Disclaimer: I do not own Kickin' It!

Chapter Two; Jess's POV

Before getting out of my car I said, "Stay here, I'll wave at you when you can come up."

I walked up to the door of Jack's house and glanced back at the car. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door hesitantly. After a couple of minutes, the door opened. I saw Jack and froze.

"Can I help you?" Jack asked me.

"Uh... uh, um..." I stuttered, "I..."

"Listen, ma'am," he started, "if you're selling something, I'm not interested, so you can just save your time and leave now."

"Oh," I said and he closed the door. I sighed and turned around, leaning against the door. I looked at the person waiting for me in the car and suddenly became determined. I pounded on the door and said loudly, "Ok, Jack Brewer, I ain't no darn saleswoman so open this door right now!"

The door opened immediately and Jack looked pretty angry. "Excuse me, do I know you?" he asked angrily.

And suddenly, I lost my confidence once again. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tears pricked the corner of my eyes. "I, um, I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I shouldn't have come..."

I turned away and started to walk to the car when Jack said, "Now wait a minute, who are you?" He grabbed my sensitive wrist.

I flinched and pulled away. "It doesn't matter," I told him.

That's when he noticed something. He grabbed my wrist again, tighter, and I winced, pulling away. He looked at me intensely, as if trying to bring up a bad memory. "Sad eyes..." he muttered.

"Excuse me?" I said.

"All my life, I've only met one person with those exact eyes..." he explained, "I'm sure we've met before."

I took a deep breath. "Jack, I..." I paused, "Well, would you like the long story or the short one?"

"Depends," he said skeptically, "Tell me who you are and I'll choose."

"My name is Jessica Wasabi," I told him and took a step back, looking at him nervously.

"Jess...?" he asked quietly.

"Most people call me Jessica now," I said.

"No, that's a lie!" he snapped, "The Jess I knew would break your arm if you called her Jessica."

"Well the Jess you knew was sixteen years old! I've changed, Jack, in more ways than you'd think." I shook my head in frustration, "Look, I need your help..."

"Now that sounds like you," he muttered, "First, I want the truth, why didn't you come back? More importantly, why didn't you call? Or write? I was so worried about you."

"Well, I wanted to write," I started, "More than anything I wanted to tell you why I didn't come back... but everything came down to the same thing: 'I didn't go back to Seaford because I fell in love with someone else', and that wasn't exactly a polite thing to say to your new boyfriend."

"You fell in love?" he asked, "With who? Who was in China for you to... Jess, you didn't! Not him!"

"I couldn't help it, Jack!" I protested, "Kai, though he had his faults, made me feel important, and special... and safe..."

"Oh..." he said with an eye roll, "And how did that turn out?"

Before I could reply I heard a sickening voice say from behind me, "It's boring in the car."

I closed my eyes for a minute and when I opened them, saw Jack standing with his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised. I turned to look at the source of the voice. "Mo, I wasn't ready for you to come up yet," I said as I picked up the four-year-old girl.

"Jess, who's that?" Jack asked, pointing to the child in my arms.

I smiled nervously. "Did I forget to mention that I have a daughter...?" I asked with a nervous smile.

"I believe you did leave out that little detail," Jack replied, "But now I see how your relationship with Kai turned out..."

I glared at him. "Anyway..." I continued, "I tried to find my uncle but... I don't know where he is, so..."

"Let me guess," he sighed and rubbed his forehead, "you need to stay here for a while, right?"

"Momma said that you wouldn't mind 'cause you two used to live together," Mo said.

My cheeks reddened. "That's not what I said, babe," I told her, "I said that Jack's parents let me stay with them for a while... By the way, Jack, this my daughter Morgan."

Jack smiled at Morgan then sighed, "Sure, you can stay here for a little bit."

Morgan cheered, jumped down from my arms, and ran into the house. I made a distressed look and said, "I can't handle her... I'm not stable enough and she's too much like me..."

"What do you mean you're not stable enough?" Jack asked.

"You know I've always been a little... emotionally unstable, but its gotten worse..." I explained, "I'm bipolar, Jack..."

"Oh, how serious is it?"

"Very serious..." I heard a crash and winced, "Mo, come here, babe!"

Jack didn't look too please when he heard the crash. "One week?" I asked nervously.

"Two if you agree to keep your devil spawn under control," he replied.

I glared at him and said, "Let's just see how the first week goes."

He nodded and I sighed. "We still need to talk, don't we?" I guessed. He nodded again. "Well then sit down, 'cause you're gettin' the long story," I told him.

