Hello :P It is Wednesday and I am back with a new chapter. Technically, it's now the 28th where I am and I'll be updating "Dear Daddy" in the evening time but oh well! I wrote this one a little while ago now and had fun with it. This family and past is clear in my mind but it's not something I really write about. All in good time! This story is when Noah and Josie - James' Nanny and Pop Pop from the anime - are younger and their children are much smaller. A lot of inspiration comes from the movie "Donnie Brasco" and that heavily influences Noah's past/career for me. I hope you enjoy :3
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!
As the door in James' grandparents' house shut with a loud bang and I saw the whites of Georgina's eyes as they widened, in her surprised and unexpected gaze I saw something. I didn't just see tension. I didn't just see alarm. I didn't just see disbelief. I saw something far more. I saw something far greater. I saw a vision of the past. I sensed it all, just with a momentary look.
A younger version of Noah pulled up on the large family's house's driveway in his car and as soon as the engine cut out, he got out of his car. He seemed to be in a hurry. He seemed to be unusually hasty. He barely checked to see if he took the keys out of the ignition. He barely looked behind him. He didn't even check to see if he'd locked the car behind him. He was in a rush, it was plain to see. But almost as soon as I'd observed that from being my future self, all of that changed.
His walking pace started to slow down all over again. He ran his fingers through his greying slicked back locks for work and made them a bit more unkempt than usual. His fingers went to his upper lip as he paused putting the key in the front door and he searched for the moustache that wasn't there. That was one of the first times I'd seen him without his top lip adornment. It made him appear younger than he actually was. It made him seem a lot fresher too, despite his readable nervousness. It made him look even more like James.
His fingers remained lingering above his mouth for quite some time and they did so even after he finally put the key in the door and turned it, pushing the solid oak open a fraction. He exhaled out his nose. His usually soft dark green orbs were filled with a strange blankness. I couldn't find myself relating to them like I normally did.
He was anxious, I could see that. But at the same time, he was putting on an authoritative and very brave front. Perhaps it was required for his job, that's what I assumed. Or maybe he needed it to enter his family home. I really didn't know. I got the impression that Noah didn't know either. With yet another sigh, he proceeded to properly push the door open and headed on inside. He held his shoulders high. But he knew it was going to be a long night.
I had got to know that large and welcoming family home long before I was even friends with the lavender haired ex-rocketeer. And it was because of this, I felt a strong sense of familiarity as I watched a younger version of Noah shut the door behind him and walk quietly down the halls. I was intrigued by how much it had barely changed but at the same time, that unsettled me also.
With the usually moustached adorning male's youthful appearance and the décor being highly similar to that it had always been, I couldn't tell what year I was witnessing. I didn't know at all. I just had to wait and see.
The vision of the past and the flashback got quicker and more intense the more I felt uneasy and I put it down to the young Noah feeling that way too and Georgina as well as I looked into her eyes. We were all feeling the same thing. We were all one. Even though it was obvious that something had happened that I wasn't a part of, I still very much was. I watched. I waited. I observed.
Noah was still showing the same desperation of quietness and nonchalance that I was feeling. But his situation was a lot different than mine was. He didn't have the opportunity to go unnoticed. He had things to do. He had people to see. He had obstacles to face up to. I knew him as such a stable and strong and nurturing man who adored his family so it was strange to see him so on edge. But I didn't judge him for that. I knew all would be revealed. And it was.
He tried to make himself stop himself from dawdling and as he continued walking down the hallway and saw the light to the kitchen was on and sensed that Josie was very much in there. He found himself hesitating all over again. His eyes gained that glassy and unreadable quality that they had possessed when he was outside the front door. I intended on remaining non-judgemental and breezy but I did find that very odd. The way his demeanour changed at the thought of seeing his beloved wife. That was very alien to me; very much so.
I began to get the impression that things were not right between the two of them and these feelings were confirmed by the way that after the young Noah thought to himself, his shoulders seemed to slump. Yes, something was most definitely not right between young Josie and young Noah. I desperately wanted to know what was going on to quench my own curiosity. But at the same time, I didn't want to be upset by whatever I was going to see.
