Chapter Four
Bethie sat in the chair that was part of the pair that Jack had placed under the growing willow. The little sapling was not quite ready to be rested against so they had to make do until it was ready. The chair was comfortable but she missed the tree all the same and the breeze that its leaves provided, even on the hottest of summer days. But today, the weather was just right and she smiled as she tilted her face up to the sun, willing it to give her just a little bit of a tan so that she didn't look so ghostly all the time.
The sound of little Ethan's laughter caught her attention and she smiled as she watched Jack toss him in the air and catch him before he could hit the water--though Jack allowed Ethan's little round belly to skim the water's surface. His deeper laugh joined Ethan's and together made a sound that warmed Bethie's heart. It had been three months since Jack's return and it was as if he'd never left. They saw each other nearly everyday and he told her of all the things he'd done and seen. She'd been shocked at his stories but amused at the same time and he assured her that he'd gotten it out of his system. He even let her read his travel journals and she'd stayed up all night to finish them. Jack's writing was as engaging as the man and his insights were priceless. Humorous, thoughtful, and so descriptive that she could easily imagine what he had experienced, she'd pushed him to send it off to a publisher...but not before he made her a copy of the original for her own library.
But as nice as it was to have him back, there was something off about his demeanor. At first she thought that maybe Ethan made him off-balance, that the resemblance to her brother was just too much to take especially considering Jack's feelings over Ethan's death. Yet, when he played with Ethan, none of that showed through in his actions and Bethie decided that it had to be something else. She wished that he would talk to her about what was troubling him, but when she tried to ask, he just told her she had an overactive imagination caused by too many princess duties.
She watched as Jack tucked Ethan under his arm as if he were a football and her little boy's feet kicked with glee at Uncle Jack's antics. Jack deposited Ethan on Bethie's lap without hesitation and then proceeded to spray water droplets from his hair--now three months worth of growth longer than before--as she laughed.
"Thanks," she said as she rubbed Ethan's head with a towel.
"The water's hot, Mama," Ethan said. "Not like before."
"I told you," Bethie said reasonably. "It just needed the sun to warm it up a bit."
"Oh."
"That mama of yours is pretty smart, huh, Ethan?" Jack said, poking Ethan's belly.
"Yeah, but Uncle Jason says that I shouldn't let pretty faces fool me," Ethan said with a giggle, squirming away from Jack's poking finger.
"Uncle Jason really is a wise man."
Jack and Ethan nodded at each other as if they had just figured out the secrets of the universe. As Bethie wiped up Ethan's face, Jack grinned at her over his head and she couldn't help laughing in return. Ethan was enjoying his man-to-man exchanges with Jack and after his visits, Bethie was peppered with all the funny and smart things Uncle Jack had said that day. She was glad that they were getting along so well. Ethan loved spending time with her father but the relationship between a grandfather and grandson was different from father and son. A part of her shied away from thinking of Jack as a kind of surrogate father for Ethan, but another part wondered if that wouldn't be so bad. Then again, if Jack ever started a family, where would that leave Ethan?
The thought of Jack marrying usually amused her but not today. She frowned and rubbed Ethan's head a little too hard and he protested.
"Ow, Mama."
"Sorry," she said. "I just want to get you nice and dry so you don't get sick."
Jack sat in the seat next to her. He took the towel she offered but left it on his lap. She remembered then that he always said he liked drying in the sun. As if on cue, he stretched out his legs and tilted his face up much in the same way she did, and smiled like a satisfied man. She couldn't help noticing that he'd lost all the muscle that a soldier's daily regiment usually resulted in and replaced them with the long, rangy muscles of a runner. The way he moved was so liquid, so easy in a way that she had always envied and the extra bulk he'd put on during his IAF stint had sort of changed that. She had to admit that this long lankiness fit him better and certainly made him even more pleasing to the eye. She wanted to ask him if he'd met anyone during his trip, though she guessed that he probably had. Jack was never one to be without a woman for too long, but she didn't really want to know.
"I'd get under the shade if I were you," he said, completely unaware of her scrutiny. "You're gonna get burned if you stay out here any longer."
"Not everyone can get a perfect tan like you," she snorted. "But us mere mortals have to at least try."
"Alright, but if you scare Ethan when you come out of this looking like Red Lion, I'm washing my hands of you."
She laughed and slapped at him. She leaned back against the seat and settled Ethan on her lap. He yawned and unsuccessfully tried to stifle it.
"Are you sleepy?" she asked him.
"No," he said as he rubbed his eyes.
