Fun?

Jade shuts her cell phone, staring into space as she sits on her bed. Her mother's voice rang in her ears... she had kept the call quiet after answering it, but now she was torn in two directions.

"Don't tell your father... I don't want him upset or worrying... Ben doesn't want him to interfere..."

Jade bites her lip. How could she not tell her Dad? Wasn't it his right? And right now, she could use a little comfort herself. But she wanted to respect her mom... it could be bad if her dad went in guns blazing... sure, he had past experience but... her mom didn't seem to think it was a good idea. And maybe it wasn't as bad as they thought anyway... Dylan could just be pulling a stupid stunt again. They weren't sure that he'd been kidnapped or anything.

Jade finally slides off the bed and stuffs her phone in her pocket. Mick had called her five minutes ago for breakfast, and she didn't want him thinking anything was wrong.

Hurrying into the hall, she walks down to the kitchen where the little family sat. Once or twice a week they ate by themselves, away from the dining hall, to just have quality time, especially with BJ. Mick had told Jade she was more than welcome to eat at either place, but she'd taken him up on eating with them. She'd see the others later.

Mick glances up as Jade joins them and smiles. "Morning."

She pastes on a smile. "Good morning." Her grin widens at BJ. "Hey you. Did you leave any breakfast for me?"

Mick chuckles and passes her the plate of waffles. "I dare say if you'd been here three minutes later, this kid woulda polished the table clean." He winks at BJ and ruffle his hair. "But that's good. With all the energy you burn during the day, it's good to have a healthy breakfast."

Jade quietly takes one of the waffles, her appetite long gone. But she couldn't lead on that anything was wrong.

After a minute or two of silence though, Mick was too quick to pick up on Jade's quiet mood. It was strange. He gives a questioning glance to Rosetta before addressing his daughter again. "Have fun last night?"

"Mm-hmm..." Jade nods as she takes a bite of food.

Mick quirks an eyebrow. "Well don't sound too excited."

Jade tries to laugh. "No, it was fun. We all had a good time."

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." Jade tries to smile again, though it was hard - she knew her dad was smarter than that.

Mick doesn't probe any further, but something seemed odd. Something wasn't right. Did it have to do with last night? He wondered.

Half an hour later, Mick was in the barn, continuing chores from where he'd left off before breakfast. Joining Dan for the rest of the feeding, it's not unusual that they work side-by-side with some of the others to get the job done.

Mick cuts open a bale of hay, putting the knife back in his pocket. "So, Jade said you guys had fun last night... anything exciting?"


Gunner resists, but finally lifts his eyes to look at Hope. She was so tender... so sincere. "I... I don't know what kind of a life I deserve," he returns quietly.

Taking his sleeve to swipe at his eyes, he moves up onto the bed to sit, slouching, but calm. For now, the waterworks were turned off and he was settling down again.

He sniffs and stares at the floor before daring to look at Hope again. After blowing up, letting go, and being comforted, now he just wanted a few minutes alone. He knew that later he would see Bree again, but for now... the door had closed a little again, waiting for another time to be opened. "I'm... I'm okay now." Though he knew he didn't have to be ashamed or embarrassed, he was. He wasn't used to showing these raw emotions like this, and his face is warm to prove it.

He looks to the mess he'd made of the table, books and papers. Slowly, he sinks back to the floor to start picking it up. He knew Hope wanted to see the doctor too.