Hello :P I am back with a new chapter! It's technically Thursday here now as it's gone past midnight but it's only just stopped being Wednesday. I wrote this at the beginning of the year and it seems appropriate to upload it now. With lots of people staying at home and kids and young people having to do their school work from home, I remembered this one. James' children with Lynne, Jorgie and Johnny, are home-schooled and here is a chapter that tackles how Johnny deals with it. It also gives a greater insight on his relationship with two of his older brothers - as well as their one with each other! I hope you enjoy :3

Ages:

Johnny: 7

James: 48

Justin: 27

Jaxon: 23

Jorgie: 9

Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!

The lavender haired little boy continued tousling and tugging his fingers through his curly sprigs of hair and mumbled words that were very much incoherent but even so, his equally lavender haired father exhaled out his lips empathetically. The older of the two pushed his hair out of the way from his own eyes before he tried to reassure his son by reaching out and brushing his hand against his shoulder. However, unlike his calming words, his reassuring gesture didn't linger for long.

"I know, I know how you feel about this, buddy, but you are so capable. Just take a breath and we'll try again when you're ready." James spoke coolly to his son he shared with Lynne and despite the fact that he remained very much present and ready to assist his boy further, he got up out of his chair right next to him with a squeak and moved to another corner of the kitchen.

I watched from the counter top opposite them both. It was so hard to see such a young person get in such a state about something but nevertheless, the way that James managed to keep it together reassured me against the emotions that I was feeling also.

Johnny didn't immediately feel the same assuredness as me, however, and this was largely down to the fact that it was him coming up against the tricky emotions and a challenging situation also. And he had been at it for quite some time. The two of them had been at it for quite some time. The lavender haired little boy had been trying to gather the motivation to finish his home-schooling assignment for quite a long time and out of frustration and most likely apprehension too, he was quickly losing interest.

That became apparent from the way that after his father left his side, after he waited a couple of moments, he stopped mumbling to himself and spoke outright, pushing the pieces of paper away from him on the table.

"Don't want to do it." He still muttered but it was very clear to James and me what he said. At first he had been looking at the discarded pieces of paper and his pencils too and then after he didn't get a worded response from his father in the very next second, he looked right at him. Johnny insisted and he insisted a little louder that time too. "Don't want to do it."

"I know that you don't want to do it and I hear you." James answered promptly and still didn't lose the clarity to his tone despite the fact that he had been around that situation and heard those words before for a good length of time. His youngest son's blue orbed gaze burned at his skin but it was not in a menacing way. It was just adamant. The lavender haired older male looked right back at him, trying to be fair. "Everybody has to do things that they don't want to at some point in their lives. But you can do this. You're very capable. I know that you can do this."

Surprising me from observing the scene and looking onwards, Johnny Jinn let a couple of seconds pass before he answered. I watched and I saw the way that his young face scrunched and his eyes flickered, thinking about the words that he heard. And then given his age and how unwilling he was to complete his mathematical home education task, frustration suddenly took over. He uttered the same words once more and finally raised his voice.

"But I don't want to!" the lavender haired little boy exclaimed and that time, the pencil that was discarded next to his discarded mathematical assignment was picked up by him and thrown against the tiles of the kitchen floor. It broke with a feeble snap. I didn't say anything, trying to hide my widening eyes and raising eyebrows. James didn't any anything either. Johnny Jinn gulped at his own reaction and panted but his own eyebrows knotted together, clinging to the notion that his actions were reasonable ones.

James still didn't say anything. Not for a good while, at least. And then after a couple of moments and listening to his son trying to regain his breath, he leaned his body against the kitchen sink cabinet behind him and he uttered. His level voice remained. But I could see his eyebrow twitching as if he was beginning to wonder if he would ever get his son to comply.

"I understand that you're frustrated, Johnny, but I'm not going to reason with you if you explode again like that." The lavender haired male uttered rather fairly in my opinion and from the way that Johnny Jinn sunk back against his own chair, exhaling out of his lips, I believed that the seven year old boy felt the same way as well. However, I soon understood that it was down to him thinking that the reasoning was over and so the task of the mathematical problems was too. James soon set him straight. "I must warn you though that delaying is not something that I am happy about. We've already been at this for a while. You want to be done with it. And I do as well."

