Author's Note: Okay, so I know many of you are upset about how things are between our beloved duo, especially about Carly not telling Jack the truth, but when have they ever done anything the easy way? And as much as I get certain urging, this story is pretty much completely laid out so it's gonna go how it's gonna go. Just sit back and hang on for the ride! LOL

Anyways, this is one of my favorite chapters, probably because it invovles Sage (who I adore). I honestly love the relationship that Sage has with both her parents, often providing that reminder of that beautiful Montana bond that is the real Jack and Carly. Plus I like the fact that she gets to be a little girl on the show, but can still be more observant than most of the adults. So please enjoy as our favorite CarJack "production" once again takes the reins!
~JP

True North
By Jaclyn Parker

Mother - that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries.
~T. DeWitt Talmage
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Placing the file down on the coffee table in front of him, Jack ran both hands over his face as he leaned back on the sofa. Who was he kidding? He might have read up to the third paragraph but he'd be damned if he understood anything it said.

Stretching he glanced at the clock and double blinked when he realized it was already quarter to midnight. He momentarily entertained thought of going upstairs to the bedroom but then immediately dismissed it, grabbing another file. Since he had been staying at Milltown with J.J. and Sage, most nights he was okay. But sometimes the memories of him and Carly threatened to overwhelm him.

Tonight was one of those nights.

It had been almost three weeks since the night back in L.A. where he had left Molly's house so abruptly. It had taken him a full week when he returned to calm down enough to manage a civil conversation with practically anyone and even now, people still tended to veer away from him if they saw him coming.

By far, the worst of it was the almost non-existent relationship between him and Carly. They barely spoke two words to each other if they didn't have to and even then they communicated through a third party like Molly, Lily, and even Emma had been dragged into it again. But of everyone who was feeling the tension, a lot of it unfortunately landed on the kids.

While Parker and J.J. had apologized and firmly agreed not to interfere in matters between their parents again, it was obvious that something was still weighing heavily on their minds. Yet, no matter what assurances Jack gave that he was not angry at them, neither boy was willing to let him in on what was bothering him.

It had been an even harder adjustment for Sage, who was so thrilled about a new sibling that she had constantly talked about the baby at first. It was only lately that she seemed to recognize the tension the subject brought with it around Jack and she had visibly toned down her excitement. It pained him to see that his children had to keep their feelings in check around him but he couldn't help the emotional tornado that swirled inside of him every time he thought of Carly and the new baby.

Shaking off the melancholy direction his thoughts were heading, Jack turned his attention back to his files. He was halfway through a page, jotting down an occasional note when he heard the second stair creak. Turning around, he peered over his shoulder and was startled to see Sage standing at the foot of the stairs, in her pajamas and with sleep tousled hair, staring back at him.

"Hey Princess, what are you doing up?" He asked softly. Sage shrugged as she stepped forward from the shadows thrown by the dim lamp. "Can't sleep?"

Again Sage just shrugged but followed it with a shake of her head, not saying a word. Jack patted the sofa and after a brief hesitation she padded over to settle herself down beside him. He wrapped an arm around her and smiled as she snuggled into his side.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Jack asked but Sage remained silent, biting her lip as she did.

Jack looked down into her small heart shaped face and sighed. "It's okay to tell me if you did. Everyone has bad dreams sometimes."

Sage began twisting something in her hands and his gaze lowered to see what it was. He frowned slightly as he recognized the cream colored silk scarf that Carly had worn with her pink business suit the day of the fashion show. He inhaled a little and felt his gut tighten when he detected the smell of her perfume still attached to the small piece of fabric.

"You know what's also okay?" Jack asked quietly. Sage looked up at him, her brow furrowing in a small questioning look.

"Missing your mom." Jack finished and Sage bowed her head, but not before Jack could see the light sheen of tears form in her hazel eyes.

"J.J. says I'm just being a big baby." Her voice was so quiet that Jack almost didn't hear her. He frowned as he thought of his normally very sensitive son saying something like that and knew that in all probability he was taking out his own frustrations on his little sister.

"Hmmm, but J.J. isn't the one who's going to be going away to summer camp in three weeks, is he?" Jack asked and Sage sighed, shaking her head.

"No, he'll be in California with Mommy." She said, the trace of bitterness in her voice causing Jack to look at her in surprise.

"Sage, you said you still wanted to go to summer camp this year. You know you could have gone out to be with Mom instead if you wanted to." Jack said and she frowned.

