Why Should You Care Now?

Feeling the muscles in her legs, she knew that she wasn’t ready for the five mile run yet. But she knew she had to try and push herself, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to know her limit. Only a half mile away from her house, Jordan kept her pace. With her ear buds blasting random songs from her playlist on her ipod, she didn’t hear the person call her name. As she kept moving one foot in front of the other, she heard a loud honk from behind her. Turning her head to look at the road, she saw Adam Burish with a grin on his face in the driver’s seat of an SUV. Watching as he pulled it up to the curb, and park it before the doors opened and then there were more hawks getting out. Pressing the pause button she looked at the guys walking towards her.

“What are you doing out this early?” Burish questioned her.

Looking down at her running shorts, shoes and tank top she gave him a look. “I’m mowing the lawn.”

Patrick Kane didn’t bother to hold in his laughter.

“How loud do you have those things?” Adam asked. “We’ve been yelling at you for three blocks.”

“Loud enough to block your voice,” she smiled. “Is there a point to this little meeting?”

“In a hurry?” a voice from the truck called out.

“I need to finish my run,” Jordan said placing her ear buds back into her ears and starting the music again. “Don’t get lost.”

Before any of the three that were standing there could utter another word, she shot off to finish her run. The guys knew she didn’t get along with Jonathan, so why would they bring him around her? She never understood how a guy thought and she probably never would. As she got back to her rhythm, Jordan saw the house just up the street. When she saw the SUV parked behind her car, she sped up a little bit.

Cutting across the lawn, she walked into the house to see the hockey players sitting around the living room while Emmy was talking on the web cam. With a smile on her face she walked into the kitchen to get a cup of water and walked back to behind the couch where she watched as Joey was about to step on Buish’s face. “Joey!”

When his soft brown eyes connected with hers she shook her head. “You need to play nice otherwise you are gonna face the corner for three minutes.”

“He did it first,” Joey cried out. “I gots to saves da family honors.”

“Play nice or you go to the corner.”

Finishing off her water, Jordan walked back to the kitchen and put her cup in the sink, knowing she’d be doing more dishes later on. When she walked past her sister in law she felt her look at her with a smile and tug her back to the computer. Looking at the computer, she smiled. “I’ll be back in a minute, but here’s Jordan.”

Moving so Jordan could sit down, she looked at the screen and felt the tears come to her eyes when she saw her brother’s smiling face. “Cor?”

“Hey JT,” he said, using the nickname he gave her when she was younger. “How are you doing? Enjoying the vacation to Chicago?”

Biting her lip, she wiped the tear that escaped her eye before letting out a small laugh. “I forgot to tell you and I guess so did Emmy.”

Running his hand over his buzzed haircut, he had a look on his face that Jordan knew very well. She could see the worry in his blue eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t do something stupid and she had to bail you out?”

“I finished school and I’m working in Chicago.”

His smile grew until it reached his eyes. “Jordan, are you serious?”

Smiling she nodded her head. “I got offered a few jobs, but I took the one that brought me to be with family.”

“I’m proud of you,” he told her. “So what company did you go with?”

“Chicago Blackhawks.”

“You have to be shitting me,” Corbin laughed. “And I bet you are getting paid good money am I right?”

“Cor, it isn’t about the money,” she told him. “It’s about the ability to be around family. Since he died, I haven’t felt needed until Emmy asked me to help out.”

“I owe you for helping out,” he told her going into a serious mood. “With Emmy, Joey and now the new baby, I don’t know how you two do it.”

“We think about what you would do, but we do the opposite,” Jordan laughed. “I think it has to do more with Emmy then me, but that’s just my opinion. I miss you.”

“I know you do,” he smiled at her. “And I miss you too. I heard you were with Emmy all the way during the labor and delivery. Is that true?”

“And I took some time off after she got an infection to help out, but I’ve been back at work for a week,” Jordan smiled. “When do you think your tour will be over with? ‘Cause I think the both of us could use you here.”

“Believe me JT, I want to be there with you, all of you, but right now it looks like my tour is being extended.”

“That’s not fair!” Jordan said raising her voice. When she felt eyes on her, she looked away from the computer screen to see the guys looking at her. Catching each of their eyes, her face heated up before she looked back to the computer. “This is the same thing they said the last time.”

“I wish it wasn’t this way, but it is,” he told her. “We just have to deal with it. This is the life I signed up for.”

“I didn’t sign up for it and I don’t like it, not one bit,” she told him before taking a deep breath. Placing her elbows on her knees she placed her head in her hands and took a few more deep breaths. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to see you the last time I was in the states,” he sighed. “I didn’t mean to leave you hanging, especially after what happened back home. I know that you are growing up, but you’re my little sister, I was supposed to protect you from things like this.”

“Corbin,” Jordan said feeling the tears in her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about this right now or ever.”

“I know you don’t, but you need to,” he insisted. “You keep everything bottled up and when it gets released, its not gonna be a good thing.”

“You have no right to talk about that,” she said. “I know what I lost and it hurts still. There I talked about it, now drop it.”

“Jordan, come on,” he said, the frustration coming through in his voice. “Just promise you’ll talk to someone, anyone about it.”

