[Jack's House] [Late Afternoon]
Haley pushed the last stack of folded clothes onto the shelf and stepped backward, taking in the walk-in closet with a satisfied smile.
For weeks, she'd been insisting she hadn't actually moved into Jack's house. The dresses hanging beside his jackets didn't count. Neither did the shoes downstairs, the makeup covering half the bathroom counter, the shampoo in his shower, or the increasingly large collection of things that somehow migrated from the Dunphy house every time she stayed over.
That argument had officially died today.
Her last overnight bag sat empty on the floor, and an entire section of the closet now belonged to her. Dresses, jeans, tops, jackets, shoes, handbags, and several boxes of accessories had transformed what had once been Jack's suspiciously organized closet into something that actually looked shared.
Haley rested both hands on her hips and admired her work. "Okay. It's official. I am a co-habitant. Look upon my shoe collection and despair."
Saying it aloud felt strange.
Haley looked down at her engagement ring and smiled before her eyes drifted toward her stomach. Less than a week ago, she'd still been Jack's girlfriend who practically lived at his house while maintaining the technical defense that most of her clothes were somewhere else. Now she was engaged, pregnant with twins, and officially sharing a home with him.
Her entire life had apparently discovered a fast-forward button.
Haley stretched both arms above her head until her back gave a satisfying little pop, then wandered out of the bedroom and headed downstairs. Moving her clothes had taken longer than expected, mostly because she'd repeatedly stopped to reorganize things after deciding Jack's closet system made absolutely no sense.
She entered the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and grabbed a bottle of juice. After twisting off the cap, she drank nearly half the bottle without stopping.
Haley stared at it afterward, slightly surprised by herself. "Wow. Okay, guess someone's drinking for three now."
She put the cap back on, returned the bottle to the refrigerator, and headed down the hall toward Jack's study.
The door was partially open.
Haley pushed it wider and found Jack sitting behind his desk with his attention fixed on the computer monitor. Several handwritten pages were scattered beside the keyboard, while a notebook lay open near his right hand. His fingers moved quickly across the keys as another page of dialogue appeared on the screen.
Haley smiled and quietly walked behind him.
Jack noticed her reflection in the monitor but kept typing until her arms slipped around his neck. Haley leaned against his back and rested her head comfortably on his shoulder, her cheek brushing his.
"What are you doing?" she asked while looking toward the screen.
Jack finished the sentence before answering. "Writing a movie script."
Haley studied the page for several seconds. "Right. Because normal people who get a day off watch TV, or go to the mall, or stare at a wall. They don't invent more work."
"I watch TV. I watched a documentary yesterday."
"You watch intense foreign films and take notes on 'pacing.' It was really exhausting."
"It's still technically screen time."
Haley kissed his cheek and tightened her arms around him. "What are we writing today? Another billion-dollar franchise?"
Jack saved the document before leaning back slightly into her embrace. "Gravity. Space thriller. I've had it rattling around in my brain, and I need it out so I can start on Fantastic Beasts 2."
Haley lifted her head from his shoulder. "Wait, already? The first book literally just hit the shelves. People are still learning how to pronounce the spells."
"Exactly. Strike while the iron is hot. And before my free time legally belongs to two infants."
Haley moved around the chair and leaned against the edge of his desk, folding her arms. "You're doing that thing again."
Jack looked up at her. "What thing?"
"The Jack Thing. Where you have five minutes of downtime, so you panic and try to write a novel before dinner."
Jack smiled because the accusation was fair. "This time there's actually a reason."
Haley raised an eyebrow and waited.
Jack turned his chair toward her and rested his hands against the armrests. "We have roughly seven months before the invasion. I want to clear the decks."
Haley's expression softened slightly. "Why? Do babies hate typing?"
"Because when Tweedledee and Tweedledum get here, I don't want to be locked in a study stressing over page counts while you're downstairs drowning in diapers and screaming and feeding." Jack glanced around the study before looking back at her. "I want to be in the trenches with you. If I front-load the writing now, I actually get to be a dad later."
