Smoke & Lightning: Whatever Comes Our Way (8/?)
Title: Smoke & Lightning : Whatever Comes Our Way (8/?)
Authors: eviltwin and bloody_adorable
Fandoms: Supernatural RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen Ackles / Jared Padalecki.
Wordcount: 3,370
Rating: Adult.
Summary: The boys have a new family and face a whole new set of challenges and possibilities. But they can handle it.
Disclaimer: None of the following is true in any way, and no profit is made from this work of fiction.
CHAPTER EIGHT
( master post)
The car bounced down the gravel road. Jared tried to steer around potholes, but sometimes he couldn't avoid them. Jensen turned around to the back and watched Matty and Hannah bounce nearly out of their seats. Frowning, he situated himself in the passengers seat again.
“Are we going to have a car to bring back to Mom?” he asked. They'd had to borrow the car when Jensen had got into theirs this morning and found that it wouldn't start.
Jared didn't let the comment bother him. He just smiled and nodded his head, answering with a gentle, “Yes, Jen.”
Jensen gazed out the passenger window, still skeptical. “I dunno,” he said. “Isn't that what Jeff Foxworthy said? 'If directions to your house include turn off the paved road, you might be a redneck?'”
Still smiling, Jared shook his head. “First of all, we're not rednecks, Jen,” he told him. “Second, the road is bumpy, I'll give you that. But it's worse in a car than in the SUV we have. The bikes would be easy on this road.”
“Save for spilling,” Jensen reminded him.
“Save for spilling, yes,” he agreed. “Just wait, okay?”
Jensen sighed. “I don't know. I feel like I'm on the set of Deliverance.”
Jared made sure to lay down a thick accent when he spoke. “Well, you do got a pretty mouth, boy.”
A smile spread across Jensen's face at that. “Shut up,” he almost giggled.
As he drove down the road, Jared laughed with him. “It's not that bad.”
“Are we almost there?”
He looked into the rear-view mirror, spying on his daughter. “Yes, banana,” Jared said. “We're there now.”
“We are?” Jensen turned to look out the window again. There was a red Ford Expedition sitting in front of a plain white house. “This is it?”
“This is it,” Jared nodded. “That's Mel right there.” He pulled the car into the driveway and shifted it into park. He turned around and smiled at Matty and Hannah. “Ready to see the place guys?”
Matty nodded his head vigorously. Hannah didn't really answer. She just unbuckled her seat and pushed open her door. She hopped out of the car and took off running, far ahead of Matty, who got out and started trekking towards the house beside Jensen. Jared made a beeline for Mel Whitman, holding a hand out to him. Mel eyed him and Jensen rather suspiciously at first, but Jared knew the man was aware of their living situation. He'd seen the man around town, and had come out to help Jeff once or twice on building the barn.
“You Jeff Morgan's boy?” the old man asked.
“Yessir,” Jared nodded.
“You still a little fruity?”
Jared's smile faltered for only a moment. It returned an instant later, albeit a little less genuine than before. “Thanks for meeting us out here.”
The old man seemed to squint and look at Jared a little harder. “Yep, you look like Morgan,” he said, giving a sharp nod. “I guess you'll do.”
Jared decided not to correct the old man, tell him it was impossible for him to look like Jeff when the man was only his adoptive father. “I've been told that before,” he said, and it was true. Mel wasn't the first to tell him that.
“Well, alright, come on,” the old man said, motioning to Jared. “I'll show you around.”
“Looks like that barn is still standing,” Jared mentioned.
“A-yuh,” Mel mumbled. “Ain't a storm yet that can knock it down. Your Daddy's pretty good at what he does.”
Smiling fondly, Jared nodded. “Yes, he is,” he agreed.
The house might have been plain outside, but inside it was beautiful. Simple. Farm-house, bead-board, antique white simple. The kitchen was roomy, the staircase to the second level was solid, and the bedrooms - there were three of them, just as Jared had suspected - were smaller than the rooms they had in LA, but they were comfortable. Homey. They walked through the place three times. Mel must have gotten tired of waiting for them, for he went out on the porch and sat on the steps to wait for them.
Meeting in the kitchen, Jared took a deep breath and gazed at Jensen for awhile. “What do you think?”
