Bad Moon Arising

"Don't color on the table..." Jake looked over at Caleb, a slight smirk on his face as he watched his son, coloring and sitting in a brand new, red booth. Many things within the diner had needed replacing, but Jake new that the renovations would cost him a good deal and he had been prepared for that. With the grand reopening of the diner coming up in only a few short days, he was rushing to get the finishing touches done. He had to admit though, with the help of the pack, they'd made the place look pretty damn good.

"I'm not," Caleb insisted, not even looking up, until a few of the pack members came through the door, pushing a jukebox through the door. Though it looked brand new, it was in fact the same Wurlitzer 1015 jukebox that Jake's great grandfather had purchased back in the 40's. With the renovations, Jake had decided that it was time to have the thing restored and he wasn't at all disappointed. "Right over there," he said, inclining his head when he was asked where he wanted it.

"What's that?" Caleb asked, staring at the jukebox as the guys placed it where Jake had indicated and plugged it in. "It's a jukebox," Jake answered, almost having expected this. Since finding out that he had a three year old son, Jake had spent just about every waking... okay, and non waking, moment trying to get use to the idea. It was next to impossible, though stepping into the role presented few problems other than the tension it seemed to create between himself and his brother. Jake didn't blame Mikey for being a little leery. After all, Jake had been gone and during that time, he'd played the role of the primary male figure in Caleb's life. In all honesty, it pained Jacob to know this, but he was grateful... even if he did wish his brother would loosen his grip and back off a little so that Jake could better learn to be a father.

Giving his thanks to the guys as they left, Jake continued with what he was doing: drying glasses and dishes. "A poop box?!" Caleb said, his voice high in surprise and just plain silliness. The man didn't know whether he should laugh or weep for fear that his son would always be such an oddball. "A jukebox" Jake said, more clearly this time. Glancing at the clock, he knew that Tori should be there soon. In the past few months that Jake had been home, they'd done their best to adjust to their new life, something that was much easier now that Jake was fully healed from his accident. Thankfully, his bike was fixed as well, parked just outside of the diner.

Outside, the sky was already dark, the city coming to life in the night. Being there with Caleb reminded him of being a kid himself and sitting in the diner with his own father. "What's a jukebox?" his son asked, looking at the thing as if he was dying to get up and touch it. The kid couldn't go without touching everything in sight. Setting down a glass and tossing the towel in his hand onto his shoulder, Jake pushed himself up and over the counter, going over it rather than around it. "Come here," he said, motioning for his son to follow. Plugging it in, the machine lit up and Jake watched the three year old's face brighten in amazement and wonder. It was moments like that in which it killed Jake to know that he hadn't been there from the very beginning. "It plays music." Pulling a quarter out of his pocket, he lifted his son up so that he could put the money into the slot and pick a song. Caleb was in awe when it started to play, making his father laugh as he set him back down.

"Can I have this?" Caleb asked, transfixed. "Are you going to carry it back to the apartment?" Jake arched a brow, waiting for his response. "Yeah," the id said, as if it would be a piece of cake. Jacob could only roll his eyes and ruffle the kid's hair. "You can have it when I'm old and gray. The whole diner will be yours." Heading to the counter to start wiping it down, he looked over at the clock. Once Tori got there, they could lock up and leave, maybe after cooking up something to eat. In the pit of his stomach, however, a knot was growing just as it did every other night, after the sun set. Steven could make his move at any moment. Though Jake continued his hunt with the help of Michael and Tori's father, they had yet to find where the vampire spent his days.

"Really?!" Caleb sounded excited and followed after his old man, right at his heels. When Jake turned to wipe down the table his son had been sitting at, he nearly tripped over the kid. "Yeah... It was passed down to me by my father who inherited it from his father who inherited it from his father."

"Oh..." Caleb didn't seem to comprehend this, something that Jake expected. "Don't worry about it. All you have to know is, it will be yours some day..." he paused for a moment, finishing with the table and standing up straight to look down at the boy, brows drawn together. "Unless you don't want it. You can be an astronaut, or a doctor, or whatever you want to be." Reopening the diner hadn't been something that Jake wanted to do until recently and, though he wanted to keep it in the family, he didn't want to force it on his kid. There was sure to be more kids, or even Mikey or any kids he might one day have could take it over if Caleb didn't want to.

Jake had always been encouraged by his parents to follow his dreams. Well, when he was younger. After his mother started with the alcohol and drugs, the only thing she encouraged him to do was give her money. Shortly after his reappearance, Jake and Mikey had paid their mother a visit and it had gone just the way that he had imagined it would. Doped out on the couch in a filthy apartment, Jennifer had asked Jacob where he had been... and that she had sent him out for milk three hours ago. Though he stopped by every so often to make sure that she was still alive and to try to convince her to get help, Jake never took Tori or Caleb with him during these depressing visits. He wasn't going to expose his son to such things.

"I want to work at McDonald's" Caleb responded, a look of confusion crossing his face when Jake laughed. "Way to aim high," Jake retorted. The kid cracked him up sometimes. Okay, all the time. Sitting down to color with his boy, Jake wondered what he ever would have done had he never come home. He never would have known what had been there, waiting for him. In that moment, he was happy to spend some time with his son. Hearing something just outside though, he sat, crayon in hand and bent over his side of the coloring book, listened for a moment, knowing that it could be one of two people. Tori, finally coming back from work to take Caleb home since Jake only had his bike, or Steven, there to do what Steven was always there to do. It wasn't until he caught the scent that he knew exactly who it was.