“Corbin…I’ll consider it,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “That’s the best you are going to get out of me right not.”

“I’ll take what I can get,” he told her as he rubbed his face with his hands. “I’m on your ass because I love you. That’s all.”

“I love you, too,” Jordan told him with a smile. Seeing Emmy back, she smiled one last time. “Emmy’s back. I guess this is bye for now, right?”

“I’ll try and set up another video call,” he told her. “And don’t think I forgot what today is. Happy birthday, JT.”

Letting the tears fall, Jordan smiled at him. “Thank you Corbin. I love you. Come home soon.”

“Love you more.”

With a smile, Jordan got out of her seat and walked around Joey and the Blackhawks and to her bedroom. Shutting the door behind her, she crawled to the center of the bed and cried softly. Her brown eyes locked onto the framed photograph of a happy couple. During a time where things didn’t seem to be as painful as it was now. Looking at the man, a sad smile graced her features. His buzz cut made his hair look a lot darker than it actually was, but his most distinct feature was his blue eyes. In the photo they were sparkling with unshed tears of happiness. She was the one that gave him the happiness in the photo. Sitting on his lap, kissing him with a princess cut diamond ring on her finger. It was their anniversary and he surprised her with a proposal, she hadn’t needed any time to think about it. Her answer was simple.

Yes.

The age difference had bothered her brother at first, until he saw how happy he made his sister and then he was able to accept it. That had felt like a lifetime ago, but in fact it was only two years ago. No one foresaw what would happen on his first tour to Iraq. It had brought her down into the lowest point of her life. Corbin had wanted to be there for her, but he couldn’t be. He was on his second tour and it wasn’t possible for him to leave and help her through the hard time she was going through. Jordan had told Emmy that she didn’t want help that she was dealing with it in her own way.

Looking at the frame that the photo resided in, she saw the word love repeated on all four sides. Sitting up, she let the tears fall freely. She didn’t want to think about him today, not when there were two little boys that needed her to be strong. Taking a deep breath, she started unlacing her tennis shoes as there was a knock on the door. Using her heel to take the shoes off her feet, she got off the bed and opened the door. She was taken back to see Emmy at the door with a sad smile on her face while holding CT. “He only wants what is best for you. I’m taking Joey to the store and then out for a few hours of just Joey and Mommy time. If you need anything let me know.”

“Can you wait to leave?” she asked. “I need to take a shower, please. I did five miles today.”

“Sure, but make it snappy.”

With a small smile, Jordan closed the door and went to take a shower. Making it go as fast as possible so that Emmy and Joey could have some alone time. And then there were the Blackhawks that were in her house for an unknown reason to her. Finishing her shower, she tied her hair into a high ponytail and put on a pair of dark denim jeans and a grey shirt with the Marine Corps logo on the front.

Making her way to the living room she walked past everyone and dropped her laundry basket in front of the washing machine before walking back to where her sister-in-law was rocking with CT. Taking the fussy baby out of her arms, she smiled at her. “Go on, get out of here.”

“Thanks,” Emmy smiled. “Joey tell Aunt Jordan and baby Corbin bye.”

Joey did as he was told and then followed his mother out the door. Sitting in the rocking chair with CT in her arms, she waited for one of the guys to say something. After a minute of silence, she looked up to see their eyes glued to the TV. “Why are you guys here?”

“We tried to catch you before you got home, but you wouldn’t listen.”

Jordan rolled her eyes at Adam’s excuse. “You don’t like people messing up your routines and I was on the run to think about things.”

“Like your birthday?” Patrick Kane asked.

“I haven’t done anything for my birthday in two years and I’m not starting now,” she said not looking at any of them. Then her eyes shot over to Jonathan. “And why are you here? Come to tell me how to put him to sleep? Or even how to feed him?”

Bowing his head in shame, Jonathan couldn’t make eye contact with her. It had been his idea to come here and apologize and take her out to breakfast, but nothing was turning out how he had planned it. Jordan wasn’t making it easy on him whatsoever, but then again he deserved it. He had been a tool when dealing with her because he didn’t like the change in staff and part of that was because she was a girl, a good looking one at that. “I’m sorry.”

Jordan started humming to CT as he was finally starting to fall asleep. That brought a smile to her face. Looking at the guys, she rolled her eyes when she saw that three of the four had their phones out and were taking pictures. “He looks like my brother. Joey looks more like Emmy, but this guy, he’s all Corbin.”

“Was that your brother you were talking ot on the web cam?” Sharpie asked.

“It was,” she confirmed. “I haven’t seen him in awhile. When he was on leave before this tour of duty, he was spending it with his wife and I didn’t want to be found which he knows to mean, leave me alone.”

“Then how come you are here now?” Patrick Kane asked.

“Emmy needed my help while Corbin was overseas and I couldn’t tell her no,” she explained. “Especially with Joey and then her finding out that she was pregnant, she was going to need help and I knew I had to be there for her. Her mother comes from time to time, but Emmy needed someone more hands on that could keep up with Joey.”

“Anything for family?” Adam asked.

“Yeah,” she smiled down at the sleeping baby in her arms. “It has to be one of the hardest things to do, but I think it’s got the best reward.”