Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm glad you all like the last chapter so much and yes, Holden is dead to me on the show, but here in my happy CarJack land, I'm pretending it never happened. I suggest that you all pretend with me...it's less painful that way. LOL Okay, we're down to the last five chapters, my friends, and...I can't say anymore or I'll start to cry...again. So, as usual just...ENJOY!
~JP

True North
By Jaclyn Parker

"Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it."
~Jules Renard ************************************************************************************************************************************************

To Carly's surprise, just before dinner on Sunday, Jack walked in the door to Milltown and it was as if her refusal on Saturday night never happened. He kissed her on the cheek and nonchalantly said that he would help J.J. and Parker set the table.

She walked around on eggshells the first few days, waiting for Jack to drop the act and finally be angry and hurt or worse yet…just flat out leave.

But, after a week of realizing that nothing had changed in his interaction between the kids and more importantly her, Carly finally let herself release the breath she felt like she had been holding the entire time. They still didn't mention the marriage proposal, though, and the intimacy that had been shared on Saturday night on their front porch, was been put on hold, but overall life went on exactly as it had been for the past two and a half months.

Now, coming upon the last weekend in October, it had been almost three full weeks since Carly had turned down Jack's marriage proposal and life was still decidedly normal.

Except, somewhere around the middle of week two, Carly found that she was no longer relieved at Jack's reaction, but that she was more confused than anything. Week three saw Carly moving on from confused to, quite frankly, rather insulted that Jack had let her reaction go so easily!

Monday of that week, Carly had vented her frustration over the phone to Lily, who simply said, "Maybe Jack is just following your lead, Carly. You are the one who turned him down and maybe he just took the hint that you needed more time."

Carly thanked Lily for her advice and then promptly moved on to complain to Lee when they met for coffee and catching up on Tuesday.

His advice consisted of two sentences: "Luv, you're talking to the guy who got engaged by way of a surprise courtroom announcement. Plus, you just ignore everything I have to say anyway!"

To give Lee credit he was absolutely right, since Carly kissed his cheek, told him he was sweet, and then whined to Molly on Wednesday as they wandered around Oakdale Mall with Emmy happily sleeping in her stroller.

Molly's wise words were, "Jack is a pretty smart guy, honey, but men…men as a whole are kinda clueless. Give it time and then start to drop hints that you might have changed your mind. He'll get it eventually and then…ooooh, cute top!"

After sighing and giving in to her cousin's shopping ADD, Carly was utterly exhausted and still clueless as to what to do with the conflicting emotions that swirled around her. However, by early Thursday evening she was too busy with her children's Halloween activities to try and find another victim's brain to pick about the situation between her and Jack.

Sage had been invited to trick-or-treat on Saturday with a friend from camp who was visiting Oakdale with her mother, who was coincidentally on a business trip that included a meeting at the Lakeview. Sage had also managed to con Carly and Jack into letting her sleep over at the Lakeview on Friday night, after a lot of promises to behave herself and not indulge in two straight nights of pure junk food.

Oakdale High School's annual "Haunted High" was in full swing and both of their sons, plus Mattie and Faith, had signed up to participate in planning. Carly had shuddered listening to the four them brainstorm ideas for what they could transform the room they were assigned to decorate into. Jack had laughed and accused her of being squeamish, but she wasn't the only one who had paled when the kids had managed to find a website that sold a machine that created the stench of rotting corpses and incorporated that into their "zombie room" idea.

As Carly put the last finishing touches, a la sequins galore, on Sage's homemade Hannah Montana costume, the phone rang loudly throughout the house. After it rang five times, Carly rolled her eyes and took out the straight pins she had hanging out of her mouth.

"Don't worry, I'll get it!" She called up to the rest of her unresponsive family, reaching for the phone on the coffee table with a loud sigh. "Hello?"

"Hey, Carly, it's Margo."

"Oh, hi, Margo." Carly said, shifting the phone in between her shoulder and cheek as she put the extra pins back in the plastic case with the others.

"I didn't wake the baby, did I?" Margo asked and Carly's eyes flickered to where Emmy lay on the floor on a play mat, completely content to swipe at the brightly colored toys dangling over her head.

"Nope, not at all." Carly answered, smiling at her baby even though Emmy wasn't paying the slightest attention to her at all.

"Oh, good. I didn't know if I would be interrupting the end of her afternoon nap or anything." Margo said. "Um, is Jack around? I really need to talk to him and he's not picking up his cell phone."