This caused a very different reaction with the lavender haired curly haired little boy. As his father turned his back briefly on the situation to reach into the cupboard to fetch a glass that he would later pour water for himself into, Johnny Jinn's previously exhaling lips puckered. From the way that his cheeks flushed a deep shade of pink, it was obvious that he felt embarrassed by the fact that he was wasting James' time. He swallowed before looking down at his lap, trying to keep his eyebrow knot adamant and firm.

During those moments in time, my bones were twitching in my body as I longed to go and comfort the young child but I did not know if that was out of place. I didn't want to go against his father. I didn't want to go against either of his parents for that matter. His home education assignment was an important one and I knew it but I disliked the way that it made him feel so mixed up inside.

However, before I could make up my mind over to act or not to act, someone suddenly stepped in. "Suddenly" is the wrong word, really. This person had been leaning up against the entrance from one of the other rooms and was eating a bowl of cereal as nonchalantly as he could. Like me, he had been surveying the situation rather closely but not wanting to step out of line and get too involved.

But when he saw him and Johnny's shared father beginning to silently lose his cool and felt the emotions of his little brother behind his stubborn and resistant exterior, he knew that he couldn't be just the onlooker anymore. Wiping milk from his upper lip after he finished one more mouthful of late afternoon cornflakes, Justin kept his bowl and spoon in one hand but approached his younger brother's side and sat down. He didn't touch him but he reminded him.

"There's nothing that you can't do if you put your mind to it, Jinn." The deep purple haired male uttered airily but sincerely to the lavender haired curly boy and after he discarded his cereal bowl and spoon next to Johnny's discarded project but not too close to spill its contents all over it, Justin put a caring hand on his shoulder. "Talk to me. How can I make this easier for you?"

Like me, the deep purple haired male never wanted to cross a line and barge in against the wishes of authoritative figures. But along with the bond that Justin had with the father that they shared and his naturally good-natured yet take-action personality, he seemed to get away with it better than most people.

The lavender haired male turned back around to see his oldest son and his youngest son together after having just poured himself a glass of water and for the time being, he merely just watched. He was fine to let the deep purple haired male see what he could do for the time being. In actual fact, inwardly he was weary with the situation and all the negotiating!

The lavender haired curly haired little boy's reaction contrasted his father's. He wasn't nearly as keen to look up and pass the baton so he didn't do either of these things. Though his flushed cheeks had cooled down, his gaze remained fixed towards his lap and for once, he didn't say anything to his biggest brother. He didn't say anything at all.

Justin wasn't fazed. He removed his contact of his hand on his shoulder and he reached for his cereal bowl all over, holding it in both hands. And then following that, he picked up his spoon with his ring clad hand and he used it to gently poke his little brother's full cheek. Johnny finally looked up but it was to scowl and try and bat away his big brother's playfulness!

"You know that you can do this, Jinn. You don't have to be stubborn about being stubborn. Crack on with it while the day is still young, eh? You got this." The deep purple haired male spoke and before James and I could meet each other's gaze or the older lavender haired male could move his body away from leaning against the cabinet as he wondered if some of his words were the wisest – and before the lavender curly haired little boy could react in any way at all – another interruption was had.

Someone else barged into the scene. Someone else barged into the room. It was lucky that Justin was no longer lingering in the door way because they would have been pushed to the side as well! The youngest son of the pure Morgan clan pushed the curtain hanging in the doorway and entered the room, grabbing a piece of fruit from the bowl that was also on the table. He didn't hesitate to sit down in a chair opposite his two brothers and hold the banana in his hand.

"You done with the schooling today?" Jaxon asked without hesitation and not long at all after he barged into that room – let alone his family's home. He acknowledged everybody in that kitchen.

His curly haired youngest brother sat at the table with a sulky expression and supplies disarrayed everywhere. His father still standing quietly and near to the kitchen sink cabinet with a half empty glass of water still in his hand. Myself giving not very much at all away as I sat on the opposite side of the room to the lavender haired father. And of course last but not least, the deep purple haired male sitting coolly and right next to Johnny.

The magenta haired male began to furrow his brow and blink while beginning to unpeel his banana as he got the impression that along with not saying anything, everyone was starting to look at one and other. Everyone except for Johnny Jinn, that is. Taking a bite from the yellow fruit in his hand after he peeled it halfway, Jaxon soon asked another question with a full mouth.

