Author's Note: Hi everyone! I know I've said it before but this time I really mean it...this chapter was a pain in the ass. But it was an extremely necessary one. LOL I do feel like I might have gone slightly off character in a couple places, but I really hope not. Besides, I'll never know if you liked it or not if you don't hit little review button at the end (hint hint). ;-) Anyways, enjoy it!
~JP

True North
By Jaclyn Parker

Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again.
~Rosa Parks
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Carly didn't remember the drive home, the image of Jack and Janet's kiss the only thing she could think about. Yet almost twenty minutes later she was stumbling out of her car towards her front door. Fumbling with the keys, she barely got the right one in the lock because her hands were shaking so badly.

Finally pushing the door open, Carly managed to make her way to the couch to grip the arm and hold on for dear life as the living room swam in front of her vision.

"Carly? Carly, didn't you hear me calling you?" A voice called from the still open doorway and Carly turned her head over her shoulder to pinpoint it.

Lee?

Carly mouthed the name but no sound came out as she reached out a hand in his direction. But then everything seemed to fade out then back in again, her entire body going numb. She suddenly felt Lee's arms around her and guiding her to the sofa.

"Shit." Lee cursed as he felt her forehead and then took her pulse. He watched her chest move in and out in shallow breaths and looked desperately towards the doorway. He had medication in his car to help her but he couldn't leave her alone. Then, as if God had been listening to his silent prayer, he heard footsteps hurrying towards the house and identified the two voices immediately.

"J.J.! Parker! Get in here, now!" Lee yelled and the two boys appeared in the doorway only a split second later. Their faces became ashen when they saw Lee kneeling on the floor by the couch and Carly stretched out upon it.

"Mom!" They cried out simultaneously and rushed forward.

"Listen to me." Lee said, the tone in his voice leaving no room for argument. He knew that they were worried and there would be time for explanations later. Right now, he had to bring Carly's blood pressure down before she had a full on hypertensive attack.

J.J. and Parker dragged their eyes away from Carly and onto Lee, the terror on their faces blatant but their eyes were completely focused.

"Parker, in the trunk of my SUV there is a cooler and inside of it is a large black medial bag. I need you to get it for me immediately. J.J., I need you to get a few washcloths and soak them in ice water then wring them out to put on your mom's neck and wrists. We need to get her temperature down." Lee said and before the last word of instruction was out of his mouth the two boys disappeared to do as he said.

Lee turned his attention back to Carly and whispered to her softly, noting that her eyes were slightly glassy and her cheeks pink with a fever flush.

"Come on, Luv. Just like Lamaze breathing, okay? Nice and even." Lee said and it was a couple of valuable seconds before she started to listen to him.

"I got it!" Parker yelled as he ran back inside the house, the black bag clutched in his hands. Carly winced as the sound of him kicking the door shut behind him echoed like a gunshot in her pounding head.

J.J. entered the room a moment later, the ice cold washcloths outstretched in his hands. To the young boy's credit, he also carried a small bowl with a couple extras covered in ice water.

Both teens handed their precious items to the kneeling man and stepped back, their eyes darting back and forth from the doctor to their mother.

Grabbing the bag, Lee opened it and pulled out a small metallic box that had the appearance of an oversized pencil case. It popped open to reveal several small vials with a clear liquid in them and Lee pulled one out to draw fluid into a hypodermic needle that Parker and J.J. hadn't even realized he was holding.

"I'm sorry, Luv, this is going to burn a little bit." Lee said tapping out a vein on Carly's left arm.

"Lee, shouldn't we take her to the hospital?" Parker asked, watching in disbelief as the man injected the liquid directly into Carly's bloodstream.

"No!" Carly spoke for the first time since she had entered the house even as her eyes closed tightly. Her words came out in gasping breaths but it held determination mixed with light panic. "No hospital. I can't…everyone will know…please, Lee..."

Lee just shushed her and placed his fingers over her pulse, watching the seconds tick by on his watch. If the medication didn't work within the first five to ten minutes of administering it, he knew he would have no choice but to bring her to the hospital despite her protests.

At seven minutes and thirteen seconds in, Lee felt the change in Carly's pulse. He lifted his gaze to her face and noticed that while still paler than normal, the color was returning. Her blue eyes fluttered open and she moaned softly.