Jensen shrugged his shoulders. “I think it's great,” he said. “But I talked to Mel. He said there's, like, ten acres of land here.”
“So?”
“So, what do we need all of that room for?”
“Horses,” came a small, sweet voice.
Jensen and Jared turned towards the living room, where Hannah was staring out the window. Jensen shook his head. “No, no horses,” he said.
“Horses,” she said again. She set her tiny finger to the glass in the window, pointing.
They met one another's gaze before moving closer to Hannah. She was still at the window, still pointing, a smile upon her face. Jared was the first to the glass, peering out at the farm next door. Sure enough, there was a black horse kicking up its heels in the steel round pen beside the barn. This was the first sign of life either of them had seen next door.
“Horses,” Jared repeated.
“We are not having one of those things,” Jensen notified him, pointing to the seemingly crazy black horse in the distance.
Jared scoffed. “I didn't say we were.”
“Good, because they're dangerous. I see a lot of kids with injuries from riding horses.”
Making a face, Jared rolled his eyes. “You don't see that many, Jen.”
He nodded adamantly. “Enough of them.”
Jared only laughed, watching Jensen walk away towards the front door. His gaze fell to Hannah, who now had both hands pressed against the glass, staring at the horse. He felt bad. She seemed to really like the horse. “Maybe we can go see him sometime, Hannah,” he told her. He watched as the horse bucked and reared, and could just barely hear the horse's neigh in the distance. “Or, m...maybe we should see a different horse.”
The horse snorted, kicking out its back legs and nearly colliding with the metal rungs on the round pen.
“You know what? Let's go,” Jared said, suddenly nervous with the idea of his daughter being anywhere near the horse.
“Where do we gotta go now, Dad?”
He leaned down and hefted her up into his arms, setting her on his hip. “Let's go by the new shop,” he said. “Wanna?”
She sighed. “I guess. Does this shop have Spongebob on TV too?”
He chuckled, looking over at her. “Not yet,” he said. “But I'll make sure they install it.”
Matty and Hannah. Corey and Holly. The kids had formed some sort of coup after dinner at the Morgan residence, and won. Jensen and Jared had the garage to themselves, just like the old days, while the kids got their way and all of them were in Holly's room. On a double air mattress, somehow there was room for all four of them.
Jared had thought for sure Holly, at least, would be jealous of Hannah, considering it was another girl taking attention away from her. But she had actually taken the child under her wing. That was both a good thing, and a bad thing. It was good for Hannah to have that kind of pal, but it was bad because Holly tended to get herself - and her followers - into trouble quite regularly. Still, it made Jared both proud of her and love her even more.
“I'm sure the pipsqueak will get up on her own bed during the night,” Jeffrey smiled. “She hates it when Shelby gets into bed with her. Once the newness of this wears off we'll have them fighting with each other again, I'm sure.”
“In no time,” Jared agreed. Both men stood by the bedroom door, watching the kids sleep. Hannah had been the worst. Jensen had thankfully brought her pop-up tent, which she had resorted to a few times already. But now she was next to her brother, sleeping on her side with her arm draped over his chest. That made Jared smile. They had grown very close, very quickly.
“You off to bed?” Jeff asked, interrupting Jared's thoughts.
“Yeah,” he said, taking a deep breath and pushing away from the doorway. “The wifey is waiting.”
Jeff chuckled. “It's best to not keep them waiting.”
“Practice what you preach, big man,” Jared winked.
“Night, freak.”
“Night, old fart.”
They went their separate ways. Jared let Shelby out one more time for the night, and then left her in the living room where she jumped up on either end of the sofa and curled into her own tail. Once he was up the ladder in the garage, Jared saw Jensen reading in bed - a medical manual that Jared was pretty sure was a cure for insomnia.
“God, finally to bed?” Jensen asked, closing the book and removing his reading glasses.
Jared climbed onto the mattress, nodding his head. On all fours, he made his way over to Jensen. “Finally to bed,” he repeated. He gave the man a soft, slow kiss.
“She give you much trouble?”
Jared smiled against Jensen's mouth, nodding his head just slightly. “Yup,” he agreed.
Jensen returned the grin, looking into Jared's eyes. “Like father, like daughter.”
Another slow, sensual kiss, one that made Jensen's toes curl just slightly. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?” Jared asked, his voice soft and husky.
