John's POV

We walk up to the mansion and I see Alex's jaw drop. "You grew up here?" He asks, staring in shock. 

I shrug. "I mean..Yeah... It's worse than it looks." I mumble. 

We walk all the way up to the door and I turn to him before ringing the doorbell. "Um...Just so you know, my dad found out my soulmate was a guy, and he doesn't like that. He doesn't know that you're my soulmate necessarily, but...You know just in case.."

He smiles gently at me. "John, don't worry I'll be fine." He says. 

"Right but...He can't see you." I say plainly. 

He stares at me in confusion and I sigh. "Come with me." I tell him. We round the house to the side and I point to the tree. "Climb up that tree and go through the window right next to it, it's my old room. Try and find Frances while I distract my dad." 

He nods and starts to climb the tree as I round the house back to the front door. I ring the doorbell and after a couple minutes, the door opens and I see my father standing there, staring down at me. He smirks slightly. "Ah, John. Wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

"Why's that? Because you sent the flight attendant after me to stop me from getting on the plane with you?" I ask, making sure he knew I was annoyed. 

He shrugs. "I wanted some quality time with my granddaughter."

I shook my head. "You're not my father, therefore you are not her granddaughter. By blood, maybe, but I never want her around you again."

He growls and grabs my ear, dragging me into the house and slamming the door behind him. "All those years and you still don't know how to respect your own damn family. Where did I go wrong with you." 

I wince but don't say anything back as he drags me to the livingroom, forcing me to sit down on the couch. He stands in front of me, crossing his arms. "So, Johnny boy..When were you planning on telling me all of your little stunts? Hm?"

I shake my head. "Never. I never wanted to speak to you again."

"Tsk tsk...Have you learned nothing, boy? I let you go to New York, let you have a little freedom so you can become a lawyer, make a good career for yourself. And what do you do? You drop out of school and join the military."

"I wanted to find myself, sir, and do something good for this country-"

"Those who act in selflessness get killed, John." He glares at me. 

"And those who act in selfishness live forever in regret." I glare back at him. "Don't worry, once all your children move out and your wife divorces you and everyone you once had control over leaves, you'll start to feel that regret, I can guarantee that."

He chuckles. "I don't regret anything, John. One day you'll learn that. That is if you stop messing around with your life."

"I'm not messing around, Henry-" He gives me a stern look and I correct myself. "-sir. I found somebody I love, I'm working in a job I like, I have a daughter, friends who care about me-"

"Jesus Christ, John. Listen to yourself!" He scoffs. "I knew I shouldn't have let you leave. You weren't ready for the real world."

I stand up and shake my head. "No, I'm perfectly fine, sir. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go.. Say hello to my siblings and mother." I lie, walking up the stairs. I open the door to my past room to see Frances talking with Alex and I sigh a breath of relief. 

I close the door and Frances turns and smiles at me. "Daddy!" She says, running up and hugging me. 

"Shh, Frances we have to be quiet, okay?" I warn her and she nods. "I don't have much time, but I need you to do a favor for me, can you do that?" I ask.

Frances nods slowly. 

"Alright, Frances, Alex is going to take you back to the airport and you two are going to head back to New York. Make sure you're extra good for Alex and the Washingtons, mmkay?"

She frowns up at me. "What about you? Aren't you coming with us?"

"Well, I have a later flight. I have to...deal with some things first, alright?" She pouts slightly and I sigh. "Listen, I don't have that much time to get you out of here. Just stay with Alex, okay?" 

She nods and hugs me one more time before taking Alex's hand. Alex looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure about this? I don't want to leave you here.."

I nod. "It's the only way to guarantee you guys are okay. Now go out the window before Henry comes up here." 

He sighs and hugs me as well, something I was not expecting. He pulls away and then hops out the window onto the tree, helping Frances get out with him. I close the window and then rush out of my room, heading to my parents' room. I knock on the door and open it to see my mom braiding my little sister's hair. 

"Jacky!" Mary exclaims, running away from my mom to come and hug me, her braid starting to fall out already. 