"Mom?" J.J. ventured to whisper, the only sound either he or his brother had uttered for the entire seven minutes.

"Mom, are you okay?" Parker added and Carly just frowned, placing a hand on her forehead. She struggled to sit-up but Lee pressed her back into the sofa cushions and shook his head.

"No, Carly, you need to lay still."

"Where…what happened?" Carly asked, trying to ignore the ringing in her ears and the pressure she felt on her chest. She looked up at her sons in bewilderment. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at school?"

"I overheard a couple people talking about the bank robbery." Parker started to explain, his voice full of worry and confusion.

"Parker texted me and we snuck into the teacher's lounge to watch the news. When we saw that Dad had gotten out okay we left and came home." J.J. finished the explanation. A brief glance was exchanged with his brother who just shook his head. It wouldn't do anyone any good to mention what else they had seen while watching the TV coverage.

"The bank…" Carly said and then everything from earlier seemed to flood back to her. Her eyes closed again, this time in anguish, and she lay back down on the pillows. Lee felt her pulse start to rise and he clamped down on her wrist, intent on grabbing her attention before her thoughts spun out of control.

"Carly, stop. You need to stay calm." Lee's voice was as hard as steel and her blue eyes shot open in shock at his tone with her. "I cannot give you another shot of medicine, do you understand me? As it is, we should call Dr. Adams to give you an emergency exam either this evening or first thing in the morning. The drug shouldn't have any effect on the baby, but it's better to be safe."

The baby?

J.J. and Parker silently echoed Lee's words and when Carly's hands immediately went to her stomach her sons' eyes followed the movement. They hadn't even noticed the swell of their mom's abdomen in their earlier panic and the black, empire waist, cashmere sweater had hid the still smaller than average bump perfectly. But as she lay on the sofa gravity, along with Carly's hands, pulled the material tighter and the effect was very startling.

"You're…pregnant?" J.J. said, his wide eyes going from where Carly's hands lay to her face and back again.

"Dear God, Mom! What the hell?" Parker asked, glaring down at Carly. There was a pause and then, "Is it yours?"

Lee was confused by the question until he looked up to see that the teen was staring at him. There was a slight animosity in his voice and eyes that Lee had never seen before. Lee frowned and answered the boy's stare with one of his own.

"No, it's not. I love your mom but not like that. You should know that by now."

While Parker's glare didn't diminish much, there was a flicker of shame behind it.

"Then who…" J.J. trailed off, the question obvious as was the confusion in his voice.

There was silence for a long moment and Carly glanced at Lee before looking to the boys. But even though she opened her mouth to speak, it wasn't her that gave J.J. his answer.

"It's Dad, isn't it?" Parker said, but it wasn't a question. As Carly met her oldest son's gaze she saw that he knew the truth.

"Dad?" J.J. echoed again, his brain still having trouble processing the complications that had just arisen in his life again.

Parker threw him a look of disgust and shook his head, thinking back on the past few months. It was all starting to make so much sense to him. The way his parents had acted after Thanksgiving and Christmas; the way Molly and his mom had been out in LA; the lengths she had gone to avoid Jack since their return. With a sudden burst of clarity, Parker knew the reason why.

"You haven't told him, have you?" Parker said but again it was a rhetorical statement. His jaw clenched and when Carly reached out a hand to touch his arm, he pulled away.

"I can't believe this. I fucking can't believe this! Just for once, can you not screw up? I mean, after all the damn lectures about me being careful, you manage to get knocked up…by Dad! Then, in what I'm sure is another one of your attempts to make things better, you don't even tell him about the baby! This is perfect, Mom. Just what this family needs; more damn secrets!"

Before he could blink, Parker found himself being hauled off of his feet and practically against the fireplace mantle. He vaguely heard his mom's cries but all he could focus on was the fury blazing in Lee's eyes as he pulled him close to his face.

"You think you're a man, talking to your mom like that huh? You think you know everything that goes on, don't you? Well let me tell you something, Parker. You…don't…know…anything." Lee said and Parker felt a chill go down his spine at Lee's next words. "Do you have any idea, how close you came to losing your mom and your new sibling today?"

Parker swallowed hard and the anger that he felt dimmed as he looked over towards the sofa.

