When I originally wrote this story, I never intended to write this chapter. It was suggested by Flight of Folly (Thanks a bunch, Natalie!) and I took it as a challenge. And fortunately, my muse, who planned to spend her summer at the pool drinking pina coladas, got drunk, fell asleep in the sun and got a terrible sunburn. So, she decided to come inside for a while. I’ll be interested to get your reactions to the chapter. If it doesn’t go over well, I’ll delete it and leave the story as it was.

A/N: This story was originally written before the season 6 finale, so it does not take into account the outcomes given to us by the writers for any of the characters.

Chapter 3

Audrey glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “Damn it!” she said having long ago picked up her husband’s favorite epithet. Of course, I’m late, she thought. Jack always says that “late” is my middle name. Maybe he’s right.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” three-year-old Jillian echoed from the back seat. She was a pretty little girl with straight blond hair and big blue eyes that were constantly full of mischief.

“Jill,” Audrey admonished gently. “What has Daddy told you about saying that?”

“Mommy and Daddy say it!” Jill pointed out.

“And we shouldn’t,” Audrey admitted. “It’s not right for grown ups to say and little girls shouldn’t say it either. Okay? I’ll try not to say it and so will Daddy. Do we have a deal?”

“When will we get to Nana’s house?” Jillian asked quickly changing the subject to one she liked better.

“Soon, but I have to call her and tell her that we’re going to be late.”

“Daddy says that ‘late’ is your middle name,” Jillian said, once again parroting a parent.

Little pitchers certainly do have big ears, Audrey thought, suddenly remembering one of her father’s favorite expressions. “Yes, I know what Daddy says,” she said as she reached for her phone and hit the speed dial.

“Rachel,” Audrey said as the phone was answered. “It’s Audrey. I’m going to be a little late.”

Audrey’s mother-in-law chuckled softly but made no comment. “When should I expect you, dear?” she asked instead.

“About twenty minutes. I’m about to get on the 101.”

“Don’t get on the 101, Audrey. Didn’t you hear the traffic report? There was a bad accident and traffic’s backed up for miles in both directions.”

“Really? I’m surprised that Jack didn’t call me. He takes the 101 on his way to work and he knew I was driving over to your house. If he got caught in a back up, I would have expected him to call.”

“He probably just missed it, dear. It didn’t happen all that long ago, but it was a big one: a tractor trailer and four passenger cars. Two people are dead and several others are injured. So stay off the 101 and take side streets. You’ll get here in about a half hour.”

Audrey groaned audibly. “I just hope my bladder can hold out that long!” she said resting her hand on her swollen belly. “The baby dropped in the last couple of days and now his head is resting right on my bladder. It seems like I’m running to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. I was up four times last night.” Jack and Audrey’s second child, a boy, was due in less than a month.

“It’ll be over in a couple of weeks,” Rachel reminded her daughter-in-law sympathetically.

“This baby can’t get here soon enough for me,” Audrey said impatiently.

“He’s got his own time schedule. He’ll be out when he’s good and ready. Don’t try and rush it,” Rachel said wisely. “I’ll see you in a little while. Tell Jillian that I made sugar cookies and she’s going to help me decorate them.”

“She’ll love it. Jill loves to bake with Nana. Thanks for taking her today, Rachel. I really have to finish getting the things I need for the baby’s room and if I had to drag Jill to all of those stores, I wouldn’t get anything done and she’d be miserable.”

“I’m glad I can help out,” Rachel said kindly. “That’s what grandmothers are for. I’ll see you in a little while.”

Audrey set her phone down and made the next left turn.

“Mommy, are we there yet?” Jillian asked. “I wanna see Nana.”

“And Nana wants to see you, too,” Audrey assured her. “We’ll be there soon, pumpkin.”

Audrey pulled into her mother-in-law’s driveway a half hour later, her bladder nearly screaming for relief. She got Jill out of the back seat as quickly as possible and headed for Rachel’s porch at what only could be described as break-neck speed for a massively pregnant woman leading a three year old.

Rachel opened the front door and Audrey dropped Jillian’s hand and brushed passed the older woman without even saying hello.

“Mommy has to go potty,” Jillian announced.

“So I gathered,” Rachel said as she helped Jill take her jacket off. “Are you ready to decorate the sugar cookies?”

“Yay!” Jill squealed as she ran toward the kitchen.

“You have to wash your hands first,” Rachel reminded her. She reached behind the door and pulled out a folding step stool. Setting the stool in front of the sink, Rachel helped Jillian to climb up and turn on the water.

Audrey stepped into the kitchen just as Jillian was squirting a third glob of soap into her little hand. “Enough soap, Jill,” Audrey said as she put the pump bottle out of her daughter’s reach.

