Chapter 14: Benjamin Long

At the hospital the next morning,

"Rose?" Jake asked when he noticed Rose in the hall talking to Trixy. "Trix? Is everything alright?"

"See for yourself." Rose said turning around and showing him that she had the baby in her arms. Ben was sleeping peacefully.

Jake smiled.

"You have a strong son, Jakey." Trixy said.

"Thanks Trix." Jake said as Rose handed him the baby. "You gave us quite a scare, Benjamin Long."

The baby just continued to sleep.

"Trix? Is it okay if we go home now?" Jake asked.

"Sure." Trixy said.

"Great. Let me go get Haley and Seth."

"Are they still here?" Trixy asked.

"They slept in the waiting room." Jake said. "I went out for some coffee this morning, and I found them sound asleep."

0000

In the waiting room,

"Hales." Jake said gently shaking his sister. "Haley…Pop quiz in Quantum Mechanics. Did you study?"

"AGH!" Haley said jerking up and breathing heavily.

"That always works." Jake said. "The mere THOUGHT of you failing sends you over the edge."

"I've gotten better." Haley argued. She then noticed Rose with the bundle. "Is…?"

Jake nodded. "He's asleep though."

"Lucky kid." Seth said waking up.

"Let's go home." Rose said.

0000

At Jake's new place a few minutes later,

"Home sweet home." Rose said.

"I'm going to go get some shut eye. Something tells me I will be up all night." Jake said.

"Why do you say that?" Seth asked.

"Two A.M. feeding." Jake said. "I still vaguely remember Mom and Dad going through that with Haley here. Woke ME up too."

RING RING

"WHAAAA!!!!!"

"Sorry." Haley said before she answered her cell. "Hello?...CAN YOU SPEAK UP FU?!...NO! SETH AND I DID NOT RUN INTO AN ABIMETRIX. I'M JUST TRYING TO TALK OVER BEN…BEN…NO. YOU DON'T KNOW HIM YET….H-HOLD ON!"

She stepped into a room and opened a window.

"Okay. Better." Haley said leaning out. "What's going on?...I was with Jake, and I lost track of time…We were preoccupied….There were some complications….Jake will explain everything later….No. Ben's not another friend. Jake will explain….Okay….See you later."

She walked back into the room after Rose got Ben calmed down.

"Sorry about that." Haley said putting her phone on vibrate. "Fu was wondering where I was all night. Can we go introduce Ben to everyone?"

Rose and Jake looked at each other.

"Sure." Rose said with a shrug.

"This will be fun." Jake added.

0000

At Lao Shi's shop,

"There you are." Fu said when he saw the four. "Where were you last night? There was a sighting of Fury."

"The gorgon Fury?" Jake asked. "This isn't good."

"You're tell me." Fu said. "Hey? What's with the baby car seat?"

Rose placed the covered carrier on the counter.

"Fu Dog." Rose introduced as she raised the blanket. "I'd like you to meet Benjamin Long."

Fu's mouth dropped.

"He came early." Jake explained. "There were some complications. That's why we didn't call when Rose went into labor. We didn't want anyone's hopes up too high."

"Wow." Fu said looking at the baby. "Déjà vu."

Everyone looked at the dog curiously.

"I'm getting that same feeling I got when Susan brought YOU home." Fu told Jake. "Not to mention the fact this kid looks like you."

"Sorry I'm late." Lao Shi said coming in with a bag of groceries. "The line at the market was…why is there a baby carrier on my desk."

"Grandpa." Jake introduced as he lifted Ben out of the carrier. "Meet your great-grandson, Benjamin."

"He's early." Lao Shi said unfazed by the announcement. "But that's no excuse for not calling to let us know where you are."

"Sorry." Jake said a little confused by Lao Shi's reaction. "Ben almost didn't make it."

"Lao Shi?" Rose asked taking Ben from his father. "Will Ben be a dragon?"

"To tell you the truth, I am not sure." Lao Shi told the parents as Rose put Ben back in the carrier. "We will know when he is older."

Fu leaned over to look closer at the infant with his newspaper in hand. Suddenly, Ben winced as if he was going to start crying. Then, letting out a small burp, Fu's paper caught on fire.

"WHHHHAAAAA!!!!!"

"Oh boy." Fu said trying to put out the fire. "Man that's hot."

Everyone turned to see Ben crying and Fu putting out his paper. Once the fire was out, Fu lifted up what was left to reveal a burnt hole in the center that showed his face.

"Aw. I was reading that." He complained as Rose picked up her son and started comforting him.

"Well," Lao Shi said as if to make a point. "He is a few minutes older from when I made the statement."

0000

"Who's a cute baby?" Spud cooed over the baby in Susan's arms.. "Yes you are. You love your Uncle Spud, don't you?"

"He barely KNOWS you, Spudinski." Trixy told her friend.

"So, he's definitely a dragon?" Jonathan asked.

"He breathed fire earlier today." Jake confirmed. "It must be so. Grandpa's at the Dragon Council to talk to them about potential Dragon Masters for when Ben's old enough."

Suddenly, Jake's cell phone started ringing.

"Hello?" Jake answered. "Hi Gramps. What'd they say?"

Everyone watched the father's face go from curious to shock.

"Are they certain?...Are YOU certain…?" Jake asked. "Of course I don't have a problem with it…I just didn't think the council…but that was different…He's gon….Okay….Fine….I'll accept the Council's choice for my son's Dragon Master….It won't be pretty when he's older though…okay….I'll talk to you later….Bye."

Jake hung up with a look of shock.

"Who's going to be our son's teacher?" Rose asked.

Jake turned to her still confused about what had just happened.

"Me." He answered.

The End

A/N: Like my "Switches and Time Travel" in Harry Potter, I left this open for a sequel. It WILL come, just not too soon. I have other stories (not to mention school). I will have a story (or two) about what happened after Jake left concerning him and what Haley was up to so certain event that were mentioned would be explained.