It's been a long time but I refuse to give up on this! Sorry that it has taken so long but my writing ability left me for a long time, it is back somewhat though this is a relatively short update by my standards so I hope it's okay! Please review! Thanks!

Chapter Fourteen

Jake's POV

'MADDIE!' No sooner had he opened the door he was moving out of the way to let a very excited Stephanie and Logan run past him into Maddie's outstretched arms.

'Oh it's so good to see you!' He stood back and smiled as he watched the three of them share hugs and kisses.

'Well hello there Jacob,' he quickly turned around and came face to face with Louise who was smiling back at him, until she saw the bruise that was still on his face. 'I'm so sorry Jake, if I'd known that he was coming to meet you I would have come along and this wouldn't have happened.'

'If it hadn't happened then it would've happened some other time and you know it, he hates me,' he replied whilst standing back from the door to let her in.

'Now you guys need to say hello to Jake too,' before Louise could say anything Maddie walked over with Steph and Logan who looked at him suspiciously.

'Is he your boyfriend?' Steph looked up at Maddie who nodded. 'So do we call him Uncle Jake?'

'How about just Jake for now?' He imagined Edgar blowing a blood vessel if he heard his other little girl coming home and talking about 'Uncle' Jake but part of him couldn't help being a little amused.

'Okay just Jake are you coming for ice cream too?' Logan spoke up and before he could reply Louise stepped in.

'No he's not honey. Mommy and Jake are staying right here and you guys are going with Maddie,' she smiled. He'd thought that they were all going for ice cream but evidently Louise wanted some time alone with him, not a big surprise after what had happened between him and her husband a couple of days ago.

'You're cool with that?' Maddie looked at him and he nodded, he had no reason to fear Louise. She was happy for them. If she was against them she wouldn't have brought Steph and Logan here. 'Okay well I need to change out of these work clothes so give me a couple of minutes and I'll be ready to go!'

Maddie hurried into her bedroom so she could change while he and Louise took a seat on the couch as Steph and Logan ran around the apartment. It did only take her a couple of minutes to change, some sort of record considering she normally took over an hour to get ready.

'Michael's at soccer practice but I told Jack's mom to drop him off at the ice cream parlour, he'll probably be arriving there about the same time as you guys,' Louise said as Maddie started to put her coat on.

'Alright then I guess we'd better head off. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?' Maddie looked at him again.

'I'm not gonna hurt him, I just want to have a few words with him so I can find out more about my girl's boyfriend, I don't know him that well after all!' He didn't mind being interrogated by Louise, Maddie had had to go through the same thing with his folks so now it was only fair that he returned the favour. It was wonderful that Louise was on their side and was supportive of them, Maddie would need her now that Edgar wasn't going to be around.

'Okay well don't embarrass him or question him too much! Come on monsters, time to go!' Stephanie and Logan immediately ran to her and grabbed each of her hands as she started to make her way to the door. 'Love you guys, we'll be back in a bit!'

They both said their goodbyes and watched as Maddie and the kids left the apartment. Once the door was closed he settled back against the couch and waited for Louise to start with her questions, she didn't waste any time.

'How is she holding up?' He shook his head and looked down at the ground. Since the fight had happened she hadn't said anything about her dad but he knew that she was still struggling to come to terms with everything that happened in such a short space of time.

'She's not talking about it and I'm not pushing her to say anything. I know she's feeling pretty shitty about the whole situation so I'm trying to help her through it as best I can,' he replied. He felt pretty shit about the whole situation too but it was clear that nothing he said or did would change how Edgar felt about him. What shocked him more were his comments about Maddie, he hadn't expected Edgar to insult her in any way.

'So tell me what actually happened? I've heard his side of the story now I want to hear yours,' he could guess that Edgar had probably lied about everything to try and save his own skin with Louise.

'I tried to talk with him rationally about how we could at least try to get along for Maddie's sake but he wasn't listening to me, you know how he is. He said some things that got me pretty angry and I went to hit him first but he was quicker than I was and got me with a pretty neat right hook. That's about it really,' he couldn't remember the entire conversation they'd had, he could only remember what he'd said about Maddie really and it still wound him up.

'What things did he say to make you angry?' She pressed him a little further and he shrugged.

'I can't really remember….'

'Don't lie to me Jake because you're not very good at it, neither is he. Now I'm guessing whatever he said can't have been about you because you don't seem the type to want to strike out because someone insults you personally. That means one of two things, he insulted your family or he insulted Maddie now which one is it?' Damn! If he'd thought for one second that Hansen women were not as tough as their male counterparts then he knew now that he had been completely incorrect. She had backed him right into a corner which he had no escape from.

'He said some stuff about Maddie….'

'What kind of stuff?'

'Just….stuff!' Louise's eyes bore into his as he tried to come up with something to say. In the end he knew that it was just easier to tell the truth, she'd call him on it if he lied again. 'He said some stuff about her liking bad boys and how we were only with each other for sex, not because we're in love.'

Louise shook her head sadly as his words came tumbling out. He'd kept the truth from Maddie ever since the fight had happened because he didn't want to drive an even bigger wedge between her and her dad. Even though he was angry at Edgar for saying the things that he had he still wanted them to try and have a relationship even though it looked increasingly likely that that wouldn't happen.

'There was a guy that worked on the boat a couple of years ago, he didn't go crab fishing with them but he was there for salmon, herring…Anyway he chased after Maddie for almost a year behind Edgar's back but she never went near him. She told me she'd never mess around with anyone involved with the boat because she knew how much of a wedge it could drive between her and her dad so I know, and deep down Edgar knows too, that her feelings for you must be serious. And for you to stand by her and stand up to her family tells me your feelings for her must be pretty serious too because if you do mess her around, it's not Edgar you'll have to worry about believe me,' Jake gulped as Louise glared at him, somehow he could believe that she would be scarier than Edgar when riled.

'I love her Louise and I will do everything that I can to make her happy, please believe that,' he replied as Louise's icy cold glare turned into a beaming smile. Before he could do or say anything else she'd wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.

'I know you will and at some point Edgar will come around and realise this too and if he doesn't I'll kick his sorry until he does, or deny him sex that might work better actually,' Jake blushed like a child at the mention of the word 'sex' which was pretty funny considering he and Maddie had been fucking like bunnies for the past few days but still.

Louise was warm and friendly towards him, she asked him a lot of questions which he'd been expecting but she was lovely. It was nice to have a Hansen that was on their side and knowing that she was going to try and get Edgar back on side was a huge help to him because he knew that Maddie needed her father even if she would not admit it to him.