Room Enough To Love - J2 Mpreg - chapter 2/?
Title: Room Enough To Love 2/?
Rating: PG this chapter
Author: angels3
Beta: munibunny
Word Count: 5099/7750 (at the moment)
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I have no claim to them.
Warnings: mpreg, talk of past abuse for center residents
Summary: Jensen and Jared have everything they've ever wanted. They have thier friends, family a beautiful daughter and twins on the way. Will an unforseen situation ruin all that or will they find they have more than they ever thought they did to give.
Author's note : Picture bio has been updated, new characters are at the end. Also you will notice that I use the actors real names except in a few cases. This is because I identify with the character the person protrays/portrayed so completely that I can't seem to refer to them by their proper name. :) Some actors just ARE their characters if you know what I mean.
Picture Bio
Chapter Index : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Alex looked out the window at the woods surrounding the land the center owned. He'd found out in one of his walks with Cliff that the house that sat at the front of the property had been donated and moved to the spot it now resided in less than a year and a half ago.
Chris and Steve had told Cliff that the anonymous donor requested they use it for whatever was needed to make their clients feel safe and they were given a blank check to furnish it however they saw fit. It was rampant speculation that the donor was a member of Chris' family.
He'd been impressed when Cliff had shown him around. The living room had been redone into a massive video room with screens for all the cameras that were laid out throughout the woods, grounds, access roads, and doors. There was even a separate set of cameras that would activate if someone managed to get into the house.
Steve had been adamant about the residents having their privacy. So far, the only times that they'd been turned on was the weekly test they ran to make sure nothing was malfunctioning. Even then, the vast majority of them were set for hallways and entrances to the house.
The den was a recreation and entertainment area for the firm’s handpicked employees. Not everyone that was employed with the security firm worked at the center. Cliff had made it clear that only a select few would ever be assigned to there. All of them had passed interviews and psych evals required by Cliff, but Chris and Steve both vetted every single one of the potentials once Cliff cleared them as possibilities.
There was a fully stocked kitchen, a laundry room, two full baths, and three bedrooms that were all set up for double occupancy if needed. The den also had two sofas that could be pulled out and become beds in case there was an event that required all hands on deck.
Alex had been impressed, not only by Cliff, but the entire set up. Derrick had been the first person Cliff had partnered him with when he'd joined the security firm, and Alex had found himself relaxing around the man without even realizing it. He tuned back into the conversation he'd been having before he'd let his attention drift.
"I'm sorry. I think I must have misheard you. You did what!?" Derrick asked, voice rising a little as he slid into the seat across from Alex, careful not to spill his coffee.
"I set up some mics and cameras for Jensen."
"Why?"
"He called and asked me to come by with them. I didn't know why until I got there," Alex defended himself.
"You didn't ask questions?"
Alex shrugged, taking another sip of his coffee. "I didn't think it'd be anything. He's an artist who’s three months pregnant. How much trouble could he get into?"
"You told Jared, right? Please tell me you told Jared."
"I haven't seen Jared to tell him," Alex mumbled. He was going to hang onto that excuse until his dying breath. It wasn't like he saw the man every day, for pete's sake.
"Nice knowing you, man," Derrick declared, shaking his head.
"Seriously, it's probably just the pregnancy hormones. I've heard folks forget things when they get pregnant."
Derrick lifted an eyebrow. "Man, that kind of talk will get you maimed if Jensen hears you. He's not prone to hysterics. Unless it has to do with Jared or Avery, he's a pretty level headed guy."
Alex stretched his leg out, trying to alleviate some of the stiffness. Dropping his head onto the back of the chair, he looked up at the ceiling. "I am so screwed."
"Who got screwed?" Jason appeared out of nowhere as he often did.
"Nobody," Derrick and Alex responded.
Jason stopped with his hand halfway to the coffee maker, turning around to stare at them. "Okay..."
Alex watched the look of unholy glee spread across the other man's face and winced. Jason was a damn good bodyguard, his lean frame always lulled his opponent into a false sense of power. However, Jason's particular gift was intelligence gathering. His boy next door looks and laid back charm had people falling all over themselves to tell him their secrets. It was fairly disturbing.
