The long haul

When the door swung open the three he wasn't carrying swarmed through and started to explore like it was the yellow-brick-road running through Disneyland on Christmas. It was simple, no bigger than their old home with a living room/kitchen that was separated by an island, a short hallway with a bathroom and two bedrooms, and a storage/hall closet. Nothing too fancy, or extravagant but to them it was a palace. Jack marveled at the joy radiating through the small home they would now share and decided that this mental picture would keep him going.

That thought in mind he mentally groaned at the thought of bringing everything upstairs. They didn't have much and the place was already furnished, but they did have quite a bit more than he would be able to carry by himself very quickly. He settled them on the couch and, after giving the don't answer the door if it's not me mini-speech, headed back down to get a load of the more important things. TV, food, blankets, you know the essentials. Gotta have popcorn and movies!

It took him so many trips he lost count but having brought up board games and having Aster unpack as he brought things up everything went much more smoothly than he thought it would. Granted his shins had taken a beating on the stairs and he thought he'd never be able to move his fingers again but it was worth it. They had all summer to settle in before school started again and he had done quite a clever thing. Anna was the first to discover his sneaky little trick.

"Hey, we're across from the school!" She called the others as they were setting up the bigger things like the TV. (Jack was setting it up, the others were watching.)

"What? Aw man." Nick grouched playfully.

"Hey, but now we don't have to get up as early!" Aster lit up as he figured that out. Not only that but Jack worked at the convenience store that was also visible about a half a block from the school. He was fairly proud of himself for that. They would be able to walk just about everywhere so gas was almost a non-issue. Granted Burgess University campus was four blocks to the east but he didn't need to run all over it, just the arts and languages college building which was on the edge of campus. Plus he didn't have to be in his first class that semester until nine and they went to three, letting the four of them stay for the after-school program and giving him time to pick them up. Then he would work 5-9 on Tuesday and Thursday, a midnight to eight shift that paid double on Saturday and he had the weekend off.

Thankfully his scholarships covered tuition, the selling of his car and their parent's house was giving him a nice chunk and all his parent's ill-gotten money went straight to him, and their business had been good. Granted the authorities knew it was bad money but they'd been trying to prove it for years and they knew Jack needed it so they gave it to him, along with the money he had gotten from the whole government-help program. Essentially he was on food-stamps.

He slapped Aster a high-five and smiled, essentially soaking up that he had managed this, for them. He had done it! Plus he was going to get a degree and a real job, he was convinced he couldn't have done better. Plus his baby brothers and sister were elated and he couldn't have been more pleased by that if he tried.

"Alright, who wants dinner?" he asked, having already set up all they had where it was needed they were all wiped and more than hungry. The general consensus reminded Jack of the saying 'don't feed them after midnight'.

"Okay, okay, what do we want?" He asked, shuffling through the cabinets, unsure where he had put everything not an hour before. He was going senile at eighteen, he was convinced.

"Mac and Cheese!" Anna squeaked.

"But we had that last night." Nick whined. "We just moved, why don't we have something different?" He asked hopefully.

"What does that mean, what kind of different?" Jack asked suspiciously.

"Pizza!" Anna offered. Sandy nodded in whole-heated agreement. Jack considered it highly, the greasy treat sounding amazing, he had the money and they HAD just accomplished a major life-goal...

"Alright, pizza it is." Jack agreed. There was cheering, silent and otherwise, to go with their mirth. Sure his wallet ached when he paid for the three pepperoni pizzas they ordered but he hardly noticed the knot in his stomach when he turned around to four very happy faces. He snagged a few napkins for them in lieu of plates. Why would he want to do the dishes so soon?

"So what do we wanna watch?" Jack asked, folding his legs up under him on the old sofa.

"Cartoons!" Anna squealed causing the boys to collectively roll their eyes, aside from Sandy who was clapping in agreement.

"Alright, alright." Jack said a silent thank-you to any deity that happened to be listening for him not forgetting to hook up the cable before they moved. By the time they had finished their pizza the sun was going down but Jack decided that Summer should be less deadlines and more letting them drop like flies, at least until a little before school started. They did have to get into a schedule.

