Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehe, the title of this one says it all :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

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Chapter 49: First of the Next Generation

Around a dozen Winter Sprites sat there, in a heap of sorts, their gazes fixed on the object of their attention. Their heads turning from side to side, back and forth, as if they were watching a tennis match. Beside them was Zuě Hu, his attention similarly fixated on the figure pacing to and fro, for Jack had spent much of the past week doing as he was doing right now. Which was to say that it was surprising he'd not worn a groove into the floor of the Hall of Mirrors.

He'd not left it at all since the 'due date' had arrived, even going so far as to shepherd the first advances of Northern Winter via his mirrors rather than going out and doing it directly. It was clear he was determined not risk missing a message by even a few minutes.

Zuě Hu shook his head to himself, and remarked with a hint of humour.

"With the way you're acting, people would think you were the father."

Jack glanced at him, waving his hands in emphasis as he continued to pace.

"The baby was due a week ago!"

Zuě Hu rolled his eyes.

"And doctors can and still do sometimes get their estimates wrong, and it is also hardly a rare occurrence for an infant to be born one or even two weeks late. It could be either of those, or even a combination of the two."

"I know."

Jack finally stopped, and instead stood there radiating tension. Enough so that his Lieutenant began to frown. Zuě Hu got up and walked over, stepping in front of Jack to look at him eye-to-eye in concern.

"You've been rather evasive at times, ever since that birthday party you held here, and it's gotten more frequent ever since Laura and Craig announced they were expecting their first child. You've been keeping secrets from us again, haven't you?"

Jack averted his gaze, an action that as much as admitted to guilt, before he sighed and stepped around the tiger to resume his pacing.

"I'm worried I won't have time to prepare them; Laura and Craig, and their child."

Zuě Hu frowned.

"And what do you mean by 'prepare'?"

Jack once again came to a halt, grimacing.

"Nightlight reported something to me after the party, which since then he's only told Sandy and not any of the other Guardians... He's seen signs of Pitch, skulking around in the shadows, no doubt beginning his plans for a strike." Jack turned to face him, solemn. "He's going to attack, and soon. Nightlight and the Man in the Moon were certain at the time that it would happen within two decades, and that was ten years ago. That means without a doubt that at some point during the next ten years, Pitch will make his move."

Zuě Hu twitched, his ears flicking back and forth uncertainly, before his expression hardened into understanding.

"Which means that Laura and Craig's child will be of an age at which they will be most vulnerable. To face Pitch without flinching, should he seek them out to try and get at you, will take very solid belief in the Guardians."

Jack bowed his head, frustration and unhappiness displayed in every line of his stance.

"All of the kids of Burgess will be a target, but I can't deny that any children belonging to the Bennetts, will be especially at risk once it's revealed that I'm a Guardian. He'll do everything he can to break their belief, them and everyone else in the family, because that's my greatest fear... To be forgotten by them."

The Lieutenant came close again, this time nuzzling Jack's shoulder in support.

"Will you tell them? Will you warn them what is coming and that the time is near?"

Jack shook his head.

"No... Because to warn them would be to make them acknowledge Pitch as a threat, and that would mean admitting to fear of him. That would give him power over them." He raised his head, glancing at the tiger. "I've never even so much as uttered his name around any mortals in Burgess. None of them even know he exists, because in their ignorance they give him no foothold in their hearts. He is the 'Boogeyman' to the children of Burgess, a name heard only from their parents and never validated by me. He is a story that holds no truth in their minds. I intend to keep it that way."

The two of them regarded each other solemnly, Zuě Hu unable to deny the wisdom in Jack's choice. In this case, ignorance really was the best protection. Pitch could not be seen by or touch anyone who did not believe in him. His only weapon against them would be to try and make them fearful, yet the children of Burgess had for centuries been taught to face fear with laughter.

The tiger sighed, reciting the rhyme that Jack taught to his believers.

"'See a shadow stalking you, and it's the time to play. See how many times you laugh, before it runs away'... I must admit, you've taught them well. No Fearling has Touched a child in Burgess in almost two centuries. It's rare for those youths to be unhappy enough to draw them in, and even when they are they've learnt how to chase them away." He smiled a Jack. "I don't think you've anything to worry about. Teach their child the same things you've taught all the others, and they'll be fine."

Zuě Hu headed out to the plaza, the sprites following him, leaving Jack on his own. The Spirit of Winter then took a deep breath and flew up to sit on the spire in the centre of the room, to continue his wait.

It was another eighteen hours before a note dropped to the ice beside him, thrown through the Ice Mirror he'd kept open to the high shelve in the Bennett House's living room. After once glance at the contents, the Hall of Mirrors was then empty, for Jack had vanished through a portal to the house.

Jack could hear someone rushing around upstairs, along with the occasional gasp or moan of pain from Laura. She and Craig had arranged for a home birth, as was family preference, meaning the midwife was likely on the way. All Jack could do was wait downstairs, or rather wait outside. Leaning against the back wall of the house, just as he'd done all those years ago when his sister had been born, and for so many births since.

