Author's Note: I would like to dedicate this chapter to all my loyal readers that have stuck with me for the past 73 (holy crap!!!) chapters and so thoughtfully reviewed almost all of them (if not all of them!): Allie, ParkWestFan, Shar25, Lindadela, QUEENADDEK, TrueNorth2009, Carjackers07, Kate, Jaynique, Gwenyth Hunter, Lainey, and Jessica.
Without you guys, I would be nothing and this story probably wouldn't have ever continued past the first chapter.
To all my readers who have read this story, whether you reviewed or not, thank you and I hope that you enjoyed it. It was a pleasure for me to write (minus the stupid bouts of writer's block) and I still love this couple with all my heart even if our show and TPTB who run it, don't appreciate them like they should. To all my fellow CarJack fans...KEEP THE FAITH!
Now, for the last time in Truth North,...ENJOY!
~JP
True North: Epilogue
By Jaclyn Parker
If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.
~Orson Welles
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3 ½ Months Later
"Daddy, you're cheating!" Sage cried, pointing at the pile of colorful money situated in front of Jack.
"I am not! The bank owed me $100 so I took it." Jack said, raising an eyebrow.
"What for?" J.J. asked, his own eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Um…tax refund." Jack said and the two kids glared at him. Turning to the two figures on the couch, he looked for an ally. "What do you think, Emmy? Did Daddy cheat?"
At hearing her name, the now seven month old baby turned her head towards where Jack was sitting on the floor near the coffee table. She was standing on her mother's stomach while Carly reclined on the sofa with her knees drawn up to support the baby so she could lean back against Carly's thighs. Emmy bounced on her legs a few times while gripping Carly's thumbs with her tiny hands and blew a loud raspberry in Jack's direction.
"I think that's a yes, Jack." Carly announced, grinning as Emmy blew another raspberry then laughed, decidedly amused with herself.
"Traitor." Jack mumbled but he too, was smiling.
"Judge Emma has ruled. Give it back!" J.J. said and both kids simultaneously reached out to take the two 50 dollar bills that Jack had sneakily amassed and replaced them in the bank.
Carly watched Jack mutter again under his breath and smiled broadly. Stretching out one of Emmy's hands in his direction she shook it playfully at him.
"Say, 'that's what you get for cheating, Daddy'!"
Then, pulling the baby closer, she blew kisses on Emmy's stomach causing a loud belly laugh to escape. As she gently pushed Emmy away to lean against her thighs again, Carly caught sight of the time on her watch.
"Okay, guys, I hate to break this up but it's bedtime."
"Come on, Mommy!" Sage protested, a small whine to her voice. "It's technically a holiday!"
"It might be Valentine's Day, but it is still a school night." Carly added, sitting up completely when Emmy yawned and began to fuss. The tired baby rubbed her eyes and leaned back against Carly's chest, allowing her to cuddle Emmy close before addressing her two older children in the room again. "Even Parker still has to be home by his weeknight curfew."
"But Mom, it's only nine-thirty." J.J. said, frowning as he also read the time but by the clock on the mantle.
"Fine, Sage, you can stay up another half hour to read or watch TV quietly in your room and J.J., you can have an hour. But then, lights out with no arguments." Jack said and looked to Carly. When she nodded her agreement, he began helping them pack up the Monopoly board and cleaning up the aftermath of their ice cream sundaes from earlier.
Originally Parker, Mattie, J.J., and his girlfriend Becca, were all supposed to go out to dinner and then the movies for Valentine's Day. However, Becca's grandmother had gotten very sick and her family had gone to Boise, Idaho to be with her last minute. So an invitation was issued to Mattie for her to come to Milltown for dinner for instead of her and Parker spending a lot of money on a dinner for two that was initially going to be split by four people. Mattie had quickly agreed and the "at home" dinner had been a huge success. Although, without a doubt, the main highlight for everyone was watching Emmy's reaction to having her first taste of chocolate ice cream during dessert.
It had only amounted to maybe a tablespoon and a half total of the cold, sweet confection but it was a complete triumph. When Emmy had grabbed Carly's hand to try and bring the empty spoon back to her mouth, Jack had quickly announced that they had another chocoholic in the family. Then as the older teens had slipped out to go to the movies, the rest of them settled into the living room for a quiet family night.