One eyebrow raised. “No, you haven't,” Jensen returned.
A gruff chuckle escaped Jared's throat. “Liar.”
Putting his arms around Jared, Jensen let the man sink into him and the mattress, pulling pillows out from behind themselves so that they lay flat on the mattress. Jared had lost weight since his accident. His arms weren't as thick as they were before. His shoulder blades were a little more prominent. But not for lack of eating or exercising. Jared did both, just not as much as he used to. He had headaches a lot, and didn't sleep as well as previously. Jensen worried about him still, noticed every little twinge of pain that flashed across Jared's face, maybe from the metal rod in his leg, or maybe just because he hated that he got a little weaker when he'd pushed himself too hard - which he did quite often.
The garage was quiet with no kids sleeping on the sofa bed on the lower level. Jared and Jensen made good use of the stillness, breaking it now and then with the sounds of soft sighs, gentle kisses, and needful moans. Jensen lay with Jared until he heard the man sleeping, snoring ever so slightly as he dreamed. That put his mind at ease, but he still couldn't find sleep for himself. Instead of laying there and just thinking, which led to more worrying on his part, he got up, dressed, and quietly made his way down the ladder. The garage door squeaked as he let himself into the kitchen. He winced and tried to stay as quiet as possible in the silent house. The light over the stove was on, Jensen knew for him and Jared, in case they got up during the night. He smiled at the gesture, and moved towards the stairs. There was new carpet on the stairs, and it made Jensen's footfalls almost silent, save for a squeak here and there. Down the hallway, he stopped at Holly's room. She had finally crawled into her own bed, covers pushed down to her feet. Jensen smiled at her, walked into the room and pulled the covers up over her chilled feet. She barely stirred.
Corey, Hannah and Matty were still on the air mattress, all three huddled together without blankets. Jensen took the big Queen-sized blanket they were using and untangled it from between the three of them. In one swooping motion, he covered all three kids with the warm blanket. The hair on their heads stirred in the wake of the covers coming down, but did not disturb them.
He only stayed a moment more, then headed for the bathroom. He did what he had to do, quickly washed his hands and snapped off the light before leaving. As he moved down the stairs, he noticed that there was more light there than there was before. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking towards the living room sofa. Stevie was there, in her pretty pajamas that Jeff had bought her years ago. Her blonde hair was tousled and she looked as though she hadn't slept in days.
Concerned, Jensen stepped closer. “Stevie?”
She seemed startled. She must have been so engulfed in her own thoughts, that she didn't hear him come down the stairs. “Oh, Jensen, I'm sorry,” she said. “Did I wake you up?”
“No,” he said as he sat beside her. “I couldn't sleep. I was just up checking on the kids.”
“Are they alright?”
“Oh, yeah,” he nodded, waving away her question. “Holly is back in her own bed, but the other three are still on the air mattress.”
“Oh, good.” She tried to smile, but Jensen saw how much effort went into it.
“Are you alright?”
It was the touch to her shoulder that made her smile fade, made her realize that she wasn't fooling anyone. She gazed at Jensen for a few seconds, and she knew that he could tell she'd been crying. She looked away, down at her hands for a moment, before returning her gaze to his. “I'm pregnant.”
His eyes went wide and he smiled. “Stevie, that's great,” he said enthusiastically. When she didn't share his excitement, he let his own die down. “Isn't it?”
She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “We're strapped now as it is, Jensen,” she explained. “A teaching salary isn't very good these days. And with the economy the way it is, Jeff's had less and less projects to work on.”
“Oh, honey,” Jensen said, rubbing at her shoulder. “You guys will be fine.”
She took a deep breath and sighed, as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders. “I don't know what to do,” she told him, looking down at her hands as they rested in her lap.
“Did you tell Jeff?”
She shook her head. “I don't know how to,” she answered.
“Stevie,” Jensen said gently. “It's his baby. He'll be happy.”
Again, she shook her head. “He worries so much about our money, about how bad it's getting in the world. What is he going to say to another child?”
“He'll be thrilled,” he smiled. “I know it.”
“I never thought I'd be having kids at this age,” she told him. “I mean, in my thirties, fine. But Jensen, I'm over forty now. That's not good for the baby, right?”
