Fearing Death

The next two and a half days away were rough for both Jon and Jordyn, but Abby eased her mind with genuine homemade food, made from scratch hot cocoa, playing with their dog Archie, and letting Jordyn help pick out things for the nursery. Abby was just two months pregnant, but they had already started planning for the baby’s room.

Jordyn all but threw herself at Jon when Abby took her to meet the team at the airport, making him grin and hug her tightly as they made their way back to their home.

“Tell me about your weekend.” Jon smiled as they got into his truck, Jordyn hopping into the backseat and snapping her seatbelt.

“It was fun, Abby made really good food and we watched movies and bought stuff for the baby.” Jordyn smiled excitedly. “And she painted my nails!” Jordyn added, wiggling her fingers up in the air to show Jon the new shade of purple. “We took Archie for walks and we got ice cream last night.” She finished with a big smile.

“So it sounds like you had fun?” He asked, comforted to see their apartment building in sight.

“We had a lot of fun.” Jordyn nodded. “I wish Abby was my mom.” She added rather casually, but it was enough to send Jon into cardiac arrest. The rest of the ride was silent, Jordyn swinging her legs as she watched the city, and Jon quiet as his brain swirled a hundred miles an hour.

Was Jordyn mad she didn’t have a Mom? Should he be… dating someone? Was he not doing enough as a Dad?

“Hello in there!” Jordyn giggled, tapping the back of Jon’s head as he sat in the driver’s seat a few moments after they had already parked in the garage. “You’re making dinner, right?” She asked. “Because I am starving.” She said, hopping from the back of the truck, grabbing her duffel and waiting for him to come around to the other side of the car. Their hands linked and they walked back to the building and up to the apartment.

“What do you want for dinner?” Jon called from the kitchen as Jordyn dropped her bag and made a hard sprint for his bedroom, diving headfirst into the king-sized bed that smelled like Jon and turning on the TV.

“Mac and Cheese!” She called, grabbing Jon’s iPad from his nightstand, grinning as she opened up her favorite game – Bejeweled.

“We can’t have Mac and Cheese again, Jord! Is your homework done?” He hollered, walking down the hall, turning into his bedroom to see Jordyn all snuggled up, one of his toys in her lap and his television playing an episode of iCarly.

“Yes, Dad, all my homework is done.” Jordyn laughed, “and I’m about to beat your high score.” She stuck out her tongue, making him shake his head.

“Dinner.” He narrowed his eyes. “We had Mac and Cheese twice last week, and I bet if I called Abby and asked, she made it for you this weekend, too.” He grinned knowingly.

“Mac and Cheese with… hot dogs?” Jordyn suggested.

“You’re killin’ me, Smalls.” Jon laughed, shaking his head. “How about… French toast? Some sausage and eggs, too?” He offered.

“But, it’s dinner.” Jordyn squinted her eyes at him.

“You’ve never had breakfast for dinner?” He asked, folding his arms over his chest a she focused intently on her game. “Well you’re in for a treat!” He said excitedly, turning from the room.

“Wait!” Jordyn called, watching as he spun back around on his heel. “Chocolate chip pancakes?” She suggested with a wide smile, making him laugh and continue his way to the kitchen. “Wait!” She blushed shyly as Jon appeared in the doorway once more. “Can we have spaghetti, too?” She asked, “with meatballs?” Jon grinned, with a laugh in his eyes as he weighed his options.

“So French toast, sausage, eggs, and spaghetti.” He listed.

“With meatballs.”

“With meatballs, right.” Jon nodded. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do.” He left for good as Jordan set to work, determined to change the high score from Jon’s J. Toews to Jordyn’s.

Half an hour later, they were seated at the dining room table, with all sorts of food around them and full plates.

“Did you know there is a hockey team named the penguins?” Jordyn asked after swallowing a mouthful of pasta.

“I did.” Jon nodded. “They play my team once and a while.” He smirked gently. “Why do you say?” He asked.

“Because they’re the penguins, my favorite animal!” Jordyn stressed, dunking her French toast into her tiny bowl of syrup. “Can we go watch a penguins game?” She asked, tilting her head as she nibbled on a meatball.

“I… well I don’t see why not.” Jon shrugged at the slightly odd idea. “You can come watch us play the penguins.” He offered.

“But I want to watch it with you.” She insisted, making his lips tug upwards in a slight grin.

“I’ll see what I can do.” He insisted before stabbing one of the meatballs on her pile of pasta and sticking it into his mouth. Jordyn giggled and struggled to keep her grape juice from flying out of her nose, in turn, making Jon crack up as well.

“Careful.” He teased as she finally choked down the purple liquid, just in time for the concierge phone to ring. Jon got up, setting his napkin on the table and walking down the hall to pick up the phone with the particularly annoying chirp. “Toews.” He answered.

“Mr. Toews, we have a Ms. Hale in the lobby for you, should I send her up?” Jon frowned at the name, not recognizing the name at first, but his heart started slamming in his chest as it came together.

“No, do not send her up, do not tell her our apartment number. I’ll be down in a moment.” Jon replied dryly before hanging up and walking back to the dining room. “Hey, I have to take care of something at the desk, think of ten things you want to do now that I’m home and I’ll be right back.” He smiled. Jordyn nodded, grinning with puffed cheeks as she chewed a particularly big bite of spaghetti.

Jon walked to the entry, pulling on a pair of tennis shoes and grabbed his cell – in case he needed to call the police. He clenched his fists at his side as he stood in the elevator, reminding himself that as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t punch the woman out. He spotted her in the lobby right away, the same black wrap coat, thick makeup and a fake smile.

“Where’s Jordyn?” She asked right away.

