I AM SOOOO SORRY YOU GUYS! I had a horribly crazy busy Christmas break and my notebook went missing for a long while. But I tried to make a longer chapter for you guys and I hope y'all enjoy Chapter 7:)

Chapter 7

Jack's POV:

Sleep wouldn't come to me. Of corse it's kind of hard to get any sleep when Special Agent Kim Carson is in the room across from you shouting to some poor person on the phone. I'm actually surprised that Maci hadn't woken up because of her. 'Hm... I better make sure she's still asleep.' Now I know what you're thinking. "Jack's being a creeper." I don't think I'm being a creeper.I'm just checking up on the only child of my personal "babysitter" given to me by the FBI. I'm supposed to act like I'm part of the family right? Well I am... I just hope that Kim sees it like I do.

I walked into Maci's room and expected to see pink, flowers, and Barbie everywhere, but that was the exact opposite of what I saw. Maci's room was a deep red color with black wood trimming. All of her furniture, including her little table and chairs, were also made of the same deep dark wood that trimmed her walls. There were also posters of every karate movie I could think of, but most were of the Bobby Wasabi movies. But there was one poster that kind of threw me off. It hung right over her bed and was the first one you see when you walk into the room. I quietly walked over to it to make sure that my eyes weren't deceiving me, but they were telling me the truth. Above this six year old's bed was the movie poster for the movie Junkyard Ninjas starring Bobby Wasabi and introducing Jack Brewer as his new side kick Tommy Tsunami.

I pulled over one of her tiny play chairs and sat down next to her bed. This confused me so much. She liked karate like me, she liked the same ice cream as me, hell she even looks a little like me. 'Get a grip Jack. A lot of people have dark hair and like karate. And mint chocolate chip is practically an original flavor. Billions of people eat that flavor of ice cream. And besides you just met these two today. How the hell could she even be yours? You've only had sex with two people.' I shuddered at that last comment I made to myself. One of those times had been without my consent and I really didn't like to count it. But I had to give myself credit. I know there is no way that this adorable little girl clutching her karate teddy bear to her is my daughter.

I was about to move a strand of hair out of her face when I heard a shuffling near the door. I quickly turned my head towards the noise and found Kim leaning in the doorway. "So what you doing up Brewer?" she asked smirking. "Well Carson," I started smirking back. 'Man she looks really cute when she smirks. Dang it Jack. Keep with the program.' "She had a small nightmare and came to my room asking me to chase away the monsters," I said coming up with the first thing that popped into my head and looked down at Maci. When I looked back up at Kim my heart broke. That cute, childish smirk that she had on her face was completely wiped away into a deep frown and tears were starting to shine in her eyes.

I quickly jumped up and walked over to her as I pulled into a small hug. She rested her head on my should and let out a couple of whimpers and some tears before she lifted her head. She calmly walked out of my embrace and sat down in the chair I had sitting by Maci's bed. She took her daughter's right hand and placed it in her left, while her right hand brushed away her daughter's hair and gently caressed her face. "Kim, what's wrong?" I ask pulling up another chair and placing it to the right of her.

Kim jumped a little at the sound of my voice, probably forgetting for a moment that I was there. "Sorry for that scene. So many things have come up and old memories are starting to resurface. It's just that Maci has been my rock for the past seven years, and to hear that she had asked someone else, someone that she barely knows for that matter, to scare away the monsters and not me, just kind of broke my heart for a moment."

I put my arm around Kim and gave her a small, reassuring squeeze. "I think the only reason she didn't come to you was because you were on the phone and she didn't want to disturb you."

Kim pulled away slightly to look at me. "How did you know I was on the phone?" she asked confusedly.

I chuckled at her confusion. "I think the better question is who didn't hear you." I said with a chuckle still in my tone.

But my amused tone quickly vanished when I saw Kim's face. Her face had completely paled at what I had just said. "How much of that phone call did you hear?" she asked, her tone becoming very serious. I felt horrible she actually looked...scared.

"Not much," I answered quickly. Unfortunately, by her facial expression, I knew she wanted to know more than 'Not much.' "To be truthfully honest, I didn't pay attention after I heard that it was Mika you were talking to. I promise as soon as I heard that name, I got up and closed my door so I wouldn't try to convince myself to snoop."

Her face started to regain color after I explained myself to her. "So you didn't hear any of our conversation?" When I shook my head, she finally started breathing again. "Ok. Thank goodness, because that was a conversation not meant for snooping ears."

Unfortunately for her that caught my attention. "What happened Kim?"

Her eyes started to water as she looked down at Maci again. "It's always hard this time of year for me. In a couple of days, it will be seven years since I had the greatest joy that has ever come to me in my life. But it also makes me remember of what I lost." I looked at Kim confused, then she went on to explain.