The midwife arrived after another fifteen minutes, and then the real waiting began. The hours ticking by, seemingly fast and yet agonisingly slow... Until in the early hours of October 22, in this year of 2004, the cries of the newest member born into the Bennett Family rang out clear and strong.

Jack slipped back inside, choosing to stand in a corner out of the way of the midwife when she finally came down thirty minutes later. Craig helped her with her coat, thanking her, before he politely ushered her out with the promise that he'd go to the hospital and register his son's birth the coming afternoon.

Jack couldn't help the smile that formed on his face at hearing that, a son. Craig and Laura's first-born was a boy, and by the sound of the child's screeching immediately after the birth, he was a very healthy boy.

Craig closed the door as quickly as good manners allowed him, and carefully waited another fifteen seconds for the sound of the midwife getting into her car, before he at last allowed his joy and excitement to well up. He dashed over to Jack and grabbed him by the hand, practically dragging him up the stairs and into the bedroom where Laura lay propped up on the bed.

She looked exhausted, but that didn't stop her smile when she saw Jack. Her expression as joyful as her husband's as she held out the bundle in her arms.

"Jack, this is James Albert Bennett." She glanced adoringly at her son. "Say hello to your Uncle Jack, Jamie."

Jack had already pulled his powers in close, the frost gone from his clothing, as he accepted the child in his bundle of blankets. Jamie snuffled quietly as he was handed over, but was already too soundly asleep to be woken by the movement. But then even newborns that had been wailing at the top of their lungs when introduced to the Spirit of Winter, had always immediately quietened once in his arms. Family theory was that, somehow, the infants knew they were safe in the arms of a Guardian.

Jack smiled, a soft smile of joy. All his worries about Pitch, forgotten in his moment.

"Hello, Jamie."

Jamie snuffled again, as Jack gently stroked the surprisingly long tufts of brown hair on the baby's head. Just from that, he could guess Jamie would be getting his first haircut before he was even two months old.

Jack handed the infant to Craig, who then set him in the crib in the corner of the room. While he did that, Jack then quietly left the room to allow both new parents to get some rest.

It was a couple of hours later when Jamie began crying to be fed, a need that was quickly tended to. Laura remained upstairs, it being likely she'd gone straight back to sleep again, but Craig came down a few minutes after Jamie had been settled again.

Jack smiled from his seat on the couch, and inclined his head towards the kitchen.

"I made sandwiches for you both. They're wrapped up in the fridge ready for whenever you want them. But if you want me to make pancakes, I can do that too."

Craig sat down in the armchair opposite him, sighing.

"That would be great, but leave it until after Jamie's next feed. Right now all I want is a cup of coffee."

Jack began to get up.

"Then I'll go set a pot to brew."

"Jack, wait."

A Craig's sudden, unexpected interruption, Jack paused and frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Craig hesitated, and then grimaced.

"Jack... I don't mean to spoil this moment, but there's something I need to tell you. You know how, in recent years, we've had to be more careful in case the neighbours catch on that you visit us? "ell, they're starting to think something is odd about our family. More odd than usual, that is."

Jack stared at him, confused.

"Are you saying that I have to stay away? Away from him, and any other children you may have?"

At Jack's hurt words, Craig shook head vehemently and went to him.

"No, not that! It's just..." He sighed. "You can visit, but no using your powers in or around the house. No special parties, or anything like that. Just until Jamie is older. That will give time for suspicions to die down, and by then Jamie will be at an age where any strange stories will be put down to youthful imagination, or he'll understand enough not to go around telling them."

Jack glanced at the hand which rest upon his shoulder, then regarded Craig solemnly.

"But if you want to avoid stories that might make the suspicions worse, then you can't let Jamie see me around the house at all. I'm pretty distinctive, what with the white hair and staff. As soon as he starts talking, there's every chance he's going to babble about Jack Frost visiting the house. You used to the the same thing, when you were that age."

Craig, after glancing at his wife again, speaks.

"And times were different then, and the neighbours were less-inclined to take the stories seriously." He gave Jack a small smile, and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "But, we have an idea how to deal with the problem."

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When David and Marie arrived at eight in the morning, it was with much congratulations that they greeted their son when he ushered them into the house. Laura was up and sat on the couch with Jamie in her arms, and the smell of cooking pancakes filled the house with the promise of good food.

But that wasn't the surprising thing... What was surprising was the young, brown-haired man who came out of the kitchen to inform them all that the food was ready. A seeming stranger, dressed smartly in a green sweater, loose dark trousers, and white socks... but whose piercing blue eyes and pale skin were rather familiar.

David and Marie both blinked, trying to place from where they knew this young, unkept-haired man. Until the sight of a certain staff propped in the corner made their eyes widen in realisation.

"Jack?"

Jack sighed, and plucked at the wig he had a hard time believing he'd been talked into wearing. It was going to take a lot of getting used to.

"Say hello to 'Jackson Overland'. Jamie's uncle, who is actually just a good friend of the family and not really related."

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Alaia Skyhawk: Jamie is here! And they made Jack wear SOCKS! (Yes, I seriously find that more funny than him wearing a wig). Hehehehee! As you can probably imagine, I'm going to have some fun with this :D