to invite his father in. He sat in the passenger seat of his father's car staring out the window.
"So are you going to tell me what happened?" Christian asked.
"I punched a guy in the head." Jack answered.
"Why would you do something like that?" Christian asked.
"I was defending my family." Jack said.
"Your family or Kate?" Christian asked.
"Kate is my family." Jack said.
"Since when?" Christian asked.
"She's pregnant and we're getting married." Jack confessed.
"I'd be a liar if I said I'm surprised." Christian sighed heavily.
"Go ahead dad, let's hear it." Jack grumbled.
"Hear what?" Christian asked.
"About what a screw up I am, about how I'm too emotional, too weak, too involved. Go ahead, it's not like I don't have it memorized after all these years." Jack snapped.
"Well son you have pretty much screwed yourself out of taking part in a surgery that would've put your name in medical journals all over the world, but as long as you're in love and happy I guess it doesn't matter if your career goes to hell." Christian nagged.
"Of course dad, a broken hand is sending my career straight to hell. My part in the twin separation had nothing to do with fame or notoriety, but I do regret that I won't be able to help them." Jack said.
"Your broken hand will heal Jack, but as long as you continue to add distractions to your life your career is going to continue to just tread water. In order to achieve greatness you have to be willing to devote the majority of your life to your skills." Christian explained obviously disappointed about an impending marriage and child.
"Dad why can't you understand that what I want is to be a good doctor and I am a good doctor, but I have no desire to live in a hospital 24/7 or achieve these levels of greatness you have mapped out for me." Jack argued.
"That's too bad Jack because you have the potential to be the best surgeon this city's ever seen. You have natural abilities and instincts that most surgeons would sell their soul to the devil to possess, yet you don't seem to care." Christian continued to prod.
"I care dad. Can we please not talk about this anymore?" Jack asked.
"So did you at least win the fight?" Christian asked with a smirk.
"There are no winners in a situation like that." Jack sighed.
The two men rode in silence the rest of the way. They walked into the ER together and the orthopedic surgeon on staff was waiting for them. They took several x-rays of Jack's hand and the ortho guy, Christian and Jack studied the x-rays together.
"As you can see Jack, you've got a hairline fracture in each of the 3rd and 4th metacarpal bones. What did you do punch a wall?" The guy asked.
"Something like that." Jack mumbled.
"The good news is that the neither of the fractures resulted in a separation of the bones and it should heal just fine with a splint that supports the hand and immobilizes your 3rd and 4th fingers; the bad news is that you'll be sidelined surgery wise for at least a month." The orthopedic guy explained.
Jack walked through the front door of his home two hours after he'd left. Kate and the two boys were huddled under a blanket watching a movie, one boy on each side of her. He entered the room and sat down beside them. Conner scooted out from under the blanket and over to his dad. He reached out and rubbed his hand gently over Jack's bandaged hand.
"Does it hurt daddy?" Conner asked.
"Not so much. It's late, shouldn't you and Tony be getting ready for bed?" Jack asked.
"Do we have to?" Conner asked with a hint of a whine.
"Yeah I think you should, you don't want to spend your Saturday being tired and cranky." Jack suggested.
"Come on Tony, let's get ready for bed." Conner said.
Tony scooted out from under the blanket and stood in front of Kate.
"Can I stay here tomorrow and play?" Tony asked.
"If your parents don't care it's okay." Kate said.
The two boys ran up the stairs to get ready for bed. Jack stood and followed behind them. He returned about 20 minutes later, taking a seat beside Kate. He lifted his arm so she could snuggle in beside him and dropped it beside her, lightly wrapped around her. She rubbed her fingers lightly over his bandaged hand.
"Is it bad?" Kate asked.
"No, it was just stupid. It'll take about four weeks to heal." Jack said.
"You're probably wondering why I would associate with a guy like Eddie, much less sleep with him." Kate said.
"No, not really, but the life insurance policy on a child he never bothered with is something to wonder about." Jack said.
"Eddie's mother took the policy out on TJ when he was born. Just something she does for all of her grandchildren. I'd forgotten about it." Kate said.
"You kept in touch with her?" Jack asked.
"Yes, I sent her pictures. It wasn't her fault her son was a worthless a piece of shit." Kate huffed.
"So were you married to him?" Jack asked.
"No, I was just stupid Jack, really, really stupid." Kate said.
"You know you don't have to tell me about him if you don't want to." Jack said.
"After college I spent a great deal of time working in alcohol and drug rehabilitation type facilities. I couldn't really decide what I wanted to do and my degrees gave me the option to try different things. I met Eddie at one of the rehabs I was working at. He'd been clean for over six months and was an outpatient that came in for group therapy sessions once a week. He seemed like a nice guy and we'd go out for coffee or go to a movie, pretty much just friends at first. Then we started dating and I started to really care for him and I guess I cared too much to see or believe that he was using again or to see what a jerk he really was. You know the whole love is blind thing. When I found out I was pregnant he went crazy and then he dumped me." Kate explained.
