TURNING A NEW LEAF

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"Jack!"

Jack grinned at the uproar as he made his way around the house. Where his mother had opted for a more formal celebration of his high school graduation, he'd all but begged Emily to ensure their celebration was much more low-key. And he didn't think it could get more low-key than a backyard barbeque.

"Congratulations!" his Aunt Penelope said, coming up to wrap him tightly in her arms.

Jack grinned wider as he hugged her back. "It's just high school, Aunt Penny. I still have college to get through."

"Oh please," she shot back, slapping her 'nephew's' shoulder. "High school was the worst four years of my life."

"Baby Girl, you dropped out of high school."

Jack's grin was more mischievous as he met the eyes of his Uncle Derek. He shook the African-American's hand as Aunt Penelope released him. "Really?"

Aunt Penelope waved her hand dismissively. "I went underground to write Code. If I hadn't done that, I may never have ended up in the FBI. And, for the record, I dropped out of CalTech, not high school. And if Gabi ever hears a word of this, Jack Hotchner-"

"I know, Aunt Penny," he replied with an affectionate roll of his eyes as he moved away. Aunt Jen was next, relaxing against Emily's favourite outdoor lounge chair. He leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"There's our first high school graduate!" she said with a bright smile. "How does it feel?"

"I'm not sure just yet," he replied. "It's still a pretty new thing. How are you feeling? Should you be in the sun?"

Aunt Jen rubbed her bulging stomach. "Baby's kicking like crazy, but that's probably due to all of the excitement."

"He's not going to have it easy," Jack warned with a grin. 'He's going to be the little baby."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Spence always was," Aunt Jen replied cheerfully. "Nate! Let Seth have a turn!"

"Can I get you anything? Lemonade? Water?" Jack offered.

Aunt Jen waved him off. "This is your party, I'll get Spence to help me if I need anything. So find your dad and get the girls out here. It's too beautiful for them to be inside."

"Sure thing," Jack agreed, heading inside.

"Jack!" Emily was in the kitchen wearing a bright smile. "How was lunch?"

"Good," Jack replied. While Emily had been a very good sounding board for the issues that had inevitably arisen between his parents, they had an unspoken agreement that the relationship was for emergencies only. "It was nice. Nan was there. And Gramps."

"I'm glad," Emily said with genuine gratitude. "Your father's upstairs trying to get Calleigh and Kate to gossip outside."

He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. "I'm just glad you haven't burned the kitchen down. I'm surprised Dad left you all alone in the kitchen."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Go. And for the record, your father is barbequing, so there is nothing dangerous about me in here."

"Sure," he replied, nodding seriously and skipping just out of reach of the towel she flicked at him. "Hey Gabs, Annie."

"Jack!"

He held his eyes out for his oldest sibling. AJ held a special place in his heart because she and he had found something he just hadn't seen in Kate, and Seth, for all intents and purposes, was still a baby. He held her tight. It had been a few weeks since he'd seen her. He'd holed himself up at his mother's while he studies for his finals. He hadn't even called her. And he missed her.

"Mom said the ceremony was boring," she said, leaning back while still hugging him.

"It was," he promised. "Get the volleyball and get outside. Pretend you love your family."

AJ sighed. "The boys kept poking their heads into our game," she whined.

He laughed and ruffled her hair. "Boys do that. Go and I'll play with you."

It really had been a long time since he'd spent time with his sister because both Gabi and AJ sprung up and all but raced each other out of the room. He grinned. He had a really good idea of how to remedy that.

He was full, but he was content. He sat flipping through the channels as his father finished tucking his siblings in bed and Emily was cleaning up the kitchen. She'd effectively banished him from the kitchen when he'd offered to help.

He looked up as his father sat down beside him. "Did Gabi stay?"

Aaron shook his head. "AJ's going to stay at Gabi's on Thursday to celebrate the end of school."

Jack nodded, then looked away.

"Is everything okay?" Aaron asked. "You've been off all day."

"Um..." Jack began, "I need to talk to you and Emily about something."

"Em? Jack needs a minute," Aaron called into the kitchen.

Once his stepmother had taken a seat right next to his father, their hands automatically found each other's in Emily's lap. They'd always done that though he hadn't noticed until he'd gotten older. They loved each other and they'd given nothing but love to him and his siblings. It was why he was about to ask them for a huge favour.

"Mom wants to move to New York."

Emily and Aaron exchanged a look. "New York?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah."

"Are you going to transfer to NYU instead?" Emily didn't pull any punches and she never had.

"I don't want to," he replied honestly. "I want to go to George Washington."

It had been a bone of contention between his parents, well, him and his mother. Haley wanted him to go to college in New York, but he'd always had his heart set on George Washington. He'd always liked the DC area, and his siblings were extremely important to him.

"Jack, you don't have to ask us if you want to live here," Emily said, basically reading his mind. "This is your home too and if you think you can handle the craziness of this place, we'll start making you basement room more like your own. We were thinking of renovating down there anyway."

It was the first time in a long time that Jack was glad both Emily and his father read behaviour for part of their careers. "You don't have to."

"Emily's right, this is your home too. If you need to stay here, if you want to stay here, then there's no reason to even ask," Aaron agreed.

"I'm saving for a car too," Jack revealed. "So getting to and from school won't be a problem."

"Jack, we already said 'yes'," Emily chuckled. "You're not a burden on us and we'd never consider you a problem."

"We'll help where we can," Aaron agreed. There was a pause as they exchanged a look. "We're proud of you Jack. Both of us."

"You're sure it's okay?"

"Of course we're sure," Aaron replied. "We'd love to have you here full time. AJ will think its some sort of early birthday present."

Jack bit his lip. "Do you think Uncle Derek and Uncle Dave will help me move my stuff?"

Aaron grinned. "Just tell us when you want to move in and they'll be there."