KIMBERLY

a huge deal to us.

The fine—that's right, fine—for missing one was five hundred dollars. Ash didn't bat an eye when paying said fine to go to North Carolina for Camelia, but when his beloved girlfriend found out, her jaw dropped to the ground.

Yes, theoretically, it was an obscene amount of money, but it was an incentive to make sure we never forgot the people who stuck by our side through thick and thin.

Even though we were not blood related to the Kingstons, we've been family friends for ages, making the lines kind of blur after a while. It does help that I'm now married to Alex's son, but we've been by each other's side for much longer.

Jace and I just pulled up into the driveway, seeing Dad, Uncle Eli, and Ash's car, indicating that we were the last ones to arrive.

I didn't even need to look in Jace's direction to know that his jaw was clenched at the thought of being late: another fact he'd have to get used to if the remainder of these two years would work.

I couldn't help the fact that I loved being fashionably late and still had to wrap their gifts.

Speaking of the gifts, I didn't know if Jace got them anything and I didn't want to make him uncomfortable by asking, so I just signed the gifts off with both of our names.

By the time I got out of the townhouse, Jace was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel impatiently and the second I put the gifts in the back and slipped into the seat, he took off.

In all honesty, I couldn't tell if the drive was too short or if I napped for too long.

Alcohol withdrawal was no joke.

I'd been reducing how much I drank in a day, only to be plagued with double the headaches.

This is why I drank in the first place.

But I still put a smile on my face as we got out of the car and went to the back to get the gifts. Even though my head was pounding. I didn't want to ruin their birthday two years in a row. They may not blame me for what happened, but I blamed myself.

I hated myself for that.

Jace furrowed those thick eyebrows when he saw his name on the periwinkle wrapping paper for Ana and the yellow equivalent for Gigi.

Gifts were not a big deal in our group, since we were lucky enough to afford whatever we wanted, but I loved giving gifts. Almost as much as my cousin loved receiving them.

"You got them something?" Jace asked, confusion laced in his tone.

"Yeah," I replied, hauling the two boxes into my arms. Thankfully, Jace took them out of my arms as we headed to the door.

I may have splurged a little too much for their gifts. Gigi's gift is a complete collection of the history of Valdonia—to fuel her history obsession and upcoming job—and I got custom-made chef's knives—in honor of her new position—for Ana.

"I thought you guys didn't do gifts."

"We don't."

The conversation ended there when Gigi opened the door and ushered us in. "Don't hate me for saying this, but you guys look good together."

I winced dramatically, and began fake dry-heaving at her words.

Jace shook his head before handing the boxes over to her. "Happy Birthday, Genessa."

"Please, Jace"—she walked us toward where everyone was sitting, placing our gifts on the small table that only held two other gifts—"For the millionth time, call me Gigi. I hate how old Genessa makes me sound. It's not fair that Stasi gets a cool name like Anastasia and I'm stuck with Genessa."

"Nessa, you're doing it again," Ana called out from the couch. "Mom's going to start another thirty-minute rant if you insult your name."

While the rest of us called them Ana and Gigi, the twins called each other Stasi and Nessa. It started that way since we were kids, and it's been like that ever since.

I remember this one time that a girl in their grade tried calling Ana by Gigi's nickname for her, and Gigi burst out crying.

Her possessiveness over the name caused us all to steer clear of making the same mistake as the poor girl. Ashton tried once—just to get on her nerves—but that was quickly resolved by Gigi yelling in my idiotic cousin's ear.

"Fine," Gigi frowned. "It's a beautiful name. Happy?" She directed her attention to Effie.

"Very." Her mother smiled.

I went to Mom, who was sitting beside Dad on one of the couches and placed a kiss on her cheek. A few days after Dad stopped by Jace's office, I went to go pay her a visit. I was expecting her to be absolutely livid, but she just looked at me with those sad eyes.

That's when I realized I would've preferred anger over that.

I gave Dad a curt nod, still awkward about how he's been acting towards me.