"No, I do. I do want to go to camp it's just…" Sage trailed off and sighed deeply, wringing the poor scrap of silk so tightly that Jack thought she might tear it in two.

"It's just different when everybody is so spread out, huh?"

"Yeah," Sage nodded and then looked up at him, her small face scrunching up in concern. "And you'll be here all alone."

"Oh Baby, I'll be fine." Jack said, hugging her to him quickly and dropping a kiss on top of her hair. "I promise. Don't worry about me. In fact, all you need to worry about is making me that new paper weight for my desk you promised me. My old one is too light."

"Daddy, you're so weird sometimes." Sage said, rolling her eyes but when the gesture came with a smile, Jack just smiled back.

They were silent for a moment before Sage looked up at him again, her eyes bright and unassuming.

"Daddy, why are you so mad at Mommy because of the baby?"

Jack was taken aback by the question and tried not to show how much it threw him.

"No, Sage, I'm not…I'm not mad at her. I was…surprised when I found out, that's all, and I guess I haven't gotten used to the idea yet." Jack said and Sage furrowed her brow.

"Do you think Mommy going to marry Lee now?" She asked.

"I don't know, Honey. I honestly don't." Jack answered her.

"I still think she should marry you." Sage said firmly, wiggling into his side a little more, and Jack cleared his throat.

"Sage, your mom loves Lee. If that's who makes her happy then we need to support her no matter what." He said even though his stomach turned as he spoke.

Jack might have said the words aloud but he wasn't entirely sure he meant them. He also pretty sure that he hadn't meant what he said a moment ago when he told Sage he wasn't mad at Carly either.

"But I don't think Mommy loves Lee. Not like love in the movies and stuff. They never kiss or hold hands or anything like that." Sage said, still perplexed. Jack closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. If it was one thing he didn't want to do, it was picture Carly and Lee together in any capacity, but especially not as lovers.

"It's…complicated, Sage. You'll understand when you're older." Jack finally said after he struggled to find an answer. He knew it was a copout and apparently so did Sage because she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Daddy, I'm eleven, not stupid."

"Yeah, well," Jack said and poked his fingers into her ribs causing her to laugh and wiggle away from him. "You're not eleven for another two weeks, young lady. Let's not rush things, okay?"

"Okay, okay!" Sage giggled and Jack stopped tickling her, but the smile stayed on her face as she snuggled back against him again.

"So, Princess, you ready to go back to bed?" Jack asked and he immediately felt her stiffen and he watched the smile disappear off of her face. She shook her head fiercely, not bothering to hide the fact that her bed was the last place she wanted to go.

"Do you wanna tell me about your nightmare? It might help." He asked and hugged her gently. But she just shook her head again and a look of extreme anxiety crossed her face. Jack sighed and placed his cheek on top of her hair. "Sage, honey, why don't you try reading a chapter in your new book? Or I can sing to you, if you want?"

The child stayed silent at both suggestions and made absolutely no move to get up from the couch. He was about to give in and just let her stay on the couch with him until she dozed off when she shifted to look at him.

"Mommy always makes me hot chocolate when I have bad dreams. Then we tell each other really bad jokes to see whose is worst until I feel better." Sage finally said quietly. She twisted the scarf again and sighed. "I guess that's pretty stupid, right?"

"No, Sage, it's not stupid at all. Your mom…she has a special way of making things better huh?" Jack said, kissing the top of her head when she nodded before ducking her head again.

This time he felt her thin shoulders shudder as she tried to force the tears back. He stared down at his daughter for a long moment before nudging her with his hip.

"I tell you what. It's only a little after nine out in California. I bet your mom is still awake. Do you want to try and give her a call on the video phone?"

At the way Sage's eyes lit up, Jack knew he had made the right suggestion and he shooed her over to the desk by the door where the equipment was set up. Jack let Sage dial the number and after a few rings, the video screen was activated.

Molly's face and upper torso appeared on the 15"monitor with a pair of glasses perched on her nose and a pen sticking out of her mouth. She looked to be in the middle of writing at the desk where their video phone was set up. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of Sage and Jack on the other end.

"Hey guys. What's up?"

"Hey, Molly. Is Carly around? Someone here was really missing her." Jack said and Molly arched her eyebrow.