He shook his head. “Women are having kids later and later these days, Stevie,” he assured her. “They'll probably do a lot of sonograms, but there have been so many medical advances that I am sure your baby will be fine.”
Stevie sighed again, still not sure of anything in the world right then. She continued to stare down at her hands, tears slipping down her face. She wasn't consoled by Jensen's words. He watched her, his own brow furrowing in empathy. He reached out and brushed her hair back, curled it around her ears so that he could see her better. “What is it?” he asked, knowing that he hadn't yet found out what was truly bothering her.
Sniffling through her nose, Stevie glanced at him, almost fearfully. “I went to the doctors,” she said.
“Okay,” he nodded.
She didn't say anything. She just looked at him, and in her tear-filled eyes, Jensen understood what she meant. She went to the doctors to find out about an abortion. The recognition was obvious on his face. He pursed his lips for a moment, and gave a gentle nod. “But you didn't...”
She shook her head. “No,” she told him. “I couldn't. I am so ashamed of myself, though. Before I even went and told Jeffrey, I went to a hospital, Jensen. A hospital. To get rid of my baby. To get rid of a part of Jeffrey, when I love those two kids upstairs so much it hurts. What is wrong with me?”
She was so torn up, Jensen's heart bled for her. He considered Stevie one of his best friends ever; had from the moment he'd had her for a substitute in English class. And when she became a regular in school, he was thankful she was there. She helped him through so much, so many hard times. He knew he needed to be there for her now, instead. He put his arm around her, sliding closer so that she was snuggled up against him. “Oh, sweetheart,” he said gently. “There's nothing wrong with you.” He rested his head on the top of hers, as she leaned against him. “You're a Mom, one of the best I've ever known. You were thinking of your kids.”
“But this is one of my kids too,” she reminded him. “This is part of me. Part of Jeff. I love him so much, Jensen. What will he say when he finds out that I almost did that?”
Jensen smiled. “I think he'll understand,” he said honestly. He was quiet for a moment, listening to her sniffle through her stuffy nose. “I think it'll be tough, I won't lie to you. But you know that Jay and I are here, and we'll help. You know that Mom and Rock won't let the kids go without anything. And are you kidding? Kenzie won't be able to get enough of the little guy. Or girl. Free babysitter for life, probably.”
“Jeff's not good on charity.”
“It's not charity,” he corrected. “It's what family does for one another.”
Without moving much, Stevie reached up with one arm and hugged Jensen. “What would I do without you?” She snuggled against his neck, taking a deep breath and sighing, still sounding heavy-hearted.
“If I didn't know you were so into my son, I'd worry right now,” Jeff's voice came from behind them.
Both Jensen and Stevie turned. She was quick to wipe away her tears and stand from the sofa. She looked like she was guilty of something, she knew, but she couldn't change her expression to save her life.
Jeff's smile faded and he took a step closer. “What's wrong, baby?”
Jensen got up from his place on the couch and tried to quietly slip away, but Stevie took hold of his arm.
“It's okay,” she smiled at him. “You can stay.”
Jensen saw that her smile was a little more sincere this time. He glanced over at Jeff, who met his eyes too, and then nodded at Stevie. “Okay.” He knew she needed the moral support.
With the sofa standing between them, Stevie took a deep breath and looked over at Jeffrey. She let her breath slowly eke out of her lungs, her eyes drifting closed for just a moment. “Jeff,” she began. “I know now isn't a good time, but...” She paused, looking away, apprehensive about going on, until she felt Jensen's hand curl around hers. That gave her the strength she needed. She raised her chin higher and met Jeff's eyes again. “I'm pregnant.”
Jensen watched Jeff's reaction. His look of concern remained for a moment, then melted away into a smile. That infectious, giddy grin that he got that always made Jensen more at ease in tough times, that made him smile when he wanted to cry. He watched Jeff climb over the back of the sofa and swoop Stevie up in his arms. She let go of Jensen's hand and wrapped her arms around Jeff instead.
“Oh, baby,” he said into her hair. “I am so happy.” He pulled back enough to take her face in his hands and gaze into her eyes.
Those soft words made Jensen smile. He watched them, blinking slowly, suddenly very tired. Jeff and Stevie would be okay. Times were tough, and money was tight. But somehow, Jensen knew they would make it.
tbc
Thanks for the comments on the previous chapter and ficlet, I promise to get to answering them at the weekend!!
