Hey babes! Back again with a new installment for this one! I wanted to have this up earlier, preferably on Easter, but clearly, that didn't happen. So with only a day left in the month, I'm finally uploading this new chapter.
This one isn't particularly long, but at least it's something.
Enjoy!
*April*
"It's Spring Break!" Josie shouts as she, Jessica, and Rachel step out the front doors of the school. "I'm so happy!"
"It's only for a week, Jo," Jessica replies. "We'll have to be back next Monday."
"Don't ruin this moment for me, Jess."
Jessica laughs. "Sorry." She lets her eyes wander over the crowd of parents, easily finding her dad within them. She turns back to her friends. "I see my dad. Are we still going to hang out this week?"
"I think so," Rachel says. "I have to ask my mom again. I forgot if she said yes or not."
"Okay. Jo?"
Josie shrugs. "I'm pretty sure my mom said yes."
"Cool. Just have them text my mom and say if it's okay or not." She quickly gives them each a hug before skipping across the pavement to where her dad is waiting for her. "Hi, dad." She smiles brightly up at him before wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
"Hey, Jess. How was school?"
"Good." She pulls back to look at him. "But now I don't have school for the next week so I'm really excited."
"I'm sure you are. Anything specific in mind that you have planned?" he asks as they make their way to the car.
She shrugs. "Not really. But me, Jo, and Rachel wanna hang out at some point. I already asked mom and she said that it's okay."
He nods. "Right. Because mom's the boss."
Jessica nods. "Mm-hmm. She always is. No matter what."
"Can't argue with you there," he says, climbing into the driver's seat while Jessica gets in back. "Your mom was always the boss, even when we were kids."
"Did she boss you around?"
"Kind of," he replies, turning over the engine and slowly backing out the parking space. "It wasn't so much as bossing me around as it was that I just did whatever she wanted to do without asking too many questions. I just always wanted her to be happy so I did what she wanted."
"Like getting a divorce?" Jessica asks quietly.
He sighs, glancing through the rearview mirror to see her with a frown. "Yeah, like getting a divorce. I didn't ask too many questions and didn't try to stop it because, at the time, I thought that's what would make her happy, to not be married to me anymore."
"I wish you'd asked questions," Jessica tells him. "I wish you'd stayed so we could have known each other longer and you and mom would have still been married."
"Me too, Jess. But we can't change the past. All that we can do now is live in the present and keep moving forward. And your mom and I are together again and happy, and we've got you, so I think things have worked out pretty well. What do you think?"
He casts a quick glance in the rearview mirror to see his daughter with a small smile on her face now, her eyes easily finding his.
"I think you're right."
.
.
.
"So how does it feel to not have school for a week?" Grant asks his daughter as they sit on the couch in the living room together the next morning, neither of them really doing anything in particular.
Jessica shrugs. "It always just feels like a short summer break."
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Well, that's too bad. I've always enjoyed Spring Break myself."
"That's because it was an entire week where we didn't have to be in school," Skye remarks as she makes her way into the room, a teasing smile on her lips. She leans down over the back of the couch to give him a quick kiss. "I have to go into the shop for a little bit this morning. There was a problem with the latest shipment of stock, so I have to go sort that out. Will you two be fine here by yourselves?" she asks, glancing between her boyfriend and their daughter.
"We'll be fine, mom," Jessica tells her.
Grant nods. "Yeah, Skye, we'll be fine. Promise."
"Okay. I'll see you later, then." She gives Grant another kiss before dropping one to the top of Jessica's head and then she's moving toward the front door of the apartment.
As soon as the door closes, Grant sits up quickly, peering around the corner to make sure she's actually out of the apartment. He looks at his daughter with a smile. "That worked out so well. I thought I was going to have to come up with an excuse to get her out of the apartment."
Jessica's brows furrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Mother's Day is next month and I was hoping that you'd want to help me out with something special that I've been working on for your mom."
Jessica beams and nods. "Yes please!"
Grant laughs quietly at her enthusiasm. "I had a feeling you'd want to help."
