Chapter Thirty One
Jace POV:
I was in the shed getting my board when I heard a knock. I turned around and saw Clary and Karina standing here smiling at me. They made their way into the shed and I pulled them both into my side.
"Are you really going to compete against Sammi Jace?" Clary asked and I laughed.
"She challenged me babe. And I don't back down from challenges." I said and Karina laughed.
"Remember when you challenged dad to a short program because he said that you didn't have it in you anymore." Karina said and Clary smiled and nodded. "He was awful but he still did it."
"I guess you're right." Clary said and Karina smiled.
"Of course I am, I'm a Herondale." She said and I pulled her into hug and Clary rolled her eyes.
"All three of you guys just love harboring your fathers attitude." Clary said and Karina nodded.
"You always say that I'm basically dad in girl form anyway." Karina said and I laughed.
"I promise I'm not going to do anything that can cause harm to myself babe. I'm just going to show Sammi and that she can't be scared." I said and she nodded.
"Who is going to judge?" Clary asked.
"Mark and Emma, and than I was thinking of getting Julian and Camille as well. Just to give the scoring a bit of diversity."
"Sounds good. I'll go start getting everything ready." Clary said and she pressed a kiss to my lips and walked away. I smiled as I watched her go and than looked at Karina.
"I hope I find someone who loves me as much as you love mommy." She said and I pulled her into my chest and gave her a hug and a kiss on the top of her head.
"You're 11 baby, you have plenty of time to just be a kid." I said and she smiled.
"Do you think it's weird that I'm not part of the snowboarding or figure skating programs here?" She asked after a minute and I took a seat and pulled her into my lap.
"Not at all." I said. "Why?"
"Jack and you have such a special relationship because she's a snowboarder and so are you. And Patrick and mom have a special relationship because of figure skating. Sometimes I feel like I don't fit into the family." She said and I smiled.
"Karina, can you figure skate?" I asked and she nodded. "Can you snowboard?" She nodded again and I smiled. "Could you potentially run this whole facility if your mom got sick and I needed help?" I asked and she laughed and nodded. "You may not be involved in the programs but you're important around here. No other 11 year old I know gets this place quite like you do."
"So you still love me just as much?" She asked and I pulled her closer to me.
"Absolutely Karina. Trust me when I say, this family wouldn't be complete without you. Your mother and I didn't want to have another child so we could mold them into another athlete. Jack and Pat both wanted it more than anything. You aren't interested in going to the Olympics to compete, that's not your dream, and whatever you decide to do in life, I'll support 100%, and so will your siblings, and so will your mom." She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tight and I hugged her back. When we broke apart I kissed her on the forehead and she hoped off my lap.
"I'm going to go find mommy and help." She said and I smiled. "I love you daddy."
"I love you too sweetheart." I said and she skipped out of the shed. I smiled to myself and went back to gathering my equipment and went to go brush up on some of my moves. I was going to give Sammi a kick in the ass, and hope it brings that fire back in her.
Clary POV:
When 2 rolled around everyone was gathered around the half pipe ready to see the competition between Jace and Sammi. I knew Jace wasn't going to go easy on her, and I knew that Sammi wanted to win. This was going to be a interesting competition but it was pretty exciting. I haven't gotten to watch Jace compete, even if it's just for fun, in a long time.
"Alright athletes, today we are going to witness something I never thought would happen. Jace Herondale has been challenged by Samantha McAvoy in a half pipe run." I said and everyone started cheering. "The rules are as followed. They will each get three runs. They will be judged on difficulty, execution, and for a little fun creativity. Mark, Emma, Julian, and Camille are the judges and what they say is final. There will be no recounts, or questioning. I have already told them to pretend like Jace is another boarder and not their boss. Their jobs aren't in jeopardy if they feel Sammi did a better job than Jace." I said and everyone laughed. "Alright Jace and Sammi, come here." I said and Jace and Sammi walked over and stood next to me. "I'm going to flip a coin to determine who chooses who goes first. If it lands on the side you call you get to pick, if it lands on the other side the other person gets to pick.. Alright Sammi call it." I said as I flipped the coin and caught it.
