Going Back to Move Forward 12

Chapter 11: Empty Chair

France, 1962

This was a terrible idea.

Rhoda glanced nervously at her husband as they walked down the hall.

"C'est formidable d'être de retour! (It's great to be back!)" Jack stretched, his long arms almost touching the ceiling as they climbed upstairs. Rhoda wondered if he noticed he reverted back to French. After weeks of staying in California, their words gradually evolved from French phrases littered here and there to purely English at the end.

Grubby walls. Dusty corners. Her eyes couldn't help but noticed the blemishes of their environment that she never noticed before. A pit formed in her stomach, wondering what Jesse might be thinking.

It was night when they arrived. Her gut twisted as they passed by doors. Why did she asked Jesse to come with them again?

Her bunny tail swept from side to side anxiously. Why did she invite him? Dust would be gathering inside the flat! She hadn't even cleaned properly when they left! He'd see their flat as some hovel and-

They stopped at their door and Rose opened it with her spare key.

"It's good to be home," Rose sighed, flicking the lights open.

Small was the first thought that came to Jesse. It was an organized mess that reminded him of Rhoda. But she and the twins maneuvered around the furniture with ease. He watched Jack stopped in his tracks, without even looking at Rose passing by. Then sidestepped around an unmindful Rhoda who had stepped cleanly to the right as she fumbled with her bag. It was as though they instinctively knew a certain circulation around the flat.

"Pa! I gotta show ya something!"

Jack suddenly dragged him inside. Before he knew it, he was standing before… something.

"It's a wall," he stated.

His son rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Look here!"

At the side, he could see marks. Jack, age 6, 08/09/53. Another says Rose, age 10, 01/23/57. He looked up then down.

"These are your height marks," Jesse stated, kneeling down for a better inspection.

"Yep!" Jack said proudly. "Below, me and Rose-"

"Rose and I."

"-are almost the same height." He pointed at the older marks below.

Jesse touched the inked ticks on the wood. At age 4, their twins were almost the same height. But as time goes by…. His hands traced the side of the wall upwards, observing the ever-expanding distance between the twins' heights. It seemed Jack began to have his rocketing growth spurt at the age of 8.

He looked around again, not surprised if they had lived in the rather cramped apartment since they were babies.

Jack left his side, already making a beeline to the kitchen. "Hey, quoi pour le dîner? (Hey, what's for dinner?)"

Rose stuck out her head from inside. "You would know if you would help, you glutton," she dryly remarked.

"Ce n'est pas juste que vous avez déjà commencé sans moi! (Not fair that you already started without me!)" he retorted.

"Kids," Rhoda warned as she brushed past Jesse, taking out an apron from her hammer space. She tied it behind her, a bow above her bunny tail. Then she paused, and turned to him. She looked almost shy, nervous as they stood in the warm cacophony of their home. So far from the wide, minimalist design of his flat.

"We got an excellent view from the balcony. Do you wanna see?"

XOXOXOX

ToonTown High School, School Season, 1962

Maman hadn't thought about the other kids when she decided they should study here.

Jack folded his arms, sinking lower into his seat. Where was that darn teacher to distract them all from him?

First day of school. With Rose having higher marks than him, they don't have the same classes anymore. Jack didn't mind that.

What he did mind, was the elephant in the room.

He glanced in his peripheral vision at the cautious air of the other kids around him. It was nothing new, what his rabbit ears could hear. He and Rose were the outcome of the first humanoid-anthropomorphic couple. Their mother's a skin lover, their father must have a fur fetish, blah, blah, blah…

His eyes closed. He and Rose were expecting the whispering. What he didn't expect was the nervous, almost awed fear in the room.

BAM!

The kids jumped when Jack bashed his table with a fist.

He stood up, looking around. "Geez! With all the whispering and the staring, I feel like an elephant in a nature show!" he exclaimed.

Jack suddenly jumped on his table and attempted to emulate a trumpeting elephant. It sounded more like a dying boar.

His ears caught a few tentative giggles. He could work with that.

He paused, looking around, feeling a grin creep on his face. He thrust out into a majestic pause, his rabbit ears curling into horns.

"Or maybe I would make a fabulous ram instead!"

Jack beamed at the honest-to-goodness laughter.

"Allez, I can't be the only new kid in here. No? Just me? So," he looked around with a grin. "What're your names then?"

