Hello! Well, it is not even Wednesday but here I am uploading a story that should have been up last week. I read through this and prepared to upload it but I guess FF was down because I couldn't log into my account to get this to you. And then it utterly slipped my mind to check back and get this uploaded! But it's here now. This one was a fun one to write because it tackles not only the dynamics to James' three sons that he shares with Jessie when they are younger, but James' relationship with his youngest (with Jessie), Jaxon. As you can see here, he is giving his father a bit of a hard time as all young kids do! I hope you enjoy :P
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!
The familiar sound of a video call dialling tone filled my ears and I found it natural to glance over. It was then up to the person on the other end to respond. The lavender haired male had a small smile gracing his lips that I could observe as he waited for his son to answer. Not long now, I'm sure that he thought to himself. Not long at all. If there was one word that could describe his youngest son then it was prompt! He would pick up promptly. And he did.
Almost as soon as the line crackled before connecting and James had barely a second to see the imagery on the other end, his smile quirked up in the one corner all the more. Resting his hands casually on either side of the keyboard, his eyes glistened into the camera.
"Kanto to further away in Kanto! Do you read me?" he humoured Jaxon, his hands then balls on either side of the keyboard but not tensely. He must've seen the way that the magenta haired young boy rolled his eyes because I certainly did. "Do you copy?"
One single beat. One single crackle of the line.
Pushing his floppy vibrant locks from his eyes, the scrunched up and already slightly impatient teenaged expression of Jaxon filled the whole of James' computer screen.
"Don't be an idiot." His reply came bluntly at first and then it was his turn to see things as clear as day as he recognised his father's expression going from easy-going to seeing a hint of another side of him from the way that his eye only just twitched. Jaxon hurriedly added. "Can hear you loud and clear. Can you hear me?"
A very wide and false grin stretched out Jaxon's mouth. However, James was quick to let his son's coarse nature slide thank goodness. He nodded his head, one of his hands falling away from resting on the computer desk to roam through his field of lavender. His previous smile began to take over all over again and that same light shone in his eyes for his son despite the words he had unmistakably uttered.
My own eyes creased. It was always good to catch up with the young ones when they were on their journeys.
"I can hear you loud and clear and I can see you too. So brilliant to see you." James' fingers continued tousling through his own locks, almost as if he was searching for some sort of treasure in his silky strands of hair.
From looking over but also trying not to look too much and mind my own business, I noticed that more than the way that his father's fingers were in his own hair, Jaxon couldn't help but have a bit of a moment to notice the half-roguish costume that he was donning.
Unbeknownst to the ten year old boy, he had been fooling around and playing around like he often did. Then again, it didn't take a genius to figure out and was easily deciphered! As well as this, he found it easy to move past as well because, like I said, he was only donning just half a costume. The truth was, I had seen him whisk away most of his get up and he had swiped away some of his pirate kohl just before dialling to his youngest son!
Jaxon's grin continued being missing from his face and in its place was a smile with squinted eyes which spoke volumes of how he was silently judging the older male. But then, he focused on something else. He noticed something else. And the ten year old boy being entirely himself, he made a point of saying it almost as soon as thoughts crossed his mind.
"Wait, where are you anyway?" came his question, his elbow sliding away from the desk of the video phone he was calling from in a distant Pokémon Center in Kanto, causing his face to fall down at the movement. His vibrant locks flopped further over his blue headband as well. "It doesn't look like you're at home."
Another beat passed where the line crackled and fizzed. In this moment my eyes started to flicker from looking out the window of the computer room and out at the children playing and having the time of their lives on the grounds. I felt lighter than even when the phone had connected.
It seemed to me when I observed back that James had a bit of a moment pause to himself before answering his son and it made Jaxon lean nearer to the webcam. His suspiciousness became clearer still from the way that his eyes almost threatened to become slits and he had half the nerve to stare closer still into the camera on his end!
But then James laughed, wordlessly acknowledging and noticing his son's look. He appeased him.
"I'm over at Georgina's visiting the kids." He told him with a haphazard wave of the hand. It took another couple of seconds for Jaxon to stop looking so intensely so James was encouraged to wriggle his own web cam attached to the computer and move it around a tiny bit so he could have a better look of the computer room in the children's foster residence. "I'm surprised you couldn't tell from the noise."
James settled himself back into the seat and let go of fiddling with the web cam. His eyes wandered and they moved straight past me towards the window where I had only just been looking out.
The noise. Yes, such noise! It had been surprising that Jaxon had previously not recognised that. He did a couple of moments later when he was encouraged to properly listen and have his wary expression wiped off his face.
I imagine that he stopped needing to have narrowed eyes just a couple of seconds after his father explained to him where he was but the way that he started to chuckle fondly down the camera caused it to prolong.
Then, because he didn't wipe the slant off his mouth nor did he try to conceal it at all, while James' hair found the company of his hand another time before it nonchalantly played with his rings that resided on both hands, Jaxon added, still with a continuous countenance.
"Mom isn't there too?" another of his questions came, him undoubtedly jiggling his leg under the desk from the way that the camera resolution started to grow like hands trembling in the snow. "Aren't you supposed to be tied at the hip?"
I'm sure that Jaxon had noticed the gentility taking over his father's face, smoothing it once more. A look of tenderness had taken over. He had quickly put a stop to that before his dad thought he was being a mommy's boy and missing her!
Curiosity getting the better of me, I subtly moved away from my previous seat and took some hops closer to better observe the scene. Thankfully, that time James managed to keep some of his inner thoughts to himself and therefore stop his face from showing what he was thinking.
Without a knowing snigger or a diamond in the eye taking over his being, he answered his youngest son honestly. I can imagine that he was probably a little bit taken aback by the third degree he was getting but then again, he knew that Jaxon showed his fondness – and his protectiveness for the well-being of his parents – in unusual ways.