Authors: eviltwin and bloody_adorable
Fandoms: Supernatural RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen Ackles / Jared Padalecki.
Wordcount: 3,370
Rating: Adult.
Summary: The boys have a new family and face a whole new set of challenges and possibilities. But they can handle it.
Disclaimer: None of the following is true in any way, and no profit is made from this work of fiction.
CHAPTER EIGHT
( master post)
The car bounced down the gravel road. Jared tried to steer around potholes, but sometimes he couldn't avoid them. Jensen turned around to the back and watched Matty and Hannah bounce nearly out of their seats. Frowning, he situated himself in the passengers seat again.
“Are we going to have a car to bring back to Mom?” he asked. They'd had to borrow the car when Jensen had got into theirs this morning and found that it wouldn't start.
Jared didn't let the comment bother him. He just smiled and nodded his head, answering with a gentle, “Yes, Jen.”
Jensen gazed out the passenger window, still skeptical. “I dunno,” he said. “Isn't that what Jeff Foxworthy said? 'If directions to your house include turn off the paved road, you might be a redneck?'”
Still smiling, Jared shook his head. “First of all, we're not rednecks, Jen,” he told him. “Second, the road is bumpy, I'll give you that. But it's worse in a car than in the SUV we have. The bikes would be easy on this road.”
“Save for spilling,” Jensen reminded him.
“Save for spilling, yes,” he agreed. “Just wait, okay?”
Jensen sighed. “I don't know. I feel like I'm on the set of Deliverance.”
Jared made sure to lay down a thick accent when he spoke. “Well, you do got a pretty mouth, boy.”
A smile spread across Jensen's face at that. “Shut up,” he almost giggled.
As he drove down the road, Jared laughed with him. “It's not that bad.”
“Are we almost there?”
He looked into the rear-view mirror, spying on his daughter. “Yes, banana,” Jared said. “We're there now.”
“We are?” Jensen turned to look out the window again. There was a red Ford Expedition sitting in front of a plain white house. “This is it?”
“This is it,” Jared nodded. “That's Mel right there.” He pulled the car into the driveway and shifted it into park. He turned around and smiled at Matty and Hannah. “Ready to see the place guys?”
Matty nodded his head vigorously. Hannah didn't really answer. She just unbuckled her seat and pushed open her door. She hopped out of the car and took off running, far ahead of Matty, who got out and started trekking towards the house beside Jensen. Jared made a beeline for Mel Whitman, holding a hand out to him. Mel eyed him and Jensen rather suspiciously at first, but Jared knew the man was aware of their living situation. He'd seen the man around town, and had come out to help Jeff once or twice on building the barn.
“You Jeff Morgan's boy?” the old man asked.
“Yessir,” Jared nodded.
“You still a little fruity?”
Jared's smile faltered for only a moment. It returned an instant later, albeit a little less genuine than before. “Thanks for meeting us out here.”
The old man seemed to squint and look at Jared a little harder. “Yep, you look like Morgan,” he said, giving a sharp nod. “I guess you'll do.”
Jared decided not to correct the old man, tell him it was impossible for him to look like Jeff when the man was only his adoptive father. “I've been told that before,” he said, and it was true. Mel wasn't the first to tell him that.
“Well, alright, come on,” the old man said, motioning to Jared. “I'll show you around.”
“Looks like that barn is still standing,” Jared mentioned.
“A-yuh,” Mel mumbled. “Ain't a storm yet that can knock it down. Your Daddy's pretty good at what he does.”
Smiling fondly, Jared nodded. “Yes, he is,” he agreed.
The house might have been plain outside, but inside it was beautiful. Simple. Farm-house, bead-board, antique white simple. The kitchen was roomy, the staircase to the second level was solid, and the bedrooms - there were three of them, just as Jared had suspected - were smaller than the rooms they had in LA, but they were comfortable. Homey. They walked through the place three times. Mel must have gotten tired of waiting for them, for he went out on the porch and sat on the steps to wait for them.
Meeting in the kitchen, Jared took a deep breath and gazed at Jensen for awhile. “What do you think?”
Jensen shrugged his shoulders. “I think it's great,” he said. “But I talked to Mel. He said there's, like, ten acres of land here.”