XOXOXOX

France, 1962

"So, Ma, where will Pa sleep?"

Rose looked up at the sudden question of Jack's. But Jack was looking at their parents with honest puzzlement.

"I don't mind the couch," Pa replied.

Jack glanced at the couch. Back when he was ten, he had sawed off the armrest and placed a chair on its end to accommodate his height. Rose bluntly said he destroyed a perfect piece of furniture.

"Why don't you just sleep with Ma, after all- hrk!" a sudden blow on his ribs!

"Oh my, it's time for Jack and me to brush our teeth. Excuse us," Rose stated pleasantly, dragging Jack out of the kitchen.

"Let them take it slow, Jack!" she scolded in a whisper as soon as they were out of rabbit earshot, still dragging him down the hall.

Her brother frowned, stumbling as he tried to walk. "Allez, Pa's not going to be comfortable in that couch! I would know!"

Meanwhile, Jesse stared at where their kids disappeared to, wondering what just happened.

"It's alright with me if it's alright with you."

He turned to Rhoda who had spoken. She was quietly putting back the clean dishes back to the drawers.

"Okay."

XOXOXOX

ToonTown High School, School Season, 1962

Rose sped down the school halls. Those who weren't aware how sharp rabbit hearing was were whispering about their parents' "affairs".

Knowing all the times Jack got into fights because someone would insult Maman's character or call his sister a fagot…

Her heart skipped a beat when she neared the room where Jack's next class would be held. She pushed open the door…

Only to hear a ring of laughter.

"Wow, I mean, did you really hit your dad?"

Rose gripped the doorknob. But Jack's ears drooped as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, that was actually stupid of me…" he stuck out his tongue with a thumbs-up, "As advertised!"

Jack finally saw her over the wave of chuckles. He zipped to her side, waving everyone's attention.

"Everyone, this is my favorite sister in the world!"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm your only sister, silly," she replied without thinking.

Jack let out a barrage of names, introducing her to the other toons. "And this is my twin sister, Rose."

"You're twins?"

Rose could only smile dryly as Jack's grin went wider.

"Of course we're twins," he bent down and rested his chin on top of her head, spreading her floppy ears apart. "Can't you tell?"

XOXOXOX

France, 1962

Amidst the rising piles of keep, sell and give away; progress was stopped when Rhoda reached the picture frames on the wall.

"You can have them for your flat," Rhoda replied.

Jesse nodded as she placed them on his hands. He slipped them into the hammer space of his suitcase. When he turned around, Rhoda was waiting for him with a photo album.

"I found it in the back shelf," she explained. He opened its daffodil cover to see it empty.

She gave him a half-smile. "It's your turn to fill it with memories with Jack and Rose," she added, gesturing at her totem of baby photos that she had recently showed. Jack and Rose have long ago fled outside to buy groceries, when Rhoda whipped it out with her first line being "And here's Jack and Rose taking their first potty."

XOXOXOX

ToonTown, School Season, 1962

"You didn't have to visit me in my homeroom, but merci. Hey, do you remember-"

Rose let Jack blabber on. Relief was the only thing she felt at the end of the first day of school. She glanced back at her brother who was still talking on.

"I was afraid you were going to end up in the principal's office," she spoke out loud.

That stopped Jack with his jabbering, stuck between astonished and offended.

"I thought so too," he admitted, his eyes darkening as he cracked his knuckles. Yet it was gone with a shrug. "But then I realized I tend to give Maman more trouble for it." His chest deflated with an exhale. "I was never solving anything back then." He ran a hand over his hair and rabbit ears. "I was just making things worse."

Jack missed the incredulous look on her face as he put his hands on his pockets, looking up to the sky. "I figured things would be better if people get to know us over what they read."

Rose's hand pinched her own arm.

"Unless of course, they read that we can turn chickens into ninjas -with the ancient yodeling of peace, wisdom and justice!" he exclaimed with punches in the air. "Then that's too cool to be denied." Rose jumped when he suddenly yodeled. "AaaauuuuAAAaaauuuu! Join me, Rose! AaaauuuuAAAaaauuuuAAAaaauuu-"

Her stare could've dried grass into hay. Nope, he hadn't changed.

XOXOXOX

France, 1962

The first night was okay with Rhoda sleeping with her back turned to him while he slept off the travel lag.

