Discovery

The living room was an uninhabitable wreck, the kitchen looked like a messy food tornado had hit and the smell of various unsavory things hung in the air causing them to scrunch up their noses. He ruffled through the closet in the hall for the last bit he hadn't already gathered up and shoved into the family's van which was, thankfully, now his. He had the small dinky, run-down old car he had bought through working all those years in middle school under the table and all through high school still, but he had managed to get it sold the week before. Now the silver-blue sedan was much more suited to his task.

He was accepted to Burgess University in the school of Graphic Design, thinking maybe advertisement was the way to go, and now there he was, moving to the small apartment he had rented last month. Small hitch in all of this was his younger siblings. Even had his parents been alive there was no way he was leaving them there. He had been supporting them before, no reason he should stop now. Plus there was that he loved them to pieces, that didn't hurt.

True they were despicable in the worst way, but they were still their parents and the younger kids still loved them. Not wanting to break that image for them a bit longer he had cautioned Aster, the oldest at nine, not to talk down about them for a little while. He could complain to Jack, that was it.

He had dreaded telling them but they had handled it better than he thought they would. When he had picked all of them up from school that day he had taken them to the park, got them something to eat and sat them down for story time;

"Alright, alright, you wanna hear a story?" He had asked them, bouncing little Sandy on his knee because he was, once again, threatening to fall asleep on him. Sandy giggled his silent little giggle and clapped his approval.

"Yeah!" Came the chorus of excited voices, even Aster who typically grumped at everyone. Sometimes Jack managed to get him to be a happy, normal nine-year-old but he seemed to have so much baggage for someone so young. He insisted there was no reason for it and Jack left it alone.

"Okay. Have I ever told you the story of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys?" He asked. They had shaken their heads no, just because none of them were old enough to remember that he had told them this story many, many times when they were younger than Sandy, in turn as they each came around. It was his favorite.

He had gone through the entire story before anyone said anything.

"Where were his parents?" Anna asked. Jack's stomach clenched because he knew that question would come up, he had intended it to, but that didn't make it easier. It helped that he didn't like their parents, to put it lightly, but he knew the little ones did. Sandy looked up at him, mirroring Anna's question in his eyes.

He took a deep breath before trying to speak.

"They had to leave him, it wasn't really their fault though. They hand't wanted to either, but Peter didn't mind." He explained.

"Why didn't Peter mind?" Nick asked, clearly confused.

"Because he knew they were happy, and he had his Lost Boys to take care of, so he had a family to take care of." He offered. They all nodded like they understand.

They were all a bit more subdued at that point and that's when he decided to break the news. Sandy, by far the most intuitive six-year-old he had ever seen, snuggled into him and looked up like he was asking what was wrong.

"Now remember that story, okay? Keep it in mind, because I have something important to tell you. It's not a happy thing, but you need to know." He provided, never one to protect them, but always trying to be delicate.

"What is it Jack?" Tooth squirmed in worry. Aster had taken that moment to pull his baby sister and brother up under his arms, the sharp boy knowing where this must have been going.

"Well, mom and dad, they...they aren't with us anymore." He provided quietly, then waited with his breath caught in his throat. He didn't want to have to tell them this, but they would figure it out sooner or later and he'd rather it be with him.

The faces he was greeted with, Sandy's included, just about broke his heart. They started to cry and he almost cried with them. He and Aster were actually the only two not bothered because he knew what their parents were like, and he didn't like it one bit. He was holding onto Anna and Nick, Jack had Sandy buried in his sweater and they stayed like that for a long time.

Excited giggles and tugging on his t-shirt snapped his thoughts back to the present.

"Come on Jack! Let's go we've got everything!" Aster was more than ready to leave the dump they had called a home for so many year to see their new one.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Nick agreed, pulling on his shirt.

"Easy, we need to be sure we've got everything, don't we? You don't wanna have to take a second trip now, do you?" Jack asked. Sandy shook his head with a little frown, Jack had to chuckle. "See, Sandy gets it." He observed.

"Yeah Anna, Nick, if Sandy gets it we should too." Aster agreed, siding with his big brother most days just to make the dynamic a little smoother. Jack always appreciated the next-oldest taking his side, and usually found ways to tell him so, but at the moment all he could manage was a grateful look.

"Right Aster, would you make sure Sandy and Anna have everything?" He asked of the nine-year-old. Aster nodded, his blonde hair falling over his green eyes as he did. Jack made a mental note to get the kid a haircut soon.