“So?”
“So, what do we need all of that room for?”
“Horses,” came a small, sweet voice.
Jensen and Jared turned towards the living room, where Hannah was staring out the window. Jensen shook his head. “No, no horses,” he said.
“Horses,” she said again. She set her tiny finger to the glass in the window, pointing.
They met one another's gaze before moving closer to Hannah. She was still at the window, still pointing, a smile upon her face. Jared was the first to the glass, peering out at the farm next door. Sure enough, there was a black horse kicking up its heels in the steel round pen beside the barn. This was the first sign of life either of them had seen next door.
“Horses,” Jared repeated.
“We are not having one of those things,” Jensen notified him, pointing to the seemingly crazy black horse in the distance.
Jared scoffed. “I didn't say we were.”
“Good, because they're dangerous. I see a lot of kids with injuries from riding horses.”
Making a face, Jared rolled his eyes. “You don't see that many, Jen.”
He nodded adamantly. “Enough of them.”
Jared only laughed, watching Jensen walk away towards the front door. His gaze fell to Hannah, who now had both hands pressed against the glass, staring at the horse. He felt bad. She seemed to really like the horse. “Maybe we can go see him sometime, Hannah,” he told her. He watched as the horse bucked and reared, and could just barely hear the horse's neigh in the distance. “Or, m...maybe we should see a different horse.”
The horse snorted, kicking out its back legs and nearly colliding with the metal rungs on the round pen.
“You know what? Let's go,” Jared said, suddenly nervous with the idea of his daughter being anywhere near the horse.
“Where do we gotta go now, Dad?”
He leaned down and hefted her up into his arms, setting her on his hip. “Let's go by the new shop,” he said. “Wanna?”
She sighed. “I guess. Does this shop have Spongebob on TV too?”
He chuckled, looking over at her. “Not yet,” he said. “But I'll make sure they install it.”
Matty and Hannah. Corey and Holly. The kids had formed some sort of coup after dinner at the Morgan residence, and won. Jensen and Jared had the garage to themselves, just like the old days, while the kids got their way and all of them were in Holly's room. On a double air mattress, somehow there was room for all four of them.
Jared had thought for sure Holly, at least, would be jealous of Hannah, considering it was another girl taking attention away from her. But she had actually taken the child under her wing. That was both a good thing, and a bad thing. It was good for Hannah to have that kind of pal, but it was bad because Holly tended to get herself - and her followers - into trouble quite regularly. Still, it made Jared both proud of her and love her even more.
“I'm sure the pipsqueak will get up on her own bed during the night,” Jeffrey smiled. “She hates it when Shelby gets into bed with her. Once the newness of this wears off we'll have them fighting with each other again, I'm sure.”
“In no time,” Jared agreed. Both men stood by the bedroom door, watching the kids sleep. Hannah had been the worst. Jensen had thankfully brought her pop-up tent, which she had resorted to a few times already. But now she was next to her brother, sleeping on her side with her arm draped over his chest. That made Jared smile. They had grown very close, very quickly.
“You off to bed?” Jeff asked, interrupting Jared's thoughts.
“Yeah,” he said, taking a deep breath and pushing away from the doorway. “The wifey is waiting.”
Jeff chuckled. “It's best to not keep them waiting.”
“Practice what you preach, big man,” Jared winked.
“Night, freak.”
“Night, old fart.”
They went their separate ways. Jared let Shelby out one more time for the night, and then left her in the living room where she jumped up on either end of the sofa and curled into her own tail. Once he was up the ladder in the garage, Jared saw Jensen reading in bed - a medical manual that Jared was pretty sure was a cure for insomnia.
“God, finally to bed?” Jensen asked, closing the book and removing his reading glasses.
Jared climbed onto the mattress, nodding his head. On all fours, he made his way over to Jensen. “Finally to bed,” he repeated. He gave the man a soft, slow kiss.
“She give you much trouble?”
Jared smiled against Jensen's mouth, nodding his head just slightly. “Yup,” he agreed.
Jensen returned the grin, looking into Jared's eyes. “Like father, like daughter.”
Another slow, sensual kiss, one that made Jensen's toes curl just slightly. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?” Jared asked, his voice soft and husky.
One eyebrow raised. “No, you haven't,” Jensen returned.
