Jon Starting Over

"I'll get it! I'll get it!" Four year-old Lola called as she raced towards the ringing phone.

"No! I'll get it. I'll get it!" Lilly contradicted, her little legs working as fast as they could to catch up to her twin.

"Girls. Please. Settle down! Jon, can you get the phone?" Sarah begged, her hands sticky with the dough she was kneading.

"Sure." Jonathan shifted on the stool and reached for the receiver, situated on a high shelf specifically to prevent children from answering it. "Hello?" he said over the twins who were starting to whine and stamp their feet.

"I wanted to answer it." Lilly wasn't happy. "Daddy would let us answer the phone at home."

"It was MY turn," Lola told her sister.

"Girls. Shhh! Jon won't be able to hear."

Jonathan smiled into the phone receiver as he watched the two girl put their noses into the air, cross their arms over their chests and stomp back into the room they'd been playing in. "Hello?" he repeated and listened carefully. The line was crackling with static and for a moment he wondered whether it was a crank call or yet another telemarketer calling from India. "Hello?!" He tried again and this time heard a faint male voice.

"Matt. Can you hear me? The line is bad."

"Its not Matt." Jonathan raised his voice slightly. "Can I take a message?!"

"Matt? I still can't hear you too well. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be later than usual. I've got to get things ready for the new boss coming in on Monday. Can you take the girls to my house at five?"

"I still can't hear you all that well. Did you say take the girls to your house at five?"

"Yes."

Jonathan looked at Sarah who nodded. "OK. That's fine."

"Thanks, Gotta go, bye Mattie!"

"OK. Bye." But Jon's words were lost as the man had already hung up.

"Jasper, he's obviously been caught at work," Sarah stated matter-of-factly. "He works too hard."

Jonathan settled himself on the seat again and watched his high-school friend turn a lump of dough into bread rolls. "So, run through it with me again. How exactly is Jasper related to you?"

"Very loosely, but family is family as far as I am concerned."

"I'm not criticising, Sarah." Jon was quick to state. "You know how I feel about family, especially when my own home life was so...well, you know."

"So...shitty? Say it like it is Jonny. Your parents had no time for anyone but themselves."

"Keep going Sarah," Jon replied laughing, "Don't hold back!"

"Sorry Babe, you know that wasn't aimed at you. Your folks just make me so mad, you deserved better..." Sarah smiled gently. "Anyway onto Jasper! The link is, Jasper's spouse was Matt's brother-in-law's, brother."

"Right!" Jonathan tried to figure it out. Matt was Sarah's husband. They'd been married for the last ten years and had two boys who would be home from school very soon. "So, Matt's sister, Abby is married to Don, and Jasper's partner was Don's brother?"

Very good, DR Thornegate. I can see all those years at university served you well."

Jonathan smiled. "A very loose connection. But as you said, family is family." He sipped his cup of tea and continued, his tone more solemn. "When did Jasper's partner die?"

"Three years ago. The Twins had just turned one; it was horrible Jasper and Eric fought so hard to adopt those girls, then Eric got so little time with them."

He let out a slow breath. "That had to be really hard on Jasper. A single parent to two very big handfuls."

"Yeah, they're gorgeous girls but totally full on ALL the time. Its aways go-go-go with them." Sarah put the rolls onto a tray and places them into the oven to rise. "Jasper had good support though, he's close to his parents and sister."

"Good support." Jon repeated softy, wishing he'd had more support when his own world had come crashing down eight years ago. Of course Sarah had been there for him, but Sarah had been in a different part of the country and there'd been only so much she could do. Now though, Jonny had come home. Back to Sydney. Back to his old stomping ground. Back to where he'd first met Sarah at school (and dated her until they both realised what a mistake that was). Back to where he'd gone to medical school and where he's met Arturo. Next week he'd be going back to the hospital where he'd studied as a medical student; only now he'd be head of the orthopedic and trauma unit. It was a position he'd been striving toward for far too long but finally, with much hard work commitment and sacrifice, he was making his dream come true. He just wished Arturo could have been there to witness it.

"Yes, poor Jasper. He took it so hard when Eric died --- He had a brain tumor, it was very sudden."

"Cancer in someone so young is never easy to deal with."

Jonathan's tone was quiet yet even he could hear the pain in is own voice. It didn't seem like eight years since Arturo had died, also of cancer, but it was and Jon still felt the pain of his loss every day. Thankfully, though, he had a high intensity job and it was work that kept him distracted, kept him going. Work and Sarah's continued friendship, which meant the world to him.

"Anyway...: Jon shook his head and pasted on a bright smile.

"The girls are lovely and Jasper should be really proud of himself"

Sarah agreed. "I think he is. He knows how lucky he is."

"Where does he work?"

Sarah starred at him for a moment, then quickly turned away and said, "Oh no! I didn't turn the oven on." She brushed the flour from her hands and quickly switched the oven on low. "The twins are so distracting sometimes. Beautiful but distracting." She turned her attention to cleaning up the kitchen. "Looking forward to starting your new job on Monday?"

Jonathan shrugged, a little curious why Sarah hadn't answered his question. What was it about Jasper that was so secret? Was he a spy? A fundamentalist vegan eco-warrior, maybe? Could he be in the armed forces? Perhaps that was the case, given that Jonathan's own parents had been military personnel, moving Jon around for most of his childhood. Llikely Sarah hadn't wanted to mention it in case it upset Jon (though Lord knew she didn't pull her punches the rest of the time). He pushed the thoughts away. It didn't really matter and Sarah was obviously waiting for an answer to her question.

"Yes, and no."

"That doesn't sound too good."

"It's just apprehension and nerves. New hospital. New staff. New department."

"Which YOU'RE in charge of, Mr Bossy-boots. Don't pretend your not eager to do things your own way. Anyway, I thought you would've been happy to go back to your old hospital"

"Hey! Watch it Miss Snippety." Jon replied smiling. "I am happy. Sort of. I just really want to do well as head of department. I've been working toward it for sooo long."

You'll settle in fast enough Jonny-love. Make some new friends, scope out the sexy male nurses. You'll be fine."

"I don't think so, Miss - on BOTH counts."

"Let me guess, the boss doesn't make friends easily?"

"I don't make friends easily," Jon retorted. "Being the boss just gives me that extra edge where people tend to leave me alone. And there'll be NO nurses... That's your fantasy not mine! Pervert." He stuck his tongue out at her.

Sarah laughed then washed her hands before turning to look directly at her oldest friend, eyes serious. "Jonny, is that what you really want? To come back to Sydney and not make ANY new friends? To have everyone leave you alone; like some postmodern twist on a princess locked in a tower?"

Jonathan shrugged and sighed. Was it? He'd told himself that this move back to Sydney and the new job, was a fresh start. The problem was, he wasn't sure how fresh starts worked exactly.