Author's Note: Okay, so again real life is kicking my butt. LOL But as a very wonderful fan/reviewer pointed out, my friend P.J. updated her amazing story, so fair is fair! This is a rather long chapter so enjoy!
~JP
True North
By Jaclyn Parker
"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky,
in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."
~Coco Chanel
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Lee tapped his foot impatiently as he glanced from his watch to the clock over the airport baggage claim for the specific airline he was waiting for. He had no idea why he did because it had only been a few minutes since the last time he checked and the news was no better than before.
The flight that J.J. and Sage were booked on was now a whole twenty minutes late. At this rate, he would barely have an hour and half to get them to the hotel and up to the suite to get ready. He just thanked the big man upstairs that the show was an early evening affair that would start off with cocktail hour to entertain the clientele.
"She's going to kill me!" He muttered, raising his hand to his forehead in a weary gesture. "No, correction. She's going to kill the president of the airline and then she's coming after me just for fun."
Lily and her kids had been able to fly out yesterday, Holden staying behind because of some huge to-do over possibly getting a Derby winner as a stud for his horses. They had arrived in the early afternoon and settled into the hotel that was hosting Carly's outdoor fashion show in their overly large and exquisitely convenient pavilion. Mattie and the other MoJo intern, as well as Parker, Abigail, Brayden and some of their friends who would also model, had gone over this morning to finish helping with preparations.
J.J. and Sage were supposed to arrive with Lily yesterday but J.J. ended up having a major last minute calculus final that his teacher had stubbornly refused to let him make-up at a later date. Sage, although incredibly excited to both see her mom again for the first time in over a month and model in the fashion show, had absolutely refused to fly without him. So, they had re-booked to the earliest flight out on Saturday morning and Lee had been chosen to pick them up when they arrived, which suited him fine.
He had originally thought to go hang out with the guys who were modeling, including Parker and Brayden, in their assigned suite on the top floor of the hotel. But all the young men, the oldest still a good 18 to 20 years younger than Lee, were pre-occupied with the Playstation 3 that had been hooked up and the stack of games next to it. Lee had managed to stay a grand total of 30 minutes before he accepted the fact that he preferred a real basketball game to the fake one that had everyone yelling like lunatics at the TV screen.
And while he had been welcomed in main dressing headquarters, he had balked there too. There had been way too much shouting and too many women running around half-dressed in the hotel's large four bedroom penthouse suite for him to feel comfortable staying and still call himself a gentleman afterwards. In the end, it didn't matter, though. When he had given explicit instructions to Molly, Lily, and Carly about not letting Mattie run around in anything less than a full terry-cloth robe that was tightly tied, he had promptly been shoved out of the door and sent to the airport instead.
"Lee!"
The man in question's head shot up at the sound of his name and he grinned to see Sage bouncing on her heels on the escalator, waving like mad. Lee waved back and nodded his head to J.J. who was standing beside her, rolling his eyes. Then Lee's entire body stiffened as he noticed the familiar face riding down along with them.
Jack gave Lee a casual head nod, but there was no mistaking the cat that ate the canary grin on his face.
"Oh, for the love of everything that is holy…" Lee muttered, his eyes widening and his hand dropping to his side. "This is so not good."
Yet, when they reached where he stood, Lee did nothing but grin and say hello while hugging Sage to him briefly.
"Hey, Lee." Jack said, reaching out his hand.
"Hey, Jack. What a surprise!" Lee said, shaking his hand and smiling a smile that he hoped didn't give away how stunned he really was.
"Yeah, I know. I kept thinking about it and thinking about it and finally realized that I couldn't not come. I mean, not only are my kids in the show, but I've never missed one of Carly's fashion shows before." Jack said, shifting his carry-on bag up higher on his shoulder. Lee's eyes followed the movement and recognized instantly that Jack had not come for just the night.
"I, uh, I thought you were on duty all weekend." Lee asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Oh, I was. But I covered for another cop recently and he is paying me back by taking my shift now. Margo signed off on it and here I am." Jack replied.
"Huh…here you are." Lee repeated, making a noise in his throat and blinking hard. "Does, um, Carly know you're coming?"
Even as he asked the question, Lee knew the answer. There was no way that Carly would have been as calm as she was this morning when he left is she had known. Well, as calm as one could be as they yelled out last minute orders to a room of people. In fact, Lee had been worried about Carly's blood pressure but when he had taken it, he had been stunned to find that it was completely steady and normal. Molly had just chuckled and patted him gently on the head, saying something about fashion being Carly's blood.