"What's going on?" he asked simply but in an unsure way that was mixed with uncertain amusement. And it was as soon as he said these words that the other three people that were in that room excluding Jaxon noticed the way that the curly haired little boy's cheeks flushed all over. And in addition to this, they began to puff up.

Johnny Jinn was certain to explode all over again and even though he was going to tell his brother closest in age to him all that had gone on, it was certainly going to have some exaggeration in it and it was definitely going to cause him to get all the more het up. So James nipped it in the bud.

Draining the rest of his glass of water by drinking it, the lavender haired male promptly put it back on the counter top and answered, pushing his hair from his eyes. He gave his youngest son with Jessie a look – a gentle look – but a bit of a firm look nevertheless.

"He's got a math assignment for the home-schooling group that he really needs to get ready to tackle now." James explained to one of his son's that had dropped by the Morgan Mansion unexpectedly as briefly as he could. And then following that, he added as tactfully as he could but his smile to his boy was genuine. Meanwhile, Johnny let out a "hmph" noise towards their father's words. "Not that we're not pleased to see you but perhaps you could give us a little bit of space? We really need to get him ready to do this assignment. He doesn't need to be riled up."

Though at first, once again, I thought that the lavender haired male's words were rather fair enough – the more that I lingered on them the more that I heard them from the magenta haired male's perspective. His father had indeed softened the words with reassurance that they were all pleased to see him. But he couldn't ignore the last sentence that he uttered.

Jaxon licked his lips to get any residue of fruit of them and holding the banana in his hand, he repeated their lavender haired father's words.

"'He doesn't need to be riled up?' Riled up? Just say that it's not a good time for me to be here and leave it at that." The magenta haired male managed to say in a cool tone despite the fact that his words were filled with stubborn hurt – much like his littlest brother. However, when the deep purple haired male chose that moment to get up and out of his chair and give Johnny space also, it then seemed to dawn on Jaxon that Justin was there also. He uttered a similar displeased noise to Johnny Jinn! He gestured to the oldest son of them all, unable to stop his eyebrows from rising. "Oh. But it's cool that he's here? Of course. He doesn't 'rile" Johnny up."

I believe that a good few of us half expected that a silence would fall over that dynamic following Jaxon's words. But we were all stood corrected from the way that – even though he was usually an active participant in all kinds of conversation – Johnny himself suddenly piped up.

"It's not right to say 'he'. It's 'Justin'. You say 'Justin'." The lavender curly haired little boy went back to muttering but even so his words were said clearly and certainly. It was then that the silence took over. And then when those couple of moments of wordlessness were said and done with, it was the other of the lavender haired male's to put forth.

"Well done, Johnny, you're quite right about that. Your English and politeness is outstanding. But your math skills are impeccable too and that's the focus right now, isn't it?" James spoke back to his youngest son and straight away, Johnny mumbled and grunted in an annoyed sort of way and though the older male's words were said with light-heartedness, he made sure to lean forward and lightly ruffle his son's locks so he knew that he was still patient.

I hoped that Johnny understood that wordless message. Meanwhile, Jaxon was indeed focusing on things that hadn't been verbally conveyed and he still wanted answers. During the silence he had tried to let it go but felt unable too. His eyebrows continued to rise. James caught sight of that as well and while Justin stood up to his full height, finishing off his bowl of cereal, the lavender haired male replied after missing one, single beat.

"You're just a very exciting person to be around, Jaxon, that's all. You get me excited still. And you definitely get your youngest brother buzzing too." James explained but the magenta haired male was obviously unconvinced for the first few moments. His rising brows turned into knotted ones. He didn't believe him. He believed that Justin was welcome and he wasn't. He didn't realise that the lavender haired male had been wondering if the deep purple haired male's words had been helpful just moments before Jaxon arrived! James tried to then convey this – again, as tactfully as he could. "Boys, why don't you both give us some space? It's always wonderful to have you around. But we're almost into Johnny's down time and Jorgie's too and I'm sure your little brother doesn't want to drag this out any longer."

And with that, I finally joined Johnny Jinn next to him on the table as he folded his arms over his chest and let out a disagreeing noise, his legs secretly stretching out under the table with remaining resistance to comply.