A gruff chuckle escaped Jared's throat. “Liar.”
Putting his arms around Jared, Jensen let the man sink into him and the mattress, pulling pillows out from behind themselves so that they lay flat on the mattress. Jared had lost weight since his accident. His arms weren't as thick as they were before. His shoulder blades were a little more prominent. But not for lack of eating or exercising. Jared did both, just not as much as he used to. He had headaches a lot, and didn't sleep as well as previously. Jensen worried about him still, noticed every little twinge of pain that flashed across Jared's face, maybe from the metal rod in his leg, or maybe just because he hated that he got a little weaker when he'd pushed himself too hard - which he did quite often.
The garage was quiet with no kids sleeping on the sofa bed on the lower level. Jared and Jensen made good use of the stillness, breaking it now and then with the sounds of soft sighs, gentle kisses, and needful moans. Jensen lay with Jared until he heard the man sleeping, snoring ever so slightly as he dreamed. That put his mind at ease, but he still couldn't find sleep for himself. Instead of laying there and just thinking, which led to more worrying on his part, he got up, dressed, and quietly made his way down the ladder. The garage door squeaked as he let himself into the kitchen. He winced and tried to stay as quiet as possible in the silent house. The light over the stove was on, Jensen knew for him and Jared, in case they got up during the night. He smiled at the gesture, and moved towards the stairs. There was new carpet on the stairs, and it made Jensen's footfalls almost silent, save for a squeak here and there. Down the hallway, he stopped at Holly's room. She had finally crawled into her own bed, covers pushed down to her feet. Jensen smiled at her, walked into the room and pulled the covers up over her chilled feet. She barely stirred.
Corey, Hannah and Matty were still on the air mattress, all three huddled together without blankets. Jensen took the big Queen-sized blanket they were using and untangled it from between the three of them. In one swooping motion, he covered all three kids with the warm blanket. The hair on their heads stirred in the wake of the covers coming down, but did not disturb them.
He only stayed a moment more, then headed for the bathroom. He did what he had to do, quickly washed his hands and snapped off the light before leaving. As he moved down the stairs, he noticed that there was more light there than there was before. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking towards the living room sofa. Stevie was there, in her pretty pajamas that Jeff had bought her years ago. Her blonde hair was tousled and she looked as though she hadn't slept in days.
Concerned, Jensen stepped closer. “Stevie?”
She seemed startled. She must have been so engulfed in her own thoughts, that she didn't hear him come down the stairs. “Oh, Jensen, I'm sorry,” she said. “Did I wake you up?”
“No,” he said as he sat beside her. “I couldn't sleep. I was just up checking on the kids.”
“Are they alright?”
“Oh, yeah,” he nodded, waving away her question. “Holly is back in her own bed, but the other three are still on the air mattress.”
“Oh, good.” She tried to smile, but Jensen saw how much effort went into it.
“Are you alright?”
It was the touch to her shoulder that made her smile fade, made her realize that she wasn't fooling anyone. She gazed at Jensen for a few seconds, and she knew that he could tell she'd been crying. She looked away, down at her hands for a moment, before returning her gaze to his. “I'm pregnant.”
His eyes went wide and he smiled. “Stevie, that's great,” he said enthusiastically. When she didn't share his excitement, he let his own die down. “Isn't it?”
She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “We're strapped now as it is, Jensen,” she explained. “A teaching salary isn't very good these days. And with the economy the way it is, Jeff's had less and less projects to work on.”
“Oh, honey,” Jensen said, rubbing at her shoulder. “You guys will be fine.”
She took a deep breath and sighed, as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders. “I don't know what to do,” she told him, looking down at her hands as they rested in her lap.
“Did you tell Jeff?”
She shook her head. “I don't know how to,” she answered.
“Stevie,” Jensen said gently. “It's his baby. He'll be happy.”
Again, she shook her head. “He worries so much about our money, about how bad it's getting in the world. What is he going to say to another child?”
“He'll be thrilled,” he smiled. “I know it.”
“I never thought I'd be having kids at this age,” she told him. “I mean, in my thirties, fine. But Jensen, I'm over forty now. That's not good for the baby, right?”
He shook his head. “Women are having kids later and later these days, Stevie,” he assured her. “They'll probably do a lot of sonograms, but there have been so many medical advances that I am sure your baby will be fine.”
