Jon Starting Over

***Hey Guys!! Uni is pretty much over for the year, so I should be able to resume posting with regularity once again. Thank you to all of you who have sent me feedback both with your name attached and anonymously, I really appreciate it <3 My apologies for the lengthy delay, hopefully it didn't turn any one off the story. Hope you all like this chapter...Much love Billy***

"Daddy! DADDY!!" Both girls hurled themselves at the door the minute they heard it open, and within a moment Jasper had an identical twin wrapped around each leg. He laughed as he dropped his briefcase and bent to scoop them up, one on each side. Jonathan couldn't believe the absolute delight on Jasper's face, especially when they put their arms around his neck and began kissing his cheeks --- again the attack was performed with perfect synchronicity.

"Hello, my monkeys!" Jasper kissed them both, one then the other and back again for a repeat.

"We're NOT monkeys!" one said, blonde ringlets bobbing from side to side as she wriggled in her father's arms.

"We're princesses!" the other replied, while she rolled her eyes at her sister. "He always gets it wrong."

Jasper bent and put them down and it was Lilly, or perhaps Lola-- Jonathan was having a difficult time telling them apart, especially in their matching princess pajamas --- that looked over and saw him.

"Jon." She stood there with her little hands on her little hips and angled her head to the side, a ringlet springing up and down. "What are you doing here? Your're s'pposed to be at Sarah's house."

"Jon? Why aren't you at Sarah's?" the other asked, mimicking her sister's pose. Which, Jonathan realised, was a miniature version of one Jasper assumed on occasion. Cute.

"Hey, girls." Jon smiled at both of them. "Jasp--- er... Daddy invited me over to have breaky with you." Jonathan licked his lips and rubbed his tummy with exaggeration. "He told me he'd make pancakes, and they're my favourite!"

"Mine, too!"

"Yeah! Mine, too." repeated the other twin.

"I'm gonna tell Grammy."

"No! I'M gonna tell Grammy!" With that, the two of them raced off towards the stairs and a moment later footsteps could be heard above them as they raced through the upper floor.

"Sorry." Jasper shed his coat and picked up his briefcase from just inside the door where he'd quickly stowed it before being bombarded by his daughters.

"What for?"

"Uh-h..." He stopped for a moment and looked at Jon. "You know? I'm not sure."

Jonathan smiled at him, liking the way Jasper looked in these surroundings, liking the way the way the tall doctor looked at him with intense eyes that twinkled with good humour. Jonathan turned away, indicating the living room which contained a wall to wall bookshelf, a large entertainment system, two comfortable couches and lots of big, bright throw pillows on the floor. On two of the walls were various pieces of abstract art, which no doubt the girls had done at pre-school.

"I like the way way you've decorated." It was then Jon remembered that Jasper had mentioned his partner had decorated their bedroom. Had Eric done this room, too?

Jasper turned and looked at the room, then laughed. "Lots of... colour."

"That's what kids do isn't it? They fill your world with colour."

"And lots of other things along the way." Jasper bent and picked up two soft toys that had been left on the floor as he walked through the archway. "Come through. Oh! let me take your coat." He threw the toys onto a nearby chair then quickly hung up his own coat before helping Jon with his own. Jonathan was conscious of the larger man's proximity, his warm earthy scent surrounding him and making him feel very aware of the heat emanating from his sexy colleague. "You can either sit at the table or, keep company at the bench while I cook.

Jasper hung up Jon's coat, then headed into the kitchen, his voice a little deeper than before. He cleared his throat and tried make it sound more normal. Jonathan's cologne had wound its way about his senses and for a split second he'd found himself unable to move as he helped the smaller man out of his coat. There was definitely an awareness between them... or at least that was the way he was reading the situation. God, the man was stunningly beautiful and intelligent, and although he knew Jon was fresh from his shower, as was he, what ever it was that the blonde man was wearing would continue to drive him crazy long after he left.

As he entered the kitchen, Jasper was glad he'd spent the few extra minutes cleaning up before he went to work yesterday. The bench was wiped, the dishwasher cycle was finished and the stove top was ready for him to cook on. It would have been embarrassing to bring a man home - for the very first time in soooo long - to a messy kitchen.

"Coffee?" He asked.

"Actually, a cup of tea would be fantastic."

"Tea. Coming right up." He filled the kettle and switched it on.