"Alex, are you getting into trouble without me?" Jason asked, grabbing the chair between the two men, setting his cup on the table, and pinning Alex with his patented 'I'm here to listen, I can help' look.
Jason didn't even flinch when Derrick dropped his head onto the table and groaned. He sat patiently waiting for Alex to divulge what they had been discussing.
"Go ahead and tell him, you know you're going to," Derrick mumbled his forehead still attached to the kitchen table.
Alex straightened back up, trying to figure out how he could maneuver himself out of the situation he'd placed himself in. If he told Jason, there might be a chance the sneaky devil could figure out a way since he'd been trying to come up with one for the past three weeks.
Jason listened quietly while Alex laid out what had happened, blinking a few times before picking up his coffee and taking several swallows. He glanced over at Derrick then back at Alex.
"Yup, you're screwed! Seriously, didn't you read those rules Cliff left?"
"Yes," Alex answered, exasperated. "I didn't think they were that big of a deal, they were written on Hello Kitty note paper. How was I supposed to know it wasn't a joke?"
"That's because Chad wrote it." Derrick cut in, pouring himself more coffee.
"Maybe it'll turn out to be nothing and you can pretend you were just checking out the security for Jensen's insurance company." Jason offered optimistically.
"Jared's going to kill me," Alex groaned, not surprised when he didn't hear any argument from either of his coworkers.
********************
Chad stood in the doorway to Jared's office, staring at his friend and boss. He'd noticed Jared had been preoccupied the last couple of weeks, and while they definitely had more than their fair share of work, things had been going along smoothly. Chad didn't think it was work related so that left Jensen or Avery. Sophia hadn't mentioned any questionable acts of imaginative chaos from Avery so that left Jensen, and the only way he knew to find out was to bug his friend until he caved.
"Okay, out with it," Chad demanded, dropping into one of the chairs in front of Jared's desk.
"Out with what?" Jared asked, startled out of his brooding.
"Whatever it is that has you collecting frown lines and staring off into space. The babies are okay right?" Chad asked, more worried than curious now that the thought of something wrong with the twins had taken hold of his brain.
"Yes, the doctor said the twins are fine, everything is going great. Jensen's just tired, but the throwing up is slowing down. Once he can get some food in him that will stay and not expend so much energy losing it, he should start feeling a little better."
"Alright, so then what's the problem?" Chad relaxed a little, leaning back, and waiting.
Jared took in the jut of Chad's jaw and knew Chad wouldn't be going away until he was happy that he knew everything. He let out an exasperated sigh as he leaned back in his chair, his fingers automatically rubbing at his temples where a headache was starting to build.
"I don't know that there is one. It's just Jensen has been acting odd lately."
"What do you mean odd?"
"That's just it, I don't know how to explain it. He's been antsy, checking in at the gallery more than usual." Jared paused trying to find words for the unsettled feeling he'd been getting lately.
"I don't know man, it's like he's hiding something, but he's not. Does that make any sense?"
"Nope, not a bit," Chad responded, perplexed. Jensen just didn't have it in him to do anything that would hurt the people he loved. "Is he having problems at the gallery?"
"No, I asked him, he said everything was great. Natalie has been a huge help and they just put on two more people to manage the influx of business. Eric told us the gallery should be in the black by the middle of the year, which is almost two years ahead of schedule so it's not money either. I don't know what it is but something just feels off."
"You don't think it might just be you worrying about him and the twins do you?" Chad could relate if it was. Sure, his and Sophia's impending parenthood was more conventional pregnancy-wise, and thankfully not high risk, but he'd still had many a sleepless night stressing about it.
Jared couldn't deny he was worried. All multiple pregnancies were high risk, but when it was a man carrying them, it was even more dangerous. He knew that Jensen had been making sure to do everything the doctor told him to because Jared knew his husband was just as worried about the babies being born healthy as he was.