"Uh, yeah, hold on, let me get him."

Carly called up to Jack but, again, received no response. Frowning, she called once more and was sufficiently startled when he appeared out of the kitchen.

"What the…where did you come from? I thought you were upstairs helping J.J. with a project for school." Carly asked, her gaze equal parts bewildered and accusatory.

"No, he said he was okay for the moment. I came down a little while ago to take the trash out. You were so intent on Sage's costume, I guess you didn't notice." Jack said, grinning at her, before walking over to bend down and say hi to Emmy.

"Oh, well, Margo's on the phone." Carly said and held out the phone in his direction. Jack took it and motioned towards the costume that sat next to Carly on the couch.

"At least we know that she'll be wearing something reflective Saturday night." Jack said and Carly rolled her eyes, but bit back a laugh. Jack winked and turned his attention to the phone. "Hey, Margo, what's up?"

His face slipped from its happy smile into a small frown as he listened to his boss.

"Wow, that much damage? And they don't know who did it?"

At his words, Carly looked up from where she had collected a fussing Emmy from the play mat. After triple checking the surrounding area for any loose sewing material, she shifted to lean back against the sofa while reaching behind her for the throw blanket hanging over the back. Covering her and Emmy she began to feed their hungry daughter, but her eyes never once left Jack's face.

"No, I understand. If you need me to be on duty, I will be." Running his hand through his hair, he finally sighed and shook his head slightly. "Okay, I'll talk to you later. Goodnight."

Jack hung up the phone and placed it back in its cradle on the desk by the front door.

"Everything okay, Jack?"

At Carly's concerned question, he turned to see her staring at him and sighed again.

"There was some vandalism over in Heathersford from some suspected rival teen gangs and there is a rumor going around the precincts that there might be similar trouble on Saturday night. Margo is putting together a small 24 hour patrol to make sure everything goes smoothly."

"But, isn't Friday usually reserved for 'mischief night'?" Carly asked, instinctively holding Emmy closer at his news.

"Yeah, but Oakdale has never had a problem. We get maybe some toilet papered houses and a few smashed pumpkins but other than that, it's relatively quiet. But this rumor…Margo just wants to make sure the streets are safe for the kids. Even though most of the teenagers are in and out of the haunted house at the high school all night, there's still the younger kids."

"Will you be able to see the kids before we all head out on Saturday?" Carly asked, frowning now as well.

In Oakdale, the early evening of Halloween was designated mainly for kids aged 10 and under to trick-or-treat. It lasted until 8pm and, like many parents of young children, Carly thought it was nice to be able to go around the neighborhood and not have to worry about it being pitch black with rowdy teenagers in scary costumes roaming around.

Carly thought about the costume that she had picked out for Emmy and the small group of family that was coming over to Milltown. This year, along with Emmy as a little ladybug, there would be Katie and Brad bringing Robby as Batman, and Meg and Paul with Eliza as Disney's Snow White. Leading the pack would be Lily and Holden with Ethan who had tried to insist on wearing his HULK costume for at least fifteen minutes every night since the beginning of October. Seeing as how it came complete with gloves with made a smashing noise when they came in contact with anything, those fifteen minutes a night were driving Holden, Lily, Faith, and Natalie up a wall.

"I don't know, honey, but I am certainly going to try. Margo asked me to start early, like around eight or so in the morning, and hopefully I'll be able to get someone to cover for me for about an hour while we take the kids out." Jack said, coming over to settle next to her on the couch.

Carly sighed and deftly readjusted herself and handed Emmy to Jack to burp at the same time.

"I just don't want you to miss this."

"Sweetie, we got professional pictures of her in her costume a few days ago and it's not like she's gonna remember it. Or even be awake." Jack said and when Emmy let out a considerably loud burp for such a small baby, he lifted her to hold in front of his face and chuckled. "Yes! Isn't that right, Baby Girl? Tell Mommy that next year is when we are really going to have to worry about trying to make sure you're not stuffing candy in your mouth when we're not looking!"

Carly watched him fuss over Emmy with a small smile and rolled her eyes.

"You know, if she has you this wrapped around her finger at this age, I think we are in some serious trouble."

Sage chose that moment to come bounding down the stairs and flopped down on the couch at Jack's other side.

"Hi, Daddy! You're still going to watch the Hannah Montana Halloween special with me tonight, right? You promised!"

Leaning into her dad's side, Sage reached up to tickled Emmy, as she blissfully rested her head on his shoulder. Jack looked over at Carly, who barely held back her laughter as she stood to go check on dinner.

