Jesse was in his bedroom, idly playing with his guitar - the musical instrument had been a Christmas present; music was one of his interests, and his foster parents had indulged in it, and they were more than happy to encourage him; for Jesse, music was a simple way out of whatever problems came his way in real life, but while he loved his harmonica, the guitar allowed him more versatility.

But right now, Jesse was just not in the mood to play his harmonica; it had been a gift from his mother.

Jesse stilted, biting down hard on his lip to stop himself from crying again.

His mother.

She had died.

Dwight, his social worker, had come to bring the grim news. She had been found dead in New York, of all places. Jesse didn't even want to work out how she had gone there or even why, but knowing her, it had likely blown up in her face long before she had died. Jesse couldn't believe it; for two whole years ever since that mess with freeing Willy from the park, he had asked Dwight to try to find his mother. But Jesse didn't want to live with her, never again. His childhood was a mess of promises, half-truths, and white lies. How many times had his mother told him they would be moving into an apartment or a house, and she would get a job, only for it to never materialise? How old had he been before the arguments between them both had forever shattered their relationship for good?

His mother had abandoned him, and he had grown up on the streets, running with gangs and stealing food and money just to survive, but by that point, he had given up on her… this time, for good. What was the point of expecting her to be there, and being a good parent when she was incapable of it? She didn't even look back as she drove away, leaving him behind without a care in the world. Jesse had lived with that memory for a long time, and he had lashed out angrily at Dwight when he brought it back up after Willy had a tantrum in the park during that day he would perform, leaving Jesse humiliated.

Annie Greenwood was more of a mother than his own mother had been, but Jesse had wanted to know where she was; he didn't want to live with her, hell he didn't even want to speak to her, but he wanted to know where she was just in case he changed his mind. Jesse had made sure Dwight and his adoptive parents understood that, and fortunately they did, but Jesse was left staggered by what he had learnt.

Discovering that his mother was dead had been the last thing he had expected, and a part of Jesse had wanted to find out just what happened to her in the first place, and why she had even gone out to New York at all, but he was left staggered by the next bombshell.

Jesse had a half-brother, a boy called Elvis.

Just thinking about it left him….shaken. Jesse had always been an only child, but now he wondered if his mother had other children before him, and then she had abandoned them as well as she had with him. He wouldn't put it past her, either. If she had, he wondered where they were now. Had they given up on her? Were they with other families? It was not a nice thought, but he would be sure to ask Dwight if he could find out even if the chances were remote.

A knock came on the door. "Yeah?" He called.

Slowly the door opened, and Annie poked her face in - her beautiful face was filled with concern. Concern for him. She was a mother, not the woman he'd known. "Mind if I come in?"

Jesse nodded. "Sure." Annie came in and she slowly sat on the bed, smiling at the guitar. "Come up with any new songs?"

Jesse shook his head, "Nah, I've just been playing tunelessly."

"Well, I'm glad you love it, Jesse," Annie wore a grin, but it faded quickly and she looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry about your mother."

Annie had always had mixed feelings about Jesse's mother; on one hand, she wanted to beat the bitch down for abandoning her talented child without even a thought, and the second hoped they never met. Darkly and morbidly, she was pleased it was never going to happen, but she would never admit it to Jesse.

Jesse had fully expected his mother to be brought up. "Thanks," he said quietly. "I still can't believe she's gone," he added.

"Be honest with me, if Dwight had come back with news about where she was, what would have done?"

"I don't know, and believe me I've played it out in my head so many times. I honestly don't know."

Annie was satisfied because such a choice would have haunted him forever. "I don't blame you," she said seriously.

"I just…find it so hard to believe she's gone; she was terrible at looking after herself. Hell, she couldn't even look after a box of fish fingers, never mind a kid as well," Jesse shook his head as the memories of his childhood came back to him before his mother just turned around, walked off, and drove away without looking back, "I hated her, Annie. I hated her for just leaving me."

Annie pulled him into her arms, deftly shifting around the guitar. She didn't say a word. She let him cry.

"I'm sorry about lashing out."

Annie pulled back, eliciting a moan of sadness. She hid a smile, pleased she had worked her magic on him. "Don't be," she said simply, to his surprise since she usually told him off for his occasional bad temper tantrums. She had always told him his temper could and would get him into a lot of trouble. Something told him she was right. She usually was. On top of that, it was too late for that..as he had lost his temper too many times in the past, and it caused him problems further down the line, but there were some subjects which really did hurt.

"How do you feel about your brother being here, with you, with us?" Annie then gave him both barrels.

Jesse sighed.

He should have expected this.

"I didn't even think for a moment she'd gotten pregnant again, and I didn't think I'd ever had or would have a brother, or sister," Jesse confessed.

Deep down…he was actually….glad he had a piece of his mother left out there but at the same time…. It was so sudden, so shocking he couldn't wrap his brain around the whole thing. He didn't know what to feel.

Jesse noticed Annie was looking at him, her eyes probing his own as if she were peering into his brain, reading his thoughts. He didn't like being transparent to her.

"Give him a chance, Jesse," she implored him, "I know it's sudden and horrifying that she would just have another son, and would likely abandon him, too. But be there for him, please."

Jesse looked down, horrified she shared his thoughts on the matter, but he wasn't surprised as she was smart enough to see it. And he wondered how old his newly discovered half-brother would have been before their mother abandoned him, too. It made him ache in the heart.