And from my position on the table, I managed to get a better look at all of the Morgan boys but especially Jaxon and Justin too. The magenta haired male's defences had gone up when he felt an inclination of sibling rivalry but they quickly went down when the deep purple haired male didn't even react. And then following it becoming clear to the two much older Morgan boys that both of them were being asked to leave, they had a truce due to being in the same boat and shared glances with each other.

Jaxon's eyebrow raise returned and it was done towards Justin. In return the deep purple haired male sucked in his cheekbones and then shrugged. He looked a little bit miffed that he was being asked to leave the room also after he had tried to help but didn't want to argue. Justin's body muscles twitched as he prepared to leave the room with his youngest full brother and it was there and then that Johnny Jinn piped up all over again.

It was true that his expression had a continuous air of stubbornness about it but it was a tad more pleading than it was before. His youthful blue orbs widened and grew rounder. He squeaked his chair backwards to get his point across.

"They can stay, can't they? I mean, Mama isn't here like she normally is. They should be able to stay." The lavender curly haired boy got through these words and then he paused before adding. "They can stay."

And naturally upon hearing this, the other male with the exact same shade of lavender hair did not have the heart to argue with his youngest son. He let out an exhalation of breath out his own lips and gestured with his hands, informing his older two boys that they could indeed stay. And then it was when they lowered their bottoms back into their seats that James properly focused on Johnny's words.

He should have known that it wasn't just about mathematics. Of course it was about that and he always hated that kind of assignment but with his mother having gone back "up there" for a little while, his emotions and his confusions and his stubbornness were bound to leak into other areas of his life.

I saw the way that upon hearing Johnny Jinn's words also, Justin and Jaxon shared another look – a different look. They didn't say anything but they definitely shared a gaze. They heard their youngest brother's words and took them on board. They didn't speak of anything but they heard it. James heard it too and made sure to acknowledge but in a roundabout way.

Leaning forward and away from the kitchen cabinet once more, his eyelashes flickered a couple of times before he ruffled his sons curly locks a second time and in a much more of a lingering way that time. He hovered over him, his voice going back to having its initial calmness as well as some added softness.

"Alright, you. You've got what you want in that area. I'm going to make a phone call and your brothers can stay with you. Then when I come back, we are going to start this assignment and we are going to finish it once and for all." James told his son softly but firmly, his touch moving away from his hair and he used his hand to squeeze his shoulder. Then he turned on his heel and prepared to leave out of another door. But before he left, he uttered just a few more words. They were said lightly. But he should have known that they were going to lead to something. "Maybe your brothers can help you out. They might have some wisdom that I don't have."

And with that, the oldest of all of us left the scene and it was just the three Morgan boy's with first names beginning with "J" and me. For a third time in a short space of time, Justin and Jaxon shared a look. They understood that their fathers words were not bitter and then following that understanding, they couldn't help but wonder if they could instil confidence into their usually confident brother about his mathematics for good.

Jaxon was the first to edge nearer to the table in his chair and in by doing so moved nearer to Johnny Jinn. He reached out and took a hold of the discarded piece of paper and spun it around to face him instead, reading it. His lips moved absentmindedly as he took the words in.

"What's got you so stumped about this, little dude? You've done things way harder than this before." The magenta haired male asked without thinking and after he stopped speaking, his finger went out to stroke over the pen marks where Johnny had only written his name and the date.

From the table I tilted my head and I looked and I saw the way that despite the fact that Justin had managed to not react to his youngest full brother in the moments before, he felt himself slipping back to old ways there and then. He raised his eyebrows. His own fingers shot out to the paper that Jaxon was tracing and even though he didn't tug it back, he was proving a point before his Jinn could answer.

"It's not the thing that is getting him stumped, Jaxon. It's the approach. It's the approach to the thing." The deep purple haired male explained for their younger brother, moving his fingers away from touching the bit of paper still in front of Jaxon and reaching up to the large knotted bun that was on the top of his hair.

The lavender haired curly haired boy for once did not respond either way. He just merely stretched his legs further outwards under the table and he rested his legs onto the same chair that Jaxon was seated opposite him.

The older brother let him. Meanwhile, he heard the deep purple haired words and thought he understood them perfectly. He furrowed his brow and tapped the white sheet of paper, getting a circle stain of banana residue on it. Jaxon shrugged. He always had an answer and he always had an answer for Justin.

