Apple Doesn't Fall Far (Duskwood Fanfiction)

Chapter 7.

A/n: I am so sorry. I got so carried away with writing chapter 18 of Hope in Tragedy that I didn't realize I had forgotten to publish this.
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Jake's P.O.V.

I park my car and make my way into the diner. I am hit with a wave of mixed emotions as I walk in the door. This is where we first met. I push open the door and walk inside and to my surprise MC is not here yet. I take a seat in the back corner away from the other patrons and where I can see the door while I wait for her. After a few minutes as I'm beginning to wonder, if she changed her mind, suddenly the door swings open, and in walks MC carrying a stack of books. She walks over to the table I'm sitting at and lays all of the books on the table before sitting down.

"Sorry, I'm late. Gracie was showing me her end-of-year project." She says.
"It's ok, MC. She's been working hard on it, and I know she was eager to show it off." I tell her.
"Yeah, umm, my name is Marabella, Jake."
"Yeah, about that, did you just lie to us and give us all a fake name back then? Did you ever plan on sticking around, or was it always your plan to run?" I ask angrily.
"No, running was never in the plan until I found out I was pregnant. I never lied to you, Jake. MC is a nickname; it's the name I had been called all my life. I just stopped using it when..." She trails off.
"When you decided to turn your back on all of us," I finish hersentence.
"That wasn't what I was doing. Okay, yes, that's what I did, but at the time, it didn't seem that way. I just didn't see any other way to protect our child." She says, obviously frustrated.
"Ok, I'm sorry. I'll stop bringing it up. I'll call you Marabella if you call me Jay instead of Jake. There's too much negativity attached to the name Jake."
"I can do that. So how long have you lived in East View?" She asks.
"I actually don't live in East View. I'm just here for the summer program."
"Oh, so where do you live?"
"Technically, I live in Duskwood." I tell her and watch her face instantly drop. "My house is in Duskwood, but I'm rarely there. I travel all over for work. Don't worry, I'll still be able to be here for Gracie. Depending on how I do with the summer program, I might be offered a permanent position."
"Oh, so there's a chance you'll stay close by? I would hate for Gracie to get to know you as her father, and then you have to leave."
"I wouldn't do that to her. At some point, once you're both ready, I do want her to come to Duskwood and meet Hannah, Lily, and her cousins." I tell her.

"How are Hannah and Lily?" She asks.
"Well, Hannah and Thomas are still together. They've been married a little over 10 years, and they adopted a little boy three years ago. His name is Max, and he's seven. Lily and Dan, well, that's a whole complicated mess."
"Wait, Lily and Dan?" She gasps.
"Yes, Lily and Dan. They got married and then divorced and then married again. They have Dan Jr., who is 10, and Kaylee, who is six. Believe it or not, Dan is actually an amazing father."
"That part doesn't surprise me. So did Jessy ever get out of Duskwood?" She asks with anticipation.
"She did, she met a man on vacation to Paris and ended up falling in love and moving there. The whole group gets together once a month at the Aurora. Although Jessy and Andre usually only join by FaceTime."
"What's Phil up to these days? Is he still the same womanizer he always was?"
"Nope, he's married with four kids. They have Judah, who is six, the twins Maycie and Marlee, who are five, Haven, who is three, and Cleo is currently pregnant with number five."
"What?!" She coughs out, choking on her drink.
"Yes, Cleo and Phil are married." I tell her.
"Ok, very funny now, I know you're messing with me." She says, furrowing her brows.
"No, I'm being serious. It took a while before they could even stand being in the same room after everything that happened, but they started messing around, and Judah happened. Phil did a lot of growing up when he was born, and they decided to try to have a real relationship, and they've been inseparable ever since. Once she found out she was pregnant with Haven Phil proposed and they've been married almost 3 years."
"Wow, I really never thought that would happen." She starts laughing. "Phil, the womanizer, is a dad of three girls. Isn't that just hilarious?"
"Yeah, we've all laughed about that a time or two."
Her face turns more serious. "What about you Jake? Are you married or have a girlfriend? Do you have any kids?" She looks down like she's afraid to make eye contact.
"No, just Gracie. I never got married and hadn't really dated. There have been a few flings here and there, but nothing serious. What about you? Is there a stepdad or future stepdad in my daughter's life?" I asked the question, but I'm not sure I want to hear the answer.
"No, Jake, nobody. Nobody has ever even been given the chance to take your place. She's wanted to know who her father was for so long. She's going to be happy to finally know the truth."
"When we first met, she told me she hoped when she met her father, he was proud of her. I plan on letting her know exactly how proud I am of her. I'm just worried she's going to be disappointed. What if I don't live up to her expectations, and she hates that it's me who's her father?" I can't help but feel a sense of dread.
"Jake, she loves you. You should hear the way she talks about you. I don't think you can do anything wrong in her eyes. Trust me, you'll be the favorite parent." She signs, "and I'm going to have to get used to sharing her."
"When do you plan on telling her?" I ask.
"I'm thinking maybe the weekend after the program ends. I think we should do it together, though. She's going to hate me when she finds out. I want you there to comfort her, and I want her to know you're going to be there for her." Tears start to well up in her eyes, and I know she's worried. I can't help but wonder what's going to happen myself.
"Thank you for letting me be there." I reach out and grab her hand. "It's going to be ok, Marabella." That name felt weird rolling off my tongue. It felt so foreign and out of place. She's no longer the MC that I loved so long ago; she's Marabella, a complete stranger.

