Chapter 6: Things Don't Always Go As Planned
Immediately following Chapter 4


Sarah sighed as she exited the bathroom and headed down the hall to 
her bedroom. She passed the open doorway of her brother's room and 
paused to watch him play with his best friend. The boys looked so 
much alike, although Brendon was two inches shorter than Toby, his 
hair was much blonder and his eyes mismatched, just like his 
father's. When Sarah watched her son, she often wondered what traces 
of her were in his features; all she could see in him was Jareth. 
She was very thankful, however, that his personality was nothing like 
his father's.

She wandered quietly to her room, wondering why Joey had really 
called, scared to take it as the truth. No one knew who the father 
of her son was. She had never spoken of it, not even written of it 
in her journal. How would anyone believe that she had sex with a Fae 
King? She just let them all believe what they wanted to. Karen had 
blamed herself for Sarah's pregnancy, saying she pushed her too hard 
to date. Her father figured she wouldn't talk because she had been 
raped, especially after he found out his grandson's middle name, 
Cormak, meant `son of defilement.' In some ways, Sarah herself saw 
it as rape, which is why she named her son such a thing. Although 
she had been willing to make love, she had been only sixteen; so 
naive, so trusting, so in love. 

She stood in her room, looking at herself in her vanity mirror 
running a finger over the scar at the base of her neck, then focusing 
her eyes on the ring on her finger; the thing given to her in a lie 
which she had never been able to take off again, no matter how hard 
she tried. Why had she been so gullible to listen to Jareth's 
professions of love when he only wanted to hurt her? She was happy 
she'd never seen him again. 

She breathed in deeply to clear her head and turned from the mirror 
and went to her closet, pulling out a t-shirt and blue plaid boxers. 
She had planned on taking a quick shower so that she could help her 
father fix dinner, but she was sure her thoughts had made her loose 
track of time. She threw on her clothes and hurried downstairs to 
help.

"Hey," Her father started once he saw her enter the kitchen, "Your 
boss called while you were in the shower. Said something about not 
hiring Murphy again."

Sarah rolled her eyes and nodded as she stirred the pot of boiling 
noodles, "Yeah, I know. It's just, he's a good guy. He can't help 
that he's mentally handicapped. These companies should be accepting 
of that. He's done every job I've found him just fine. I don't know 
why they don't keep him."

Robert placed a bowl of green beans in the microwave. "People are 
afraid of the unfamiliar and push it away before they figure things 
aren't as bad as they seem." He then turned to her, running a hand 
through his graying brown hair, looking at her with concerned 
eyes. "How are things going for you, really? Are you holding in 
there?"

Sarah shrugged, "Brendon is all that matters to me. As long as he's 
happy, I'm happy."

"Oh, that reminds me, his teacher called and wants to see you 
tomorrow."

"Damn. Did she say what about?"

Her father shook his head, "She sounded concerned though."

Sarah shrugged, "Breni hasn't complained about anything happening at 
school…I wonder what it could be."

"Well, dinner's ready. I'll get the boys."

The most Robert did was call up to his son and grandson. Sarah 
smirked to herself; her father wasn't one to talk much or really do 
stuff for anyone but himself; she was surprised he started dinner for 
the family on his own at all. She herself used to be like that, just 
getting things done with the bare minimum effort; boy had things 
changed in the past 6 years. Granted, the things she was doing 
hadn't really changed; she was still doing the chores around the 
house, but she had a job on top of that. And more importantly—most 
importantly—she had her son to care for, to educate. Caring for Toby 
as an infant had been a burden, a `thing' she had to do as a good 
daughter/sister. But having a child of her own had changed her, 
opened her eyes to the personal responsibilities she had as a mother.

Toby and Brendon came running into the kitchen, and when Toby saw the 
plates and food on the table in there, he frowned.

"Can't we eat in the dinning room today?" Toby asked eagerly.

Sarah shook her head, "No. You know we only eat in there for special 
occasions."

"But it is special," Her brother's blue eyes shined, "I got all A's 
on my report card. Breni did too."

"Did you Breni?" Sarah smiled at her son.

"Uh huh. Even in matt." Brendon's smile revealed his recently lost 
front tooth.

