Author's Note: Wow! I think I might start threatening to not post new chapters more often! Just kidding :) But seriously, thank you so much to everyone who stepped up and reviewed. I can't explain how amazing that made me feel. I'm particularly proud of this story and I just want to make sure that everyone is still enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it. Now, don't let this nice little thank you fool you...I still need reviews. LOL The more I get, the faster I am motivated to post...it's a win-win situation!
Anyways, there is a lot of explanation dialouge in this chapter and I'm sorry for it, but it is completely necessary to set up the next couple ones. But don't worry cause there's some nice CarJack interaction coming up. So get ready! But for now...just like always...enjoy!!
~JP
True North
By Jaclyn Parker
"Happiness is just an illusion caused by the temporary absence of reality."
~Unknown
************************************************************************
Standing on the front step, Jack looked over at the man standing next to him. Lee shifted nervously from one foot to the other, his hand hovering by the door bell. Every couple of seconds he would go as if to push it and then pull it back to hover again. Finally after about five minutes of this Jack sighed and when Lee's finger got close to the button again, he reached out and forcibly made the two connect.
As the quick musical chime sounded throughout the house, Lee looked at Jack.
"Thanks, mate."
Jack didn't say anything, just shrugged, but to his surprise he found himself fighting back a smile.
Footsteps were heard heading in their direction and they heard Carly's voice laughingly call out, "I don't know who it is! Can you let me open the damn door first?"
Pulling it open, the grin on her face wavered as she took in the two men standing in front of her.
"J…Jack? Le…Lee?" She stuttered, her blue eyes wide in shock. "What…what are you doing here?"
Then her face paled and she stepped forward, reaching out to grab Jack's forearm.
"Oh my God, Sage? Is Sage okay?"
"Oh no, Carly, relax." Jack said, reaching out to steady her. His concern at what her sudden panic might do to her blood pressure replaced whatever other feelings he was having at seeing her in person again after almost 6 weeks. He placed his own hands at her elbows and letting Lee close the door behind them, led her to the couch. "Sage is fine. She's still at camp and having a great time running around like a crazy person with all of her friends."
Carly took a deep breath, the relief causing her shoulders to sag. Jack looked at Lee, who had moved to check Carly's pulse.
"A glass of ice water might…" Lee started to say but barely got the first few words out before Jack quickly headed into the kitchen to get it for her.
"You know, I think he might be worried about you." Lee said and looked up into her face. His eyes twinkled as he released Carly's wrist, having deemed her pulse satisfactory.
Carly didn't acknowledge his statement, despite the warm fuzzy feeling the words gave her inside. Instead she just frowned and shook her head.
"Lee, what is…?" Carly began but the sound of footsteps from the bedroom area cut her off.
"Well, well, if it isn't that gorgeous doctor again. Couldn't stay away huh?" Molly teased as she walked into the room and straight into Lee's arms. Despite the horrible news he brought with him, a smile had broken out onto his face as soon as he saw her.
"Hey, Luv."
"Hey, yourself. I missed…" Molly started to say but a sudden movement from the kitchen area stopped her cold. Looking in that direction she spotted Jack standing there with a glass of water and a very confused look on his face. Dropping her arms from around Lee's waist, she instinctively took a step backwards. "Jack? Um...hi."
"Hi yourself." Jack said, darting a look between Lee and Molly, then Lee and Carly, before stepping forward to present the latter with the glass of ice water.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" Molly asked and Jack sighed, choosing to sit down in a plush armchair across from the sofa.
"Now that both of you have asked that question, I think it'd be best if you sat down when we answered it."
Carly scooted over on the sofa so Lee could sit down and Molly sat on his other side. The two men exchanged a look which Carly immediately caught and arching her eyebrow, she frowned.
"Okay, obviously something is going on."
"Where's Mattie? I need to talk to Mattie." Lee said abruptly.
At his suddenly anxious demeanor, Carly and Molly exchanged their own look.
"Um, both Parker and Mattie got out of work around noon today so they went to go hang out with Brayden and J.J. at the surf camp." Molly answered.
Carly glanced at the clock on the wall and added, "They should actually be back pretty soon. The camp ends at four so maybe another half hour."
"Oh, God, so soon?" Lee said, running a hand through his thick brown hair.
"Lee, what is going on? And Jack, if this has to do with Mattie, why are you here?" Molly asked, her confusion only growing along with her impatience.
"You might as well start it." Lee said, looking at Jack and shrugging.
Jack nodded and folded his hands as he leaned forward as if preparing to give a statement.
