They were about an hour into their recording session when he got the call.
It worried him a bit, the fact that his phone was buzzing when a large percentage of the people who normally called him were currently sitting in the same room. Liam was recording his drums and Ryan was playing around on his acoustic guitar and Austin was taking a nap on the couch to Jace's left. You were at school and weren't in the habit of calling him when you knew he was recording and Savannah was much too busy during the day.
Jace was in midst of coming up with rhythm chords to accompany the melody Ryan was making up when he felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his jeans. It took him a good ten seconds to dig it out and when he was finally holding it in his hand, he decided that it was probably time to transition into wearing looser pants.
His eyebrows lifted in surprise at the name flashing across the screen.
Casey.
Sliding his finger across the screen, he brought the phone to his ear, his brow pulling into a confused furrow. "Hello?"
"Hey, Jace. Mr. Russo. Jace."
Jace pressed his lips together and tried not to laugh at the ramblings of Savannah's boyfriend of three years. It wasn't often that people found the lead singer intimidating because being the youngest in both his band and his family often meant he wasn't taken seriously, so he relished in the thought that Savannah's boyfriend was nervous to speak to him. Still, Jace felt bad about making Casey uncomfortable because the boy was so easily flustered.
"Hey, Casey," Jace smiled into the phone, the mention of Savannah's boyfriend causing Ryan to look up in surprise and Austin's eyes to flutter open. "What's up?"
Casey answered the question with another question. "Savannah said that you guys were gonna be in the studio all day. Are all of you still there?"
"Yes...," Jace purses his lips, the confusion in his voice causing Austin to sit up and adjust the green knit beanie pulled over his thick curls. "Why? What's going on?"
There was a moment of silence as though Casey was contemplating how to best phrase his next words. He spoke slowly once he finally got up the nerve to do so. "I was wondering if I could stop by, if you guys aren't too busy."
Once again, Jace's eyebrows lifted in surprise and he glanced at Ryan and Austin, who were leaning forward, hoping they might be able to hear the conversation before looking up to see Liam finishing up his recording. "Things are pretty relaxed over here. Come on over."
"Great," Casey replied, letting out a soft sigh of relief. "I should be there in the next hour."
"Sounds good," Jace nodded, shrugging at the questioning glances he was receiving from his bandmates. "See you then."
"What was that about?" Ryan asked as Jace hung up the phone and shoved it back into the pocket of his jeans. "Why is Casey calling you?"
Of course the rest of the boys had all met Casey. Savannah considered her uncles to be pseudo fathers, so once she and Casey began to date seriously, the seven of you had all gotten together for dinner so that the boys could meet Casey properly. It had gone surprisingly well. Casey had been a bit nervous about meeting the most important people in Savannah's life and as expected, the boys did their best to be intimidating, but at the end of it all, they'd realized that Casey genuinely loved Savannah with all his heart and there wasn't really anything more they could ask for.
Savannah and Casey met in a mandatory ethics class in their last year at university where Savannah was studying business in hopes it would help her achieve her dream of one day opening her own ballet studio and Casey was studying politics and history, wanting to go to law school. Casey was shy and sweet, with a passion for photography and absolutely no athletic abilities whatsoever. He confessed to Jace while they were bonding whilst playing pool at a pub a few months after he and Savannah became exclusive that he had been instantly drawn to the way her eyes were always lit with joy because she was constantly so enthusiastic about everything she talked about and it had taken him three months to finally get up the nerve to ask her out while they were studying for their midterms.
Despite Jace's pleading that Kara stay to break the assumed tension the first time Savannah brought Casey home, Kara had been completely ready to make herself scarce for the night, thinking it was a crucial night for Savannah and her father and uncles. But Savannah had showed up in her classroom the night of the dinner in question and insisted Kara be there because she was part of the family now as well and she valued Kara's opinion and although Kara had never gotten the sense that Savannah thought she was trying to steal Jace's attention from his precious daughter, it was nice to know that Savannah considered Kara to be such an asset to her life.
All of them had liked Casey right off the bat and although he and Savannah had their ups and downs over the past three years, they loved each other heaps and they were solid as a rock and Jace had grown to accept that his baby girl wasn't a baby anymore.
