the re-arranger

May 2028 - Jack Cooper is 25, Jillian Cooper is 24.

Jack grew up poor, but he always knew he was destined for greater things. After college he started his own law firm in Providence.

Jack and Jillian met in college, and they got engaged in May shortly before he graduated.

After more than two years of marriage, Jillian is pregnant with their first child. They're both thrilled about the baby, but Jack seems even more stressed about money than usual. He had to take an enormous loan out to buy this house, the largest in Forest Hills, and most of his salary goes towards the mortgage.

Jack's law career is going pretty well until one day he loses a big case. His reputation is tarnished, and he worries that he might lose his firm. And the baby is due in less than a month.

He doesn't tell Jillian. He doesn't want her to worry. But he redoubles his efforts at home, working late hours in the office.

Even though he doesn't tell her, Jillian knows something is wrong. She spends so many evenings alone, reading and resting and wondering what Jack is doing.

As the pregnancy drags on, she finds herself unable to sleep. Sometimes she bakes in the middle of the night, filling the large, quiet house with the smell of cake.

Some days it seems like she only sees him in passing, as she's going to bed and he's waking up for work.

"Is everything okay?" she asks.

"Of course," he says. "Everything is fine."

She's eating cake one night when she feels the first signs of labor.

She tries not to wake Jack for as long as possible, but finally she has to run upstairs and get him.

"Honey, the baby's coming!"

She gives birth to their son early that morning, a few hours before dawn. They name him Jack Cooper Jr., but they decide to call him Jackson. He has his blond hair and his mother's blue eyes.

"He's so perfect," she sighs. When she looks into his eyes, all of the worries of the last few months fall away.

Jack, on the other hand, just feels his worries magnify. Babies need diapers and clothes, and eventually braces and college, and he wants to make sure his son has everything.