Hi Angels!

I've been busy, can't you tell? *g* I've had lots of requests for this one so I finished it up for all of you. Hope you enjoy!

Lissie :)

Chapter 12

Jeffrey woke with a start. He had heard crying. His mother was crying. He fumbled around his nonfamiliar surroundings before
he found the edge of his makeshift bed of blankets and slipped to the floor of the narrow space between his bed and the door.
The varnished wood beneath his feet felt cool. He fumbled some more until he found the knob to open the door. He opened it
quickly, expecting to find his mother in tears and in need of some comfort.

But it wasn’t the sight of his mother in tears that made him stand still in the hall. If it had been, he would have been at her side in
a heartbeat. It was the sight of Jax holding her close to him, rocking her gently as he tried to soothe her tears that made him stay
in place by the door to his sleeping quarters. For the first time in his life, Jeffrey saw someone caring for his mother the way he
wanted her to be cared for. The way he had done so in the past on the rare occasions when he’d caught his mother crying.

The difference was that his mother seemed to be opening up to Jax to whatever was bothering her. She never did that with her,
she always shooshed Jeffrey away when things were bothering her, determined not to harm Jeffrey with any of her troubles.

Jax was tender and caring with her. Jeffrey watched as Jax tried to soothe her fears, calm her down and get her to go back to
sleep. Jeffrey watched as Jax rubbed her back until she was sleeping, as he hovered over her until he was sure she was asleep,
how he gave her a little kiss on her forehead before he returned to his own room, and how after a few minutes, he returned to
the main area of the boat with several blankets, placed them on the floor and made himself a makeshift bed on the hard cold
floor next to where she slept for the night.

Jeffrey knew then. The man for his mother was his father. Jeffrey wasn’t going to let his mother walk away this time.

He quietly crept back into his sleeping quarters and closed the door silently. Well as silently as he could with squeaky hinges.
He crawled into bed and went to sleep with a smile on his face.

In the morning Jeffrey got up when the sun was shining through the windows of his compartment. He had no idea of what the
time was but if the sun was up, it must be sometime in the morning so he threw back his covers, got out of his bed and walked
out into the hallway.

There was a different scene before him than the one he saw before he went to bed. His mother was still on the sofa sound
asleep, but there wasn’t any sign that Jax had been there. The blankets on the floor were gone. After walking by his mother,
careful not to make a sound he peeked into Jax’s bedroom to see if he had gone back to sleep in there. Jax wasn’t there either.
He looked up the ladder and noticed that the entrance to the inside of the boat had been unlocked. He climbed the ladder to
the top, pulled it away and welcomed the morning sunshine that met his face, and the sight of Jax sitting by the steering wheel,
seemingly gazing off into nothingness and drinking a cup of coffee.

“Mind if I join you?” Jeffrey asked and climbed the rest of the ladder to get his legs out and on the deck of the ship. He sat
down next to Jax, but not too close. He still wasn’t comfortable enough to be near enough as to touch him accidentally.

Jax looked surprised, but pleased at the sight of Jeffrey. His smile warmed even more when Jeffrey sat down near him. “I don’t
mind. You’re not a late sleeper like your mom?”

“No. I get up whenever the sun wakes me up. On the weekends I’m up before her and I make her eggs for breakfast.”

Jax nodded. “There’s some eggs in the ice box if you’d like to help me make breakfast this morning.”

Jeffrey shyly nodded as he answered, “Okay.” He liked the idea. Jax and him in the little kitchen downstairs. It could be fun.
“Mom’s probably not going to wake up for another couple of hours.”

“Yeah you’re right, unless she’s in pain. I don’t think she got much sleep last night with her ankle and...” He glanced at Jeffrey
and stopped before he mentioned the dreams.

“I know she had dreams last night. I saw you last night. You didn’t get much sleep either.” Jeffrey confessed, once again shyly.

“What did you see?” Jax asked cautiously.

“Everything. I heard Mom crying so I went out into the hall. You helped her get back to sleep and then you went to sleep on
the floor next to her. She probably doesn’t know that you slept on the floor.”

“No she doesn’t. She’d be upset if she knew I did that.”

“I won’t tell.”

“Thanks.”

“You won’t tell that she woke me up? She doesn’t like it when she does, gets upset at herself then.”

“I won’t. Does she have those dreams often?”

“I don’t know. She never tells me what they’re about. At home we sleep with our doors closed so I don’t usually hear her. But
when I do hear her, it scares me. She cries really loud and I wake her up. She hugs me tightly when she sees me, like she
thought that she’d never see me again or something and then she tells me to go back to bed, even though I know she’s not done
crying and she usually looks really scared.”

“This has been going on for a few years then?”

“Yeah. She won’t talk about them.”

“Not to anyone?”

“Not as far as I know.” Jeffrey looked at Jax and realized that he was genuinely concerned about his mother. He was going to
start planting his seeds with his mother, but Jax was here. He could start with Jax. If he ever wanted a real family he needed to
do something about it soon. Carefully watching for the reactions on Jax’s face Jeffrey added, “Well her last boyfriend, Sam, did
ask a psychologist or someone like that about them. She found out and got really mad at him. They broke up soon after.
Something about him not respecting her privacy.”

“This, Sam, right?” Jax waited for Jeffrey to nod yes before continuing, “were he and your mother close?”

“How close do you want to know? They dated for a few months, but he was mostly out of town. Do you mean close as in did
they have sex?” He waited for Jax’s face to turn bright red in shock before he finished, “They didn’t.”

