A/N: So...here's next chapter guys. ALL of you wanted Ravenie and Jake to adopt Mark so...guess that's what the plan is for now, though I gotta say, none of you think they're too young for this? I mean, they're only just eighteen...but oh well, you guys have your opinions so...without further ado, next chapter!
Thanks so much to all of you who reviewed, it means so much to me! Especially since I am, once again, at school...which is why this has come up so slowly...I literally have NO time! *sniff sniff*
Keep 'em coming guys!
Cheers,
Franshes
PS. Yes, I know this took a LONG time but I have gotten over my author's block and am currently working on the next one so it won't be as long. So sorry.
"Could we, you know, maybe have this conversation somewhere else? The living room maybe?" Jake suggested.
"I agree," Nightwing said with a curt nod.
"Alright, we'll be there in a minute, just let me lay Mark down on his crib and-" Ravenie began but Nightwing interrupted her.
"No, bring him with you...seeing as he's part of what we're discussing," he said simply.
Ravenie bit her lip, concerned but nodded, holding Mark close to her.
Suddenly, Alex began to squirm.
Jake sighed, picking his son up, rocking him a little until he quieted down and went back to sleep once again, however, Jake remained holding his son close to him and together, he and Ravenie carried both babies to the living room, closely followed by the other titans.
They all sat down, the adults all facing Jake and Ravenie.
"So..." Nightwing said "Where do you want to begin this conversation?"
"I guess we can start on the easiest subject..." Ravenie said, biting her lip nervously "Dad, you know Jake and I are getting married and we'd really benefit from at least one of us having...you know, a normal career...do you think you could-?"
"Oh I can definitely arrange for you to go to Nursing School..." Nightwing said "But are you SURE that's what you really want, love?"
"Yes," Ravenie said "Believe me dad, I've thought long and hard about my posible career and it's the one where I feel I'd be the most helpful, the one I think I'd enjoy and be good at..."
"Very well then," Starfire said "Then we will get you into this-school..."
"Um, next I think would be the whole housing thing..." Jake said awkwardly "Mom, dad, do you think you guys could... maybe, help us there?"
"Oh, consider that done, Jake." Raven assured her son "You guys will have a house, no problem,"
"Lastly, I think it's..." Ravenie said softly, her voice trailing off as she gazed at Mark who was falling asleep in her arms.
"Yes," Nightwing said while nodding "He's our main concern now, isn't he?"
All the titans turned to look at Jinx and Kid Flash, including Jake and Ravenie.
"Well...?" Nightwing asked them.
"W-what?" Jinx asked, staring at the ground rather than her friends.
"Jinx, Wally, c'mon, you guys know what we're talking about..." Changeling said "You've heard that Jake and Ravenie are willing to take Mark in and raise him as their own...and we've all seen how cold and distant you've been with the por boy since day one...are you really willing to give him up so two kids can raise two kids? Do you really hate him that much that he'd be better off being raised by two teenagers than by yourselves?"
A long pause followed his words.
"Yes," Jinx whispered finally and seeming mortified by her answer.
"Jinx!" Wally himself exclaimed, not having been expecting his wife's answer, he himself having been prepared to give any excuse about the matter.
"It's true, Wally," Jinx said with a sigh "You hate him, you've hated him from the very beginning, and I can't raise him... I can't raise him on my own when all I see when I see him is-Dikos- and what he did to me...to us...to our family, if we can even call it a family after everything that's happened..."
"Jinx..." Kid Flash seemed pained by her answer and he moved to touch her arm lightly "Baby, we're still a family...what happened...it doesn't change the fact that- I love you baby and I always will...and you love me too, don't you?"
Jinx couldn't look at him in the eye.
"I don't know, anymore..." She whispered softly.
Kid Flash's eyes filled with tears at his wife's answer and the rest of the titans couldn't help but feel sorry for him. It was true hat he hadn't been the best husband OR father in the last year but that still hadn't changed the fact that he loved his wife and they all knew that.
"Mom, dad," Lise whispered, torn between the two, not knowing who was right and who was wrong anymore, not knowing whose side to take as she watched her family fall apart right before her eyes.
"Lise, honey, I'm sorry..." Jinx whispered "Kyle, Speranza, Valerie...I'm sorry...I tried, I really did..."
All of the West kids ran at their mother, embracing her while beginning to cry.
Kid Flash watched the scene before him, powerless to do anything about it, feeling his heart was being ripped out from him, not daring to go near his wife right now and yet every cell in his body was aching to be near her, brushing away her tears and taking away her pain.
"I think it's best if you guys let us keep him, at least for a while..." Ravenie suggested timidly, feeling like an intruder for barging in on their sadness right now "You guys don't have to decide right now...it can wait until after...things...settle down."
"I think she's right..." Changeling said, placing a comforting hand on Kid Flash's shoulder while Raven went to hug Jinx.
"Right then, it's settled" Nightwing said, a bit stiffly "Jake and Ravenie will take care of Mark...for now..."
Ravenie cradled Mark close to her, cooing lovingly at the infant in her arms.
He cooed and looked up at her, smiling cutely.
Jinx finally managed to calm down enough to approach her husband, hugging him tightly and held on to her for dear life, afraid that if he ever let her go, he'd never get her back again.