"No, it's not that, I mean, you know I worry about all of them just like you do with Sophia and yours, but this is different. I hadn't said anything because I don't know what it is!" The frustration was clear in Jared's voice.
"Look, everyone knows to keep an eye on Jensen, making sure he has help if he needs it and he's not doing anything that he thinks he can do but really shouldn't be. Whatever it is, it's probably nothing to get worked up about."
"Then why doesn't he just tell me? It's like he doesn't trust me," Jared finally voiced what he'd been eating at him the entire time.
"Jared, you know that's not true. Maybe there's nothing for him to tell you right now, or it could be he just doesn't want you any more worried than you already are. He knows you're stressed about the babies and work, and if it's nothing major he can handle it. He might be doing the same thing you did when you didn't tell him about the break in we had."
"Nothing was stolen, and I did tell him," Jared defended.
"Three months after it happened, and only because Sophia spilled the beans because she didn't know you hadn't!" Chad's exasperation was clear. "So you're telling me you didn't tell Jensen about it because you didn't trust him?"
"No! I didn't want him to see ghosts when there weren't any," Jared grumbled, referring to the trouble they'd had with Jensen's ex-husband.
"Exactly, see the parallel?" Chad asked, rolling his eyes when Jared looked about ready to pout. "Doesn't work for you, man. You and Jensen need to work on your communication or start paying me more if I have to take on the job of therapist too."
"Hey! You asked."
"Of course I did, you're my friend which is why I get to tell you you're acting stupid." Chad grinned as he bounced out of his seat and headed for the door. "Now if you're finished being a whiny bitch, we've got boards and edits to take care of in the workroom."
"I'll show you who’s a whiny bitch!" Jared grumbled, making his way to the door.
"I'm telling Jensen you called him a whiny bitch." Chad's voice floated down the hall.
"I was talking to you, asshole," Jared shot back, following his friend to workroom.
********************
"Jensen, don't you think you should tell Jared about this?" Natalie asked, indicating the monitor her boss was sitting in front of. They were watching footage the surveillance cameras picked up from the night before like they'd been doing every single day for the last twenty-five.
"Nope, not until I know there's something going on. Jared has enough to deal with besides my obvious paranoia." Jensen sighed as he sat back in his seat, rubbing his eyes where they had started to burn from watching the monitor for so long.
"You're definitely not paranoid." Natalie blinked at what she was seeing. "Jensen look!" She exclaimed, reaching over and rewinding the recorder a little.
Jensen sat back up, focusing on the screen again. "What did you see?" He asked, waiting for the footage to get back to whatever Natalie wanted him to look at.
"Just watch," Natalie answered shakily, wanting someone else to verify what she was positive she'd seen.
Jensen picked up his bottle of water and was about to take a sip when the grate on the wall of the break room started to wiggle on the screen. Natalie grabbed the bottle out of his hand when he almost missed the desk trying to set it down again without taking his eyes off the screen.
He watched as the grate finally popped loose and would have hit the floor with a clatter if a small hand hadn't grabbed it before it could fall.
"Oh dear God!" Jensen breathed as a small head emerged from the hole, the body of a child following it. He couldn't tell if the little figure was a boy or a girl, it was bundled up in what had to be several layers of clothes and was wearing a hat.
Jensen kept expecting to see the kid go to the refrigerator, but the figure stayed in front of the vent. Before long, an even smaller body emerged from the hole, leaving Jensen lightheaded and breathless. He felt like his heart was going to beat its way out of his chest.
"Natalie?!"
"I see them. What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," Jensen answered, never taking his eyes off the screen. The children moved out of the break room and into the hall where the camera picked them up again until they entered the bathroom. Twenty long minutes later, they both came out.
Jensen watched as they reappeared in the break room minus several layers of clothes, when the older child took off their hats he was finally able to see who it was that had been sneaking in and out. A young girl no more than twelve stood patiently waiting for a little boy to finish pushing his hair out of his eyes where the static electricity had plastered it.
Jensen figured he was about six or seven, but without knowing how long they'd been doing this he couldn't tell if they were just older and malnourished. He reached out, touching the screen as the kids finally made their way to the refrigerator.