"So, do you make pancakes most mornings? I'm only asking because the girls seemed overly excited at the prospect."

"Usually only on weekends. I think their over-excitedness pertains to having someone over to share it with them."

"Oh. That's nice. So why did they need to go tell your mother they were having pancakes?"

Jasper's eyes twinkled as he spoke. "They'll be telling her about you, not the food."

"Oh," Jon said again, not sure what to make of this news. Jasper didn't seem to mind so he could only presume he was all too happy to introduce Jon to his parents. Was that good? Did that mean thing were moving too fast? Or was it simply a fact that he would meet Jasper's parents sooner or later, given their connection through Sarah? "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all." Jasper brushed his worries aside. If he told Jon he'd never bought a man into his home, into his life, Jon might start to feel even more self-conscious than he already was. "Now as pancakes are your favourite food, I'm expecting and open and honest assessment of my secret recipe."

"Secret, huh? Very intriguing."

Jasper leaned a little closer, then looked first one way then the other, as though he was about to impart the greatest secret in the world. "I use buttermilk." He straightened, then shrugged. "Not so secret but, oh so light and fluffy."

Jonathan licked his lips. "I can hardly wait."

"But wait you shall. It'll be easier to feed the girls first."

"Of course. That's the only problem with making pancakes at home - unless you have a big griddle plate - is that you basically, can only make one at a time."

"You make them often?"

"Jon shrugged. "When I was living in Melbourne, I did. Its been a bit hard at Sarah's to just whip up a batch at two o'clock in the morning when I've finished wading through my mound of inherited paperwork."

Jasper laughed. "I'm so glad the paperwork is your headache now and not mine." As he spoke they could hear footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Heads up." His words were soft as he began to pull out the utensils and ingredients for the pancakes, as well as the eggs and bacon.

"Good morning, Jasper." His mother's calm tones greeted him as she made her way into the room. Jasper's mother was a little taller than Jonathan, had short grey hair and sparkling green eyes. Those eyes, big and vibrant, and eerily similar to those of her son.

"See!" Lilly remarked, entering behind her.

"We told you Jon was here." Lola affirmed reaching out to hold her sister's hand.

"So you did Angels," their grandmother replied, and held out her hand, not waiting for Jasper to introduce them. "Hello. I'm Iris."

"Jonathan." The blonde doctor replied shaking her hand. "I'm happy to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."

Iris arched her eyebrow in her son's direction but Jasper shook his head. "Not from me Mum."

Jonathan smiled warmly. "I'm a friend of Sarah's. I've been staying with her the past few weeks so I've seen the girls there a few times."

"Oh." Iris came and sat down beside him. "That's what the girls were talking about. They said that Sarah's friend was here but that Daddy had bought someone home for pancakes. I was getting confused so I thought I would come and see what they were on about."

"As it turns out," Jasper said, whisking the mixture he'd just busily prepared, "Jonathan is my new boss."

"You WORK together?" Iris was stunned as she looked pointedly at her son and then back at Jon.

"Yes." Jonathan was working hard at not squirming - and he wasn't doing too badly, if he did say so himself. He'd been scrutinised from all angles before, given his job in medical administration, yet he hadn't been looked at this closely by am man's mother before. "Is there something wrong?"

"Remember how I said I liked to keep my private and professional lives separate?" Jasper reminded him as he put the first pancake onto cook. The large man spoke in a quieter voice, but he knew full well his mother could hear him.

"Ah." Jon clicked then as to why Jasper's mother was so astonished. "I take it you don't usually invite colleagues home for breakfast after a grueling night in theatre?"

"No... Mum, Jon's looking to buy a house," Jasper added before his mother could say anything more. "We're going to have some breaky, then go and see Mr Attenburgh."

"The house down the road?"

"Is there another one in the street for sale?" Jasper asked pointedly.

The phone rang and the girls, who hadn't been very interested in the adult conversation up until now, immediately shouted, "I'll get it!"

"No I'LL get it!" one said. "It's MY turn."

"NO! It's MY turn!" they both started jostling each other out of the way as they raced from the room towards the phone.

"How about I get it," Jasper said, and stalked after them, shaking his head. "At least that will stop World War Three," he muttered and Jonathan couldn't help but smile.

"They argue over who should answer the phone every time it rings at Sarah's place," Jon pointed out as Iris still stared at him. When the woman didn't stop, he shifted in his seat, beginning to feel rather uncomfortable. "Is something wrong?" he couldn't help but ask under the scrutiny.

