A/N: Hey, guys, I know it's been forever since I updated, and I'm soooo sorry, and I have a few pathetic excuses that aren't even worth sharing, because not updating is inexcusable!

WARNING: A bit of crude language from Jo's dad, so sorry about that, but I thought it worked with the whole thing, so just watch out for that :)

Chapter 9: A Christmas Chaos

"Merry Christmas!" Carlos called out as he bounded into the living room, his grin fading slightly as he looked around the room as everyone, including Lucy, Camille and Stephanie, we're all sitting around the apartment, talking or entertaining themselves.

"Try talking a little louder, Carlos," Logan said sarcastically "I don't think you woke up the homeless people at the end of the street!" Carlos, however, hadn't payed any attention to Logan, and was still looking around at the others,

"Was I the last person awake again?" he asked, his brown eyes widening.

"Yeah," James chuckled "we thought we'd have to start opening presents without you!"

"What are you talking about?" Kendall smiled, bouncing Lacey on his lap," we did!"

"What?" Carlos cried, looking, wide eyes, at Mrs Knight, who struggled to keep a straight face.

"Yeah, Carlos," Logan put in "we figured you didn't want your presents, do we have the to charity," Carlos' eyes widened, and Mrs Knight clipped Logan over the head.

"Logan!" she scolded, trying not to laugh along with him.

"He didn't, did he, Mama Knight ?" Carlos asked, his bottom lip trembling,

"Of course not!" Mrs Knight laughed.

"Oh, Carlos," Stephanie smiled "you're so gullible!"

"Am not!" Carlos pouted "What does gullible mean again?" he asked Logan, who rolled his eyes.

"Gullible means you fall for tricks easily," Jo explained, smiling.

"I do not!"

"Do to!" James retorted.

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do-"

"OK!" Mrs Knight announced "if you guys wanna open presents before breakfast, then we'd better get started,"

"Exactly!" Carlos said, looking expectantly at Mrs Knight, who laughed.

"Go on," she chuckled, and Carlos squatted on the ground in front of the Christmas tree, scanning the presents in front of him. He picked up the first present, squinting at the name tag.

"To Logan, from Camille," he smiled, handing the present off to Logan, who accepted it, staring down at it as he opened it, embarrassed, as all eyes watched him. He smiled as he looked down at an electronic photo frame, captivated as he watched photos of the two of them scroll by.

"Oh, Camille, honey, I love it!" he got up and made his way over to the armchair where Camille was sitting, and put his arms around her neck, kissing the top of her head. "Thank you,"

"Aww!" chorused Jo, Stephanie and Mrs Knight, while Katie, James and Carlos made gagging noises.

"Next present!" Carlos yelled, startling Logan and Camille out of their embrace and kiss. "To Lacey, from Santa!" he read aloud, smiling as Kendall bounced Lacey on his knee again.

"Did you hear that, baby girl?" he asked in a baby voice "You got a present from Santa!" Lacey looked at her father, bewildered, her head cocked to the side. Kendall accepted the parcel from Carlos, and he and Jo opened it for Lacey, who watched in awe as Kendall untied the ribbon, revealing a soft teddy bear with a pink bow around its neck.

"Look that, Lacey baby," Kendall smiled, looking down at his daughter, who had the red Christmas ribbon in her hands, and was playing with it.

"Oh, Kendall," Mrs Knight chuckled "I think she likes the ribbon more than the present!"

"Does not!" Kendall pouted, trying to get Lacey to play with the teddy bear as Carlos pulled out the next present,

"To James, from Lucy,", the preset giving went on like this until the floor was littered with Christmas wrapping and everyone was chatting excitedly about their presents.

A while later, there was a knock on the door, and Kendall got up from his position with Jo and Lacey on the floor to answer it.

He looked through the peep hole, squared his shoulders and opened the door,

"Good morning, Kendall," Kendall stiffened as Mr Taylor spoke; he was being polite, but Kendall couldn't help putting up his defenses.

"Good morning, sir," he tried to keep the stiffness out of his voice as he held the door open "please, come in,"

"Thank you, Kendall," the hostility in Mr Taylor's voice made Kendall's blood boil, and he swallowed hard to keep himself calm,

"Everyone," he announced "Mr Taylor is here,"

"Good morning, Mr Taylor, I trust your flight was good?" Kendall gave a double take as his mother spoke; she was using her sarcastically sweet voice, something that she only reserved for Mr Bitters or Gustavo, and Kendall almost laughed aloud at the way Mr Taylor's face contorted at the sickly sweet dribble coming from Mrs Knight.

"Yes, it was fine, thank you, Mrs Knight," Jo's father smiled; a harsh, crooked smile that could have been mistaken for a grimace. Jo stood by the couch, and Kendall looked around to see that Camille was sitting cross legged on the floor, and had Lacey cradled safely in her arms, hidden party by the Christmas tree. Kendall could have sworn Camille caught his eye and smiled encouragingly.

