Regret ▻ The Originals [2]

16

   Jackson was sitting outside Ophelia's old shack in the werewolf encampments while whittling a tree branch with a knife. After a moment, Ophelia came out with a broom in her hand and joined him, "Please tell me they're not leaving broomsticks on our doorsteps because of that stupid jumping the broom tradition that people used to do out here a century ago."

"If I told you it wasn't, I'd be lying," Jackson commented as he began to laugh.

Ophelia playfully rolled her eyes as she waved the broom in the air before dropping it on the floor without a care in the world, "I honestly would've been fine with anything else." She remarked, causing Jackson to laugh at her horrified look.

"It's just a tradition!" He told her and Ophelia awkwardly placed her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

"I can see that now," She replied, beginning the laugh.

After a moment, they began to sit in awkward silence for a moment before Ophelia decided to change the subject. She cleared her throat, pointing to the tree branch in his hands, "So..." She trailed off awkwardly, "What are you working on?"

Jackson stood up and moved onto the porch, where he walked toward a sheet-covered mound in the corner, "Oh! After you and Hayley started to hang around here a bit more and decided to start living here, I started on this for Hayley's little girl. Now that she's alive," He paused, pulling off the sheet to reveal a half-finished baby crib made out of wood with a crescent moon carved into the headboard underneath it, "I figured it was time to finish it."

"Why would you do that?" She asked him quietly.

"Well, I'm not the only one around here to realize that you and Hayley are kind of a package deal," He replied, chuckling lightly, "I knew for a fact if you were going to be living here, so would Hayley. And this would be a great thing for her daughter."

Ophelia stared at the nursery in amazement, and after a moment, she smiled at him, feeling astonished that he would do such a thing. Jackson cleared his throat, "Something else..." He trailed off, "I'm getting word from a few packs outside of Louisiana? They wanna be here for the wedding! They want in on the Unification ritual!"

"Doesn't that only work if they recognize you as their Alpha?" She asked him confused.

Jackson nodded his head in confirmation, "Your power becomes their power."

"You really think their Alphas will step down and bow to you?" Ophelia asked him in disbelief.

Jackson nodded his head in response, "They're coming here today to do just that." He paused, realizing that Ophelia seemed a bit overwhelmed, "They want what you have, Ophelia. I mean, we all do. I mean, a couple of weeks after the wedding, you are gonna have one hell of an army to protect Hope."

Ophelia couldn't help but smile at Jackson.

_____

Meanwhile later, Jackson was outside of Ophelia and Hayley's old shack, where he was wrestling and playing with a handful of young children. They were all pulling on his arms and legs to try to get him to fall over as Jackson laughed happily.

After talking with Hayley, the two girls returned outside. They both went their separate ways and Ophelia found Jackson playing and started laughing as well as she watched them continue to wrestle

Soon after, most of the children rushed over to the lake, but one young girl, Daisy, stayed behind and kept tugging on Jackson's arm to try to knock him over. He picked her up and swings her around, but when they saw Ophelia, he just laughed and placed her down, patting her gently on the head before she ran off to join the others.