December 30th

Assuming Jack

My phone vibrates and wakes me up. I pick it up, wondering what's going on. I read the message, and my heart freezes.

This was all you, wasn't it? What the hell is my dad talking about?

What? I respond, honestly confused.

Don't bullshit me, rock star! You set her against me as soon as you skipped town. Just like you to leave without a word and keep stirring the pot. I still have no idea what... did my little sister run out? She's only fifteen!

Did Anne leave home?

You honestly don't know, do you? Well let me fill you in. Your mother just had divorce papers served to me. That's honestly the best thing I could have asked for. I got my academic interests from him, he got me started in karate, but that's all I'll put in his favor. He's why I left home in the first place, and why I didn't say goodbye to anyone when I moved here.

I'm going to not respond to that just yet. Instead... Hey Mom! How are you in the kiddos? Sorry I didn't talk to you guys on Christmas.

Hi Dude. Me and the little ones are doing good. How was your Christmas? My mom texts back immediately. Of course I'm going to have to dig the details on this one.

Mom, how are you guys REALLY doing? I press.

I'm guessing your dad told you? We're okay. We're actually staying at a friend's of Anne's until I can get something worked out. Don't worry about us. Live your life. We'll be fine.

My head is swimming, but I feel dizzy all at the same time. How do I... what am I...

My incoherent train of thoughts is dashed by Kim opening my door. "Oh, good! You're up." Kim says with a smile as she walks in. "I thought I was going to have to wake you up on my terms." She winks. Me and Kim's relationship is going pretty well if you couldn't tell. A lot of making out, a lot of cuddling and spooning. We haven't done anything deep end since early Christmas morning, but we're still pretty physical.

"Jack." Kim says when I don't respond.

"Hmm?" I ask, looking up from my phone. "Morning." I say as I reread the messages I've had this morning.

"Are you okay?" Kim asks, serious and caring in play now.

"I... I don't know." Do I tell her? Do I keep it a secret? Do I try to fix this alone? I want to tell her, but how much can I share before she decides I'm too much? Everyone has a breaking point, and I'm afraid of not being able to guess where it is.

"Is this one of those things where you tell me now, or one of those things I find out during a panic attack?" Kim's blunt and to the point here, but she really has a point.

I sigh and just pass her my phone. Her brow furrows immediately because I've barely talked about my dad, and it's never been good. Her voice catches in her throat and I know she read the important message. Kim looks up at me, trying to gauge my reaction, but right now, I don't have one.

She gives my phone back and just sighs, taking my other hand and kissing it. "I'm sorry." Kim tells me as she joins me on my bed and rests her head on my shoulder.

"I need to go home, Kim. I need to make sure my mom and little siblings are going to be okay. They're living with my little sister's friends right now. I don't know what to do, but I have to do something. I stay here and be happy while they're potentially staring down the barrel of being homeless." I get off my bed and start immediately packing. I'm only bringing one duffel because I don't know what I'm going to do there or how long I'll be there.

"Jack..." Kim starts but I cut her off with a raise of my hand.

"I'm going, Kim. They're my family and I'll do whatever I can to help them. I'm sorry if that fucks up anything on the schedule, but I need to make sure they're okay." I say sternly, my one bag already packed with everything but toothbrush and paste.

"I wasn't going to stop you." Kim is standing in my doorway. Right where I need to get through. Didn't she just say she wasn't going to get in my way? "I'm coming with you." Kim crosses her arms and stands her ground.

"I don't know, Kim. None of my family knows you, and my dad is a really wild card. He's a hell of a drinker, and he'll be worse. I'll even say he's dangerous right now." I love Kim, and I love that she wants to be there every step of the way, but I won't make her see this. I don't want her to see this.

Kim still wouldn't budge. "KIM!" Why couldn't she make this easy?

"If it's dangerous, I'm not letting you go alone." Kim tells me calmly. "We're going together, we'll work up a plan on the way and everything will be fine." Kim holds out her arms. "Come here." I do as told and accept her offered embrace. "We'll leave first thing after breakfast."