J.J. stood with his fists clenched, ready to defend his brother if necessary but he still hovered protectively over their mother. Carly's eyes were wide and her body looked poised to spring into action if Parker needed her too, despite the harsh words he had just spoken. However, Parker saw the paleness of her face and he noticed the tremble in her as she placed one hand on one of J.J.'s fists and the other against her stomach.

Lee must have sensed the change in Parker because he released him and stepped back. But he maintained a strong look with the tense older teen.

"What's wrong with my mom?" J.J. spoke up and after a moment Carly answered him.

"Back when I was pregnant with Sage I was diagnosed with something that made me very sick." Carly started to say.

Parker frowned and he shifted on his feet. He might have been too young to remember specific details but he remembered the worry and the tension that he had felt from all the adults. He remembered that his mom had been in the hospital for a little while and after she had come home, his dad and that guy Mike had hovered around her like she was a ticking time bomb.

"As it turns out, I most likely had it while I was pregnant with Parker too. It's called pre-eclampsia and it's a disorder that…well…" Carly tried to find the words to explain it without scaring either boy.

"It causes a woman's blood pressure to rise to very dangerous levels, especially when under stress." Lee stepped in. Tossing a look to Parker, he motioned for them to sit down again. Parker hesitated a second but the growing concern for his mom, no matter how mad he was with her, took over. He reluctantly sat in the chair by the fireplace while J.J. chose to sit on the couch with Carly and Lee settled onto the coffee table.

"How bad can it get? I mean, Mom, you were practically unconscious when we walked in." J.J. asked and Carly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, sweetie." She said but Lee frowned.

"At the moment, she's fine because I was able to administer a blood pressure medication in time. Pre-eclampsia is extremely serious." He differed, ignoring the look that Carly sent him. Lee knew that her mother's instinct was to protect both boys from the seriousness of her disorder but he also knew that sugar-coating it wasn't going to help anyone at this point.

"How serious?" J.J. asked again.

"Pre-eclampsia can cause strokes, impaired kidney and liver function, blood clotting problems, seizures, and pulmonary edema…that's when there is fluid on the lungs." Lee said, citing the textbook situations.

"What else?" Parker said, quietly knowing in his gut that there was something that Lee was leaving out.

Once again Lee ignored Carly's glare and with a sad frown looked straight into Parker's face.

"In some cases, if the preeclampsia is severe enough, there is significant risk of fatality in both mother and child."

One could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed Lee's statement. All the anger that Parker had been feeling seemed to flow out of his body and he looked at Carly with worried eyes.

"Is my mom's case that bad?" Parker asked and Lee shook his head.

"We don't know. I didn't think so, but today wasn't a good sign. We'll know more after she goes to see her doctor and he runs some tests."

"Is that why you didn't tell Dad? You didn't want him to know you were sick?" J.J. asked and Carly placed a hand on his cheek, smiling softly.

"That was part of it, yes." Carly said.

"What was the other part?" Parker asked.

"I was scared that his reaction would be like the one you had." Carly answered honestly and Parker looked away in embarrassment. Carly reached out a hand to place on his knee and looking back at her he saw no blame in her eyes, only love.

"When were you going to tell him?" J.J. asked and Carly gave a small ironic smile.

"Next Friday; on your dad's birthday. I had a whole surprise planned out. It was going to be perfect…" Carly's voice drifted off and a stray tear slid down her cheek.

Parker stayed silent and frowned. He didn't know what kind of fantasy world his mom had been living in thinking that Jack wasn't going to go completely ape-shit when he found out about the baby anyway. He had a mini melt-down every time she didn't tell him that one of them had the sniffles. And this was slightly more important than a small cold.

"Your mom's doctor and I were hoping that she wouldn't develop the disorder again with this pregnancy and normally we wouldn't have been able to diagnosis it for another couple of weeks. But…" Lee said, trying to reign everyone back in to the point at hand.

"What happened today that made her get so sick?" J.J. interrupted but neither Lee nor Carly answered. J.J. saw something in Carly's eyes and though he wasn't as intuitive as his older brother, he also wasn't stupid. "You saw them, didn't you? Dad and Janet? When they were on the news?"

"J.J., shut up!" Parker said harshly but J.J. ignored him. Parker looked over to Carly and his throat tightened when he realized that J.J. had been right.

Carly nodded minutely, affirming their suspicions but she wasn't about to let them know that she had personal front row seat to the event.

