𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 ༄ 𝗷. 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗻

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚒𝚡

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚒𝚡. 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗

Five years had passed since that fateful mission.

No one could say they had moved on, but they kept on going forward stopping a few times to look back at the past.

Jake had successfully moved back to Texas and had been there ever since. He visited the Dagger squad every once and a while, but he had kind of closed them out. He kept in touch with Shalene the most out of everyone. She was his eyes in California, watching over Bhavika until she woke up. It was beginning to slow down as the years passed. I started with a phone call once a week, then a text every other week and now it had come to a short text once a month or sometimes it would be months before he heard from her. Shalene was losing hope, and frankly so was Jake. He never wanted to admit it to anyone.

His mother, Evelyn had been a massive help. She got him back on his feet and comforted him when he felt the sadness consume him again. His sisters were a great help as well. Anna was very busy with her kids and he enjoyed the distraction of interacting with his nieces and nephews. Stella was not afraid to be blunt with him and often was his voice of reason when the days go too hard. And Grace was her sweet self as always and often came over to his house with a basket full of baked goods. Jake had a support system and he really was thankful for that.

"JAKE!!" Stella yelled up the stairs.

"What the hell." He muttered to himself. "Yes?!"

"Momma said if you don't get your ass down here in thirty seconds you wouldn't eat dinner." She replied.

"No I did not, Stella Marie Seresin get over here." His mother protested.

"That's not my last name anymore!" She sighed.

"Jake just get down here." Evelyn asked him politely.

"Comin'." He huffed and fixed his tie.

Holiday parties at the Seresin's house were hectic affairs. The family was big and they needed ample food to accommodate for all of the guests. Prep for these parties took months and set up took days to perfect, yet somehow they all managed to pull it off. He trudged down the stairs and entered the kitchen.

"Well don't you look dashing." His mother gushed and kissed his cheek.

"He would have me dashing out of the room if I saw him." Stella joked and Evelyn gasped, Jake let out a chuckle.

"Stella Marie, apologize to your brother." She scolded.

"Ma it's fine. I know it was a joke." Jake pat her back. Evelyn sighed and walked to the living room.

"Where's Gracie?" He turned to Stella.

"Fussing over her appearance. Her boyfriend Elijah is coming over." Stella said in a disgusted tone.

"You are literally married." He pointed out. "What are you even doing over here anyway? Why aren't you coming with Ben?"

"Ben had a work function and can't make it until later, so I decided to come bother you."

"You didn't know I would be here." Jake refuted.

"How do you know that?" She raised an eye brow and walked away.