"Trust me, we work together and we live together so she's happy to see the back of me." James replied, a smidgen of humour decorating his tone of voice. He took a break after saying these words and in that moment he felt his son growing sceptical again. So the webcam was snatched all over, and pulled down so Jaxon could see the area that was seated in the computer chair. "You see that? We're invisibly tied together. But still tied. I'll be happy to see her later."
At first, Jaxon believed that his father was showing him part of the scarves that were tied around his waist as part of the playful pirate costume that he was wearing. A stare directly into the lens showed this. But then after he understood the sentiment and what the lavender haired male was getting out, he couldn't stop the brief amount of air from escaping his nostrils.
His head bobbed just once. He had no reason to believe that anything was going on. And he had no reason to fret that his mother was missing his father as much as he was secretly missing him.
Jaxon watched his father assume his previous position in his chair and this encouraged him to sink more composedly back in the Pokémon Center outside Vermillion City. The camera resolution stopped jiggling so much for us at our end.
Unknown to his father, he unconsciously copied one of his former positons, his hands gently balled as they rested on ether end of the keyboard, looking down into the camera. Needless to say, a little bit of quiet happened. But it was soon broken by James, his neck slanting as he got a proper look at his son, relishing the technological contact with him before he interrupted that moment with words.
"So…" James began and I silently was glad that, although relief that the interrogation was coming to an end echoed, he didn't actually say of such. Instead, he looked further into the camera as well and pressed his lips together in an amicable, curious way. "Where's that brother of yours? In the canteen?"
At last father and son had a bit of a moment together when they looked into the camera and couldn't help but share the same smile together and knowing quality of shininess within their eyes. I for one experienced the same beam of light in my irises but it wasn't quite for the same reasons.
Technology had connected Delia Ketchum with my best friend when he was journeying and continued to do the same thing for generations of energy filled Pokémon Trainers.
Jaxon's elevating of the lips and glint in his eyes was fleeting. But that was only because he was moving onto answering rather than relaxing. His jiggled his leg a little more and that time we could hear his knee lightly bashing at the bottom of the desk. However, I read this as concentration more than anything else.
"Nah." The ten year old boy's answer came quickly. He had half a second to push his flopping locks from his eyes but then he added, both of his knees jiggling up and down in unison. Though he forwent revolving his eyes, we saw a scrunched up expression appear. "He spotted something he wanted to take a picture of. You know what he's like."
A single clock tick again. I glanced back out of the window from my further away position and couldn't help but notice there were less children playing on the fields that time and the bunch that had previously caught my attention before were no longer present. My shoulders moved up towards my ears but back down again.
No matter. I had the room I was in to focus on. And James' words that copied his youngest son's in their promptness.
"I know what he's like." His response came and from the other silence that followed it, I got the feeling that he was just saying this to simply fill the buzzing sound as the line continued being connected. But then following this, he grew all the more genuinely engaged. In actuality, he leaned on the desk a little more and his face appeared bigger on the screen on Jaxon's end. "So what-"
But whatever question he was going to go on to ask, he never got an answer to. He could never even finish his question. Out of nowhere and taking me by surprise and the lavender haired male as well, we stopped being alone in the computer room! All of a sudden, a bunch more people joined us and all of them young.
Popping up in front of the camera and for Jaxon to see, an ashy blonde haired little boy beamed across at him even though the words that he said were directed at his father.
"Can you come back and play now, Uncle Jim?" Michael asked, his voice far higher pitched and more childishly sounding than the magenta haired boy on the other end of the phone even though he was actually a year older.
Michael's bottom remained firmly placed on the lap of James after he and some of his brother's had entered the room and he for one invited himself down. It was my initial reaction to feel my eyes widen and it was the same for James but then his confused expression softened, slowly blinking.
His arms wrapped loosely around the belly of the young boy and it wasn't to deter him. However, he didn't get a chance to reply to him and let him down, gently or otherwise, because his oldest brother did that for him. Taking a moment to glance into the camera, I felt that it was best coming from him compared to Jaxon who was starting to have an unmissable expression.
"Uncle Jim is talking to Jaxon right now, Michael." George tried to correct the situation. Though he too had burst into the room as well, the way that he tried to usher his youngest brother off the lap of James told me that he was the one trying to deter his siblings from interrupting a shared moment.
Regardless of George's maturity and his brown eyes widening in a sensible manner, Michael didn't budge and Jaxon's expression didn't alter. James had half a moment to pat the shoulder of the eldest boy to tell him it was okay and his other arm was about to slide away from the stomach of Michael when he piped up all over again.
This time, instead of beaming into the camera and at an ever growing surly expression-wearing Jaxon, he tilted his head and looked most perplexed up at the lavender haired male. Almost immediately, I saw the way that James' jaw clenched together in an attempt to hide how cute he found the sweet boy.
"But Jack isn't his son. He's our brother." He pointed out. Practically immediately, laughter escaped the throats of a great many people and I still can't tell whether it was out of the words that escaped his lips or his high pitched tone and partial lisp that caused us to laugh with fondness for the boy.
Though he didn't mind him sitting there, James didn't need more than a second to notice that George was beginning to get a little agitated trying to keep his brother's in control while Michael continued being innocently confused and Jack hooted at his – in his words – silliness.
The oldest person in the room corrected the situation himself, giving George an extra squeeze of the shoulder before his locks felt the touch of his hand again, the fondness his possessed in his heart for all the boys gracing on his lips. Jaxon silently wondered whether any of the fondness was for him.
