Watermelon

Mr. & Mrs. Bowman

[spicy]

Jace stared at the blank notebook page in front of him. He had so many things to say but no idea how to say them. He found himself chewing on his thumbnail and tapping his pen against his desk as he desperately tried to figure out how to open this letter to Chloe's parents. He figured their names would be a good place to start.

Russell and Jeanette,

He immediately scrapped that page and replaced it with something more formal — more respectful.

Mr. & Mrs. Bowman,

His mind blanked again. How the hell was he supposed to start this goddamn letter? Too frustrated to put anymore thought into it, he just started writing whatever came to him.

I'd like to start this letter by apologizing for any unwanted stress this entire situation has put on you and your family. I think it goes without saying that this wasn't Chloe and I's plan. I'm genuinely sorry if all of this has put a strain on your relationship with your daughter. With that being said, what I won't apologize for is loving Chloe — and for my continued attempts to be a good boyfriend to your daughter and a good father to our future child. I understand that you might feel the need to shelter Chloe because of this. All I'm asking is that you understand that my lack of preparation for being a dad at such a young age doesn't negate my desire to be a good and present father, even while our baby is still in the womb. Me not being allowed to spend quality time with Chloe during this has been heartbreaking for me. Not just because I enjoy spending time with her, but because I don't wanna look back at these days sometime in the future and regret that I didn't get to spend more time with Chloe throughout the pregnancy. I want to be a present father every step of the way. All I ask is that you respect that wish and allow me to be present not only in the baby's life, but in Chloe's life as she carries this baby. My parents have recently bought a new house that includes a fully finished guest house. They've already given Chloe and I permission to live there when the baby is born and I have plans to get a job as soon as I turn eighteen. I want to be there for Chloe and I want to be there for our child — more than anything. I'm not asking you to give your daughter to me. All I'm asking is that you allow me to be present — to love her and to care for her, as well as our future son or daughter. A child having a loving family — no matter how atypical that family is — is always better than a family with tension and absence. Trust me, I know this from experience.

Respectfully,
Jace

He read it over ten times before folding the paper in thirds and stuffing it into his backpack. He'd give it to Chloe tomorrow to deliver to her parents.

Meanwhile, Shawn was downstairs pacing around the living room with a fussy Posie in his arms. Camila was sitting at the dining table with Maggie, who was humming to herself while painting a picture with her primary colored, washable paints.

"That's so pretty, Mags."

"It's Jace and Chloe and their baby." The toddler looked down at her artwork proudly. Realistically, it wasn't Jace and Chloe and their unborn baby at all. It was a globby mess of green and blue with hints of pink — and a solid 40% of the paint ended up on the old newspapers that Camila had put down over their dining table. She mentally patted herself on the back for planning for easy cleanup. "I'm all done with this one!"

"Okay," Camila smiled and carefully picked up the painting with the tips of her fingers, setting it aside to dry and getting Maggie another little blank canvas from the pack of four she had purchased a couple days prior. Maggie smiled widely when she saw the blank slate in front of her. She immediately got to painting again.

"I'm painting you and daddy now."

"Make sure my hair looks good," Shawn called out from the living room. Maggie didn't miss a beat with her response.