“Any last minute instructions?” Rachel asked.

“Nothing that I can think of. I should only be a couple of hours, Rachel. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

“Think nothing of it. I’m happy to help,” Rachel told her as she helped Jillian rinse the mountain of soap from her hands. “Enjoy your shopping.”

“I will. Thank you,” Audrey said. She was just about to kiss Jillian goodbye when her phone rang. Audrey reached into her bag and dug the phone from the bottom. The blocked number on the caller ID told her that it was coming from a government agency phone. “That’s probably Jack calling to tell me about the traffic,” she speculated. “Hi, honey,” she said into the phone.

“Audrey,” said a voice that didn’t belong to Jack. “Audrey, it’s Bill.”

“Oh, Bill! I’m sorry! I thought it was Jack,” Audrey laughed at her faux pas. “Just don’t tell Karen or she’ll be mad at me. What can I do for you?”

Bill and Karen had become close friends with Jack and Audrey. Audrey knew that Bill was planning a surprise fiftieth birthday party for Karen and assumed that he was calling to enlist her help.

“Audrey, have you heard any news this morning?”

“News? Not really, Bill. Why?”

“There was an accident on the 101 earlier today.”

“I didn’t hear about it, but Jack’s mother warned me about it when I was on my way to her house. She said that traffic is backed up for miles in both directions.”

Bill hesitated before he went on. “Audrey, are you with Jack’s mother right now?”

“Yes, I am. Bill, what’s going on?”

“I’m glad she’s there for you. You’re going to need her support,” Bill said.

Audrey began to panic. “Bill, what’s going on?” she asked again. “What are you not telling me? That accident on the 101, was Jack somehow involved? Is Jack alright?” Tears had already formed in her eyes and were catching on her lower eyelashes prior to making a swift decent down her cheeks. Rachel and Jillian had now both turned to look at her.

“He’s alive, Audrey. They took him to USC Medical Center by helicopter. He’s already in surgery.”

“Oh God!” Audrey gasped as she slumped into a kitchen chair. “How bad… how badly is he hurt?”

“I don’t know the extent of his injuries. Highway patrol called Division when they saw his work ID. The guys at Division called me since I know you better than they do. Frankly, Audrey, I’m getting this all second hand. I can send a car over to pick you up at Rachel’s house if you like.”

“No, that won’t be necessary, Bill. I can make it there myself. Rachel and I will drive over together,” Audrey said trying to pull herself together. “I’ll call Kim, too. She can meet us there.”

“Audrey, I’m sorry. If there’s anything that Karen and I can do, just let me know. I know you’ll need help with Jillian. We’ll pick her up at the hospital a little later and keep her for you.” Bill and Karen had become like another set of grandparents to Jillian. Without children of their own, both considered the little girl the granddaughter that they would never have.

“Thank you, Bill,” Audrey said numbly. “I better go now.” Audrey hung up the phone and stared blankly at her mother-in-law.

“He was in the accident on the 101, wasn’t he?”

Audrey nodded without saying a word. “We have to get to the hospital,” she said fumbling for her keys.

Rachel reached out and took the keys from her. “I’ll drive. You can call Kim,” she directed. Past adversity had taught Rachel Bauer Stevens how to take charge in an emergency. She guided Audrey and Jillian out of the house and into the car.

“I thought we were going to make cookies,” Jillian whined not understanding why her happy plans were suddenly changed. “Mommy, why are you crying?”

The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. Audrey called the hospital to see if they could give her any information on Jack’s condition, but other than confirming that he was in surgery, there was no new information. After that she called Kim and then her father. Both said they would meet her at the hospital. After finishing her conversation with her father, Audrey slipped the phone back into her bag.

“Before you put that away, you should probably call Marilyn,” Rachel suggested.

Audrey nodded. “I guess I should. Jack and I aren’t that close to her, but I’d hate for her to hear it on the news. And Josh and Jack have stayed close since Graem died.”

Marilyn, who was dating someone and finally seemed to have gotten over Jack’s rejection of her, was genuinely upset when she received Audrey’s call. “Josh has classes until noon today. As soon as he’s out of class, we’ll come over and sit with you,” she told Audrey.

Audrey, Rachel and Jillian soon arrived at the hospital and made their way to the waiting room. Kim arrived about fifteen minutes later and Jim Heller less than a half hour after that. The wait was interminable. Twice Audrey asked the waiting room receptionist if she had any news and twice the woman told Audrey that as soon as the surgery was over the surgeon would be out to talk to her.

It was almost three hours before a tired looking, young surgeon came through the waiting room doors, spoke quietly to the receptionist and then made his way over to Audrey. “Mrs. Bauer,” he said. “I’m Dr. Callahan. I’m the lead surgeon on the trauma team that is taking care of your husband.”