"Last night I went to Lee's house to give him the set of summer reading books that J.J. had forgotten. When I got there I heard a loud crash from inside and when I knocked no one answered. I knocked again but then I heard another crash and kicked the front door in. I headed upstairs to where the noises were coming from and I found a man pointing a gun at Lee. I had just come off duty so I had my service piece on me and my handcuffs. I was able to disarm him and as I was arresting him, I found out who he is. His name is Christopher Turner and he was looking for Mattie."
"Looking for Mattie?" Molly said, shaking her head. "But why?"
"Chris Turner…Turner. Why do I know that name?" Carly said to herself softly and Lee let out a sigh.
"Because I've told it to you before. He's Mattie's biological father."
Carly thought back a moment and then her eyes grew wide. "Oh no. Not him."
"What? What's going on?" Molly asked, hearing the horror in her cousin's voice. Getting no answer from either of them, she turned to the other man in the room. "Jack?"
"I don't know, Molly. I only got bits and pieces of the story last night." Jack said and looked at Lee. "Maybe now is as good a time as any to fill us in."
Lee met Jack's look and then Molly's concerned gaze, before closing his eyes and nodding, resigned to telling the tale.
"My sister, Lisa, was barely 17 when she met Chris Turner. He was her first real boyfriend and as it normally happens, she thought they were going to live happily ever after. When she got pregnant with Mattie, my dad was so angry that he gave her a choice. Either Turner or us. Again, being 17, she chose him and my dad kicked her out of the house. By the time he calmed down enough to realize what he had done, it was too late. Lisa had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. No matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find her. I even put off my first year of medical school to search for her, but no luck. Then one day, almost two years later, she showed up at the house with Mattie in her arms. But she also had a black eye, three broken ribs, and a fractured jaw."
Even now, Lee's jaw muscle ticked as he remembered the shock of seeing his baby sister battered and bruised.
"It turns out that Turner had beaten Lisa regularly, even when she was pregnant. It was only when he had turned that anger on the baby…he had slapped Mattie for crying too loudly…that she walked out on him. She told us that she alone had made her choice when she left with Chris but no one was going to hurt her child."
"My dad took her back in immediately and then Chris had the nerve to show up on our doorstep a few months after she left him, demanding to see Mattie. It was just a coincidence that I was home from medical school at the time but I guess when I saw him I kind of dropped my bundle, as we say back home. I don't know how we ended up on the front lawn, but I do remember that it took both my dad and my uncle Ryan to pull me off of him. The only reason I didn't I kill him that day was because Lisa stood there, holding onto my arms, pleading with me to stop. But it wasn't for his sake that she stopped me. She told me to think about what would happen if I hurt my hands; of all the people's lives I wouldn't be able to save as a doctor."
Lee paused, looking up at the ceiling and taking a deep breath as he blinked back tears. He and his baby sister had always been close, despite the almost seven year age difference. Their mother had died when Lisa was two and Lee had taken over most of her care while his dad tended the sheep and worked the hobby farm they owned. Yet, somehow, when Lisa hit her teens she had taken over the role of his caretaker, pushing him harder than even their father to study more when she learned he wanted to be a doctor. And during that fight with Turner, when it had to be one of the darkest periods of her young life, she had still been more concerned for her big brother than what might happen to her.
For our part, the night she had come home with Mattie, we took her to the hospital and police station to document the abuse. So even though Turner threatened to file assault charges against me he knew that the law would back my family over him any day, especially in our small outback town. So he just disappeared and although we waited for a long time but he never came back. It wasn't more than six months later that Lisa met Charlie."
This time, as Lee said the name a soft smile of fondness spread across his face that hadn't been there before.
"A flying officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, Charlie Williams literally flew into my sister's life when she worked in his air force base's secretarial pool. He treated her like a queen but, more importantly, at just 22 years old he took to Mattie like he had been put on this earth to be her father. I think they had only been dating a few months when Mattie started calling him 'daddy'. The pride and joy in his face when he talked about her…I never saw anything like it; the way he just didn't seem to care that she wasn't biologically his."
"I know the type." Carly said softly and her eyes went to Jack. She had been fortunate enough to fall in love with exactly the same sort of man and thanked God everyday that her kids knew that they had a father who loved them, biologically related to him or not. Jack caught her eye and then a slow deep blush crept up his cheeks.