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Assuming Kim

Finding Jack with just divorced parents isn't exactly how I wanted to start my day. Now we're sitting on a plane heading to Michigan.

Jack is noticeably on edge and fidgety. His mind must be running in circles right now. I know very little about his family, so I'm flying blind here. But this is Jack. I need to do anything I can.

"Any plans, here?" I ask hopefully, but I don't know if he will.

"I don't know." Jack runs a hand through his hair and sighs. "I don't know what I'm thinking I can do. I've been waiting years for this. I knew it would happen, but I thought I'd know what to do."

"Let's take it one step at a time, maybe? Get a feel of the situation and move on from there?" I suggest.

"I think that's what we'll have to do." Jack gives in and rests his head on my shoulder. I kiss his head and lay my cheek on him.

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We touch down, and Jack immediately shoots up and grabs our carry ons. I follow him off the plane as quick as I can and through the tiny airport.

"Okay, I probably should have thought about this." Jack looks out over the snow covered parking lot. "We don't have a ride." His eyes raise and he pulls out his phone, taps the screen a few times and holds it up to his ear.

"Mom, hey!" Jack says with a smile. "Can you pick me up at the airport, please? I'll give you gas money." Jack is still such a teenager sometimes. "Awesome! I'll see you when you get here." Jack hangs up. "So that was my mom." I can't help but roll my eyes at him.

Ten minutes pass by the two of us waiting in silence until a silver van pulls up. "That's the Brewer Bus." Jack opens the door and goes to the van, opening the passenger door. "Hi mom."

Jack steps back and motions for me to get in. "The chariot, malady." Jack bows wide and I can hear giggles. I sit down and turn around to see four kids. There's a girl who looks about fifteen, a boy who's maybe twelve or thirteen, two more girls who could be anywhere from seven to ten. They're all adorable and have Jack's eyes.

"Mom, this is Kim. Kim, this is my mom, Maggie. Behind you we have Anne, Michael, Marie, and Claire in descending order of age.

"Hi guys." I turn and smile at them with a wave. "It's nice to meet you." I see a spark of realization on one face after another.

"Kim Crawford!" Claire and Marie both shout happily. "What are you doing here?!" Marie asks, still shocked.

"Well..." I look at Jack, not sure how much I should say, or what to say for that matter. Jack nods and smiles. "I'm dating Jack." I don't know how much that means to them.

"Nice work, Jack!" Anne offers Jack knucks and I can't help but laugh at them. "How did you get stuck with this nerd?"

Ah siblings. "That's a weird story, actually..." I probably shouldn't tell her that Jack met me by saving me from rape. That's not a story for kids.

"I met her at the gas station on my way home from work. She was on vacation and she chose to come here to lose the media. I was buying snacks and a Snapple, and Kim was buying gas. I didn't realize I was $3.00 short. Talk about a life saver. We just went on from there." Wow, Jack's really good at slinging bullshit.

"That's actually kind of adorable." Anne says with a small smile. "It's about time he gets over that Donna bitch."

"Annabelle!" Maggie chastises. "Not in front of Kim."

"She's nineteen. She can handle it." Anne fires back. "Jack, we need to talk when we have a minute."

"He already knows, Anne." Maggie says flatly.

"Mom, what can I do to help." Jack asks, leaning forward in his seat.

"I don't know yet. It's happening so fast, and I've never been through this before." Maggie shakes her head slowly. "I just appreciate you're here right now."

"I'm here for you mom, I'm here for all you guys." Jack says staying strong, hugging Claire and Marie to him, them hugging him back. I don't think they understand, they're just happy to have Jack. This scene is threatening to bring a tear to my eye, so sad but precious at the same time. It's obvious.

"Kim, has Jack told you anything?" Maggie asks, sounding a little shy, maybe ashamed.

"Um, he showed me the text messages." I say honestly, biting my lip.