“How is he? Is he going to be alright?” Audrey asked anxiously. She was clutching Rachel’s hand so tightly that she was hurting her mother-in-law, but Rachel, as anxious and upset and Audrey, didn’t seem to notice.

“He made it through the surgery and he’s in both critical and unstable condition, Mrs. Bauer,” Dr. Callahan said gently. He then took time to detail the extent of Jack’s injuries and the corrective surgery. “Right now all I can tell you is that we are doing everything possible for him. He’s very sick and I can’t give you any guarantees as far as the outcome. I would love to sit here and tell you that your husband is going to be fine, Mrs. Bauer, but that would be a disservice to you and your family. He’s got a number of factors in his favor. He’s relatively young and very healthy. Those are important factors in his recovery. Going against him is the severity of his injuries. And there’s one other problem,” Dr. Callahan added. “Your husband has a rather rare blood type, Mrs. Bauer. He’s B negative. Only about 2 per cent of the population of the US is B negative. That presents us with a problem. The only types of blood we can give him are B negative or O negative. B negative is very had to come by, especially now when we are in the middle of a blood shortage. We can give him O negative and he’s already received three units of it, but he needs more blood and the preference is to give him B negative rather than O negative. Do you know if any blood relatives, like parents or children, have B negative blood?”

Audrey immediately looked to Rachel for an answer. Rachel shook her head. “Two years ago when I had a hip replacement, Jack tried to donate blood for me and they said that the types weren’t compatible. So I don’t think I’m a match. I guess the blood type ran on his father’s side of the family.”

Kim spoke next. “I don’t know what my blood type is, but if you can check, I’d be happy to donate blood for my father.”

“Good,” the doctor said. “We’ll take you down to the lab and have you tested. Are there any other relatives?”

“I’m Jack’s nephew,” Josh said. He was a 19 year old college freshman now and had grown into a tall, handsome young man. He had idolized Jack ever since Jack rescued him from his grandfather. “My father and Jack were brothers. Could I have the same blood type?”

“It’s possible. I can take you down to the lab, too. Is there anyone else? Any other children or siblings?” Callahan asked. “I’d really like to have several units of blood on hand.”

Audrey shook her head. “It’s a small family, Doctor. Jack’s father and only brother are both dead. Jack and I have one child but she’s only three,” Audrey told him as she pointed to Jillian who had fallen asleep in Kim’s arms.

“Alright, for now we’ll test the two of you,” he said to Kim and Josh. “If you think of any other relatives, contact them and have them come in for testing.”

Kim transferred Jillian to Rachel’s arms without waking her and then joined Josh and the doctor for a trip to the hospital lab. At the same time, Jim Heller left to get coffee for everyone leaving Audrey alone with Rachel and Marilyn and a sleeping Jillian. The three women were silent for a moment. It was Audrey who broke the silence. “We need to call Jarrod.”

“Audrey, you can’t do that,” Marilyn said quickly.

“He’s Jack’s son, Marilyn. I won’t watch my husband die for lack of the right blood type when he has a perfectly healthy son who might be a match.”

“Jarrod has no idea that he’s Jack’s son. How do you plan on explaining this to him?”

“Maybe it’s time he knows the truth. He and Jack get along well. How do you think Jarrod would feel if Jack died and later he found out that he might have been able to prevent it?” Audrey asked.

“Oh, please, Audrey. One unit of blood is not going to make the difference in Jack’s survival,” Marilyn said skeptically. “And this isn’t just about telling Jarrod. If we tell him, then Kim needs to know and so does Josh.”

“This isn’t your husband lying in the intensive care unit, Marilyn,” Audrey said trying to keep her anger under control and her voice down to keep from waking Jillian. “We’re having another baby in a couple of weeks and I’ll do anything to make sure that Jack is here to enjoy his new son even if that means telling Jarrod and Kim and Josh the truth.”

“If it was a sure thing, Audrey, I’d agree with you, but we have no idea what Jarrod’s blood type is. Please, think about it. Jarrod doesn’t want to know who his birth parents are. Let’s see what happens with Kim and Josh and then consider it only if it’s absolutely necessary,” Marilyn pleaded.

“Audrey,” Rachel started. “You’ve worked for the government. Would they have a record of blood types in the medical records of the field agents? It would make sense. That way if they’re injured in the line of duty and need blood, the information is already available.”

“I don’t know,” Audrey said. “But I know who can find out for me.”

Audrey took out her phone and started to dial, when, as if in answer to her prayers, Bill and Karen walked into the waiting room. “Bill!” Audrey exclaimed. “I was just about to call you.” She stood and accepted hugs from both Bill and Karen, who then greeted Rachel and Marilyn. “There’s a problem,” Audrey told Bill. “Jack has a rare blood type, B negative. They’re looking for family members with the same blood type to donate, but it’s a small family and we’re pretty limited. I was wondering if the government kept a database of the blood types of their field agents.”

