Chapter 22

Six years later....

The warm wind playfully blew through my freshly curled hair as I happily stared into the clear afternoon sky.

The sun lightly kissed my already pink nose, causing me to laugh at the thought of how severely my nose had gotten sunburned last summer. It was so bad that, the skin had shed for three weeks, even though everyone had warned me ahead of time to wear sunscreen. I was just too stubborn to listen, and so for that, I paid the price and everyone made fun of me for weeks. I looked absolutely horrible.

"Mommy."

I laughed to myself and shook my head. Silly me...

"Mommy."

"Huh?" I questioned, unaware that anyone had been talking to me.

Zari leaned back in the swing, chestnut hair flying around her smiling face as she struggled to look up at me. Her big green eyes flashed with joy, reminding me of Jace.

She playfully giggled, while reaching for the chain on the swing. "What are you doing, mommy? I've been talking to you." She pouted, her lip sticking out.

I slowly stopped the swing, walking in front of my daughter, to cup her little round face in my hands. She was my pride and joy. It was her fourth birthday and I wanted her to enjoy each and every moment. "I'm sorry, baby girl." I gently tickled her. "What were you saying? Mommy is listening now."

Zari pushed my hands away from her face and jumped from the swing. "I said that grandmas here. Hurry mommy," she said excitedly. "Grandma always has the best gifts."

I stood back for a moment and watched as Zari took off running through the soft grass. Jace playfully jumped in front of her and reached for her arm, but Zari dodged his reach and ran straight to my mother’s arms.

She had always been close with my mother and nothing could ever come between them. It made me happy. So happy, that sometimes I found myself crying at my mother finally turning her life around and being in our lives. It took her about a year after Henry's death for her to start coming around, but when she did, Jace slowly broke her down. Just as he did with everyone.

"Avery," My mother called. "Come join the party.” She flashed me her loving smile and reached her arm out. "I have something to show you." She patted Zari on the butt and pushed her toward Jace. "Go with your father and I and mommy will be there in a few minutes."

Zari nodded her head and reached for Jace's outstretched hand. "You lovely ladies take your time." Jace winked at me and smiled at my mother. "We'll try not to eat the cake without you."

I threw my hands to my hip and laughed. "Very funny. I'm telling you right now that if you eat that cake without us that you will be wearing that cake," I teased.

Jace playfully bit his bottom lip and raised an eyebrow.

"Not in that way," I laughed. "We'll be right there."

Zari tugged on Jace's arm. "Daddy." Jace bent down and placed a finger to her chin. "You better listen to mommy. She might just beat you up again," she teased, laughing in her father’s face.

My mother and I broke into a fit of laughter as Jace attempted to hide his blushing face. "She didn't...," he started.  "Oh never mind. You girls always win." He hoisted Zari off the ground and threw her on his shoulders. "Let’s race."

Zari playfully tugged on Jace's hair and giggled as he took off running. "We can't race with me on your shoulders." She laughed. "Daddy..."

My mother reached out, placing her hand on my shoulder, for attention. I quickly turned away from my two angels and smiled. "What is it, mother?" I asked.

My mother's eyes glazed over as she reached into her handbag. "Avery." She paused and smiled. "I have something that I have been meaning to give you your whole life. I know that I haven't been-"

"It's okay, mother. That is the past, "I whispered.” We don't need to discuss it anymore. I'm happy, you're happy, the family is happy. Let’s stay that way."

My mother shook her head and pulled her arm from out of her bag. "This means the world to me." She grabbed my hand and placed something in it. It felt a lot like some kind of chain. She closed her hand around mine and shook her head back and forth. "This locket..." She turned her head away and wiped at her cheek. "Is very important to me. I slept with this locket every night. This was the one thing that Henry couldn't take from me, no matter how screwed up I was. He would have had to pry it from my cold dead fingers."

I slowly opened my hand, nervous to see what the locket held.

I gripped the silver locket with shaky hands and lifted the cover to the case. My fingers lightly traced the circle as my eyes watered. Inside was a picture of my mother looking young and beautiful with a baby in her arms. I knew right away that the baby was me. I threw my hand to my mouth and forced back a sob. "Mother. How&hellihellip; why-"

"You were my world," She stated, shaking her head.. "I was just lost in another world for a while. I knew I would eventually find my way back. If it wasn't for you and your husband," She paused. "I would still be in that world, mourning someone that ruined both of our lives. A monster. He broke us."