Sarah tried not to laugh at the lisp her son's missing tooth caused; 
it just made him even cuter. "Well it's a good thing winter break 
starts this weekend, so you can let your brain rest after all that 
work." Sarah joked, "Now, go sit down."

They all sat together in silence—not the awkward type of noiseless 
air that occurs when the room is uncomfortable, just the type a woman 
faces when being with three hungry men stuffing their faces with food.

"So Sar, what did Joey want to talk to you about?" Toby asked.

Sarah nearly choked herself on a green bean and swallowed it down 
hard.

"Sarah!" Her father rose to help her, but she raised her hand to him 
to show she was alright.

"He…" She had to think of something fast, "wanted to know if they 
could come over for dinner Friday night. I think that would be nice."

"So soon before Christmas?" Her father asked, "It's not `til next 
week. Don't you think having them over then would be better, so we 
don't have spend double the cost?"

"I…well…"

"Aw, come on, Dad." Toby whined, "Can't Joey come over? It doesn't 
have to be a real Christmas dinner."

"Maybe, as long as we don't do anything too fancy." Robert frowned, 
then lightened a bit, "I guess I haven't talked to Iri lately, we can 
catch up."

"And we can eat in the dinning room." Brendon smilingly added.

After dinner and putting the boys to bed with a King Arthur story, 
Sarah went to the living room to watch television. The news said the 
world was falling apart, as usual. She tried to find something 
interesting to watch, but for a Wednesday night at ten, there was 
nothing really on but the news. Thankfully the phone rang. She 
wasn't very surprised it was her Uncle Roy; probably calling to 
apologize for Joey's prank call.

"Hi sweetie, how are you and your men over there?"

She smiled, "We're fine."

"Hey, I've got a friend who's lookin' for some work and we were 
wondering what you've got open."

Sarah hushed her laugh. It was often that her uncle called asking 
this same favor for himself, "Come by my office tomorrow with him and 
we'll see what he's compatible with."

"Great."

The previous phone call ever on her mind, Sarah asked with 
concern, "Hey, Roy…is Joey doing okay?"

"Ha, that interesting you ask." Roy laughed, "Kid's been berserk 
today. Doesn't like our new house guest."

A lump started to form in Sarah's throat, "You've got company?"

"Yeah. He's a pretty okay fellow. The guy needs work and I'm 
letting him stay here until he can stand on his own." Roy 
snickered, "Joey probably just thinks I'll give him his room." 

Sarah relaxed. Joey was wrong or Roy wouldn't be joking. The Goblin 
King was too serious to be joked over, "I look forward to meeting 
him."

"He's already looking forward to meeting you. Stares at your picture 
all the time." Sarah could hear her aunt start to bicker at him to be 
quiet, "Irene here's taken a liking to him herself. She thinks he's 
a real looker. If she was ten years younger, I'd think he might 
steal her from me."

At her aunts shrieking protest, Sarah laughed, "I'll see you 
tomorrow. Come by after two. I have to see Brendon's teacher before 
then."

"Will do, sweetie. Bye."

* * *

Unsure of how formal a meeting this would be with Brendon's first 
grade teacher, Sarah wore a long sleeve navy blue dress and even put 
on hose and heels; too bad the only winter coat she had, a long grey 
overcoat, didn't quite match the effect she was going for. As she 
neared the teacher's office, the sound of her heels echoed off the 
walls of the empty hallway. It made her even more nervous than she 
already was, not knowing what to expect. She reached Mrs. Holland's 
office and knocked on the door. Soon the graying woman let Sarah 
enter. It was the woman's lunch break, Sarah could tell from the 
paper plate with a half eaten egg salad sandwich on the desk.

After seating herself, Mrs. Holland motioned for Sarah to sit at a 
chair on the other side of the desk. "Ms. Williams, I'm glad you've 
stopped by." 

After Sarah sat, she took a deep breath, "My father said you called 
but didn't say what about. Is something wrong with Brendon's 
schoolwork?"

"No. Your boy is very bright. You've done more with him than any of 
the other parents." The woman shifted in her seat as she leaned her 
elbows onto the table, "No, this is about his emotional state."

"Oh," Sarah looked puzzled, "He's showing no problems at home."

"Probably because he's trying to be strong for you. I spoke to him 
privately yesterday after he made an outburst."

"He what?!"

"He was angered yesterday morning by a boy who was speaking about his 
father. Brendon became upset and shouted that he wished he knew his 
own father."