Bill nodded. “I don’t know, Audrey. Let me call Chloe and have her check it out.”

Within minutes Bill had explained the situation to Chloe and she was looking for the information. “Bingo!” she said. “All field agents have their blood types in their medical histories. I can search by blood type for every CIA and FBI field office in the country to find agents who have type B negative blood.”

“Get back to me when you have something, Chloe,” Bill directed her.

Efficient as she was, it only took Chloe a few minutes to get the information. “We got lucky, Mr. Buchanan. I found agents in Denver, Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle that match. Morris is arranging to have the two in Denver and Seattle donate blood at a local facility and we’ll have it flown here on a priority status. He’s going to notify the agents in Chicago and New Orleans that we may need them to be on standby. Even better, we’ve got two agents right here in LA that are matches. One is an FBI agent named Ed Randall. I’ve already contacted the Special Agent in Charge of the field office and Randall is on his way to the hospital as we speak. The other local agent is Jarrod Keller. He’s off today, but Doyle called him and he’ll be at the hospital in about an hour. Isn’t that a coincidence? He and Jack are pretty good friends. Who would have guessed that they had the same rare blood type?”

“Good work, Chloe. Thank you,” Bill said as the conversation ended. He looked at Audrey. “Running the database was a good idea. We got six hits: two are local, two more are on the west coast and the other two are on standby in case we need them.”

“Who are the local agents,” Audrey asked nonchalantly. “I just wondered if Jack knew them.”

“I doubt that he knows the FBI agent, but he trained the CTU agent. It’s Jarrod Keller. Keller and the FBI agent will both be here in an hour or less.”

“That’s wonderful,” Audrey said heaving a sigh of relief. She waited until Bill and Karen weren’t looking to exchange furtive glances with Rachel and Marilyn.

The rest of the afternoon dragged on. Kim was able to donate blood to her father, but Josh wasn’t a match, so Dr. Callahan was particularly pleased to find out that he had some additional donors even if they weren’t all local. The units of blood from Kim, Jarrod and the FBI agent, Randall would tide Jack over for the time being. The other two units coming in from out of town would be stored and used as needed.

The next three days were a blur for Jack’s family who spent endless hours waiting and praying. There didn’t seem to be much improvement in his condition, but by the same token, the doctors seemed reasonably happy that he had not had any major setbacks either. It wasn’t until the fourth day that Jack started to show some improvement. He started waking up and trying to communicate despite the fact that the doctors kept him on a ventilator to assist his breathing and the tube down his throat kept him from speaking. All in all, Jack’s condition improved rapidly and within a week he was sitting up and breathing on his own. Audrey cried the first morning that she walked into the intensive care unit to visit and Jack smiled at her and quietly said her name.

“Oh, Jack,” she sobbed as she leaned over to kiss him. “You scared us all to death,” she told him as they kissed.

“I know,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. I know I was in an accident, but I can’t remember what happened.”

“Let’s not worry about that now. You just need to finish getting better so you can go home soon. You’re a lot of trouble, do you know that?” she teased him. “We had people running all over the country to get blood for you.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked her.

“Don’t worry about it right now. I’ll tell you about it later.” Audrey said watching Jack’s sleepy eyes start to close again.

For the next few days, Jack continued to get better. He spent large blocks of time sleeping but had started to eat small amounts and was even up and walking a few steps at a time. Audrey entered his room two weeks after the accident and found him sitting up with a plate of scrambled eggs and a bowl of oatmeal.

“How’s breakfast?” Audrey asked after giving him a kiss.

“It’s hospital food, so it’s probably awful, but since it’s the first real food I’ve had in two weeks, it’s the best meal I’ve ever eaten. The nurse said if I don’t have any problems with breakfast or lunch that I might get something more solid for dinner,” he told Audrey. “I was hoping for a steak.”

“Don’t get your hopes up. You might get something more solid than oatmeal, but it probably won’t be a steak,” she laughed. “I like your enthusiasm, though. You need to eat. I can tell how much weight you lost,” she said brushing her hand over his now hollow cheek.

Jack returned his attention to eating and Audrey sat down next to his bed letting out an involuntary sigh.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I’m tired. I’m not sleeping well any more. I can’t find a comfortable position and last night was really bad.”

Jack looked at her with concern. “Audrey, you shouldn’t have come this morning if you weren’t feeling well. You really need to get some rest. I don’t want you over-exerting yourself. I’m fine here by myself. Kim will stop by after work and my mother will be here later this morning. Why don’t you go home and get some rest.”

