Disclaimer: I do not own Kickin' It!

Chapter Three

Jess's POV

Jack, Kim, and I went to Jack's house after we had been at Phil's for about half an hour. I noticed the others giving me serious looks and I sent Mo to play in the guestroom.

"What is it?" I asked, sitting on the couch.

"Where's Kai?" they asked in unison.

"Oh," I muttered, "He's on a business trip."

"You're lying," Jack said, "Tell us the truth. Where is he really? Come on, Jess, he's my cousin, you have to tell me."

"But I am telling the truth!" I protested.

They looked at me seriously. "Well... not the whole truth..." I finally said, "But he is gone for his job!"

"Where does he work?" Kim asked.

I sighed and looked at the ground. "I... um," I shook my head and stood up, "I don't have to tell you." I turned and walked quickly to the guestroom.

Jack's POV

"She's is so stubborn!" I said angrily, "She's just the way she was when we were younger!"

"You know what she's been through, Jack," Kim told me gently, "Maybe something else happened while she was gone."

"Yeah," I agreed, "She had a kid with my cousin!" I sighed. "What if something happened to him? As much I can't stand Kai, he is my family, I deserve to know."

"She'll tell you when she's ready," Kim said, "In the meantime, don't push it, you know it'll only make things worse."

I took a deep breath. "I know..." I mumbled and walked to the kitchen.

Jess's POV

I sent Morgan out of the room and closed the door. Jack had brought in my bags from my car and I started to go through one of them. I picked up an envelope and sat on the bed. I hesitantly took out the letter inside of it and, though I had already memorized what it said, read it.

Tears flooded my eyes. "Kai... I need you," I whispered, "Why did you have to go...?"

I laid on the bed and clutched the letter to my chest. After a few minutes I picked up my phone and hesitantly dialed my uncle's number. He picked up on the third ring and I bit my lower lip. "Um, is this Bobby Wasabi?"

"Yes, who's this?" he asked.

"Well... it's me, Jessica... your niece," I replied.

There was silence. "Jessica...?" he whispered.

"Yes," I replied, "I'm-"

The line went dead. I sat up and scowled. "Well it was nice talking to you to," I said sarcastically and put down the phone.

There was a knock on the door and Kim came in. I hid the letter I was looking at before and asked, "What do you need, Kim?"

"Well," she closed the door and sat next to me on the bed, "We need to talk."

I groaned. "If it's about Kai..." I shook my head.

"Jess, I won't tell Jack, I promise," she told me.

"I know you won't but... ok," I sighed, "Kai is... well, he's in the Army, stationed in Iraq, and, he's MIA..."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Jess..." she said, "How long has he been missing?"

"Two weeks," I replied, "I can't take care of Mo without him... I need him."

"Since when did you start admitting that you need someone?" she said jokingly.

I smiled slightly, "Since the day I said 'I do'."

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "What?!" she asked in shock.

I took off my necklace and slid a ring off of the chain, which had been hidden under my shirt. "Yeah," I replied, "Kai and I... we got married in a New York courthouse when we were eighteen. Mo was born the year after." I held the ring in my hand.

"Why doesn't Jack know?" she asked.

"We kept it a secret," I told her, "Only his parents knew about it... And it's going to stay that way, you understand? You can't tell anyone."

"Why not?"

"Because I want Kai with me when we tell his family," I looked at my lap, "If he ever comes back..."

"Hey, Kai will be back soon," she told me gently.

"What if he's not?" I whispered, "I'm so scared that I'll never see him again... I can't raise a kid without him."

Kim hugged me and said, "But you have us."

I pulled away. "And I need him," I muttered before standing up and grabbing my phone, "He's my husband, Kim, you wouldn't understand."

I walked out of the room and saw Jack playing dolls with Morgan. He looked slightly annoyed. "I need you to watch Morgan for a few hours," I told him.

"What?! Where are you going?" he asked, dropping the doll he was holding.

"Gotta look for a job," I replied, "I need money if I'm going to support a child."

"Why can't you take her with you?" He looked at me desperately.

"Oh yeah, walk into a place like 'I want a job' and then have a kid try to steal something, perfect first impression," I said sarcastically.

"She steals?" he said in shock.

"Yeah... good luck," I replied and left quickly.

I went to the mall and walked by a fruit stand. I reached in to my pocket and realized that I had forgotten to bring any money. I sighed and looked at the fresh, red apples. The person running the stand turned around and I glanced around. I bit my lower lip and swiped an apple. I walked away before he could notice.

I smirked and took a bite out of the apple, continuing my search for a store that was hiring.

Wow, Tuesday night, right when I was about to give up, I got a review. So obviously I'm going to continue this story. There will be one more 'surprise' from Jess at some point, can you take a guess? Guess, because you might have something that I like better than what I have planned(I'll give you credit if that's the case).

And, I wrote a short, Halloweenish story on my FictionPress account, the link is in my profile, check it out! :)

Have a blessed day.
~Nydroj