Hi :)

I hope there are still some of you who would like to continue reading to this story. I'm so sorry for not updating for ages but I had a lot going on.

I'm on a 2 week break from school and if I can find time from my 340 pages of homework I will try to write as much as I can.

After working a 32-hour shift and checking on Kate every now and then Jack decided to go back to his mother's house and rest for the evening. He was actually starving, so he was glad he could make it on time for his mother's amazing dinners.

Opening the front door with his own set of keys, he stepped into the house instantly welcomed with a children's tune playing on the piano. He found the two people he was looking for at the living room, by the grand piano. Margo had Aaron comfortably sitting on her lap with. He was singing I am a Music Man while Margo played it on the piano. Jack could easily see the love she felt for this amazing child from the way his mother looked at him. Even though it had only been a week since they met and didn't have a very good start, they were now closer than ever.

Aaron was the first to look up from the piano and notice that Jack had come home. He quickly jumped off of Margo's lap and ran towards him. Jack knelt and he gave him a tight hug.

"Jack! I can play the piano! Come, see!" he pulled him towards the piano. With his tiny, chubby fingers he started playing Twinkle Little Star

It was the first song Margo had taught Jack as well and watching Aaron brought back all the memories. He used to spend hours in front of that piano, practicing. Playing the piano was his first and favorite passion. He loved it when he gave himself into the music and let his fingers play whatever they wished. But when his father decided that he should go to med school and become a great surgeon like he was, Jack started spending less time playing and more time studying. As years passed he didn't even have time to look up from his books, let alone play a few songs.

"Good job Aaron! You're really good!" He cheered.

The boy had a proud grin on his face as he played the song over and over again. The two adults were watching him when all of a sudden he stopped and went next to Margo.

"I'm hungry." he stated.

They were first startled but after a moment of processing it, they both started laughing at the boy's out-of-nowhere behavior.

"Did you eat anything yet?" Margo asked, turning to her son.

He shook his head. "I thought I could join you guys if you have an extra seat."

"Of course silly! There are sixteen chairs on the table!" " Aaron said as he pointed at the huge dining table. "I counted." he added.

Margo chuckled. "Come on boys dinner should be ready any time now. And Aaron…" she turned back to him. "I have a surprise for you after you finish your meal." she winked. He tried to wink back but ended up making a silly expression with his eyes. She laughed and took his hand, leading him to the dining room.

It was a little challenging to make Aaron eat one of Margo's signature dishes, roasted duck with raspberry glaze… But at least he had finish eating all his vegetables she'd steamed as a side dish.

"Auntie Margo?" Aaron asked shyly, still playing with the duck in front of him. Both she and Jack turned their attention from their dishes to the boy.

"Do you know how to make mac&cheese?"

They both started laughing uncontrollably but he didn't understand why and waited for and answer, confused. Margo was sitting right next to him so she was able to ruffle his hair.

"You didn't really like the duck, did you?" she asked him.

The boy shook his head. "Mommy never makes things like these for dinner. Her mac&cheese is yummy. I help her make it sometimes."

"Okay then, I'll try to make some for tomorrow but I'll need a helper. Hmm… Who can that be?"

Aaron raised his hand up in the air as he jumped up and down on his chair. "I can! I can! Mommy says I'm a great helper!"

"That's great! I will need a great helper. But Aaron, if you're still hungry right now I can quickly make something for you."

"No, I'm full. Look…" he got off his chair and pulled up his T-shirt revealing his little, round belly. He patted on it a few times just to make sure he didn't have any space left.

"Well that's a shame." Jack said to his mother and gave her a wink. "I guess you and I will have to finish you surprise desert, mom." he continued playfully.

"No!" Aaron said quickly. "Let me check again?" He tapped on his belly a few more times. "Mr. Tummy says he has a little bit more space left."

"Alright then." Margo stood up. "I'll go and bring them." Taking a few empty dishes with, she disappeared into the kitchen.

A few minutes later she came back with a tray filled with pudding. But it was not just an ordinary pudding dish, Jack recognized it the second he saw the special bowls they were in. They looked exactly the way she used to make him when he was little. The bowls were shaped like a dog's head and using both chocolate and vanilla pudding, she made them look even more real-like.

