All things Jack Leighton...
Age: 38 years old
Occupation: Aerospace Engineer
Birthdate: 3rd of September 1984
Sexuality: Bisexual
Gender: Male
Neighborhood: Marseille
How long they’ve lived in Hallow Grove: April of 2013
Faceclaim: Jake Gyllenhaal
Jack was born under slightly unusual circumstances. Those being of his parentage. Instead of having a mother and father, he had two mothers, Marie & Susan, who desperately wanted a child, yet could not afford the costly treatments of in vitro fertilization nor could they get approved to adopt a child. This was causing a bit of stress on their relationship, causing the women to fight and bicker unnecessarily. Needing desperately to fix what was going awry in their relationship, the women proposed a trip to Vegas hoping it’d rekindle the spark that was fading.
It was there the idea came to them, whilst drinking by the poolside. There was an abundant amount of men in the city due to it being winter break and all. And once the two women got to thinking they kept adding on. Joking about how Marie could bed any man here, and since the guy would more than likely be drunk, and it was Vegas, they’d never have to worry of seeing or hearing from him again. It was a drunken idea, not well thought out, nor truly thought it’d ever come into fruition. However, Marie couldn’t shake the idea and decided to act on the plan.
It wasn’t until a month later upon returning to Detroit, did the women learn that they were indeed pregnant.Too overjoyed with the news to care about the specifics, they quickly set on their way to starting the family they dreamed of. Agreeing to have Susan adopt their son once he was born and giving him both their names. Having Leighton be his last name since he was genetically Marie’s, and Ainsley being his middle name to represent Susan. Although that blissful cloud nine they were living on was brought back to reality around the time Jack had turned two.
While shopping in the neighborhood market, Jack had wandered off to another aisle. Where Marie found him talking to a man. Too much in a panic to acknowledge the guy, she immediately went for her son. “Your boy looks just like mine,” she heard the man say, which caused Marie to give a real look at the male’s face. Immediately recognizing him for the man who’d gotten her pregnant. Marie couldn’t have been more in shock, and there really was no playing it off as if Jack weren’t his. And to make matters worse, Susan came to join the two moments later, to come face to face with the man who’d fathered her child.
The news had affected the three in unexpected ways. Susan and Marie began to fight again over countless things. All of which involving Jack in some way or form. After much contemplation, the family moved to Ann Arbor. In some ways, it was also an attempt to save their relationship. Initially after the move, allowing Jack’s father some chances to meet with the boy, but eventually as time passed the visits slowed until they eventually ceased all together, just like Susan & Marie’s relationship. Susan was awarded full custody of Jack, being the more responsible parent, but he still spent time with both of his mothers along with their eventual partners.
As Jack grew older, he forgot all about Detroit and everything that came with the city. Including his father, who’d only been introduced to him as his mother’s friend. He’d seen how monogamy worked for Susan, and how it didn’t seem to work for Marie as she went through a laundry list of lovers. Slowly forming his own opinion of what love was and how a man should be.
By the time, Jack had graduated high school, he’d discovered multiple passions. Although the one consistent in his life always being his love for the sky and his desire to fly. Jack had wanted to get his pilot’s license, but at his mother’s insistence he went to college. Jack attended Syracuse University, and with the help of his advisor found a major in aerospace engineering. Loving the craft so much that he knew he had to have a career in it.
Upon graduating Jack moved back home to Ann Arbor to be close to his mothers. Also, what was there not to love about a college town. True to his word he began working on getting his pilot’s license, while performing contract jobs here and there. A routine had formed, and Jack went on partying and living his life. Until one day he received a letter from his past.
The letter was from Jack’s father, a man that had never really crossed Jack’s mind. And to know the guy even existed was a shock. In the letter, Jack learned about the man who he’d never even realized he’d known. As well as what was the most shocking news of all, which declared that Jack had a brother the same age as him. Unsure of what to do with this news, Jack put the letter in a book on one of his shelves intending on never thinking of it again.
It wasn’t long before he met the woman who’d capture his interest and become his girlfriend. He charmed her, eager to get to know her, and loving her more and more for each fact he learned. What made her even more interesting was how open-minded she was. Eventually the couple moved in together, it was during the move that Juniper found the letter and insisted that Jack find his brother. After a bit a prodding Jack finally agreed, stating he’d do so after he finished his pilot’s license.
True to his word, Jack started considering private investigators to find his brother. Wanting nothing short of the best though, he quickly realized he’d need more cash than his contract jobs could provide. So, Jack began searching for a new job, and found one in Hallow Grove. The company was based in Baton Rouge, but had a warehouse space in the small town for which they would hire Jack to work from. Only requiring him to come into the main office once a month. With Juniper on board the two packed up their belongings and moved. Hiring a PI a few months after getting settled in. After a year of living in Hallow Grove, they were finally getting news from the PI of Jack’s brother full name and how he also lived in Hallow Grove. You could imagine their suprise to learn the one person they were trying to find had been right under their nose the whole time.
Life in the small town was turning out to be perfect for Jack. He and his brother hit it off. Their relationship immediately fell into that of a brotherly nature without the awkwardness of being two grown men when they finally learned who the other truly was. Jack was quickly rising within the company. His input changing the way they did business and creating more profits. Then he had met Toni who he was certain was the third to his and Juniper’s relationship. And things had been going well at first. However, Juniper had been lying to Jack. She couldn’t handle having to share him and grew angry and resentful towards him. It caused so much turmoil that all three split. Leaving Jack all alone in a house too large for one person.
For a while Jack felt aimless. He considered leaving Hallow Grove a time or two. Spending more time at the Baton Rouge office, going back to his philandering ways, and doing just about anything to keep himself busy and away from the home that reminded him of all he’d lost. And yet being away never made it feel any better. In fact Jack felt worse away from Hallow than he did in it. The town had become home and he refused to let a broken heart dictate his life. So when a friend of his needed a bigger place to live for her and her son but couldn’t afford to buy her own house, Jack offered for her to come move in with him. The opportunity to change his life came he took it.
As it would turn out that change turned Jack’s life around in ways he never though possible. He learned he liked having a kid around. And Mira was the best friend he never even knew he needed. They understood him and they didn’t hinder his spirit. It amazed him that the people who got him the most came in the most unlikely of circumstances. The two have become so near and dear to his heart that he honestly doesn’t know what he would do without them. And Jack refuses to do anything to ruin the makeshift family he’s managed create.
