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The floor creaked beneath them with every step reminding them of just how old the church they were in actually was. The twins felt as if they had to hold their breath the entire time, almost as if they would blow away their father if he actually was there.
As they rounded the corner, John b slightly ahead of his sister they saw the back of a man facing the large window with his hair in a low pony. There wasn't a shadow of doubt in their minds, that was their father, their father who was alive.
John B and Saylors feet felt glued to the ground as shock over came them. John B hadn't seen him in just under a year and for Saylor it was a little over 2. They shared an apprehensive look and connected their hands, entwining their fingers.
It was John B who took the first steps down the stairs tugging his sister along behind him. The creaking of the boards caught big Johns attention and he turned his head to look at the stair case behind him.
"Dad." The world fell from John Bs lips in disbelief, it sounded so unfamiliar after all the time that had passed. "Is it really you?" He sniffled.
"What took you so long? Iv been ringing for hours." Big John smiled up at his two children, a waver in his voice.
The only time the Routledge girl had heard his voice since she left to live with her mother was over a tape recorder, but now she was hearing it in person and it felt bizarre.
The twins ran down the stairs and into his arms. Big John wrapped his arms around them and tears joy rolled down all of their faces. Saylors head went into her dads neck as he rested his own ontop of John Bs shoulder.
"We thought you were dead." John B cried and Big John placed his hand on the back of his head the same way John B always did to Saylor and held him even closer.
"I'm sorry for the Houdini act. It's a long story." Big John apologised sincerely. "My little girl all grown up." he admired pulling her face into his hands and Saylor let out a croaked laugh.
"Check the church!" A voice beckoned from outside making the three of them look at each other in worry. Mr Singh was still after them and considering Saylor had ran away she was sure he wouldn't hesitate to end her life.
"We gotta vanish." Big John walked away from the two and out of the back door waving his hand behind him for them to follow him which they did. "Come on, keep your heads down." They pinned themselves against the wall and peered around the corner to see a truck filled with Singhs men. "Shit, ain't going that way."
"The marina! The pogues have a boat." Saylor informed her father and John B nodded his head in agreement. "Come on, follow me." They took of in a sprint in the direction they had originally come from.
"Good girl." Big John acknowledged her idea as he hopped over the wall. "I missed you kids." He huffed as his feet reconnected with the floor.
"Yeah, you too Pop. Hurry up!" John B replied and that was the last thing said until they reached the bottom of the hill and were far enough away from Singhs men to relax a little. "Okay dad, start talking. So you've been alive this whole time and didn't think to call?" Now that they had time to process the frustration had started to kick in. Big John let them believe he was dead for nearly a year and it hurt them, it hurt them then and it still hurt them now.
"You think I didn't want too?" Big John retorted. "It killed me but it would have put you both in danger."
"We were in danger the entire time you were gone." Saylor scoffed unimpressed, she couldn't see how knowing he was alive would have made their lives any worse. They had been through hell and back and she was certain knowing that her father wasn't dead would have provided at least a little comfort.
"Hey, look. We're here now okay." He placed a hand on each of their shoulders stopping them from walking and turning them to face him. "And I'm not going anywhere." Saylor didn't believe him, she had fallen for that lie to many times before. "I had to vanish for my safety. And for yours. It wasn't my first choice. You've got to know that. Now let's go find your friends"
'Wasn't my first choice' the phrase seemed to remind Saylor that she was never his first choice, not her fathers and not JJs. He made the decision to send Saylor away to Carol and he made the decision to leave her out of the tape recording, he did that because she wasn't his first choice. John B was and he always had been.
They sprinted the rest of the way but when they arrived at the marina the large boat they had stolen from Rafe wasn't there and the docks were surrounded by Singhs men. Singh himself was stood in his grey suit and Saylor cringed at the thought of how bad it would be if he found her.
"They're gone. Singh must've run them off." Big John announced and Saylor rolled her eyes, isn't he just the sharpest tool in the shed. "Okay, plan B." Saylor wasn't aware they had a plan B. "We take my boat. It's back at my place. We gotta pick something up from there anyway."
Saylor looked at her father in disbelief, if he had a boat the entire time why didn't he say that. Especially if he had planned on stopping at his place to grab something anyway.
"Hang on, I gotta call them." John B dismissed his father and pulled Jimmys (RIP) phone to his ear. "No don't worry about it." He spoke into the phone, the other two not knowing what was being said. "It's way to hot here, you gotta get out of here- fuck I'm losing signal."
"Put me on your shoulders!" Saylor placed a leg over her brothers shoulder and grabbed onto his head as she pulled the other leg over. "Stand up and pass me the phone. I'll be closer to the satellite."
"That's not how that works." John B mumbled under his breath but did what she said nonetheless, she was already on his shoulders so it seemed pointless to argue.
"Hello, can you here me?" Saylor asked into the phone and could hear Sarah's voice but it came through distorted. "I have no idea what you just said but we are okay. We found our dad, you guys head back to OBX and-" The phone line cut off and Saylor whacked her brother on the head so he would put her down.
"Stop that!" John B hissed as he bowed his head allowing Saylor to hop off his shoulders. "I hope they heard that."
"Me too."
.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.
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