"About a year after they were married, our dad passed away and left the house to Charlie and Lisa. That thrilled the hell out of me because that meant they would be able to afford to stick around and not live in military housing. I had gotten pretty attached to having my sister and my niece around by that point and my brother-in-law had quickly become my best friend. When Mattie was five, Charlie encouraged Lisa to go back to school and get her degree in business like she always wanted. Since he only had a little over six years left in the service, they worked towards opening their own charter business. The same weekend he was honorably discharged was the same weekend they opened shop. Within a year, their business was booming and they were one of the most well known airplane chartering services around. And then…"
Lee trailed off, taking another deep breath and forcing himself to go on.
"It was the week before Mattie's twelfth birthday and Charlie had one supply run planned. Then he and Lisa were going to surprise her with a weekend trip to the Gold Coast. But there was a last minute storm and they lost contact with him about an hour into the flight. By the time they found the wreckage of the plane, it was basically unrecognizable. They only managed to identify Charlie by his wedding band and dental records."
Even though Carly reached out a sympathetic hand to place on Lee's shoulder, it was Molly who entwined her fingers with his and pressed a soft kiss to his temple. Jack's eyes widened at the gesture, but he didn't have time to try to analyze what it meant before Lee started again.
"Mattie was devastated, of course, but Lisa…she just fell apart. No matter what anyone did, including Mattie, it didn't seem to make a difference. Instead, she just seemed to completely shut down. She gave up on the business, sold it outright for a lot less money than it was worth. A few months later she was already involved with a new guy and his group of friends, staying out all hours drinking until she would forget where she lived. I closed my own private practice to join the local hospital so I could move into the house to be with Mattie. And while I tried to help Lisa the best way I knew how, nothing was getting through. It was eight months after Charlie's death that Lisa hit rock bottom."
"I got the call from the police at about 2AM and leaving Mattie with a neighbor, I rushed down to the station. There had been a hit and run fatality and they said Lisa had been driving. When I talked to her she swore up and down that even though she had been drinking it was her boyfriend Luke who had been the one driving. Yet when the police arrived on scene, Luke was nowhere to be found and she was sitting in the driver's seat. While there was evidence to suggest the fact that she was telling the truth, like footprints around the scene that fit Luke's shoe size and the fact that the seat and mirrors were adjusted for someone much taller than her, the judge only saw her recent behavior and threw the book at her. She received 20 years for vehicular manslaughter with no possibility of early parole. Through a lot of hard work we finally were able to plead down to 10 years but still no possibility of parole. Thankfully I was awarded guardianship of Mattie before the courts had time to think about putting her into the foster care system."
"Did you ever try to find this Luke guy?" Molly asked gently and Lee nodded.
"Of course I did, but it was like the bloke never existed! I had a really good lead once from a private investigator but by the time we got to the location he had already moved on. I would have kept looking but then Mattie started having problems in school, both behaviorally and academically. I knew then that I had to put her first. So I packed up, sold the house, and moved us to Sydney."
"How'd she take it?" Carly was the one who spoke up now and Lee shrugged.
"It was hard at first. She was so angry at everyone, but eventually I got her to talk to a friend of mine who specialized in teen psychology. Then when the job opportunity came up in Oakdale, we agreed that it was the right move for us. It would be a fresh start in a place where no one knew what had happened before. Where Mattie could just enjoy being a teenager again. And it worked! She is so happy now. I haven't seen her like this since her dad…since Charlie…was alive. And now this jackass wants to rip it all away from her! How can I let him do that to her?"
There was silence following his question and he hung his head, roughing wiping his eyes with the backs of his fists. Again Molly pressed her lips to his hair while Carly gently rubbed his back and Jack looked down at his own clenched hands.
While he couldn't count Lee as one of his favorite people in the world, Jack wouldn't wish what he was going through on anyone. He knew all too well what it was like to have someone come in and try to take his children away. So as a father, which was basically what Lee had been to Mattie for these past few years, he sympathized.
"Uncle Lee?"
At the sound of Mattie's voice all the adults sat up straight and looked towards the door. Parker, Mattie, and J.J. stood there dressed in breezy summer clothing that smelled of the ocean air, with the two older teens holding hands.
"Uncle Lee!"
Mattie let go of Parker's hand and ran forward into the living room to throw herself into his arms. Even though she loved L.A., after that talk she had with Parker on the day they had officially become a couple, she found that each day she was beginning to get more and more homesick for Oakdale and especially her uncle.
"What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow!"
Lee hugged his niece to him tightly, wishing with everything he had that he would be able spare her the pain that was coming.
"Hey, Sunshine. How's my favorite girl?"
Mattie laughed, her long brown hair swaying as she shook her head. Green eyes sparkling mischievously she glanced over his shoulder at Molly and winked.
