Him & I

Chapter 24

Jace's POV

After me and Elijah put Arorah and Kieran in their Moses baskets, we went back to the living room. I heard the slight whispers of the others as we got closer. "We need to keep an eye on him. I know it's not my place but we should seriously think about cora and the twins being with Jace," I heard Luna. I stopped in my tracks so I could hear what they were saying. Elijah stopped as well and frowned as I put a hand up to stop him from talking. "Maybe we could get him in therapy like Damon had," I heard nick. "Do you guys really think that low of me?" I walked in. Everyone went silent and didn't look at me. "Brilliant. Everyone thinks I will hurt my own kids because I have killed people," I started getting angry. "Jace," rose spoke up. "What rose? Is it because I kill people without second thought? Is it the fact that I killed someone right in front of cora?" I turned to look at her. "Jace we just," she sighed. "We just don't want you to hurt yourself, Cora or your kids," rose told me. "I'm not mentally ill rose. I know the difference between my work life and home life. I can't believe you would think that I would harm a child, especially my own. And cora, I love cora. I love the damn girl, just like nick loves Connie, Damon loves Luna and how Salvatore loves you. How can any of you think that low of me?" I burst out. "I always thought he would be a good dad to begin with and when he first joined," griffin shrugged. "Who in their right minds would hurt a child? Even if they do deserve it, it's not right. I'm not going to hurt my kids," I rubbed my face. "We know that," Rose started. "Then why are you all thinking that? Especially Arorah. I wouldn't harm my little girl, like Chris and nick, same with Emilio. I wouldn't hurt Kieran, just like nick with Anthony and milo, just like Damon with Elijah and the boys, just like me with my son," I burst. "We just think you should take time off work for a while. Think about things," Luna got my attention. "What's there to think about? My kids, I'll always be there for them. Cora, I would never leave her side until she tells me to. And for work, I'm leaving soon so what does it matter. Yes I have killed people but so has Damon, and you haven't said anything and he's got kids. Nicks killed, Salvatore has killed, Emilio has killed. And Chris has killed. And if you think I will leave cora to raise my kids by herself then you must be crazy," I gripped the baby monitor in my hand turning my knuckles white. Just then I heard one of the baby's make a noise. "I'll be back in a second, I need to go check on my kids," I muttered. "I'll go," amber stood up. "Does no one trust me? Shit, some family you all are," I clenched my jaw, I placed the baby monitor on the table and left. I ran up the stairs and into the room. Cora was still sleeping, clearly exhausted from the twins. I walked over to see Kieran moving and making noises. My frown instantly left and I smiled down at my son. I picked him up and layed him on my chest as I held him. "Shh, it's alright, daddy's here," I caressed him. I sat down on the rocking chair I built and waited for Kieran to go back to sleep. After a while, light snores filled the silent room and I layed him back down. I checked on Arorah before I left and then went back down to the living room. Everyone was silent as I sat down. "Is cora still sleeping?" Chris asked. "Yeah. I'm letting her wake up by herself to get her strength back before she goes in with the twins," I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I was still angry, but seeing my kids and cora made me calm. "Jace were sorry about what we said. It was wrong of us but we still did it," Damon gave me an apologetic look. "Why? Why do you think I'll hurt them other than griffin?" I asked looking around the room. "Because I'm the most intimidating guy in the gang," I answered my own question with an eye roll. "Jace were just looking out for you," Damon sighed. "I get that. I really do but for you all to think that low of me. It killed me everyday to not see cora, to not feel my kids kick. You got that with all your boys. But in order for cora to be safe I pushed her away. That killed me. Now that I have her back I'm not letting go, not of cora, Kieran and I'm sure as hell not letting go of my little girl. As a parent, I'm going to protect my kids at all costs even if I have to give up my life for them to live theirs. Same with cora, I'm not afraid anymore. I have my family now and they're not going anywhere," my voice started to go shaky when I finished. Everyone stayed silent at my small outburst. "I would do the same thing for my boys and Luna. Same with nick for Anthony, milo, Sadie and Connie. It goes for Salvatore with us lot. Not sure about the guys and girls because they still haven't confessed their undying love for each other yet. But Jace, we are happy for you, so happy. We just need time to adjust because we have never seen you so gentle with anyone. Even beks, Corey and cora you have been a little hard with them. But for us to see you so gentle with Arorah and Kieran, it's new to us, all we want to do is make sure you don't snap and hurt them. As our family we want to be there for you, Jace we trust you, we trust that you won't do anything to hurt you blood. All I'm saying is that it only takes one small thing and it tips you off. We all agree that you will be a great dad to Arorah and Kieran, Rose especially. Jace we don't want you to snap and do something you would regret," Damon placed one of this hands on my shoulder. "I get what it feels like to have a new born baby, hell I've got twins. But with you jace, you have a tipping point, as soon as someone pushes you over the edge you get angry. We all saw it when cora and Chris left that day. It took elijah a couple of words and you snapped. You almost killed him, all of us don't want you to hurt yourself, Cora or the twins," nick joined in. "I can keep control. I will never hurt my kids and cora. I can make that a promise. But I know the difference between work and home. At home I have my girlfriend and two kids that I will make smile and feel wanted. At work, that's when I'll snap. I can assure you all that I'll never lay a hand on any of them, same goes for my future kids as well. If you can trust me then you can expect me to call you family," I sighed. "We do trust you jace. From the moment you joined this gang to the minute to met cora. We all saw the change in you when you started talking, we love you jace, some more than others but we do. I see you as my son, and I'm glad you came into my life. Emilio, he has a soft spot for you. Emilio sees you as a son more than any of us here," rose smiled softly at me. "If anything happened to you, it would crush him. Me most of all, want to keep you safe," Rose added. "I understand all of it, I really do. But for you to think I would actually hurt them. Yeah, I have killed, I will continue to kill while I'm with Emilio. Like I promised, I would rather give up my life than have anyone harm my family, even me. I can't bare the thought of me hurting any of them physically. Even mentally, I will never let myself hurt them. If I have to send them away for their safety then so be it. But as long as I can keep them safe, no one will hurt them, including me," I leaned back in my chair. "We know. Over the last nine months I've never seen my baby girl so happy. When she was with you all she did was smile, then she broke because you wanted to keep her safe. Jace I'm glad my daughter has you and no one else. Don't leave her to be a single mum because every child deserves two loving parents. Cora didn't have that and I'm sure she wants that for her kids. Don't leave her high and dry because your scared, it's better to be with someone who can reassure you it'll be ok than have no one. I learnt that the hard way when Cora's mum left," Chris looked down. "I'll never leave her. The only time I will leave cora is when she doesn't want me anymore," I smiled to myself. Just then, I heard baby cries coming from the monitor. I was on my feet immediately and ran up the stairs. I burst through the door to see a tall figure by the window. The person looked back at me and I saw Blake. He smirked at me then jumped. My heart was beating fast. I looked at cora to see she was fine and I went over to the Moses baskets. Only to find one empty. Kieran was lying sound asleep in his while Arorah was gone. My heart sank as I ran back to the living room. "Jace what's wrong?" Elijah asked obviously seeing my distressed face. "He fucking took her. Not even a day old and my little girl has been taken from me," I muttered through my clenched jaw as I loaded my gun. "What do you mean? Who took her?" Chris yelled. "Blake. Cora's ex. I'm going to find him and kill him. I'll be back soon," I got extra ammo and left.