Haley stared at him for a moment. She'd expected an answer involving publishers, release schedules, or some complicated production arrangement. Hearing him casually include himself in midnight feedings and screaming babies made warmth spread through her chest.
Then practical reality caught up with her.
"Okay, but what about the movie star thing?" Haley asked. "You know, the red carpets, the screaming fans, the whole being 'Jack Preston' of it all?"
Jack nodded because he'd already been thinking about that. "Planet of the Apes comes out around Christmas. Narnia 2 starts shooting in January, and then Zombieland comes out in March. Between shooting Narnia and promoting Zombieland, I'll probably be really busy for about four months."
Haley frowned as she mentally counted forward. "Which takes us pretty close to when these two decide they've had enough of living inside me."
"Pretty much." Jack reached forward and rested his hands gently against her hips. "That's why after those commitments are finished, I'm done for a while."
Haley blinked. "Done with what?"
"Acting."
She stared at him.
Jack watched her expression change and immediately clarified. "I'm taking a hiatus. A year. Maybe two."
Haley straightened away from the desk. "You're serious?"
"Completely serious."
She searched his face for any sign that he'd made the decision impulsively because of the pregnancy. "Jack, acting is a huge part of your career."
"I know, and it'll still be there when I decide to come back." He pulled her a little closer. "I've spent the last few years jumping from one project to another. Plus all the writing in between. Taking a breather to raise my kids with my soon-to-be wife isn't going to magically erase my IMDB page."
Haley glanced toward the computer. "What are you going to do for an entire year without making movies?"
Jack gave her an amused look. "Raise two babies with you."
"You know what I mean."
"I'll still write. Books, scripts, whatever I feel like working on when there's time. Maybe I'll do a few photoshoots or show up in a small music video if something sounds fun. Things that take a day or two instead of disappearing onto a movie set for months."
Haley slowly nodded as she understood what he was planning. "So you'd still work. You'd just work from here most of the time."
"Exactly. I can take pitch meetings on Skype while the twins nap." Jack paused before smiling. "I'm already a successful author and screenwriter. I'm practically a multi-media mogul."
Haley looked down at his hands resting against her hips. "Okay, mogul. You've really been plotting this out."
"I've had a few days to panic... I mean, plan."
"A few days ago, we thought there was one baby."
"The 'sequel' announcement definitely threw off my timeline."
Haley laughed despite herself and lightly smacked his shoulder. "Don't call our twins a sequel."
"Simultaneous release, technically. A double feature."
She stared at him.
Jack wisely stopped talking.
Haley's smile faded into something more thoughtful as she looked around the study. "Look, I love that you want to help, but I don't want you giving up your dream just because you feel obligated to, you know, deal with the two tiny humans and me."
Jack's expression softened. "I'm not giving anything up. I'm choosing where I want to spend my time."
Haley watched him quietly.
"I love acting," Jack continued. "I'll go back when I'm ready. I also don't want to spend the twins' first year hearing about everything they did through phone calls because I'm shooting somewhere for four months. I don't want you calling me at three in the morning because both babies are screaming while I'm sleeping in a hotel halfway across the country."
Haley's mouth curved slightly. "You think you're going to be sleeping while I have two screaming babies?"
"Exactly my point."
She laughed and slid her hands over his shoulders.
Jack looked up at her. "They're my kids too, Haley. You're not doing the hard parts while I show up for photographs and birthdays. If they're awake at three in the morning, we're both awake at three in the morning."
Haley smiled. "That sounds really sweet right now. Check back with me when we haven't slept in a week and someone has spit up in my hair."
"I'll definitely be less charming. Probably crying."
"You're already a monster at 3 AM if the Wi-Fi goes down."
"Slander. Anyway. Are you officially moved in?"
Haley nodded toward the hallway. "The final bag is empty. The shoes have landed. My makeup has successfully colonized the master bathroom, and I'm pretty sure I own about seventy-five percent of your closet now."
"My closet?"
"Our closet."
Jack smiled immediately. "Much better."
--
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