"Please say something, Jackson." 

I watched as my dad pleaded with my little brother—something I've never seen Damian Hale do once in my lifetime. When we got to this family dinner about twenty minutes ago, I was surprised that Jackson actually showed up. Especially with everything he was going through with Harper and their pregnancy situation. 

But when he did show up, he pulled me aside and asked me to be present when our dad talked to him. The look in Jackson's eyes told me that he was scared. Scared of losing control over all that pent up hate and hurt caused my by father. He was terrified of lashing out and causing even more problems. 

So here I was, standing in my father's bedroom playing referee. 

"Jackson, please," my father begged. "Even if it's something—"

"Why?" my brother rasped. 

The pain in his voice was palpable. It radiated out of Jackson with so much force that I almost took a step back to get away from it. My father felt it too. I could tell from the pained expression on his face. 

Those one word that Jackson said made me feel sick. One fucking word. Three letters. It was like those letters were the tip of the iceberg, and underneath the surface was a mountain sized, boat destroying amount of grief and abandonment. 

My dad dropped his hands to his sides and exhaled a heavy sigh. It was like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "I was a bastard, Jackson. There's no excuse for how I treated you. You have to believe me when I say that I wanted you. I was so happy when she told me she was pregnant with you." He shook his head, averting his gaze. "After I made the biggest mistake of my life with leaving her, I couldn't—when it came to..."

"Say it," Jackson hissed. "Be a fucking man for once in your life and say it to my goddamn face. Dad." 

My heart was thundering against my ribs as I watched two of the most important people in my laugh go back and forth with so much regret and hostility. 

My dad finally met Jackson's gaze again, unshed tears in his own. "Your eyes," he breathed. "Your eyes are hers. It was the thing I loved most about you. Then I had to live a life without her and seeing her in your eyes nearly killed me. I couldn't do it anymore, so I pushed you away. I'm not proud of this, Jackson. It's my biggest regret. I know forgiveness wont come easily, but I really wish you would find a way to try. Or at the very least...maybe we can start over? Have some kind of relationship?" 

Dad rubbed his hand through his hair nervously. "I would also like to meet my daughter-in-law and get to know her. Officially." He looked at me next. "Both of them."

Even though my dad knew Harper Lewis—now Reese—he never took the time to actually get to know her. When I was engaged to Harper for that sham of an arranged marriage, my dad spent time with her a few times. At the time though, it was more of a formality. He wasn't really interested in her. And he never gave Danielle the time of day because he and my mom were so pissed at us.

"I don't know if I can do this," Jackson said through clenched teeth. "I have so much anger towards you. So much..."

Jackson didn't need to continue for us to know what he wanted to say. 

So much pain. 

"I'm sorry, Jackson. I'm—I'm so, so sorry." 

I don't know if it was the tortured look in our dad's eyes or the sincerity in his apology, but something changed in Jackson's demeanor. The pain was still there, of course, tenfold. But that tenseness in his shoulders when he was around our father slowly slipped away. The harsh dip of his brows suddenly smoothed out. A shaky breath slipped past his lips. 

My father cleared his throat before opening his arms wide. "Son?"

Jackson took a hesitant step forward. Then another. Dad waited, not wanting to push my brother if he wasn't ready. 

Apparently he was. Jackson took one final step forward and my dad wrapped his arms around him, the two men embracing each other as if it had been decades since they last saw each other. To be honest, it probably has been since they hugged. The shuttering I saw go through both of their bodies clued me in that emotions got the best of both of them. 

I looked away. Was I happy with this reunion? Yes. Jackson deserved to have a relationship with our dad. What had me feeling like there was a knife in my chest was the fact that my dad wanted Jackson. Knowing how happy he was when he found out Everly was pregnant hurt me. Jackson was conceived with love. Me? It felt like I was born out of an obligation. 

"Ryan?"

I looked up when I heard my dad's voice. He and Jackson still had one arm wrapped around each other, but my dad extended his free one out to me. 

"Come on, son," he rasped through tears. "You need to be here, too." 

I squeezed my eyes closed for a brief second before I joined them. The group hug was awkward. The three of us were so close to losing our shit and it took all of our energy not too. 

When we finally pulled away from each other, throats were nervously cleared and eyes were averted. I shifted my weight on my feet. Rubbed at the back of my neck.

"We should probably go back in there before the women start looking for us," Jackson drawled. 

Clever, I thought. God knew how long we'd been in here.

"Yeah," I agreed and turned towards the door. "We should get out there." Then something occurred to me. "Wait, why isn't mom here?" 

My dad remained silent.

Jackson cursed under his breath. "It's because of us, isn't it? She still hasn't forgiven us?" 

I should have known something would go wrong at this goddamn dinner. If it wasn't my dad, then it was my mom. There was just no way this family was going to have peace. This was also going to create even more problems when our baby was born. 

