Clara's pov
I was anxious. I had one hour until until Jace's birthday party, and my plan to get his parents back together was in full motion. His dad was in on my plan, now, we just had to hope his mom would show up with his sister.
The birthday boy was still asleep.
I went up to the guest room where he's been sleeping and hopped on his bed. I bended over him the best I could with my protruding stomach, and kissed him, trying to wake him up.
"What Clara?" He asked, not opening his eyes. "Happy birthday! We have two years before this relationship is illegal." I joked. He groaned and pulled me down next to him.
"I say we just sleep." He said pulling me to him.
"Well, I'm the pregnant one, and I say we get up." I said, worming my way out of his grasps.
"Fine."
"Get dressed." I ordered. "The party starts in an hour."
With that, I left the room and went downstairs.
My senses were overwhelmed by the scent of the the birthday cake my mom made for Jace.
"Smells good, Mom." I said. She smiled. "Thank you."
Mom, Dad, Ryder, and Josh were all sitting in the living room, waiting.
The doorbell rang, which confused me, because the party wasn't starting for another hour.
I went to open it, and Marie, Jace's mom, was there with his little sister, Alice.
"I'm sorry, we're early. Alice really wanted to see Jace." She said. I shrugged. "No big deal. JACE GET DOWN HERE!" I yelled.
He came running down. "I was almost ready!" He said.
"Jacey!" Alice shrieked, running and clinging to his leg. He picked her up.
"They came early." I explained to his confused face.
"I can't believe you're sixteen today." Marie said, tearing up and hugging him.
"John, Liz, congratulations. I heard you're expecting again." She said to my parents.
"Thank you. I'm sorry to hear about you and Jeff. Jace told us." Mom said.
Marie's eyes saddened, and she nodded, pursing her lips in a straight line.
* * *
An hour later my house was full of Jace's friends, some I knew, and some I didn't. Ryder helped me with the invitations.
I didn't like his friend Rodney. Ryder told me he's human, so he doesn't understand mates.
That's probably why when I introduced myself to him, he said "Oh! You're the girl Jace knocked up. Man, I see why he locked you down now."
Jace was with his friends, and Ryder ran off with Brielle when they first met, leaving Josh and I to get to know each other.
"Was it weird growing up only seeing your mom on select nights, and never talking to your siblings?" I asked.
"Yeah. Dad would always tell me things about you guys, show me pictures Mom would give him. But when I'd ask Mom to meet you guys, she said that you didn't know me, and wouldn't react well. When I turned eleven, they told me you guys thought I was dead." He said.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be, we can be a family now. That's all that matters."
I heard a car door shut, and I saw the guest I was most worried about showing up.
Jace's dad.
"We have to go downstairs." I said, standing.
My plan was to get Jeff and Marie back together.
What better place than at their son's birthday party?
He knew the plan, he came up with it. I just hoped it worked.
I went downstairs and in the backyard Jace and Jeff were talking, alone. I looked to my left, and saw Marie with Alice on her hip, watching them carefully.
"Daddy!" Alice chirped, worming her way out of her mother's grasp. She escaped, and ran into her father's arms.
He picked her up and held her close to him. She hasn't seen her father in over a month, and while I went a long time with out my dad, any separation from a parent is hard.
I couldn't hear, but I saw him whispering things in her ears, probably how much he missed her.
I looked back over at Marie. She was twiddling her thumbs, unsure of what to do. I'm sure she could hear what Jace and Jeff were talking about, due to the fact she was outside with them, and I wasn't.
As if she could feel my gaze, she turned her head to me. I gave her the best reassuring smile I could muster up.
She tore her gaze from me, and back to her family. She pushed a few loose strands away from her face, and walked over.
I opened the screen door and walked out and stood against the wall.
"Mommy, look it's Daddy." Alice smiled. Marie nodded, not showing her emotions.
"Marie, can we talk?" Jeff asked. Instead of me, this time she looked at Jace. They didn't exchange any words, but she looked back and nodded. He set Alice down, and they walked into the doors I had just previously opened.
Jace walked over to me. "I'm moving back in with my dad." He announced.
"That's great!" I chirped. "Is that what you were talking about?"
He nodded. "He didn't smell like booze, and said he missed me. He also said if I moved back in, Mom might come back."
"Do you think she will?" I asked. He shrugged. "Maybe. Alice clearly missed us, and that might influence her decision. I told him that I'd move in tomorrow, you promised me birthday sex for this party." He teased.
I smiled. "It's to return the favor for my birthday." I joked.
He growled lightly, making me laugh. I hugged him, tightly.
I don't want to let him go.
* * *
Twenty-yes twenty- minutes later, Marie and Jeff came back out.
They were faintly smiling, which meant good things must've happened. Then I noticed their intwined hands.
"Look." I nudged Jace. Alice noticed her parents too, because she ran over to her mom.
"Mommy I want to go home with Daddy." She said. "We are, Honey. We are." Marie said.
Alice's face lit up. She hugged her dad's legs, and he picked her up.
A few minutes later, I was sitting alone, eating cake after I sent Jace off with his friends.
We had been on a break from school, there had been a lot of protests going on.
I didn't mind. People stopped their remarks, but that didn't mean they stopped giving me stares, and it can't stop their thoughts.
