Fracture

Jack and I sat in his car silently. We had returned to my house and were parked outside, the engine turned off. The night was somehow even quieter than when we'd left earlier, and I started gathering up my things.

"Thanks for coming out with me tonight, Em," Jack nearly whispered to me.

I looked over at him, his eyes already on me, a small smile on his lips.

"Of course," I nodded, pulling my purse into my lap and finding the handle with my fingers.

He took a shard breath in, "Keep in touch, okay?"

I smiled and pulled the handle, the door swinging open, "I will, Jack."

I placed my feet on the pavement and sooner than I thought possible had my hand on the front door. I turned around to get one last glance of Jack, and was surprised when his eyes were still fixated on me, an unreadable expression playing on his face. He lifted his hand in a wave before starting his car and speeding away into the night.

I fished around for my keys and unlocked the door, noticing the light in the living room was on and wondering if I'd been the one to leave it on. My questions were answered as I walked closer and saw Juliet sleeping restlessly under an old blanket on the couch.

"Sweetie," I whispered, sitting on the edge of the couch and stroking her hair.

Her eyes fluttered open and she registered the scene. She sat up and groggily rubbed her eyes, "Mom, where have you been?"

I sighed, "Well, Jack came by..."

Her eyes went wide, losing any hint of being tired, "You were out with Dad!?"

"I feel like with any other parent that wouldn't be a weird question," I laughed, looking down at her.

Juliet rolled her eyes, "But our family is different, Ma."

"I know, babe. But I'm trying to make everything okay for right now," I leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"Wait, that's all I get?" She asked in a whiny tone.

"Yes," I smiled, standing up, "We'll talk about it more tomorrow, alright?"

She shrugged and laid back down, "Fine."

"Go to your own bed, Jules. You have school tomorrow and I want you to get a good night's sleep."

She huffed and pushed herself up again, "Yes, mother!"

I smirked and watched her trudge to her room before retreating to my own. I changed back into my pajamas and settled into bed, reaching into the nightstand to pull out a picture frame. Juliet's first time on a bike without training wheels. Her dark hair sticking out randomly from her Barbie helmet, her face contorted into a determined expression. I'd seen that same expression on Jack, except he had a guitar in his hands and thousands of fans watching him.

***

"These came for you this morning, Ms. Reed," The young receptionist told me shyly, glancing at the beautiful arrangement of flowers.

I felt a smile pull at my lips and I thanked her as I lifted the vase with my free hand and walked toward my office. My assistant hopped up from her own desk and opened my door for me, eyeing the flowers suspiciously.

She raised an eyebrow, "I guess you had a great weekend."

"Oh God, Megan. It was..." I sighed and searched for words, "Definitely not something I expected."

"Oooh, lala!" She grinned, tossing her sandy blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Nothing like that!" I laughed, picking the card from the assortment.

After all these years,
It's like we were never apart.
- Jack

I smiled and set the small rectangular card down. The arrangement was filled with lillies and pink roses, among various other flowers.

"It was definitely better than my weekend, no matter what you did," She sighed, sifting through paperwork and sipping her Starbucks.

I sat in my desk chair, "So you know how Juliet's Dad has never really been in the picture?"

Megan glanced up and nodded, looking curious, "Go on."

"Well... Juliet was sick of him not being around, so she confronted me about who he was, and I didn't see the point in keeping the truth from her anymore," I rambled and looked up.

Megan's eyebrows were raised again, "So he's back in the picture?"

I nodded, "I told her everything and she went on a little hunt to find him."

"Juliet's always been successful in her endeavors," Megan smirked.

"I know," I laughed, "That's why I feel stupid being surprised that everything worked out the way that it did."

"I take it things are well between you and this guy, then?" She asked, taking another drink of her coffee.

"We're working on stuff, I think," I smiled, truly believing it.

Megan smiled and left a few minutes later to work on a project, leaving me alone to stare at the flowers and relive the night before. The last few days had been a whirlwind of events that I never expected to arise, but everything had somehow worked its way out. My beautiful daughter now had a father in her life, and I was done searching for the man who could be anything close to him. Jack had changed, but not enough that he wasn't the man I'd fallen in love with all those years before. I didn't know where Jack and I would find ourselves in the future when it came to being together again, but for now I was perfectly okay with him just being Juliet's father.