"Son of a…' Parker bit out and Carly's eyes shot up to glare at him.

"Stop, Parker. This isn't your dad's fault. If he wants to be with…" Carly trailed off, trying not to show how badly she was hurting.

"Don't defend him, Mom. For once, just admit that you're pissed at him like the rest of us." Parker said, not understanding how she could stand by Jack after everything. In typical teenaged fashion, his anger and blame had swung to find a new target and Jack was in prime position. "He's doing it again, just like he did it before with Katie and Janet and…"

Parker stopped, glancing down at J.J. quickly before looking at Carly. Her eyes were a clear warning that he'd better quit while he was ahead. There was no reason to bring J.J.'s biological mom into the argument; they both remembered very clearly the chaos that she had brought into their lives.

While it was apparent by the stiffening in his shoulders that J.J. was well aware of the last name that Parker had held off in saying, he let it go and spoke up.

"So what happens now?"

"I don't know." Carly replied honestly and the exhaustion in her voice was clear. While she hadn't wanted her children to find out about the baby this way, the tension of having to keep it secret was finally released. Everyone fell silent and both boys avoided Carly's eyes as their thoughts jumbled around in their heads.

"I think…I think you need to leave."

It was Lee who said the sentence and all eyes flew to him as he took a breath and continued.

"I think you need to get away from Oakdale."

"What?" Carly asked in astonishment. Parker and J.J. just looked at Lee like he had lost his mind.

"Are you crazy, man? Mom can't…she can't just leave." J.J. said, angrily.

"Look, Carly, if seeing one kiss between Jack and Janet made you get this sick what happens if they do get back together?" Lee said, forging ahead while trying to ignore the anger radiating in his direction from her son.

"And what if they don't? What if when Mom tells Dad about the baby he wants to come home?" J.J. replied, still glaring at the doctor.

"So what if he does?" Parker said softly and J.J. turned his glare on his brother.

"What?" The shock in J.J.'s voice spoke volumes.

"So what if that's what happens when Dad finds out about the baby? You think that it's okay that he breaks up with Janet again just to play big happy family with us because it works out for him? How is that fair to any of us?" Parker said, trying to explain his feelings. "And what about everyone else? You think they are going to cut Mom any slack this time after Dad just went and played hero for his ex-fiancée on TV? Complete with superhero kiss? Yeah, right!"

Parker could see that his brother was trying to ignore everything that he was saying. He knew that even though he didn't proclaim it every five minutes like Sage, J.J. really wanted their parents to be back together. Truth was, normally Parker would be third in line for that wish, but he didn't want it at the expense of living in a house with underlying resentment and people playing roles they thought they should play. He was old enough to realize that their family was all kinds of messed up and wishing that a baby could fix everything was just for kids. It was time J.J. realized it too.

Looking at J.J.'s troubled face, Parker tried to lighten the cold dose of reality that he had just thrown on his younger brother.

"Besides, dude, think about it. The first crack that someone like Vienna makes, you know Mom's gonna start swinging and that can't be good for the baby."

While Lee had to cough to cover his laugh, J.J.'s lips didn't even twitch at the semi-joke. Parker turned to look at Carly, whose face clearly expressed that she couldn't believe her ears.

"Mom, I really think Lee is right. You…you need to leave Oakdale. At least, just until you're stronger. Then you and the baby would be okay."

Parker looked at Lee and frowned. "Right?"

"Statistically speaking, in case histories of pre-eclampsia during a third pregnancy the odds already start at 20 to 25 percent against. So like any pregnancy, the longer the baby has to develop the better the chances for survival. And in order to do that, blood pressure must be maintained at a very even level with no unnecessary stress."

Parker nodded his thanks to Lee, their earlier altercation forgotten in the common goal to make Carly and J.J. see their reasoning. Parker looked to his younger brother again, his eyes pleading with to understand and help him out. But J.J. looked away, a deep frown marring his face.

And yet, while J.J. hated even thinking about it, he knew deep down that Parker was right about the town turning on their mom again. His fists clenched as he remembered some of the things that people whispered about her back when his dad had called off the wedding with Janet in the fall. Though J.J. and his siblings knew that it hadn't been Carly's fault, it didn't seem to matter. People were always ready to assume the worst about her.

They didn't see the mom who was always ready to sit down and play a level on the Xbox with them, even when she had books to do for Metro.