"So? He can approach it in any way he likes. You can approach it in any way you like, can't you, Johnny? It's all times tables. You can pretend that they're an equation for your rocket ship or something." The magenta haired male suggested and as he did this he grinned in such a youthful way that it caused his nostrils to twitch and in return his nose ring quivered gleefully.

Johnny Jinn could sense this from his older brother next to him. Slowly, he looked over at him and second by second, his stubborn and resistant and guarded expression started to fade away and he couldn't stop a bit of a child-like smile from etching over his face for the first time in a good couple of hours.

Straight away, I noticed that Justin had indeed noticed this too. He wanted to be the last person ever to bring his little brother to reality and wipe that smile off his face when he uttered the words that were forming in his brain. The deep purple haired male then looked over at Jaxon. It was easier for him to wipe that smile off his face! But he still didn't want too. But he still knew that he needed to correct the situation.

"That's very inventive but that's not what I meant, Jaxon." Justin began and put the palm of his hand flat out on Johnny's piece of paper that was in front of Jaxon and he finally tugged it back towards himself. It was this paired with the way that his eldest brother said his name that caused the magenta haired male to scowl out of habit. The deep purple haired male ignored this and continued even so. He tapped and then gestured to the paper assignment that he had taken a hold of. "He's got to be timed while he does it. That's why he doesn't like it. He's always got to be timed when he does projects like this one. And he hates it."

And upon hearing this, to prove the fact that Justin was very much correct and he was speaking nothing but the truth, Johnny's perking up face fell all over again and his brow knotted together. His nostrils flared with resistance. In fact, he started to look around the room for the stop watch to chuck that across the room also but that had already been done! He didn't need to prove his point though. He slumped back against his seat, folding his arms over his chest and refusing to say anything about the matter if he couldn't prove his point in that particular way.

Both Justin and Jaxon caught onto their little brother's actions and why he had been looking around the table and even though it was actually the magenta haired male to get up briefly to collected the thrown items off the floor – the stop watch, the pencil and also an eraser too – Justin was the one to address his movements with words.

"Those supplies didn't do anything to you, little man." The longest haired male of the three brothers uttered in a playful way and he reached out to ruffle his little brother's unruly curls. And perhaps it was the more serious and authoritative of his two older brother's acting understanding in a joking sort of way that made him change tactic completely.

Going against the fact that he had obviously looked around the room and acted dismissive in a way that led everyone's observations to be deemed true, he suddenly stopped folding his arms over his chest and moved them down to his belly, clutching at it. He shook his head so insistently that his curls bounced in all sorts of directions. He leaned further forward in his chair as Jaxon seated himself once more.

"It's not that! It's not that at all! I'm feeling poorly." He announced and he enunciated the last of his words so they definitely heard what he had said. In fact, he said the last of his words so clearly that I believed that he was trying to get his father to hear from one of the other rooms also! While Jaxon instantly smirked as he heard his answer, not believing him, Justin decided to interact with him and make sure that he definitely was fibbing.

The deep purple haired male missed a beat. He turned in his chair and rested his elbows on the table, looking over at his little brother. He tilted his head and he asked.

"What way are you poorly? If you managed to swing from a bunk bed while you had a stomach bug without making a dreadful mess then I think you'll be okay to do your work anyway." Justin reminded him of this and because Johnny was quick to puff his cheeks up before doubling over and clutching his cheeks all the more, he did reach out and put his fingers to his forehead to check for a temperature just to humour him.

It absolutely worked. Going against the words that came out of his mouth next, Johnny perked up at his biggest brother's fingers against his brow.

"I'm beneath the weather." Johnny stood his ground and on a rare occasion it was Justin to break his demeanour and chuckle as he pulled away, laugher on his face and his shoulders shaking. Jaxon was the one to just simply smirk but manage to continue fine apart from that.

It was obvious that he had indeed heard his littlest brother's words and absorbed them too but he felt protective over him. Maybe even more so than Justin felt during that moment in time. There was a bit of a kinship there. The magenta haired male decided to speak to his full brother rather than his half-brother when he sank his shoulder as he caught sight of the maths assignment that was still there.

Jaxon turned serious for a moment or two, picking at his own fingernails.