"You or Sage?" Molly quipped and Jack frowned, even as his daughter snickered. Molly rolled her eyes and winked at the Sage. "She actually just went into her room. Hold on one second, lemme go get her."

Molly disappeared from the screen and they could hear her calling to Carly, whose muffled voice answered back. A moment later Carly entered the background of the screen, dressed in a deep teal colored business suit with her hair pulled up by an elaborate yet tasteful clip. She pulled the clip from her hair and let the curls tumble past her shoulders as she settled into the chair that Molly had been in previously.

Her face registered a moment of surprise and wariness when she saw Jack standing beside Sage but she quickly regrouped and focused on her daughter.

"Hi, Baby! What in the world are you doing up so late?" Carly asked, her eyes sparkling. Even though she was worried, the delight at seeing her child was written all over her face.

"I wanted to talk to you." Sage said simply and Carly raised her eyebrow in a motion similarly to her cousin's a few minutes ago.

"At midnight? On a school night?"

Sage shifted in the chair and Jack placed his hand on her hair. "She had a bad dream."

Carly's eyes traveled over Sage's face and immediately noted how her daughter was no longer meeting her eyes.

"Sage," Carly's voice was in "mom-mode" and Sage winced. "Did you play that Silent Hill game on J.J.'s Xbox again?"

Sage shifted on the chair again and she gave a tiny shrug. Carly let out a small sigh and met Jack's eyes. Even though a video connection the message exchanged was the same.

J.J. was in major trouble.

But first things were first and right now their daughter was having nightmares about mutilated bodies and other horrific images. And while she always tried to show she was as tough as her older brothers, in the end she was still a 10 year old little girl.

"Okay, kiddo. I know I'm not there but here's what we're gonna do. Your Daddy makes the best hot chocolate in the world after me, of course." Carly said and Sage's lip twitched in a smile. "While he's doing that you need to answer me a couple questions, okay?"

"Okay." Sage said, quietly.

"All right, first question." Carly said and leaned forward closer to the screen. "Why did Beethoven get rid of his chickens?"

Sage shrugged and Carly wiggled her eyebrows.

"Because they kept saying Bach, Bach, Bach!"

"Mommy that was so bad!" Sage said rolling her eyes but she was laughing anyway. Her eyes sparkled in the same way Carly's were as she too leaned forward. "What do you get when you cross a sheep and a bee?"

"I give up." Carly said, shrugging.

"A bahhhh-humbug!" Sage said, before giggling at her own joke. Carly groaned, but she laughed like Sage had earlier at her bad joke.

"Ugh, that's going to be hard to beat. Let me think." Carly said and her eyes casually looked over to Jack. He nodded at his dismissal cue and as he moved away towards the kitchen to get Sage's hot chocolate, he could hear the girl laugh at the response joke her mother had come up with.

Twenty minutes later, Jack was looking up from his spot back on the couch at the sound of a yawn. Sure enough, even as Sage struggled to get out her turn at a joke her eyes were dropping and flying open again.

"Why does a bike…have to stand on one leg?" She asked, pausing midway to yawn again.

"I have no idea." Carly said, smiling in satisfaction when Sage had to shake her head slightly to focus.

"Because it's two-tired." She finished and grinned when Carly let out another soft groan.

"Not that is impossible to beat. And very appropriate since I think you are more than ready to go to bed." Carly said and Sage frowned.

"But…" The little girl began to protest, but Carly held up a hand.

"Do you have the scarf I gave you?" When Sage held it up in her hands, Carly smiled. "Then I promise you won't have anymore bad dreams. Anyway, how can you with jokes about elephants sitting on clocks and roosters laying eggs in your head?"

Sage giggled and then sighed. She reached out to place her fingertips on the large monitor and whispered, "I really miss you."

"Oh, I miss you too, Sage. So much." Carly replied, bringing her own fingertips up to meet Sage's on the screen. "But I'll see you when Lee brings you and J.J. out for your birthday weekend. That's only a litte over a week away. Plus, I've kept my promise about calling you at least once a day, right?"

Sage nodded but still blinked rapidly, trying to withhold the tears that threatened to fall. The gesture made Carly's heart twist and she let out a sigh as she searched for a way to help her daughter even from two thousand miles away.

"I tell you what. How about you sleep in my bed tonight, okay? You just have to make sure you set the alarm for school." Carly said and Sage frowned.

"But I can't. Daddy sleeps there."

Carly's face registered new surprise that she quickly tried to hide when Jack finally made his way over to be in view again.