Once again, Noah felt the same way as me. And once again also, he avoided the situation – or perhaps confrontation – for just a little while longer. As his head tilted towards the gap in the kitchen door where the light from inside was shining into his pupils, he began to realise that another light was left on.
The voicemail that he'd received from his orange haired wife a few hours ago had mentioned that the kids were at the local community hall doing various activities and would return later that night. So he frowned when a light was left on and he believed he could see some shadows moving. If he and Josie were alone in the house, why did he get the feeling that there was somebody in the living room? He just had to go and check.
First and foremost, he had to go and see his wife but he was still rather keen on putting that off a fraction longer. And if there was someone in there house that wasn't meant to be there, he had to go and check, didn't he? He certainly did.
Noah nodded his head at himself and turned on his heel back in the direction he came from to go in the living room. He had to make sure they were alone. And when he saw that they were, he would have to turn the light off. They had to save money on electricity because, after all, the money wasn't being raked in just because he had quite the dangerous job.
With yet another exhalation of breath, the greying lavender haired male stuffed his hands casually into his work suit trousers and sauntered into the living room. He blinked as soon as he got in there. Since walking down the hall in that direction, the light had been dimmed. He started to scratch his upper lip all over again. He knew that he'd had a stressful and demanding day but he knew that he wasn't going crazy. He knew that that light had been on!
Noah shook his head at himself and stopped stroking his lip. Taking a few more paces into that particular family room, he moved his hand onto the wall in the dark to feel the light switch. He located it right away and hovered his thumb over the button. It was one of those dimmer lights and switches so it took a while to come on properly. But when it did, it was made apparent that he was right; someone had turned off the light when they heard his footsteps approaching.
He was so right. He and Josie were not alone. He let out a soft gasping exhalation of breath when he saw the two of his children and two others huddled on the sofa, previously having been there in the dark.
"Well y'all are looking very cosy." The young version of Noah commented as he tilted his head towards the four young people, taking more steps into the room. He folded his arms over his chest. The people on the sofa held their breath at the sound of his voice but I found it reassuring. It was comforting to know that he still spoke the same way in his (assumed) mid-thirties. His arms folded further over his chest as he continued and he couldn't help but frown at his own words. "Aren't you guys supposed to be at some club or something? What are you doing here?"
The four young people remained holding their breath. I didn't know why at all. Noah seemed just as clueless as me but naturally, he was concerned by their silence. And then he was hurt by it as he moved closer to them all still and waved his hand in front of their faces and they looked away from him.
Needless to say I was upset for him getting the silent treatment by some of his offspring but at the same time, them all turning to the side after facing the older male gave me a good look at them. I recognised three of them by their faces.
A young version of Jonah – presumably in his mid-teens – was sat on the far left of the sofa and he was pushed up against the arm of it so the other three could sit on it with him. His hair was still long. His eyes were still soft. His arms were folding over his chest and he was looking away from Noah but his expression possessed a hint of not really knowing why he was ignoring him.
The young version of who I recognised to be Charlie – likely in his mid-teens as well – most definitely did know why he was ignoring his father. His own arms were folded over his chest and his nose was pointing upward towards the ceiling. His eyes were shut. I couldn't read them. But I guessed that they'd be filled with arrogance.
The young version of who I knew was Georgina – most likely at the age of seven or eight years old – had her eyes open. Despite her arms folding over her chest also, her green orbs were flickering. She knew why she was ignoring her father but at the same time, I got the impression that she was finding it difficult too as well. She was biting her lip.
She was the one on the sofa closest to Jonah. Charlie was in the middle of them. Then a brown haired boy with dark lavender eyes who I presumed was Jonah's little brother, Judah, was at the opposite end of the sofa to his big brother. He looked very young and like he definitely didn't know why they were all keeping silent. But he was proud to be copying Charlie so he wholeheartedly kept up the act.
While I observed the young people on the sofa and knew that two of them were Noah and Josie's offspring and the other two belonged to Jesse, the greying lavender haired male had been trying to get one or all of them to talk. He had failed. And since then, he had gone back to waving his hands in front of their faces to try and get them to break. They hadn't. He finally took a step back from them and sighed, running his fingers through his locks and untangling them from their sleeked back gel look even further.