"He doesn't have to be timed though, does he? Nobody is going to find out. He's obviously been at all this for ages. So he should just get it done. And nobody will know that he wasn't timed at all." Jaxon made a bit of a valid point but instead of focusing on that, I was then filled with amusement at the way that Justin's face filled with horror.

He was a bit of a rule-breaker himself at times! So it was funny to see the way that he shook his head – almost as insistent as Johnny could be – while Jaxon wanted to prove his point further and Jinn's shoulders elevated at the possibility that it would be made easier for him.

"I would know!" he very nearly spluttered and I had to look away before I burst into proper laughter. That absolutely would have distracted and unmotivated all the more. Following his exclamation and Jaxon's eye roll, Justin's expression conveyed that he had words that he wanted to add but because the magenta haired male interrupted, he didn't have the time.

The youngest of the pure Morgan boys leaned closer to Justin and in the process his chest brushed against the table. He shot him a look, a little bit of that adolescent rivalry coming back for a split second more. He rolled his eyes a second time.

"Oh, of course. You always know everything, don't you? And you always know what to do. Especially now seeing as you have your own little people to look after." Jaxon almost sneered and Johnny looked between the two of them, quietening down. A sudden silence took over the group as Justin didn't say a word of response.

And then he did. Then Justin broke his silence. And he surprised us all by his face strangely brightening up and he actually grinned at Jaxon's words. He pushed a loose, long strand of hair behind his ear. He shrugged cheerily, dimples appearing on his cheeks as he smiled.

"Not really, no." Justin replied and much like his eldest brother before him, because he was not expecting this answer, Jaxon burst into laughter also. He had to hand it to the deep purple haired male. He wasn't as self-righteous as he could have been when it came to the two of them as teenagers. And he was so glad about it. It gave the two of them a good laugh together.

Jaxon even reached out and slapped his eldest brother playfully on his arm out of respect and amusement towards his words and Justin didn't say anything but he scrunched his nose up in response.

And then after Johnny Jinn remained quiet and sitting in his chair as he didn't quite understand why that little moment between his older brothers was so funny, perhaps because the deep purple haired male was reminded in his own way by Jaxon that his life experiences could potentially help him get through to his Jinn, he shuffled closer to the curly haired little boy, his elbows going back on the table. He glanced at him earnestly.

"You do know that you can do this even while being timed, don't you, Jinn? You don't have to worry about that part in the slightest. You've got a wicked imagination. Just pretend that the timing isn't even taking place. You can do it. Really. You can do it." Justin tried to instil in him once and for all, his balled hand pressing against the side of his own head while his elbow leaned on the table. Johnny Jinn did absolutely hear these words but he wasn't ready to believe them straight away. Out of habit, he doubled over clutching his tummy once again.

Justin and Jaxon responded by ignoring this but not in a contemptuous way. Instead they chose to both lean forward and lightly slap their little brother on either one of his arms, encouraging him. And I knew that it was this that caused him to gulp and begin to believe in himself more than any more words that either of them could have uttered.

That little tap on the arm made him feel like one of them. It made him feel like one of the big boys. He began to feel like he could be one of the big boys. And therefore he began to feel like he could be as courageous as one of the big boys.

Slowly but surely and we all believed that it was just our imaginations at first, Johnny Jinn reached for his pencil and it clumsily yet heroically in between his fingers. I believed that he was going to wobble when Jaxon reached forward and pushed the piece of towards him but I was stood corrected.

He pushed his chest out a little further forward and copied one of his big brother's prior actions by pressing his palm against the sheet of paper, drawing it nearer to him instead. He had a couple of moments to look at the mathematical assignment that was in front of him. He had a couple of moments to just look at the mathematical assignment that was in front of him. He looked at the name that he had already written. He looked at the date too. He knew that he needed to crack on. So he did.

Johnny looked up at both of his older brother and me as well and he nodded his head. We all knew that he was ready to begin. So seeing as the deep purple haired male had hold of the stopwatch, he was the one to press it. The timer began. The numbers began racing. And Johnny Jinn began concentrating. He started his home-schooling mathematical assignment at last. And it filled my heart with all kinds of emotions to see.

No doubt were those little boys feelings and hesitations and anxieties about starting that project were down to his mother not being around for the last few weeks and worrying that he was letting his father down by not leaping into that project so readily, too. But all he needed was a little bit of encouragement. All he needed was a little bit of encouragement and a little bit of realness as well.

