Break and Enter

Jared’s POV
“Get off of me!!!” I yelled at Shannon from his position lying on top of me. He had tackled me not long after I stole his phone from him. I know it sounds childish, but come on, he’s my big brother. I’m supposed to act like a child.
“Give me my phone back,” Shannon answered simply folding his hands over my chest and laying his head on them.
I glared at him for a moment before sighing in defeat and handing him his beloved Blackberry. And everyone says I am obsessed with my phone. You don’t see me tackling Shannon for it…. Not that he ever gives me a reason to. Again, I’m his little brother. It’s my JOB.
He smiled, rolled off of me, and left the room to go call his girlfriend or something. I laid there on the floor thinking of something to do that doesn’t involve torturing the already aggravated drummer. I released a sigh of disapproval when I realized for once in over two years, I had absolutely nothing to do. We just finished our last album This Is War a few weeks ago. We didn’t have another tour for about two months. The Kings and Queens music video had been completed, finalized, and released two nights ago. I literally had NOTHING to do except sit back and relax. That may be good for most people, but I’m not most people. I’m Jared Leto. I always have something to do; except right now.
I continued to just lay there on the rug in our living room that Shannon and I had bought in Japan about a year ago until my phone rang from in the kitchen. I jumped up from my spot on the floor, happy to have something to do, and sped around the corners into the kitchen. I picked up the phone on what should’ve been the last ring before it went to voicemail. “Hello?” I answered cautiously. For all I know, a crazed fan could be calling me.
“Hello sir. This is Darla Jackson from the Miami Child Protection Services. Is this a Mr. Jared Leto I am speaking to?” an overly sweet voice asked me.
“Uh…” a million thoughts rushed through me head at the moment. Why the heck would the Child Protection Services be calling me?
“Sir?” Darla’s voice came over the phone again after I hadn’t answered for a few moments.
“Yes. This is Jared,” I replied.
“Hello Mr. Leto. Well, first things first. Do you recall a Marie Jamison?”
I nearly dropped the phone at that name. I hadn’t heard it in years. Nevertheless, I answered the question. “Yes. What about her? Did something happen?”
Ignoring my last question, she asked yet another question. “Are you aware that you have two children with Mrs. Jamison?”
This time, I really did drop the phone. It tumbled out of my hand with a shattering sound. I didn’t even move to pick it up. I just let it stay there. How could I have children? One child isn’t even possible, let alone two, unless they were twins. I could hear muffled talking coming from the phone by the chair, but was too shocked to pick it up.
Shannon rounded the corner into the kitchen and stopped before me giving me a look. “What’d you break this time,” he sighed looking around the room. His eyes found my phone, which was still producing noise of which no one was listening. Shannon gave me a questioning look. When I did nothing to respond, he rolled his eyes and picked up the phone before putting it to his ear and speaking. “Hello?” He waited for a response. He again, gave me a questioning look. “Um, I don’t really know what happened to him. I guess he dropped his phone and when I came in he was just staring at it. Would you give me a moment?” Shannon put the phone on the kitchen table and gave me a look. “What the hell is going on?” I just continued to stare at him blankly, not able to come up with an answer. He sighed and put the phone on speaker. “Hello?” Shannon again asked into the phone. I sat down at the table and put my face in my hands. How the hell do I have children?
“Hello. Is Mr. Leto okay now?” Darla asked sounding somewhat concerned.
I could feel Shannon’s eyes burning into my head but I still didn’t look up from my hands. “Well, he’s refusing to respond, but other than that, yeah he’s fine,” Shannon told her, still staring at me. “I have you on speaker phone so he can still hear you. I’m his brother by the way. Shannon Leto.”
“Nice to speak to you Shannon. So, you may have already heard, but Jared and I were discussing the fact that he is the father of two children here in Florida,” I looked up from my hands at the mention of the kids to look at Shannon’s reaction. He was staring right back at me. For once in my life, I could not read his eyes. That’s always been my strength. I’ve always been able to tell what he was thinking, but at the moment, I was clueless. “I’m assuming he’s a bit shocked right now. I would be too if I just found out I had two children,” Darla continued.
“Are you positive they’re his?” Shannon asked all while not once breaking the eye contact with me.
“We’re positive sir. They belong to him and Marie Jamison.”