"It's okay, Honey. I'll be fine on the couch tonight. I still have a lot of work to do down here anyway." He said, tucking a strand of long brown hair behind Sage's ear when she looked up at him. "But you need to get some sleep and I'm sure your mom does too."

"Okay." Sage said and turned her attention back to Carly. "Goodnight, Mommy. I love you."

"Goodnight, Sweetie. I love you too. Always and forever."

Sage waved and slipping out of the chair she headed for the stairs.

"Jack?" Carly called out and Jack bent down to meet her eyes through the monitor. "I'm sorry about the bedroom thing. I just assumed you were staying in the guestroom."

"No, it's fine. Um, will you wait a few minutes while I go tuck her in? I want to talk to you."

"Jack, it's getting late and…" Carly sighed, her eyes betraying her weariness and lack of ability to fight.

"I know but it'll only take a minute. Please?" Jack said and the small plea she heard behind his voice startled her.

"Sure, Jack." Carly nodded slowly and he returned the gesture before following Sage upstairs.

Putting the little girl to bed was much easier than he anticipated as she fell asleep practically as soon as her head hit the pillow. Clutching Carly's scarf to her tightly, Sage let out a soft sigh when Jack bent down to kiss her cheek.

When he made his way back downstairs, he paused on the last step to watch the image of Carly on the video phone screen. Her elbows were on the desk and she was leaning forward to press the heels of her palms to her eyes.

"Carly?" Jack called her name quietly as he sat down in the vacant desk chair. Her head shot up and she quickly brushed the tears off of her cheeks. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. I just…" Carly said and took a deep breath. "sometimes this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I miss them both so much."

"They miss you too. But they understand about you having to be out there to do your collection and they are really proud of you. We all are." Jack said and Carly's eyes widened before she let out a shaky smile. That was the nicest thing he had said to her in almost a month. In fact, this was the most civilized conversation they had in the same amount of time.

"Thank you, Jack." She said, the sincerity in her voice causing Jack to shuffle his feet under the table uncomfortably.

"Then again, J.J. is probably going to wish he was already out there with you double time when I get through with him." Jack said, clearing his throat and changing topics. "Why he lets her play that game when he knows that it gives her nightmares, I just don't know. What was he thinking?"

"Oh don't be too hard on him until you get all the facts." Carly said, smiling softly, the first real one in weeks. "Call it mother's intuition but I have feeling that our 'little miss innocent' might have played that game without anyone's knowledge, least of all her older brother's."

"Yeah, that does sound like Sage." Jack chuckled. He watched as Carly shifted in the chair and frowned. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little tired. I only got home about a half hour before you called. I was in a buyers meeting." She replied, shifting again and reaching for a small pillow that was off screen to place behind her back.

"Pretty late meeting." Jack said, not being able to help the concern that washed over him as he took a closer look at her tired face. Even though he never came out and asked about the pregnancy, he knew that she was suffering from pre-eclampsia again from bits and pieces that he had overheard in other people's passing conversations.

Carly only gave a small smile and she shrugged.

"It comes with the fashion territory. Besides, it wasn't so bad. It was Mattie and the other interns I felt sorry for. I think they thought it was going to be a little more exciting instead of a cut and dry business meeting." Carly said and smiled. "But I'm proud of her and Parker. They are both working really hard at their internships. Molly's boss actually said that Parker was one of the best interns they've ever had."

Carly's face glowed with motherly pride and Jack had to hold back a chuckle, even though he was very proud of Parker as well.

"That's great. I'm glad he's seeing this as a job and not just a way to meet celebrities." Jack said and Carly nodded.

"Actually, Abigail and her boyfriend just took Mattie and Parker to the movies for some much needed R&R or else I would let you talk to him."

"No, it's cool. I spoke with him earlier today actually." Jack said shrugging.

"Oh, okay." Carly said quietly, her hand unconsciously resting on her rounded stomach in a movement natural to expectant mothers. Jack noticed it and cleared his throat again.

"How are you feeling? Is…is everything going well?" He asked and Carly looked stunned that he was even asking before blushing lightly.

"Um, yeah, it is. My blood pressure is maintaining good levels, for the most part, and the baby is healthy and growing every day."

"That's good. That's really good." Jack said and paused, not knowing how to broach the next part of his curiosity. "Um, Parker told me that you finally found out whether it's a boy or girl."