Natalie sat down beside him and watched as the children ate several sandwiches, cleaned up behind themselves, and made a pallet on the floor by the vent. Jensen's heart broke as he watched them cover up with the remaining layers of clothes and go to sleep. He moved the footage forward watching the kids get up and make several more sandwiches before grabbing some fruit and a couple of bottles of water.
A backpack had appeared from somewhere and he watched them pack up their loot and scoot out into the vent, the girl pulling the grate back up and disappearing from view. Jensen was out of his chair and down the hall before Natalie even realized he'd moved. She found him standing in front of the vent with tears in his eyes.
"They were here." He stooped down as much as he could and looked through the grate. "What if something happens to them before they decide to come back?" Jensen asked Natalie as he turned around, worry and guilt written all over his face.
"Jensen, there was no way you knew it were kids getting into the building. If you'd have known, you'd have been here every night waiting for them. I think you need to call Alex and then I think it's time you finally tell Jared."
***************
Jared's day had spiraled into chaos starting with the moment he stepped out of bed. Avery had decided today would be the day that she was too old to go to nursery school, and Jensen wasn't there to head off the tantrum because he was still hanging out by the toilet.
The episodes were getting fewer and farther between, but there were still some days that started out with Jensen sick. Jared finally managed to talk Avery into getting ready and visiting her friends, and made sure his husband was feeling better before he'd left for work.
Jensen typically dropped Avery off because it was on his way to work, but Jared did his best especially now that his husband was pregnant again, to help with getting their daughter ready in the morning. He'd completely forgotten that today was Sophia's doctor’s appointment and Chad would be in later than usual.
He'd just managed to get everyone in the workroom caught up on where they were on all the various projects and what still needed to be done when his phone rang. He hurried to answer it when he saw Jensen's ID displayed on the screen. Jensen never called first thing in the morning because he knew how busy things usually were, even though Jared had told him a million times that he didn't mind.
"Jensen? Is everything okay?" Jared asked, worry eating a hole in his stomach as he shut his office door.
"I'm fine." Jensen paused. "I know Chad won't be there until later, but could you come to the gallery when he gets there?"
"I don't have to wait for Chad, I'll be there in less than an hour," Jared stated as he shut down his computer and started gathering keys and his coat.
"Jared, I know how busy you guys are. It can wait until you get here, I swear."
Jared sat down in his chair and took a deep breath. "Okay, why don't you tell me what's going on then, that way I'm not imagining all kinds of scenarios."
Jensen was quiet for a few seconds. "I don't want you to worry. There's nothing wrong with Avery, the twins, or me. I'd just rather talk to you in person."
"All right, I'll wait until Chad gets here. At least tell me if this is what's had you so stressed out."
"I've not been stressed," Jensen disagreed.
"You've been calling the gallery more times than mama's been calling to check on you," Jared responded, exasperated.
"Really? Huh. I didn't realize. I'm sorry if I worried you."
Jared sighed. He loved Jensen more than life itself, but sometimes the man could be completely oblivious. "It's okay, we'll figure it out together. I'll see you as soon as I can get there."
"Okay, Jared."
"Yeah."
"I love you."
Jared couldn't help smiling. "I love you, too."
********************
Jared found Jensen sitting in the break room staring at the wall, which in itself wasn't necessarily odd, but there was usually a piece of art hanging on it to contemplate.
"Jensen." Jared walked across the room the worry he'd been feeling over the last few weeks coming back full force.
His husband looked up, startled, and then back down at his watch, appearing to be surprised that three and half hours had passed.
"Natalie said you've been back here since we talked. Tell me what's wrong so we can fix it." He ran his fingers through Jensen's hair and down the back of his neck, trying to massage some of the tension out of the tight muscles there.
Jensen sighed, leaning his head against Jared's leg, relaxing into the pressure of his husband’s hand soothing his nerves. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and trying to organize his thoughts.
Jared moved back a little as Jensen made to stand. "Let's go in the office. What I need to show you is in there anyway."