"That must've been difficult." Jack offered.
"Not really. I mean, obviously it hurt because I thought he cared about me, but I'd been on my own for a long time so facing a pregnancy and raising a child alone didn't seem all that daunting." Kate said.
"I don't understand why you would be ashamed of any of this." Jack said.
"I had the baby alone and didn't list a father on the birth certificate. Eddie's mother came to see TJ a few times and I didn't mind, she was a sweet woman with a bastard for a son. She managed to convince me to let Eddie see him, to give him a chance to be a father to TJ and like an idiot I agreed to do it." Kate told him and stopped talking, trapped in a memory that was obviously painful and frightening.
"What happened Kate?" Jack asked.
"Eddie came around for about a month, convinced me he was into the daddy thing and I was so stupid Jack. I put my baby in the hands of an addict, a man that would steal from his own mother. I let him baby-sit TJ once in awhile, when I had to work late or if I just needed a break and after a month of getting into my good graces, of winning my trust back, of convincing me that he did care about me and that he did want to be a father to his son he played his hand." Kate said, upset and crying at this point.
"What did he do Kate?" Jack asked.
"He sold my baby Jack, sold him for 10 thousand dollars. He was just 7 weeks old and tiny and helpless and that son-of-a-bitch handed him over like a used television or something. It's a miracle that I got him back, just a fluke that someone noticed him taking the baby to the hotel room and called the police when they saw the story on the news. He spilled his guts, made a deal with the DA and pretty much got away with a slap on the hand. I think he served a couple of years." Kate explained.
"I'm sorry Kate, that must've been a horrible thing to go through." Jack said.
"It was stupid Jack, I'm stupid and if you knew how stupid I am you'd never trust me with Conner. Maybe there is a God Jack and maybe that's why he took my little boy back. TJ didn't deserve to be left in the hands of someone who would put him in that kind of danger. He was this wonderful, beautiful gift and I was careless with him." Kate cried.
"Kate, how could you suspect something like that? I mean who does something like that? Why would you consider that your son's father would sell him? You aren't stupid and you weren't careless or at least I don't see it that way and I trust you with Conner." Jack said tightening his grip on her a little.
"I left and I moved to Los Angeles. A high school friend of mine lived here at the time and put us up until I found a job and got on my feet and I never had any contact with Eddie. I had another old friend in Kansas. She set up a P.O. Box for me there and I used that contact Eddie's mother. I can't believe he found me. I should've listened to your father." Kate cried wishing she could've taken the last part back as soon as she said it.
"My father? What does my father have to do with this?" Jack asked.
"It's not important Jack. I'm sure he didn't……" Kate tried to brush him off.
"No, tell me what my father did Kate." Jack demanded.
"He came to me and offered me money to disappear, said he knew all about TJ's father and didn't want word to get out that his son was carrying on with someone associated with an ex-con, said he didn't want his grandson around someone that sells babies and then he said he'd do whatever it takes to get me out of your life." Kate told him.
She could feel every muscle in his body tense up and felt his heart rate increase and the longer he sat and processed the information the angrier he became.
"So this potentially dangerous man is in our lives because of my father. Perfect." Jack hissed.
"He's in our lives because of me Jack. Your father was just trying to protect you and Conner." Kate defended him.
"No Kate, my father was just trying to dictate my life as usual and this time he's gone too far." Jack said.
"What are we going to do? I don't want Eddie to profit from TJ's death." Kate said.
"I doubt there's anything you can do to stop it Kate, as sick as it is." Jack sighed.
"So if I do what he wants do you think he'll go away?" Kate asked.
"Let's hope. I don't get it though. I don't understand why my father would send him here. Did he really think it would matter to me? Did he think I would send you packing because of this Eddie character? It makes no sense. My dad knows me better than that." Jack puzzled.
"No, he was probably hoping that when you found out they arrested me with Eddie, found drugs in my home and in my baby's diaper bag and charged me with the everything from baby brokering to possession with intent to sell, you'd send me packing." Kate said.
"Kate." Jack said, sitting up and looking at her with questioning eyes.
"No Jack, I didn't know the drugs were there and no, I didn't try to sell my son, but whether you get convicted or not that sort of thing follows you around or at the very least it's there for someone like your father to dig up." Kate snapped at him and tried to get up, Jack pulled her back down.
"Why wouldn't you tell me about this?" Jack asked.
"Why would I? It's hardly the proudest moment of my life and not something I share with anyone. As you can see it puts doubt in a person's mind. You doubt me right now Jack so I guess your father accomplished what he set out to accomplish." Kate said as she pulled away from him and stood up.
"Kate wait, please just stay here and talk to me. I do not doubt you; I'm just trying to process all of this." Jack pleaded with her.
"It's probably better if you process it by yourself; decide if you still feel the same about me. I'm going upstairs. Good night Jack." Kate said and left the room.