Work Text:
Jack is woken abruptly from a really good, deep sleep by the ringing of his cellphone. He rolls over with a sigh and grabs for the phone on his nightstand, squinting when the light from the screen hits his eyes in the darkened room. Thank god for blackout curtains.
He sees that it’s Jake’s school. He tries to clear the sleepy hoarseness out of his voice before he answers with a “Jack Abbot.”
There’s a brief pause on the other end, likely confusion from the sleepy voice answering in the middle of the day. He gets that reaction a lot, a product of working night shift.
“Mr. Abbot?” The voice starts. “I have you listed as first contact for Jake.” Jack is listed as first contact for all of the kids because it’s easier to get in touch with him during the day. Robby is generally at work during the day and can’t always answer the phone, so it always made sense to them to list Jack first and Robby second.
“Yes,” he confirms. “Everything okay?”
“We’ve… had an incident here at school. Jake was caught fighting with another boy in his grade.”
“Oh…” Jack closes his eyes. “Is everybody okay?”
“Both boys are okay, but because Jake started the fight, he’s being suspended for the rest of today and tomorrow. Fighting is not tolerated.”
“No, of course.” Jack agrees. “I’ll be there as soon as possible to get him.”
They hang up and Jack works on situating his prosthesis, body still begging for sleep. Once that’s done, Jack stands up and goes to the closet to grab a pair of black cargo pants that he’ll wear for work tonight. The shirt he ends up grabbing is a charcoal gray polo shirt. He shrugs and throws it on over his undershirt.
He grabs his phone, wallet, and keys before heading to the kitchen to grab a banana and a water. He peels the banana and shoves half of it in his mouth, and makes his way to the car.
When he gets to the school, he walks in to another parent already talking to the person at the front desk. He waits patiently, hands in pockets until they’re done.
Stepping up, he gives a small, polite small and says “Jack Abbot, here for Jake Malloy.”
“Just a moment, sir.”
She calls someone on the phone and in a minute, a man dressed in a suit walks out with Jake.
Jake sees Jack, and he winces. Jack is sure he’d rather Robby have been called for this.
When they walk up, the man introduces himself as the principal and re-explains that Jake was fighting, it won’t be tolerated, the whole spiel.
Jack listens intently, nodding appropriately, giving his understanding. He shakes hands with the man and says it won’t happen again.
He sees Jake swallow nervously and his eyes shift anxiously.
Jack puts his hand on Jake’s shoulder and steers him toward the door. They don’t speak as they walk toward the car. Jack wants to handle this appropriately so he’s formulating his thoughts.
“Where’s Robby?” Jake suddenly blurts when they’ve gotten in the car.
“Robby’s at work. I’m first point of contact, so when something happens at school, they call me.”
“Oh,” Jake says quietly.
It’s quiet for a bit as they start the drive home. Jake squirms around, clearly anxious, and says “Are you mad at me?”
Jack tilts his head slightly in thought and says “I’d like to hear the whole story before I decide anything. Let’s talk when we get home.”
Jake sighs and nods, accepting his answer.
When they get home, they take their shoes off at the door and walk quietly into the living room. Jake sits down on the couch, looking like he’s awaiting the death penalty.
Jack sits on the coffee table across from him and says “Alright, lay it out for me.”
“There’s… there’s a guy who’s been messing with me. He’s an asshole,” Jake looks at Jack, but minus pursed lips, Jack doesn’t react to the swear. “He knows I’m in foster care and he’s a jerk about it. And he knows I’m in a family that has two dads and he’s a jerk about that. But today…” Jake shakes his head. “Today, he was talking shit about my mom. And I told him to stop, I told him to shut up, but he just kept on. And I’ve been putting up with all of his comments and whatever for so long now that when he brought my mom into it and wouldn’t stop, I finally lost it.”
Jack is quiet for a beat before he says “That would be really hard to deal with. All of that would be hard to deal with. And it’s not fair that you have to deal with it.”
Jake bites the inside corner of his mouth. “So are you mad at me?” He asks again.