I threw my arms around my mother and squeezed her tightly. She had been the best mother and grandmother for the four years and I never wanted anything to ever come between us again. She supported jace and me so much and it meant the world to me. I think she even cried more than I did when Jace proposed. It probably reminded her of the good days that she had with Henry.

One day, she promised to sit down and tell me about their past and how they met. I told her to only share with me the things that she felt comfortable with. Maybe someday soon, I would understand why my mother fell in love with Henry. The guy that changed my life and caused me to find my world.

"Avery," Jackie called. "Zari said to say this exactly." She threw her hands to her hip and huffed. "Mommy, I already stuck my finger in the cake. It was really good and I want more. If you don't hurry then I'm going to let daddy push you in the pool. He said that he was going to." She removed her hands from her hips and rubbed her round belly. "That message came directly from the princess. I think she means business."

"Mommy, why did you run off?" Little Jaxon poked his head around the sliding door and whined. "Hurry."

Jackie shook her head and laughed. "Go find your daddy, booger. Mommy will be right back."

I reached out and placed my hand on Jackie's belly. She was twenty-nine weeks pregnant with her second child. A little girl that was to be named after Jace and Jackie’s mother, Olivia Anne.

"She's restless. Olivia kicks me every time that I touch your belly."

Jackie laughed and grabbed my hand. "She's just happy to meet her aunty." She looked down at her belly and rubbed it. "Right, baby girl." She made little baby noises as we made our way inside to join the party.

Jace looked up from the table and reached for my hand. "I thought you girls got lost. I was going to send a search party." He winked and kissed my cheek. "Jaxon attempted to shove his face in the cake at least four times. I had to stand and guard it."

I laughed at the thought of our silly family. I had almost forgotten just how much they all loved cake. "I'm here now. I'm here." I laughed.

Dex laughed as he teasingly nudged Jace. "This guy is fooling you all. It was Jace that tried shoving his face in the cake." He reached out and placed his hand on Jackie's belly, before kissing her cheek. "Are you going to let your uncle pick on your brother, Olivia? Huh?" he teased.

"Guys," Zari whined. "It's my birthday." She threw her hands up and squeezed her tiny fist. "You guys always make me wait too long. It's not fair."

Jaxon jumped up on the chair next to Zari's and grabbed her hand. "Can I blow out the candles?" He leaned in and reached for a burning candle.

Jackie threw her hands out in front of her as Stacy quickly reached out and slapped his hand. "I don't think so, handsome." She placed Jaxon's hands to his sides and patted his head. "Keep her hands right there."

Jackie nodded at Stacy and exhaled. "Thank you." She placed her hand to her heart and took a deep breath. "That boy is going to give me a heart attack someday."

Jace placed his hand on his sister's back and smiled. "He's a boy, sis. He's tough. Now let’s get this cake eating started."

Lucky looked up from his bed and tilted his head.

"Not you, Lucky." I laughed.

Lucky got up and walked outside. That dog was spoiled as it was. Thanks to Zari, of course.

~•~

After cake, ice cream and gifts we all made our way back out to the backyard. A few of Zari's friends showed up and the kids were taking a swim in the pool that Jace had put in last summer.

I sat up from the lounge chair when I heard a whistle. Jace was standing in front of me in his favorite green swim trunks.

He grinned and reached for my hand. "Hey, beautiful." He ran his hands over my back and pressed his lips to my neck. "Will you go out with me?" he questioned.

I pulled away from Jace's grip and smiled. "Excuse me?" I laughed.

Jace pulled my body against his and cupped my face. "You're beautiful and I want to take you on a date." He smiled as he ran a finger over my lip. "What do you say? Is it a date?"

I felt my heartbeat quicken as I looked into his calming eyes. Everything about him was so perfect. Even though I had been with Jace for over six years, he still managed to make every day feel new. I knew that no other man could've ever made me feel the way that he did. I was on top of the world when I was with him. He made me the woman that I was today. The sweet, caring, loving mother and wife that I have become.

When he asked me to marry him five years ago, I almost fainted. I knew that my life would be complete with him in it. What I didn't know then, was that Zari would storm into my life and make it even better than I could had ever imagined. She was a lot like her father and I was glad for that. She was strong, sensitive and loving. They were both beautiful.

I smiled and reached for Jace's face. "I would love to go on a date with you." I pressed my lips to his and laughed.

