"The world's best dad is home!" Jack shouted as he walked into the house, throwing his keys on the side before making his way into the kitchen.
His senses were overwhelmed with Jess' cooking so he knew it was the kids' dinner time. That also meant that he was in fact late home as he expected after being annoyingly stopped by Ashley who showed up at the garage as he was closing up.
"Daddy!" Voices were called as Jack walked through the door and while the three girls stuck to the rule of not leaving the table while they were eating, Harvey being a little more daring, broke it.
Jumping up from his seat he ran over to Jack and collapsed into his arms.
"Ay, little man!" Jack lifted him up off his feet, scruffing his hair before looking over to Jess who was looking at him with a teasing glare. "Better go finish your dinner." He chuckled, placing Harvey back in his seat.
Making his way to each of his daughters, he placed kisses to all of their heads before making his way over to Jess.
"Hi, baby." He breathed, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his lips to hers.
"Hi." She mumbled against his lips as her own hands trailed around his neck. "Good day?"
Nodding his head, Jack didn't give a verbal response as he was more engrossed in the kiss. Working all day and not seeing her for over 10 hours, still gave him that intense longing feeling that he got when they first became a couple. The feelings never changed or reduced.
"Was it busy? You were late..." Jess went onto ask in between kisses as Jack finally broke the embrace.
"Yeah, pretty busy." Jack vaguely answered her question as he then leaned back against the kitchen side and pulled Jess into him. "We need to talk about something real quick."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He grinned at her nervous expression.
He wasn't sure how she was going to respond to what he was about to say but due to his own excitement he had a feeling regardless of what it could mean, wouldn't matter.
Jess didn't say anything after that as she just looked at him and awaited further explanation. Her hands were placed on his arms as she leaned into him, running them up and down over his tattooed skin.
"Do you remember a few years back when I had the opportunity to expand the business but timing wasn't right?"
"Yeah." Jess nodded.
"Well-" Jack began before Addie's voice was heard.
"Mummy!" She shouted causing both of them to turn around. "Pudding?!" She half questioned and half demanded.
"In a second, baby." Jack replied for Jess, eagerly trying to continue with his news.
"Please." She insisted, clearly not prepared to be patient.
"Have you eaten all your dinner?" Jack asked with raised eyebrows while with a teasing grin causing Addie to replicate it with a guilty one too as she shook her head.
"Finish it off then, babe, and I'll give you all the chocolate you want!" Jack grinned causing Jess to roll her eyes laughing.
Once Addie had finally decided to agree to her dad's deal, Jack was able to turn back and give Jess all of his attention.
"Right so to cut a long story short, my brothers friend who lives in Cambridge is leaving the country and wants to sell his garage. I know I put the expansion on pause before but with this opportunity it would be stupid to turn it down." Jack began to explain. "I thought I could buy it, do it up and open business there too."
It was obvious by how quickly Jack was speaking and the look on his face, how excited he was. He was physically unable to contain himself.
"I know it sounds crazy and not thought through but I've been having ongoing calls with this guy for quite a few weeks now."
"Are you serious?" Jess wasn't quite sure what to say as she was in awe over not only the news but the excitement over Jack's face.
"Yeah. Nothing is fully decided yet but it will be once I've been up there to meet the guy and that's the part I wanted to talk to you about."
Jess knew by the unease that now covered his face that there would obviously be something bitter that came with the sweet news. She couldn't explain how happy she was to see him this excited over expanding as she knew it was something he had wanted for a while, but she was worried about what it would mean. Cambridge wasn't close by so it wasn't like he could easily travel between the two when he liked.
"He's free on Monday." Jack began, taking about a day which was two days away. "And if all goes well I would have to stay there for about a week to finish up the deal and start the plans."
At this point Jack looked worried as he spoke as he saw the colour drain from Jess' face. She wasn't annoyed that he needed to go away because she knew it was for the business, something he was passionate about. However, what was a slight worry was being left alone with the four children, alongside being pregnant.
"If it's not good timing, it doesn't have to happen-" Jack began as he ran his hand up Jess' face and cupped her cheek.
"No, no Jack. You're going. Of course you're going, this is amazing!" Jess suddenly snapped back to the present to prevent her mind from drifting. Throwing her arms around his neck she pulled him into a hug. "I'm so happy for you, honestly."