As Carly received goodnight hugs and kisses from J.J. and Sage, she caught Jack's look as he went into the kitchen to warm Emmy's nighttime bottle. Blushing she looked away, knowing exactly why his eyes were sparkling like they were. She too, was thinking about the bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries that were chilling on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for later.
Since Emmy had started trying solid foods and had finally cut her first tooth a little over two weeks ago, Carly had started weaning her onto a bottle more regularly. Even with these changes Emmy had thankfully been sleeping through the night and not waking again until between seven and seven-thirty in the morning. All of these things combined meant that Carly and Jack were looking at a very nice, uninterrupted Valentine's Day evening.
"Well, maybe with some interruptions." Carly said to herself quietly with a mischievous smile as she padded back downstairs after putting Emmy to bed exactly thirty-two minutes later...not she had been counting.
The living room lights were dimmed and soft music floated in the air, which Carly immediately recognized as the copy of the wedding CD that the DJ had given to them at the end of their reception. Jack was relaxing on the couch, two glasses of bubbling champagne sitting in front of him on the cofee table along with the bowl of strawberries all ready to go.
"Ah, my husband, the romantic." Carly said, coming over to sit next to him on the sofa and he immediately wrapped his arms around her when she shifted to lie back against his chest.
"Hmm, you know it." Jack murmured in her ear, causing a shiver to go down her spine. He leaned over to reach the coffee table while still lovingly holding her to him with his one arm. When he settled back again, he handed her one of the two flutes of champagne that he had adeptly brought with him.
Clinking their glasses together in a silent toast, they both took a long sip and Carly blinked in surprise.
"Wow, this is really good." She said and Jack chuckled.
"Actually, you can thank Vienna for that. She helped me pick it out."
"Vienna?" Carly's face echoed the shock that was in her voice. Then her eyes narrowed and she stared at the golden colored liquid in suspicion. "Are you sure it's not poisoned?"
Jack laughed and she gave a reluctant grin as she bounced up and down lightly along with the movements of his chest. "No, it's not. It's apparently a thank you gift for persuading Henry to take tonight off and let Jess run the club."
"Oh, well, the girl is going to college for her degree in business management. I just figured it was good practice." Carly said, shrugging and then taking another sip of the champagne. Just because it came from the suggestion of a woman she couldn't stand didn't mean that she was going to let it go to waste. "Besides, I wasn't going to be there tonight. I wanted to be with you."
"So I've been told." Jack said, sipping his own glass and making an innocent face when Carly turned to look at him over her shoulder.
"What does that mean?" She asked and he shrugged.
"Just that a little birdie told me about the special purchase you made at La Femme Jolie."
Carly frowned as she contemplated how he could have possibly known about the black and red lace teddy that she had bought to wear tonight and then she rolled her eyes.
"You know, I'm not sure I like this whole 'buddy-buddy' thing that you have going on with Lee now. And he shouldn't be telling tales out of school that he heard from my blabbermouth of a cousin." Carly said, making a displeased noise in her throat.
"Hey, since he married Molly he's technically family, right? And families share." Jack said, trying to hide the smile that was on his face as he spoke. "And they especially share vital information like that."
"Yeah, well…maybe I won't wear it now." Carly said, shaking her head but even she knew that it was an empty threat. It just happened to be all that she had in her arsenal at the moment.
"Hmm, we'll see." Jack said and then, having apparently had enough of them talking, he tenderly brushed Carly's sleekly straightened hair away from her neck. Immediately he began pressing light kisses up and down the smooth column to end up just behind her right ear. Carly felt that familiar pool of liquid heat begin to form in her lower abdomen and closed her eyes in pleasure.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Carly asked, her voice low and husky with barely concealed desire.
"Seducing my wife." Jack answered readily and nipped at her neck, before soothing it over again with another kiss. He grinned when he felt her entire body shudder against his and he happily repeated the action.
"Jack…" Carly trailed off as she turned her head to meet his lips and they kissed passionately.
She turned in his embrace to loop her arms around his neck while he slid his own hands up the back of her black cashmere sweater to find the clasp of her bra. He had just managed to deftly unhook the piece of underwear, which was accompanied by a soft moan from Carly, when the front door opened.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Parker said and shielded his face. "Okay, thank you so much. Now I am blinded for life!"
Rolling their eyes, Jack and Carly repositioned themselves in a more decent pose and turned to collectively face their son.