The little, equally platinum blonde seven-year old Anna in the bright blue skirt and purple shirt she insisted upon wearing today was bouncing around, excited to see Jack's new home, and theirs. Jack mused that he could be moving into a cardboard box and she would still be thrilled because it belonged to them, all by themselves.

"What about Nick?" He asked as he herded them to their old room to get everything.

"I've got it." He waved him on.

Nick looked up at him questioningly.

"Okay, let's go double-check everything bud." He urged as he started walking toward where Nick's room had been. He had shared with Aster, the two being a bit more manly-man types and refusing to have their room tainted with any of the 'girly' stuff Anna liked. So, Sandy and Jack had shared with her. Sandy didn't mind much of anything, being six and Anna wasn't too much trouble, being seven so it was fairly easy to handle. Aster usually just sat on Nick when he was being difficult, so they generally killed trouble before it started. He had it easy and he knew it.

Sandy, at only six, was the youngest and by far the sleepiest. Anna had tried to pick the poor sleepy boy up but almost fallen over. He heard her grunt in frustration and made his way around Nick and across the hall to check on her.

"He asleep again?" He asked. Anna nodded.

"Yeah, he just fell over. Is something wrong with him?" She fretted like she had so many times before. Jack had to remind himself she was only seven, sometimes she was more anxious and flighty than he imagined a seven-year-old could be.

"Yeah Anna, he'll be fine. Come on buddy." He said as he hoisted up the little sleeping toddler. He was bright blonde, like Aster, but pale like Jack and he had the most oddly colored eyes. They were gold, bright gold. Sandy snuggled into Jack's shirt and Jack ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Nick? You got everything?" He called as he stuck his head in the door to check for himself. The walls were indeed bare, every single drawer left open to prove their emptiness and all the furniture that was too big or decrepit to move was freshly dusted to make it easier on the man who would be selling the place. He was counting on that income more than he cared to admit.

"I think so." He nodded. The heavyset boy looked so odd in the group of thin, small children but he had the same sense of humor. How he had become the only family member with black hair was also a bit beyond them, although he and Jack shared the same bright blue eyes.

"Alrighty then, to the van!" He called enthusiastically, not bothering to worry about Sandy being asleep. The kid could sleep through a nuclear bomb.

"Yay!" Anna cheered, bouncing and tugging on his sleeve. "We're gonna see Jackie's house!"

"It's our new house." Jack corrected.

"But you're the one payin' for it." Aster pointed out.

"But it's our home. Just 'cause the parents pay for it doesn't mean the children don't live there, does it?" He asked.

"He's right!" Nick agreed, realizing a lot faster than the others what he was pointing out. He hadn't thought about it that way before.

They piled in the van, double checking that nothing was going to shift before setting off across town. Jack smiled bitterly, hoping the sight of their new home lived up to their dreams.

Sandy was nestled in the back between Anna and Nick, Aster in the was in the front and obviously Jack was driving. He pulled into the building's pristine parking lot and finally felt safe. He had done his research, he wasn't bringing them to any old run-down place, this was his family. He grinned madly at there excited calls at the sight of the big white building in front of them.

"We live there?!" Anna asked in disbelief, it was amazing compared to their old home. Jack nodded, brushing a hand through his white-blonde hair in his universal gesture for 'here we go' because now he had to unload everything. By hand.

"You bet we do. Come on, let's check it out." He enticed as he helped Sandy, Anna and Nick out of their belts and the car. They were all too small to go without boosters or car-seats as of yet so traveling was always interesting but he didn't mind. He and Aster had made a game of seeing how quickly they could get everyone in and out properly.

"How are we gonna get everything up there?" Aster asked knowingly. Jack smiled through all the frustration rolling in his gut about exactly that question.

"Well, a little at a time and very carefully." He provided. Aster rolled his eyes but smiled a little as he carried Sandy, Anna taking his hand. Jack herded Nick in front of him as they went in through the empty lobby and up to the second floor. He stopped them at their new door.

"Alright, here we are, ready?" Jack asked. The three still awake nodded in anticipation. "Here we are!" He swung the door open and the smiles and excited cheers he got made everything worth while.

Okay, so I'm thinking about having Sky make an appearance in here (A self-made character from my one-shot collection), what do you guys think? Let me know how you're feelin' about this so far, the good the bad and the...well hopefully not the ugly, but at least the good and the bad. As usual you are wonderful people, and thanks for reading! :)