Or the mom who sat patiently while they ranted about how hard their homework was and then promptly just helped them move on to the next problem.

Or the mom who, even when she grounded you, still peeked into your room to whisper that she loved you.

They weren't there to see the way she fought for him when he had been kidnapped two years ago, even when most people would have given up. He wasn't going to let the hypocrites of Oakdale watch her life fall apart again. It was his turn to fight for her, in the only way he knew how.

"Mom, Parker's right. It won't be long, just until you can get a little stronger and then you can come home and we'll figure everything out together. As a family." J.J. said and exchanged a small smile with Parker.

Carly looked between the two of them, her jaw slack and her eyes wide.

"You…" She stuttered and then shook her head. "This is crazy. Where would I even go?"

"L.A." Parker said after a moment and both Lee and J.J. nodded.

"Yeah, Mom. You could design that collection for that lady." J.J. said, getting to his feet and starting to pace slightly. Ironically enough, it was a learned behavior that he had inherited from Jack. "We know you've been working on them even if you tried to hide your sketches."

"You could live with Molly. She has tons of room and she already knows about the baby." Parker added.

"It's perfect, Luv. I'm sure Dr. Meyers would be able to take you on as a patient, especially when she helped you out the last time. I'll even give her a call today and let her know that you're coming." Lee said and Carly held up her hands.

"Whoa! Slow down! I never said I was going. In fact, the whole idea is ridiculous." Carly said, shaking her head and glaring at all three of them. "First of all, I refuse to run away from this. Second of all, I will not leave my children again."

"Mom, it's okay…" J.J. said, sitting down on the couch next to her again. Lee moved so that Parker could take his place on the coffee table in front of Carly.

"No, it's not. I promised you I wouldn't leave you. I lost so much time with you when I left before." Carly said and placed a palm of her hands on either cheek of J.J. and Parker. "I can't do it again."

"Mom, this is different. We'll know where you are and we'll even get some kind of, oh I don't know…video telephone or something." J.J. said, shrugging.

"Besides, it's not forever. I heard you tell Molly that the fashion review of the collection would be at the end of May, right?" Parker said and at Carly's nod he continued. "Well then, you can just come home after that. Or if you need more time, it'll be summer vacation and we can come out and stay with you."

"What about camp? It'd be your first year as a counselor and J.J.'s last year as a camper." Carly said, realizing they were serious if they were talking about missing their beloved overnight camp.

"Get serious, Mom! Do you know how many awesome surf camps are in LA?" J.J. asked and at his exuberance Carly gave the first sign of a smile since the discussion had started.

"Yeah, I could just get a summer job out there. Maybe even lifeguard on the beach since I got certified last summer." Parker said and for a moment, his eyes glazed over thinking about all the girls in bikinis he could be rescuing.

Carly's lips twitched again as she knowingly caught her older son's eye and he blushed. Then a thought hit her and the smile disappeared.

"What about Sage? She's too young to understand any of this. I wasn't even sure how to tell you two."

"We'll help you explain it to Sage, Mom." Parker said and J.J. nodded. "But I think maybe it's best that we don't tell her about the baby yet. I love the kid and all but she's a little more…enthusiastic…when it comes to you and Dad."

There was another long pause and then Carly gave a complete, albeit small smile. Placing a hand on her gently rounded stomach she looked up at her sons, who seemed to have grown up so much in the past forty minutes or so.

"If I go, I want to talk to you every day. I don't care what time it is and I don't care if it's just long enough for you to roll your eyes at me and say hi. Do you understand me?"

"Deal." Parker spoke for all of them.

J.J. and Parker returned her smile and they bent down to hug her briefly. Lee watched in professional and personal satisfaction that, at least for a little while longer, his friend would be healthy in this pregnancy.

"Great," Carly said sighing and running a hand through her curls. "Lee's explained the medical part of the decision to you; you've explained your personal reasons for the decision to me; and we're going to explain it all to Sage together. The only thing left is how do I explain it to Jack?"

"I don't know, Mom, but I'd think of something pretty soon because..." J.J. said, turning to the rest of them from where he had moved to look out living room window.

The ringing of the doorbell echoed through the room a split second later and they all turned to stare at the silhouette behind the frosted glass of the front door.

J.J. swallowed slightly and finished his earlier statement.

"…Dad's here."