Tonight, however…

Jesse glanced beside him to see Rhoda's back turned to him again. He could hear her sigh and bury deeper into the blankets.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered, her back still turned. "You?"

"I can't either."

She finally turned to face him, one arm under her head and other close to her chest. "I guess when you're in a new place, it's a while before you can fall asleep."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

He waved a hand to the bed they're lying in. "Are you okay with this?"

"Of course I'm okay with it!" she exclaimed. "You?"

"I am."

She nodded in understanding. A beat of silence. He looked down to her hand that had brushed by, clasping his own.

"I love you."

He suddenly glanced at her. But she was looking ahead, her eyes peaceful in what moonlight was available.

"And it's not just because of rabbit nature," she continued.

Jesse didn't answer. Rhoda was about to let go of his hand, understanding he may need some time. But his grasp tightened and she found herself being pulled close.

He could feel her rabbit ear brush his cheek as he nuzzled his chin on top of her head.

"Jesse, how come it took a while for you to get mad for what I did?"

He looked at her and her sudden question.

"I blamed myself for it," he answered after a while.

Her smile was a tad disbelieving. "Jesse, I'm responsible for my own decisions."

She could feel him shrug, as though gesturing at their embrace. "I guess, I just wanted things to go back the way they are."

"Me too," she replied. Her forehead rested on the hollow of his throat before she lifted her eyes again. "But it wasn't that simple, was it?"

"No." He should've known better that trauma could be repressed but never erased.

She squeaked in surprise when he rolled her into her back, his palms resting on each side of her.

Emerald met sky blue as summer memories contrasted with memories back then. Rhoda's authoritative voice alien to his ears. Rhoda's habitual French phrases. Rhoda and her long walks to clear her head. Rhoda's confident stance in situations that she would've let Mina or him take care of it years ago.

She had changed. But so did he. Fifteen years ago, he wouldn't have helped the toons being taken advantage by humans and other toons. He would've let someone else with that power do it and sticked with singing in the Paint-and-Ink club. Instead, Rhoda's disappearance had propelled him to acquire that power.

"Jesse?"

They were no longer the people they had been before.

Her hand reached for his cheek, cocking her head as she searched his eyes.

Had he been afraid what would happen if he realized she wasn't what he thought she was? He locked his gaze at her questioning stare.

She was no longer what he thought she was.

He cupped her cheek as he lowered himself.

"Jesse..."

She was more.

XOXOXOX

ToonTown High School, School Season, 1962

"Rose, it's her."

Rose whipped around to only see crowds of other toon students. "Who?" she asked, glancing at Jack. But he was looking grimly ahead.

"The one that forced herself on me," he said in a low voice.

Her eyes finally locked on the girl he was looking. The girl turned away but Rose saw enough.

"Do you want to press charges?"

Jack shook his head, looking sick. "I don't know."

Rose only nodded in understanding. She knew the privilege of being a guy in the eyes of society… and the privilege of being a girl. Her heart dropped to her stomach. Just when Jack was feeling happy in their new school…

It was a good thing Jack makes fast friends. Just a few innocent questions and Rose got all the info she needed.

Patricia Perkins. But she'd rather be called "Tisha." 17 years old. Lives in 142 W. Pecker Street. Father's a pencil pusher in Ajax Company. Mother's a housewife. Family in middle-class income. Likes to sing and dance.

Just a typical carefree youth.

Three days later, the girl found a copy on the laws against sexual harassment, defamation and abusive and insulting language. The definition of sexual harassment was circled (unwanted physical advances such as hugging, touching and kissing). The girl stared at the list of consequences of having a criminal record. As well as being a registered sex offender. Her heart raced. If her parents found out… She suddenly shuddered, looking around.

Amidst the crowd; Rose quietly walked away, prim and proper. It wasn't the punishment she would like. But it would be enough to protect Jack.

"Rose, wanna walk together to music class?" a toon vixen asked.

She smiled gracefully, a collective sigh ensuing at such a simple act. "Oui, mon ami."

The talk turned to the latest fashion as other girls joined her. Unseen by anyone, she looked back over her shoulder, her eyes a dark cold ice. She may not be like a nun, who can put a fear of God.

But she could instill the fear of law.

I'm watching you...

XOXOXOX

France, 1962

"Rose!"