His child-like self, saw the way that Justin and Jaxon bickered and eye rolled and scoffed at one and other – he saw how they were far from perfect when they were together – but he saw that they made it work too. And he wanted to be like that. He wanted to be exactly like that.

And as I thought about these things and I wondered if Johnny himself was thinking these things as he started to slow down the speed of answering the sums after an initial prompt start, it became obvious that there was a still little more work to do in Justin and Jaxon accepting each other's downfalls.

As Johnny Jinn started to slow down his answering and his palm got sweatier and it caused his grip to loosen on his pencil, Jaxon caught on in his own way and he started to feel antsier himself. Because of this, he grabbed a hold of the two bits of pencil that Johnny had broken on the floor earlier on in the day and he started to drum at the table with them both.

A shudder went down Justin's spine as he could not believe what his youngest full brother was doing. He jolted as though he had been electrocuted. As the shudder subsided down his spine and a wave of protectiveness headed through his body instead, the usually easy-going male could not stop himself from gritting his teeth. He wanted his Jinn to do his best and without any distractions so he could believe that there was nothing holding him back. Justin leaned closer to Jaxon across the table mid drum beat, hissing.

"Do you really think you should be doing that?" Justin seethed and as Jaxon actually noticed his trying-to-be-quiet outburst and his pencil hit an odd angle of the table and it made a much higher noise, the deep purple haired male almost lunged forward! In between their youngest brother still seemingly somehow managing to continue with his task, Jaxon showed an expression that believed his elder brother's reaction was unnecessary. He continued making some noises and argued back in the same low-level but rising temper way.

"Does your advice centre never shut?" Jaxon retorted and because he responded back to him in a bitter way rather than seeing where he was coming from, Justin felt as though he had no choice to take action. The deep purple haired male was about to stop the timer and snatch the broken pencils off the magenta haired male when Johnny Jinn piped up in a surprisingly cool way in between answering his math sums against the clock.

Johnny Jinn muttered.

"It was actually helping." The lavender curly haired boy informed them both while holding his pencil in a far less slippery way than previous seconds, too busy and not caring at all which one of them got wounded by the words as it was unobvious who they were directed towards.

It was lucky that both Jaxon and Justin were in the same boat of not knowing at first as it caused neither of them to smirk and glower. Or perhaps maybe at the ripe old ages of 23 and 27, they had finally grown up!

They did share a bit of a look with each other across the table and I wondered if I was going to have to intervene before it turned all the more sour but once again, I was stood corrected.

The two Morgan brothers did indeed share a look but it spoke a lot of backing down and even an apology for the person that was the reason that they were both in that particular kitchen. And then before either of them could lightly slap each other on the arm – a proper truce – Justin had a bit of an idea that he believed that he would help their little brother out all the more.

He uttered the words "wait here" and he left the room and needless to say, Jaxon didn't follow him. He just raised his eyebrows and watched and shrugged before going back to producing another drum beat for Johnny Jinn on the table. I half thought about joining in. But there and then Justin returned and it was obvious that he had a different kind of idea so I wouldn't need to. Even so the magenta haired Morgan was actually more than welcome to continue if he wanted to.

The deep purple haired male returned some moments later with headphones that he had left in his room before he had moved out and while Johnny Jinn continued answering his math problems in an admirably focused sort of way, Justin came behind him and placed both of the headphones over both of his ears. Johnny Jinn was evidently so very focused! For once, he barely reacted and took notice while continuing his assignment as Justin explained in a swift and sincere sort of way.

"This song used to put you to sleep. I think that it'll do the opposite for you now though. And Jaxon knows how it goes. So he can join in too." Justin concluded and he concluded by ruffling his little brother's hair before leaving him to it. He hopped into his own seat, pressing play on the music button that was connected to his phone rather than stop to the stopwatch after the momentary interruptions.

The deep purple haired male tilted his phone screen towards the magenta haired male when they were both seated once more and Jaxon peered and Jaxon soon nodded. He did indeed know the song. It was a classic. And he believed that it would be a classic that helped their little brother out.