“You need to leave right now.” Jon grit his teeth.

“I have a right to see my baby.” She countered, hissing venomously.

“You have no rights to her whatsoever!” Jon hollered, alarming the men that worked at the front desk. “You lost those rights when you abandoned her and let her rot with a shitty foster-family!” He finished. “If you don’t stay away from my daughter, I will come after you, and I will make it so you can’t come within fifty miles of her.” He pointed a finger in her direction. “She’s not your daughter, she never has been.” He finished with a snarl.

“I carried her for nine months!” She sputtered.

“You gave her heart complications and birth defects because you couldn’t stay sober! You could have killed her! And it’s your fault she never got adopted!” He shouted, effectively putting the fear of God into the tacky-looking woman. “Stay away.” He seethed. “Forever.”

•••

Jon groaned as he watched the three kids file into the apartment, eyes narrowing in on the last little blonde with tight jeans and a Hurley t-shirt. His tennis shoes were trailing in dirt.

“Where should we go to work? My room?” Jordyn asked, dropping her backpack on the ground in the entryway, the other two standing by idly.

“No!” Jon insisted, making her jump slightly. “I mean, you can work in the office, the wifi connection is better there.” He added, trying to sound casual as his eyes flickered between his daughter and the two boys she brought home to work on their monarch butterfly presentation.

“Okay.” She chirped, bouncing down the hall, the others following her obediently.

Jon’s next immediate move was to call Patrick over; the mop-headed teammate was in his apartment not two minutes later.

“What’s the emergency?” Patrick mumbled, clearly just up from a nap.

“Lucas is here.” Jon stated gravely. “He’s a punk.” He added.

“The Lucas is here?” Patrick asked, eyes sprouting up into his hairline, to which Jon nodded, heading to the fridge to grab a beer. He didn’t like to drink during the season, but these were difference circumstances. “Well where is he?” Patrick asked, taking the PBR from Jon as they made their way into the family room.

“They’re in the study.” Jon tilted his head towards the room in question.

“Alone?!” Patrick asked, surprised.

“No, there’s another boy in there with them, Tyler.” Jon added.

“Another boy?” Patrick squeaked. “And you let them alone in there?! Why didn’t you have them work in here where you can watch them?” He asked, shocked.

“I don’t know, okay! At first she asked if they should work in her room, so that freaked me out and I just said the study!” Jon defended himself. “It was a moment of weakness!” He huffed. “What do I do?” He asked, fidgeting around in his seat on the sofa.

“You can’t do anything, you gave them privacy!” Patrick scolded. “But you could see if they wanted a snack, or a drink… or needed some help.” He added thoughtfully, giving Jon a knowing look. “I’ve done it a hundred times with my sisters.” He insisted.

Jon nodded, hopping back into the kitchen and popping up a large bowl of popcorn. He didn’t even need to walk down the hall before all three kids were popping their head into the kitchen.

“You made popcorn?” Jordyn asked curiously. “For… me?” She added with a smile. Jon grinned and nodded as he lightly salted the snack. Jon set the big bowl down on the coffee table in the family room and pointed at Lucas behind his back to Patrick as his eyes instantly narrowed in on the boy.

“JT, introduce me to your friends.” Patrick insisted, eyeing them up and down disapprovingly.

“This is Lucas and Tyler, this is Patrick.” Jordyn shrugged, snacking on the hot popcorn happily. “They’re in my science class.” She added, “Patty plays hockey with my Dad.” She finished.

“You like hockey there, Lucas?” Patrick asked, taking a long pull of his PBR.

“Naw, I like to skateboard and play football.” Lucas nodded, flipping his white blonde Bieber-bangs out of his face.

“I like hockey.” Tyler, a brace-faced redhead smiled excitedly.

“Cool. So, skateboarding… how you, uh… move in those jeans?” Patrick asked, looking down to where the boy’s dark grey jeans hugged his skinny legs from the thigh to the ankle. Jordyn’s eyes widened at Patrick, obviously not very happy with him as she stood up from the couch, grabbing the bowl.

“I think we’re going to go work more on our project.” She squinted at Patrick before glancing at Jon. “We won’t be working long.” She added before the three of them stood. Just as Jordyn turned her back, Patrick pursed his lips into a thin line and stared Lucas down, shaking his head in a slow negative. Lucas gulped, looking between Jordyn’s Dad and his friend before disappearing down the hall as well.

Jon at restlessly for the next forty-five minutes, anxiously flickering through the TV channels as Patrick watched casually and played with a game on his phone. Tyler’s parents were the first to show up, and Jordyn rode in the elevator with him down to the lobby.

Jon was glad to see Lucas go and he rolled his head from side to side, stretching his neck before entering the kitchen. Patrick had disappeared back to his apartment and promised he would be back down for dessert after Sara made dinner.

“So, Lucas, he’s… your age.” Jon said, grabbing a cup from the cupboard and walking towards the fridge.

“Duh.” Jordyn laughed, grabbing a cookie from the jar on top of the counter by the sink.

“He your boyfriend?” Jon sputtered out.

“Boyfriend?” Jordyn squeaked. “Ew! No!” She shook her head. “I don’t want Lucas to be my boyfriend.” She insisted, making Jon breathe a deep sigh of relief before engulfing her small body in his arms.

“Thank you.” He sighed. “And you can feel free to not want a boyfriend for the next nine or ten years, I mean, whatever you’re comfortable with, but preferably ten.” He added, making her giggle.

“That’s a long time! Who am I going to go to prom with?!” She asked as he stepped back, also grabbing a cookie from the jar as they each sat on barstools at the breakfast bar.

“Hmm, you can go with Patrick, he’ll be tall enough by then.”