A.N. Turns out I just like to put Jack under as much stress as possible.
"So I haven't really been able to really clean up so I apologize for that and also dinner might not be entirely homemade," Jack said, holding his girlfriend's hand as they climbed up the stairs of his slightly run-down apartment building. There had been an elevator at when point but that broke down about a year and a half ago and there hasn't seemed to be an attempt to fix it.
"It's ok," Katherine said, squeezing her boyfriend's hand. She knew how hard her boyfriend works and how stressed he is on a daily bases.
The two had met in their American History class when they got paired for a project and while Katherine had been frustrated at Jack's inability to schedule meetups outside of classes. The two slowly become friends and after that quickly became more than friends.
Jack was sweating bullets as the pair approached his apartment. While Katherine had met his oddball family a month ago when they had visited him on campus; however she just thought that Race, Crutchie, and Bella were his siblings, which two out of three isn't bad but Jack was nervous for when Katherine found out his secret. Jack had dated a little in both his later years of high school as well as the gap year that he took in order to help save money for school as well as fight for the ability to foster his self-appointed brothers- because there was no way that would let an eighteen-year-old adopt two middle schoolers, but they might entrust him to keep them alive, especially with the recommendation from Medda- and none of them tended to stick around long once Jack relieved his little secret.
"Hey Jack, hi Katherine," Crutchie said as the two nineteen-year-olds walked in. The eighth-grader was laying on his stomach on the couch, using his textbook as both a reference source and a writing surface.
"Where is everyone?" Jack asked as he set his backpack by the couch and gesturing for Katherine to take a seat in a chair that didn't match the couch but Jack didn't care when he managed to buy it at a yard sale for ten bucks.
"Bell's said her ears hurt and so she's napping." Jack ran a hand through his hair, he had been hoping the girl's complaint had been due to just allergies, but it seemed like it was another infection. "And Race and Spot are in our room hence why I'm out here."
Jack shook his head, the freshman knew the rules but it always seemed to bend them whenever Jack wasn't home. "Racer, that door better be open by the time I count to ten."
Jack's statement was met with the sound of a door opening and a Race with messy hair and what looked suspiciously like a hickey forming on his neck, a look of annoyance clear on his face. Spot followed not long after sporting a similar look, though he was sporting a smirk.
"You know the rules Racer, no closed bedroom doors when significant others are over."
"Why? It ain't we're gonna knock each otha up," Race complained, plopping himself down in front of the couch.
Jack just sent a glare to Race that said they would talk about this later, before beginning to work on dinner.
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"Sorry we had to move," Jack said as he led Katherine into his room, ignoring Race's call about keeping the door. "I didn't know that Elmer an Romeo an Albert was coming over here."
"It's okay," Katherine said a shy smile on her face. "Are you sure that's enough for you though?" Katherine gestured to Jack's plate which had a tiny pile of spaghetti on it as well as a tiny clump of salad.
"This isn't for me," Jack said, turning the lights on.
On Jack's bed, a four-year-old girl was curled up on the bed, using the sheets and pillow to try and hide from the light.
"Come on Bells it's time to eat," Jack said, sitting next to the girl and gently nudging her with his free hand. The girl moved from hiding her face in the pillow to hiding it in Jack's side as she fought to wake up.
"It hurts Daddy," The brunette mumbled into her father's ribs. Jack froze and prayed to whatever God was listening that Katherine hadn't heard what had been said. It wasn't that Jack didn't want her to know, but it was just that Katherine seemed like a girl who had her life together and Jack didn't want these to scare her off.
"I know sweetie, I know. I'm gonna get you a doctor's appointment and see if we don't have any more ear drops or something. For right now you need to eat." Jack adjusted the girl so that she was sitting upright. "If you can do that I might be able to get one of Crutchie's famous cookies for you."
The girl nodded and began to dig into the food, eager to have one of her uncle's famous baked goods.
"So you sew?" Katherine asked, gesturing with her fork to the pile of cloth and the sewing machine that was nestled in the corner of Jack's room.
"Uh kinda. Race is a dancer and stuff so I made a deal with his dance teacher that I would make costumes and like paint set-pieces, if they need it in exchange for his lessons," Jack supplied, his focus on making sure the little girl in his lap was eating her dinner.
"So I'm guessing I'm not gonna see your parents tonight?"
Jack hung his head, "I'm sorry. I'm sure that you don't want to be involved in this mess"
Katherine shook her head, "It's a little chaotic, but no more than most family. Better than some of my friends' if I'm being honest. If you don't mind me asking why though?"
"Some foster places ain't the best and the one that Race, Crutch, and I were staying at was one of those places. Our guardian, Synder was his name, didn't like Race cause of his ADHD and his choice in partners, and he wasn't really willing to put up with Crutchie's health issues. He really didn't like me though cause I would stand up to him to protect the other boys, including Albert, Elmer, and Romeo."
Katherine covered her mouth, "I'm so sorry Jack."
The boy just shrugged, "That's why I applied to be a foster parent. I wanted to get those boys out of that situation, and I'm trying to get more, but it's hard to get the courts to agree with me."
"And how did you get Isabella?"
"Are you sure you want that truth?"
Katherine looked nervous but nodded none the less.
"She's mine. I had this fling when I was about fourteen/fifteen and she got pregnant. I told her that if she took care of the kid until I got away from Synder that I would pay for everything that she needed."
"And that explains your reaction to Race's comment."
Jack nodded, "It's okay if you want to leave. I won't stop you. You wouldn't be the first."
Katherine shook her head, "I might think differently if you had abandoned Bella, but what you're doing right now makes me respect you so much more. And when I say respect I mean respect, not pity."
Jack blew a breath out of his mouth, "Better than the other girls I dated. They leave the minute that they meet Bells, say they ain't here for that. That's why I stopped really dating. If I'm honest you're the first person I really dated in about a year."
Katherine smiled, "I don't know if you've realized this but I'm not a huge fan of the party life. I'd much rather date a guy with a good sense of family and has somewhat of a plan for life than the frat boy that can finish his keg stand the fastest."
"For sure?" Jack asked, a glimmer of home in his voice.
"For sure," Katherine responded mimicking Jack's accent.