"Oh yeah," She said, her gaze switching between Jack and their two happy daughters who were, without a doubt, the epitomes of Daddy's girls. "You are in some serious trouble."

The next day flew by and, other than dropping Sage off at the Lakeview for her sleepover and going over some upcoming party reservations at Metro with Henry, it was an uneventful Friday for Carly.

When Saturday morning arrived she found herself not only saying goodbye to Jack in the early morning light but also her sons as they brushed past her in order to head over to the high school and meet the other students preparing for the night's festivities. So by eight o'clock Carly found her home was filled something that she hadn't had in a while…complete silence. Well, other than the noise of the percolating coffee machine in the kitchen and Emmy's soft cooing as Carly changed her morning diaper.

Finishing up and talking softly to her daughter on the way down the stairs, Carly held Emmy close as she headed for the kitchen. A knock at the door caused her to turn and frown slightly, recognizing the blurred outline of her cousin on the other side of the frosted glass. She walked over and upon opening it, tilted her head in confusion.

"Hey." Molly said, her eyes twinkling as she smiled at Carly and Emmy

"Hey, Cuz." Carly said, shifting Emmy to the front of her where the baby regarded Molly with alert blue eyes. "What brings you here so early?"

"I had an early meeting at WOAK and ran into Jack at Java. He mentioned that you were home alone with Emmy and I thought you might like some company." Molly said, reaching out to tickle Emmy under the chin and receiving a dimpled smile in return. Then holding up a white paper bag, she added with a grin. "And some breakfast."

"Molly, if those are what I think they are, you are my favorite cousin ever."

"Yes, they're chocolate croissants and they're still warm so..." Molly said and laughed when Carly hurriedly moved aside to usher her into the house.

"Where are the kids? Jack said something about Sage staying at the Lakeview with a friend from camp but we didn't really get a chance to talk before he had to start his shift." Molly said when Carly had come back from the kitchen with two cups of coffee for them to enjoy with the croissants. Sitting down next to her cousin, Carly quickly looked over to check on Emmy, who now sat contentedly in her baby swing, staring up at the soft, stuffed flowers that hung just over her head.

"Yeah, her friend Jamie is here with her mother, who had some business meeting this weekend. She stayed over last night and the girls are going to meet up with Natalie and some friends tonight to go trick-or-treating." Carly said, taking a sip of her coffee and leaning back against the sofa.

"Oh, are you taking them?" Molly asked, reaching over to tear a piece of her own croissant off and popping it into her mouth.

"No, Lily and Holden are going to follow them this year. At a discreet distance, of course, lest they embarrass the girls." Carly said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, of course." Molly agreed, rolling her eyes too.

"Yeah, and since Jack has to work tonight it's easier for me to stay home with Emmy and pass out the candy."

"Aw, are you guys still planning on having everyone meet here to take the little kids out?" Molly said, turning her eyes to the baby. Both Carly and Molly smiled at the fact that Emmy seemed to be in deep conversation with those little inanimate flowers on her swing.

"Yeah, I called everyone last night and they're all coming over around six. While Lily and Holden take the girls around, Ethan will stay here with me and Emmy until they're done." Carly said and then frowned. "I just hope that Jack can get off long enough to at least go with us around the neighborhood."

"I'm sure Margo won't object to an hour or so. Besides, it certainly doesn't hurt that you guys are going to have the cutest bunch of kids out of everyone in Oakdale. Who could say no to that?" Molly said and Carly laughed.

"Not that you're biased or anything." Carly said and Molly sniffed in mock indignation.

"Of course not."

After another laugh, Carly finished off the rest of her croissant and looked at Molly intently.

"So how are the wedding plans coming along?"

"Um, still slowly but there really isn't much to plan, ya know?" Molly said, shifting so that she too was leaning back against the couch, allowing Carly to see Emmy over her shoulder.

"Still looking to do it the weekend after Christmas?" Carly asked, raising an eyebrow even as Molly nodded her head.

"Yup. Now that Lee has full guardianship of Mattie, we really just want to start out the new year as a family." Molly said, looking up at Carly from under her lashes to see if her words affected her cousin at all. While Carly's mouth thinned momentarily, she didn't say anything. Molly let out a silent sigh and put on a smile. "You still sure about letting us have the reception at Metro?"

"Absolutely. You and Lee said it's just going to be a small group of people and we'll be starting to set up for New Year's Eve that following Monday anyway."