"Hmmm, I don't know if I hold that title anymore, Uncle Lee. Right, Molly?"
Instead of getting a laugh back like she expected, both Lee and Molly's eyes darted to something over her shoulder and she shifted to see what it was. Her own eyes widened and her arms dropped to her side as she finally noticed Jack sitting in the armchair across from the sofa.
"Oh, um, hi, Mr. Snyder."
"Hey, Mattie." Jack said, smiling back at the obviously flustered girl in front of him, even as his mind raced to add up all the tiny nuances he had seen and heard today.
Mattie gave him a small return smile before turning and mouthing a "sorry" in Carly and Molly's general direction.
Parker and J.J. came forward to save the moment and enthusiastically, if not somewhat confusedly, greeted their dad as well.
"Hey, uh, not to sound like a parrot or anything," J.J. said, looking at his dad and then at Lee, "but what are you doing here?"
The unspoken word "together" hung in the air and all the adults exchanged looks.
"Sunshine, I need you to sit down for me." Lee said and Mattie frowned as she lowered herself on to the couch inbetween Molly and Carly. Lee kneeled in front of her and took her hands in his.
"Uncle Lee? What's going on? What's wrong?" Mattie asked, her voice trembling. She had only seen the look in his eyes twice in her young lifetime. Once when they had all found out that her father had died in a plane crash and then again, barely a year later, when she lost her mother, not to death but a fate just as horrible.
"I need you to listen to me, okay?" Lee said and Mattie nodded slowly, biting her lower lip in anxiety. "Last night, someone came to see me. Someone I haven't seen in a long time…from back home."
"I don't understand. Weren't you in Oakdale last night?" Mattie asked and Lee couldn't help the small smile. It was a wonderful thing that Mattie felt safe and secure enough to identify Oakdale as home.
"No, Luv, from back in…" Lee started to say but Mattie cut him off as realization spread across her face.
"Oh." Mattie said, the hollowness in her voice causing everyone in the room to cringe. They had never heard that tone on the normally cheerful girl before and it unsettled them. "Was it about Mum?"
"Not exactly, Luv. It was about you." Lee answered and at her perplexed face he sighed. "There's no easy way to tell you so I'm just going to say it, okay?"
Mattie nodded and he looked down at their clasped hands before sighing and looking up again.
"Your biological dad is in Oakdale and he is suing me for custody of you." Lee said and the gasps that he heard all around tore into him because he knew exactly how they felt. He still wasn't over the shock of hearing the words directly from Chris Turner's mouth last night at the precinct.
"What?" Mattie said, shaking her head. "What are you talking about? He's gone. He's been gone a long time, Uncle Lee. Besides, even if it is true, he can't do that. He signed away his rights when Daddy adopted me."
Lee shook his head sadly and let out another sigh.
"That's what I thought but apparently there was a screw-up in the paperwork for the original parental release. Any of the legal documents following it, like your adoption papers, have been rendered null and void."
"So…what are you saying? Are you saying that I have to go with him?" Mattie said, her eyes widening in alarm.
"No! I mean, not yet. We're going to have a custody trial to determine that." Lee said, trying to calm his niece's panic.
"Where? Not all the way back in Australia?" Molly asked, placing a comforting arm around Mattie and looking at Lee in shock.
"No…I…" Lee said and looked to Jack for help.
Jack felt a grip on his sleeve suddenly and looked up into the anxious face of his oldest son, who had seated himself on the arm of the easy chair that Jack was sitting in. He patted Parker's hand reassuringly and shook his head.
"No, not in Australia. We found out that this Turner guy was originally born in upstate New York before his parents moved to Australia when he was an infant. This makes him an American citizen and therefore causes Mattie to have dual citizenship since she is a minor." Jack said, leaning forward in a pensive gesture as he spoke. "I called Tom Hughes last night when all this came out and even though he doesn't normally practice family law he was able to get the custody trial postponed until Monday."
"Monday? As in this Monday?" Carly exclaimed.
"It was the best Tom could do. Turner and his lawyer were demanding it start on Friday, but since this weekend is the Fourth of July, the judge said he would delay court until Monday. Tom also gave Lee the name of a colleague, John Richardson, who specializes in tough custody cases. He has a very good record, one of the best in the country. He's already agreed to take the case. Tom sent him all the information and Richardson is flying in on Sunday morning from New York." Jack said, sending them all what he hoped was an encouraging glance.
"Tough cases? So that means my…this guy…has a good chance of getting custody?" Mattie asked, her eyes flying to Lee's face again. He swallowed hard and squeezed her hands.