Said rabbit turned around, carrying a crate of her old things. "Pierre."

"Tu me manques (You are missing from me)," the male rabbit said with a cute grin. "Puis-je porter cela pour vous? (May I carry that for you?)"

Rose barely blinked at his boyish charm. But smiled politely. "Bien sûr. (Of course.)"

Pierre practically closed his eyes at the sound of her voice, soft and sensual like lingerie pressed close. Not that he had pressed lingerie to himself before.

The sheepish rabbit adjusted the box in his arms. "Vous vous éloignez vraiment. (You really are moving away)" He noticed her surprised glance. "Ne jamais sous-estimer les ragots dans cette communauté. (Never underestimate the gossip in this community.)"

Rose rolled her eyes.

"J'ai aussi entendu votre père habite dans votre appartement en ce moment. (I also heard your father lives in your apartment right now.)"

Her expression became wry. The army should perhaps hire their toon community for communications specialist team.

"Ils ont dit qu'il ressemblait à la façon dont Jack devrait agir. (They said he looks like how Jack should act.)"

Rose laughed, imagining the look on Jack's face if he heard that.

"On dirait que je ne serai jamais ton copain, hein? (Looks like I'll never be your boyfriend, huh?)"

A sigh escaped her lips. Just when everything was becoming funny.

"Pierre, je vous l'ai dit. Je n'ai jamais été intéressé. (Pierre, I told you. I was never interested.)"

Girls thought she was mad to reject him. He's an athletic, smart, good-looking buck (and he knows it). He could've been a good friend. He listens. He's patient. He never held it against her that she was gay. Even if he had this romanticized notion of converting her. Rose forgave him for that for the sake of having a friend by her side.

Pierre smiled. Holding his crate under one arm, he held her hand with another.

"La fille la plus parfaite dans le monde avec un seul défaut. (The most perfect girl with only a single flaw.)"

"Excusez-moi? (Excuse me?)" she uttered in cold tones.

She snatched her hand back. "Vous pensez que je suis imparfait parce que je n'aime pas les gars de cette façon?! (You think I'm imperfect because I don't like guys that way?!)"

It was like a sudden douse of ice water. "Vous ... vous me mettez toujours dans ce piédestal comme si je suis quelque chose à adorer. Je ne suis pas! Je ne suis pas parfait. Et ce n'est pas à cause de ce que vous pensez! (You ... you always put me in this pedestal as if I'm something to worship. I'm not! I'm not perfect. And it's not because of what you think!)"

She snatched her crate from his arm, walking away.

A friend. That's all she asked. Someone (besides Jack) who won't turn her away or accept her with ridiculous notions of what they think she is.

XOXOXOX

Hollywood, School Season, 1962

Jack balanced the huge fruits basket in his arms as they walk out of ToonTown and into the human town.

"You know, Maman could've just delivered this. But noooooo, you insisted to give it to Ms. Laurens in person," he groused.

"Ms. Laurens helped our mother greatly in her time of need. A personal visit adds more to the act of gratitude," Rose replied placidly.

"You just wanted to see her," Jack muttered.

"Guilty as charged," she responded back. In a time when a lot of black women straighten their own hair and lighten their own skin, Rose could see Ms. Laurens was none of that.

They opened the door to her office to see black people come out of it. Most of them, Rose noticed, look like college students.

"Good afternoon, Ms. L," Jack announced coming. He jerked his thumb outside. "What was that about?"

Rose gave him a chastising glance but Ms. Laurens answered. "Volunteers to become Freedom Riders."

They became silent. They've seen the Freedom Riders in TV. Ever since the Supreme Court had ruled that segregated bus terminals were unconstitutional, activists rode buses to make the federal government uphold it. The violence they met from white people was horrifying.

"Are you going to volunteer too, Miss Laurens?" Rose asked quietly.

The attorney smiled. "As much as I want to, my fight is here in Hollywood. It's just a different kind of racism." She glanced at Jack. "I've seen the way you stood in front of your sister when they passed by." Jack opened his mouth in protest. But she continued. "I don't blame you for it. Black people are discriminated for so long, they take it out on others they consider lower than them."

Jack placed the fruits basket on her table. "Only some. We could never tell who would though."

"A lot of humans don't consider us human," Rose bluntly remarked. "We're just paint and ink to them."