Bethie and Jack smiled ruefully at each other even as Ethan rested his head against her shoulder. Bethie cuddled him closer to her, still unable to believe that she loved another human being as much as she loved the boy Skech had given her. She brushed the hair from Ethan's forehead, her heart aching as she studied his face, such a painful echo of her younger brother's. In this one child, she could remember the two men lost to her and her arms tightened around Ethan as he fell asleep, his round fists tucked underneath his obstinate chin.
Looking over at Jack, Bethie was about to say something about her brother but the look on his face made the words die on her lips. It was a look she'd seen before and it had always puzzled her, but here on Arus, on a perfect summer day with her son asleep in her arms and her best friend sitting at her side, she suddenly understood.
"Jack," she said breathlessly. "You love me."
He gave her a look.
"Yeah, so?"
"No...you love me."
His smile wavered and then turned sad. If he was surprised by her realization, he didn't show it.
"Jack?"
He stood slowly and pulled his shirt back on. Leaning down, he kissed the top of her head and patted Ethan's blonde head.
"My Bethie," he said, looking down at her with such tenderness. "I always have."
He walked away as if he hadn't just turned her life upside down. Bethie could only stare at his retreating back, at a loss.
"Alana."
Alana looked up from the book she was reading. She had just gotten there that morning and was sitting in the sunshine in her father's study while he was away on some business in Voltronia. She smiled as she saw her older sister standing at the doorway but her smile faded when she took in the anxiety etched on Bethie's face.
"What is it?" she asked.
Bethie sat down on the couch but then jumped to her feet. She began to pace the room and Alana slowly closed her book and uncurled her legs from underneath her body. She didn't ask Bethie again, just waited patiently for her sister to speak.
"Jack loves me," Bethie blurted out, not knowing how else to say it.
"Yes, and?"
"What do you mean and? It's Jack! He can't love me!"
"Why not?"
"Oh stop pulling that serene crap with me, Lana. I used to pull your hair."
Alana sighed and supposed she had to get used to it. No matter how old or how powerful she became, she would always be the family's baby. Fighting the devilish urge to pick Bethie up with her magic and have her float about in the air, Alana clasped her hands in her lap and pinned Bethie with an earnest look.
"Then why did you come to me?" she asked.
"Well, just because I pulled your hair doesn't mean I'm smarter than you...just bigger. Back then anyway."
At that, Alana laughed. She reached out as Bethie passed her and grasped her wrist, making her stop.
"Seriously, Bethie. Why can't he love you?" she questioned.
"Because...because...he just can't!" Bethie answered desperately.
"You two have been friends for a long time and this just seems like the next logical step," Alana reasoned.
"Logical?" Bethie repeated. "No, it really doesn't seem like it's logical. Nowhere does it say that friends have to become more just because they're the opposite sex. You and Jason tried it and it didn't work out so you can't even say something like that."
"Jason and I were better friends than anything else and what happened between us was a momentary hormonal thing, I'll admit it," Alana replied patiently. "We're also not talking about friends in general. We're talking about you and Jack. You two are not meant to be just friends. He's the other half of your soul, Bethie."
"Stop being so dramatic. What makes you so sure about that?"
"I see the way you are together. You fit. It goes beyond getting along and being friends. You understand him and he understands you. Without each other, you're both...lost. When you're together, nothing else in the universe matters to either of you and you'd be perfectly happy if the two of you were stuck on a moon for the rest of your lives with no one around."
"That just sounds like a pair of really good friends!"
Alana just gave her a look. Blowing out a breath, Bethie sat down in the armchair across from her and hugged her knees to her chest.
"Okay, maybe not," she said. "I just didn't expect this, that's all."
"I think maybe you might have or else you would be more upset than this."
"You really think I can more upset than this?"
"I've seen it."
Bethie smiled reluctantly.
"I guess you have."
Alana reached over and put a hand on her arm.
"Do you love him, Bethie?" she asked gently.
"I don't know," Bethie replied honestly.
"What if he left again? Or what if he found someone else and..."
The emotions that flickered across Bethie's face was answer enough. Alana leaned back in her seat, satisfied.
"I think you know," she said.
"This whole priestess thing is a great job for you," Bethie muttered.
Alana just smiled. When Bethie left, she picked up her communicator.
"Jason? You owe me a three layer chocolate cake from the fanciest bakery in Voltronia."
His sigh was audible even on the tiny speaker.
"Fine, Lana," he said. "Just try not to look too smug when I hand you that cake. Which, by the way, will go straight to your thighs."
Alana laughed.
"You forget that I'm magical and you really should consider yourself lucky. You Branegans should steer clear of gambling because your Dad owes me a new pair of shoes."