Johnny Jinn listened to the music as the answered the last few times table sums. Jaxon drummed along to a beat that was so familiar to him that he didn't even need to hear it in his ears himself. And Justin just smiled and encouraged me closer and ran a hand through my fur. He was content in the fact that music had always been a friend to him and because of that and so many things; both Justin and Johnny Jinn had found friends in each other. And despite their bickering moments and eye rolls and loud sighs, Justin and Jaxon found friends in each other as well.

And that was truly one thing that led to many wonderful things and that was only proven by the way that when the lavender curly haired boy came to the end of his assignment a couple of moments later, he was so ecstatic that he couldn't stop himself from flinging the headphones off his ears and onto the floor and leaping out of the chair with glee!

Headphones and Justin's phone crashed on the ground as Johnny Jinn jumped for joy but that was okay. The stopwatch and bits of paper flew in all kinds of directions as Johnny Jinn jumped for joy but that was okay. And Jaxon jumped and lost control of his drum stick pencils and almost poked himself in the eye as Johnny Jinn jumped for joy and that was okay as well!

What was a little bit uncertain at first was the way that Jorgie came to enter the room when she heard all of the commotion, very confused as she was long finished with her own home-schooling work and she believed that Johnny would still be at it a while yet.

However, like every single one of his moods was infectious, Johnny Jinn's triumph that he had finally finished his troublesome task couldn't be denied as well. With a whoop and a yell and a beam, he darted forward to celebrate with an unsuspecting Jorgie and even crawled under her legs and suddenly lifted his younger sister up onto his shoulders.

The delicate orange haired little girl shrieked a bit herself at first for a different reason but when she sensed the jubilation, she found herself holding onto her younger brother's curly locks and whooping and beaming and cheering alongside with him.

Both Justin and Jaxon laughed and chuckled and shook their heads happily and looked as though they wanted to join in but left the two younger ones for the time being. Instead, after patting each other on the shoulders, they set out to tidy and gather together the pieces of paper that Johnny had thrown everywhere. They didn't want those to go missing after everything!

And it was then and there that the lavender haired father of all four of those children returned to the scene. He had a bit of a confused look on his face at first. Like Jorgie, he wondered what all of the commotion was. But when he saw the relief and the celebration and the gladness on Johnny's face, he knew that his other two boys had been successful without him. And he was so glad about that.

So I decided to walk on ahead and climb onto James Morgan's shoulder as he leaned against the door, folding his arms over his chest and shaking his head to himself. He watched, he observed and he smiled. He watched Johnny and Jorgie being the loudest ones in the room. He observed Jaxon and Justin indeed laughing along with them but being well-behaved and sensible in contrast to their younger siblings. And he smiled at it all.

He ran a hand through his own lavender locks before he reached and stroked me on the cheek. He spoke. I didn't know if he was speaking to me in particular. But I was listening. He certainly had words to say.

"Sometimes during moments like these I wonder why I went on to do all of this again after I had a whole bunch with Jessie…" he mused aloud and these words got my attention and it got the older two boy's attention as well. Before their father even continued, both Justin and Jaxon could see the oncoming twinkle in his eye and they understood what he was going to say before he even uttered the words. James grinned as he finally concluded. "Because my ones with Lynne are somehow the craziest of them all!"

And with that, even though the lavender haired male was most definitely joking and this was proven from the way that I was encouraged to jump back onto the table as he joined the atmosphere and the hub bub of his family – I couldn't help but reflect on his words further.

And as the deep purple haired male and the magenta haired male finally stopped being sensible and joined in with the ruckus as well, things were reaffirmed to me and I laughed out loud.

I didn't wonder why he had gone on to have more children. I was just simply well and truly glad that he did. The age gaps between them all were large but the bonds and the laughter and the memories together were even larger. They were a blended family and it didn't always run smoothly. But when it did, it was always worth taking a second moment to be grateful. Because moments such as those were irreplaceable. Not always well timed. But treasured all the same.

The End.

There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 This was great fun to write as one of the first chapters of an older Johnny Jinn. It's funny because his character has been so clear to me since day one but it took until the beginning of the year to finally write him as a proper person rather than a baby/toddler. I also enjoyed the dynamic of slightly older Justin and Jaxon also. As you can tell, their sibling rivalry is still there. But they work well together too. Johnny definitely has unique needs when it comes to learning and thankfully, his older brothers are there to help him figure that out :) Thanks again for reading and I'll be back again next Wednesday with another chapter so see you then!

AmyBieberKetchum signing out :P