Maggie just sighs. "I wish you didn't have to meet the family like this." She smiles softly, apologetically.

"Jack told me not to come, but I had to for him." I smile back at Jack. "Your son is an amazing young man, Mrs..." Oh shit, um...

"Maggie is fine, Kim. And Jack is quite the young man, isn't he?"

"MOM!" Jack whines from the back.

"Shut up Jack, your mom and I are talking about you." I smile at Maggie and all the kids laugh.

"You should keep her, Jack." Anne smiles and punches his shoulder.

"I will end you."

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The van parks in front of an olive green house with a Subaru in one half of the driveway. This must be where Maggie and the kids are staying. If there's already a family of four living here, it has to be boarding house cramped.

As soon as we walk in through the door, two little kids run by and nearly crash into Jack. Maggie comes in behind me and I barely catch her sigh at the state of the house. Has she been keeping up after it?

"So this is home for a time being. The kids just see it as a big sleepover right now." Maggie says as she leads us to the kitchen where the four of us take seats around the table.

"Mom, how are you doing?" Jack asks, taking his mom's hand.

Maggie nods her head slowly and finally looks at Jack instead of the table. "It was a long time coming, Jack. You and Anne both know that. Trying to figure out what's next, what we're going to do is the hard part." Maggie admits, laying her head on her arm like a game of Heads Up Seven Up.

"Anne, would you mind showing me around?" I smile politely as Anne nods, the two of us now leaving Jack and Maggie alone for a while.

Anne leads me upstairs. "It's a three bedroom house, so with the family of five, and the five of us here now, it's pretty cramped. Getting bathroom time is a nightmare." Anne tries to pass it off with a chuckle, but I can see she's miserable here.

"Anne, I know we just met, but how are you doing?" I venture, feeling a little unsure as to if I'm allowed to ask.

"I'm holding up." She shrugs a shoulder as she opens up the room the Brewer kids have been sleeping in. It looks like an army barracks in here. "Three kids on the bed and my sleeping bag on the floor." She points out. "We're loaded in here like refugees, but the midgets are too young to really care right now."

My heart is breaking over what this poor fifteen year old girl is going through. She's growing up so far above the curve, and she's such a champ about it. She's strong like Jack.

"Anne, what was Jack like growing up?" We sit down together on the bed.

"At first I hated Jack. He was stern and bossy and I hated him for it. I didn't understand until he ran away why he was like that. He was our dad, really. He broke up our fights, he played with us and helped us with our homework when mom was busy. Jack was there when he would have rather been doing something else. I hated him for leaving at first. He went three months without coming back." Anne stops to take a deep breath.

I reach over and start rubbing small circles over her back as she continues. "But he came back. He came back once a week on Sundays after work. We had our brother and the father figure I think we deserved back." Anne looks at me and sighs. "Please take care of him, Kim. You'll find out soon enough the world made only one Jack."

I pull Anne into a side hug and she wraps her arms around me. "Jack and I will make sure you are all okay. We won't leave you guys. Jack has protected you for too long to stop when you need him the most." I whisper into her ear and she hugs me tighter.

"Thanks Kim." Anne smiles as we separate. "I'm glad Jack finally found a good girl."

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Assuming Jack

Kim leaves with Anne to investigate a bit on her own, and I also suspect so me and mom can talk.

"Mom?" I ask, squeezing her hand. "We need to get you on your feet, because knowing dad, he will do everything to take everything." My dad is a master of manipulation.

"I know Jack, I know. But what am I supposed to do? I work twenty five hours a week. I can't get a better job and stay a mom, too. Staying in the house would be more profitable to Glenn than me, the house is in such a mess." My mom sighs, looking at all the obstacles.

"We'll make this work, mom. I swear to you." I kiss her head and go to find Kim.

I here her and Anne before I see them. Their in one of the bedrooms, and I decide to eavesdrop. I'm not proud of it, alright?