Jack finally wrapped his own arms back around her and lightly squeezed her body out of relief.
"Are you sure? Because I know it's not better timing than the last opportunity I had, I just don't want to keep waiting."
"No Jack, you shouldn't wait. You have to go!"
With Jess' persistence Jack didn't have anything else to argue with as he wanted it so badly. Therefore, instead of hanging onto that point, he knew he had to face the next thing.
"So me being away will also mean I need to ask you a huge favour." Jack had pulled out of the embrace and was now playing with Jess' hands as a sign of reassurance for what he was about to ask.
"What now?" Jess laughed.
"The garage will need someone to keep it running and I will need you to do it."
"What?" Jess looked back at Jack in complete shock while trying to search for a sign that he was joking. "No Jack, stop messing around."
"I'm not. The guys work fine without being bossed around but it needs someone managing it still."
"What about your dad?" Was Jess' first attempt at steering him away from the bizarre idea and to make sense of what was possibly happening here.
"He's coming with me." Was Jack's simple reply causing Jess to pause in thought.
"What about Aaron? You trust him enough, don't you?"
"Yeah, which is why he's also coming with me."
Jess wasn't surprised that Jack would be inviting Aaron along as he had enough trust in him to run the place whenever Jack took time off. Therefore, it was only expected that he would invite him along to the events of the expansion but it was now that Jess was wishing he wouldn't.
"There must be someone else who can do it!" Jess stressed.
She couldn't believe that Jack was actually asking her to do it. She never thought he would even think she would be able to run his business while he wasn't there. She had plenty of car information drummed into her over the many years of being with the Lawrence's and she had also begun to learn a thing or two about the business since Jack had asked if she wanted to be more involved. However, in her eyes, that did not mean she was ready to take charge of the whole business while they were away.
"Babe." Jack squeezed Jess' hands. "You will be able to do it. You don't have to be at the garage everyday, bossing anyone around; I'll leave Zaiden and Corey in charge of that. All you need to do is keep check of the finances and bookings and all that shit; all the boring stuff I sit in the office doing." Jack chuckled while Jess still looked unsure.
It was a huge responsibility he was placing on her and she didn't want to mess anything up. She wouldn't even have Dan to turn to if things went wrong, she was actually fully being left in charge alone.
"If things get tough or anything goes wrong, I'm only a phone call away. Or my mum knows a lot about it all, she can help if you need her."
Jack knew he could have left his mum in charge but he wanted to give Jess this opportunity. Louise had done it many times in the past and had actually asked not to be dragged into it this time; as much as she loved the business, she couldn't handle another week of running it and was happy to pass that job down to Jess now.
"I don't know... I don't think I would be able to do it. I don't know enough."
"I'll teach you everything you need to know before I leave. You'll be a pro." Jack looked at Jess hopeful.
There was a few minutes pause while Jess' eyes drifted from Jack, over to the kids and back again before she produced him with a smile and a nod.
"Okay-" She began as his face filled with excitement. "But you have to promise to answer your phone whenever I call because I already know I'm going to constantly need your help."
"You'll be fine." Jack leaned back against the counter as Jess looked at him in warning. "But I promise to answer it."
As much as she was terrified, she wanted to do this for him. She knew how much this expansion meant to him and there was no way Jess would let him throw it away. He had already done it once and there may not be another so soon, so he had to grab it and run.
Jess also knew it was going to make things so much more difficult with the kids as she would be back and forth to the garage daily. She didn't plan on sitting in Jack's office there all day and would much prefer to do the work from home but she knew she would have to pay a few visits. Therefore, she was hoping Louise would be up for helping out as usual or if not, Connor and Gemma with their already hectic schedules.
"One thing." Jess then held her finger up against Jack's lips as he was preparing to close the space between them.
"Yeah?" He briefly pulled back before looking down at her.
"Aaron's going right? Soph's going to kill you."
Jack began to chuckle because he knew it was all happening in such bad timing. Sophie had been back at work a day and in two she would be forced to stay home with Phoebe once again while Aaron worked.
"It's all good. I left Harris to deal with that one. She'll be fine."
"No she won't." Jess began shaking her head.
She knew Sophie had already been stressed enough over their previous argument regarding jobs, this would just make it worse.