"Oh god," Sarah said, lowering her head and closing her eyes. She 
had never wanted the day to come when Brendon questioned where he 
came from, "I didn't know."

"I asked him about it after class and he refused to talk to me about 
his feelings."

Sarah stood up, "I'll see if he'll talk to me about it."

Mrs. Holland stood with her, "Have you been seeing anyone, Ms. 
Williams?"

Sarah glared at her, thinking it rude to ask such a thing, "I'm a 
twenty three year old mother, Mrs. Holland. No one wants someone 
else's child."

The woman looked at her sympathetically, "I'm only asking because if 
you were, that might explain why Brendon is behaving this way."

"Oh," Sarah lowered her eyes, embarrassed at being so quick to 
judge. "There's never been anyone." Then she looked back at the 
teacher, "But he's got men in his life; my father, Toby…"

"Yes, but not a father of his own."

"But what can I do? I…?"

Mrs. Holland lay a comforting hand on Sarah's shoulder, "I'm not 
suggesting that you marry, Ms. Williams. I'm only saying you need to 
help your son through this.

* * *

Jareth hardly understood anything Roy had told him that morning, but 
he hoped the man knew what he was doing. Again the Goblin King found 
that his magicless body required sleep. Despite his new found 
exhaustion, it had taken him the longest time to fall asleep on the 
living room couch and then he was woken early in the morning to Irene 
getting her son ready for school. Joey's protesting of his presence 
also kept Jareth awake until the boy left. So when Roy had come to 
wake him not half an hour later to begin preparing for `job hunting' 
and teaching him the basics about the American world, Jareth was not 
in the best humor. 

Now he just sat on the couch in his new suit, listening to Roy and 
trying to remember everything he was being told of his `human life'-
the life of Jareth Johnson. He was 32 and single, from London, 
England where he studied theater and worked as a librarian until he 
fell down on his luck and found his way here to the United States. 
Then there was the issue of making Jareth fake identification--green 
card, visa, pass port--all these technicalities that had to be 
created so he had proof he existed. Apparently on this world if one 
wasn't given a number along with a name at birth, they weren't 
considered alive.

Roy then took Jareth to a friend of a friend who happened to create 
the lives of nonexistent people, and for forty bucks and a few 
photographs, Jareth Johnson suddenly existed.

"Now, if you get caught with these fakes, don't go rattin' on me," 
Norton the forger said before taking a hit from his cigarette.

Roy nodded but his eyes were focused on the merchandise, checking it 
for any mistakes. He suddenly threw the paper in his hand down, "Shit 
Nort. You put Landon. I can't show Sarah this…"

Jareth had been waiting at the edge of the room for the men to 
arrange everything. Since the work didn't involve him, he had little 
else to do then to burry himself in his own thoughts. But at the 
mention of her name, Jareth began to pay attention.

"Landon, London-who will notice?" Nort sneered, blowing out smoke 
through his nose.

"She will, damn it! We can't go today, it'll take to long to make a 
new one." Roy scratched his head with one hand, mumbling, "I can't 
afford this."

"What is the problem?" Jareth walked over, finally voiced himself.

"Norton here screwed up. We can't go to Sarah until he fixes it," 
Roy then pointed a stern finger at Nort, "And we ain't payin' for 
your mistake."

"Hey, I told you…" Norton started.

"She'll notice. She's taught to spot illegal papes and she won't go 
easy just `cause I'm family." Roy stated.

Jareth was more impressed with this girl every time she was spoken 
of, "Your niece sounds honorable." He added, picking up the license 
with his picture on it, "It is unfortunate this world is so policy 
driven that even honest men such as myself have to lie."

Roy smiled at him, "Everyone's got a demon on their shoulder. I'm 
sure you've got an evil streak. You didn't get that left hook from 
playing tea."

Jareth grinned, "I have my moments, but you my friend are an artist 
at your devilish craft if you have never been caught."

"Exactly," Roy turned rough on him, "And I don't plan on ever 
getting' caught. GOT THAT? If you get found out, like Nort said, you 
keep your trap tight about us."