"Nope," Sage piped up to answer Lee's question, grinning. "Daddy is going to surprise her."
"Oh, you can say that again, Luv." Lee said sending a smile her way even as he felt his sweat glands start to kick in.
A loud buzzing noise sounded and a flashing red light interrupted them.
"Daddy, the luggage thing is moving. Come on!"
Jack gave Lee a slightly apologetic smile and let himself be tugged over to the now moving luggage carousel. Just as J.J. was about to follow, Lee swung his arm around the young teen's neck and gave him a smile that could have passed for a scowl.
"Way to let me know that your dad was coming!" Lee said and he felt J.J. shrug under his arm.
"Dude, I tried to text you, Parker, and Molly as soon as Dad said he was going this morning. Parker was the only one who answered and I only got that message when we landed here!" J.J. said and Lee shook his head.
"Why didn't your brother call me?"
"I don't know!" J.J. said, exasperated. When Lee pulled out his cell phone, he groaned and showed J.J. that it had accidently been turned to silent. Scrolling through, they noted the six missed calls from Molly and Parker, not to mention the fifteen text messages, five of them within the last half hour from a very frantic Parker.
"Your mother is going to freak." Lee said with a sigh, running his hand through his wavy brown hair in frustration.
"You think?" J.J. said, giving him a look but then he became serious. "Hey, Lee, is she going to be okay, health-wise? I mean, this isn't going to send her into an attack like before…is it?"
Lee had grown very serious too and he frowned. "Honestly, this on top of the show…it's not good, J.J. While your mom is one of the strongest women I know, I don't think she could handle both at the same time."
J.J. watched as Jack grabbed their bags when Sage pointed out her hot pink suitcase as it passed by and then J.J.'s own neon green one.
"Then we'll just have to keep them apart until the show is over." J.J. said simply after a moment, shifting his backpack higher on his back. Lee looked at him and J.J. stared back. "It shouldn't be too hard, right? Mom's gonna be in the suite or backstage the whole time and you have to have a security pass to get in those areas, right?"
"Yeah," Lee said and they both stiffened slightly when they noticed that Jack had managed to grab the last suitcase, a large black and red one that was apparently his. "What the hell, mate? I know that you and your sister are staying until Monday to celebrate Mother's Day a weekend late, but what is your dad doing? Staying the rest of the bloody summer?"
"Lee, the way he was whistling the whole car ride to the airport, he's definitely got something up his sleeve." J.J. said, barely finishing his sentence as Jack and Sage walked back over.
"Since when do you let other people get your luggage for you, J.J.?" Jack asked, his voice disapproving.
"Sorry, Dad. I was just asking Lee something and got caught up." J.J. said, reaching out to take his roller board.
"Uh, huh, right. Well, we're good to go." Jack said and clapped a hand on Lee's shoulder. "I hope you have room in your car for an extra person, expected or not."
"Oh, no problem. You're just lucky Molly lent me the SUV or else you'd be walking to the hotel." Lee said, his brain picking up on the subtle sarcasm and giving him a little right back.
Jack blinked and laughed, clapping his hand on Lee's shoulder again. In that moment, Lee knew there had been a small "guy truce" declared. As he drove them to the hotel, however, he wondered how long that truce would last once Jack found out about Carly.
Upon arriving, Lee let the valet take the car and led them inside the expansive hotel. Upon walking to the elevators, he bypassed the first four to reach the far left one where a man with a security uniform silently stood guard.
The small group turned confused looks to Lee, who just smiled back reassuringly.
"The hotel locked off this elevator to go straight up to the penthouse suite where everyone is getting ready for the show. No one can go up without an escort."
"Can't you take us up?" Sage asked and Lee shook his head.
"No can do, Sweetie. But no worries, I messaged ahead for a very special companion."
No sooner had the words come out of his mouth, did the elevator ding and the doors slid open.
"Molly!" Sage cried and hugged the grinning woman tightly.
Lee glanced at Jack and couldn't help but feel a small stab of guilt at the look of disappointment that briefly crossed his face.
"Hey, Molly." Jack said and Molly did a very good job of looking surprised to see him.
"Jack, hi! Welcome!" Molly said and gave him a hug too, then passed on to J.J. "I can't believe you made it. Carly's going to be so surprised."
Lee felt J.J.'s eyes slide to him but he refused to meet the boy's gaze. He was having enough trouble holding back the nervous laughter that was bubbling up inside of him.
"Where is Mommy? Why didn't she come down with you?" Sage asked, peering around Molly into the still open elevator doors as if Carly was hiding in the corner.