"Wow!" Aaron gasped in surprise. Margo proudly presented her art and placed a bowl in front of the very-excited boy. He inspected it carefully.

"It looks just like Ronin, Auntie Margo!"

At the mention of his name, the old, brown lab lifted his head up and looked around. When he didn't see anyone giving him attention he went back to sleep.

After finishing their desserts in a flash and helping Margo with the dishes, the two boys went back to the living room to watch some cartoons. Aaron, who was comfortably laying his head on Jack's chest, started yawning not long after.

"Aaron?" Jack gently said. "I think it's time for you to go to sleep.

Aaron sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Can you tuck me in tonight?"

"Sure, come here…" He picked the little boy up and carried him upstairs to his room. He helped him wear his brand new dinosaur printed pajamas and tucked him in tightly.

Just as he was about to leave, Aaron called his name and stopped him.

"Can you tell me a story?" he asked with a sleepy voice.

"I'm not a very good storyteller buddy."

"Mommy says it's never hard to make up a new story. You just need to close your eyes and imagine. Some nights mommy asks me to tell her a story and I close my eyes…" the boy did exactly that as he kept on explaining. "I can see the craziest things. Mommy laughs a lot."

Jack sat back onto the end of the bed and started thinking about all the stories his parents used to tell him when he was little.

Storytelling… That was the only thing his father was good at. Thinking about all the nights he spent with his father, Jack could still feel the excitement and the fascination he felt towards his father.

But even though his father was the best of the best in his eyes, none of his stories seemed to have stuck in his mind. He kept trying to dig deeper and pull out one of those amazing, creative stories he had listened to. But those beautiful father and son memories were suppressed with the memories the two shared as Jack grew up. Instead of the adventurous stories and goodnight kisses there were long lectures about how he was not good enough or how he needed to improve his already perfected skills

Aaron got impatient after waiting for a few minutes while Jack was lost in his thoughts.

"You didn't close your eyes." he said.

"Oh… Okay. Let's see…" Jack closed his eyes. "You should close yours too Aaron if you want to see what I'm seeing.

He could feel the little boy nod and waited for him to get comfortable in his bed.

"What do you think about a story with dragons?" he asked excitedly.

"I love dragons!"

"Good… A long long time ago, a land far away was filled with dragons of all kinds. There were big dragons and small, green dragons and the red ones that breathed fire. They were all so sting and powerful and the people living in that land feared them. But among all those scary dragons there was one that was as white as snow and as good as any creature can be. The other dragons didn't like him because he was not like them…"

Jack continued to the story until the boy's breathing slowed down. He had buried his face under the covers so Jack pulled them out of his face to give him the space to breathe. He watched him for a while and then left the room, turning the lights out and closing the door behind him.

Kate was going through the channels, bored as hell, when Jack came to visit her after his shift was over. It was late at night, as always, but instead of going home to get some rest; Jack went straight to Kate's room.

"How's it going?" he asked.

When she noticed that Jack was in the room she quickly sat up and neatened out the sheets.

"Well," she said. "The couple who has 19 kids just decided to open a flea market with their old stuff that they've been hoarding for years." She continued with a playful grin on her face. "What about you? Saved more lives today?"

He chuckled "Apparently you've been having so much fun at the hospital."

She rolled her eyes. "If I watch one more reality show, I'm going to kill myself Jack and all these thing you did to save my life would be for nothing!"

He started laughing. "Okay… So you really are bored."

"When can I get out of here? It's not just the boredom you know. I really miss my son."

"Soon, Kate. Really soon… but for now, you're stuck in here with me."

She puffed.

"Hey! At least I bring you food!" he told her, throwing a bag of take-out dinner. "I hope you like Chinese…"

He sat on the armchair cross-legged. They both had an amused smile on their faces.

It had only been four days since she woke up but she felt like Jack had been a part of her life for so long. The talks, the laughs, the glances they shared were not like two people would share after knowing each other for just four days.

