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Chapter 33 - like no one ever had

...continued:

When all the tears had stopped, Jack had fully welcomed his brothers inside and begun introducing them to his friends. It became obvious to Jess that they'd never met before and that must have been because Jack had made every effort to separate his home life with the one he lived here. Aaron was the only one of the guys who seemed to know everything and that was solely due to trust for him. However, these other guys who he spent everyday with, were still unaware of Jack's personal life back home and it just pinpointed how he'd never dealt with the issues that occurred there.

As Jack made his way into the kitchen, Jess was stood nervously, her pounding heart causing her palms to sweat. However, Jack on the other hand held no reserves in introducing Jess to his older brother Conor first who was extremely friendly and immediately urged her into a hug. Then, Jack didn't even need to say a single thing to the confident little boy who instantly ran over to her, bouncing on his feet with excitement.

"I'm Brooklyn." He beamed. "My big brothers call me Brooks so you can do that. What's your name?"

"I'm Jess." She replied, crouching down to his height so they were now face to face.

"Jess." Brooklyn repeated, as though testing to see if he had got it right and Jess nodded. "What do your big brothers call you?"

"I don't have any big brothers." Jess shook her head and dropped her lips into a sad expression. "But I do have a big sister and she sometimes calls me Jessica."

Brooklyn took a moment while he was trying to make sense of the word in his head before giving it his best shot.

"Jess-i-ca." He sounded out and instantly cheered himself when Jess congratulated him on getting it right.

This little boy was full of excitement and clearly proud as he jumped up and down before pausing and reaching out to take one of Jess' hands. He was cautious at first as he tested the waters but as Jess gave his hand a playful squeeze back, he instantly fell into pure comfort.

"Jess-i-ca..." He began, with a curious look in his eyes.

"Yes?"

"Can I have a cuddle?"

That question caused Jess' heart to feel like it had stopped due to the unexpected question that had been posed to her. Brooklyn had a face full of innocence and Jess' stomach swarmed with butterflies yet with nothing other that admiration for how truly adorable he was.

"Of course." She grinned back as she opened her arms and Brooklyn instantly ran into them.

Then as they both engaged in a hug, Jess couldn't help but think that this boy was truly craving the gentle love he was missing from his mum. He was clearly surrounded by male figures in his life and was now at loss of a female role model/carer therefore, he then looked for that elsewhere. He wanted his mum, there was no doubt about that and it seemed as though he was unconsciously searching for the love she had always given, now that she was gone.

Jack watched on with so much appreciation as even he was consumed with feelings and emotions he didn't usually experience. He watched his little brother engage with Jess like he had known her for years and it was beautiful to see him be comfortable enough to engage with her in this way.

"Are you two an item?" Conor nudged Jack's arm as they both watched the pair and Jack shook his head.

"No. I haven't known her that long." He began, unable to take his eyes off the two of them.

"She at your uni?"

Jack nodded.

"She's my housemates, girlfriend's, friend..." He laughed as Conor grinned back at him.