"Gross," Zari screamed. "Why do you two always smell each other?" She crossed her arms over her chest and tugged on her purple swimsuit. "That's weird."

Jace and I both looked at each other and then back at Zari. "We don’t smell each other. We're showing each other how much we care." I smiled. "Now go play, baby girl."

Zari made a disgusted face and pulled out her wedgie. "So you have to smell someone when you care about them?" She walked over to Jaxon and grabbed his hand. "Come here so I can smell you."

Jaxon pulled away from Zari and stuck out his tongue. "Gross. Leave me alone." He took off running with Zari following close behind. "You can't smell me."

Stacy plopped down in my empty chair and laughed. "Come here, Avery. I want to smell you." She teased.

Jace laughed and slapped my butt. "Go play with your friend. I'll smell you later."

I crossed my arms and pursed my lips. "Real funny. Now our daughter is going to go around smelling people."

Jace waved his arm and took off toward Dex and Ace. "Nah. I'll explain it to her later. We'll let her enjoy the party for now."

Stacy and I both smiled as Ace looked over and waved at Stacy. Stacy had met Ace a few months ago and they had been inseparable since. She dated Will for a couple of years, but eventually found out that he was cheating on her. She hadn't really tried with another relationship until she met Ace.

Ace had showed up at the diner one day and Stacy was his waitress. He returned every day for a week straight until he had gotten the courage to ask her out. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen. It made me happy that she was happy.

"Isn't he adorable," she questioned. "I just want to eat him up. I'm going to have his beautiful babies someday."

I looked over at Ace and she was right. He was adorable and they would make beautiful babies. His curly blond hair and piercing blue eyes were adorable. He was definitely the perfect man for Stacy. "Does he know?" I questioned.

Stacy pulled down her sunglasses and looked me over. "Know what?" she asked confused.

I nodded over at Ace as he smiled. "That you're having his babies." I replied.

Stacy sat up and blew Ace a kiss. Then she leaned back and threw her glasses back on. "Not yet." She grinned.

"Avery."

I looked behind me to see my mother throwing her purse over her shoulder. "I have to go. There's an issue at the restaurant. Jan needs me to take care of it right away." She smiled. "That's part of running a restaurant, I guess."  She threw her arms around me and then kissed the top of my head. "I love you."

I gave her a quick hug and shook my head. "Okay, mom. I love you too. I'll stop by the apartment with Zari later."

My mother nodded as she waved to Stacy. "Bye, dear."

"Bye, Joyce." Stacy grinned.

I looked around me as the kids laughed and played, the boys hung out in their little circle, and Jackie sat in the shade rubbing her belly. It was beautiful and it all happened in our house. It was perfect.

I moved into Jace's room, when my mom took over the apartment. By that time, Jackie was already seeing Dex and was mostly staying at his house anyways. It was the perfect time to get married and start a family. To start my new life.

The feel of Jace's arms around my waist made me jump. "Crap! You scared me."

Jace pulled my hair away from my neck and pressed his soft lips under my ear. "I just had to come over and tell my beautiful wife how much I love her and appreciate her. And that she means the world to me," he whispered. "Her and our beautiful daughter."

I threw my head back and laughed. "Oh yeah," I teased, "I'll be sure to tell her when I see her."

Jace gripped my waist and turned me around to face him. "You be sure to do that." He kissed my nose and then my lips. "Also, be sure to tell her that I accidently broke her favorite Vase."

"What!" I playfully slapped him as he laughed. "How-"

"I didn't," he said calmly. "I love you, Avery." He pressed his forehead to mine and looked me in the eye. "I truly do."

I reached out and touched his soft face. It felt so good under my palm. It still felt like a dream world to me. "I love you too, Jace. More than you can ever know."

"Mommy! Daddy!" Zari yelled. "Come swim with us." She brushed her wet locks from out of her face and laughed at her friend Ellie. "Come on. Please," she begged.

Jace looked at Zari and then over to me. "Anything for my princess."

Jace hoisted me over his shoulder and walked toward the pool.

Lucky followed behind us barking the whole way. He was very protective of us girls.

"Oh no! No you don't." I slammed my fist against his muscular back and screamed. "No, Jace. Don't throw me in. Don't think that I won't-"

Jace walked over the edge of the pool, with me on his shoulders, and soon we were both sinking into the deep end. The warm chlorine water surrounded us as he cupped my face and pressed his soft lips to mine. Even under the water, his kiss was perfect.

My family was perfect.