"You remember my son Jaxon, don't you? He's on the screen there and we're catching up." He explained, lifting Michael carefully off his lap even though he really didn't mind him being there. I think that he didn't want to undermine the authority of George who had been almost the father figure of all of his siblings for years. All three of Georgina's boys felt the glance of James as he then spoke to them all. "I won't be long. We can get back to our games soon."
Instead of looking at the teeth showing grins that George, Jack and Michael all showed upon hearing this, I glanced at the screen and saw Jaxon's expression growing ever more rigid. But then he was forced to take a bit of a breath and calm his knees down from jiggling quite so hard when, after nodding at James' words, all three boys looked back towards the camera to wave at Jaxon.
Thinking that it would go unnoticed, Michael hopped back onto just one of James' knees while George and Jack hovered over one of his shoulders each. Jaxon had to encourage his face not to be the same colour of his own hair and he was also forced to swallow and wave back.
After a second of no words coming from them, he did the polite thing by greeting them all.
"Hey. I'm surprised to see you." He started and this caused me to move even closer to the screen and for half an inhale, I wondered if he really was starting to get fully annoyed at the attention being taken away from him. But then I noticed Jaxon was looking at George in particular. "Didn't you get fostered?"
George in that moment had noticed his youngest brother sliding back fully onto James' lap. Breathing out his name, he tried to tug him away all over again, in just that one word trying to tell him not to get too comfy because they would soon be leaving the scene.
Nevertheless, this was futile and Michael was left with a secretive smile on his face to greatly contrast Jaxon's returning expression when George recognised that he was being spoken to.
A slightly sheepish expression decorating his face, the fifteen year old young lad rubbed the back of his neck and his teeth appeared as he answered Jaxon.
"Oh yeah. Yeah I did." He began and he soon enough felt the hand of James adding pressure to his shoulder yet again. Taking an incomplete second to smile with gratitude in return, he leaned closer to the camera and engaged with Jaxon some more. "I still can't keep away from this place and my brothers, though." His teeth bared all the more, his eyes containing the same quality of the sun outside. "And I certainly couldn't keep away from the games that your dad makes for us."
If I was Jaxon then I would have felt really light on my feet and a warm sensation growing in my belly at the fact that my father was so adored by other boys. But this was clearly not the case for everyone. And it was certainly not the case for Jaxon Morgan!
Even so, the ten year old boy somehow managed to swallow any feelings that he was secretly encountering and then because he allowed himself to cool down, he thought of a question that he actually wanted to ask. Perking up quite a bit, his leg tapping quietened down and he spoke to George again.
"Do you have foster sisters?" he questioned, slyness decorating the corners of his eyes that I knew all too well! But apparently George didn't know that look all too well. And he wasn't the same type of boy as Jaxon clearly from the way that he merely innocently smiled and prepared to answer.
However, being closer to the boy that Jaxon was, Jack got in there first and prepared to answer for his eldest brother!
"Oh yeah he does." His response came emphatically but before his chest could feel his arms unfolding away from it and his hands could move and gesture to back up his gleeful expression, James was clearly not naïve to what was happening between the two boys like George was.
Glancing at the thirteen year old boy in the flesh and his ten year old son on the screen, a pulse appeared on his temple and then he decided to say one particular name first.
"Jack…" he breathed out, not giving his full gusto into telling him that that was not the right attitude to have because he was not his father. But he was certainly Jaxon's father! And he exercised his ability to be able to tell him off a bit better by the way that he said the similar sounding name almost as soon as he said the other ones. "And Jaxon!"
Jack and Jaxon were united in their jaw clenched chuckling as a reply to the paternal warning from James. Then George and Michael joined in even though, bless them, both of them equally didn't really know what was going on.
I did feel laughter erupting in my cheeks as well but first and foremost, I was glad to see that Jaxon was looking a little brighter. Then again, I supposed that it was probably hard to concentrate talking to his father on a screen rather than in person, let alone with the noises outside the room and the noises inside it.
George and Jack still lingering by his father's shoulders and Michael on his lap, he did his best to make this invisible to him as James leaned closer to the camera again, an expression on his face and smile in his eyes like he was preparing to fully engage with his youngest son all over again.
"So where-" he started but just like his previous question, this didn't have a chance to finish itself nor do I even know where it was going to go. All of a sudden, Michael on James' lap had a burst of energy following him laughing when he didn't really know why he was doing so.
Grabbing at and clinging onto the face of James as he reached his arms backwards to do exactly this, he shuddered against him like he was a ball of electricity unable to be tamed. His bright and youthful face filled the screen of Jaxon, let alone the entire room.
"It's your loyal ship mates turn to capture you rather than the enemies!" he suddenly announced, properly turning around to face James on his lap and wrapping his arms as tightly as he could around his body rather than his face.
And even though Jack was unlikely to go along with the antics of a younger sibling and George had previously been trying to deter them both, the two of them clearly found Michael's energy infectious from the way that they too joined in!
Before you knew it, James was looking far more roguish as Jack planted his pirate hat right upon the head of the lavender haired male and both he and George did the best job in using their strength to carry James away from the screen. Apparently they agreed, it was play time and within their play time, it was time for the cheeky pirate to get a taste of his own medicine.
It was rather comical to see a grown man being tugged away by a bunch of young boys. I bit on the inside of my cheeks and saw James wave into the camera and hurriedly give his son an explanation before he was tugged away for good.
"I'm so sorry; I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I-" he tried to do the decent thing and promise that he would phone Jaxon back as soon as the boys let him go but he didn't even have a chance to do this. James suddenly felt the hand of Michael covering his lips! While George and Jack did the carrying, evidently Michael did the stifling.
Jaxon swallowed to himself and peered further into the camera, hearing his father's apology but not accepting it. He didn't shake his head but his headband on his head started to slide upwards and this showed me that his skull was urging to.