"As long as you're sure." Molly said, draining the last bit of her coffee, but still holding on to her mug.

"Very sure. However, you and Mattie need to come over soon and let me know what you think of the dress designs I did." Carly said causing Molly to smile.

"Cuz, I'm sure they're gorgeous." Molly paused and then asked tentatively, "Speaking of designs, have you called Monique yet?"

Carly's smile faded and she shook her head. "No. I mean, I know I should but I just…"

"Harder than you thought to let go of that dream again, huh?" Molly said sympathetically and Carly sighed.

"I can't move to California, Molly. I know I can't. And my collection that I already did for MoJo Designs is selling so well to stores that the profit I will make from that alone, will guarantee my kids college funds."

"But…" Molly prompted.

"But, you're right. It is a lot harder to give up my designing now that I've had a taste success outside of the control of someone like Barbara Ryan or Craig Montgomery." Carly admitted and tilted her head to look at Molly curiously. "How did you do it? How did you give up your job in L.A. to move back here to Oakdale so easily?"

"Oh, 'easily' is not how I would describe the decision making process at all." Molly scoffed. "But my situation is so different than yours, honey. Now that WOAK is doing that primetime segment similar to Entertainment Tonight in conjunction with a sister station in Chicago, I only have to travel there and to L.A. when there are big premieres. Other than that, I'll just be doing live news feed, like any other broadcaster. Only this time it will be about Hollywood instead of what I used to do before."

Molly shrugged and her face became thoughtful.

"Besides, Lee's job is so perfect for him and I could never ask Mattie to leave the place she calls home again. Not after everything she's been through. And you're here and the kids and Abigail said that she has been wanting to visit Holden more so it's not like I won't be seeing her and... oh, I dunno. This is where my family is and this is where we belong."

Stopping again, Molly looked into Carly's face and reaching up she placed a hand on Carly's cheek, giving her a soft smile

"You're making the right decision, Cuz. Just like us, this is where you and your family belong."

Carly placed her hand over Molly's and leaned into her cousin's touch. "I know."

They sat in silence for a few moments and then Molly's face lit up. "Hey, any plans for the day other than later tonight with the whole trick-or-treating thing?"

"Um, none that I can think of." Carly asked perplexed. "Why?"

"Well, Lee's on call and Mattie is at the high school with the boys and the rest of the planning committee so I'm all alone today too. The Fear Channel is playing all the classics today; Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween 1 and 2. Let's have a proper fright fest!" Molly said, excitedly.

"Molly, I am not introducing my almost four month old to Jason, Freddy Kruger, and Mike Myers!" Carly said, her eyes wide. "I have enough problems trying to keep the nightmares away when I watch those stupid movies."

"Oh come on, you wuss!" Molly said, finally placing her coffee mug down on the table and reaching out to take Carly's hands in hers. Emmy suddenly let out a loud cry and both women turned to stare at the baby. She started to fuss again and Carly went to go lift her out of the swing, cuddling her on her lap when she sat back down on the couch again.

"See? Even Emmy doesn't want to watch them." Carly said, dropping a kiss on the baby's fine dirty blond hair and Molly rolled her eyes.

"Well then, how bout we at least gossip our heads off and then catch Poltergeist when she goes down for her mid-morning nap?"

Carly couldn't help but laugh at the eager expression on her cousin's face and nodded.

"Alright, alright!" Carly relented, still laughing. "But if we're going to gossip, I'm going to need more chocolate than that one little croissant."

They stuck to their plan and just enjoyed spending the morning with each other in a good old fashioned gab fest, pausing only to watch The Poltergeist as Molly requested when Emmy went down for her nap at ten. When Emmy woke up again, three and a half hours later, Carly breastfed the baby and let Molly have the fun of burping her and changing her diaper, while Carly cleaned up their plates from their own lunch.

"How you talked me into watching a movie where the youngest child gets sucked into TV, I'll never know." Carly shouted from the kitchen as Molly finished up with Emmy's diaper.

"Oh it wasn't that bad. Besides, look at it this way, Emmy can't even really focus on the television yet, let alone be lured in by ghosts. Isn't that right, Sweet Pea?" Molly said, tickling her nails up and down the baby's soft belly before pulling down the purple butterfly shirt she was wearing.

Seeing the grin on Emmy's face, Molly lifted the shirt again and repeated the action, getting a full out laugh this time. Scooping her up into her arms, Molly kissed the baby's rosy cheek and walked back over to the couch, just as Carly entered from the kitchen.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Carly said dryly, reaching out to smooth Emmy's shirt down but happily letting Molly continue to hold her.