"Heads." She said and before I looked at it Jace stepped in.
"How come she gets to call it?" He said with amusement in hi voice.
"Cause she gave me my first grandbaby." I said and Jace rolled his eyes.
"I gave you three kids, and this whole facility!" He said and I laughed and looked at the coin.
"It's tails, so Jace you get to pick who goes first." I said and he smiled.
"Samantha can go first since this was her idea." He said and Sammi smirked and started making her way up the half pipe. I shook my head and looked back at Jace.
"Do you think babe." I said and he kissed me before I got out of the way. I made my way over to stand next to Karina, Patrick, PJ, Tucker and Jacqueline. When I got there I picked PJ right out of Patrick's arms and he smiled at me. He put his arms around my shoulder and pulled me into his side.
"Who do you think is going to win? We have a pool going." Jacqueline said and I laughed.
"Gotta support my man." I said and they all laughed. "But it goes beyond support, Sammi is really talented but Jace has more experience. I think Sammi truly underestimates just how talented Jace is."
"Dad would tell me stories about how hard his dad would train him and it sounded like torture." Patrick said and I nodded.
"He was drilled as a kid to be his very best. You think he's strict, his father would laugh at how much he babies these athletes if he was around."
"I think the consensus is dad is going to win. I mean, I love Sammi, and I know she has incredible drive, but I've been watching her practice from the balcony when PJ takes his nap, and dad is right, she's bailing on some of her tricks." Patrick said and I nodded.
"Mama!" PJ yelled and clapped his hands together and we all laughed.
"I guess his vote is for Sammi." Patrick said and I gave PJ a kiss on the cheek before Sammi dropped in.
We stood there and watched the competition. Sammi and Jace were both giving it their all, but Sammi fell three times, and Jace hasn't fallen yet, and it's the last run. Jace was standing at the bottom of the half pipe watching Sammi do her run. She got to her last trick and when she bailed is was blatantly obvious. She fell and didn't get up. Jace made his way over to her and helped her up. She wasn't hurt, just frustrated with herself I can imagine. Jace made his way back up to the half pipe for his final run, and man did it still turn me on to see him in action. When he reached the bottom of the half pipe after his final run I made my way over to him. He was giving Sammi and hug and when the broke apart he spotted me and pulled me into one.
It took some time for the judges to get the scores together but I think it was obvious that Jace was the winner. We were all standing around in a circle when Emma came up to me and handed me an envelope. I cleared my throat and everyone started to quiet down.
"And the winner it…" I said as I opened the envelop and looked at the name. "Jace Herondale." I said and everyone clapped and cheered including Sammi. Jace stuck his hand out and Sammi took it and smiled.
"I guess I didn't realize how much I had to learn." Sammi said to Jace and he smiled.
"I can teach you everything I know Sammi, but you can't shut me out. I want you to make the Olympic team, and I want you to kill it on that half pipe. Qualifying for your country is coming up, and I want you to go out there with no regrets, and if you keep yelling at me when I try to correct you, we aren't going to get anywhere." Jace said and she nodded.
"I know, and I'm sorry I've been so crazy lately. I think it's getting to me that I have to go back to Ireland in order to qualify and that means leaving you all." She admitted and I pulled her into me.
"You just have to go back for a couple days and compete and than you're right back here with us." I said and she smiled. "Come on, you deserve the rest of the day off." I said and I dismissed everyone for the day and we made our way back to the house. After Sammi and Jace showered, Jace started helping me with dinner and Sammi went into the living room to play with PJ. I knew her leaving for qualifications was going to be hard, but everyone sacrificed a lot for their dreams, and I think in the long run Sammi was going to be happy that she took the time to try and achieve her dreams.