"Hello, Josephine," Mr Taylor said, and Kendall instinctively wrapped his arms around Jo's shoulders as she shrank back against the coldness in her father's voice; Kendall knew it wasn't his place to stand up against Mr Taylor, given that the man was much older than he was, and was allowing Jo to stay with them, but ever since his father died, Kendall had always felt like he had to be the man of the house, even more so, now that he was a father himself.

"Hi, dad," Jo tried, and Kendall could tell, even before the words were out of her mouth that things hadn't changed between them;

"Excuse me?" Mr Knight snapped.

"Good morning, sir," Jo stuttered, and Kendall's heart ached at the way she was shaking, and how afraid she was of her father.

"Kendall?" Kendall snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to face Jo's father.

"Yes, sir?"

"A word?" the older man asked eyeing Kendall's arms, which were clutched protectively around Jo's thin shoulders, and he withdrew them immediately.

"Of course, sir," Kendall kissed the top of Jo's head, and she gave him a nervous smile before going back into the living room as Mr Taylor led the way into the hall "What can I-?"

"Just listen." he said in a low voice "Look, kid, I know you love my daughter, and I respect that," he said, almost casually "I've made allowances for that, too many if you ask me; I forgave you when you broke Jo's curfew, I forgave you when you took her to the prom and ignored my word, I even forgave you when you broke her heart by leaving for tour and then coming back months later, only to confront her because you didn't trust her," Kendall's stomach gave an angry churn "but I will never forgive you for what you've done, for getting her pregnant at 18!"

"Sir, I-" Kendall began.

"Do not interrupt me, boy!"

"Excuse me, but I'm not a-"

"Not a boy, eh?" Mr Taylor said, stepping closer to Kendall "A boy would argue against those older than him, a boy would blatantly throw around his girlfriend, and a boy would knock her up before she's even considered a woman!"

"Please, I-"

"You're doing it again, Kendall," Mr Taylor said "boys don't beg, boys don't have any respect for their girls at all, and before they know it, they're a scared little kid with a girl they don't even remember the name of, and a bastard child!"

"Excuse me?" Kendall snapped. "Don't talk about my baby that way!"

"Your baby, huh?" Mr Taylor challenged "who's the one that was man handled and ended up pregnant? Who's the one who had to deal with all that crap while you were touring the country! Who was the one who gave birth to it? There's no way it's yours, Kendall," Mr Taylor snarled, inches from Kendall's nose and breathing heavily "it's just your mistake,"

"Take it back!" Kendall snapped, balling his fists .

"Take it back? That's a boy's answer! Grow up, son, you don't even deserve to have my daughter in your life!"

"How dare you?" all of Kendall's manners disappeared as he shouted at the man before him, whose face was contorted with rage. "You abused your own daughter when she needed you the most, and you kicked her out onto the street, you totally don't deserve a girl as wonderful as she is, and you do not deserve to see your grandchild!"

"You listen here!" Mr Taylor growled.

"No," Kendall shouted "you listen! I'm sick and tired of you abusing your daughter, and it kills me to see way she cowers under you, and the way she tries so hard to make you love her again, but you refuse to forgive her-" before Kendall could even finish his sentence, he had been shoved onto the ground, flat on his back, the sting of Mr Taylor's punches burning his cheeks as he tried to get the older man off him. Kendall wrestled Jo's father under him, and threw a punch to his jaw, hearing the Mr Taylor grunt under the impact. Suddenly, there was a shriek, and a call of, "Mrs Knight!" and Kendall felt himself being pulled off the other man, his arms and legs flailing as he fought to get at him again.

"Let me go!" he shouted "Get off of me!" he yelled at his mother, who ignored him, and struggled to keep her grip around his middle as Kendall glared at Mr Taylor, who had scrambled to his feet, and was now dusting himself off, muttering, "Boy's reaction,"

"Get out!" Kendall bellowed, unable to contain himself "Get away from my family, and never come back!" he continued to fight as his mother wrestled him into the apartment, but stopped when he noticed Jo standing by the door, her eyes filled with tears and her body shaking. Kendall shrugged off his mother and stood in front of her, his heart aching as though it was burning.

"Jo," he murmured, but she put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Don't," she sniffled, taking a deep breath "you were right; he was still violent, and if I had let him get a hold of Lacey, I-" she sighed "but look at you, you're all bloodied up," she ducked into the kitchen, grabbing a damp washcloth and dabbing it on his mouth, sighing as he flinched.

"Ow," he inhaled sharply.

"You've got a split lip," she said gently, running a hand through his hair.

"Does that mean no kissing?" Kendall asked, his bottom lip bleeding as he spoke. Jo sighed and nodded as she dabbed at it with the cloth

"Except for this," she smiled, standing on her toes and planting a gently but loving peck on his lips. "Thank you, Kendall," she gave a watery smile "I love you,"

A/N: So there you go guys, now I know Mr Taylor is a bit out of character, but I had so muh fun making him mean, so yeah :) also, I'm sorry if I called him Mr Knight in places, I think I fixed it all but I may not have :)