She smiled at him. “Because I can’t stand being away from you. I love you, Jack, and I almost lost you. Sitting here with you makes me feel safer.”

“You have to get over that.”

“I know and I’m sure that I will with time, but for right now, I feel more secure when I’m with you. Kim will stay most of the evening, so I might leave after she gets here.”

Jack finished his breakfast while making small talk with Audrey. “By the way,” he said as they were talking about nothing in particular. “When I first started to wake up last week, you mentioned that people were going all over the country getting blood for me. You said that you’d explain later.”

Audrey nodded. “Did you know that you have a rare blood type?”

“Yeah, I’m B negative. So is Kim,” he said with a shrug. “They told me that years ago when I joined the LAPD.”

“Well, thanks for sharing! We had no idea.” Audrey recounted the story including her disagreement with Marilyn regarding whether to tell Jarrod the truth about his parentage and how they had solved the problem by simply having Chloe run a list of potential blood donors from the government database. “And, by the way, Jarrod said that he wants to come and see you as soon as you’re well enough for visitors.”

“So, how much does Jarrod know?” Jack asked somberly.

“Nothing. He thinks that the blood types are a coincidence. Since Chloe pulled the blood types of all of the field agents off of the computer he has no reason to believe anything else.”

“Was anyone else suspicious, like Bill or Chloe? She’s pretty perceptive.”

“Maybe so, but unless she’s keeping her suspicions to herself, she has no idea. Everyone just thinks it’s a happy little coincidence, Jack. Why should they think otherwise? Your secret is safe,” Audrey assured him.

Jack seemed satisfied with that. “Tell Jarrod that he can stop by any time. I’d like to see him so I can thank him.”

“I’ll call him when I get home this afternoon.”

Audrey’s plans to call Jarrod when she got home were well intended but were soon set aside, replaced by a more pressing matter: the birth little James Heller Bauer.

It was shortly after Audrey had agreed to call Jarrod when Jack noticed that Audrey was squirming uncomfortably. “Audrey, is something wrong?” he asked.

“I just had a contraction,” she explained. That was nothing new. She had been having infrequent and irregular contractions for the past several days.

“That one must have hurt,” Jack noted. “Other contractions haven’t seemed to bother you.”

“It was worse than the ones that I’ve been having,” Audrey admitted.

“Why don’t you call you father and have him come and take you home so you can rest,” Jack suggested.

“It was one contraction, Jack. Let’s give it a little while and see if I have any more.”

That one contraction was followed by an even stronger one about fifteen minutes later. And another followed fifteen minutes after that. By that time, Audrey conceded that she was in labor. Again Jack implored her to call her father.

“Sweetheart, call your father so you can go home and get your bag and when it’s time he can take you to the hospital.”

“Look around you, Jack,” Audrey said gesturing to the room. “We’re in a hospital.”

“This isn’t where you planned to deliver and your doctor isn’t here.”

“This is just a guess,” she started sarcastically. “But I bet they have doctors here capable of delivering a baby.” Jack could tell that she wanted to say more but was cut off by another strong contraction. This one only ten minutes from the one before it. “Besides,” she continued when she was able. “I want you to be there when the baby is born. Maybe they’ll let us arrange it so you can be with me.”

It didn’t take long to have it all arranged. Audrey was in the early stages of labor; ones that were usually spent at home. When labor progressed and she needed to be monitored, Audrey would go to the labor and delivery suite. The doctors would not agree to Jack going with her until she was about to deliver, so Audrey’s father and Jack’s mother both eagerly agreed to stay with her until it was time for her to delivery. Then Jack would be brought in so that he could be there for the birth of his son.

All went according to plan and almost eight hours later, with Jack by her side and clutching her hand, Audrey gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Blond haired and blue eyed and weighing almost nine pounds, the screaming infant was held up for his parents to see. Soon he was in Audrey’s arms with both parents and grandparents hovering over him and making a fuss. By now Jay, as they had nicknamed him, was sound asleep, as exhausted from his ordeal as his mother was from hers.

All of the excitement had made both Audrey and Jack forget that they were supposed to call Jarrod, so Jack was quite surprised a few days later when Jarrod knocked quietly on his hospital room door. “Hi,” he said as he leaned into the room. “Are you up for visitors?”

Jack smiled and waved him in. “Jarrod, it’s good to see you!” he exclaimed as he extended his hand to shake. “Audrey meant to call you and tell you to stop by but things got a little busy around here,” Jack explained as he handed Jarrod a picture of his new son.

Jarrod congratulated Jack on the baby’s birth and sat down to talk.

“I understand that I owe you a great deal of thanks, Jarrod,” Jack said as the conversation became more serious.

“I’m just glad I could do it, Jack. Who would have thought that we would end up having the same rare blood type? At least I know who to call if I ever need blood!” he said trying to lighten the mood a bit.