"You two aren't the ones she hasn't forgiven," dad said softly. 

Jackson and I shared disbelieving glances. 

"I'm serious," he continued. "After I talked to Ryan I decided that I needed to come clean to her about everything. She knew about Every, of course, but not all of the details. She didn't know that I went to London to see her before she died." 

My jaw dropped a little. "But I thought—"

"I know, Ryan. I know. But I lied to her about that. Going to see Everly, knowing I still loved her, would have been like a betrayal to you mom. And it was. I'm the reason she isn't here tonight. When I spoke to her, she said she was going to forgive you both. She felt bad about what happened and wanted to mend the family." Dad looked at me. "She's proud of you and the family you created." Dad's eyes went to my little brother. "And you, Jackson...I know you wont believe this, but she—no, we—cannot be prouder for the man you have become." 

I placed my hand on Jackson's shoulder comfortingly. Hearing that was a lot for him. He stared at our dad, unsure about what to say to that. I stepped in and filled the silence. 

"We're sorry, dad. About you, Everly, and mom. All of it." 

Dad looked away and reached for the door knob. "I can feel your wives pacing out in the hall. I'm going to give you guys a moment with them and set the table." He looked over his shoulder at us. "That is if you still want to join me for dinner?" 

"Yes, dad. We'd like that." 

Once he was gone, Danielle and Harper came in like a pair of missiles aimed for the two of us. Danielle came up to me, eyes full of concern. 

"Baby?" 

I reached for her hand, kissing her open palm. "I'm okay, Dani. I promise." 

When I pulled her into my arms, I could see Harper and Jackson over Danielle's shoulder. She didn't approach him like Danielle did with me. She approached Jackson with caution, taking small steps just incase he decided to bolt. 

"Jackson..."

With a choked sob, he reached forward and pulled his wife against his body. He buried his face in her neck--and I knew it was to try and hide all of that emotional stuff that he wasn't comfortable with. Yeah...Jackson and tears didn't mix. After the last visit at my house where he told me that Harper wanted to get pregnant, I would say he's met his quota for the year. 

"Are you okay?" Harper asked so quietly I barely heard it. 

Jackson finally lifted his head and she wiped at his eyes. "I'm okay, princess."

"I love you," was all she said back to him. 

It was obvious that those three words held some secret message between the two of them. 

I watched Jackson kiss her softly. "I love you, too." 

My dad's bellow from the dining room broke up the woeful silence. "Food is here!" 

Once the four of us rejoined my dad in the dining room, the rest of the night seemed to start falling into place. I watched as Jackson and my dad laughed—actually laughed together. If anyone told me a few years ago that this night with Jackson and our dad was going to happen, I would have laughed in their face. I never in my life expected these two to get along. 

If that wasn't enough, my dad got to work with finding out everything he could about Harper and Danielle. He wanted to know about their lives and he asked us questions about the baby. When he started to ask Jackson if he and Harper planned on having kids, I shook my head, sending a silent message to my dad not to say anything. Thankfully that stopped the words from slipping out. 

There would be a time and a place to fill him in on everything with Harper and Jackson. I wasn't going to be the one to break that news, though. Wasn't my biz. But I would tell my dad when we were alone that he needed to talk to Jackson privately about that. It was the least I could do to keep that from being announced publicly. I had no idea who knew what in our circle of friends.

We got through the pizza my dad ordered and two bottles of wine—water for Dani—before he brought out some dessert. My dad was never a cook. So imagine my surprise when he brought out a homemade cake that said Congratulations Ryan & Jackson across the top of it. 

"Who made this?" Jackson asked curiously. 

I looked at dad and waited for an answer. I had a feeling about who it was, but still...

"I told you," my father drawled. "I told you that she forgave you and she is so proud of you guys." 

Jackson and I shared a look. There had been such a big rift between the Hale and Reese families over the past few years. Hell, even longer than that. It had been a few years since Jackson and I talked before I reached out to him and invited him to mine and Harper's 'wedding'. Then there was all that shit in between. 

Was it finally over? Could we all be a real family? One that was involved with each other's lives and who actually cared about each other. I could tell by the hope in Jackson's eyes that he wanted this as much as I did. 

I gave him a single nod of reassurance. I did that because talking would have given away what I was really feeling. 

Yes, we were finally mending fences, but instinct had me wondering if something was going to tip the scales in the wrong direction. 

God, I hoped not. 

***

Hey guys! Sorry for the delay. I was trying to get my other story, The Stella I Remembered, finished and ready for the Wattys (deadline is the end of this month). Great news: I will be posting the last chapter and epilogue no later than Sunday. Then I will be concentrating on this book only! And of course....Jamie and Ollie's which will be next! I am so excited to finally write their book. 

Oh and I'm also working on Heartstrings (Prequel for Nathan & Karma). It's going to be AMAZING. Make sure to check out my insta for teasers and more!

Thanks for reading.