This came off of a tumblr prompt from coping-with-cophine on tumblr who wanted Jake and Cassandra babysitting a niece or nephew of Jake's. Well that sort of got away from me and now this will be at least a two shot. They will baby sit Jake's niece though in the next chapter!


"Annie, look . . ."Jake tried to stifle a sigh on the phone with his younger sister. "I know, I miss you too. But even Dallas is a bit of a drive from where I'm at right now. "

He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked around the Annex hoping that no one would interrupt the argument he was having with her. Annie was very pregnant with her second child and lived in Dallas. She hadn't been able to come home for Christmas and now was using his fiction about working in a Texas oil field against him.

"Honey, look, okay, I know I have the weekends off but . . ." He sighed, his eyes lying on his girlfriend, who was eying him curiously from around a shelf. "I'm seeing someone. We only get the weekends to see . . .Annie, I don't . . .I'm not ashamed of her or you! It's just it's a long drive and she probably . . ."

Cassandra's voice came around the shelf, "Who is that?"

"What? Hang on Annie, my girlfriend just came over." He pressed 'Hold'. "My sister Annie. She lives in Dallas and she thinks I'm working in Texas. She's about ready to pop out a kid any day and wants to see me."

"Well, the clippings book has been silent . . .Unless . . ."

Jake paled, realizing what his reluctance sounded like. "I want you to meet them. It's just they can be very overwhelming . . .."

"And you don't want to put your costume back on." Cassandra said softly.

He nodded, looking very sad. "It's . . .I don't want to be who I was but I can't be who I am. Not with them. I love them. I do. And I know they love me. But they never understood me, not a one of them."

"Is she easier than your brothers?"

"A bit, yes. For Annie, I was always the sweet big brother. She's kinda my favorite. Which is why this is killing me."

"Then we'll go see her this weekend, barring, you know, saving the world."

"What do I tell her if we cancel?"

"Your truck broke down? I got the flu? "

He nodded slowly then smiled at her. "Okay. I should get back to her before she thinks I hung up."

"Hi Annie? I'm sorry. I was asking her if she was up to the drive. And she said she was. So barring my truck breaking down or something, we'll be there Saturday. Annie, no, we can stay in a hotel, we don't want to put you out. I promise, it'll be fine. See you then. I love you too. Bye."

Jake sighed. "Well now we have to come up with a cover story for you. And an explanation for where my truck is."


Friday afternoon they were by the Back Door, bags packed for a weekend visit, and reservations made for a moderately priced hotel near Annie's house. They'd decided to call Annie and explain that Jake's truck had gotten a flat a few miles from town and that they'd left it at the mechanic. Easiest way to explain why they didn't have a vehicle. They were still working on a cover for Cassandra.

"Okay, what about I just tell them I'm a librarian? It's our go to cover."

"But," Jake sighed. "How would we have met?"

"Right because Jake doesn't go to the library."

Jake made a frustrated noise. "Cass . . ."

"Fine, fine." Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Oooh, I know we met at a diner. I mean diners are kinda our thing anyway. We kinda started our relationship in one, we went to one on our first date, we end up at one on a lot of our dates actually."

Jake nodded his head. "That could work. So we were both eating there?"

"Umm, how about my friend . . . ." She grinned. "My friend Eve owns one and I help her out sometimes. One night I was working and you came in. The rest is history?"

"Alright." Jake frowned for a minute, then hugged Cassandra, kissing the side of her head. "Thank you for doing this for me. I know it bothers you."

"Well," Cassandra shrugged. "I mean I know we can't just tell people about the Library. But it hurts me to see you have to do this."

Jake took a deep breath. "It does me too. Someday Cassandra, I'll be able to tell them. Just not today."


About a half an hour later, they were checked into their room and Jake called his sister.

"Yeah, I know. Well, the good thing is we were like 5 miles down the road from the hotel. So we're all checked in but we'll need a ride. Okay, wow, I guess I should have realized . . . .We'll be downstairs in 15 then. See you soon."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"I guess I didn't realize just how far along Annie is. We might be meeting my newest niece or nephew this weekend. Her husband is coming to get us since she's not feeling so hot. She thinks that means the baby's gonna come later today."

"Wow. And you said they have a 3 year old?"

"Yep. Rosie. Last time I saw her she was not quite 2 I think. It was the Christmas before last."

"Do all of your siblings have kids?" Cassandra asked as Jake fished around his bag for the gift he brought his niece. "And you're the oldest?"

"Oldest son. Two older sisters, two younger brothers and Annie's the youngest. The girls and my brother Kyle have kids." He looked over at her, seeing the unasked question in her eyes. "I was waiting for someone that I couldn't find in Oklahoma."

She smiled sadly. "And . . . ."

"Hey," he set the gift down and crossed the room to her, pulling her into his arms. "We already discussed this. I'm happy with you, no matter what our future holds. And I can't give up hope that we will have plenty of years together. You do believe me right?"

She nodded just a little tearfully. "It's just there are days when I really wish we could have a baby. Funny isn't it? I never . . .I was told when I was 15, too young to even want to think about a family. Then I never met anyone I wanted to have a family with. Until you. . . and that thought of a little genius baby with blue eyes . . . ."

"And red hair." He murmured against her neck. "Yeah, I know. I think about it too. I guess I can't stop my heart from yearning for something that I can't have. "

"I never had the surgery . . ."

"Cassandra," He backed up to hold her at arm's length, looking her straight in the eyes. "No, we are not risking your life for this. It's a pretty dream but you're what I want."

"No, what I meant was, I could produce an egg, we could use a surrogate. We could have a baby, our baby."

He just stared at her, his mouth moving, but no words coming out. She wasn't sure exactly what he was thinking but she just looked in his eyes. She watched as shock and disbelief gave way to hope and just a little bit of joy.

Finally, he swallowed hard and spoke. "We'll talk about this again, okay? Not today. "

She wiped her eyes. "You're right. That's a serious discussion that would involve my future health and our relationship in general. But I don't know why I didn't think of the option before. I guess I never had a real reason too."

He pulled her back into his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I love you so much Cassandra. No matter what happens. I love you."

"I love you too. We should probably go meet your brother-in-law huh?"

"Yeah." His sigh ruffled the top of her hair and she nearly giggled at the sensation. "Here we go."