14th April 2022

Jamie's POV

I text Paulina as soon as my plane touches down in Miami. I've been on planes for the past 24 hours and feel exhausted, but it's worth it to have a little bit of time with my friends and family in Florida. I grab my things and quickly head towards my mom. We hug and head towards the car. We head straight to my grandmother's house.

After about 20-minutes on the highway, we're finally at the family home and there are quite a few cars. The best part about my grandmother's house is that it's only a few houses away from the Daccarett house. The greeting from my family as I walk into my grandmother's house is overwhelming. Almost everyone is: my dad, EJ, Kim, my uncle Jason and his wife Sarah.

"Have you told Sofia that you're home?" my grandmother hands me a glass of water and I roll my eyes at the laughs from my mom and aunt.

"No nan, I've been hopping from plane to plane since yesterday morning. I did reach out to Paulina, but haven't heard back from her," I shrug.

"Paulina mentioned her parents were having some sort of party to celebrate Sofia's debut album she released last year and also them releasing Purple Hearts on Netflix," Kim speaks up and my interest is piqued.

"Were we invited to that?" Nan asks and wiggles her eyebrows at me.

"Yeah, I told Paulina that we'd show up soon since we had plans this morning, but I didn't mention what the plans were," she gestures towards me and my mom nods her head.

"Let's get over there then. Don't want to keep them thinking we ditched their invite," Nan pulls me towards the front door and we all let out fits of laughter.

We arrived at the Daccarett house in a matter of minutes. I stay towards the back of my family and I see my mom point towards me as Laura sees me. She keeps her greeting quiet and pulls me into a hug. "She'll be so happy to see you home," Laura whispers and I smile at her.

She points me towards the backyard where I hear Sofia's laugh coming in through the sliding glass door. I walk through the house and I remember spending loads of summer days and nights growing up here. I notice Sofia and Paulina's backs towards me, so I have the perfect opportunity to sneak up on them.

Zac spots me and does the smoothest thing I think I've ever witnessed. "Hey, let's get a picture for Instagram!" He gestures to the sisters and hands his phone to Kim. The three get together and I get as close as possible.

"Let me see," Paulina takes Zac's phone and immediately looks up at me. "Jamie!" She comes running up and jumps onto my body. I catch her and swing her around. "I thought you'd stay in California," Paulina hops off my body and smiles up at me.

I shrug, "I heard there was a party to celebrate some great accomplishments and I knew I couldn't miss it." I smile at Sofia and she's fighting back tears.

I open my arms for her and she falls into my body. I rub my hands up and down her back to remind myself this is all real. "You came home," Sofia sniffles and I kiss the top of her head.

"I couldn't stay away from the girl I love," I smile and Sofia looks up at me. She grabs my neck and captures my lips, hungry for the attention she hasn't gotten in months.

Several 'woos' and whistles pull us back to Earth, and Sofia hides her face in my neck. I keep my arms secured around her smaller frame and bask in the moment I've been looking forward to since the moment I stepped foot on that bus.

The rest of the night was great. Paulina, Kim and Zac joined us on the patio furniture while everyone else faded away. Having Sofia next to me, playing with my fingers in her lap, felt surreal. After everything I watched happen in Ukraine, I'm happy I finally get to feel this sense of calm and steadiness.

Once the party died down, Sofia and I excused ourselves for the evening. I had a good night's sleep in months and the exhaustion was starting to catch up. Sofia pushes the bedroom door open and I am transported back in time.

"Room hasn't changed much since I was last here," I run my fingers over a small dream catcher I remember getting Sofia when we were kids.

"I haven't been here much since moving to California, but the furniture changed. I think I outgrew the twin bed and pink furniture I had when I was twelve," Sofia rests her chin on my shoulder. Her heels help make her a bit taller and I'm grateful to not bend down to capture her lips. I stroke her cheek and admire how beautiful she is.

"I love you," I say, mindlessly letting the words leave my lips.

She scratches her fingers on my neck and smiles. "I love you too, soldier," she captures my lips again and I let the euphoric feeling take over my body. I'm home and there's no other place I'd rather be right now than holding the girl I've loved since I was in elementary school.

~~

The next morning I'm greeted by streaks of Florida sunshine creeping through some sheer curtains. I rub my eyes and feel a weight on my chest. I look down and see Sofia clinging to my body like I'll disappear.