"But Dad-" he too tried to start but it was to no avail. Somehow James couldn't fight against the hold of the boys and from Jaxon's point of view; he couldn't fight against the urge of some more fun and games. This was clear to me on his face in the few seconds that he stayed there before hanging up while James was probably carried out of the room, and out of sight. "Don't worry. Don't trouble yourself."
Another swallow lurched from Jaxon. Evidently he was the one who was troubled. With cheeks then flushing the same colour as his hair, he freed his headband from being on his head. Then, with a click, the call was disconnected. Of course, it was his action that had ended it. But his father had been the one to bail.
I didn't know this part of the story until much lately but understandably, Jaxon wasn't in the best of moods when he removed himself from the video phone in the Pokémon Center and through gritted teeth thanked Nurse Joy for letting him use it. And he still wasn't any perkier a couple of hours later when another of his travelling companions had headed off to get a bite to it and his brother came back after taking the captures that he wanted on his camera.
That gadget of his still around his neck, Jayden re-entered the dormitory room that they were renting for the night while in Vermillion City and found his younger brother half curled up on the bottom bunk of the bed, aimlessly throwing an unused Poké Ball at the wall before catching it again and repeating the cycle.
It wasn't the kind of scene that he wanted to see at the best of times but certainly not after coming away from the high of being so elated by the things that he had captured on his camera. Of course Jayden was concerned. But at first, it seemed as though he was concerned for the empty Poké Ball and the wall rather than his brother.
"Don't do that." he spoke to him in his usual plain voice, approaching his brother's side of the bed and catching the spherical object in his own hand before Jaxon had a chance to that time. Immediately, he received quite the dirty look! Jayden's response was to just study it. But then an exhalation of breath was set free from his nose. "Hungry?"
The noise that escaped from Jaxon's lips spoke volumes! Sitting further up on the bottom bunk and trying to uncurl his body while silently wondering where to find something else he could toss up against the wall, he did not like how Jayden assumed that of him.
Sure, the both of them could get a little ratty when they were running on empties. But to dismiss it to something as minor as that?
Jaxon let out another scoff. He couldn't be bothered. He couldn't be bothered to answer to anyone, not even the brother which he was closest too. He also couldn't be bothered to look for something else to throw against the wall nor could he be bothered to snatch the red and white ball back from Jayden.
Giving him the silent treatment instead, he prepared to curl up tight all over again and face the wall. He must've had a bit of glossiness in his eyes that could be only seen from the side because a couple of seconds later, Jayden had a change of heart. Letting out another sigh but for different reasons, he felt it was unfair to be so nonchalant with his brother simply because he was so overjoyed at what he had been able to creature.
Something was obviously bothering Jaxon. And so, he needed to find out.
Ridding himself of his camera and untangling the chord from around his neck and leaving it on the table near to the bed, he invited himself to sit down too. He didn't shuffle too close to his little brother. But he allowed his presence to be clear. And he asked.
"What's up?" He ran the risk of Jaxon letting out a third scoff. From the way that his lips parted as he properly curled up and faced the wall made the middle Morgan son feel as though this was going to happen. Maybe even Jaxon himself did.
However, before any sound could puff out from his parted lips, they pressed into a firm line. Then, he sucked down on his lip a little bit. He didn't want to talk. He really didn't want to talk. What was he going to say? The truth? No, it was far too pathetic. It was far too pathetic to admit that his father didn't have time for him.
Jaxon knew even before his response escaped from his mouth that his words were going to ring out in an easily disagreeable way. But still, he said them.
"Nothing is up." He retorted. He decided to roll over onto his other side and lean his cheek against his pillow, his arm raising up as he pretended to check his messages on his Poké Gear watch.
Needless to say, Jayden didn't believe him. He managed not to scoff in the slightest though. Instead, he stood up and he sat back down on the bed that time, switching which leg was underneath him as he sank against the mattress below.
Having a private head shake to himself, he looked over at his brother. There was stubborn and then there was stubborn! Jaxon met his eyes and they both looked at each other but very quickly, the younger of the two looked away. It was no good. Jayden did let out a bit of a scoff that time. And he bounced the bed a tiny bit as he bobbed even closer.
"Did you not manage to talk to Dad?" Jayden's question came. He managed to brush the possibly that his father was displeased with him that he got caught up and went to take pictures instead of talking to him as well. While he did this, the twitch in his little brother's eyelashes was undeniable and he knew it was something to do with the lavender haired male. But first and foremost, Jayden felt his eyes widening and his throat drying a fraction. "He is okay, isn't he, Jaxon? You have to tell me if something happened."
They say there's a first time for everything and there and then, Jayden's sensitive and worried streak began to irritate Jaxon then he cared to admit. That had never happened before. But this is what happened.
Flicking his wrist like he was dismissing his older brother's words as well as his messages, he sat further up with a great deal of gusto. Apparently he was through with acting like nothing was wrong. The vibrant streaking colour on his cheeks showed exactly this.
"Oh, Dad is perfectly fine, why wouldn't he be?" he snarled. Initially, part of Jayden wondered whether his hostility was towards him rather than the situation. He recoiled; half wishing he still had his camera strap around his neck so he could feel the touch of something familiar. "We had some time to chat but he's over at Georgina's house again."
Twice in a row in the same bit of speech, Jaxon's voice hardened at some particular words. Recovering from the concern and silently telling himself that it wasn't him that his younger brother was annoyed with, Jayden chose to be silent and to review the situation, listening very carefully.
In the meantime, Jaxon puffed out of his lips again and looked down at his lap.
With his brother not looking at him, Jayden considered. He and their dad had time to chat. That was nice, wasn't it? Their dad was over at the foster home that their Auntie Georgina was the owner of. That was even nicer, wasn't it? Those children didn't have a family to call their own so it was nice a familiar face coming to visit. Really nice.
