Figured I'd revisit this little tidbit now that I have some time. Sorry you all, I've been busy, busy, busy!
Jack was sitting on the kid's couch watching the news when he heard a strangled sob coming from the kid's room, then he heard Mac yelling "Ashley, no, please no!" Jack was up and inside Mac's room in seconds, rushing to the bed where the boy was tangled up in his sheets, sheets he had sweated through evidently, stuck in a hellish nightmare.
Jack grabbed the kid's shoulders and shook him, calling his name out loudly, "Mac!, Mac, wake up bud! ANGUS! WAKE UP RIGHT THIS SECOND!" that did the trick for the boy shot up to a sitting position so fast that Jack barely had time to move out of the boy's way before getting head-butted in the nose.
Mac was breathing hard, as if he had just ran a marathon, his eyes were still unfocused with the remnants of sleep; he blinked a few times, trying to get his bearings, finally, his sight landed on Jack's face which was very close to his, Mac realized that Jack was currently holding him by the shoulders too, so he deduced he had been having a nightmare and Jack had, as usual, came in to wake him.
"Hey Jack" Mac said softly, "sorry, guess I was having a nightmare" the blonde said as he began trying to untangle himself from the mess of sheets and blankets he seemed to have burrowed himself into while in the clutches of the dream.
Jack released the boy's shoulders but stay seated on the edge of the bed, a frown on his face. "That was some nightmare kid! care to share? "
Mac shook his head; "not really". He paused and looked at the clock on the nightstand, he had been asleep a couple of hours evidently, funny he thought, he did not feel rested at all, in fact, he felt like he could sleep for a week.
Jack nodded, "OK, but you know where I am if you change your mind" Jack stood from the bed and looked down at the still tangled mess of blond and sheets, "Why don't you extricate yourself from this mess" he waved a hand down and over the lower part of the bed, "Get cleaned up and come out to the kitchen for something to eat", although technically a suggestion, Jack did not expect any disagreement from the boy so he started to walk out of the room to give the boy some privacy, "I will order a pizza while you do your thing kid"
Jack was concerned about the kid's nightmare, but he was more concerned about how Mac was going to take the news that the sender of the box, the doll, was none other than the girl's mother, Joanna. Jack was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Mac has had a sister basically no one knew or knows about, and now he was also trying to fathom why did the girl's mother see the need to mail the doll to Mac? Jack shook his head thinking this was going to be a very long couple of days; he took out his phone and dialed for pizza, then he went to the kitchen to grab a beer and wait for Mac to come out of his room so he could tell the kid about Joanna.