"I don't know, Luv." Lee said honestly and Mattie shook her head violently.
"No! After what he did; after how he abused my mum? I bet you thought I didn't know about that, but I heard her talking to Daddy once. I heard what he did to her!" Mattie said, starting to cry.
"Yes, it's true," Lee said, not denying what she was saying. She was old enough to know the truth. "But his lawyer is claiming that it was many years ago and that he is a changed man."
"And they think that the judge will believe that after last night?" Molly said and with gentle fingertips reached out to caress the ugly bruise that had formed along Lee's firm jaw line.
"I don't know." Lee said again, hating that those words seemed to be on repeat out of his mouth.
Mattie just looked at him in shock, tears streaming down her face, and then ripped her hands out of Lee's grip. "Well, I don't care what any stupid judge says! Do you hear me? I won't go with him! He's not my dad and I won't go!"
Mattie jumped off the couch and ran out of the room, the echoing slam of her bedroom door making the walls shake in the small ranch style house. When Lee stood to go after her, Parker jumped up and looked at him.
"Lee, wait. Let me go and try to talk to her." Parker said and after a second of hesitation, Lee nodded. Parker gave him a small smile and rushed down the hall to the bedrooms. Knocking softly he called out to Mattie and a few moments later the door opened and they all watched as he slipped inside.
"What if she's right? What if he wins?" Lee said and turned to look at them in desperation. "I mean, the blood of a biological parent almost always trumps another blood relation. Doesn't it?"
"It's not fair."
This time it was J.J. who spoke, as he stood up from where he had been quietly sitting in front of the couch. Now he chose to sit down on it, settling next to Carly. Sighing he leaned his head against his mom's shoulder, seeking the comfort of her proximity despite his being only a couple months away from turning fifteen years old.
"Blood shouldn't matter when the man who tries to take you away is a monster."
Carly and Jack looked at each other and frowned. Like their son, they also clearly remembered when J.J.'s biological father had tried to steal him away, nearly killing both J.J. and Carly in the process. Even after all these years, the lingering effects that murdering abuser had on all of their psyches was not so easily forgotten.
Carly reached up and softly threaded her fingers through J.J.'s growing hair, the locks still slightly damp from the ocean waves. It was a familiar rhythmic motion that she used to do to lull him back to sleep when he was a little boy and he had woken up after having nightmares of Les Sweeney coming for him in the night. Kissing his head gently she leaned her cheek against his hair and sighed too.
"No, Sweetie, it shouldn't."
Lee stood completely still in the middle of the living room and tried to force himself to remember to breathe. Molly stood up and walked to his side, linking her fingers with his and leaning forward to press her forehead to his bicep. Lee leaned his face down and pressed his lips to the top of Molly's head, closing his eyes in thought.
If either Lee or Molly had been truly thinking about it, maybe they would have been more discrete but the emotional toll of the situation had caused them to naturally gravitate towards each other. Unfortunately, despite everything that was going on, Jack was paying attention and the stance was too intimate for him not to be completely confused. But when he glanced over at Carly for her reaction, he was surprised to see that she didn't even seem to be aware of the position her supposed boyfriend and cousin were in.
He was about to say something but the sound of movement down the hall drew everyone's attention.
Sure enough, Mattie's bedroom door opened again and the two teens emerged, hand in hand. There were dried tear tracks on Mattie's cheeks but there seemed to be almost a calm aura around her. They walked over to where Lee and Molly stood and Parker squeezed her hand before letting go. He silently sat back down on the couch with J.J. and Carly, who wrapped her other arm around him.
Mattie looked at Molly, who smiled at her and then stepped away to sit on the arm of the sofa. The teenaged girl turned to look at Lee again and let out a sigh.
"If he wins custody, what will you do?" Mattie asked and Lee looked confused for a second before reaching out to grip her arms.
"I will appeal. I will appeal and fight until I get you back."
"And you won't stop?" Mattie asked, her eyes searching his face desperately.
"I swear to you, Sunshine, that I won't. As long as there is breath in my body, I will never stop fighting until you are home again where you belong. I need you to believe that."
Mattie let out another sigh and then threw herself back into her uncle's arms. Holding him tightly, her voice trembled and then cracked as she said, "I believe it."
He held onto her as tightly as she was to him, a couple of tears slipping out to slide down his face. After a couple of minutes, he pulled back and kissed her forehead, before turning to the others.
"Okay, everyone, start packing. We leave for Oakdale in the morning."