"Wrong?" Iris pulled back as though she wasn't aware she'd been staring. "No. Nothing is wrong. So, you work...closely with Jasper?"

"We're both the only Ortho-pods employed by the hospital. So, I guess you could say that. He's been great at helping me get settled in."

"And you've just been in theatre all night long, right?"

"Pretty much. Bad motor vehicle accidents. Lots of casualties."

"And you've obviously met the girls before now. They appear quite comfortable with you."

"They do?"

"Oh, yes. Usually when they meet a new friend of their father's... If they ever get to meet them, of course, they usually hide behind his legs until they get to know them better. Mostly, because Jasper's far too fussy."

"Fussy?" Jon wasn't sure he was on the same track as Iris, but decided to go with it.

"When he dates!" Iris seemed surprised that Jonathan wasn't sure what she was talking about. "He doesn't introduce his dates to the girls, which is fair enough because he wants to protect them as any father would, and I'm in complete agreement...But you'd think that after a few times of seeing the same guy he'd eventually introduce them, but no."

"Jasper's dating someone?" Jonathan wasn't quite sure why the news made him feel instantly miserable.

"No, no." Iris waved his words away. "I'm talking about in the past but now you're here, as plain as day, invited over for breakfast, and he's only been working with you for a few weeks."

Jonathan wasn't sure what that meant but as Jasper came back into the room and he had no time to contemplate it further.

"Was that the hospital?"

"No. It was Megan."

"Oh?" Iris was instantly concerned.

"Megan's my sister," Jasper informed Jon.

"Is everything all right?" Iris was on her feet, getting ready to head to the stairs. "Why is she calling you and why so early?"

"Relax, Mum. She was just ringing to see if the girl's dresses had arrived yet."

"And have they?"

"No."

Iris shook her head and took a step towards the stairs. "I'd best go call her. She'll be fretting over that." Iris started off then stopped and turned to Jonathan. "It was really nice to meet you."

"And you, too." As Iris left, Jonathan turned to watch Jasper flipping the first pancake. "You're quite good at that."

"One of my many talents. I'm thinking of adding it to my resume."

Jon smiled at that. "I'd certainly hire you." He paused then asked, "Why is your mother so concerned about your sister?"

"Megan's getting married in three weeks' time. Lilly and Lola are her flower girls."

"And the dresses haven't arrived." Jonathan nodded as though everything now made perfect sense. "That would be enough to make a bride go completely berserk."

"You've got that right and Megan's stress levels are already at an all-time high." He frowned a little. "Problem is, Mum and Dad don't approve of her husband-to-be. He hasn't done anything to help plan the wedding, not that that's totally unusual but whatever Megan's asked him, he's flatly refused. It's made things more burdensome for her. Add that to the fact that she's due in theatre in another hour and she's one mega stress bucket."

"Theatre?"

"She's a general surgeon over at Syd Gen."

"Hmm. Quite the medical family."

Jasper smiled and flipped another pancake. "She's incredibly smart. I was two years ahead of her in Med School but she was the one helping me out and explaining things."

Jon laughed. "Should you be confessing such things to your new boss?"

"Not to worry." Jasper set two butterfly placemats on the bench next to Jon and added cutlery before cutting up some pancakes into little squares. He did it all so naturally, Jon could tell it was part of his routine. Jasper was clearly a dad who spent a lot of time with his children. "I passed my exams with flying colours and haven't had to rely on my baby sister for quite a number of years." He called to the girls, who came barreling in and clambered up into stools at the counter. Lilly managed it quite easily but Lola got stuck and Jonathan quickly picked her up and sat her down before Jasper could come around to help.

"Thanks," the green eyed father said.

"No problem." Jon smiled at him as Jasper added syrup to the girls' breakfasts and watched as they devoured the food in next to no time. "You must have been very hungry," the blonde commented.

Lilly nodded enthusiastically. "I was."

"Anybody would think your daddy never feeds you."

"We had dinner at Grammy-n-Pop's last night 'cause Daddy was in surgery," Lola responded matter of factly.

"We do that. Sometimes we have breakfast at Grammy-n-Pop's too," Lilly chimed in. The girls had a way of running their grandparents names together, in a way which made them seem like a single entity. Jon thought it was adorable.