The rest of the titans, adults and kids alike, sensing the Wests distress, slowly made their way out of the room, wanting to give their friends some space.
Jake and Ravenie were no exception as they followed the rest of the titans outside, wanting to put both Mark Alex in for their naps.
(Late that night...)
"I feel so guilty," Ravenie confided in Jake later as they prepared to get to bed "I-I know it's silly but...I feel like...we broke them up..."
"We didn't," Jake said immediately.
"We were the ones that brought the adoption subject up," Ravenie said miserably.
"Ravenie, we HAD to bring it up!" Jake exclaimed "Mark is a baby, he has a right to a loving family who care for him and they were neglecting him! We couldn't just turn a blind eye on that like everybody else around them..."
"I know you're right..." Ravenie said as she glanced at both Mark ad Alex who were sleeping peacefully in their cribs which they'd moved into their room just for tonight.
"Then what's bugging you, my love?" Jake asked her as he stroked her cheek gently.
Ravenie sighed.
"I know what they're all thinking Jake," she said "And what if they're right? What if we ARE to young to handle this? What if two babies are too much for us? Alex was already bad enough, but what if we screw up and screw both their futures up as well, Jake? What if-"
"Ravenie, stop," Jake said "Okay, you MAY have a point, saying we're too young but, so what? Our parents were roughly our age when they had us and we're doing okay...we're both good people Ravenie...why should our kids turn out any different?"
"What if Mark IS indeed evil?" she whispered mortified "Are we indeed putting our own son into danger by bringer a stranger into our home?"
"Ravenie, nobody is born evil," Jake said wisely "And growing up with us? This child may be whiny and spoiled and lazy-"
Ravenie smiled.
"But there's no way," Jake said "That Mark is going to be evil..."
"Thanks Jake," Ravenie said wiping her eyes and snuggling into his embrace "I really needed to hear that..."
(With Lise and Ben...)
"Do you really think your parents might be getting a divorce?" Ben asked her as they got ready for bed, having moved Daniel in with them for the night just like Jake and Ravenie, wanting to give the adults some much needed peace and quiet.
Lise sighed.
"I don't know," she said "They've been together for so long...it's hard to imagine them going their separate ways NOW after so much has happened. I mean, they got over losing Valete, mom being raped not once but twice and, of course, countless attacks but...I'd never heard mom say she didn't know if she loved dad. She's always loved him. I-I don't know Ben, I don't even know if I still want them to be together anymore...they've fought so much since Mark came into the picture..."
"I'm sorry Lise," Ben murmured sympathetically, rubbing her tense shoulders.
"No, it's not your fault..." Lise said "I'm really glad you're here with me, Ben, though,"
"What did the doctor say? You went to the doctor today, didn't you?" Ben asked her, attempting to switch topic.
"Yes," she said with a sigh "And she drew some blood samples, said she was going to call me back as soon as she had the results..."
"Good," Ben murmured "With everything that's going on, it wouldn't do well for you to get sick..."
"No, you're right, that'd be a terrible thing indeed..." Lise said softly.
Late that night...
"Couldn't sleep?" Summer asked her brother as she busied herself preparing some herbal tea in the kitchen around midnight and she caught her brother sneaking into the kitchen for a midnight snack.
Jake sit he'd, running a hand through his messy, disheveled blonde hair.
"Not really, and you?" he asked her.
Summer shrugged.
"No, but it's become a rather bad habit for me over the last few months, ever since you...went missing..."
"Sorry," Jake said "I never meant to distress you, you know that right?"
"Yes, I do," Summer said "So then...ARE you guys going to adopt Mark or what?"
Jake sighed.
"I think so, I mean, I know it wouldn't really be easy on us, with Ravenie and I being so young and all but...we really love that kid and he's better off with us than with Jinx and Kid Flash," Jake said.
"Are you sure that's what's motivating you and not because your crazy mind has thought to use him as a weapon against Dikos and Creak?" Summer asked eyebrows raised "He'll most likely develop great powers, you know..."
"And with great power comes great responsibility, Summer, I would know that," Jake said firmly "No, I'm not planning to use him as a weapon...it wouldn't even work anyways, regardless of whether he is his son or not, Dikos would kill him in an instant if he felt threatened by the boy. Besides, I'm trying to keep him away from Dikos and Creak who WILL use him as a weapon if they can find him. And you and I both know I'm the best one when it comes to fighting off Creak,"
"Be careful Jake, that sounds a lot like you're becoming overconfident," Summer said worriedly "Stronger powers and everything included, you STILL have some weaknesses, brother, which I'm sure Creak will throw at you once he figures out you're not dead...if he hasn't already..."
"Well then, we just have to hope he DOESN'T already know, don't we?" Jake told her but Summer knew her brother too well.
He was worried.
And with the JLA threatening to crumble down from the inside, and having a family to protect that had become weaker over the past few months and two deadly enemies after them...so was she.
A/N: Okay, short chapter, I know and definitely not worth the wait but it's something, at least to let you all know I'm still alive and planning to continue this story.
As I mentioned, next chapter is already in the making so do not despair people, I will have it out soon.
Did you like this chapter?
Let me know!
Cheers,
Franshes