“Any time,” Jack replied with a smile. “I just hope you never need it.”

“Yeah, me too!” Jarrod laughed.

Jack watched as Jarrod’s face became serious again. “I can’t explain it, but I have to tell you, Jack, getting that call that you needed blood and that I was a potential donor did something to me.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked.

“Well, at first, I thought I was just worried because you might not make it, but it went further than that. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I’m not sure that it had anything to do with you. I think it had more to do with me.”

“I’m not sure I understand, Jarrod,” Jack said quietly.

“That makes two of us. I’m not sure that I understand either. I’ve known that I was adopted for my entire life and I never gave it much thought. I never cared about my birth parents. All I knew was that for whatever reason they gave me up, they did me a huge favor. I ended up with the two best parents anyone could hope for and I never thought that I would need more than that. But being asked to donate blood for you did something to me. It gave me a connection to another person that I’ve never had before. I guess it’s the connection that other kids have to their parents. It’s a sense of being part of a family and being like the other people in the family; inheriting blood types and hair color and eye color from someone you see every day, someone who might look like you or act like you. I wish I could explain it, Jack, but I really can’t.”

Jack was silent for a long moment. “Does that mean that you want to find your biological parents?”

Now it was Jarrod’s turn to be silent. “I don’t know what to do. My wife and I are talking about starting a family and I would like to at least have a medical history. I think I’d like to meet my birth parents but I don’t know what part, if any, I want them to play in my life. And what if they don’t want to meet me? My parents adopted me privately though a legal firm that specialized in making sure that birth parents and children never met. This couple went to a lot of trouble to protect their identity. I’m not so sure they want to be found. I don’t know what to do and no one can give me the right answer.”

If it were actually possible for a heart to break, Jack knew that his would be doing so at that moment. He hated to see his son so torn. And he was torn as well. Marilyn had a stake in this, too. As much as he wanted to tell Jarrod the truth, he wanted Marilyn to know before he did it. He didn’t seek her approval; he just wanted to give her fair warning. On the other hand, Jarrod didn’t seem sure that he wanted the truth, so until he decided that for himself, Jack felt it best to sit on the information.

Their conversation moved on to CTU business and some of the things that were happening there. Chloe was always a topic of conversation and her ongoing battle of wills with Bill made Jack laugh. He was glad that he wasn’t the only CTU director who had to put up with Chloe. They talked for about an hour before Jack’s nurse came in and announced that visiting hours were over and only immediate family was permitted to stay beyond the visiting hours, a statement that almost made Jack wince in pain.

“The doctors tell me that I should be home in a week or two and back to work in a month,” Jack told Jarrod as they shook hands. “Maybe you can help out with my next class of recruits. Doyle and I are getting sick of being the ones handcuffed to the chairs in the training exercises.”

“Count me in,” Jarrod agreed as he made a hasty retreat under the watchful eye of the nurse.

Jack tried to sleep that night and found that he couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried to think of other things, his mind kept going back to the conversation with Jarrod. The next morning, unable to think of anything else, Jack picked up the phone and called Marilyn. He summarized his conversation with Jarrod and then asked her opinion.

“What should we do?” he asked. “I’m willing to tell him the truth. How do you feel about it?”

“He doesn’t even know if he wants the truth, Jack. Let’s just stay out of it,” Marilyn begged. “He’s going to hate us for knowing and not telling him. I’d rather just keep him in the dark.”

“You’re wrong,” Jack argued. “He wants to know the truth and he deserves to know the truth, if only so that he’ll have a medical history. If he’s angry with us, so be it. We deserve that.”

“I can’t understand you, Jack,” Marilyn said in an exasperated voice. “You two are friends. Are you willing to give that up?”

“Yes, if it means peace of mind for my son, then yes, I’m willing to give up our friendship,” Jack told her sincerely.

It was a month later when Jack and Marilyn finally came to an agreement on the subject. Marilyn had been talking to Jarrod’s mother who mentioned that Jarrod had hired a lawyer and a private detective to try and ascertain information on his birth parents. Additionally, Chloe was trying to help him with a computer search. She confided in Marilyn that it was beginning to create a strain in Jarrod’s relationship with her and her husband as well as problems with his wife and at work. Marilyn called Jack immediately. They agreed that at this point Jarrod needed to know the truth.

Jack, now home from the hospital, called Jarrod and invited him over to visit one Saturday afternoon. He told Jarrod that there was something that they needed to discuss. The day arrived and Jack and Marilyn sat nervously on the patio behind Jack and Audrey’s home. Audrey answered the door when Jarrod arrived, escorted him to the patio and then proceeded to make herself scarce.