Instead of going to the desk he made his way to a small table sitting in the corner and took a seat. Jared knew that wasn't a typical fixture in the office nor was the all the devices and wires spread across the top. If he didn't miss his guess, he'd swear that it looked like monitoring equipment, which begged the question just where Jensen had gotten it.
"A couple of months ago or so I noticed things in the break room kept disappearing. Small things really, nothing major. I didn't think much about it until my cookies walked away one night."
"The molasses ones?" Jared asked, wrinkling his nose.
"Yes, and stop doing that, it's not my fault your kids like them." Jensen glared at his husband for a minute. "Anyway, as I was saying, I couldn't figure out who'd be getting into the food. I mean, that's what it was there for, but it was disappearing quicker than it usually did and that was taking into account the new guys."
"Is that all you found missing?"
"Yeah, nothing else was taken, but every time I noticed food missing the bathroom was always left in odd shape."
"What do you mean odd shape?"
"You know how we have to clean up behind Avery's attempts to clean up? It was like that. There would be dirt on the soap container but it looked like someone had tried to wipe it off. The sink would have grit in the bottom and there would be a ton of paper towels in the trash can."
"Jensen, are you trying to tell me you thought someone was breaking in and you didn't call the police?" Jared asked, horrified.
"No. I wasn't sure what was going on. I figured I could find out first and then if we needed to call the police we could," Jensen explained as if it made perfect sense.
Jared ran his fingers through his hair, trying not to give into the desire to pull it out. He already had a headache and it looked like it was only going to get worse so there was no reason to add to it himself. He didn’t understand why he continued to forget just how hardheaded his husband could be. They grew up together, for heavens sake, he remembers Jeff beating his head against the wall on more than one occasion when Jensen dug in and wouldn't listen.
"So who did you ask to help out?" Jared indicated the equipment, silently promising himself he'd take his frustration out on whoever that turned out to be.
Jensen took a good look at Jared and winced as he noted the tick in his husbands jaw and the way he kept squinting. He pushed the chair back, grabbing the aspirin out of the desk drawer and a water bottle, and handed them to his husband. "Why didn't you tell me you had a bad headache?"
"Because I've been waiting for you to tell me what's wrong for weeks now and I didn't want to get sidetracked," Jared grumbled as he swallowed two pills, capped the water, and waited for Jensen to continue.
"I'm sorry, I was trying not to worry you, but I did anyway, didn't I?" Jensen mumbled, looking at the floor.
"Hey, look at me." Jared slid forward, lifting Jensen's chin with his fingers. "I know you didn't mean to worry me, just like I didn't want to worry you about the break in. I suggest from now on we just tell each other what's going on because obviously we're both shitty liars."
Jensen smiled, leaning over and pecking Jared on the lips. "Yeah we are, it's a deal."
"Now how about you tell me what you found out," Jared requested.
"I called Alex and asked him to come see me and bring some mics and cameras. I figured if I could find out what was going on then I'd know what to do about it."
"Alex? The new guy?" Jared asked, trying to keep his voice level. 'The who I'm going to kill' remained unspoken.
Jensen caught the tone, though, because he pinned Jared with a glare. "You will not be mean to Alex. He was just trying to help and he probably thought he was humoring the paranoid pregnant man."
"The one thing you're not is paranoid. If you think something's going on, I've never seen a time there wasn't."
Jensen beamed. "Thank you, but Alex doesn't know that. He hasn’t been around very long, which is another reason I asked him to help. You've not had time to scare him to death."
"I'll make sure I remedy that at the next opportunity," Jared grumbled under his breath.
"I'm serious don't pick on Alex, he has his own problems." Jensen crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you want to hear the rest of this or not?"
"You know I do. Did he at least find out why you wanted him to set things up before he just left you to play amateur detective?"
"I told him, but I'm sure he thought I was nuts. That's why I've been calling a lot, I wanted to make sure everything was okay, and then on the days I was off, Natalie would check the footage for me. So far, there's been nothing on it until this morning when we were looking at last night’s footage."