"Cutting it kind of close aren't you?" Jack said, glancing at his watch and noticing that it was almost five minutes until eleven.
"Sorry…it's Valentine's Day." Parker said, as if that explained everything.
He removed his hands from his face and stuck them in his front jean pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels with a cheeky smile. From the happy post-makeout glow on his face, it appeared that he and Mattie had also had a very good night. Carly briefly wondered if they had paid any attention to whatever movie it was that they had gone to see but quickly came to the realization that she really didn't want to know the answer.
"Okay, Romeo." Jack said, trying to hide the kind of smile from his wife that only a father and son understood, and thumbed towards the stairs. "Bedtime in fifteen."
"Right, um, goodnight then." Parker said, taking two steps before turning to wag a finger at them like a stern pseudo-parent. "Oh, and please, try to remember that there are children in this house."
"Goodnight, Parker." Jack and Carly chorused.
With a small impish wave and accompanying wink, the feisty teenaged boy turned to continue towards the stairs. But before he could really go anywhere, a loud frantic banging came on the front door.
All three people jumped, startled by the sudden noise. Then, when it came again, the pounding somehow managed to sound even more frenzied than the first time.
Jack sprung into action and went to open the door before it woke up the rest of the house. Meanwhile Parker came back down the three steps he had managed to make it up before, in order to go stand protectively by Carly. Jack yanked open the door to reveal a slender and panicked looking brunette, who was holding a sleeping little boy in her arms.
"Please," she said, her voice nearly hysterical. "Are you Jack Snyder?"
With concerned look over his shoulder at his wife and oldest son, Jack turned back to the woman on their doorstep.
"Yes." He answered slowly and was about to ask her who she was except that she had already shifted focus past him towards Carly.
"And you're Carly…right?"
Carly just nodded, still stunned at the sight in front of her. At Carly's silent affirmation, tears started rolling down the woman's face.
"Oh, thank God, you're here." The woman said, clutching the child in her arms tightly. "Please, you have to help me. She said that if I ever needed help, you were the only ones I could trust."
Jack looked back again at Carly who shrugged and then gestured for the woman to come inside. She did so without hesitation and Jack quickly shut the door behind her, once again sealing the cold February weather outside.
The woman moved to the sofa and laid her sleeping burden down, brushing a lock of light brown hair off of his forehead tenderly. The child looked like he could be no more than six years old and the woman tucked a raggedy looking stuffed dog in his arms before turning a pleading face back to Jack and Carly.
"Please, I don't know where else to go. I think someone is trying to kidnap my son."
Carly looked at Jack and he frowned, obvious confusion shared by them both. She then turned to Parker and placed a hand on his arm.
"Sweetie, could you go upstairs and check on everyone. Make sure that they're still asleep. And then I want you to stay upstairs."
"But Mom…" Parker frowned, sending a mistrustful look at the disheveled person sitting on their couch and Carly shook her head.
"It'll be okay. Just do as I ask, please."
Parker looked over at Jack who nodded and with another suspicious glance towards the sofa, Parker did as asked.
Once he was upstairs, Carly wasted no time and turned back to their unexpected guest.
"Okay, lady, who the hell are you?"
"My name is Nicole and this is my son, Joshua." She said, gesturing to the sleeping boy next to her. Then she looked up and bit her lip. "I've had the feeling that we were being watched for a while now. Little things, you know? Like the same car would be parked on our street a couple days in a row and then it would be gone again. Or I would think I would see the same man that I saw in the supermarket behind me in the bank or the video store."
Nicole shuddered and then placed a protective hand on her son's head, running her fingers through his brown locks. She shook her own head quickly and swallowed hard.
"Then two days ago, someone broke into our house. Everything was completely destroyed…except Josh's room. It was untouched apart from the fact that his recent school picture was missing from his dresser."
Nicole's dark brown eyes shown with the barely concealed terror she felt inside for the safety of her child.
"After that I just threw together anything that I could find, emptied my bank account, and we've been traveling to get here ever since. This is the only place where I knew I would find help. You're still a cop, right?"
"Look…Nicole, was it?" Jack said and when she nodded, he continued. "Yes, I am. But if you've been traveling for almost three days, I'm going to assume that you are way out of my jurisdiction."
Nicole didn't say anything just gave a wry smile and another nod.
"And, I'm sorry, but…we don't even know you." Carly chimed in this time.