I had always had a happy family and was living a perfect life. My mom was a stay at home mom and my dad was in the marines. Luckily he was in a section that didn't get deployed often. He only served two tours, but the second tour didn't end as happily as the first. He had been in Afghanistan for two months when their base was bombed.

I looked at her in shock as tears were starting to trickle down her face. "Di- did he..."

"Die? We don't know." I gave her a confused look and she continued. "Of the forty- six that died, he wasn't one of them. His body was never recovered. According to the military reports he is considered MIA. Their guess was that he somehow survived, but was taken as a Prisoner of War, but they don't have any evidence that suggests that he may be alive."

I looked at her sadly. "Oh my God you poor-"

"Please save your apologies until the end of the story," she said grinning a little even though she still had tears coming down her cheeks. "This didn't just hit me hard, it also hit mom hard too. There were days where she wouldn't come out of her room for days. Eventually, she got to where she couldn't even look at me without bursting into tears. I would come out of my room and on school days and would find money set out for me, just so I would stay out of the house. One day I was walking through our mall and found the Bla-Blue Snakes Karate dojo. I felt like I had a new family there, but I didn't realize how sinister they were until we went to the tournament where I met Maci's father."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "I met him there and instantly fell in love with him. Of course I wouldn't have said that out right though. But I loved what he stood for, how he stood up for his dojo and friends, and especially his determination to keep his promises. I eventually moved to their rinky- dink dojo and immediately made a brand new family. A couple of months into me being at the dojo did he finally grow a pair and asked me out. We were the happiest couple in the world. And I even got my mom to emerge from her room for a couple of minutes to meet him.

Her tears started to flow again, so I tightened my grip on her shoulders and she placed her head on my shoulder as she continued. "We were seven months away from our three year anniversary when he got the call of a lifetime. Besides being a expert at martial arts, he was also an excellent musician. A music producer had a son going to the dojo and heard him singing before a class he was fixing to help instruct. He got offered a chance to record a few demos, maybe make a CD, and maybe go on a small tour. The producer told him that everything would take a year to do, and my boyfriend quickly accepted his offer. But he had one condition."

Kim smiled, "His condition was he would be able to come back for our three year anniversary. The producer kept his promise and he got three days off to spend with me for our anniversary. That's how Maci happened," Kim said looking over and gesturing towards Maci. "When I found out I was pregnant with her I was scared, yet ecstatic. I had something that connected me to the love of my life and I thought she might be the bridge that would help fix mine and my mom's relationship. It didn't turn out that way of course or I wouldn't be here crying into your shoulder. As it turns out, it just pushed my mom's depression even deeper. According to her me having a baby and being as excited as I was about it, reminded her of how happy my father and her were about having me."

She sighed as she worked towards the end of the story. "She kicked me out. Mika and her family took me in until I was up on my feet and able to take care myself and Maci. After a year my boyfriend came back and had me meet him at one of our favorite restaurants. I was so excited to tell him about Maci, and I even thought that he might propose, but it didn't turn out like that. He wouldn't let me get a word in inch wise, and dumped me before I could tell him...about...about..."

Kim burst into tears again. I slipped my arm down from Kim's shoulder to her waist so that I could pull her closer. I brought my right hand up and caressed her face. Her breathing started to even out so I lifted her head until she faced me. "My grandfather had many phrases that he like to repeat to us, but there was one that always stuck with me. 'If you are at peace with yourself, you will be at peace with the world.'" Kim smiled at me.

I slowly leaned in towards her and was just about to kiss her when I heard a rustling coming from Maci's bed. "Momma? Jack? What's going on?"

Kim lifted up from my embrace and went to take care of Maci. 'Dang so close. Wait! What am I talking about! This is purely a professional relationship, it cannot go any further than that. But why do I feel so empty now that she's not near me.'

"Don't worry baby girl, everything's ok. I saw Jack when I came to check up on you. He said that you had a nightmare and that he came in here and chased away the monsters."

I quickly and quietly I picked up the chair and put it back at the table. I walked towards the door and turned around and saw Maci and Kim staring at me. "Mommy, I didn't have a nightmare."

Kim looked at Maci then looked at me. Before she could say anything I quickly cut her off. "Better be going to bed. You've got a meeting tomorrow right? I'll take Maci to the dojo for you so that you don't have to find someone else to. Ok, well see you all tomorrow."

And with that, I turned on my heels and walked out the door.

Well there was Chapter 7:) I know it may sound kind of repetative, but now Jack has an "idea" of what Kim has gone through. Most of Kim's story is true, all except the musician boyfriend, but I know y'all knew that. I will try to get Chapter 8 up as soon as I can:)