The grin left Jareth's face and he gave a single nod of 
acknowledgement. He certainly admired Roy to a degree, but he could 
only bend his `kingy' mind so far with what he would allow the man to 
say to him. It was difficult to restrain himself from reminding Roy 
how to speak to a king. There may not be a system of hierarchy in 
this world, but Jareth wasn't from this world and was still a 
king. "What ever happens to me, I WILL hold you FULLY accountable."

Roy backed off, remembering who Jareth really was; even without magic 
he was still a very intimidating presence. Uneasily, Roy stood 
up, "I'd better call Sarah and tell her we'll reschedule."

***

Sarah left her sons school, but not without first saying goodbye. 
She found Brendon on the school playground playing kickball in the 
melting snow with his classmates. At seeing him running quickly 
after the ball, her mother hen instincts kicked in and she yelled for 
him to stop and walk to her. She wasn't unjustified in her means. 
She wanted him to have all the fun a normal little boy should have, 
but he wasn't normal. He had been borne with a heart condition, had 
spent the first months of life fighting to live, and even at six 
years old he was still fighting that battle. Only the medication he 
had everyday allowed him to live semi-normally. And that did not 
include playing sports or doing anything very physical. If she could 
have, Sarah would have walked right over to the Incharge over the 
children and give them a piece of her mind for letting her son be 
involved in the game, but she didn't want to cause a seen and didn't 
want Brendon's friends to think him a loser.

Brendon walked over to her a little out of breathe, but his eyes were 
bright, "Mommy, what are you doing here?'

She bent herself down to his eye level, glad her skirt was long 
enough for her to look descent doing so, "I wanted to come see you…
play. Are you winning?"

He shook his head and asked her to play with them, but in her dress 
and heels…not to mention the cold, she could hardly do anything. He 
sadly accepted she had to go and wasn't ashamed to hug her in front 
of his friends.

She pulled back from him and looked into his blue and green eyes, 
patting his nose with her index finger "Just remember grandpa will 
pick you and uncle Toby up today."

He smiled at her, "Yep, but you'll be home when I get there."

"That's right." Her smile faded as she remembered what Mrs. Holland 
had told her, "And I need to talk to you about something, so don't 
let me forget."

Brendon noticed his mother's sadness, "What's wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just, Mrs. Holland told me you got mad 
yesterday, when a boy talked about his dad."

It saddened Sarah to see him avert his eyes from her and 
frown, "Everyone else has a daddy…Nick even has two."

"You have grandpa, and me. What makes you want a dad?"

Brendon shrugged, "I don't know. It's just I…"

Sarah couldn't believe he was too shy to tell her. He told her 
everything, "Come on, Breni, it's okay."

"No, you'll get mad. You didn't like my daddy."

Sarah's eyes widened; she'd never talked to anyone about his `father' 
in front of him for him to know anything about how she felt. "Who 
told you that?"

"Joey and Aunt Iri. I heard them talkin' at his birthday, when I 
sleeped over."

"Well, what did they say?"

"That he must have hurt you a lot to hate him enough to not even 
talk `bout him. Did he?"

So everyone knew at least that much, even her son now. Unconsciously 
she ran her hand under her collar to her scar. "Yes, he did."

"Was he mean?"

"I don't know." Sarah sighed and looked into his eyes, "The truth is, 
Breni, I hardly knew him"

"Oh." He looked hurt that she couldn't tell him more.

"Hey, we're having dinner with Aunt Irene and Uncle Roy tomorrow?"

"Will Joey come?" At his mother's nod he grinned and jumped for a 
second, then took a hold of her hand and marched her towards the 
parking lot across from the playground. "Now go to work and make 
money."

She smiled at him, then sternly saluted, "Yes Sir."

* * *

The streets were wet from the melting snow, the sun's reflection 
bounced off the glistening pavement straight into Sarah's eyes as she 
pulled into the parking lot of the strip mall that held her 
workplace. Like usual, she could only find a spot the furthest place 
possible from her office, Thompson's Temp. Agency, the place she'd 
worked the past three years. At one time it had been she who had 
stepped through its doors looking for a job. Now she was the one 
people came to for help. She liked her boss, Mr. Thompson, 
especially since he never once mentioned how unfortunate it was that 
she was an unwed mother. He didn't treat her differently form her co-
workers and even played with Brendon when she brought him in. The 
only complaint she had with the man was how he sometimes turned 
people away. It was his profession to find people jobs and if they 
are one point off of the Affirmative Action requirements, he thought 
he could turn them out. Well, she was more open to give people 
chances.