After making my way around the room, I settled on one of the couches, Jace sitting next to me. We barely settled our asses for two seconds before Ashton's stomach started obnoxiously growling.

Vivi, who was sitting right next to him, turns to the guy in absolute disgust.

"I hate to break it to you, but your stomach's a biohazard."

Everyone burst out laughing at Vi's blunt delivery. I'm sure even Jace cracked a small smile.

♕♕♕

The chef definitely went all out when preparing the food for their birthday dinner. Ana was insistent on cooking, but Alex practically had to drag his youngest daughter out of the kitchen.

The theme for tonight was all their favorite food, so there was no coherence between the dishes in front of us.

Effie, being the doting mother she is, piled food onto Jace's plate. The rest of us have gotten used to being swift with it, considering how much food she likes serving. But, the beef and broccoli stir-fry on his plate left me cringing.

Jace didn't like broccoli.

But, even though he wasn't outwardly the nicest person, he kept his mouth shut and accepted the food with gratitude.

Discreetly, I picked up a few of the pieces and shoved them in my mouth, acknowledging his look of gratitude.

"Nena," Mom admonished. "Don't steal his food."

I just shrugged and stole another piece, all while Jace looked at me with amusement and a hint of something else. "What? He's my husband. What good is he if I can't take his food?"

"Kim!" Effie called out in amusement and embarrassment. "Let me give you some more, Jace."

"No," he called out a little too fast with a shy smile. "It's okay, I can always take some off of Kimberly's plate. Marriage is all about compromise. Isn't it, wife?"

He proceeds to make a point by taking two of my grilled chicken kabobs.

Dramatic gasps came from around the table. I narrowed my eyes at all of them, much to Jace's confusion.

I'm surrounded by melodramatic assholes.

"She shares her food with you?" Ashton was the first one to break the silence.

Jace slowly nodded, making them all gasp again.

I forgot that I haven't seen most of them in a while, so they aren't necessarily used to the dynamic Jace and I established for the duration of this alliance.

"Remember when I was four and I tried taking two of your Hershey's Kisses?" Audrey asked rhetorically. "Yeah, I still have the scar."

Jace's eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"Hey!" I must sound like an absolute monster now. "I didn't realize I pushed you that hard. And, you're the one who threw the pot at me in retaliation."

"I was four, you were twelve."

"Also that time when—"

"I would like to move on from this conversation," I interrupted the story that I was absolutely positive was the one that Gigi was about to recount. I scoured the table for my next victim. "Remember when Ash decided to eat five rolls of sushi. I thought you swore of Japanese food ever since."

Ashton looked at me in disbelief, the piece of sushi only halfway through his open mouth. Camelia smiled brightly, amused by this story about her boyfriend.

"Ash, you never told me," she teased my cousin who was glaring daggers at me. I merely shrugged and brought the glass of water up to my lips. "That's weird because all he eats is Japanese now."

My mind needed a thorough cleansing, preferably with bleach because I choked on my water at the double meaning behind the innocent girl's words.

"Kimberly!"

Everyone started yelling at me when I started coughing the water out.

"I swear that's not how I meant for that to come out," Camelia grumbled, embarrassed.

If it weren't for Jace, I would've fallen out of my chair from how hard I started laughing.

♕♕♕

We all decided to move to the family room to reminisce on our favorite memories of the twins and anything else that we haven't talked about in a long time. Understandably, Jace looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.

Even though he's known the Kingstons longer than Camelia, the latter still had more to share in the short year she's been a part of our family.

"Jace," Alex called out with a hesitant smile. "Do you want to share any memories? It could be anything. Even ones from your childhood."

"I'm fine," my husband replied with the stoic tone he normally keeps reserved for business meetings. I wasn't the only one who noticed this, giving the complete dejection evident in Alex's face.

His constant smile faltered for a second, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was blaming himself for the lack of relationship with his son.

It takes two to tango.

I leaned over to whisper in Jace's ear, "Follow me."