Watching them periodically fall asleep and wake back up was the most precious thing he had ever seen, and right about then he felt like his life had clicked. He wondered briefly at how odd this picture was. He looked more like a dad than a brother but that was okay by him. He felt more like a parent to them anyway, only he was still their cool older brother and while most people wouldn't think so it made his life easier. He could keep up with them and his lack of smothering made them come to him more than he had to seek them out. Plus they'd always come to him before their parents anyway, now they didn't have to worry about anyone but him.

Not that they were angels. Far from it, but they weren't exactly horrid children. By most standards they were amazingly well-behaved if only because Jack gave them enough slack that they didn't feel the need to 'rebel' because usually he'd be doing it with them.

As he fell asleep Anna and Sandy snuggled into him, still covered in all manner of pizza sauce and dust. Nick was in his own armchair, not that he was all that big, and Aster was on the love-seat. It was the perfect temperature in their for blankets thanks to their amazing AC/Heating system (He had done his homework after all.) so they were comfortable all night.

He was the first one up in the morning, noting the need for curtains, ASAP, and the faint smell of old pizza that now filled the little place, making it more like home. He internally groaned as he stretched. Sandy and Anna didn't make any moves to wake up but Aster's eyes opened the moment he budged.

"You up already?" He asked the sleepy kid at a whisper.

"I heard you get up." He explained.

"I didn't even make a sound." Jack protested.

"Yeah you did, I heard the couch squeak." He explained. Jack shook his head and repressed a little laugh.

"I swear you have GOT to have super-human hearing." He teased as Aster stretched out and started to automatically help pick up napkins and throw out the old boxes.

"You keep saying that, but I think you guys can't hear well." Aster persisted.

"Nope, you're secretly a superhero." Jack insisted quite seriously. "I'm onto you." He teased as he caught him in a headlock, giving him a huge nuggie.

"Jaaaaack!" Aster protested, the smaller boy managing to wake the sleeping giant of the family, who was only a giant because at seven he was more muscle and height that Aster, but not quite Jack's build yet.

"You woke Nick." Jack threw his hands up in playful frustration.

Nick hobbled over still half-asleep and plopped down at the kitchen table in an attempt to wake himself up.

"What're we havin' for breakfast?" Aster asked, causing Nick to wake up a little more.

"Well I'll figure that out if you'll go get Sandy, Anna and Nick" He gave Nick a pointed look as he had a line of pizza sauce on his face, "cleaned up, yourself included. I'm gonna change then we'll figure it out."

"Okay, come on, we should go change." Aster eyed Nick until he moved. Nick woke Anna up and Aster just carried Sandy because frankly he wasn't waking up until he had to.

After he changed and brushed his teeth he could hear the sounds of a mortal struggle in the bathroom of Sandy not wanting to change, or hold still for a bath. He chuckled to himself as he found all the things he needed to surprise them with pancakes. They didn't get them a whole lot before because he just didn't have money for the stuff and when he did, staying in the kitchen had been hazardous, at best. Now though, they could have more than one home-cooked meal a day and not worry. The sheer joy of standing in HIS kitchen making a REAL breakfast for them made his heart soar and a put a gigantic smile on his face.

Unknown to him someone was watching this whole scene play out in utter confusion and astonishment just outside the kitchen window. He couldn't have seen him if he tried but that was okay, he wouldn't have liked the sight anyway.

The tall, slender man in a black floor-length coat frowned at the happy group of 'siblings' as they readied themselves for their new life. Man in the Moon what was going on here? A moonbeam in the bright morning sky fell onto him and a deep voice called to him.

"Observe and learn, for you have strayed from your path." The voice warned. The man who Jack would have known as the Boogeyman snarled up at the sky.

"Learn what, how insane you are? You've gone and made them mortal. When did this happen?" He asked. The man in the moon stayed silent. "I think I'm starting to realize why Frost never liked you." He muttered. What was he intended to learn from this? How stupid the man in the moon was? He had made his worst enemies more harmless than, well he supposed not more harmless than toddlers, as most of them were actual toddlers.

He figured there would be a catch though, so he decided to actually do what Mani suggested and 'observe' them. What was the worst that could happen?

Thank you so much for reading, you are awesome! Let me know what you think so far, I'd love to make sure it's as fun for you to read as it is for me to write! :)