Days after that night, Heather hated to admit that she didn't feel any guilt. It was wrong, that night, the stolen kisses afterwards, it was all wrong. But it felt incredibly right.
Jake may have not loved Lucia in the same way he loves Heather, but he was still technically cheating on her and Jake and Heather both felt guilty about it.
Jake had been tense in work that day, she had dropped him off at his apartment and he had stalled getting out of the car.
She knew what was going through Jake's mind, she could read him like the back of her hand. He wanted to end it with Lucia. And he was going to do it.
She knew the second John arrived at her apartment with Juliet in tow, something was happening. John didn't say what, because he didn't know.
Juliet had been tucked away in bed soon after John left. She didn't know what was going on either but her father had rushed her out of the apartment.
Hearing a knock on the door, Heather left her room and unlocked it, the sight of Jake startled her.
He had scratches on his face, hands, arms. Lucia had put up a fight evidently. Ushering him inside, she led him to the kitchen and started cleaning up the cuts on his face.
A small part of her was happy Lucia should be out of the picture now. That she and Jake could move forward with their relationship. The other parts were plain worried for Jake.
He didn't say anything as she cleaned him up and as soon as she finished, his lips were on hers. Pulling her close to his body and deepening the kiss.
"Are you okay?" Heather mumbled, pulling back, she ran her fingers through his hair, smiling softly when he leaned into her touch.
Slowly, his brown eyes opened, heavy with tiredness and another emotion Heather couldn't decipher before his face broke into a smile.
"I am now," Jake whispered, allowing her to pull him to the bedroom. She closed the door quietly, helping Jake undress before they got into bed together.
It was silent for awhile, Jake's head on her chest, her fingers slowly carding through his grey locks, tugging on it softly.
"What do you want to do?" Jake asked quietly, but Heather knew it wasn't a question about what they should get up to now.
Heather hummed, his head tilting so he could meet her eyes again.
"Well.... it's not like we didn't have plans before we broke up," Heather started, kissing his forehead, "but... I dare say priorities have changed somewhat,"
"First things first, we have to tell Juliet," Jake said, already imagining how excited she would be to hear not only that Lucia was gone, but that her parents would be together.
"I don't think she'll be upset about that,"
"And then..." Jake continued, brown eyes looking up at Heather with an air of innocence that reminded her of their child.
"Okay," she sighed, sitting up again, Jake following suit, "I want us to be us. I want the house we dreamed about, the life we imagined we'd get, and at some point, I want to be Mrs. Tapper,"
Jake smiled. He loved the sound of all of that. They had planned for a house and maybe another child after Juliet's birth, but when the baby was actually born, things had quickly changed.
"I second all of what you just said," Jake smiled leaning in to kiss his girlfriend, her hands cupping his cheeks while she smiled into the kiss.
"I mean it, Jake. I want to put down roots, for our family," Heather reiterated, sitting in his lap and smiling at the tight grip he had on her.