"Both black and toon people need to stand up more often," the attorney sighed. "If you become someone that can't be segregated, the whole country will have to choose a new way to deal with you."

XOXOXOX

France, 1962

"Merci pour les jouets, Jack! (Thanks for the toys, Jack!)"

"Pas de problème, il suffit de prendre soin d'eux! (No problem, just take care of them!)" he shouted back.

Jack carried his near empty crate down the road. Maybe he should give his old underwear to Gorilla Jean just for laughs.

"Jack!"

He paused, knowing the voices that called out. Immediately, hands clung to each of his arm.

"Nous avons entendu dire que vous allez vivre dans- (We heard you're going to live in-)"

Jack dropped his crate and shrugged them away, facing them.

"Je suis désolé, Monet, Charlotte. Je n'ai jamais été confortable avec aucun de vous me touchant. (I'm sorry, Monet, Charlotte. I was never comfortable with any of you touching me.)" He looked at the rest of the girls who were with them. "Avec ñ'importe qui d'entre vous. (With any of you.)"

They looked at each other at the sudden change of his behavior. "Jack, on n'a pas voulu faire de mal. (Jack, we didn't mean any harm.)"

He shrugged, picking up his crate. "C'est peut-être ainsi. Mais je n'ai jamais aimé. S'il vous plaît ne le faites plus. (That maybe so. But I never liked it. Please don't do it anymore.)"

XOXOXOX

Acme Studios, School Season, 1962

"Aaaand cut! That's a wrap everybody!"

The whole crew bustled to pack down. The guileless, infant expression in Mina's face switched off like a light. "Well, I'm off."

"Where're you going?" Rhoda asked.

"There's this gun show I've been itching to see and Leroy said he's got an extra ticket." She paused. "It's not a date," she clarified at Rhoda's suddenly sparkling eyes.

"That's what I used to say," the rabbit quipped.

"What? Rhoda!"

But Rhoda was already zipping off the studio and into the stairs. After so many floors, she stepped inside an office, greeting the secretary.

"Heya Jesse! Are you ready to go?"

Jack and Rose would still be in their school. She and Jesse could spend an hour or so before they would go to their separate ways. Him to Jack and Rose before dinner. Her in her trailer. Mina would probably be too busy for dinner later on. But she would managed by her rabbit self.

"The ice cream parlor?" Jesse asked. He watched her beam like a sun.

It was dark by the time he took her to her home. Jesse watched her fiddle with the keys of her trailer.

Jack and Rose would visit their mother every Saturday. Then they get to spend some family time with him every Sunday.

"Maman, would never let us sleep over to her place," Jack groused. Then his voice pitched high into cute and squeaky. "'You need to spend time with your father.' Bollocks, as if- ow!" Whatever he was saying was interrupted by Rose's elbow to his side.

Jesse bid her goodnight. It seems like it was a comfortable routine everyone was getting used to.

"Rhoda?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to come with us on Sunday?"

"Jesse, that's when you spend time with Rose and Jack."

XOXOXOX

France, 1962

He cupped her cheek as he lowered himself.

"Jesse..."

Rhoda distractedly folded sheets as Jesse packed them, wondering if last night really happened.

She rose up a little to meet him. His lips touched hers softly, but she could feel the weight it carried.

She blushed. It had been the most peaceful slumber she had ever experienced. Even better after they have accidentally slept in her bedroom chair in Mina's house.

After announcing to the kids that they're going to get their stuff, Rhoda watched them walked out, talking about their last days in France. She glanced at Jesse, feeling a happy sort of trill, remembering how he probably broke and trespassed Mina's property just to talk to her.

Wait-

"I hope you two used protection," Mina spoke aloud.

She looked at her in confusion. "Protection from what?"

Jesse startled when Rhoda suddenly exclaimed exasperatedly.

"MINA!" She hopped down and zipped to the phone as though tempted to correct her friend overseas.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Mina! I finally figured out what she meant by 'protection'."

"Rhoda, that was days ago."

"What does she think we are?" she asked indignantly, putting her hands on her hips. "We're not some romance novel just because you climbed into my bedroom in the middle of the night!"

But then her eyes widened as though her brain presented her a rather shocking thought. Jesse watched her fumble with her fingers, fiddling with a loose seam of her yellow glove.

