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?" 

She was silent and he got even more worried. "Mari if you don't answer me, I'm opening this door and traumatizing both of us," he threatened, hand on the doorknob. 

Mari finally answered him. With a shaky voice, she asked, "can you call Rey. I need Rey." 

He immediately ran to his phone, dialing his girlfriend's number. Fortunately, she picked up pretty quickly. 

"What's up? I can't take long, I'm on a quick break." 

Jake took a breath. "Mari had to go to the bathroom and then let out a yell and now won't come out. She asked me to call you but I don't know anything else." 

Reyna really wondered if Jake was that dumb sometimes. "Jake, ask her if she's bleeding." 

The man, despite having a sister, still didn't comprehend what could be happening. But he asked Mari anyway, and relayed her answer to Reyna. 

Now it was Reyna's turn to sigh. "Jake, she's almost 12. Do you know what happens to girls around this age?" She tries, she really does, but she can't keep her tone serious. Honest to God, Reyna is doing everything in her power to not laugh. 

It takes another moment to register. "Oh my god. She got her period? That's it? I thought she was dying or something!" 

Reyna shakes her head at work, noticing a coworker nodding at her. "OK, I've got to go. But grab her a pad from my stash, the thin, green ones. I've shown her what to do, so just slide it under the door or something. Just don't make a big deal about it, okay? I don't know how her hormones are messing with her emotions yet. She could be extra sensitive to anything right now." 

"Thin green one, got it. See you when you get home," Jake confirms with her before hanging up. He grabs what Reyna told him to, before going back to the bathroom Mari is in. 

Knocking, he slips the pad under the door. "Mari, Rey told me to give you this. She said she went through what to do with it. Just take your time and come out when you're ready." 

Jake waited patiently in the living room, a new bowl of popcorn ready to go after cleaning up the spill. He also had Mari's favorite blanket out and ready for the preteen if she should want it. 

They don't often speak of that day, but as she got older and Jake and Reyna got more serious, the sisters would often joke about how Jake would handle a daughter.

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Jake was worried. Not only had Reyna called him out of nowhere at the end of training, but she was only 10 minutes from base when she called. 

And then Mari getting out of the car and refusing to let go of him, even when they had to get back into the car. Yea, he was worried. 

Not to mention that Mari's hair was suddenly at her shoulders and cut very choppy, like whoever had done it was doing so quickly. Without any care for the girl or her hair. 

Jake directed Reyna back to the apartment he was staying in during the detachment, Javy taking his truck back to his own place. 

Finally getting Mari to let go of him, Jake directed the girls to the living area of the apartment. Although Mari went straight to what she assumed was his bedroom and curled up on the bed. 

He couldn't keep silent anymore. "What the hell is going on Rey? What happened to Mari?" 

Reyna sighed angrily. She was pissed off beyond what she thought physically possible. "This goddamn karate war, that's what happened. The kids in Cobra Kai decided the ceasefire their sensis called was nullified when the Miyagi-Fangs soaked them with sprinklers. So in retaliation, they cornered Mari and Eli while at the tattoo parlor." 

She takes a breath, angry tears forming in her eyes. "They shaved Eli's mohawk off and gave Mari a cut before he got them off of her." 

Now it was Jake's turn to be pissed. "I just... I needed to get her out of there. We both did. Because if we had stayed, I would have done something you would be bailing me out for." 

Jake's jaw was clenched, his fists practically white with how tight he was holding them. "Did they do anything else? She was clinging to me like she used to after your parents." 

Reyna shook her head. "As far as I know, it was just the hair cutting. But both of them had to be restrained because you know for a fact they would have put up a fight." 

"Does anyone know you're here? Is there anyone I need to call and alert?" The girls definitely had people that would worry if they just up and disappeared, especially after something like this. 

"I gave Amanda a brief explanation and she told me to take as long as I need. She's been going through something similar with Sam and the issues she's been having since this whole war started." 

He let out a sigh. "Okay. I've got some pasta in the cabinet. If you can get started on that, I'll try to get Mari out of her shell. I'm assuming you haven't had much luck?"

Reyna shrugged. "I thought I made some progress, but then she went right back in like an hour later. That's when I decided to come here. I don't think I can get her out of it alone with time." 

And with that, the couple separated. Reyna went to start some water to make dinner and Jake went to his bedroom, where Mari was curled up into a ball on his bed. 

"Hey, Lilo," he called out softly. They had all joked around that Mari was like Lilo, Reyna was Nani and Jake was David, after watching Lilo & Stitch one night. That was even the names in their group chat. 

Mari didn't even look at him. He let out a small sigh before climbing onto the bed next to her. Gently grabbing her arm, Jake maneuvered the girl so she was in his arms again. 

Without prompting, the tears began to flow again. Mari was so tired of crying but that's all she could do lately. She couldn't even comfort her own boyfriend, who was now going through another identity crisis, because she was too busy falling apart herself. 

"Rey's making some pasta for dinner and then we can watch any movie you want, okay? I won't even complain this time." No reaction. 

"Mari, I know you are hurting. But you can't go back into your shell again. You need to face the problem head on, or it's gonna be ten times harder to overcome. What happened sucks. It was a shitty situation you should not have been in. No one should ever touch you like that or think they have any right to harm you. But what happened is now over. All you can do now is determine how strong you are going to be after the fact." 

What Jake knew, was that Mari needed some tough love to get things through her skull. She was hardheaded, just like her sister. Sugarcoating wasn't going to help her in the long run. She needed to hear the facts, point blank, no bullshit. 

What happened at the tattoo parlor was over. She couldn't go back in time and change it. She could only move forward. She could show those who hurt her that she would be stronger for it. That they may have had that moment but they wouldn't have her life. 

When she shifted in his arms, he looked down. Mari was looking up at him, tears still in her eyes, but no longer falling. 

"We can find a hair stylist who can help clean up the horrible cut. Honestly, none of those kids should ever be hairdressers. Horrible technique, really. Besides, you've talked about cutting your hair short for a while now. And I know you've got a Pinterest board of hairstyles to try out." He nudged the teen, and she let out a small smile. 

Despite not wanting to let him go, Mari let Jake leave the bed. He went to his closet, rummaging through it for a moment. He came out with a hoodie, one Mari often liked to steal because it was so big on her. 

Walking back over to the bed, Jake gently put the hoodie over her head. "Now come on. We've got food to eat and a movie to watch." 

"I'll even let you put on the Notebook, if you want." 

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Word count: 2,125

Why is this little family one of my all time favorite creations???!!! Like they are so sweet and adorable. 

I honestly had an idea to made a full Jake fic with this idea for an OC but couldn't quite make it work, so I decided to combine it with this fic. 

But Jake is overall what I had after my grandparents died. I needed the initial coddling and sugarcoating, but after a day or two, I needed straight facts otherwise I would continue to wallow. So I modeled Mari's behavior off of my own when something happens. 

Let me know what yall thought, I would love to hear it all! 

See you for the next, and last bonus chapter soon. Bye guys!!