"Now, my yummy princesses," Jasper said as he added another pancake to the warming plate he had in the oven. "Time for a bath," His words were received with mild protests.

"You're both covered in Syrup," he pointed out when they asked why.

"But Daddy, why can't you just wipe us down with the cloth? Then we will be all ready to play."

"Planning to wear you jimmy-jams all day long?" He smiled at Jonathan before excusing himself to go and run the bath. Jon sat there, looking around Jasper's home and was surprised to find it very welcoming. Usually when he went to a new friend's house, it took quite some time to feel comfortable, but like at Sarah's house, he felt quite relaxed here.

Jonathan looked at the pancake Jasper had put in the pan before he'd gone off to tend to his daughters and quickly went to check on it. The tall man had obviously turned down the heating elements so it was cooking at a slower rate but now Jon was up, he decided to make himself useful. He turned on the second pan and unwrapped the bacon, readying it to cook. Whilst waiting for the pan to heat, Jon checked the dishwasher and found it full but clean. Quietly and quickly, he took the dishes out, and after opening a few cupboards was able to figure out where most things went. Jon turned back to the stove and popped the bacon into the pan, then grabbed the girl's sticky plates and cutlery and popped them into the dishwasher and wiped down the placemats and bench. Draping the damp cloth over the tap Jon went back to the stove and flipped the bacon. He watched it sizzle and leaned against the counter thinking; it was quite nice to potter around in Jasper's kitchen... a kitchen that serviced a real family. It bought home to Jon how his own kitchen in his little flat in Melbourne, in retrospect, seemed bare and lifeless when he'd prepared meals for one.

He'd flipped the pancake and was cracking the eggs into the bacon pan when Jasper came running back; his shirt front completely saturated. Oh my, a see-through shirt. Nice.

"Oh! Thanks Jon. I hadn't planned to be that long but Lil and Lu got into a water fight... kids, eh?" Jon stood there speechless, looking at the firm muscles visible through the taller man's shirt. He could feel his face heating up and his arousal grow, he quickly turned away in an attempt to hide his glowing cheeks.

Jasper watched as an incendiary passion lit Jon's eyes only to be hidden as the blonde man turned away, his breath caught in his throat. He found himself slowly walking to stand behind Jon. Placing his hands on the counter either side of the smaller man, he pressed himself shoulders to knees against the lithe frame in front of him, his heart was beating rapidly and he knew his arousal would be evident. He felt Jon shudder, and had to fight he urge to hump against his sexy boss. Oh God, what this man did to him.

Jonathan groaned and pressed back against Jasper, he felt his skin flame, his affection starved body crying out for more. He wanted, he needed. Work proprieties be damned. Jon slowly turned, sliding his body against Jasper, reveling in the agonized sound that issued from the throat of the muscular doctor. Completing his turn he looked up into green eyes which burned with lust then widened with shock as a high pitch squeal issued from the bathroom down the hall.

"DAAAAADDY! HELP! A SPIDER!"

"A CREEPY! DADDY, A CREEEEPY!"

Jasper cursed under his breath and pulled away, sprinting down the hall towards the sound of the twin's cries.

Jon took a deep breath and walked around the bench to slump into a stool. Shit! What had he just done? One touch and he'd thrown his inhibitions out the window, where was his self control?

Jon leant foreword and rested his head on the bench in front of him. He took a deep breath and tried to reflect without emotion. Nothing was wrong with what had just happened, and it was no ones fault it had happened. However, that behaviour wasn't conducive to a productive working relationship, and therefore it couldn't happen again.

So, it wouldn't. Problem solved.

Jonathan stood, resolving to act as though nothing had happened when Jasper returned. He walked around the bench and back into the kitchen removing the now slightly over done pancake from the pan and placing it with the others in the warm oven.

Jonathan was doing the same for the eggs and bacon when Jasper returned and stood silently watching him as he puttered around the kitchen. The taler man was amazed at the warm sensation he was experiencing at having another man poking around his kitchen. Jasper was so used to being chef and bottle washer, that it was nice to be sharing the duties with someone else.

Jon flicked the electric kettle back onto boil and retrieved some cups from the cupboard. Whilst waiting for the water to reheat he had a flashback to his interaction with Jasper minutes before. He hung his head as he tried to deal with the graphic memories flashing through his brain. Oh God, what was he doing? Despite his earlier determination he was at a complete loss.