Frowning in agreement, Jack slipped an arm around her shoulders when she walked over to stand by his side. Carly didn't want to, or mean to, sound callous in the situation, especially from one mother to another. But she could sense the chaos surrounding this woman and Carly, for one, had more than enough of that in the past couple years alone to last a lifetime.
"I know." Nicole replied but then looked down again at her son. "But you did know him…once."
It was then that Carly took a good look at the little boy lying fast asleep on their couch. The same rounded cheeks and pert little nose, plus the way his forehead crinkled when he frowned in his sleep suddenly brought a similar face forefront in her mind. Only, this time, the child was barely a year old.
"Oh my God, Jack." Carly gasped out, placing a hand over her mouth while the other gripped her husband's arm tightly. "It's...it's Cabot!"
Jack's eyes widened and then he, too, roamed his eyes over the child, de-aging him and looking for similar features. He must have come to the same conclusion that Carly did because he let out a sharp curse under his breath.
"But, this doesn't make any sense." Carly said, shaking her head. "How did you find us?"
"I don't…I don't know if you're aware of any of this but when my husband and I adopted Joshua in 2005, he was already 18 months old. All we were given was a manila envelope that contained the legal adoption papers, his birth certificate, a brief medical history, and a letter from the woman who gave him up. The letter said that if we ever found ourselves in trouble that we should come to this address and ask for Carly and Jack Snyder."
"Your husband?" Carly repeated and Nicole looked away, her eyes filling with new tears.
"When Alec got sick, we didn't find out that it was cancer until it was too late to be treated. One day we thought he just had a really bad cold and then a few months later…he was gone. Josh was only three years old. Even though it's only been a couple of years, I think he barely even remembers the man he called daddy."
"I'm sorry." Carly said, sincerely, and Jack offered his sympathies too.
"So you can see why I'm so freaked out about this. Josh is the only thing I have left and I don't even know what's going on!" Nicole said and again her eyes pleaded with them to help her.
"Nicole, we really wish we could help but, truthfully, we're at a loss too. We don't know any more about what's going on than you do." Jack said and Carly gave her a small apologetic smile. But before anyone could say anything else, the phone rang shrilly.
"What the hell is going on tonight?" Jack exclaimed, highly exasperated noting that it was now eleven-thirty and his house was beginning to feel like New York's Grand Central Station.
Carly rushed to answer the phone before it had a chance to ring again.
"Hello?" Carly said. "Yes, this is she. Yes, it is very late so what…"
A second later Carly's face went pale and she blindly reached behind her to sink into the chair situated at the desk.
"What? Are you sure?" She gasped out and Jack hurried to her side. Even though he crouched down directly in front of her, Carly didn't even seem to notice him as she spoke again into the phone. "No, go ahead. Read it to me."
A few seconds passed and she nodded her head to whatever the person on the other end of the line was saying.
"Yes, I understand. Thank you."
Carly hung up the phone and stared straight ahead for a long moment. Then, without prompting, she spoke in a low tone.
"That was the clinic in Switzerland. The swing-shift nurse was doing her last set of rounds about a half hour ago when she discovered that Rosanna was missing."
"Missing?" Jack repeated incredulously and she nodded.
"They checked the whole hospital and the grounds, but no one seems to know anything. There was a note attached to her pillow that they are expediting to the Oakdale Police Station." Carly told him and blinked slowly. "Jack…it was signed 'J.S.'."
Jack's mind immediately made the connection as he thought about who would have most to gain by hurting Rosanna as well as getting their hands on the boy on the couch.
"James Stenbeck?" Jack said in disbelief, but immediately shook his head. "No, it can't be. He's dead."
"I thought so too, but now…I'm not so sure." Carly said, shrugging and her expression displaying her obvious disgust. "More to the point, how many times have we thought that before only to be proven wrong?"
Jack frowned and then took her hands in his, looking up into her face.
"What did the note say?"
When she didn't answer him, he tenderly but purposefully squeezed her hands to get her to focus on him and he repeated his question in a slow but firm tone.
"Carly, what did the note on Rosanna's pillow say?"
Carly's blue eyes were dull and held more than a trace of fear as she repeated the words that had been read to her over the phone.
"Let the games begin."
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THE END… of Truth North.
The saga of CarJack to be continued in Family Imperfect
Coming Early/Mid Fall 2009
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