"Sooo, how was prison?" She says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Seriously? That's what you're going to ask? It was prison. How do you think it was?" I roll my eyes.
"Oh, was it not a walk in the park?" She jokes.
"Actually, compared to being on the run, it was a relaxing vacation. It turns out if you almost bring down the government a time or two, everyone wants to be your friend when you go to prison." I say.
"How did they finally catch you?"
"They didn't. After I gave up on finding you, I just kind of gave up on everything. I didn't really care what they did to me, so I turned myself in." I shrug my shoulders, trying to act like it didn't bother me.
She looks up, meeting my gaze. I can't help but get lost in those beautiful brown eyes. "I'm so sorry. I never meant for that to happen." She says softly.
"It's ok. If I hadn't gone to prison, I wouldn't be where I am now." I tell her honestly.
We finish our meal, and she slides the books over in front of her.
"These are scrapbooks and photo albums from the last 13 years. This is everything you missed starting from the day I found out I was pregnant. Take them home, go through them, and feel free to make copies of anything you want." She slides them over to me.
"Thank you. This means a lot to me."

I leave the diner and headed back to the hotel. I lay out the books on the bed in order from the oldest to the newest. I open the first one. There in a plastic bag is a positive pregnancy test. There are also a ton of pictures of MC with an almost nonexistent baby bump. The next page has pictures of MC holding her belly during all the stages of her pregnancy. The next page has IT'S A GIRL written in big pink letters. In the middle of the page is a sonogram with the world girl typed in the middle. I pull the picture of the placeholder on the page to get a better look, and a folded-up piece of paper that's yellowed with time falls out from behind it. I unfold the paper to find a letter.

Jake,
Today, I found out we're having a little girl. I'm going to name her Hannah Grace, but I'm going to call her Gracie. We met because of Hannah, so I feel it's only right to give her that name. Without Hannah, there would be no Gracie. I'm both excited and nervous. I don't know much about raising a kid, and I know it's going to be challenging to do it alone. I just wish you were here to do this with me. I feel like I ruined everything by getting pregnant. I know it takes two, but I can't help but blame myself. I would give anything for things to be different. I want nothing more than to run to you and tell you everything. I would give anything for you to hold me in your arms again. Unfortunately, that would only bring unnecessary danger to our Gracie. I can't let her live a life on the run, constantly looking over her shoulder, so for that reason, I have to continue to choose her over you. I have to let you go. I hope one day I'm able to explain everything to you. I hope one day you'll forgive me for running away. I hope one day the three of us can be a family. Until then, I'm going to continue to write letters you'll never see and pray one day am of this pain will be worth it.
With all my love,
MC

I sit on the bed staring at the letter in disbelief. I can't stop the tears that stream down my face. There are so many emotions overflowing inside of me. Reading that makes it hard to hate her. I've assumed this decision didn't hurt her at all that she was okay turning her back on me because she didn't care. I assumed she turned her back on us all without even giving it a second thought. This letter makes it clear that was not the case and that she did struggle with the decision, and she didn't do it to be selfish. I've spent this whole time hating her for hurting me and breaking my heart. I just assumed it was all easy for her. I didn't know that she was also hating herself for these decisions. This doesn't change anything though she's hurt me too deeply, and that's not something I can't just get over.