"I… actually don't want to have another litter," she confessed. As a rabbit, they don't birth only one. "But what about you?"

Jesse didn't give it a second thought. "I'm already happy with just Rose and Jack."

Rhoda nodded at his answer, hopping to a stool to get herself a glass of water. She poured herself a drink.

"We should definitely buy protection."

He watched her spurt out the water that wasn't so different to an exploding fire hydrant. She hacked and Jesse came over to thump her on the back.

"When we're ready," Jesse added.

Whatever water she had coughed, went back again in the wrong pipe.

"I…" she sputtered. Rhoda shook off irritated throat. She was expecting months, maybe a year or so before Jesse would want to go there.

She suddenly tensed when she felt his hand that was on her back glide down, followed by his other hand as they smooth over her waist and into her stomach.

"We can take it slow" he asked in a low voice behind her. He may see sex as a tool. That didn't mean he didn't enjoy the intimacy it gave them.

It was all she could do to keep standing when he pressed his face on the crook of her neck.

"Jesse..." she whispered, pressing her back closer against him, gripping his fingers that were roaming past her abdomen and just above her womb. Gliding lower and lower-

"Maman! We're ba- AAUGH! My eyes!"

Rhoda ripped herself away from Jesse so hard, she tripped into a sinkful of dishwater.

"Hello, kids," Jesse greeted nonchalantly, noticing the twins' return.

Rose stood rooted on the spot, a bright red carnation of shame while Jack ran around with hands over his smoking eyes, as calm as a dog in the Fourth of July.

Rhoda gasped, climbing out of the suds. "It's okay, Jack! The same thing happened to Mina and it was only temporary. She walked in on us one time when-"

"I don't want to know!"

XOXOXOX

Acme Studios, School Season, 1962

The door to Jesse's office burst open and Rhoda bounced inside.

"Heya, Jesse! You ready to go?"

She stopped, surprised to see Jesse packing a briefcase. He turned around.

"Rhoda? Oh, you're here."

Her rabbit ear curved into a question mark as she glanced at the briefcase.

"Where're you going?"

She saw him hesitate momentarily. "Martha called. She wants to see me."

"Oh."

Silence fell between them. Jesse was swift to speak. "Rhoda, it would be a business meeting-"

"I know." She closed her eyes for a moment. Her ears twisted anxiously twisted together before unwinding. "I know she helped me with the truth. But I don't know how to feel about her yet, "she admitted. She knew Ms. Acme was just a lonely old woman. But knowing and feeling could be different sometimes.

He regarded her. "Are you okay with it?"

Rhoda rubbed the back of her head. "A little bit of a no," she honestly replied. "But go. She's still your boss."

She yelped when Jesse suddenly lifted her up into a hug. He didn't know why. But her reply was better than the "right" answer. He kissed her, not caring if he'll be late. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, placing down a breathless Rhoda back on the ground.

XOXOXOX

France, 1962

Jack clutched the blanket covering him like a huge shawl, having just suffered from temporary blindness. A phenomenon that sometimes happen to toons upon horrified disgust.

"I'm definitely going to knock before entering any room again!"

Rose silently agreed as Jack carefully poked his eyelids. Never in her life had she heard their mother's voice like that. Each syllable of Pa's name had been a strained breathless prayer. Before she had the chance to pull Jack outside, he had barged right in, unable to take a hint.

In her seat, Maman was also recovering from her embarrassment while Pa was making coco as though his own kids walking in on them wasn't a big deal. Logically, Rose reasoned, it's not. It's a normal spouse thing to do, right? Pa and Maman have thought they were being discreet.

She checked on Pa again. Only to see his shoulders slightly fell in resignation. She looked away again, mirroring Maman's lowered but less mortified face.

Jack rubbed his arms. Entering the room was like the time he walked into Aunt Mina's pool in the dark. It was like suddenly drowning in something hot and coiled and heavy and harmonious-

Wait, what? Harmonious?

"Maman, Papa," Rose spoke. "There's something that Jack and I never have the opportunity to tell you together."

"Oh right," Jack untangled himself from his own confusion. "Don't get back for our sake."

Rose elbowed him. "What Jack meant was, take your time getting back together. Don't do it for us." She smiled at them. "But because you both want it."

"Yup, especially not because we'll be 18 in 3 years. We may never experience what it's like to live as a whole family," Jack added solemnly. Also with as much care as someone with an absent thought inspector.