"Oh, Sweetheart, she wanted to but she is so busy upstairs. She can't wait to see you though! You ready?" Molly said and almost in the same breath looked up to speak to Jack and Lee. "Sorry, guys, but from this point on it's models, worker bees and the queen bee herself until the show."
"But…" Jack started to say, but Molly was already checking the kids' names off the model list that the security guard had and shooing them into elevator.
"Like I said, Jack, I'm sorry, but we'll see you out on the runway okay? Go take advantage of the open bar during cocktail hour. Lee's name is on the guest list for the show and I'll call down to add you too! Don't worry; I won't breathe a word to Carly!"
Before either man could say another word, the doors started to close and all three inside were waving goodbye.
Jack and Lee stood there a moment before turning to each other.
"So, how about that drink, mate?" Lee asked and Jack frowned a moment before answering.
"Um, yeah, why not? A beer or two couldn't hurt."
"Great!" Lee grinned and cheerfully pointed out the way to the pavilion.
But in his head, Lee was anything but cheerful as he added. 'You're gonna need them.'
Meanwhile, back in the elevator J.J. and Molly had exchanged a few looks over an oblivious Sage's head.
"Nice save down there." J.J. said as they reached the top floor.
"Thanks." Molly said and Sage turned to look at them in confusion.
"What save?" She asked but they both waved her off.
"It's not important, Sage." Molly said and led them down the hallway to the suite where they could hear very animated voices, laughter, and occasionally yelled orders.
When Sage eagerly reached out for the door, Molly placed a gentle but firm hand out to stop her.
"Sage, honey, I know you're excited to see your mom but we need to talk for just a second."
Sage looked at J.J., but when her older brother caught her eyes, he immediately looked away. Frowning she turned back to Molly.
"What's going on? Is something wrong with my mom?"
"No, Sweetie. Actually it's just the opposite. Your mom…she…uh…" Molly stumbled over the words and tried desperately to think of a way to break it to the little girl.
Sage let out an impatient huff and crossed her arms. "Is this about the baby?"
Molly's blue eyes widened and she shot a look to J.J., who now wouldn't meet her eyes.
"You…you know about…" Molly said and Sage nodded.
"Parker called and told me last night, when Daddy went to go get pizza for dinner, so I wouldn't make Mom upset when I saw her. And I know it's supposed to be a secret even if I still don't understand why." Sage said, throwing her last remark over her shoulder at J.J.
"Just trust me, Squirt. It has to be this way for right now." J.J. said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Sage just shrugged and reached for the door again.
"Look, I'm finally getting a baby brother or, hopefully, a sister. I really don't care why it's a secret. Now can I go see my mom?"
"Oh by all means!" Molly said, laughing as Sage shoved open the door and darted inside. Sending up a prayer that all the models seemed at least mostly attired in their first runway outfits, she hurried in after the girl along with a wide-eyed J.J.
"Mommy!" Sage's cry foretold that she had indeed spotted her mother and both Molly and J.J. looked in time to see her throw her arms around Carly, stomach and all. The blonde woman had been in the middle of taking off the light-weight jacket of the beautiful silk suit she wore and still had one arm in the sleeve.
"Sage! Hi, Baby!" Carly said, shaking off her momentary shock and hugging her daughter back just as hard as she could. Seeing J.J. she stretched out her arms and pulled him in to the hug as well.
"Uh, Mom, you're choking me." J.J. said a few moments later, causing her to release her hold and laugh.
"I don't care. I missed you guys so much!" Carly said, a few stray tears sliding down her cheeks and she hastily brushed them away.
"We missed you too, Mom." J.J. said, grinning at her and looking down at her stomach. "Apparently, we missed a lot!"
He hesitantly put a hand on her abdomen and after a second Sage's joined him.
"Is it a boy or a girl, Mommy?" Sage asked, her brown eyes so much like Jack's staring up at her.
Carly didn't question how her daughter was so accepting of this new baby or even how she knew, only relished in the fact that she didn't have to explain it. However, she was certain she had one of her sons to thank.
"I don't know yet, Baby, but I'll find out my next appointment." Carly said, placing her own hand over top of Sage's.
"You're gonna have to stop calling me that soon." Sage said, giggling and Carly's eyes widened as she realized that she was correct.
Molly could see that Carly was suddenly struggling to stay focused and quickly interceded.
"Hey, Sage, there's someone over in the other room with your first outfit and a couple girls by the names Natalie and Faith who have been waiting not so patiently for you to arrive."
