Lacey was Jake’s ‘the one who got away’. The one he let slip through his fingers due to his inability to love anyone but himself. She had very nearly gotten through to him and made him realise that there was more to life than his own selfish desires. But her patience worn out before his stubbornness had and so she walked away with her broken heart and Jake carried on like he always did, as if he hadn’t lost anything.
It took facing the end of the world with the company of a two year old for Jake to finally learn how to love someone other than himself. That two year was the now the very wriggly 7 year old he held in his arms. Through Erin, Jake opened his heart and was able to put someone else’s needs above his own. Because of that, he ended up adopting four more kids, his Mighty Ducks and now, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if anything happened to any of them.
There had been times over the last five years when Lacey crossed his mind with thoughts of what might have been. It was useless chasing after what ifs because he assumed he’d never see her again. There was no way for him to make amends of his past behaviour which he now recognised to be extremely shitty. Lacey had deserved so much better than him.
But here she was, in front of him with tears in her eyes. He wanted to pull her into his arms but he had no right to that or her in any way, shape or form. He was lucky she hadn’t tried to hit him or kick him in the nuts; even if she had done those things, he wouldn’t have blamed her for it. She was not happy to see him.
Erin poked Jake in the cheek. “Hey,” she demanded. “Why’s the pretty lady crying? What did you do?” By now she had figured out it was Jake’s fault Lacey was upset. Erin was a smart kid, smarter than he’d ever be, and despite her limited education she was able to pick up on emotional cues that most other people missed.
Jake ignored Erin’s queries because he was too busy trying to figure out how to explain himself, and by extension the Mighty Ducks, to Lacey. Everything he had come up with so far sounded more and more ridiculous in his own mind. But Lacey had asked the question and she deserved the truth.
“So we started in Vancouver-” oh Jeez, he was going to try and tell her everything all at once “-and by we, I mean me and Erin here. I’m not actually her Dad. Well, I am but not biologically.”
“He found me!” Erin interjected.
“Right, thanks. We travelled down from Canada and then across the US and then we found Cody-” Jake motioned behind him at the older boy who was currently holding his younger brother and spinning around as fast as he could. “Cody, put Leo down before you both get hurt! Anyway, we found Cody, then we found Cass, Leo and Willow. And then I have these five kids and kids are hard work and I needed help so we came here because they have a school here. So that’s the short version of how we got here.
“You look great by the way.”
———— Hope died a slow death, shedding each petal until there was nothing remaining. Life seemed dull since she had left him, the colors losing vibrancy unexpectedly. The world order had not only shifted beneath her feet due to the pandemic but also with the loss of love. It was such a tender thing, to love. She had opened her entire self to him, gifted him things she never had offered to others before. Lacey had been truly happy with him despite their differences and his inability to see past his own face. He was full of himself, narcissistic, non-committal, and sometimes a jerk - but he was the person she had loved the most. Nights had been consumed by thoughts of what would be said if she ever gained the chance of his company again. In the showers, she dreamed up conversations she believed to be mere figments of her imagination. Now that the opportunity to speak these things into existence presented itself, she had nothing left to say. What could she say to him? Should she explain how furious she was with him for acting the way he did or touch on how hurt she still was over everything? Such things were left in the past far before then, lost forever to the winds of time.
As he began to explain himself, the words floated past her head. None of it stuck inside her brain, as she was so conflicted after seeing these things. She almost pinched herself in disbelief, yet thought better of it. The end of his statement drove her to offer a teary smile, some droplets falling gently down her cheeks. Although his views on commitment seemed to have shifted, there was still a glimmer of his past self that survived within. No matter the severity of their arguments, he had always provided her a good laugh to make her feel better after it was all over. Often, she was still upset but forgave him as her laughter rang through either of their apartments. As she mulled over the information he provided, she felt some sense of relief. At least he had not fathered the children biologically, had not replaced her in his heart - if she had ever even been within it in the first place. Her gaze looked at the young girl that was glued to his side. She definitely admired her 'dad' very much, leading Lacey to believe that he was a better father than she had ever anticipated.
"I can see you're different than before. I guess the end of the world did bring some good." She teased, her eyes brimming with tears despite the calm that had come over her. It was not easy for her to let go of the pain that had surfaced at the sight of him. That was the most unexpected thing for her - that she was unable to remain calm in his presence. Her hands tightened around the feed basket that had resided in them the entire time.
"I'm glad you found them, it seems you've learned to love someone more than yourself. I'm so proud of you and thank you, I guess the manual labor has improved my figure." She sucked a sharp air through her nose, eyes darting elsewhere as one of her hands raised to wipe a tear away.
It felt odd for her to offer vulnerability to a man who had crushed her so much, especially in front of a group of small children. Lacey might have found amusement in such an interaction had her heart not been breaking more by each passing moment. She could not offer anything to them besides her apparent sadness, but she would try. "If you need anything while you're here, you can almost always find me down here with the animals." She offered, her eyes still focused elsewhere as to attempt to avoid allowing him to see her so upset.
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