Still smiling at their parents, Rose shoved him so hard, he fell with a crash.

"What?" Jack asked from the floor. "They shouldn't rush because of us."

"There are other ways to say those kind of things!" Rose closed her eyes as though praying for patience. Only a few could test hers: Jack's big mouth, Jack's impulsive behavior and had she mentioned Jack's big mouth?

She turned back to their stunned parents. "Really, we're fine."

"So no pressure," Jack finished, standing up.

XOXOXOX

ToonTown, 1964

Roderick Wood held the stack of flyers as his father taped them on posts. He read what he could from one of them.

Drawn After Monogamous Animals?

Does Your Spouse Want Out?

Do You Feel Like You Need Help?

WE CAN!

Call IMA (Intrinsically Monogamous Anthropomorphs) Hotline

He glanced at the volunteers his father had trained, giving pamphlets about the monogamous nature of certain toons.

"Dad?"

Edgar Wood stopped his task to glance at him.

"Yes, son?"

"Do you still love mom?"

His father gave a tired smile. "I'll always do, buddy."

Roderick became quiet. It had been two years since their mom left. Sometimes he and his siblings will stay with her. But most of the time, with their dad.

"Will you and mom ever get back together?"

Edgar slapped the ground with his beaver tail. "No, son. Sometimes, it's just better that way." From what his ex-wife told him, she had begun to feel unhappy years ago.

Roderick looked down. Bell and Lee were too young to remember. But he knew once upon a time when they were all together and happy.

He took a flyer. "Would it always be over once something goes wrong?" He maybe a raccoon. But his sister was a beaver like their father. What if the same thing happens to her?

"No, Rod." Edgar put a hand on his small shoulder. "Nature aside, true love is a choice."

XOXOXOX

France, 1962

The news of them leaving had spread. Jack wondered why Maman was surprised by the farewell party.

"They must be really glad to get rid of me," she joked.

But the people who set up the party in their flat weren't just colleagues, Rose noticed. These were tenants Maman had threw simple housewarming parties through the years. Neighbors she had helped. Students she had cheered up.

She and Jack put the old stuff they're willing to give away in the center of the living room. The party did had an advantage. They don't need to go out anymore carrying stuff.

Meanwhile, Rhoda looked back anxiously where she had left Jesse. Catherine and the other toon women had dragged her into the privacy of her bedroom.

"Nous avons quelque chose pour vous en cadeau d'adieu, (We got something for you as a farewell gift)" the single mother said, presenting a flat, slim box.

"Aaw, merci, Catherine," Rhoda replied. She opened the box and lifted the contents. "Ç'est si joli! (This is so pretty!)"

Léa sighed. "Je savais qu'il correspondrait à la couleur de vos yeux. (I knew it would match the color of your eyes.)"

Rhoda's brows furrowed. "Mais je peux vous voir à travers elle. (But I can see you through it.)"

Catherine's smile became sly. "C'est un négligé. (It's a negligee.)"

"Nous allions vous donner autre chose, (We were going to give you something else)" Clara spoke. "Mais quand on vous a dit que vous étiez de retour avec votre homme … (But when we heard you were back with your man...)"

Rhoda stared. Then her rabbit's ears perked up with a light bulb flashing above her. "Ce serait très bien avec un chandail en dessous! (This would look great with a sweater underneath!)"

In the kitchen, Jesse busied himself arranging the food on the table, ignoring the stares he was accumulating.

"Alors, qui pensez-vous qui a laissé qui? (So who do you think left who?)" he heard someone say in French.

Straightening up, Jesse spoke aloud. "Il est encore considéré comme grossier de parler de quelqu'un en face d'eux même si vous pensez qu'ils ne connaissent pas la langue. (It's still considered rude to talk about someone even if you think they don't know the language.)"

The gossipers left the room. Jesse relaxed a bit. Back in the past, he and the others have been taught the French language because it was considered romantic.

A rabbit wearing specs walked up to him.

"Hi," he spoke with accented English, thrusting up a hand. "You must be Jesse. I'm Louis, a professor of Jack and Rose."

Jesse tried not to raise a brow. Now that things were getting better between him and Rhoda, some old habits were kicking in.

He shook the rabbit's hand. "You're one of Rhoda's colleagues?" he clarified. Had Rhoda been perceived as available back then?