The more that he thought about it, the more that he couldn't find fault with anything that his younger brother was saying. It was unusual for Jayden to share this into the ether by appearing on his face but this happened there and then.
And because Jaxon looked up with a heartbeat still thudding in his cheeks, he took notice of this. He had to force himself not to feel a pulse in his face even harder. He did sit further up though. And he interrogated Jayden in a way that made him paranoid that he was secretly at least a little mad at him too!
"Just admit it, he hardly keeps contact anymore and it's because he's always around there." His hands waved as he articulated. Then he paused. Maybe it was for breath. Maybe it was to study Jayden back. Regardless, more words soon came. "His new family. He's forgetting about us."
It was the middle Morgan son's initial reaction to feel his eyes widening not long after he heard these words. However, he was close to his parents almost as much as a child at the age of eleven could be. And he was especially close to their father. That's why he didn't need to worry about upsetting him by going off and capturing wonderful sights with his camera rather than popping on a webcam and saying hello instead. He was endlessly supported.
It's true that his first reaction was to feel his chest moving and seeing his younger brother at a wider angle. But then his own stubborn streak took over. He insisted nearly as vehemently as Jaxon could insist.
"That isn't the least bit true." He uttered and as he did so, he hoped that it would leave no room for Jaxon to argue. But of course, Jaxon always found room to argue!
Giving his next older brother a look like he was the silliest thing in the world, he tilted his head and tried to insist to him in return. He also tried to stretch out his legs but Jayden was still on the end of the bed.
"Prove it." His reply oozed with competition. But he needed to remember that he was in competition with his father than his brother. I feel in hindsight that he didn't need to feel that way towards either. But he did. And that was that. "He hasn't bothered to phone me for ages. Didn't hardly ask anything about me. And he wasn't at home."
The more points that he made, the less filled with fire his voice became and his tones sounded like he was being extinguished. This caused Jayden to look over at him all the more. And this caused him to reconsider some things.
That was untrue, wasn't it? That wasn't at all true, was it? In his mind, they had only just had a family chat with all of them on the screen and all of them catching up. His parents were there. His siblings were there. His oldest ones too. That had been lovely. How could Jaxon forget that?
But then again, he thought to himself, when exactly was that? They had been in Vermillion City at least a few days and that family event was the last time that he had spoken to their father as face to face as they could.
He had been texted a lot, he reminded himself of that. But in hindsight I understand that his brow started to crease as he thought to himself and this caused Jaxon to look over at him with a glint in his eye. Granted, it was not an elated glint. It was a point proving one. And it was one that prompted Jayden to press his own lips together before waving his hand, merely suggesting one thing.
"Phone Justin." Was Jayden's suggestion and immediately, he could feel his younger brother's eyes burning into his! He resisted rolling his own ones, out of impatience or otherwise. In his steady stare back, he told him that no, it wasn't for advice to he didn't need to spit out that the last person he was going to ask for advice was Justin. His lips and tongue formed the words of what he truly meant and he offered this with a shrug. "Ask him when he spoke to him last. He's the only one of us who actually phones Dad first. " he paused and in the meanwhile, Jaxon recovered from his insistent glare. "So if he hasn't then…"
Another momentary silence happened and this time it was Jaxon who was the instigator. But then of course, he was also the one to put an end to it. He completed Jayden's sentence for him in between a mouth filled with his own lips and also his shoulders rising and falling towards and away from his ears.
"Then I'm right." he finished, shrugging a second time. Jayden did not know whether to shrug or not so he did both. He also copied his younger brother by biting on his own lower lip, withholding a sigh.
Yes, then he supposed that Jaxon would be right. But he tried not to think too much on it. In fact, he tried not to think about it with all of his might. He didn't like his ten year old brother to be proven wrong. But in this instance, he just needed him to be. And I'm sure that Jaxon felt the same way deep down.
So for the second time that day, the dialling sound of a video phone filled the air. This time, however, it wasn't Kanto wanting to connect with another place in Kanto. This time it was connecting further. And Jayden couldn't stop his fingers from resting at the back of the chair in front of the same video phone in the Pokémon Center. He told himself that it was so he had a chance to talk to their eldest brother too. But of course this was not the case.
Unlike the dialling noises that I had heard on that day earlier on, these ones lasted quite a bit longer! In fact it began to seem like the call wasn't going to connect through. It did at the last minute though. And soon enough the two brothers could see the dully lit face of their other brother on the other end where he was.
"Do you have any idea how early it is in Unova right now?" Justin's voice sounded not too long after the call finally went through. United in their amusement at how his tone of voice was perceived, Jaxon and Jayden glanced at each other and forgot their separate but very real anticipation. "Why are you phoning?"
The raspy sounds of the fourteen year old boy's tones showed them just how early it was without him even having to say a specific time! It was clear that he had only just arisen for the day. Evidently, he wasn't expecting a phone call from the magenta haired Morgan brother at that time, let alone any time at all.
Then feeling the same baffled feeling growing in his stomach, Jaxon peered closer to the camera as he tried to work out where exactly his eldest brother was. If he had to guess, he could kid himself that he still heard the distant crackling of a fire so he and his travelling companions had probably set up camp somewhere.
"Where exactly are you? And why are you up so early if it is that early?" he questioned Justin to which in response, the deep purple haired of the brother's allowed a quiet sigh to escape his lips. But then he did bring his Poké Gear phone closer to him as it rested on a ledge somewhere. Jaxon then didn't care for the gesture towards his guitar and the understanding that he was up practicing. He had a chance to annoy the older boy. "You're lame. How's the gym badge collecting going?"