Mom sat down next to me. "This was real sweet of you to do for Jace." She said. "It's just a birthday party." I shrugged. She shook her head. "I knew you were planning something, everyone did. It's obvious you wished Jeff and Marie to get back together."
I shrugged again. "I invited him in hopes of it, yes. He came up with the plan himself." I referenced Jace's father.
"Still was sweet." She said. I shrugged. It may have been my idea, but he wanted Jace to come home on his own and he stopped drinking on his own. He apologized to me, he said I was good for Jace, which was amazing to hear.
"Have you been taking your vitamins?" Mom asked me, mentioning the prenatal vitamins I have to take. I nodded. "I haven't forgotten since you got me them." I said.
Mom thinks it's good practice to be responsible if I take my vitamins myself. I'm already taking care of the kids, therefore it's my responsibility.
I think it's really cool that I can do these things for them when they aren't even born yet.
Unfortunately, I can't raise them to be good people in the womb.
I read that what you eat can affect your child's weight throughout their whole life. Maybe I should stop with the cake.
"That's good. I'm proud of you, I forgot a lot when I was pregnant my first time." Mom said. "Your father remembered more often than I did." She laughed.
Dad came in smiling at Mom. "What did I remember?"
"When we were having Ryder, I kept forgetting to do everything important. You were the one reminding me." Mom said.
"My sister said you would be a terrible mother." He said. "I didn't know you had a sister." I said. He shook his head. "A story for another day."
About an hour later, everyone was leaving, but Marie and Jeff decided to stick around for a little while longer.
"We should all go out to dinner." Mom suggested. "That's a great idea!" Marie said.
"Where to?" Jace asked. That started up a whole conversation. Eventually we decided on a Chinese restaurant.
We drove separately, Jace insisted I should ride with him and his family, and I didn't bother to disagree.
After ten minutes of driving Jace turned to me, us sitting next to each other on the very backseat of his Marie's van.
When do you want to have sex tonight?" He bluntly asked. I looked up at his parents, terrified at the possibility of them hearing. They were quietly chatting, lost in their own world.
"It's okay. Every time they had fights, after was like they were on their honeymoon. This has never happened, so it must be ten times worse. They won't hear us talking." He assured me.
"Tonight, sometime. I can get my parents out of the house, and my brothers off our backs." I answered, still worried his parents would hear.
Nothing.
"Okay, you know we don't have to if you don't want to. I know this was just to get my parents back together, and I thank you for that, we don't have to do this." Jace told me. I shook my head. "No, I promised you I would. We're doing it. Besides, there's hardly anything we haven't done before." I said.
He sighed. "Okay."
After dinner we went back in my parents car because Marie and Alice were going to get their belongings before going back.
We got home and I decided to wait a little before getting my parents out of the house. I needed to make sure I could get Ryder and Josh off my case.
Mom and Dad were in their bedroom, and Ryder and Josh were in the living room watching T.V..
"Guys, I need to you leave Jace and I alone tonight." I said to them.
"Why? Wait, do I want to know?" Ryder asked. I shook my head. "Please?" I asked. "I'm giving you guys an hour. I don't want to think too much about it, but I hope that's enough time." He said. "Thank you!"
Given I only had an hour, I decided to go get my parents out of the house.
I went into my parents room, and my parents were on the bed, my dad curled up next to my mom watching the television, and my mom reading a book.
"Mom, I think I'm experiencing pregnancy cravings." I complained. She sighed. "What do you want?"
"A Frito and peanut butter sandwich, but we don't have any Fritos." I complained. "Damn, that sounds good." Mom swore, getting up and out of my dad's grasps.
"I'm going to the store." She told Dad. He hoped up after her, something I knew he'd do.
"I'll come too." He said, getting up too. "Honey, you don't have to do that." She told him.
I knew how this would go. Dad would insist on going to make sure nothing happened to her or the baby. Mom would give in, and they'd go together. "Thank you guys." I said leaving the room.
About twenty minutes later I heard the garage door, and knew they were leaving.
I went into Jace's room. He was laying on his bed, fully clothed. "Clara, are you sure about this?" He asked. I nodded.
"Geez you're acting like it's our first time." I told him. He laughed a little. I crawled into bed with him an fulfilled my promise.
* * *
I was about to put my clothes back on, when my heart froze.
Someone opened the door.
It was my dad.
A/N Please please read this: I'm so sorry it's been probably a really long time. I'll be honest I forgot about this book up until a week ago. I had been feeling really depressed, lying in bed not sure what to do with myself. I was having problems with-well I don't know what to call him- but this week they got settled out. That's not important. I checked my email and someone last weekend commented on my last chapter asking me to update. I started writing this chapter again, and I fell in love with this story all over again, and promised myself I'd have it up by today. I'm sorry if I got your name wrong, but I do believe it was angeldevil031112 who commented on my story, so thank you. Next chapter will be a little different. It will probably be shorter, and with the way I want my story to go I'm writing in in Clara's mother's point of view, I'm assuming some people could guess why. Also, does anyone want a bonus scene between Jace's parents from the party where they talked? I could have that up later this week if anyone wants that. I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and thank you again angeldevil031112 for commenting.