Stevie sighed again, still not sure of anything in the world right then. She continued to stare down at her hands, tears slipping down her face. She wasn't consoled by Jensen's words. He watched her, his own brow furrowing in empathy. He reached out and brushed her hair back, curled it around her ears so that he could see her better. “What is it?” he asked, knowing that he hadn't yet found out what was truly bothering her.
Sniffling through her nose, Stevie glanced at him, almost fearfully. “I went to the doctors,” she said.
“Okay,” he nodded.
She didn't say anything. She just looked at him, and in her tear-filled eyes, Jensen understood what she meant. She went to the doctors to find out about an abortion. The recognition was obvious on his face. He pursed his lips for a moment, and gave a gentle nod. “But you didn't...”
She shook her head. “No,” she told him. “I couldn't. I am so ashamed of myself, though. Before I even went and told Jeffrey, I went to a hospital, Jensen. A hospital. To get rid of my baby. To get rid of a part of Jeffrey, when I love those two kids upstairs so much it hurts. What is wrong with me?”
She was so torn up, Jensen's heart bled for her. He considered Stevie one of his best friends ever; had from the moment he'd had her for a substitute in English class. And when she became a regular in school, he was thankful she was there. She helped him through so much, so many hard times. He knew he needed to be there for her now, instead. He put his arm around her, sliding closer so that she was snuggled up against him. “Oh, sweetheart,” he said gently. “There's nothing wrong with you.” He rested his head on the top of hers, as she leaned against him. “You're a Mom, one of the best I've ever known. You were thinking of your kids.”
“But this is one of my kids too,” she reminded him. “This is part of me. Part of Jeff. I love him so much, Jensen. What will he say when he finds out that I almost did that?”
Jensen smiled. “I think he'll understand,” he said honestly. He was quiet for a moment, listening to her sniffle through her stuffy nose. “I think it'll be tough, I won't lie to you. But you know that Jay and I are here, and we'll help. You know that Mom and Rock won't let the kids go without anything. And are you kidding? Kenzie won't be able to get enough of the little guy. Or girl. Free babysitter for life, probably.”
“Jeff's not good on charity.”
“It's not charity,” he corrected. “It's what family does for one another.”
Without moving much, Stevie reached up with one arm and hugged Jensen. “What would I do without you?” She snuggled against his neck, taking a deep breath and sighing, still sounding heavy-hearted.
“If I didn't know you were so into my son, I'd worry right now,” Jeff's voice came from behind them.
Both Jensen and Stevie turned. She was quick to wipe away her tears and stand from the sofa. She looked like she was guilty of something, she knew, but she couldn't change her expression to save her life.
Jeff's smile faded and he took a step closer. “What's wrong, baby?”
Jensen got up from his place on the couch and tried to quietly slip away, but Stevie took hold of his arm.
“It's okay,” she smiled at him. “You can stay.”
Jensen saw that her smile was a little more sincere this time. He glanced over at Jeff, who met his eyes too, and then nodded at Stevie. “Okay.” He knew she needed the moral support.
With the sofa standing between them, Stevie took a deep breath and looked over at Jeffrey. She let her breath slowly eke out of her lungs, her eyes drifting closed for just a moment. “Jeff,” she began. “I know now isn't a good time, but...” She paused, looking away, apprehensive about going on, until she felt Jensen's hand curl around hers. That gave her the strength she needed. She raised her chin higher and met Jeff's eyes again. “I'm pregnant.”
Jensen watched Jeff's reaction. His look of concern remained for a moment, then melted away into a smile. That infectious, giddy grin that he got that always made Jensen more at ease in tough times, that made him smile when he wanted to cry. He watched Jeff climb over the back of the sofa and swoop Stevie up in his arms. She let go of Jensen's hand and wrapped her arms around Jeff instead.
“Oh, baby,” he said into her hair. “I am so happy.” He pulled back enough to take her face in his hands and gaze into her eyes.
Those soft words made Jensen smile. He watched them, blinking slowly, suddenly very tired. Jeff and Stevie would be okay. Times were tough, and money was tight. But somehow, Jensen knew they would make it.
tbc
Thanks for the comments on the previous chapter and ficlet, I promise to get to answering them at the weekend!!