"Thanks Kim. I'm glad Jack finally found a good girl." Anne tells Kim and I smile, happy that Anne approves. "I haven't seen a lot of you two together, but I can tell he's going to protect you, too."

"What do you mean you can tell?" Kim asks.

"He gets a certain look in his eye, you know? I can't describe it, but he has a look he sends certain people when they're not watching. He'll look into your eyes with care and love, but he'll stare into your back with eyes that promise to rain hellfire on anyone that would try to hurt you."

Anne is starting to go too deep for my liking. I go to stand in the doorway in time to see Kim about to say something, but she sees me and stops.

"Hey Jack." Anne smiles, hoping I didn't hear that last bit.

"Hey. Enjoying some girl talk?" I ask as I cross my arms and lean against the door frame.

"Yeah. Your sister's pretty cool, Jack." Kim smiles at me. "Can I see you in the hall for a second?" Kim takes my hand and pulls me out of the room.

"What's up, Kim?" I look down at our hands as she still has mine.

"Jack, we can't let them stay here. It's cramped and your sister is sleeping on the floor. Your mom is too old to sleep on the couch." Kim says quietly but with conviction.

"What are we supposed to do, Kim? I want to help them more than anything." I sigh and rub my free hand through my hair, Kim still holding my other.

"We should put them up in a motel until we can figure something out. They can stay with us in Seaford for a while until we all figure something out." Kim offers.

"They do love swimming." I give her. "They haven't had cable since before I left." They would have a lot of fun, and it would give them more room, and Anne's friend's family can have their house back. "Can we... no, you, afford that though?" I have to keep Kim in consideration here. She did walk right in on this only yesterday.

"I like when you say 'we.'" Kim smiles. "And yes, we can. I'm not hurting for cash, we got that signing bonus from Hollywood Records and I have a new movie coming out in three weeks. We're in a great position to all but foster them, Jack."

Kim's voice and her eyes promise nothing but honesty, and a want to do this. I can't help but pull her into a near bone crushing hug. "I love you so fucking much." I breath into her neck before peppering her with kisses.

She takes a step back and pushes me against the wall before she attaches her lips to my neck like a starving vampire. My hands start in her hair but spend little time before I pick her up and she wraps her legs around my waist. She sighs into my neck as I grab her ass and need it like the finest dough.

"Guys... Guys!" Anne yells and Kim and I just freeze in place. "How did this happen?!"

"Well, you see Anne, when a man loves a woman..." I start, but don't get to finish.

"When a man loves a woman, she sucks on his neck like a water bottle and he grabs her ass with both hands?"

"...Yes." We're caught red handed. "So in other news, get the kids packed up." I change the subject and put Kim down. "How did that even happen?" I whisper behind her.

"I don't even know. I blame you." Kim retorts with a giggle. "It's not my fault that you're really sexy when you're passionate."

"So where are we going?" Anne asks.

"We're putting you guys and your mom up in a motel for a while. You all deserve some fun and your friend should have her house back." Kim explains.

"So you're cool with shelling out a couple hundred bucks for people you just met?" Anne asks with a raised eyebrow.

"You get your trust issues from Jack, huh?" Kim asks with a chuckle.

"I earned my trust issues on my own, thanks." Anne grumbles.

Anne goes downstairs and I take Kim's hand before she can follow. "Forgive her for that little shot. She hasn't exactly had it easy."

"It's fine, Jack. I understand. Your whole family has been through a lot. They've gone a while without a lot of outside help, I can tell." Kim kisses my cheek and heads downstairs.

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Assuming Kim

I open the door to the room and the kids almost knock me over as they look around in awe. "It's so big!" Claire shouts with owl sized eyes.

"That TV." Marie says with a dropped jaw. I learned she's only ten, but she's hilarious and so much wittier than she should be at her age.

Their eyes land on the beds and they bolt straight for them. I can't help the mile wide smile on my face as I watch Jack's siblings have a ball.