Silence. A silence where all could be heard was the distant bird Pokémon chattering as they awoke in Unova for yet another day and Justin looked down at his guitar in his lap. While his fingers were lightly gracing his fret board, he had half a mind to play a sharp, loud noise as payback to Jaxon. But instead he properly answered, speaking to Jayden when he saw he had a curious smile even if the inquiry was not his own.
"The girls are more into it these days than I am." He hesitated and instead of a silence filling the air, he couldn't stop his fingers from running up and down the fret board as he played a couple of notes on the other strings. Then, Justin looked back into the camera. He quipped, already knowing what sort of response would follow. "Call me even lamer. I don't care. I love the outdoors and my guitar."
At least Justin could focus on the fact that Jayden looked impressively and with awe down at the camera at their biggest brother, even if Jaxon undeniably rolled his eyes. The dual haired of the brothers really couldn't stare enough at his older one. It was certainly wasn't the same him. But that sort of contact – even if it wasn't in person – made him feel like they were back in their bedrooms and sharing music with each other.
Peculiarly recovering from his eye roll rather quickly for him while Justin and Jayden shared a smile and some small words together, Jaxon thought of some other things. Jaxon thought of particular things. And Jaxon being Jaxon, he didn't hesitate to ask them even if other people were in the middle of getting their own words out into the open.
"So where are the other girls?" he questioned, still feeling Jayden's touch at the back of his chair while his eyes couldn't stop themselves from glinting into the camera and his mouth widening.
Justin was no fool. And Justin was not amused. In spite of the very clear, steady eye and slightly nostril flared look that the fourteen year old boy gave back in response down the camera of his phone, he did actually give Jaxon the benefit of the doubt. Though he had no idea why! He knew his game.
"Well, Erika actually has just emerged from her tent now and she is heading over to the water fountain to brush her teeth." He explained and then he looked away from his phone on the ledge, giving his travelling companion a wave and a smile of good morning before she found it puzzling why he was describing her actions. "And…"
Before he could continue his words and Jaxon could hear about the other travelling companion that he actually was interested in, the fourth member of their travelling gang rushed over to the camera. With a good morning greeting arm wrapping around Justin and almost knocking his guitar flying, Jazmyn waved rather enthusiastically into the camera.
While Jayden silently wondered how on earth their sister was so spritely so early in the morning as his lips formed a polite line and he waved back, Jaxon didn't prevent himself from being blunt in her presence. He waved back but made it clear where his priorities lie.
"Yeah. Cool. Hi Jaz." He at least greeted her. But it was hardly a sincere one! "Where's Layla? What's she up to?" Jaxon wondered out loud, that time a smile that was less gleaming taking over his expression and to this day, Justin still can't work out whether that one was more alarming than the other, more obvious one.
Another sigh escaped the nostrils of Justin. A vastly different reaction came from Jazmyn who merely shrugged and smiled and headed off to join the other travelling companion by the water fountain. Jayden looked, focused, at the screen to see how Justin was going to play that one – whether he was going to ignore completely or he was going to at least be honest.
"She's still sleeping. She deserves it because she got rid of a creepy crawly thing from my tent last night." He replied, his guitar making sounds to go along with his words. Then he grinned. And Justin's teeth showed all the more and even his dimples too as he added. "It's weird hearing you say her name without making the predictable noise afterwards. That's what Dad always does."
Needless to say, Jaxon questioned what noise he was talking about and he played a guitar riff to which Jayden almost leaned across his younger brother as he complimented how much he had improved since he had spoken to him last.
Justin's teeth as he smiled could be seen all the more so and this was assisted by even more of the sun light that was taking over the day in Unova. Jaxon looked behind him at his slightly older brother. He didn't mutter under his breath words to hint the fact that he believed he needed to stop being so impressed with Justin but he might as well have by the look on his face!
But then, looking back at the video phone screen, he decided that there was no time like the present. The name of the person had been uttered. So he thought he better just get on with things. He almost felt like Jayden had forgotten all of that from the moment that Justin had answered. But he hadn't. And now that he was about to broach the subject, he could feel the burning knowing in his throat that it could not be so easily forgotten.
"Speaking of Dad…" the ten year old boy started rather demurely for him. I knew that it was this that stopped Justin from continually plucking at the strings of his guitar rather than Jaxon's voice in general. Surely feeling wobbly sickness in the pit of his stomach, Jayden started to privately clutch onto his own hands rather than the back of a chair. "Does it bug you how much time he spends over at Georgina's?"
Despite usually having the more animated face out of the two of them, it was Jayden whose expression reacted more outwardly and in hindsight, I knew that this was to almost be expected. After all, he had initially acted like nothing was wrong and now, instead of tactfully speaking of the matter and simply asking if he had heard from their father recently, he was going right in there with the heart of the matter!
Letting this be known on his face, this was the last question that Justin was expecting. His lip curled closer to his nose and his already hollow cheekbones grew all the more chiselled. Then, his head swung from left to right. It was clear where he stood on the matter before he said actual words.
"Doesn't bother me in the slightest." He then replied. The way that humming noises from him began to accompany the noises that his guitar was singing made it obvious that he felt they were done with that conversation.
Jaxon had asked. Justin had answered. What more was there to it? Apparently a lot more!
The magenta haired young boy peered like a vulture studying it's pray into the camera. His hands were back on the desk. He at least managed to control his leg movements otherwise anxiety would sky rocket to the base of Jayden's throat.
"You don't think he spends too much time over there rather than being at home?" he persisted and he could see from the way that the contoured parts of Justin's face jutted out that he was going to be disagreed with straight away again. So Jaxon added before this could be the case. "He phoned me, and Mom wasn't there and all of the usual children were and bundling around him."
Jaxon didn't say the words 'bundling him off' even though this was more accurately the case. I still find it interesting how he spoke the word 'children' like all of them weren't older than he was. Instead of focusing on that as I look back, I still can't help but remember my initial reaction when I was told of Justin's response.