Jarrod was surprised to see Marilyn there, but greeted her with a hug and kiss. “Aunt Marilyn,” he said, “What are you doing here?”

Marilyn looked down sheepishly as they all settled into chairs. “Jack told me a few weeks ago that you were interested in getting some medical information on your biological parents. I was talking to you mother and she said the same thing.”

“That’s right,” Jarrod shrugged. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Jack and I have some information that will help,” she started and then looked to Jack for help.

Jack held out a manila folder to him. “This is all of the medical information on your birth parents, grandparents and half-siblings. We’ll make sure that it’s updated annually so you’re always up to date on it should new conditions or diseases occur.”

Jarrod looked at the folder. “How did you do this? I went to the legal firm, to the state and to the hospital where I was born and no one can tell me anything.” Jarrod smiled slightly as he looked at Jack. “Everyone knows that you’re a hell of a spy, Jack, but since even Chloe couldn’t get any information, I don’t see how you did it. Please, tell me how you got this information.”

Jack didn’t answer for a moment. “Jarrod, we’re about to cross a bridge here that only goes in one direction. Once we move forward, we can’t move back. I can tell you where the information came from, but once I do, everything will change. You and I, you and Marilyn, will never again have the same relationship that we do now. I need to know that you understand that and that you agree to it.”

“I can’t walk away now, Jack. As far as I’m concerned, our relationship has already changed. The fact that you know more about me from this history,” he said holding up the folder, “than I know at this moment changes our relationship. I need to know how you got this.”

It was Marilyn’s turn to speak. “Jarrod, long before I married Graem, Jack and I went to high school together. We started dating when we were juniors and I knew, even then, that I’d met someone very special. The relationship progressed beyond where it should have for kids our age. We thought we were grown up and we thought we were being careful, but we were wrong. The next thing I knew, Jack broke up with me to enlist in the Army and I was 17 and pregnant.”

Jarrod’s jaw dropped as realization hit. He looked back and forth between Jack and Marilyn trying to take it all in. “My God!” he gasped. “You two are my birth parents?”

Jack and Marilyn both nodded slightly.

“Do my parents know?” he asked.

“No,” Marilyn said quietly. She explained how Phillip Bauer had arranged the adoption without her knowledge or consent and how she had accidentally stumbled onto the identity of his adoptive patents. “And Jack didn’t know until you went to the CIA as a recruit,” she added.

“How could you have known for all those years and kept it a secret?” Jarrod asked Marilyn, his anger bubbling to the surface. “And you,” he said to Jack, “you treated me like dirt during my training! How could you have done that to me?”

“Jarrod, we suspected that you were going to get angry and we understand that,” Jack said calmly. “It’s appropriate. You should be angry. But you have to understand that whatever we did, we did it with your best interest in mind. You never wanted to know who your birth parents were until recently so neither of us thought that it was right to tell you. As for how I treated you, it was wrong and I apologized at the time and I’ll do it again. When I realized that you were my son, I wasn’t so sure that I wanted you to live the life of a CTU field agent. I couldn’t tell you the truth, so I looked for a way to make you want to quit. I eventually realized with the help of my mother that what I was doing was wrong, that you needed to live your own life. I just never wanted to see you put your life on the line and live like I did. You’ll understand when you have your own children that sparing them pain is a priority for every parent.”

Jarrod continued to stare at them in disbelief. “Who else knows about this?”

“Just my wife and my mother,” Jack told him.

Jarrod looked at Marilyn. “What about Graem? Did Graem know?”

“No,” she told him honestly. “I never told Graem. Our relationship was bad enough without him knowing that Jack and I had a child.”

Jarrod propped his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands.

“Can I get you a drink?” Jack asked. “A beer?”

“Stronger,” Jarrod answered.

“Scotch?”

“Scotch is fine.”

Jack started to stand, but Marilyn motioned for him to sit down. “I’ll get it,” she said as she stepped into the house and approached the wet bar between the kitchen and family room.

Jarrod looked up and spoke quietly. “You know, I’ve wanted this information for that last month or so and now that I’ve got it, I don’t know what to do with it.”

“Take you time,” Jack said kindly. “You don’t need to make any decisions now. And whatever decision you make, Marilyn and I will understand. We want you to have the medical information, but as for a relationship with either of us, that’s up to you. Both of us know that we’ll never be your mom and dad. That honor goes to the people who watched you take your first steps and went to all of your school plays and sat up nights when you were sick. The most Marilyn and I could hope for is to maintain a close relationship with you, but that is for you to decide.”

Marilyn stepped back out onto the patio and echoed Jack’s sentiments. “Jarrod, as far as we’re concerned, no one else has to know about this. It’s your decision whether or not you tell your parents or your wife. Any role that we have in your life will only be with your consent. If you want us to stay out, we will.”