"So was someone breaking in?"
Jensen flipped on the monitor and started the footage. "It's probably best if you just watch for yourself," he offered quietly, not sure he could explain it past the lump in his throat.
It didn't matter how many times he watched the kids emerging from the vent, the horrified feeling he got never changed. He could see it on Jared's face as soon as his husband realized what he was seeing.
Jared continued to watch until the picture showed the kids coming back into the room and taking off their hats. He froze the footage and just looked at the two small figures on the screen.
"Have you called Alex yet?"
"No, I was waiting for you. I never meant to leave you out, I just wanted to make sure there was actually something happening before I worried you."
Jared sighed. He grabbed Jensen's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Call Alex and ask him to meet us over at the center."
"What are you going to do?" Jensen asked as he was searching for his phone.
"Call Chris," Jared answered, already halfway out the door with his phone to his ear.
"Well sh...crap!" Jensen breathed, dropping his head into his hands. His ears were already ringing from the yelling he knew Chris was going to do.
Jensen dialed Alex's number, trying to listen to Jared's conversation with one ear, but his husband had apparently walked to the end of the hall.
"Jensen?"
Jensen pulled his attention back to his own call. "Hey Alex."
"Did you find something?"
"Yeah." Jensen sighed, his thoughts drifting back to the kids. "Do you think we could meet later tonight?"
"Sure. Where do you want me to meet you?"
"Would it be okay if we came by the house?" Jensen asked, referring to where the center's security team stayed.
"Yeah, sure. Cliff's not holding any meetings tonight. What time?"
"Not sure, hold on a second." Jensen stuck his head out the door, finding Jared at the doorway to the breakroom.
"What time?"
Jared consulted Chris quickly before answering.
"Seven okay?"
"Yeah, we'll do it over at the house," Jensen informed him, waiting for Jared to nod his agreement.
Jensen finished his call with Alex and waited until Jared came back into the room. "How bad is it?"
"Well, the fact that you're pregnant is in your favor."
"He's that mad?" Jensen asked, trying to picture Chris' worst hissy fit, and cringing when it came to mind.
"He's not happy that's for sure, but I think he got a little derailed when I told him what you'd found and now he's worried about the kids. He's relieved it was you that figured something was going on, but he's still pissed."
"Does everyone think I'm incapable of taking care of myself?" Jensen huffed.
"No, but we love you and you've already had enough bad things happen in your life that we'd prefer you not have a repeat performance. Not on our watch." Jared leaned forward kissing his husband on the forehead.
"Do you think your mom can watch Avery tonight? It's probably going to be late by the time we get finished."
"I'm sure it'll be a huge hardship, but she'll manage somehow," Jared answered, rolling his eyes. Sometimes, he wondered if they needed to set up visitation rights as often as his parents tried to steal their little girl.
***************
Jared had talked Jensen into going home and getting a little rest before they met with everyone. He didn't delude himself into thinking that Jensen would actually sleep but the twins were a huge strain on his body and every little bit of down time he could get his husband to participate in he considered a win.
Jared knew they wouldn't leave the meeting tonight without some clear direction on what they were going to do about the gallery's visitors and there was no telling how long that was going to take. Since his parents were keeping Avery for the night he'd called Chad to let him he'd be late coming in the next morning.
He promised to fill Chad in on what was going on after reassuring his friend everyone was okay. Once he'd taken the care of the dogs, he made his way up the stairs. He had a few things he needed to check into before they left.
He pushed the door to their room open to let Jensen know he was going to be in their office, but his husband had proven him wrong again and had actually fallen asleep. Jared couldn't help but indulge the urge to stand and watch Jensen sleep.
Jared pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped a quick picture. His husband was lying on his side his knees bent, one hand tucked under his cheek the other wrapped around the growing girth of their children.
There was a time when he'd thought he'd be single his entire life, but when unexpected circumstances had changed all that, he'd grabbed the opportunity with both hands and refused to let go. Now he couldn't imagine his life any other way.
He knew exactly how blessed he was.
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