"I just wanna know why y'all are here when Josie said you wouldn't be." He mused to them out loud and after his fingers went to his bald upper lip once again, he put his hands on his hips. You wouldn't have believed that he did that sort of thing every day with people much older and tougher than the children, judging by how predictable his approach towards them was. Then again, they were only children. They would be most likely to cave after a while. Hopefully. Noah pretended to sigh. "I guess there's no other option. Guess we're playing the game of who can keep quiet the longest. I bet one of you will speak in less than five minutes."
Noah's eyes swivelled as he looked at each and every one of the young people. I did too. His eyes locked on Jonah first and I understood why. He was the one who was most likely to give in. He wasn't his child and he was sweet and placid and to be honest, quite clueless as to why he was ignoring the older male. But I guessed that it was because Georgina or Charlie had commanded to and he commonly went along with their antics.
The non-moustache adorning male's eyes went to his two children next after he moved on from Jonah. He almost narrowed his eyes at them but it was most certainly not in a threatening way. He tilted his head on one side. He watched. He waited. He knew they were both stubborn like their mother. But he was hoping that he could get one of them to cave. But at the same time, it was almost more fun just watching and waiting. And the longer that they kept silent and the longer that they waited, the longer he got the opportunity to postpone talking with Josie.
I got the impression that Judah, despite his young age, knew all of this and took a leaf out of Charlie's book by putting an end to Noah's enjoyment.
"You lose." The youngest of the young people spoke with a shrug and then his legs swung before he clambered off the sofa to move over to the door. The way his eyes glazed over with innocence made me start to believe that I'd been wrong about him and how he had purposely broken the silence. I soon got the impression that he hadn't even noticed that by speaking, Noah was proven right.
Noah most certainly did. He didn't say anything and he didn't smirk but the way that he locked eyes with the remaining three children on the sofa and tilted his head towards them said it all. He waited for them to react towards Judah. Soon enough, they all did.
They all groaned at the youngest boy and said his name in disappointment while he just blinked from leaning up against the doorway and pretending to walk his fingers up the frame. The young version of Noah took the opportunity while they were all talking to one and other and blaming one and other for influencing Judah to go down on his knees in front of his children and look at them firmly but solemnly. Soon enough, Noah's previous question finally got answered. And it wasn't by one of his own offspring.
"Don't make us be in trouble along with you but we came home early. It wasn't fair that we got sent away. So we sneaked in. Through the window. But that's all I'm telling you!" Jonah blurted out before folding his arms over his chest once again and crossing his legs too while Charlie and Georgina both rolled their eyes over the fact that both brothers had put an end to their vow of silence.
Noah's expression quickly grew wounded at a certain part of Jonah's words, even though he knew them to be true. This piqued my interest all the more, though I was still concerned. I had never witnessed James' grandfather to be in trouble with Josie before in my life. Of course, they bickered and disagreed but it was never serious. I really wanted to know what had happened. But it goes without saying that Noah most likely wanted to ignore what had happened.
"Thank you for your honesty, Jonah. I don't really mind all that much. I'm just happy to see y'all." He told the children with a sincere nod of the head and a look with his eyes before, despite his nervousness still looming in his belly, he showed off his sense of humour. He tapped his upper lip again. "Besides, I'm done snitching for the day. Believe it or not, even police officers get sick of it."
He informed the children and because Georgina and Judah were too young to understand the irony and Charlie was too proud to laugh and Jonah, quite frankly, didn't understand it, Noah was left to get back up off the floor and face up to Josie at last.
He nodded his head at the four young people in the living room before he left to reinstate his intention to keep quiet about them and the only one of them to nod back was Jonah. His green eyes of his own seemed to soften towards Noah as he watched him blow a kiss to his offspring before he dimmed the light and shuffled on out. I understood why. I understood why very much indeed.
He had always admired the older male. He was stable and secure and a provider – everything that he thought he wasn't or ever could be. He had always been there for him. He had always been around. He had been way more consistent than his own father. And he admired him for that.
Jonah continued thinking about this even after Charlie had got up to leave the room also with Noah and Judah and Georgina assumed that they were both sucking up to Josie to make things worse for Noah. She scolded them for this and the lavender haired young pompous male had informed his younger sister that he was hiding in his room instead. She then accused him of wanting to listen in and he didn't confirm nor deny this fact.