I chuckle and hug her back, my mom scoffing slightly. "Mary Eleanor, get back here so I can finish braiding your hair!" 

Mary giggles and runs back to her bed, sitting down in front of our mom. She resumes braiding her hair and smiles at me. "John, I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon.." She admits. 

I sigh. "Yeah, me neither... I had to come and get Frances, though." I say softly. 

"Oh, you mean the little girl Dad brought home?" Mary asks. "Yeah, she's a cutie!" 

I chuckle gently. "I know.. Sorry you guys didn't know about her sooner.." 

My mom shakes her head. "It's alright.. I understand why you didn't. I also understand why you're trying to sneak her out of here." She says quietly. 

I raise an eyebrow. "Wh-How did you know?" I ask. 

"Your friend came in here looking for her." Mary stated, shrugging her shoulders. 

"Mary, if you don't stop moving, you're going on your date with nasty, ratted hair." My mom scolded slightly, making Mary blush. 

"Ooh, a date I see?" I ask, teasing her as quietly as possible.

"Yeah, but don't tell Dad!" She whisper shouts. 

"You got my secrets, I've got yours." I say, pretending to zip my mouth shut. "Anyway, where's Martha, Harry, and James?"

My siblings and I were always really close, especially with my mom. I was the oldest, and the first to get out of the house. Also my dad's personal favorite to beat up on and force careers on. Ironically enough, I'm the only child my dad even wanted. 

Martha was next. She just turned eighteen last month and was the closest to me personally. She was dad's favorite child, even if he didn't want her in the first place. 

Then it was Mary, who is now sixteen. The middle child. Sometimes, I think our father forgot she even existed. She was able to get away with more stuff than the rest of us, though when she did get in trouble, she got a worse punishment than the other three. 

After Mary, they had another boy. Henry named him after him, so his name is technically Henry Jr., but he asked us all to call him Harry instead behind Father's back. He didn't quite like being named after him. 

The youngest was James. He was eleven now, and the poor thing only saw Henry's bad side. He was constantly angry at him for no reason whatsoever, though he did more verbal than physical abuse with him. 

My mom sighs. "Martha's on a date..With the man Henry is forcing her to marry in a few months.." She frowns. 

I raise an eyebrow. "What? That's ridiculous, she can't just marry-"

"She already agreed to it. You know how Martha is.." She mumbles. Martha never went against Henry's word, no matter how much she wanted to. "Harry and James are next door, though, hanging out with the neighbors."

I scoff. "I hate those people." I mumble and my mom giggles quietly. 

"I do too, but your father is good friends with them. Speaking of which, you better get back to talking with him before he gets angry." She warns and I sigh and nod. 

"Right...I love you."

She smiles gently at me. "I love you too, John."

I then go downstairs and take a deep breath before I look up at my father staring up at me. I nod at him. "Hello, again.." I mumble. 

"John, I don't know what trick you are trying to pull on me right now, but just know I don't support anything you're doing." He glares at me. 

I nod. "I'm aware, sir. I'm sorry for getting out of hand, I'm ready to go back to school, honestly." I say, smiling slightly. 

He raises an eyebrow. "Frances, come down here!" He called out, looking at me skeptically. 

"Um, you know what, I think she was sleeping when I went upstairs. Probably should leave her alone-"

"She's in my house now, she listens to my rules." He states, starting to walk up the stairs. 

I run and stand in front of him, blocking his path. "She's my daughter, and I say she needs sleep." I say. 

He scoffs. "Get out my way, you are no father to her. You're a lousy parent, and an even worse son." He starts walking up still and I hold back wanting to argue with him as I step in front of him again. 

"I can't let you wake her up."

"Goddammit, John get out of the way!" He yells. This is when I felt the familiar stinging feeling on my face as I fell to the floor. I hold my cheek and curl up into a ball out of habit on the stairs. 

I hear his chuckle and I tense up a bit more. "Such a disappointment, John. Really, I expected more out of you."

He finishes walking up the stairs and I gulp and shrink into a tighter ball. I hear a door slam shut and I wince, knowing he knew what was up. I just hope it was too late for him to actually go after Frances and Alex.

1794 Words