Apple Doesn't Fall Far (Duskwood Fanfiction)

Chapter 10.

A/N: Well I had planned on having this story finished before episode 10, but as it often does when I make plans, life happened
.

.................................................................

Gracie's P.O.V.

My first time on an airplane was amazing. I got to sit by the window so I could see everything. It was so cool, especially on takeoff! The flight attendants gave me free candy and drinks. I did hang a bit of motion sickness when we landed, but Dad said that was normal. It feels awesome to finally have someone to call Dad. I was completely shocked when they told me it was him, but I could not be happier.

"I'm so happy you're finally here!" A brunette woman yells as she's running up to us. She grabs Mom and hugs her.
"Well, I guess I'm not important anymore." Dad shrugs, causing the woman to roll her eyes.
"Oh my God, you must be Gracie!" She says, pulling me into a tight hug. She turns and looks at Dad. "Seriously, you couldn't tell she was yours? She looks just like you!"
"I've always told people that if they ever met her father, they would stop saying she looked like me." Mom chimes in.
"Look, if I had known it could be possible that I had a child, I would have picked up on that sooner, but I had no clue." He says, glancing over at Mom. I just stood there, staring at the woman confused.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Gracie. I'm Hannah, the one you're named after, and we have a lot of catching up to do."
"Hey, Hannah! I'm so glad I'm finally meeting you. You're the only one mom really told me anything about before meeting Dad." I tell her.
"Hey MC, long time no see." A man says, walking up and hugging Mom.
"Hey, Thomas," She hugged him back. "It's Marabella or Mara now."
"You'll always be our MC." He says, making her roll her eyes.
"Oh wow, you do look just like him." He says, looking at me. "I'm your uncle Thomas, by the way."
"Hello, Thomas, it's nice to meet you." I say, smiling at him.
"Come on, Jay, let's go get the car and let the girls have a moment to catch up." He says, and they walk off, leaving the three of us behind.
"So, any possibility of you two getting back together?" Hannah asked, causing Mom to make a face and point her eyes toward me. "Oh right. We'll discuss that later."

We get to Dad's house, and he shows us to the room we will be staying in. While Mom and I are putting away our things, I decided to ask a few questions.
"Mom, do you think you and Dad will get back together?" I ask, hopefully. I couldn't ask for a better present for my 13th birthday than for my family to actually be a family.
"No, Gracie, I don't." She says.
"But why not?"
"It's been so long, and so much has happened that I don't think it would be possible." She says, sitting down on the bed and sighing.
"Don't you still love him? Maybe he still loves you, too." I say.
"Just because two people love each other doesn't mean they are right for each other or that they will end up together. You'll understand more when you're older." She says.
"Well, I know when I'm older, I'm never having a kid and then keeping her from her father." I say and immediately realize what I said hurt her.
"And I sincerely hope you are never faced with that decision, Grace." I start to say something, and she holds up her hand to stop me. "Let's go find Jay." She says, getting up and walking to the door. I follow her outside to the backyard, where I see Dad and several other people.

"There's my girl!" He says, motioning me to come over to him. I walk over, and he puts his arm around me.
"Hello." I say, smiling up at Thomas and the black-haired woman I've never met.
"This is Gracie. Have I mentioned how incredibly smart she is? She was one of the youngest students in the program I taught this summer, and she made way better grades than a lot of the older students. I also must say the final project she did was amazing. She truly was one of the top kids in the program." He tells them, and I can't help but smile. I have a dad who's proud of me. I've never had anyone brag on me like that.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Marabella's P.O.V.

We walk out into the backyard, and Jay motions Gracie over to him, Cleo and Thomas, while I make my way over to Hannah. Before I can reach Hannah, I see someone out of the corner of my eye running toward me, and suddenly, I'm tackled.