Instead, he simply picked the small Judah up and carried him along with him. I was surprised when I saw the young Charlie being mildly paternal. And that left me thinking. But when my gaze followed Noah to walking along the halls to head to where Josie was, I was left thinking about him instead.
During all my observations, I had started to piece together bits of information together but I still didn't understand why exactly Josie and Noah were fighting. But I did have the knowledge of some things.
Noah was quite clearly still doing his police officer duties and perhaps they had gotten more intense because of his weary appearance and late arrival back home. I assumed that his orange haired wife was tired of being alone in the house with four young people, hence her encouraging them out of the house. That was understandable. And I was going to understand even more as I continued watching.
Needless to say, Noah being Noah, he was still quietly nervous about seeing his beloved wife after coming home later than he said. But after seeing the children and watching their energies bouncing off one and other, it refreshed him ever so slightly. He stopped looking so blank and unsure. He still looked sensitive, he but looked like he was quietly determined to make things right too.
He finally headed into the kitchen where Josie was and greeted her. And he did so by coming up behind her and lightly rubbing her back while pressing multiple kisses to her cheek.
"Hey, you." He mumbled in her ear softly before pulling his head away from her face but keeping his hand lingering on her lower back still. Josie was at the sink and she was washing up but Noah was smiling at her. It wasn't cocky or one that was trying to win her over. It was genuine. It was a smile for his love. Though he was concerned what she would say to him when she was upset with him. "Surprise. I'm back home."
I could almost hear Josie swallow. Right away, I gathered why. I gathered why straight away and I did even more so when I observed her furrowing her brow and continuing with her washing up and doing her best not to look at Noah. He was her first love. He was her only love. And she knew that if she looked at her love's face, unlike the children, she'd end up caving right away. So with a flick of her hips, she tried to discourage Noah from touching her innocently.
"I would be a bit more surprised to see you if you had actually returned home when you said that you would." She told him in a level-tone and in a straight-forward manner and her demeanour was a lot different from the Josie that I knew and loved. It baffled me. But it almost intrigued me also. She was a woman of many sides. And I was interested to see a side of her that was potentially still there in the present day elderly lady. "And I would be even more surprised if you had come to see me right away instead of going to the living room to avoid me."
Noah kept silent. And despite Josie not looking at him, he was looking at her. And his expression said it all. His desire to keep his promise to the children. His intention to keep his cool and fix it for not just the both of them but all of them too. And last but not least, his objective of being the understanding husband that he always was.
But as I gave his youthful looking face a second glance, I could sense that he was finding all of that rather difficult. He was stressed out. He was stressed out at home and he was even more stressed out with work. His emotions were usually kept deep inside but for once, they were on the surface. But luckily for him, Josie spoke another time so he didn't have the chance to retort to her and ruin the whole thing.
She took her washing up gloves off and placed them in the sink with a slap and moved away from Noah properly. But she did this so she could finally look at him without forgetting all of her disappointment. She leaned her hip against one of the low kitchen cupboards. She stared at him, her mouth still in quite the straight line.
"Were you talking to yourself in there? This job of yours really is the worst. It's not good for any of us and it's not good for you either." Josie told her husband while looking at him but after she concluded her sentences, she looked away at him all over. Perhaps it was the realisation that she had showed vulnerability and that she (of course) still cared about Noah's wellbeing despite everything.
But in his exhausted and mildly defensive state, the greying lavender haired male found himself rolling his eyes. However, he managed to distract himself by pretending to rummage through the cupboards for a snack while still conversing with Josie. He spoke with a sigh but managed to keep it light-hearted.
"That job is driving me crazy but not that crazy. Yet." He informed her and after he moved his face away from the cupboard door to give her a brief and slightly comical laugh and she tried her best not to soften under his gaze, he shook his head and looked at her properly. He finally untangled the rest of his previously gelled hair for good. He pushed the hanging locks from his eyes. "I would tell you, Jos. I would love to tell you. But you know how it is."
Things were seemingly improving for those two and I could feel it. It was uncomfortable at first and then the nuances were subtle but they seemed to be moving forward. But almost as quickly as those changes began, they all evaporated into thin air. It was Noah's words. It was Noah's choice of words.