"Yeah, what did Casey want?" Austin repeated the guitarist's question, leaning forward off the couch and lacing his fingers together between his parted knees.
Jace shrugged, reaching out to pick up the acoustic guitar leaning against the couch to his right. "I'm not sure. He says he wants to talk to us. All of us."
"What does that mean?" Liam asked, having caught the tail end of conversation upon exiting the recording booth and obtained enough information to piece together that they were speaking about Savannah's boyfriend.
Jace shrugged again, plucking at the strings on his guitar, though his mind was racing with possibilities. The last time all of them had been gathered together because someone wanted to talk, Savannah had told them that she and Casey were moving in together. At the time, Jace had just recently gotten used to Savannah no longer being around the house because she was living on campus, so the thought of her living with her boyfriend was hard to wrap his head around. Eventually, he learned to accept it because it wasn't as though it was really up for discussion. Seeing his daughter grow into this amazing woman was bittersweet and his heart ached at the thought of the day when he would have to let her go entirely.
He could tell his bandmates were having similar thoughts by the sudden tense silence in the room, which dissipated quickly when the door to the studio opened and Kara walked in.
Always glad to see her, Jace's lips immediately stretched into a smile as he set down his guitar and pushed himself from the couch, though he was still slightly confused by her presence. It was the middle of the day, which meant she should have been at school, teaching.
"Hey, babe," he greeted, leaning in to kiss her quickly on the lips as she shot a friendly smile at the rest of the boys, his hand automatically coming to rest at her waist. "What are you doing here?"
It was Kara's turn to be confused because she had assumed Jace knew she was coming. "Casey called me this morning on my way to work and told me to come here during my lunch break."
Kara figured Jace had gotten Casey to call on his behalf and had some sort of surprise for her, which was why, when it turned out Jace had no idea why she was there, things became particularly intriguing.
"Huh," Jace said, dropping his hand to grab hers and pull her down onto the couch next to him. "He just called me and said he wanted to stop by and made sure all of us were here. I wonder what's going on."
If Kara was being completely honest, she had an inkling of what was about to occur and she wondered if she should tell Jace so he could mentally and emotionally prepare, but before she could part her lips and speak, the studio door opened once more and this time, Casey entered.
"Hey, man," Liam greeted, the first to step forward and shake Casey's hand because he was the only one currently standing. He shoved his drumsticks into the back pockets of his jeans and squeezed Casey's palm firmly before pulling him in for a quick hug. "Good to see you."
Casey repeated this process with Ryan and Austin and hugged Kara tightly and kissed her cheek before turning his attention to Jace.
"Hey," Casey smiled nervously, sticking out his hand to his girlfriend's father. "Thanks for letting me come by."
"Of course," Jace grinned, genuinely happy to see Casey because he honestly couldn't dream up a better boyfriend for his daughter. "Is everything alright?"
Casey nodded, shoving his hands into the pockets of the black trousers. He was required to wear a suit while he interned at one of the most prestigious law firms in the city. "Yeah, there's just something that I wanted to talk to all of you about. Do you mind if we sit? It'll make me less nervous."
None of them were entirely sure what Casey was nervous about, but they silently agreed, the five of them squishing together on the leather couch as Casey plopped down on the edge of the coffee table to the front, taking deep breaths as he laced his fingers together on top of his knee before deciding that he had too much energy to sit and pushing himself to his feet and beginning to pace.
"So I had this whole speech that I practiced a million times and it was completely perfected this morning, but now I can't remember how it goes or even my name."
"Casey!" Ryan laughed, causing the boy, well man actually, to pause his pacing. "Just breathe, man. Tell us what's going on."
Taking the lead guitarist's advice, Casey nodded and inhaled deeply, his gaze floating across the five of them as he chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully before speaking slowly. "The reason I wanted to talk to you all is because I want to ask Savannah to marry me and I know you guys are the people she loves most in the world and I wanted to get your blessing first."
...
His nightly video chat with his daughter was going to be awkward for a couple weeks.