“No, I wouldn’t say I’m mad. I’m not even sure I’m disappointed. I understand where it’s all coming from. But I do think it deserves a conversation. And I do think it’s my responsibility as an adult to remind you that fighting isn’t the answer.”
Jake nods, listening.
“But even though fighting isn’t the answer, sometimes one person can only take so much. And nobody appreciates their life situation being made fun of. And nobody appreciates their mom being talked about. I do want you to think about one thing you could have done differently, and I don’t just mean in this one situation. I mean with the whole situation, from start to now. When he started messing with you and then continued messing with you. What could you have done differently to avoid what happened today?”
Jake sprawls back against the back of the couch and leans his head back. “I’m not going to tell a teacher. I’m not some five year old going to tattletale.”
Jack squints his eyes and shakes his head. “Okay, first of all, as you get older you’ll realize you don’t care what other people think. Genuinely. But that comes with growing up and being an adult. I need you to understand that there is nothing, nothing wrong with telling the teacher. That does not make you a child. It is part of their jobs as responsible adults to keep you safe, but if they don’t know what’s going on, they can’t help you. Which leads me to my second point.”
Jack leans forward and looks Jake directly in the eyes. “You are part of this family. And if something or somebody is hurting you, it’s our job to make sure you feel safe and heard, but it’s the same deal, if you don’t tell us we don’t know you need help. And Jake, that’s why we’re here, man. To take care of you and love you and help you feel safe.”
Without warning, Jake gets choked up and covers his face with his hand.
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. Talk to me,” Jack says gently as he touches Jake’s knee to let him know he’s with him.
“Um… uh… I…” a choked sob. “I miss my mom.” Jake cries into his hands.
“Buddy,” Jack whispers as he moves beside Jake on the couch. He pulls him against his side and says “It’s okay to miss her. It’s also okay to lean on us when you’re between visits. I know it’s not the same, but we give some pretty damn good hugs in this house.”
Jake sobs a laugh into Jack’s side.
“You can’t take on the world alone. Let us be your family. We’ll never replace your mom. Not even close. But we can love you and help you and guide you and teach you and anything else you might need. Do you understand that?”
Jack feels a nod against his side.
“Good. Is there anything else you want to talk about while we’re sitting here having this heart to heart?”
Jake shrugs. They sit in silence for a minute before Jake admits, “I’m scared that when I go back to my mom that you guys will forget me. I know I’m not your real kid but sometimes I feel like you’re my dads and the kids all feel like my brothers and sisters. I’ve never really had a dad or brothers or sisters. And I just… I don’t want you all to forget me when I’m gone.”
“I can promise you we will never forget you, Jake. You have become an extremely important part of our lives. And Robby and I talk about how when you go back to your mom that we hope you can still come spend time with us. Just because you go back to her doesn’t mean we never have to see each other again. You’re welcome here any time. You can call us any time, day or night, no hesitation. You hear me?”
Another nod.
They sit there for a few minutes in silence before Jack shakes Jake and says “Now for the love of god, can I go get some sleep before I have to drag myself to work tonight?”
Jake laughs and says “Fine.”
“You won’t be doing anything crazy while
I’m asleep? Getting into anymore knock down drag outs? Trying to prove you’re some sort of legend?”
Jake laughs again and says “You’re ridiculous.”
Jack grins and pulls him for a quick hug. “Why don’t you take the time while I’m sleeping to get some homework done?”
When Jake groans, Jack gives him an unimpressed look and says “I may not be mad, but I’m also not going to reward a suspension from school. There has to be some kind of consequence. So school work it is.”
“Fair enough,” Jake gives.
“Damn right.”
Jake laughs again and says “Robby would be so annoyed with you if he heard you cursing.”
Jack waves him off as he stands. “He’s a big old soft teddy bear.”
They make eye contact again and Jack says “I mean it, Jake. You’re family. Let us help you.”
He gets an appreciative nod in return before he finally makes his way back to the comfort of his bed, starting the sleep process all over again for a couple of short hours before he has to go get the other kids.