Bad Desire: New Beginnings - Fast Forward

Chapter 13

"Juliet's baby shower. Apparently it's something women do when they're pregnant." Jack chuckled, looking baffled by the whole thing.

"I'll never understand it." Aaron resembled Jack's laugh, causing Addison to repeat what they had just done.

She was staring at Jack with wide eyes and she began to giggle causing both Jack and Aaron to laugh too. After that, it became pretty much a cycle because it was difficult not to laugh at the adorable little girl, so innocently engaging with them on her dad's lap.

Jack had missed this. Missed having the collection of memories about the moments he spent with his kids. There were obviously gaps in the timeline, still being filled in but he was getting there. The most important thing right now was the fact that his relationship with them still remained and he hadn't let that go.

"Does she copy everything?" Aaron laughed and Addie's head instantly turned to look at him as she produced the cheekiest grin.

"Pretty much." Jack said as he grasped her attention once again.

Sticking out his tongue, Addie did the same. Then as Jack raised his eyebrows, she also attempted to do the same thing, but couldn't quite get the hang of it.

"Hasn't quite perfected that one."

Laying his daughter down on the floor, he then allowed Addie to crawl off over to where Harvey had come to a stop and crouched down to her height. Taking a seat on the floor he went from being insanely hyperactive to extremely calm, all for the sake of his baby sister. The pair were extremely close and especially since Jack had been unwell, Harvey felt the need to play the protector role over her.

"How are things with you and Jess then? I know it's been difficult with everything that happened." Aaron then asked in reference to the crash and memory loss.

Jess had spent the past month or so helping to guide Jack in bringing his memories back and it had been hard work. They had experienced their highs and lows with some nights proving worse than others when they would end in arguments. It was the stress and pressure that Jack had put on himself to get back to normal so quickly which would cause Jess to get so frustrated with him. She wanted him to give himself a chance but he wasn't allowing that and he had just been making it more difficult.

However, even though arguments had been experienced, they had always been solved. There was nothing this pair couldn't sort out because the love between them was one that continued to make them fight against everything trying to break them apart.

"She's been incredible... not just helping me but with the kids. She basically spent a month being a single mum. I tried but it wasn't natural while I didn't know who they were. I didn't know how to be their dad."

Aaron had watched Jack go through the difficulty of it. His apartment had always been the place Jack would end up when everything just got too much. He had always felt so disappointed with himself because Jess was doing it all alone. He felt like he owed her hugely but at the time he didn't know how to help.

"She honestly never fails to amaze me. If anything, living in the past for that short amount of time made me appreciate her more. When we were 19, we were still figuring things out and it was a bit of a mess. It could have gone terribly. However, she's managed to keep everything together and made the most incredible mum and wife."

And Jack was being honest. If he had gotten anything positive out of the crash and memory loss was his appreciation for the woman he loved. It had forced him to live in two different time zones and reflect on what their relationship could have been.

It had made admire Jess as not only a wife but as a mum; something he just took for granted. While he was out working during the week to make a living for their family; showing the importance of his role in the family, Jess was home, caring for their children, something that had been looked over as being 'just what mum's did'. However, it wasn't 'just what mum's did' and shouldn't be viewed that way because it wasn't easy and it had taken the crash and memory loss for him to see it all more clearly.