"You talked to Parker about the baby?" Carly couldn't help asking but when she saw Jack's frown she immediately spoke again, trying to sooth over the awkward moment. "Uh, yeah, I did. She was turned in the right position for Dr. Meyers to be pretty definitive."

Carly stopped short, realizing her slip of the tongue, and looked into Jack's face with wide blue eyes. He stared back at her a moment before finally being able to speak again.

"It's...a girl?"

Carly bit her lip and then letting out a soft sigh, she nodded. "Yeah, it's a girl."

Jack's mind spun and he felt dizzy as a distant memory rushed forward from a time when he and Carly had discussed having more children. In fact, he could hear his own preference for gender echo in his mind as if they were still wrapped in each other's arms by Snyder Pond.

Little girls, just like their mommy; blonde curls, bad tempers.

"Lee must be thrilled." Jack somehow managed to get out, without sounding as if a piece of his own heart had just been stripped away.

"Lee?" Carly repeated then seemed to shake herself. "Oh, well, he doesn't know. I mean, no one but me knows yet. Except you."

Jack didn't have a response to that and Carly could see he was struggling with maintaining a calm exterior so she pressed forward, forcing a cheerful note into her voice.

"I think I'll wait to tell the kids until Sage's birthday weekend. I think it'll be a good present for everyone."

Again, Jack said nothing and when she didn't either, they fell into a silence. Finally neither one could apparently take it any longer and they spoke up at the same time.

"Jack, it…"

"Carly, I…"

They paused and both let out small chuckles.

"Let me go first, okay?" Jack said and Carly nodded her agreement. "I just...I wanted to apologize for the way things ended when I left LA."

"Jack…" Carly started to interrupt but he shook his head.

"No, please, let me finish." Jack said, causing her to close her mouth and allow him to continue. "I was upset and I didn't mean half of the things I said. You are an amazing mother and any child would be proud to have you in their life. And that goes double for any guy who is lucky enough to be with you."

"Thank you." Carly said softly.

"I hate the way things were between us this past few weeks and I know a lot of that rests on me. And while I can't change the way I acted then, I can change how I act now. I don't want this new situation with you and Lee to change the way we are, especially when it comes to the kids. We...we were at a pretty good place after everything that has happened in the past couple of years. The kids deserve to not have us go backwards and the…the baby….doesn't deserve to grow up feeling any different than her siblings." Jack tried to explain the way he was feeling the best he could. "I mean, I guess if things had worked out last fall between me and Janet, the situation might have very easily been reversed. I somehow doubt that you would have reacted as badly as I did."

Jack was so caught up with his apology that he didn't even notice the way Carly's face drained of color at the thought of him having a baby with Janet or the protective gesture of wrapping both arms around her stomach. She could feel her blood pressure start to rise and knew that she had to stop him before she had an attack.

"Jack, please." Carly said and he paused, looking back into her face. She gathered her wits about her and managed a small smile. "It's okay. I should have told you about the baby before. I should have told you a lot of things before."

Jack frowned, sensing immediately that there was more to that statement than he knew. However before he could say anything, she glanced at her watch making him glance down at his own. Seeing the time he winced.

"Wow, it's really late. I'm sorry, you should get some sleep." Jack told her and she couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you? It's nearly one in the morning over there."

"Nah, you know me. I'm a night…owl." Jack said but, like Sage had done earlier, he yawned mid-sentence causing Carly to laugh again.

"Get some sleep, G-man." She said and froze when she realized the nickname that had slipped out. Jack gave her a small sad smile wanting to let her know it was okay, even though they both knew that it wasn't.

"You too. Tell Parker I'll call him tomorrow."

"I will."

Jack hesitated but then added, "Hey, Carly?"

She paused in her motion to hit the disconnect button and stared at him. "Yeah?"

"Congratulations on your little girl. I already know she's going to be as beautiful as her mom." Jack said, meaning every word.

Carly could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she knew she had to end the call before she completely broke down.

"Thank you, Jack." She said and he nodded.

They exchanged goodnights and before he could blink the video monitor went black. He stared at the screen and after a moment, he made his way back to the sofa and his files. Rubbing his hands over his face, he leaned his head back against the couch, ironically ending up in the same position he had started out in a couple of hours ago.

He closed his eyes to let his thoughts drift away and for one shining moment he allowed himself to imagine that he was the one who was going to be standing by her side when they handed Carly that precious pink bundle.