Come With Me

Chapter 18

"Grace!" He called, and soon the young girl came bounding down the stairs.

"Coming, dad!" She yelled, and appeared in the living room not long later. Jacob was holding a now-one-year old baby Connie, and so they were all getting ready to celebrate her first birthday. Grace was wearing a dress, and Jacob was dressed respectively too, as they had invited some family round to join in with the event. Jacob had taken the liberty of getting the living room transformed into a place fit for a party, and the dining table was covered in a vast selection of nibbles and drinks, with a birthday cake in the middle. "Wow - it looks great, dad!" Grace said, and she went up to Jacob to give him a hug. "When is everyone coming?"

"They should start arriving in about an hour," he said, checking the time. "I wanted to speak to you first though, about what we talked about last night." Grace smiled, then ran back upstairs, and came down shortly later carrying a hand-made card reading, 'I love you,' on the front. Of course, it had been a year since the baby's birth, but that meant that it was also exactly one year since Connie had passed away. Jacob had suggested the previous night that they all took a trip down to the cemetery before the birthday party began. Obviously, the pair of them were still hurting from Connie's loss, but they had tried their best to get on with their lives, and they had had so much support from their friends and family. Jacob and Sam had also become quite good friends, which seemed unusual, but it was good for Grace, especially at a time like this.

"Are we going now?" Grace asked.

"That's what I wanted to ask you about. By the time we get down there now, we'll only be able to spend about five or ten minutes with her before we have to come back in time to start welcoming people, and I don't want you to get your new dress all muddy, so why don't we go down after the party?" Grace nodded, and then put her card on the mantelpiece, next to the two photographs of Connie that they always kept there - one was a selfie that she'd taken with Jacob when they were out on their date, and the other was Grace's favourite photo of the pair of them together. In that one, they were on the beach, and Jacob had taken the photo when Connie and Grace were in their swimming costumes building sand castles. They were both laughing, and it was a beautiful way to remember Connie.

"I want people to know that we're celebrating both Connie's today," Grace smiled, and Jacob couldn't have been prouder of how mature Grace was about the whole situation. Grace came back over to Jacob, and picked up two mini sausage rolls, and ate one, before offering the other to her little sister, who took it happily.

"Aww, what's Gracie giving you, eh? Is Gracie giving you some nibbles? She is, isn't she? Yeah," Jacob cooed, and Grace laughed as baby Connie chewed on the sausage roll. "Come on," Jacob said to baby Connie. "We'd better put you back in your rocker. Heaven knows that you won't get any sleep once my mother arrives!" He let Connie finish her snack and then rocked her gently and placed her back. Immediately, she knocked the chimes on the top of the rocker, and giggled to herself, causing Jacob and Grace to laugh too. "She's just like you and your mother," Jacob laughed, and hugged Grace, before she went over to the television to put some music on quietly.

"Is this alright?" Grace asked, referring to the volume of the music. It was quiet, as she didn't want to have it too loud, but she wanted to be able to hear it.

"That's perfect," Jacob said, and made a few final sandwiches to put on the table. "Gracie, would you mind watching your sister for a little while? I just need to run upstairs and grab something."

"No problem," Grace replied, and Jacob disappeared. He returned a couple of minutes later, with a huge bag of pink presents. Grace laughed as she saw him coming down the stairs, and offered to help him. He insisted he was okay, and then he put the presents out around the baby's rocker. There were six in total, including one large one, but most of them were just what Jacob had said were "one year old essentials". The final present he pulled out was wrapped in purple paper with a large silver bow, and Jacob passed that one to Grace. "Where do you want me to put this one?" She asked, and Jacob smiled at her.