"Oh awesome! Bye Mom." Sage said and immediately made a beeline towards where Molly pointed at one of the bedrooms.
"Yeah, Mom, I'm gonna go get ready too. See ya soon. You're gonna do great." J.J. said, giving her another quick hug. Molly told him where the guy's dressing room was and he waved before also disappearing from sight.
Molly watched Carly blink a few times and stepped forward to place a hand softly on her cheek.
"You okay, Cuz?"
"Um, yeah, I'm fine. I was just…" Carly answered then trailed off.
"Thinking about Jack?" Molly said and Carly's own blue eyes shot to meet those of her cousin before letting out a shuddering sigh.
"I'm fine, really, Molly." Carly said and before Molly could say anything else, one of Abigail's friends walked by and caught Carly's eyes. "Wait, uh, Kelly, right?
"Yes, ma'm." The tall redhead said, nodding.
"Okay, hold on one second. Who told you to wear the black heels?"
"Um, Irina, I think." Kelly said, pointing at the other intern that was working with Mattie from MoJo Designs.
"Okay, well, please change into the green ones and then give the black ones back to Stacey." Carly said, trying to remain composed seeing as how this was the third accessory mistake in the last twenty minutes. Giving Kelly an encouraging smile, Carly excused herself and immediately hurried over to have a nice little 'chat' with the intern, every thing else forgotten in that one second except her show
"What's going on? Carly okay?" Lily asked, appearing on Molly's right, startling her slightly.
While the two women would never be best friends, they had put aside their differences in order to work for a common goal; the mental and emotional health of Carly.
"What? Oh yeah, she's fine. For now, anyway." Molly said and Lily gave her an inquisitive look.
"What do you mean, for now?"
"Jack's came with the kids to surprise Carly." Molly said in a low voice, watching the woman of subject "calmly" explain what accessories went with what outfit…again.
"He what?" Lily exclaimed, just barely able to keep her voice quiet as Molly's words sunk in.
"Please don't make me say it again. I might scream if I do." Molly said, grimacing at the thought of how much of it was going to hit the fan in a couple hours.
"Does Carly know?" Lily asked.
"Are you kidding me? Do you want her to go into stress induced labor in the middle of the runway?" Molly exclaimed and Lily shook her head in amazement.
"You know, all these years and these two still have to do things the hard way."
"You said it." Molly agreed and exchanging a look, both women went back to helping out with the models even though their minds on what was going to happen in a few hours.
Everything seemed to progress at a very rapid pace from that moment on. Just over an hour later they were getting the final call to head backstage to start the show.
Lee had originally been placed in the front row, but when Jack had disappeared to 'run an errand' he had managed to trade seats with a couple of boutique store owners for their 10th row seats by claiming he was far-sighted. In actuality, they were still close enough for Jack to see the kids on the runway but far enough that Carly wouldn't see him in the audience.
Noticing the huge bouquet of flowers that Jack had gone to purchase earlier, Lee had never been more relived when he saw Jack coming his way at the beginning of the show. He had thought for a moment that the other man had tried to sneak backstage to see Carly. When Lee had jokingly said his thoughts out loud, Jack had given him a strange look and said that he would have but he didn't want to make her nervous. Lee's mouth had gone dry and in the end he just turned away to watch the show.
Almost an hour and a half later Jack fidgeted in his seat. He knew that Carly's congratulatory bow was coming up soon and prayed the three beers that he had drank with Lee before the show would hold off. But another minute passed and he knew he was doomed.
"I'll be right back." Jack whispered to Lee, who turned a startled look in his direction. Before Lee could say a word, Jack was grabbing the bouquet of red tipped peach roses as he whispered his apologies and he scooted out into aisle. Maybe if he hurried…
But sure enough, just his luck, it was the one time the men's line was as long as the women's. After relieving himself and washing his hands quicker than he thought possible, Jack sprinted back out to the pavilion. But instead of making his way back to his and Lee's seats, he was forced to stay in the back due to the standing ovation that was going on. Even peering over the tops of everyone's heads all he saw was Carly's blonde hair disappear backstage once again.
Finally the emcee for the evening announced the show was over and interviews would start in ten minutes. Jack briefly though about finding Lee again, but just as quickly dismissed the idea. He wanted to talk to Carly alone, without his rival standing guard.
After a few minutes of weaving his way towards the front of the pavilion and stage area, he was grinning from ear to ear. He wasn't surprised that her collection was getting as much praise as it was but hearing it come from everyone around him his the smile turned into a full on grin of pride. He couldn't wait to see her and tell her how amazing she was.