He wanted more than anything to disagree right away and shut his youngest brother down. Not because he didn't have time for him. Not because he liked to do so. He just simply didn't know why they were having this conversation. He didn't know why he was concerned.
Looking back unfalteringly back into the camera and still holding onto the guitar, his words were heard unmistakeably.
"What are you worried about? He's not having an affair, that's his aunt and our aunt too." Justin's voice was prosaic but there was still a jolt in it that caused those listening to jolt and even feel a little flushed for an unknown reason. How could he just come out with something like that? It was his turn to be unmoving. "I don't know why you're so worried about Mum. She was probably off doing her own thing and enjoying herself." He paused. Jaxon felt even clammier at how he always had an answer for everything, even though he had technically come to him for answers. "Then they'll enjoy being together later."
Jaxon could not be told. Jaxon could not be convinced. Jaxon could not be consoled. The more that Justin's voice could be heard, the more that Jayden's fingers unclenched and they hung move evenly around his sides. He didn't need to hold onto anything anymore. But then again, he was vastly different to Jaxon. All three brothers were very different to each other.
Nonetheless, one thing that they did share and ran through their DNA like an undeniable curse was their ability to pick up on things that went unnoticed by the untrained eye and the untrained heart too. Bringing his fingers back closer together again but for a different reason, Jayden pondered whether it was the right move.
But then he decided that he admired his only older brother's realness so much that he wanted to try it out. His hands moving one more time and back onto the chair again but in a manner that he hoped was not too suffocating and smugly, he piped up his own thoughts.
"I don't think that it's Mom that Jaxon is worried about…" he murmured out. Heads turned to him. Heads turned to him that were Jaxon in the flesh and Justin on the screen – as well as other people from Justin's end who were no doubt honed into the conversation since the word 'affair'! "I don't think it's Mom that you're worried about."
As Jayden turned the words to be directly at Jaxon and his gaze floated down to him too, wandering eyes and ears turned to the magenta haired Morgan boy as well. Initially, he remained statuesque. He remained fixed. He remained rigid. He had got some things off his chest and out into the open but not it all.
Was he going to go the whole way? Apparently he was. Apparently he was with the way that although he wasn't annoyed at the closeness of Jayden's hands, his upper body jerked like he was recoiling from the warmth omitting from his digits.
"I'm not worried about myself!" he attempted to stand his ground. His arms folding over his chest and his own digits balling into fists as well, it appeared as though he was going to stand his ground for a long time. However, his demeanour remained in a fixed position. But his voice spoke like there was more to him than met the eye. There was. "Do you really blame me though? He hasn't rung me in weeks and then the first time he does, he's not even home. It's not like he even cares."
The line crackled. It was probably used to heated conversations along it but it probably still liked to make a point.
"Why would he though?" Justin began again, not putting his guitar down but his stance shifting to show that he was done with the strumming. He was fully in the conversation. He corrected himself before his intent could be heard differently. "Why would he be at home though? He's a dad. A dad without all his kids." He added though it was already crystal clear. "We all left."
It wasn't unusual for Jayden to practically finish Justin's sentences with all the time that they shared. But it was rare for him to do it in the situation of possibly seeming like he was ganging up on Jaxon as well.
"He has all that fatherly energy and it's going to no one." He mused, his lips having a moment to press together in a line before they parted open again, Jayden's eyes growing glossy at the thought of their dad. "That is, until he spends time with those children without a father at all."
I know that Justin could see the expression taking over Jayden's face. He got it. He wholeheartedly got it. I'm sure that he felt pretty bad for doubting before. But for the time being and in that moment, he just had a whole lot of love for both of his parents – and especially one of them. Yes, it was so lovely that he spent his time doing that.
Justin clearly felt similarly. And showing this with a subtle chin jutting towards the camera, he wordlessly acknowledged Jayden's altering in stance before becoming very big-brotherly towards Jaxon.
"Would you rather he is upset without us?" he questioned to a Jaxon who longed to look at his own lap. "It doesn't bother me in the slightest. I want him to be happy rather than moping that none of us are around anymore." Justin stated his point and somehow, he taking his guitar off his shoulder for good made even more of a point than his words. Of course, his expression did as well. He didn't need to shake his head. It was plain where he stood.
Then, it was plain where Jaxon stood as well. His fingers beginning to tremble against the wood of the desk as he stayed on the line, he used words rather than actions to voice exactly how he felt.
"I want him to be happy too!" he responded to what felt like a false accusation to him. He found himself unable to resist shaking his head. He could not stop his jaw from biting down together either, like he was trying to keep every part of him more secure. Justin wasn't fazed. Jayden was a little bit as he recoiled and took one step backwards! "I want him to be happy and I just wanted at least a minute to talk to him myself by ourselves…"
The youngest of the Morgan clan had tried to get his point across unfalteringly. He felt as though he hadn't when he weakened. He felt as though he hadn't when he trailed off. Of course, this is what made it all the more unfaltering. And in actuality, it actually made Justin's expression alter.
Pressing his lips so firmly together that both of his dimples appeared like holes in the sand on a day trip to the beach, he knew that he had to take charge just one more time. But he too like his youngest brother had to do it in a way that showed a softer, more valuable and vulnerable side.
"Well did you ask this of him?" he questioned calmly. He always believed that it was Jazmyn out of his siblings and Jayden a close second that he could read the most closely. But when he saw Jaxon's own chin jut towards the camera and his eyebrows to draw together, he could tell that the last thing he wanted was to come across a certain way. Justin withheld his sigh then let it go loudly. "It's not needy. There's nothing needy about laying down something that you want. You don't ask, you don't get. Speaking up is what will make us men."