Jarrod nodded and drank the scotch in a couple of swallows. The whole revelation had hit him hard and he was obviously trying to process it all. The three sat silently for several minutes before Marilyn’s cell phone rang. She seemed grateful for the excuse to get up and walk away if only for a few moments.

“You know, Jack, I met Kim at the hospital and I know Josh through my mother’s friendship with Marilyn,” Jarrod started. Jack noted quickly that Jarrod had already dropped the word “aunt” from in front of Marilyn’s name. “I guess I should meet my other half brother and sister.”

Jack smiled. “I think I can arrange that.” Jack stood slowly, still recovering his strength from the accident and started leading Jarrod across the back yard to a sand box in the corner where Audrey played with Jillian. “Jilly, come here a second,” Jack called. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

Jillian jumped up at the sound of her father’s voice and ran to him. She was a gregarious child and loved meeting new people. “Hi! Who are you?” she asked.

“This is Jarrod. He’s your big brother.”

“I didn’t know that I had a big brother,” she said scrunching up her face in confusion.

Jarrod knelt down next to her. “I didn’t know that I had a little sister, either. So I guess that makes us even.”

Jillian smiled at him. “Now I have a big brother and a little brother. That’s cool!” she exclaimed. “Can I get more brothers and sisters?” she asked looking up at Jack.

“Well let me see. You have Kim and Jarrod and Jay. I think that’s probably going to it in the brother and sister department. I think that’s enough for one little girl,” Jack told her.

“Okay, if you say so, Daddy,” Jillian said as she ran back to the sand box. “I’ll see you later. Mommy and me are building a castle.”

Jack then took Jarrod to the nursery where Jay napped quietly. “And this is your baby brother,” Jack said by way of introduction. “He’s not as talkative as Jilly yet.”

Jarrod smiled at the baby. “But he’s just as beautiful,” he said taking the baby’s hand in his own. “This is a lot to take in, Jack. I hope you understand if I have to take a step back for a while and think this through.”

“Take all the time you want. If and when you’re ready, Marilyn and I will be there to take on any role you like. We can’t ask for any more than that,” Jack said as he took in the view of his two sons together for the first time.

SIX MONTHS LATER:

Jack was back at work with a new class of recruits. He had just finished on the firing range with them and was headed back to his office when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Jack,” Jarrod called.

Jack turned quickly. He and Jarrod had had little communication over the previous six months. What little they had was professional and other than asking how the other was doing, they avoided any more personal questions.

“How are you?” Jack asked extending his hand to shake. “What are you doing at division?”

“Just a meeting. I’m replacing Doyle as Director of Field Ops.”

“That’s great!” Jack exclaimed. “Where’s Doyle going?”

“Back to Denver to be the Special Agent in Charge of CTU there.”

“Well, congratulations. You’ll make a great Director of Field Ops.”

“Thanks for your confidence. It means a lot to me.” He paused for a moment. “Can we sit down in your office and talk for a minute?”

“Of course,” Jack answered leading the way. The entered his office and Jack closed the door behind him. He indicated for Jarrod to sit down and he did the same. “What’s going on?”

“I just wanted to give you some good news.”

“You mean other than your promotion?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, I wanted to tell you that you’re going to be a grandfather.”

“Jarrod, that’s wonderful!” Jack said proudly.

“Amy and I just found out a couple of days ago and I wanted you to know. I’m going to call Marilyn this evening.”

“She’ll be happy,” Jack told him.

“Amy and I talked for a long time, Jack, and I’ve discussed it with my parents. We want you and Marilyn to be part of our lives. We want you to know you grandchild. Amy and I want to have a party so that my parents can meet you and Audrey and your mother and your other children. My parents have agreed. They were shocked at first, but I think they’re warming up to the idea. I know it will be awkward at first, but we want you all to know each other.”

“Give me the date and time and we’ll all be there,” Jack assured him. “I’m so proud of you,” Jack said and for the first time ever he hugged his son. Emotion was threatening so Jack quickly pulled back. He looked at his watch. “It’s almost five o'clock. I think we need to go out for a celebratory beer.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Jarrod agreed.

Jack grabbed his jacket and the two headed out the door. As they did, they ran into Bill who was coming from the same meeting that Jarrod had been in.

“Where are you two off to in such a hurry?” he asked.

“We’re going out to celebrate impending fatherhood,” Jack told him as he slapped Jarrod on the shoulder.

“And impending grandfatherhood,” Jarrod added as he turned to look at Jack.

Bill squinted slightly. “Am I missing something?”

Jack and Jarrod both laughed. Jack put his hand on Bill’s shoulder and directed him toward the exit. “Oh, it’s a long story. Come join us for a beer and we’ll tell you all of it.”

THE END!