"What did you get for her?"
"Well, I wrote her a song actually. It's not finished yet, but I thought that maybe you'd like to help me finish it and then next month we could play it for her. What do you think?"
"Yes!" Jessica bounces excitedly in her seat. "I'll go get our guitars."
"Could you grab my notebook too?" he asks when she stands from the couch. "It's in the nightstand by your mom and I's bed."
"Okay." Jessica nods once and then she's moving down the hall in the direction of the bedrooms.
He lets out a small breath as he leans back, a smile on his face. He really is one of the luckiest guys in the world, so lucky that Skye still wanted to be with him after all this time, despite everything that happened. And on top of that, she raised their daughter by herself for so long, and she's done an amazing job of it so far. He wants to show her how appreciated she is.
"I've got them!"
He looks up and smiles when Jessica hands him his guitar and then his notebook. He lays the guitar in his lap and then opens his notebook, immediately turning to the right page. He grabs the pen attached to the notebook and crosses out a few lyrics after skimming over it. He replaces them and then sets the notebook on the coffee table.
He looks over at Jessica to see her waiting patiently with her guitar in her lap, one hand clasping the neck of the guitar while the other hovers over the strings lower down.
He smiles. "You ready?"
She nods. "Yeah."
"Okay. I'm going to show you what the melody sounds like, which is what you're going to play the whole time, and then you'll copy me. Sound good?"
"Yep. I'm so ready, dad."
"Glad to hear it, Jess."
"Jess! You ready to go?" Skye calls out through the apartment as she slides her shoes onto her feet, brushing some of the hair back behind her ear as she leans down, half-tempted to just cut her hair so that it stops getting in the way all the time.
"Almost!"
"I haven't been to an Easter Egg Hunt in forever," Grant comments as he enters the living room, adjusting the front of his dress shirt.
She smiles at the sight of his outfit, having almost forgotten how good he looks dressed up so nicely. "That's because I'm pretty sure the last one we went to was during our senior year of high school."
He smiles and nods. "Right. And if I'm remembering correctly, we weren't even supposed to be there."
"No, we were allowed to be there. We just weren't supposed to be making out behind the shed at the Hunt. Unfortunately for us, we were caught and forced to stay apart from each other the rest of the Hunt while we helped the younger kids find eggs."
"Yes, now it's all coming back to me." He steps closer to her and wraps his arms around her waist to hold her close. "Best Easter Egg Hunt ever."
She wraps her own arms up around his neck, rising on her toes just enough to press her lips against his, smiling against his lips when he reciprocates. She'll never get tired of kissing him. No matter the situation, he always makes her a little weak in the knees.
"I'm ready!" Jessica announces her presence in the living room, making Skye and Grant break apart. She's got her Easter basket in one hand and a smile on her face, Max trailing slowly behind her. "Can we go now?"
"Of course we can," Skye tells her daughter. "Time for you to go find some eggs."
"Just make sure to save some for the younger kids that are there," Grant pipes in. "Don't hog all the eggs."
"Hey." Skye points a finger at him with narrowed eyes. "I know that comment is directed at me and I don't really appreciate it."
Grant laughs quietly and smiles past her at their daughter. "Your mom was always a bit of an Egg Hunt hog." He gently squeezes her hip in a teasing manner, making her squirm just a little.
Skye scoffs, folding her arms across her chest and frowning. "Just because you were never fast enough to get to the eggs."
"You literally pushed me down once so you could get to an egg that I was already going for."
"And I told you that day that I was sorry, that it was an accident, and that I didn't see you. I was in full Egg Hunt mode, you know this."
"Uh-huh, sure." He unwraps his arm from around her waist, stepping past her and draping his arm over his daughter's shoulders as he guides her toward the front door. "Come on, Jess, let's get going to this Easter Egg Hunt. We don't want to miss anything, right?"
"Right."
Skye sighs and shakes her head, following behind her family. He's definitely still a pain in her neck, but she loves him and she's glad he's in their lives. She honestly wouldn't have it any other way.
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!
