Reverie 》Bob Floyd

The Seresin/Gonzales Family

Jake Seresin has come into the lives of the Gonzalez sisters when they needed him the most. 

He and Reyna had only been dating for just under a year when their parents had been killed in a car accident. Suddenly, Reyna was the guardian to her 10 year old sister. She had to navigate getting all of their affairs in order, raise her sister, and find a good paying job, all while trying to give herself some time to grieve. 

Well, let's just say she wasn't giving herself that time. 

Jake, who was lucky enough to be on a long leave after his last tour, made it his new mission to keep these girls afloat. 

Reyna had quickly become someone he felt he could spend the rest of his life with. Jake wasn't someone who believed in soulmates or fate. But Reyna came into his life like a storm and she took everything he did in stride. She gave as good as she got and saw right past any facade he tried to put up. 

Hell, even her parents had liked him, having met him a few times before they passed. (He was notorious for either not meeting the parents or not being well liked.) 

But it was little Maribel who truly convinced him to stay, to not cut and run. 

Maribel, who at 10 years old, was now an orphan. Who now couldn't see her older sister as her sister but a mother. Who didn't have a father to protect her from all the dangers a young girl could face. 

So despite his first instinct to cut and run, Jake became the rock the Gonzalez sisters needed. And boy was he glad he did. 

He was there to keep Mari from bothering her sister too much with all this new stress. He was there to allow Reyna time to grieve her parents and the life they were supposed to continue living. 

Jake was there for all the moments that mattered and plenty of the ones that didn't. That's what made their little family so strong. So bonded. 

Eventually, when the sisters were comfortable with the idea, Jake took them to Texas to meet his own family. To say the welcome was warm would be an understatement. The Seresin family absolutely adored the Gonzalez girls. 

They loved that Reyna could keep up with Jake and help to tame his ego when it got too big. They loved how Mari would hang off of Jake, forcing him to do things they never thought in a million years he would. 

(He would even participate in fashion shows with the young girl, who always insisted on painting his nails to match the outfit. Guiltily, he would have to remove it before returning to active duty, but he would always let her repaint them when he came back.) 

But with the good comes the bad. And two sisters trying to navigate a now parental relationship instead of a sibling one was difficult. There was only so much Jake could do before they got mad at him as well. 

Reyna and Jake had plenty of fights that boiled down to, "don't tell me how to raise my sister," and "you need to find a balance between sister and parent." 

Jake, for all his faults, truly was trying to be better for Reyna. Both admitted their wrongdoings and made up soon enough. And it was just as good, because Mari had become quite attached to Jake. Neither wanted to see what the outcome would be if they split and Mari was left again. 

The day Mari first got her period, Reyna was at work and Jake just so happened to have two weeks leave. He was at home, watching a movie with Mari when she had to go to the bathroom. He paused the movie for her before getting up himself to get some more popcorn. 

He proceeded to drop the bowl when Mari let out a yell from the bathroom. 

He ran to the door, knocking before calling out. "Mari? Mari, are you okay? What's going on?"