Recognition passed on Shannon’s face. He knew exactly who Darla was talking about. “Wow… Okay… Well, this is certainly shocking,” Shannon sat back in the chair and exhaled deeply.
I decided to finally speak up. “Is there any way I can get in contact with Marie?”
There was slight hesitation on the other side of the line until finally, Darla spoke up. “Marie passed away twelve years ago of breast cancer. I’m very sorry.” I once again was taken aback. I stared at the phone in disbelief, my mouth slightly hanging open. How could she be dead? The best friend I’ve ever had… is dead? I know we didn’t necessarily leave off on the best of terms, but how could she possibly be dead? My heart felt as though it had frozen over and shattered as it fell to the bottom of my stomach. I honestly felt like crying. I could feel that familiar lump in my throat that signaled unshed tears that I haven’t felt in many years. “That is why I’m calling. You see, when Marie passed away, she had strictly requested that the children be raised by their step father instead of biological. The children were indeed raised by their step father, until just recently when their step father was murdered. You see, sir, the children really have nowhere else to go. The only option left was to contact their biological father, you, and put the children into your custody.” There was a moment of silence as Darla seemed to wait for a response. Shannon and I said nothing, so Darla continued. “Please, Mr. Leto, at least consider it. It is either this or the children will be put into an orphanage.”
I quickly shook myself out of my shocked state and answered Darla. “Sorry. I’m just a bit shocked about all of this,” I told her quietly. I then took another moment to think about what I was going to do. Those children have truly obviously had a traumatic life; they really don’t need their biological father denying them a home. I don’t really see any harm in having the children here with me. I could get used to them, even though I’ve never been good with kids. I’m surely not letting them go to an orphanage. I suppose the only choice is to have them come here. I looked to Shannon, making eye contact with him once again. He gave me a small smile of encouragement, nodding his head a bit, letting me know what he thought I should do. I too let a smile grace my lips as I opened them to speak into the phone. “I would be happy to take the kids.”
“Oh! Well, that’s wonderful!” you could literally hear the smile on Darla’s face as she spoke. She seemed so excited and happy that she has found the children of her case a home. It made my smile wider and I just chuckled quietly to myself. I have to admit, even I was excited as Shannon, Darla, and I came up with what we were going to do as far as meeting the kids and when they were going to come here. When all arrangements were made, we said our goodbyes and hung up the phone. I sighed contently, pleased that everything was complete and leaned back in my chair, relaxing. Shannon looked at me and smiled, giving me that smirk that only Letos can accomplish.
“What?” I wondered.
He continued to smirk and reply, “Nothing. You just seem really happy is all.”
I fought the smile that was trying to find its way to my lips once again and shrugged. “I dunno. I guess I’m just excited.”
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“So, exactly where are we supposed to go?” Shannon asked me as we got into the cab that would be taking us to a destination of some sort. We had just arrived in Miami, Florida; exactly one week after our phone call with Darla. I was supposed to have some sort of trial with the kids here in Miami for a week or two before taking them to LA permanently.
“I don’t really know,” I scratched the back of my head and looked at Shannon who was glaring at me. He always hated when I dragged him to foreign places without making arrangements for, you know, everything. I shrugged at him and he continued to give me that ‘I should really kick your ass’ look.
“Where're you guys headed to?” the driver asked us politely.
I looked at Shannon for the answer. He rolled his eyes and turned to the driver before answering, “The nicest hotel somewhere near the beach.” The driver smiled and nodded, taking off towards the newfound destination. “You’re paying for the hotel,” he professed towards me. I made no signs to show that I really cared, nor did I. It’s not like I didn’t already have plans to pay anyways.
We silently sat in the taxi for all of fifteen minutes before we were pulling up to the Miami Ritz-Carlton. “Here you go,” the taxi driver addressed us. “One of the most expensive and nicest hotels in Florida.” He chuckled a bit before stepping out of the cab and heading to the back to retrieve our luggage.
I got out of the car and paid the taxi driver his money and made sure to leave a considerate tip. We checked in to the hotel. Luckily, they gave us a room without us having to make reservations. I suppose that’s just one of the perks of having a famous face. We made it up to our suite on the 7th floor and I automatically claimed the room to the left as my own, as always whenever we stay in hotel. I plopped down on my bed, looking at the beautiful beach that lay a quarter of a mile past the balcony. This was definitely going to be an interesting two weeks.