As if by magic, the crowd parted enough for him to slip backstage and almost instantly he heard the voice of the woman he had been searching for.
"Carly, that was incredible. You won't believe…" Jack's voice trailed off as he finally caught sight of the woman he had trying to spot all day.
Carly's face paled as Jack's gaze swept over her body, including her well rounded stomach that was incased in the dusty rose colored maternity pants suit that she had designed.
"Oh my God…Jack." Carly gasped.
However, as much as she tried to get her brain to follow up with something else more intelligent than just his name it suddenly seemed to have turned itself off.
"Carly, what the hell is going on?" Jack said his eyes widening and his voice gaining in volume. When he repeated himself, she swallowed hard.
"Jack, I swear to you…I can explain."
"Carly, is everything okay?" Lily asked as she came around the corner. She stopped suddenly and stared at the scene in front of her. "Whoa."
"No, Lily, everything is not okay!" Jack said loudly, shooting a glare her way.
"Okay, Jack." Lee's voice suddenly cut in and within an instant he appeared at Carly's side along with Molly on the other.
Lily and Molly communicated silently with each other and Lily turned immediately to go intercept the kids and other models and herd them back inside via another route.
"Look, mate, I totally understand your confusion but now is not the time or the place for this discussion."
Jack blinked hard and turned his stunned look on Lee. His eyes narrowed and his grip on the now forgotten roses tightened to the point that a thorn pierced his palm. However, the sting and the subsequent trickle of blood that ran down the side of his hand weren't even felt, as he glared at the other man and the two women left in front of him.
"Excuse me, mate, but I don't think this is any of your business." Jack practically growled at him.
"Actually, Jack, it is very much my business." Lee said. While inwardly acknowledging the shock that Jack must be feeling, Lee could already sense that Carly's blood pressure was beginning to rise by the slight flush of her cheeks and her semi-erratic breathing, not to mention the pulse point he felt as he held her wrist.
"How exactly is that, Lee? Unless that's your...unless she's..." Jack suddenly trailed off and Carly wanted to cry out at the look of betrayal that he gave her. But even though everything inside of her screamed at her to just tell him the truth then and there, if only to erase that ugliness in his eyes, her brain couldn't find the right words and so the silence loomed.
"Jack?"
Molly was the one who spoke up now. Her blue eyes darted nervously to the throng of reporters who were in the final stages of security on their way to interview Carly and then back to the rest of the small tense group.
"Jack, the kids are really excited to see you and I think you could use a distraction right now. They should be done changing soon and then why don't you take them back to the house in my SUV? As soon as the interviews and business end is taken care of here, we'll meet you there?"
Molly held out her set of car keys and jingled them slightly as if to catch Jack's attention. For a moment it looked like he was going to protest, but instead he reached out and grabbed them.
"Parker and Mattie can tell you how to get there and I'm sure we'll be right along." Molly said, ignoring the angry way he had yanked them out of her hand, her eyes flickering to her cousin.
Carly was still frozen in place and the only sign that she was even aware of her surroundings was the tremble that was running its course up and down her body. It was a good thing that Molly and Lee both had hold of her elbows because she was certain that her knees would not support her right now.
Jack looked Carly up and down once more before nodding his head succinctly. Turning on his heel without saying a word, he had barely taken two steps before the reporters rushed in, all clamoring at once for Carly's attention
"Congratulations, Ms. Tenney, your clothing line is a hit!"
"We hear MoJo Designs is already prepping to ask you for a winter collection!"
"Did you know that fashion representatives from three different movie studios were here and they are all raving about you?"
"After your past trials with Barbara Ryan Originals, how do you feel now that your own dreams have come true?"
Carly was aware now that both Molly and Lee had stepped back to allow her center stage, so to speak, as the reporters all waited patiently for her answers to their questions. Just as she was about to open her mouth she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye.
A lush bouquet of peach colored roses with crimson tips peeked out over the lip of one of the backstage garbage cans. Several of the stems were dangling over the side, bent and broken by the force from which they were tossed into the trash.
It took everything she had to turn a smile to the waiting mass in front of her, choosing to look in the direction of the reporter who had asked her the last question. She barely saw him through her watery gaze and she prayed they interpreted the tears glistening in her eyes as happiness instead of the absolute pain clenching her heart and soul.
"How do I feel? I couldn't even begin to describe it."
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Additional Author's Note: So...now that Jack knows Carly's pregnant, we're all square about giving me time to update right? *evil laugh* Reviews are very very welcome ;-)