"No guys, don't jump on the..." Jack is already in dad mode, but I stop him by wrapping my arm around one of his, laying my head on his shoulders.

"It's okay, Jack. Let them be kids in a hotel room for just a little while." I kiss his shoulder as he sighs, telling me I've won. "They're adorable, Jack." I feel pretty special, being able to watch these great kids just be kids when their lives are changing around them, completely unaware. Ignorance is their bliss right now, and I want to help them stay carefree while they can.

Jack kisses my head and I look up at him to see a glazed look in his eyes and a goofy smile playing on his lips. "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do, Jack. And you know I love you, too." I kiss his lips while I play with his J + K bracelet.

"Jack and Kim, sitting in a tree! G!" Claire and Marie sing together, jumping from bed to bed. I break into a fit of giggles from watching the scene, but Jack has different plans.

"Oh, you've done it now!" Jack shouts as he runs between the beds and catches Marie, then Claire in mid jump. He drops them on one bed and they giggle hysterically as they bounce up and down. When they stop bouncing, Jack tickles one with each hand, both crying for help.

"Kimmy! Kimmy, help us!" Marie cries out through her giggles.

I take the invite to play around and come up behind Jack, locking his arms into a full nelson. "Get him! Get him!" I shout as Marie and Claire spring into action and start tickling their big brother.

My heart is melting at this scene. Not only watching it, but being a part of it. I know Jack's heart. I know what this boy has been through, and here he is anyway. He got out, had a chance to start all over, but he came back. His pure, beautiful family needed their son and big brother Jack, and he came. His love and devotion to his gorgeous family speaks volumes of Jack. I can't help but love him more than I did yesterday. If I'm not careful, I'll fall in love with them all. But I find myself thinking, is that such a bad thing?

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Assuming Jack

The night's winding down as the kids are asleep in one room with Kim insisting she'd stay with them, while Anne, my mom and I share a second. Anne and mom are in one bed while have the other obviously, being the guy.

I'm pretty beat from playing in the pool for hours, and then the pizza party in one of the rooms that Kim demanded we must have. The kids love her, and I can tell they already have Kim's heart, too.

I'm feeling oddly restless for some reason. I've been rolling over and over, unable to get a wink of sleep. My phone buzzes on the nightstand.

Want the kids? Keep them. I'm not the family man I always thought I should be. I'm a business man, and business isn't good for family. You see me as a monster, and I don't blame you. I did the best I could and it was pretty shitty. I don't want to hurt...

It's a two part message because it's huge, anyone. I can't be there for them and make my business work, we both know this. It's part of why you left. Maybe one day we can have a drink without wanting to kill one another.

What the fuck was that?! My dad's always been deadbeat, but he just threw in the towel on his family. For business. For money. Not the family man he thought he should be? It took him twenty five years to realize he fucked up?!

So much for any kind of sleep tonight.

I get up and go to my duffel to change for a workout. I saw on the way in that the pool and gym are both twenty-four hour.

I just get outside my room and turn around to bump into Kim. "What are you still doing up, Beauty?" I ask with a scrunched brow, trying to hide any emotion. I need time to cool down and process before I try to have a level conversation.

"Couldn't sleep. You?" I can tell by her eyes that she's wide awake.

"Same. There's a lot going on up here." I tell her truthfully, tapping my head.

Kim raises on her toes and presses a kiss to my forehead. "Is everything okay up there?" Kim asks softly, probably worried about me. After everything in the last two days, I can't blame her.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I lie as I kiss her lips. I'll talk to her as I said, but I need some time. "Fancy going for a swim and/or sauna (A/N: It's pronounced "sowna", not "sawna". Just had to clear that up.)?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Give me a second to change into a bikini?" It's more of a statement as she disappears back into her room.

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I feel like that's enough for this chapter. If you guys want, I'll start out the next chapter with some late night pool/sauna sexy time? Let me know. Please leave a bunch of reviews to make up for the crappy day I had in the kitchen?