I'm not sure what it was that caused Jaxon's stubborn streak to be the thing that won in the end. I'm not sure exactly. But I know that I could guess.
Maybe it was too much for him, all of Justin's words. Maybe it was the sigh. Or maybe it was simply just how he needed to react before he let things whir around in his brain for a bit before deciding how he wanted to act. You see, it's always worth saying your own truth. It's always worth getting your point across. Who knows? Even the most stubborn of souls sometimes listen. It's always worth suggesting. You never know who is listening.
"Well then I guess I'm a long way off from being a man then." Jaxon responded and it was these words as well of a couple of silences that followed that lead to the end of that conversation. Jayden's lip fell back into his mouth as he gnawed on it. Justin shrugged and waved his hands in the air. He had tried. That was all he could do.
But like I said, it was always worth trying and suggesting. And even someone as stubborn as Jaxon and with a firm desire to do the absolute opposite of what his big brother advised could sometimes have a change of heart.
A bit of time later in Kanto and when Jayden had long since said goodbye to the previous video chat and had headed off for some lunch that time, there was something niggling at Jaxon's mind and it caused him to take to the same video phone for the third time that day.
As soon as his bottom sat in the seat, he wondered why he was following the advice of Justin. While the phone was dialling, he wondered how on earth he was going to get a moment alone with his father when he was evidently so busy with being a father to other people.
We get so many things twisted in life. And that was one of the moments. James clicked to answer the video chat to his son without hesitation and I was there to see it when he smiled down into the camera and Jaxon's image filled his screen once more.
"I was hoping you would ring me back." He began, completely unaware that his ten year old son's hands were linked and felt like they had had their own visit to the seaside in his lap underneath the desk. James' own hands cupped his face as his elbows rested on the desk. "I didn't get hardly as much time as I wanted with you, to hear about your adventures and to just look at you."
Showing this undoubtedly on his face, Jaxon's expression told the both of us that he was so very taken aback to hear all of this. He was taken by surprise. His fingers parting but only just managing to do so because of their clamminess, he had a moment to tilt his head rather than to smile.
"Yeah…?" was all he managed to say at first. Inwardly, he cursed himself. Now he was the lame one rather than Justin!
Never in his father's mind though. Never in James' mind at all. His smile still gracing his lips and looking at his son into the camera and savouring the one on one time with him like he too had always wanted it to be, he affirmed his words with a nod of the head.
"Truly." He said and it was only as he did this that Jaxon allowed the tiniest of smiles to curve up his own lips. At the same time that this happened, he noticed that James had rid himself of the playful pirate gear for good. He was so very relieved. He was so very glad to see his dad rather than anyone else. "It's frightening to see how much you've grown. To see how much you've grown without me. But wonderful too. You'll return home to us a man one day so forgive me for wanting to treasure the sight of you smaller."
James was blessed in return by a scrunching of the nose. Jaxon wanted to tell him that he was still the smallest in the travelling group, and out of most people that he met. He wanted to tell him that he didn't wish to frighten him. He wanted to tell him that the thought of becoming a man both excited and frightened him too.
He had told Justin that he was far off that day. But the way that he proved he could move on from doubt and acknowledge precious time and being given a window of opportunity showed that he was getting there in spirit – even if he was a long way off in height.
"I'll be the man that you'll want me to be." Jaxon told his father and he was rid of fear for good. Especially the ones of coming across as desperate. In that moment, the light of wanting to please his parents was in his eyes.
But I watched as of course, James shook his head and had light in his eyes but his was the light of love and for a different reason. Though he found his son's words to put warmth in his belly that would only continue to grow, he shook his head. His lips pressed together. Then they parted. He spoke once more.
"I want you to be the man that you wish to be. And then I'll be a very happy man." He told him and in return, Jaxon's expression was a mixture of apprehension and adrenaline that I had never quite seen before. He didn't know what man he wanted to be. But he was looking forward to the challenge of finding out even at that age. James nodded his head like he understood. He probably did. He cupped his face some more and smiled into the camera that he could kid were his son's eyes. "I miss you. But I'm glad you're having such adventures."
And then following this, of course all the more adrenaline took over and Jaxon couldn't help but indulge his father, and tell him all the adventures that he had indeed been on. James listened, his fingers not moving away from his chin and his eyes and ears not moving away from the moment. He had been moved away the first time. But not that time.
It was true that he had a lot of fatherly energy to use up. And sometimes it extended itself to people who were not his own. But it never got used up and was always there for the children that he created.
The thing is Jaxon wouldn't always be quite so desperate to get that time with his father. Like James described, he would go on to become his own man and deal with the ins and the outs and the ups and the downs and the twists and turns of the path that all of that growth entailed.
But, he would always be there, no matter what. And that was the thing about fathers.
There were there regardless. In truth. In heart. In spirit. Jaxon would learn that that was the kind of man that he wanted to be because he was shown from his father. And not that he admitted, but he was shown it from his brothers as well.
And like his own need to keep people close, he would show that in time as well. It would take some time! When a stubborn streak breaks it is kind of wonderful. Because only someone determined enough finds peace in knowing when to quit. Exactly this would be shown by Jaxon eventually. And that is a tale always worth remembering. And smiling about too.
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :) I enjoyed tackling some characters and themes that had been on the back burner for a while. And as well as that, it was fun to bring back the characters of George, Jack and Michael, all of Georgina's foster boys in the children's care home she runs! That felt like a throwback. As you can see here, Jaxon gives his dad a bit of a hard time. Sometimes it's protectiveness for their mother. But sometimes it's the need to be close to him. Thankfully James prioritises that closeness, even when all of his sons are on their Pokemon journeys. As Jaxon eventually learns :) Thanks again and I will be back in just a few minutes over on Pikachu Tales :D
Amy signing out!