She pushed open the door to the office, the bells placed at the top 
clinked against the glass as it shut behind her. There were three 
people waiting to be interviewed, two teenage girls and one man, 
probably in his sixties. All were dressed nicely; those wanting jobs 
always wore their best, but it was Sarah's job to look beyond 
appearance and find their true story. If she didn't get their 
stories, find out where they came from and why they needed her, then 
she could end up giving them positions that they hate; she had 
encountered a few of those herself and she didn't wish that for 
anyone.

"Sarah, you're here." Donna, secretary for Mr. Thompson and for the 
entire office, called out to Sarah when she saw her enter, raising 
her reading glasses to the top of her head so she could read what she 
had written on a post it note, which she held close to her dark 
eyes, "You've got one message. Your uncle said he can't make it in 
today and has to reschedule."

Sarah smiled to herself and shook her head. Roy probably tried to 
forge papers for this guy and found a mistake he wouldn't want her to 
see. She was well aware of her uncle's pastimes, although she was 
certain he had no idea she knew. She helped his friends regardless. 
If someone needed work and was willing to look for it, then no matter 
their background, they shouldn't be punished for trying to better 
themselves. She didn't of think her involvement as an illegal 
action; how could helping others be wrong?

She dialed her uncle's house, but no one answered there, so she tried 
his cell phone after she found the number in her address book. She 
was lucky he answered. "Hey Roy. I heard you called."

The noise on the other end sounded like he was outside somewhere with 
cars passing near by, "Yeah, something's come up so I can't make it 
today. What does tomorrow look like for you?"

"I have no one interviewing around ten. That won't be too early for 
your friend, will it?" Sarah teased. One of his previous friends 
refused to do anything until 3 in the afternoon-someone lazier than 
her uncle himself.

He sounded annoyed by her, "You are worse than your aunt. Ten is 
fine."

"Great, see you tomorrow then. Oh, and for dinner, have Irene make 
her sweet potato…"

"Dinner?"

Sarah snapped her mouth shut. She had totally forgotten to ask if 
they even had time to come over; it had been talked about so much 
that it seemed like an already arranged thing, "Um, if you are free 
tomorrow night, would you and Irene like to come to dinner over here 
for sort of a pre-Christmas get together?"

"Depends on what you are cooking."

"I'm not sure yet. Any suggestions?"

"Yeah, no chicken. My friend is sick of that. Other than that, how 
but an all out Christmas dinner. Ham, cranberry sauce, mashed 
potatoes…"

"Well, Dad doesn't want anything fancy, but I think I can still do 
all that with his help. Just let beg Irene to make her sweet potato 
casserole. I absolutely love that stuff." Sarah laughed, then got a 
bit more serious, her mind drifting back to her cousin's call the 
previous night, "Is Joey any better about your friend?"

"Ah, let me see--NO. Basically told the man he was an ameba, then 
headed straight to school." Roy chuckled, "Jareth sure is a forgiving 
man."

Sarah blinked hard. Did she hear him correctly? Her voice sounded 
frightened, though she didn't intend to. "What was his name again?"

"Jar…"

"Damn!" Sarah shouted when the phone when static. She raised her 
voice, "Roy, your breaking up."

"S….ry, w..ing under a bridge. Dang technology. OH, that reminds 
me, your aunt asked me to pick up her film from Walmart-we're headed 
there for clothes anyway."

Sarah listened to him on the other end, babbling on about his list 
of `to dos' as if she weren't even there, but then, "Well, kiddo, I 
better get off here. See you at ten then?"

Sarah nodded her head unconsciously, "Yeah. Bye."

* * *

"Yep, I thought so." Roy said after hanging up with his niece. He put 
the phone back into his coat pocket, then pulled the coat tighter 
around him to block the chilly air.

"Thought what?" Jareth asked, walking beside him.

"She is the one who told Joey about you. She knew your name when I 
said it." He turned a concerned eye to his friend, "She sounded a 
little scared by it."

Jareth shook his head once with frustration, "For the life of me, I 
do not know her." Then he gave a sly grin to Roy, "I am sure I would 
have remembered a face as beautiful as hers." 

Roy smiled slightly, "Hey, that's my niece you're talkin' about."