They had gotten into the habit the first time the band left to go on tour and Savannah had to stay home because of school. It was the first time Jace and Savannah had ever been apart for more than twenty four hours and neither of them were entirely sure how to deal with it, so they settled for video chatting before bed. This didn't always work because depending on which time zone the band was in, their schedules wouldn't necessarily mesh, but they kept the tradition going when Savannah left for university as well and since the time she was six years old, Jace had never gone a day without speaking to his daughter in some form or another.
Kara had moved in with Jace about six months after Savannah left for school, but she had developed a ritual of speaking to Savannah for about five minutes just to catch up before leaving her to talk to her father, knowing that she considered her time with Jace to be precious and that if she ever needed Kara, she wouldn't hesitate to call.
Despite the eventful day, Kara knew tonight was no different, so after hearing all about how the dance classes Savannah taught as she saved up money to open her own studio had gone that day, she blew Savannah a kiss and waved goodbye and turned the laptop over to Jace, kissing him on the cheek before leaving the bedroom to go watch some television elsewhere.
"So things are going well, huh?" Jace asked, settling back into the pillows leaning up against the headboard.
"Yeah," Savannah grinned, her blonde curls swept away from her face and twisted into their perpetual bun atop her head as she lay on her stomach on her bed and talked to her father through the computer screen. "The kids are amazing. Some of them are already so talented and I can't wait to see how much they grow."
"You were like that too, you know," Jace smiled softly, becoming nostalgic as he remembered Savannah's first ballet recital and how the look she had on her face while she danced exactly reflected how he felt while performing.
"Are you getting sappy on me, Dad?" Savannah laughed, crinkling her nose teasingly.
"Getting?" Jace shot back, his lips stretching into an even wider smile. "You know I'm way past already there."
"True," she squeezed her eyes closed as she smiled. "So how was your day? Was the recording session good?"
He paused, not wanting to give too much away. "It was interesting. Very productive."
It was an unusually vague answer and Savannah would normally have called him out for acting strange, but before she could, he changed the subject. "How's Casey?"
Savannah's eyes immediately lit at the mention of her boyfriend, though she hesitated before she responded. "He's good."
"You don't sound convinced," Jace furrowed his brow in concern, hoping something hadn't happened between Casey leaving the studio and arriving home.
"No, he's good," Savannah assured her father. "He's just been acting strange all evening."
"How so?"
Savannah shrugged, reaching up to smooth away some flyaway curls with one palm. "I don't really know how to explain it. It's almost like he's a little bit too upbeat. Like he's covering something up. I don't know, I'm probably just reading too much into it. Maybe he got a case at his internship that made him upset and he can't talk about or something."
"Yeah, maybe that's it," Jace replied, feeling knots of discomfort tightening in his stomach because he hated keeping secrets from his daughter. "Hey, Sav, are you happy?"
Savannah's eyebrows lifted in surprise at the out of the blue question as she propped herself up on her elbows and rested her cheeks in her palms. "What do you mean?"
"Just in general," Jace shrugged. "With life and Casey and me and work. Are you happy?"
She contemplated the question for a moment before her lips slowly stretched into a smile, her gaze clouding over slightly as she nodded. "Yeah. It's weird. I have all these friends who are freaking out because they're in their twenties and they have no idea what they're doing and I have no idea what I'm doing either, but I'm not really scared about it. I'm surrounded by so many people I love and I'm still striving towards my dreams and I couldn't really ask for anything else. So yeah. I'm happy."
"I'm glad," Jace sighed in relief, knowing he'd made the right decision in giving Casey his blessing.
There hadn't really been that much doubt that he should say yes. Of course, Savannah would always be his baby girl, but if he had to pick someone for her to marry, Casey couldn't be a more perfect choice. They loved each other to pieces and were so completely happy and that's all Jace could ever want for his daughter: someone who made her happy.
And the fact that Casey had asked for the blessing of the rest of the band as well was just impressive. Savannah's uncles meant the world to her and although they all had children of their own now, Savannah would always be the first love of all of their lives and the fact that Casey respected that enough to consider them essential parts of Savannah's family said loads about the kind of person he was.