The subject that he had bought up was obviously something that weighed heavily on both of their shoulders but especially Josie's. His words were like a slap to the face and she tried to ignore it and focus on moving forward like how she had felt it naturally being but she then couldn't stop herself from commenting rather bitterly.
"No, I don't really know how it is, Noah. You never tell me. You say that you can't tell me. So you never do." Josie pointed out and James' young grandfather just nodded his head and played with his upper lip. He looked in a way to simply agree with her words. For once, his silence frustrated young Josie all the more. She breathed out. She was just as weary as he was. "You say it's for my own good but really, how is any of this for me? I have a beautiful husband but he's never around and I'm awake half of the night worrying about when he's undercover. He provides money but not enough of it to make up for the nausea. He provides money. But it doesn't make up for his absence."
One thing I knew about Noah from spending time with him as an older gentleman was his astounding ability to hold his tongue even in the most testing of times. And it was obvious that he'd gained that quality from a young age because he showed that skill as I saw that event from the past. He looked at Josie with a very hurt gaze but he kept his composure. He managed to keep quiet. He just stared at her. He just stared at her hard.
And perhaps it was because he did this and kept his cool, she couldn't stop even more words from coming out. She was trying to get a reaction out of him. I really really had never seen that side of her before and if I had, it was most definitely not towards her darling Noah.
"I bet you'd tell Jesse all about it." She told him simple words but it was the way that she spoke them that said it all. And it was the way that she looked too. Her eyes were barely any different than before but they lingered even after she said the words. Like she didn't regret them. She only looked away when Noah finally exploded. It wasn't in a passionate or violent way but he was finally reacting with some of the emotions that were bubbling at the surface. He shook his head and clenched his jaw. He really did resemble his grandson.
"Oh, you know what? I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." Noah told his wife and he turned away from her but then he turned back towards her and very much did dignify her words with a response. His hand remained holding onto the cupboard door. I had images of him accidentally ripping it off. He was keeping his emotions mostly in. So they were potentially going to accidentally come out in other ways. His eyes flickered with hurt but defiance also. "I am a husband and I am a father. I am a provider. I put food on this table and I do what I can for y'all. But what do I get when I come home? Nothing but grief. And an empty bloody house!"
And then that was it. That was that. Noah might as well have snapped the cupboard door off the wall because like a snapping sound could be heard, something between them both snapped. They started arguing with each other. Properly. Fiercely. Intensely. It was shocking. It was so shocking to see. I had never witnessed them before. Not ever. But after I managed to calm my breath and think a little clearer, I realised that it was normal. It was almost necessary. And it was understandable too.
Noah was visibly under intense stress with his undercover police work and he really was working hard to protect his case and his family at once. He barely cared about himself and clearly judging by how tired he was. As long as he made money for his family. As long as his mission was running swimmingly. But at what cost? It was obviously having an effect on his personal life.
Josie was visibly under intense stress also. Like she had expressed herself, she was up half the night worrying that one day her husband might not return home from duty. And even though she did her best to put on a brave face for the children and raise them with Jesse while Noah wasn't around, that façade was quickly beginning to slip.
And because I thought of those children, my mind began to wander back down the halls and my eyes soon followed. I was able to see them all once more. Well, the ones who were left on the sofa.
Georgina was still sitting on the sofa and playing with the plaited part of her hair and Jonah stopped looking out the window and listening to the girl's parents arguing and flopped back down next to her. He pushed his long locks out of his eyes and sprawled out on the sofa, his arms going behind his head. He shut his eyes wearily.
"I ain't never getting married." He suddenly announced to her as he rested his head on her lower legs, his eyes remaining shut but his brow furrowing more as the arguing could still be heard from the other end of the house. The light was still off. Though there was some talking, they were still pretending to not be there. "Never never never."
The entire time she had been left alone with Jonah, Georgina had been trying her best to do exactly what the older male said. She tried to ignore her parents fighting. She tried to block it out. She tried to focus on the television instead. But it had been no good. No matter how hard she tried, though she tried her best to hide it also, the tension and the arguing was making her stomach hurt.