"It'll only be a week. She'll have the kids when you need her to as well, I'm sure." Jack grinned teasingly, but he was actually being quite serious.
"She won't stay home, I can guarantee you."
And Jess was right, when Aaron had told Sophie about the plans, she had refrained from getting angry at him. As much as she was frustrated that he would be expecting her to stay home again, she had instead focused on the independence inside of her and decided on what she knew she was capable of doing.
So, in two days, she would be going back to London and staying in her apartment she still had there for a week. She was taking Phoebe with her and that included into work, using Felix and her mum as free babysitters when necessary as Estee was currently on business in London.
Aaron hadn't said much regarding his opinion on the matter as he knew it may cause more arguments. Therefore, he had instead placed his trust in Sophie's decision and agreed that if she thought she could handle work and looking after Phoebe during the same hours then he would leave her to it.
-
***
With the wedding plans in full swing, Erika had made sure to keep everyone organised and doing as she said. She wanted things to be perfect so with the help of Ashley and also Juliet, the idea of the event was turning out to be incredible.
They were now currently at a restaurant alongside a few other friends as they met to discuss further plans for the day. Erika wanted to ensure everyone was clued up on what was happening and when, so these meetings were essential.
"Are you seriously leaving right now?" Juliet stressed as she and Dylan were stood off to the side in a deep argument that had been going on for the past five minutes.
Since the incidents that had risen suspicion for Juliet when Dylan went to visit his family, the pair had been arguing non stop and the atmosphere between them had been tense.
"The kids are bored. I was just going to take them home."
"They're not bored. You're just using that as an excuse."
Running his hands over his face in aggravation, Dylan was trying his hardest not to raise his voice and completely lose it. Since Erika had egged on the suspicions in Juliet's head, she had become on edge over everything he did and it was slowly driving him insane.
He felt like she was gradually pushing him away to the point where he would no longer want to come back. As much as he tried to reassure her that there was nothing going on with him and his friend that went by the name of Afrika, Juliet refused to believe it and linked everything he did with this girl.
"It's not an excuse. We've been here hours." Dylan sighed when he realised he wasn't going to get through to her.
"Or you just want to go and speak to that girl in private, more like."
"No." He cut her off instantly. "I want to save them from this. It's for adults. They don't care about wedding plans."
Juliet knew he was right and knew that all three children were bored and agitated at this point but she couldn't bring herself to believe it. She had drummed the thought of him cheating into herself so much that it had to be true, it was the only thing she could think of now.
"If you wait another hour or so, we will all be done anyway." Juliet insisted but Dylan knew that wasn't true.
"You're still waiting for more people. You'll be hours."
Some more of Elliot's friends, alongside Jack were still expected to show to continue to the plans for the stag do and that would add plenty more hours of drinking to the night for sure.
Not only could Dylan tell that the kids were getting bored, he was too. None of this had anything to do with him, he was just here as moral support for Juliet but he felt like it wasn't appreciated anyway and was being used more so she could keep an eye on him.
"Leave then. Just go. I don't care anymore." Juliet threw her hands out and finished their arguments the same way she always did.
She would end up brushing it off like she didn't care while on the inside it was killing her. She always wanted Dylan to refuse and say he wouldn't go but he would always do the opposite and take the opportunity while he could.
"I'll see you tonight." He replied before rounding up the boys who had been finding some enjoyment in playing tag around the chairs.
"Yeah, sure." Juliet shrugged her shoulders as she was barely looking at him at this point. "I'll let you know when I'm coming back so you can end the FaceTime chat with Afrika."
That last dig was enough to push Dylan to the edge and Juliet couldn't tell if it was because she was right about the whole thing or if he was just agitated by her suspicions. However, she didn't have much time to think about it as Erika was by her side and trying to urge her back over to where everyone else was.
She could see the tension between them and the argument that was playing out so was trying to bring it to an end.
"Just let him go. Come back with us." Erika wrapped an arm over Juliet's shoulder as she was already guiding her away while giving Dylan daggers.
He had lost all effort to care in the slightest at this point as he got the kids and left. He left Juliet in the hands of Erika who eagerly took her back over to the table to distract her with wedding plans that she could have recited off the top of her head by now.
💜