Louis's face split into a smile. "Yup. Rhoda's like a box of crayons. But Jack and Rose are like flintstone and gunpowder."

"Do they get in trouble a lot?"

The rabbit laughed. "You can say for the right reasons." He explained further. "If something doesn't sit well with Rose, you can count on her to speak out. Once Jack understands where she's coming from… boom!"

Louis held out a palm. "Some kids are too good to go wrong." He held out another palm. "Some kids are too stubborn to go wrong."

XOXOXOX

Jesse's Apartment, School Season, 1962

"Pa, no! That's the wrong brush."

Rose tried not to roll her eyes. She looked at Pa and Jack behind her through the mirror's reflection that she was sitting in front of.

Jack picked up a brush from the set before them.

"The fur on Rhoda and Maman's ears are kind of long. You'll need a brush with longer bristles to smooth them down," he instructed, running the said brush on one of Rose's ears.

His and Pa's sleeves were rolled up as Jack tried to teach Pa how to braid Rose's rabbit ears.

Rose tried not to point out that Jack was kind of overzealous with the "harestyling". It was hard to believe how quickly they were able to move in all their belongings to Pa's apartment. With the first day of school tomorrow, Rose got the feeling Jack's trying to distract his own nerves.

Pa's grip on her rabbit ears were gentle and loose as he twist them this way and that.

"You're doing great, Pa," she reassured, catching his eye at the mirror. "Jack, come here. I want to show Pa the 'French twist' after he's done."

Without hesitation, Jack sat on a lower stool with his back facing Rose. She carefully twisted Jack's stiff, pointed rabbit ears into a neatly styled bundle behind his head while Pa did hers.

"I never expected you'd know so much about hairstyles, Jack," Pa murmured, his eyes focused as he twisted an elastic hair tie at the end of Rose's ears.

"Jack was feeling left out when Maman would style my ears," Rose quipped. "He asked her to teach him too."

Jack shrugged. "What can I say? My masculinity isn't that fragile."

XOXOXOX

France, 1962

It took a week before everything was taken care off. Jesse found themselves on the beach before making their journey back to US.

"Back during summer, we and Mina would go to the beach," Rhoda explained. "I guess Jack and Rose are going to miss this place too."

Jesse nodded, his mind going back to Rose and Jack's words. They have been mature enough to set aside their desire for them to live as a whole family. But as their parents, shouldn't they consider them too?

"Hey, you're not thinking about what Jack and Rose have said, are you?"

He glanced at Rhoda who was observing quiet demeanor. "You're right," she continued, "We have to take it slow."

Jesse looked at the sunset, remembering his own skepticism at seeing a rabbit around Rhoda's age being her co-worker for such a long time. He had seen Rhoda without her gloves… and her ring's missing.

"Rhoda, do you still have your ring?"

Shame saturated her features into magenta. "No," she mumbled.

"Where is it?"

She sighed, digging a hole deeper and deeper in the sand with her toe. "I was trying to forget you back then. I threw it in the sea."

When she looked up again, Jesse was gone.

"Jesse?" she whipped her head around, only to see him going to the restroom. She put her hands on her face. Of course, Jesse needs to be reminded that she had been a jerk. Why can't the universe just strike her with lightning instead while being whirled around in a tornado filled with glass shards as it approaches an erupting volcano? That would be less horrific.

A few minutes later, Jesse came out of the restroom. He opened his palm to her and Rhoda saw something familiar. His wedding ring. He must've got it from the deepest recesses of his hammer space.

But then he threw it into the ocean.

"Jesse!" she exclaimed, standing up. "Why?!"

"They're together now," he simply said. He took her hand as they moved on. "Let's get our kids."

XOXOXOX

Jesse's Apartment, School Season, 1962

Dinner was quiet. Jesse wondered in the back of his mind what Rhoda would be doing. Probably having dinner too with Mina in her manor.

"Pass the salt," Jack asked with a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Swallow before talking first," Rose replied, jabbing the fork at his direction.

Jack swallowed. "Stop shooting orders second," he grinned.

Just when Jesse thought they're going to bicker (again), there was a strange lull of silence.

"Something's missing," Jack said. Something had been missing. Like an absent beat to a rhythm.

Jesse could see them glance furtively at the empty chair on one side of the table.