They had both just re-settled back onto the couch when the phone rang through the house. Carly got up again and smiled as Emmy reached up to play with Molly's growing brunette locks, getting a nice fist full and tugging hard.

"Hello?" Carly said into the phone, barely concealing her laughter as Molly winced and gently pried Emmy's baby fingers out of her hair.

"Mommy?"

At the sound of Sage's voice, Carly's brow furrowed and she held the phone tighter.

"Sage, honey, what's wrong?"

"Mommy, can you come get me please?"

"Sage, what happened?"

"Nothing, I just…I don't feel good and I know Daddy's working." Sage said, her voice sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I know I was supposed to stay here and go trick or treating with Jamie tonight but…I really wanna come home."

"Aw, sweetie, it's okay." Carly soothed. "If you don't feel good, you don't feel good."

Molly held Emmy close to her as she offered her a stuffed toy as a distraction from her hair, and waved in Carly's direction to get her attention.

"If you have to go pick her up, I'll stay here with Emmy." Molly said and Carly sent her a grateful smile before refocusing on her older daughter.

"You know what, honey, you just hang tight. I'm on my way, okay?"

"Thanks, Mommy." Sage said with a small sigh and hung up the phone.

"Is Sage okay?" Molly asked as Carly hung up on her end and looked around hastily for her car keys.

"Yeah, she's not feeling too hot. Probably too much junk food and not enough sleep last night." Carly said, frowning as she dug through the desk drawer swearing that her keys had been right on top earlier.

"Carly, just take my car. My keys are in my coat pocket." Molly said, pointing to where her jacket hung on the coat hook.

Carly reached in and held them up triumphantly. She tossed on her own coat and then sent Molly a hesitant look.

"Are you sure you don't mind watching Emmy?"

"Go, Cuz! We'll be fine. You're only going to the Lakeview right?" Molly said and Carly nodded as she reached out to grab her purse. "You just fed her, but if she gets hungry again, I'll heat one of the bazillion bottles you have in the fridge. Go!"

"Thanks!" Carly blew her and Emmy a kiss and hurried out the door.

Carly told herself over and over in the car that Sage just had a stomachache, but still she couldn't stop herself from pressing down on the gas pedal a little more than she probably should have. When it came to her children and the possibility of them being sick, Carly's resolve to get to them as soon as possible was second to none.

She entered the Lakeview twenty minutes later and hurried to the elevator. Fumbling in her purse for the slip of paper she had written all the information gathered from Sage's friend's mom, she pushed the button for the 12th floor. Rocking slightly on her feet, she couldn't help but smile when she realized that the song playing in the elevator as "The Best Is Yet To Come".

The doors opened again and she followed the directional signs to room 1239, the heels of her black leather boots thudding along softly on the thick hotel hallway carpet. Stopping outside the door, she paused upon noticing that it was cracked open. Knocking and pushing it open enough to stick her head in, Carly frowned.

"Hello? Sage?"

Knocking again before entering the room fully, Carly recognized immediately that this was one of the new double suites that Lily had mentioned they were recently done renovating. She was in a nice sized sitting room with dining table, flat screen, and what she assumed was a pullout sofa. Turning her head she could see behind her and slightly to her left was another room where the edge of the bed in the main sleeping area caught her eye.

The sound of voices came from that room and Carly instinctively moved to enter the bedroom once again calling out her daughter's name.

However, she stopped in her tracks just inside the doorframe, taking in the soft sound of music swirling about her and the bouquets of roses placed around the room. On the huge king sized poster bed was a large rectangular white gift box, wrapped with a pale pink ribbon and a card with her name written in black lettering taped to the top.

She couldn't help herself and she stepped forward to tentatively touch the box on the bed before pulling her hand back as if bitten.

"What is going on around here?" Carly asked softly, her voice filled with confusion.

A noise behind her made her turn around and her jaw dropped open at the sight of Jack walking in, carrying a gorgeous bouquet of at least two dozen white and peach colored roses.

"Jack?" Carly managed to gasp out and her eyes traveled over him once more before meeting his amused expression. "What…what is all this?"

Jack placed the roses on the bed next to the large box and took one hand in his, the other reaching up to cup Carly's face. His thumb stroked her cheekbone and his eyes were warm and sincere as he looked down into her bewildered gaze.

"This, Carly, is our wedding day."