"MC, you're back!" She yells in my ear. Ugh, I might as well give up on trying to get them to call me anything else. "I'm so glad you're alive! Oh my gosh, you had us all worried why would you just disappear on all of us?" She blurts out really fast.
"Jessy?" I ask as it takes a minute for me to register who just attacked me.
"Oui. I haven't changed that much, have I?" She pouts.
"No, I just wasn't expecting to see you. I heard you moved to France." I say.
"Yeah, I fell in love and moved to France. You'll have to meet my husband, Andre. He's around here somewhere. So I hear Jake's a daddy?" She says, wiggling her eyebrows.
"I see word still travels fast around here." I chuckle.
"Of course, you know this group can't keep a secret even if their lives depended on it."
"You're not mad?" I ask.
"I was pretty mad at first, but then Hannah explained why you did it, and I can understand that. You just wanted to protect Gracie from the crazy life of her father. Any decent parent would have done the same thing. Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices to give your kids the best life."
"Thank you, Jessy. I wish everyone saw it that way." I say, eyeing Jay and Gracie.
"Oh, I'm sure he'll come around eventually."
"Oh, look, I do still have a sister." I hear someone say then look behind Jessy to see Phil. "I haven't seen you in so long. I almost forgot you existed."
"Hey, Phil." She says, hugging him.
"Oh, who's your friend?" He asks, looking over at me, causing Jessy and I to both make funny faces.
"Is that really how you greet the person who kept you from spending your life in prison?" I ask and watch the light bulb go off in his head.
"MC? Is it really you? We thought you were dead!" He says, grabbing me and pulling me to his chest in a tight hug.
"It's really me."
He pulls away and looks down at me, "I still have a seat reserved for you at the Aurora, so you better stop by while you're in town."
"First, I have a few questions."
"Of course you do." He smirks.
"You and Cleo? Four kids? One on the way? Did I hear that right, or was Jay just messing with me?" I ask.
"No, you heard it right. Why are you jealous?" He winks.
"No, not jealous, surprised, but not jealous. I'm happy for you." I say honestly.

Hannah walks over and greets them and then hugs Jessy before they wander off over towards Jay.
"Lily is on her way. She has all four of the kids with her." She says.
"Four?" I ask, puzzled.
"Yeah, my Max, her two, and of course Dan." She snorts.
"Of course, Dan has to be considered one of the kids." I day stifling a laugh.
As if right on queue, three kids come running in screaming, "Uncle Jay, you're home!" He kneels and opens his arms wide for them, and they all run to hug him.
"Uncle Dan bought us all new toys on the way here." The youngest boy says, holding up a toy truck.
"That's awesome, buddy." Jay says.
"I got a new dolly, Uncle Jay!" The little girl says excitedly.
"Oh really, what's her name?" He asks.
"Anna." She says, holding it up to him.
"That's a very pretty name for such a pretty doll." He says, and she nods before all three run off.
"Look at how good he is with them. We always knew he was going to be a great dad. We just didn't realize he already was one." Hannah says.
"Sometimes, I wish he could have been there when she was their age." I say
"Hey, you can't focus on the past all you can do is make sure the future is better. Speaking of which is there a future for you two?" She asks. What is it with everyone asking this?
I let out a deep sigh. "I don't think so."
"You never know. You may find yourself falling in love again." She shrugs.
"Honestly Hannah, I'm not so sure I ever stopped loving him." I admit.
"Something tells me that deep down he feels the same way." She says and I notice her looking at someone behind me.
"Seriously, you have the nerve to show up here?" I turn around to see Lily.
"Excuse me?" I say.
"You disappear without a trace and suddenly show up 13 years later with a kid you've kept from us and you just expect everyone to welcome you back with open arms?" She stops and looks around. "And from the looks of it, you guys did just that. What is wrong with you people? Do you not remember the hell she put us through when she disappeared?" She says and before I can say anything Jay steps in between us.
"No, Lily, we are not doing this here." He says sternly.
"Oh, so you've just forgotten everything she did?" She says.
"No I have not forgotten but this is not the time or the place. This is my house and I will not have you disrespecting the mother of my child in my house or in front of our kid!" He yells at her causing her to take a step back.
"I'm sorry, Jay. I wasn't thinking about Gracie." She says.