Chapter Three
Allura stared sleepily at the report she was trying valiantly to finish but this particular base commander had a penchant for long descriptions and big words. It irritated her that he felt the need to show-off when she knew for a fact that when he spoke to his soldiers, he used more four-letter words than was necessary. Still, she had been putting it off for too long and if she had to face one more day with this ode to external defense systems, she would tear her hair out.
She sensed the presence hovering at her doorway and wondered if Keith had finished his work for the day. He tended to beat her and she'd given up trying to race him when she realized that he just read much faster than she did. At first, she thought he just skimmed what was in front of him, but when she watched him read, his eyes moved with such a speed that she was sure he read an entire paragraph between blinks. She thought it was fascinating but then again, she also thought the way his hair managed to point in several different directions at once was fascinating.
"Would you just say something and let me get on with what I'm doing here because you're distracting me," she said without looking up.
"If you're that busy, I can just come back later."
Her blue eyes shot up to Jack's face and she let out a delighted laugh as she came around her desk to throw her arms around him. Jack grinned and picked her up off her feet.
"You're looking good, Aunt Allura. I mean, for a grandma."
Allura shook her head at him.
"I should have known that you would come back as quietly as you left," she said. "I've been hearing interesting things about you, Jack. Lucky for you, I never shared any of that information with your parents."
He had the grace to look guilty.
"Well, I didn't leave to do some quiet thinking and introspection," he said matter-of-factly.
"Yes, I realize that, but I also didn't think that you left in order to raise hell in other parts of the galaxy. At least now you know that you're no good as a gambler."
"I have a crappy poker face."
"I'll bet. Come in...sit for a while."
"I actually..."
She smiled.
"Bethie's probably in the gardens. She'll be surprised to see you."
He nodded.
"I just wanted to stop by and see you first. To thank you for letting me use the fighter."
"I didn't just let you use it, Jack. It's yours."
He took her hand and slid the well-used keycard into it.
"No, I only borrowed it for a while. You should give it to Ethan when he's old enough to fly it. Besides, I won't be needing it."
"You're staying then?"
"Yeah, I am."
Allura's smile was wide.
"I'm happy to hear that," she said.
He leaned down to kiss her cheek. She gave him another hug, patting him heartily on the back.
"Go find her," she said. "She'll be a pain if you wait any longer to see her."
"Alright."
He left and Allura took out her comm link.
"Keith?"
"Yeah?"
"Send Prince Kiren home."
"I'm a little busy here, Allura. Why don't you do it."
"Because I'm busier."
"Not busy enough to not have the time to ask me to send the man packing."
"Don't make me go over there, Keith."
"Oh yeah? Well what are you going to do about it?"
She was at his doorway before he could even finish the sentence.
Jack's footsteps were silent so that when he came upon the sleeping Princess and her son, they didn't so much as stir. They were lying in a hammock, napping underneath a tree, and as the spring breeze blew over them, Jack didn't think he'd seen anything more perfect. His eyes hungrily drank in Bethie's lithe form with her true black hair long now and spread out behind her head. Her arm was curved protectively around the small boy curled up at her side and her hair curled over the top of his head, encircling him. Little Ethan looked just like a cherub with his wispy blonde hair and round, pink cheeks. His hands were curled into chubby fists, tucked underneath his chin.
Jack still had the pictures that Bethie sent him and he remembered the pain that had blossomed inside him when one look at this Ethan's face reminded him of another. It had hurt at first, but Bethie's descriptions of her son's development had helped Jack separate the two of them and he was able to see little Ethan as his own person with time. It had gone a long way in preparing him for the real thing and he was almost afraid to wake them.
Almost.
The faces of Mother and son were turned to each other as if they had fallen asleep while conversing and Jack approached them quietly. His gaze lingered on little Ethan's face and he couldn't help thinking that in another time and place, the boy could have been his.
Kneeling at Bethie's side, Jack gently ran a finger down the curve of her cheek and she opened her eyes, as blue as the sky above them. He could see the confusion in them as she slowly woke up, then...
"Jack," she breathed. "Jack."
She toppled out of the hammock and straight into his arms.
"Hi, my Bethie," he said
She laughed and cried as she clung to him, her arms tight, and his even tighter. They held each other in a way that they hadn't before, in a way that only time apart could bring them. Jack closed his eyes, breathed in her scent, and wondered how he could have stayed away so long.
"Mama?"
Opening his eyes, Jack found himself being scrutinized by a very familiar pair of blue ones.
"Hey there," he said, as Bethie turned around to face her son.
"Ethan, baby, this is your Uncle Jack," she said. "He's my best friend."
Ethan seemed to take stock of this new uncle and his baby face was thoughtful as he studied Jack's amused face.
"He's Uncle Jason's brother," Bethie added.
That made the little boy grin.
"Oh, okay," he said as if Jason's referral was all that was needed.
"Looks like I've got a challenger for favorite uncle," Jack said, arching an eyebrow at Bethie.
She opened her mouth to respond, but then her eyebrows knitted together. Reaching out, she traced the small scar on the side of his mouth, making his breath catch in his throat. She looked up at him, seemed to see right through him and her frown deepened.
"What happened to you out there, Jack?" she asked.
"Plenty but I came back," he replied. "That's what matters."
Ethan jumped into Bethie's arms and she kissed the top of his head carelessly. His eyes were still fixed on Jack and Jack turned his attention to his best friend's son.
"I hear you're a big fan of terran chocolate," he said.
"Yeah."
"I was just there, so I thought I'd pick some up for you."
Ethan's eyes lit up as Jack produced a small bag of bite-sized chocolates. He took them happily and popped a couple into his mouth before grinning at his new favorite uncle.
"What do you say, Ethan?" Bethie prompted.
"Thank youuuu."
Jack laughed and it felt as if a pressure had been lifted from his chest. Sitting here, with Bethie's legs pressed against his and her son sitting between them, life had never seemed more right. When she smiled at him...that just made it perfect. He didn't want to mar it with the potential anxiety that any confession on his part might cause. All the bravado he'd felt when he'd flown back to Arus, all the resolve he'd talked himself into on the walk up to the castle dissipated as he thought of what a confession of his deeper emotions would cost them both. He wanted more than her friendship but did not want to think about not having it.
In the three years he'd gone, he'd kept their contact to a minimum but he read her letters like a drowning man was starved for air. He tried to keep distance between them by not answering her personally even though he had discarded many letters just to her that he'd started. He knew it would hurt her, but he needed to do it. He'd wanted to get her out of his system, but in the end, he could not do that anymore than he could live without his heart. She knew that he held her in high regard and that he considered her his best friend, but what she could not suspect was just how integral she was to his life. He found some consolation in the fact that when she set her eyes on him again, he'd seen such joy in her that he'd never seen before. Maybe she felt the same way he did, that he was as important to her as she was to him, then he could live with that. Love never had to come into the picture.
She reached out and put a hand on his cheek as if she could not believe that he was really there. Jack put his hand over hers, could not think beyond the feel of those slender fingers under his and sighed.
He never could fool himself. Love was always in the picture.