"Oh, this is good…" she said with her mouth full. "Actually anything's good after hospital food. I honestly don't know how you can stand it Jack. They're disgusting! I mean it is like this in every hospital… You would think they'd do something about this already!" she threw her arms in the air.

Jack really enjoyed watching her get angry at simple things like this. Even though she was trying to be serious, she couldn't help herself but smile or joke about it. She was always full of life. Even on the days when she was in a lot of pain…

He started laughing at her angry expression. She looked hilarious with her arms in the air and beautiful eyes wide open.

"I'm serious!" she argued but then burst out into laughter. Jack joined her right after.

"I guess I got used to them after a while." he finally commented. "I've been trained to survive in a hospital environment since…well since I was a little older than Aaron.

Surprised at what she just heard, Kate put her food down. "A little older than Aaron?" she repeated.

"Yeah… My father was a surgeon and he wanted me to learn about the real life at a young age. With all its pain, misery and loss…" He tried to fake a smile but couldn't. And Kate quickly realized it.

She was angry at a man she hadn't met for doing something like this to his son at such a young age. Hospitals were certainly not a place for children, but that was not the part that caught her attention.

"Was a surgeon?" she asked silently.

"Was…" he repeated. "He died a couple of months ago."

"I'm so sorry Jack."

"There's no need to be Kate. My father walked into his own death. He was an alcoholic, drinking whenever he found time.

You know what? From the outside everyone thought about us as this perfect family. That's how we needed to show ourselves to everyone. We needed to play pretend because my dad had to have a certain imprint on people. Because of his work…

But whenever the fundraiser, or a formal dinner at a colleague was over, we would go back to being us again. My father would shut himself away in his study and ignore both my mom and my existence.

My mom… She is the most giving person I've ever known. All these year's he'd been ignoring her and yet she stood by him though everything he'd been through. I never understood that…" He paused and took a deep breath.

"In his last years he started drinking a lot more that he always did. There were times when he got into the hospital, barely able to walk. He got fired the week before he died and without saying a single word to my mom and me he flew to Australia. We'd been searching for him the entire week and my mom was worried sick… But if I have to be honest, I didn't give a damn… A part of me always wanted him to leave and never come back.

But he was still my father so when I got a call from a morgue in Sydney I went and brought him home anyways."

He was staring down on the floor the entire time. He'd meant every single he'd just said but deep inside he hated himself for thinking about his dead father like that.

Kate scooted closer to him and took hold of his hand. Just the simple warmth of her touch made his heart beat faster and Jack Shepherd went back to being a shy teenager around her again.

"I'm so sorry Jack…"

"Does it make me a horrible son? Wanting my dad out of my life…"

"Of course not Jack." He realized the tears that had formed in her eyes. "From what you just told me, you were a great son to him. You shouldn't feel guilty about anything."

He gave her a fake smile. "Let's not talk about my father. What about you? I know you said you didn't have any family members left but… How was your childhood?"

"My parents got divorced when I was 10. My dad was a soldier and my one and only hero. We used to do everything together but then my mom just ripped me away from him. The last memory I remember of him is him throwing his suitcase at the back of his car and pulling out the driveway. Without explaining to me what was going on or even saying goodbye. I never saw him again and I never tried to find him. I though that if this man didn't care about me enough to come and visit me at least once, he didn't deserve my love.

My mom got remarried right after my dad left. Wayne… He was a total nightmare. A monster." Kate looked at the distance in disgust, picturing his face in front of her.

She chuckled nervously. "And you want to know what the best part of all this was? On her deathbed my mom decided to tell me the entire truth about my life. She decided that it was the best time to tell me that Wayne was my biological father! Can you believe that? I was 27 for God's sake and for 17 years I had blamed my father for leaving us! Apparently he didn't even want me because I was not even his. I never forgave my mother for this and I never will. She destroyed my childhood…"

"Life dealt us a really easy hand, didn't it?" Jack said after they stayed silent for a while.

She smiled. "Damaged goods… Both of us…"

I couldn't help but put the damaged goods part. I love that scene!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a REVIEW it will mean a lot :)