We went into the living room and sat on the couch. "When I left," I started, "I fully intended to come back... but then you called me, on accident, I mean. I heard you talking to Kim about how you thought our relationship wouldn't last more than a month... Kai heard it too. We started talking and he kissed me, he told me he loved me... I didn't want to admit before that but I felt the same way. So I stayed.

"I have regretted not explaining to you or the others. I know I sort of just disappeared... I tried calling, writing, but I didn't know what to say. Seven years have come and gone and what I thought would make me stronger only made me weaker. I've made so many mistakes...

"I regret a lot of things, Jack... I regret hating myself for what I did just so I could be happier. I regret letting Drake abuse me, break me down and make me someone that I am ashamed of. I regret letting him kill my parents. I regret everything that happened to me... But I don't regret my relationship with Kai and I don't regret Mo."

"So Kai is Morgan's father?" Jack asked with wide eyes and I nodded, "Where is he then? Leave you when you got pregnant?"

I looked at my lap and closed my eyes. "N... no," I whispered, "He loves Mo but..." I stood up and changed the subject, "Um, where's my uncle?"

"He moved when you left," he replied, "He was so hurt when you didn't come back... you didn't even tell him why."

"Where did he move?" I asked.

"Napa, California," he grabbed a notepad and pen from the coffee table and wrote something down, "Here's his number."

"Thanks... I'm going to... go to the mall with Mo..." I said, "Thank you so much, Jack."

"Anything for you, Jess," he replied and kissed my cheek.

I knew he was still upset about me leaving without a trace all those years ago, but I also knew that he was too kind to push me away.

I walked through the mall, holding Mo's hand. I walked to the dojo. I took a deep breath and walked inside.

"I'll be right with you, ma'am," the sensei said as he finished his class with a few teenagers.

"Rudy?" I whispered.

The kids went to change and he looked at me. "Yes, can I help you?" he asked.

"Uh, no, I just stopped by for old time's sake," I replied, "I didn't think you would still be working here..."

"Oh, do I know you?" he looked at me intently, "You look familiar."

"It's me... Jessica Wasabi," I said hesitantly.

"Jess? I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed and hugged me.

"Sometimes I wish I were..." I whispered and hugged him tightly as tears flooded my eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, pulling away.

"Nothing, I'm just a bit overwhelmed," I replied, "Um, this is my daughter, Morgan." I put my hands on Mo's shoulders.

I talked with Rudy for about an hour before Mo started complaining about being hungry and I went across to Falafel Phil's.

I sat down in a booth and Mo sat across from me. I heard someone talking from the booth behind me, it was a familiar voice saying, "She goes by Jessica? Are you sure that's the Jess we knew? She hated being called Jessica."

"I know," another voice said, which I recognized as Jack, "But she knew about Drake, she had a sensitive wrist... and her daughter, looks just like Jess when she was younger... But I'm still not sure if it's really her or not..."

"Trust me, if I were an identity thief, I'd victimize someone that wasn't so unstable," I said as I turned around in the booth.

"Jess!" The first voice, Kim, exclaimed.

"Hey, Kim," I said with a smile, "Its been a while."

"Seven years..." she agreed.

I noticed her fidgeting with something on her finger, a ring.

"Kim, you're engaged?!" I asked enthusiastically.

She smiled and looked at Jack. "Yes," she said, "The wedding's in seven months." She looked back at me.

"I'm so happy for you guys," I told them.

"Momma, I'm hungry," Mo complained.

"Right," I stood up and picked up Mo, "Kim, this is my daughter Morgan."

Kim smiled at her. "She's beautiful," she said.

"Momma!" Mo hit my arm and I sighed.

"And impatient..." I mumbled.

"Like her father..." Jack muttered.

I glared at him and went to get Mo something to eat. "Momma, when's Daddy gonna come home?" Mo asked me.

I could feel Jack and Kim looking at me and I knelt to look at Mo. "Babe, I don't think Daddy's gonna be home for a while..." I told her quietly.

"Why?" she asked, "Doesn't Daddy love us?"

"Of course he does, Morgan, but..." I closed my eyes and remembered the day that I heard what happened, "But he's... away on business..."

I didn't dare tell her the truth. As much I loved Mo, the truth was just too hard to tell. I didn't go back to Seaford because I thought I should finally make up with the others, I went back because of what happened to Kai. I loved him and I couldn't raise Morgan without him. I still clung to a shred of hope that he would come back, that he was safe, but no one knew what to tell me.

"He'll be back as soon as he can," I said, "I'm sure of it..."

So I decided to post a second chapter for the heck of it. Remember, this story will be deleted Tuesday night at 8:30pm central time if no one wants me to continue it.

Review!

Have a blessed day.
~Nydroj