She had been curled up against Jonah's previous side of the sofa when he was looking out the window. But after he had flopped next to her and said intriguing words, she couldn't help but blink and sit further up.
"Huh?" she replied back to him out of habit, despite having heard and absorbed his exact words. But even so, he repeated them for her all over again. He opened his eyes. And he showed off an adamant nod too. The arguing was still ongoing. "Why would you say that?"
It goes without saying that Jonah is probably the slightly dense one between those two in the future. He reminded me a lot of my best friend in that way. He had a lot of knowledge and he was super sweet but he forgot it all rather quickly. But in that moment, the strawberry blonde teenage boy believed the deeper orange haired person was being the clueless one. So he just pointed and blatantly pointed to the noise that her parents were making. She understood right away.
"Oh." She said with a sigh and leaned her head back against the arm of the sofa. Jonah's head was still resting on her legs and crushing them ever so slightly. But she tolerated it. It wasn't the worst thing that was happening to her that day. But despite her uneasiness with the tension that she felt brewing between her parents for a while, she couldn't help but say with a slight shrug. "They're hardly ever like this, Jonah. Besides, you're not an idiot like my dad who does a dangerous job. And they're not even your parents so why are you stressin'? Count yourself lucky."
"Believe me; my dad somehow fights more on his own than your parents do together." Jonah couldn't help but tell her while sitting up slightly like she had done before. Then he almost seemed to shake his head at himself that he'd let something slip and moved back down again. Following that, he soon forgot and couldn't help but smirk at her words. "Aw, so you think I'm not an idiot? I always figured that you thought I was. You call me it plenty."
Georgina hesitated but only just for a moment. Even at the age of seven, she was clearly already the blunt and ballsy but caring person that she was going to be as an adult.
"You're definitely not an idiot like my brother." She informed her brother's best friend with a slight nudge and her own smirk and after he giggled back, she sat up all over again. She didn't prompt him to move off her legs though. She found herself shuffling closer to him, in fact, quite the serious yet elevated look in her eyes. She locked her gaze on him. "You shouldn't give up on love just cos my parents are crazy. You just gotta marry someone pretty and fun and who you're compatible with and you'll be fine. Trust me; you're much more marry-able than my brother."
Despite the tension further on in the house and the arguing that was still going on, I found it amusing observing how much Georgina tortured Charlie and how Jonah didn't even bother to tell her off or correct her. But what I found even more interesting was me trying to work out whether her last words were her way of belittling her big brother or hinting that she had a crush on her future partner at a young age. Only time would tell. I continued watching.
Once again, Jonah laughed at Georgina's words but he found himself blushing too. After all, he was a shy lad like he was a shy man. But he found himself going along with her antics. He liked her very much and he liked talking to her but what he liked even more was her beginning to relax a fraction and forget what was going on between Josie and Noah.
"Oh yeah, is that right? But there's a bit of a problem. Who do I know that's pretty and fun and who I'm compatible with. It seems unlikely that I'm going to meet someone with all three. There's probably barely anyone out there with one of those things."
And without skipping a bit, Georgina proved that she really was blunt and ballsy. She was confident too. And that wasn't something that was lost with age. She shrugged as she looked at Jonah and continued playing with her hair. She finally moved him off her legs so he was looking at her.
"You can marry me." She told him as if it was the simplest thing in the world and she didn't find himself being deterred at all by the way he tilted his head at her and looked at her as if to accuse her of teasing him. She folded her arms over her chest. The seven year old girl was deadly serious. "Why not? We've known each other forever. In the olden days, we'd probably be set up."
"Betrothed?" Jonah asked Georgina but the both of us secretly knew that he was just making a point over the fact that, for once, he actually knew of a slightly formal word. Once again, the deep orange haired female just nodded her head and pushed her hair out of her eyes. And then she batted her eyelashes at Jonah to make him laugh. And it worked. He laughed at her but it really was filled with fondness. He wrapped his arms around her and caringly pressed a light kiss to her head. He nodded his head, humouring her. "Okay, then I guess it's settled. You are very pretty and fun and I like talking to you so we'll revisit this in fifteen years' time. I'll ask you to be my wife."
