ADRIENNE PARKER

J.C. HOLT

" Uh, hi." He said. I looked at Carter and Jake. " Um, I am gonna take the girls back to my house and we are gonna set up a movie for all the kids. Call me if you need anything." I told Jake. He nodded, before looking back up at his dad. I walked the girls to my truck, and we all drove to the house, leaving the guys to talk to their dad.

( JACOB'S P.O.V. )

I watched everyone leave, before looking back at my father. " What are you doing here?" I asked him. He sighed. " I heard about your mom. I wanted to make sure you boys were okay." He said. I scoffed. " You're seven years too late." I said. He sighed. " Listen... I know that you boys aren't my biggest fans." He said. Carter scoffed. " Understatement of the century." He said.

" How did you find out about mom?" I asked. He sighed. " I was in town a last year to talk to some potential clients, and I ran into Shania Roberts. She told me everything I missed since I left. She told me your mom got remarried." He said. I nodded. " Yeah. To an abusive drunk who doesn't care about his two kids." I told him.

" Jay..." Carter said. " I didn't realize your mom had more kids." He said. I nodded. " Yep. Maisie and Lillian. They were the two girls who left with my girlfriend." I said. He nodded. " Your girlfriend. How long have you two been together?" He asked. " A few months. Not that you care." I said. He shook his head. " Jacob-" I cut him off. " Fifteen years, dad. You made your decision fifteen years ago. I'm eighteen. No use in trying to have a relationship with your kids now." I said.

" I wanna change that." He said. Carter and I scoffed. " Now? Now you wanna relationship?" Carter asked. " Look, I don't expect you to forgive me or anything, but I realize the mistake I made, walking out of your lives." He said. " Like I said earlier, Dad... it's too late." I said, walking towards my truck. I got in and drove off.

( CARTER'S P.O.V. )

I sighed as Jake drove off. I looked back at dad. " Listen... he has had far too many people let him down in his life. Me included. He doesn't trust early, and he messes up any relationship he has with any one, because of it. He didn't ask Adrienne out for the longest time cause he was afraid of messing it up, and now, she is the only person he fully trusts. You can't tell him that you wanna fix the relationship with him, if you aren't a hundred percent into to fixing it. Which means you can't just up and leave again." I told him. I sighed, and picked up one of the napkins from the table, and wrote down my phone number.

" I'm willing to talk to you about fixing all of this, but that's only because I want my daughter to know her grandfather. So, call me when you know for sure." I said, leaving before he could open his mouth again.

( ADRIENNE'S P.O.V. )

I saw Jake's truck pull up from the window, and I stood up, and walked out to the porch. He gave me a tired smile, and sat down on the porch swing. I sat down next to him. " So, how'd it go?" I asked. He shook his head, and gave a small chuckle.

" He wants to try and mend our relationship. After fifteen years." He said. " He came back after all this time, to try and fix your relationship?" I asked. He shook his head. " No. He was in town about a year ago, for some work thing, and ran into Shania. That's how he heard about mom, and so he wanted to check up on us. See how we're doing." He said.

I raised an eyebrow. " He found that out a year ago, and still didn't come back until now?" I asked him. He nodded. " Yeah. I'm gonna guess that he's in town for something, and decided to check in. But, I doubt that he'll actually stay. His wife and kids weren't enough for him to stay last time. Why would this time be any different?" He asked.

I sighed. " Do you want to talk to him?" I asked him. He scoffed. " Nope. And I told him that." He said. He wouldn't look me in the eyes though, which told me the opposite. I moved a piece of his hair out of his face. " I think you should try and talk to him." I said. He looked up at me. " You guys are the ones that pushed me to talk with Eleanor, and look where we are. We actually have a relationship now, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. I'm not saying that you should just forgive him, because you shouldn't. Not if you aren't ready, but at least talk to him. Hear what he has to say. It might give you some closure." I told him.

He just looked at me for a second, before he sighed. " I hate it when you're right." He said, standing up. I stood up after him, and smiled. " Well, you better get used to it buddy." I said. He laughed, following me into the house, and we sat with the rest of my family and watched the rest of the movie.

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Okay, it's a short chapter, but we have met Jake and Carter's dad. Not sure how to actually feel about his return yet.

Sorry about the long wait. I haven't had as much time to write lately. But, I hope you like this chapter. Two more chapters before the epilogue!

As usual, Vote/Comment!

-Rylie