I kiss the top of her head and rub my fingers over her clothed back, basking in the morning sunshine trying to creep further into the room. I kiss the top of her head again and work my way out from under her body.

I successfully get into the bathroom and decided on a nice shower since I hadn't had a hot shower in months. After taking a bit longer in the shower than usual, I throw on yesterday's clothes minus the heavy duty combat jacket I never took over before coming over yesterday.

I come out of the bathroom to see Sofia's peaceful figure in the same spot as I left her. I walk over to the nightstand to grab my phone and kiss the top of her head before going downstairs.

I make my way downstairs and smell a fresh pot of coffee. My mouth salivates at the thought of having a decent cup of coffee that doesn't taste like muddy water.

As I round the corner, I hear two faint voices and instantly know it's Jose and Laura. Laura catches sight of me first and bares a huge grin.

"I better not be a grandma yet," she chuckles and my face instantly becomes beet red.

"Nonsense, Laura. You already know Jamie is a respectful man and would marry Sofia first before making anyone a grandparent," Jose smacks my back and walks towards the kitchen sink.

"No kids yet. Not when Sofia still has an entire career ahead of her," I hug Laura and she hands me a cup of black coffee.

"That's what I like to hear, hijo," the Colombian woman kisses my cheek and goes back to cleaning up a few things left from last night's gathering.

"I did want to talk to the two of you," I run my finger over the rim of the mug and I feel two sets of eyes already on me.

"I love your daughter very much," I begin and release a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Jamie, if you're going to ask us if you can marry Sofia, you already know the answer," Jose reassures me and I give him a timid smile.

"Sounds a lot crazier out loud than in my head. I just know that there's no one else I want to spend this crazy life with, especially when my life isn't the easiest to be a part of," I sigh and run my hand through my growing hair.

"You know Sofia has constantly talked about how different life would be if she would've followed after you and became a military wife early on. Your mom and I have known you two were destined to be together since you were born," Laura jokes and I smile. "No matter what you may think, Sofia has and always will love you," she quickly adds and kisses my cheek. I sit at the counter as Jose and Laura both go on about their day.

I place my finished cup of coffee in the sink and head back upstairs. I slowly open Sofia's bedroom door and notice the bathroom door closed. I hear the running water and know Sofia must be showering. I lay back down on the bed and prop myself against the headboard. I see a few messages from my mom and respond to let her know I'll be back home later today.

The bathroom door opening pulls my eyes away from my phone. Sofia is drying her hair and we smile at each other. "Good morning," I say softly.

She approaches me and lays the towel at the foot of the bed. "I was worried that I dreamt it all," she straddles my lap and I rest my hands on her hips.

"It's all real. Me here right now, it's real," I say before she takes my lips and recasts a spell over me to stay here forever.

A knock on the door pulls us back to reality. Sofia rests her forehead against my chest and groans and I rub her back chuckling. "Are you guys decent?" Paulina yells through the door.

I chuckle again and look at Sofia. She rolls her eyes and heads to her closet to get dressed. "We're decent," I yell back and rest my hands behind my head. Paulina walks in and looks me over. She has a huge grin on her face and raises her eyebrows.

"What?" I look at her confused and she shakes her head.

"Are you two almost ready? Papi rented a yacht for the day," Paulina yells towards the bathroom, thinking Sofia is in there

"Papi reserved a yacht for the day for everyone to hang out, so make sure you have your swimsuits," she informs us and I immediately have no clue what I'll wear.

"Don't worry Jamie, Kim stopped by earlier with some stuff for you," Paulina tosses me some swim trunks and a t-shirt.

I smile at her, "Thanks."

"Sof, Tanya and Roby are here too, so you need to hurry up!" Pau stands as her sister walks out of her closet and I nearly have a heart attack from what she's wearing. The short jean shorts exposing her long legs and her black bikini top showing through a paper thin long sleeve button down. I cough and push Paulina out of the bedroom.

"We'll be down in a minute," I close the door and release a deep breath.

"You alright?" Sofia asks and I shake my head.

"You, Ms. Carson, have almost given me a heart attack," I smile and she rolls her eyes.

She pushes me towards the bathroom, "Get changed before she comes back and we have to hear about this for the rest of the day." I turn around and salute her before I close the bathroom door.