After Georgina naturally hugged Jonah back briefly and muttered the words to him that she might be the one to ask him to be her husband, the two of them continued innocently hugging on the sofa while Noah and Josie's arguing finally subsided. One might think that because of this, Jonah started to think of Georgina's words seriously. He shrugged.
"That is if you somehow manage to get your big brother's permission. I don't see how he'd ever let you and I be married. If anyone can get between a relationship, it's definitely old Charlie." Jonah spoke of his best friend as bluntly as the younger female but she showed consistency by remaining to be unfazed. She shrugged and didn't let go of her big brother's best friend. She said exactly what she thought. And that time, it was very much a good thing.
"Charlie's not as annoying as he pretends to be. He still is annoying but he cares lots and lots. Maybe too much. That's why he puts on his strange suits and has his nose in the air. It's all a massive act." Georgina informed Jonah and I witnessed a seven year old figuring out something that had taken James until almost adulthood to realise. But he got there in the end.
What surprised me, however, was that Jonah had noticed this about the other male too.
"Yeah, he's definitely way soppier than he lets on. In fact, he's probably secretly really upset with what is going on between your parents right now. Which one of us should go and see him?" the strawberry blonde teenage boy asked the younger female as he stood up to turn the light back on. He finally figured that the quieter arguing adults weren't going to notice at all.
Georgina was mildly disappointed when Jonah moved away from her but she soon recovered. She sprang upwards as well and stood up and proved that she had been looking out for her brother's best friend since the very beginning. She smiled at him.
"I'll go and see him, I guess. My parents have quietened down by now so I bet they won't hear you sneaking in to get a snack. Go for it. I kinda owe you after I rejected your idea to hide out in the pantry." Georgina told Jonah with a hand squeeze before she headed off to see her big brother. And needless to say, Jonah's stomach rumbled right away and his lips made an 'ooh' sound as he didn't hesitate to sneak off to the kitchen.
I laughed. The younger Morgan child did as well. But she soon stopped after she sauntered along the hall to Charlie's room and pushed the door open. I saw a sight that I had never seen before but it became clear to me that she had seen it all before by the way she barely reacted to it. And it became obvious that her words were deeply correct.
It was all just an act. The deep purple haired male really did care. He cared about his little sister. He cared about his family. He cared about Jonah. And in the future, he would care about his son too. Even if he didn't know quite how to show it.
Charlie Morgan sat with his legs pulled to his chest while he leaned up against his bed head and he was snivelling. Tears were pouring down his cheeks. He didn't bother hiding them. Georgina didn't bother hiding her presence. She leaned up against the door. She spoke openly but caringly. That was her.
"You know, if you really are crying then it makes it really difficult for me to tease you about this later?" she asked the teenage boy and when the only response she got was a nod of the head and more tears spurting from his eyes, she let out a loud sigh.
But she stopped leaning against the door. She climbed on his bed next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and as their parents finally stopped arguing and began to make making up sounds instead, she held him tight. She patted his back lightly and to cheer him up, she told him something to shock him into drying his eyes. "I'm going to marry your best friend, Charlie." Georgina told him. But what she could never predict, however, is that those words were going to come true. And they weren't the only ones.
Georgina was right about Charlie. She was right about how he secretly cared. She was right about how he needed his appearance to find his place in the world. And she was right about them too. She was right about herself and Jonah. They had a whole future together. They had a path that would join together, even if it would take many many years. And I am here to recount as much as I know. And enjoy every minute of it, too.
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 This one was fun to write, you can almost imagine it as a TV episode with the way it flits. This story mentions Jesse once more and I've written about him a handful of times. As you can see here, Noah and Josie live together with Jesse and all of their children. Jesse's significant others lived with them too but by the time this one takes place, they are no longer in their lives. 15 year old Charlie (James' dad) and 7 year old Georgina (James' aunt) are Noah and Josie's children. Then 15 year old Jonah and 5 year old Judah are Jesse's children with two different people. You can see how close they all are, living in each others pockets. Both Noah and Jesse, as well as Georgina and Jonah :P I enjoyed writing their little interactions. I definitely plan to do more in the future! And I want to explore Charlie more too. I'm interested by his character! Thanks again and I will be back this evening with another chapter of "Dear Daddy" so see you then!
AmyBieberKetchum signing out :P