Jax choked on the gulp of coffee he had just taken. “Uh, that’s not exactly what I was after, but uh thanks.”

“You okay?” Jeffrey asked as Jax coughed some more.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just surprised by your answer.”

“Why? I know about sex. I’ve had sex ed.” This was way too much fun. Jeffrey was feeling a lot more comfortable talking with
Jax now, especially since he had a purpose. Jax, on the other hand was looking more and more uncomfortable.

“I’ll take your word for it. She told you that she and Sam didn’t have sex?”

“Of course not. I just know. I can just tell when she’s slept with a guy or not. And if you’re wondering, there hasn’t been that
many. She says she doesn’t trust men.” And from what he had seen during the night, Jeffrey was pretty sure Jax was the only
man she had ever trusted. She hadn’t pushed her away during her nightmares but had allowed him to stay and comfort her. She
never did that.

“Jeffrey why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because you want to know. You’re just like any guy wanting to know the score with my mom. Before you tell me I’m wrong,
let me tell you I’ve seen the way you look at her. She’s the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen and you’d like to get to
know her better and hope that she’ll be yours. There’s just one problem, she’s not looking for some guy who thinks she’s
beautiful, she’s looking for one who will accept her for who she is and love her for who she is, not for what she appears to be.”
What he didn’t say was that his mother was looking for him – Jax. Jeffrey guessed that she’d already had everything she
wanted before with Jax, which was why none of her relationships had worked out.

“You sure know a lot about your mom.”

“I’ve lived with her my entire life. You’d think I would’ve learned something about her by now. And I have. I know the score
you’re looking for. She’s found what she’s been looking for.”

“I’m glad for her then.”

“Jax, she’s found you.”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t like my mother?”

“Of course I do, not just in that way. Or at least I haven’t in a long time.”

Liar, I know you do, I can see it, Jeffrey thought. “But, Jax, I like you, and I haven’t liked any of her boyfriends before.”

“Jeffrey, I’m not her boyfriend.”

“I know, but you could be.”

“Has your mother said anything about this?”

“No, but...”

“Then, I’m afraid, Jeffrey it wouldn’t work. It didn’t work the first time, and it won’t work now.”

“But her Daddy got in the way last time. You two never really broke up, you just didn’t see each for a long time again.”

“Jeffrey, time broke us up. We’ve been away from each other too long to make things work.”

“But neither one of you wanted to break up, at least Mom didn’t. Did you?”

“No, I didn’t, but time and fate weren’t on our side. That’s what broke us up. Jeffrey, what would say if I had a girlfriend?”

He hadn’t thought about that one. He didn’t did he? He couldn’t. “I wouldn’t like her.”

“Without even knowing her?”

“Yes, because you don’t love her.” You can’t love her, you love my mother, were the unspoken words that rang in his mind.

“Why do you say that? Because if you think I’m still in love with your mother after all this time, you better face the facts that a
reconciliation isn’t going to happen. I love her like a friend, but I’m not in love with her.”

There will be a reconciliation if I have anything to say about it. “You don’t love your girlfriend, if you even have one, because I
haven’t seen her yet. Where has she been?”

“Maybe she’s out of town.”

He had to be lying, didn’t he? “Okay maybe she could be. I still don’t like her. Do you really have one?”

“At the moment, no. I’ll probably have in the future and you’ll have to get used to that, just like your mother will probably have
other boyfriends.”

He was going to have a girlfriend again, and Jeffrey was sure it was going to be his mother, which would prevent his mother
from having any other boyfriends.

“If you say so.” They sat in silence for a few minutes, both gazing out at the water and all the rows of boats that surrounded
them. “Jax, do you think we could make breakfast now?”

“Sure. Getting hungry?”

“Yeah, and Mom will probably be up soon.”

“Yeah, she’ll want some more Tylenol soon. Go on in. I’ll be down in a few.”

“Okay.” Jeffrey soon disappeared out of sight down the ladder. Jax then heard him start banging around in the kitchen,
probably looking for pans and other utensils. He wasn’t being very quiet, but if Brenda wasn’t up by now, she would be soon.

Jax placed his face in his hands, rubbed his cheeks, and moved his hair from his eyes with his hands before sitting upright again.
That was the strangest conversation he had ever had. His heart was doing funny things to him. He felt elated and depressed at
the same time. He had a real conversation with his son, but what a conversation he had. Jeffrey was trying to play matchmaker,
he was sure of that. Reality told him that he had to prepare Jeffrey and himself against the impossibility of a reunion with
Brenda. As he had told Jeffrey, too much time had passed. They were forever tied together now because of Jeffrey, but that’s
where the ties had to stop. He couldn’t hope for any thing more. Especially since his greatest wish right now was that everything
he had told Jeffrey about a reconciliation would be proven wrong. He wanted to be more than old time casual acquaintances
who happened to share a son. He wanted her. He wanted their son. He wanted a life with the to last forever together.

Jeffrey watched Jax as he came down the ladder. A slow smile of satisfaction appeared on Jeffrey’s face. Jax was definitely
rattled, and thinking about something. Jeffrey hoped that something was his mother.

“I didn’t know cooking could bring such a smile to your face.” Jax said when he joined Jeffrey in the little kitchen.

Depends on what I’m cooking, Jeffrey thought as glanced at Jax, to his mother sleeping on the sofa, back to Jax. “Well you
know you never know what you’ll turn up with.”

***

So, did you like Jeffrey as much as I did after this chapter? Lemme know!