Jace had liked that about Casey from the beginning, that he had never questioned the presence of Liam, Ryan, and Austin in Savannah's life. He had never asked about Savannah's mother or critiqued the fact that Savannah had been raised by four men and Jace figured that level of respect and adoration and compassion was something that he could get used to in a future son in law.
"Hey, Dad, I better go," Savannah said, pushing herself upwards and backwards so she was sitting on her heels. "I think Casey could use an early night. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"
"Of course," Jace nodded, raising one hand in a wave. "Say hi to Casey for me."
"Will do," Savannah grinned. "Love you, Daddy. Sweet dreams."
"Love you, too," Jace whispered before the screen went dark, wondering where all the time had gone.
...
He was so nervous you would think he was the one about to propose. Though, if he was being honest, it was a thought that had crossed his mind more than once over the past six months. Things between Jace and Kara were good, excellent even, and he had been nervous about asking her to move in, but it had turned out to be a fantastic decision and now he couldn't really imagine life without her.
While Savannah was growing up, being in a romantic relationship had been the last thing on his mind, partly because he didn't want to subject someone to his crazy tour schedule and partly because he didn't want his daughter to think that she wasn't the most important girl in his life. But once Savannah had confirmed that she was all for him dating and he had met Kara, it was like everything just sort of fell into place. He never really had to make room for Kara in his life because it felt like she was always meant to be there.
So as Kara and Jace and the boys sat around an outdoor table on the patio of a restaurant that was walking distance from the park where Casey was in the midst of proposing to Savannah, Jace couldn't help but think that at some point in the near future, he would mind getting down on one knee as well.
"Everything alright?" Kara asked, nudging Jace's shoulder with hers from your seat to his right. "You look tense."
It was understandable. Just several hundred feet away, his daughter was getting engaged.
"Yeah," he nodded, exhaling deeply before leaning over to kiss her cheek. "I just can't believe this is actually happening."
"I wish it would happen faster," Ryan grumbled from across the table, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting.
Liam rolled his eyes and Jace and Austin laughed, none of them admitting they wished the time would go by quicker as well.
Instead, the time seemed to crawl. And when Jace finally spotted Savannah and Casey crossing the street hand in hand, looking giddy beyond belief, he felt like he had been holding his breath for three hours.
"There they are," he smiled softly, letting out a sigh of relief, causing the boys across the table to turn and look.
Savannah was smiling as wide as her lips would go and her eyes lit up with delight when she spotted her extended family, dropping Casey hand to hurry over and start the rounds of hugging.
She squealed as she entered the patio, showing off her ring and singing out her thank yous as Kara and her uncles congratulated her and her new fiancé.
Jace moved a bit slowly, watching from just a little ways back at the way his beloved daughter's cheeks flushed and her eyes were flooded with love and happiness as she hugged all of the important people in her life repeatedly before finally setting her gaze on the one who mattered the most.
Stepping around Kara and the boys, who stayed in their places to question Casey about the details, Savannah came to a stop in front of her father, twisting the new piece of jewelry on her ring finger and chewing on her bottom lip, but was unable to keep from smiling.
"Hi, Daddy," she said softly, her lips stretching into a wide grin.
"Hey, sweetheart," Jace whispered back, doing his best not to burst into tears by scratching at the lip piercing he still had after all these years.
"I'm getting married," Savannah breathed out, glancing down at the ring as though she couldn't quite believe it herself.
"I know," Jace said, his voice coming out cracked and watery and a little breathy. "Congratulations."
Laughing lightly, she stepped forward and threw her arms around her father, hugging him tightly and burying her face in the crook of his neck. Jace tightened his arms around his daughter, holding her as close as possible, knowing that once he let go, he would have to come to terms with the fact that his baby girl was all grown up.
"Don't worry, Dad," she whispered into his shoulder, repeating the words he'd say to her when he bid her goodbye during their video chats and phone calls while he was away on tour. "You'll always be my number one."
Jace laughed as he turned his head to kiss her temple, pressing his lips hard against her hair, holding her as close as possible, and knowing that on his side, those words would always be true.