Sensing the anger in my tone, he obliged and I excused the both of us as we made our way to the garden I told Jace about during the engagement party. The cool air nipped at my skin, and I wish I brought a jacket with me to combat the sudden drop of temperature.

But my anger was enough to keep me burning for a while.

I texted Camelia to meet me in the garden in a few minutes, hoping that she'd offer a clean perspective for Jace to see some reason. I knew he was going to get pissed, but after everything that happened, he owed himself this.

"What's your issue?" I couldn't help the animosity in my tone, but I was upset.

The heartbreak on Alex's face at the dismissal from his own son fractured my heart in the process. When you see someone who represents all the good in the world despite the shit they went through sad, it fucking hurts.

Jace's eyes narrowed at me before falling to the inevitable goosebumps that were covering my arms. Wordlessly, he shrugged off his light gray suit jacket and held it out to me.

"Take it," he gritted when I made no motion to retrieve the jacket.

"No." I'm a stubborn bitch when I need to be, even at the expense of my own health.

He comes closer and tries covering my bare arms with the jacket, but I keep shrugging it off.

"Stop."

It hurts me to my very core that I actually listened. I hated how warm he was and how said warmth comforted me when the fabric finally touched my shoulders.

In a way, I was also trying to save myself by denying his offer because I didn't know if I would be able to keep up my composure after breathing in his scent that was so potently wrapped around me now.

"Why?"

"'Why' what?"

"Why don't you even try to have a relationship with Alex?" I questioned, the anger in my tone replaced by sadness for the man who had been by my side through so much.

Jace merely scoffed, turning around so he wouldn't have to look me in the eyes. "You're one to speak."

"What's that supposed to mean?" My eyes narrowed at the cold man in front of me who didn't resemble the man who I considered being friends with.

"Before you try fixing my relationship with my father, why don't you fucking take a look at yours."

The tears stung my eyes unexpectedly.

"Fuck you," my tone was icy despite the emotion that was so evident in my eyes.

"Kimberly, I—"

"No," I cut him off. "You don't get to act like you can compare my relationship with my dad without knowing shit about it. Alex is a good guy, and he's an even better father. Unlike my dad who completely shut me out and shamed me when I needed help at my lowest, Alex fucking cared. He tried. He fucking tried."

Jace just looked at me with his jaw locked, refusing to say another word.

"And right now, he's trying for you, but you're not meeting him halfway. For fuck's sake, you're not even meeting him a quarter of the way." I threw my hands up in frustration at the last statement.

"Your dad does care."

"Don't—"

"He was worried sick about you when you pulled that crap," he interrupted, a tenderness in his tone that was missing earlier.

Now, it was my turn to stay quiet. For the first time in a while, I didn't know what to say.

"Your dad would drop by my office everyday to ask how you were. I invited him to the house to see you when you stopped using, but he refused. Do you know why?" He raised his eyebrows, daring me to answer. "Even though I didn't tell him about what you were exactly up to, he had a clue. And this man was thoroughly convinced that you would relapse if you saw him."

A pang practically shattered my heart, but I didn't let my face betray my emotions.

So, I stayed quiet and waited for the door to open.

♕♕♕

"Kim, you called me?"

The silence competition with the frustrating woman in front of me was cut short by the sound of a sweet voice. For some reason, I felt like a complete asshat for bringing her to the verge of tears, but I lost it when she brought up my relationship with Alex.

It was one of the clauses in our contract. The 'don't ask me about my family' clause.

But I didn't bring it up once as she continued to berate me.

The infuriating woman I had the complete honor of calling my wife did not break eye contact as she replied, "Yes, Cam. I did call you. I think Jace would benefit from talking to you."

My eyes narrowed at the thought of her involving someone else into this private matter.

The girl just looked confused, but not shocked by my wife's antics.

Poor girl.

"I don't think that will be necessary." I directed my attention to Camelia, encouraging her to escape the situation as fast as she could.

"Don't listen to him. I'll be waiting inside." With that, she made her way back to the rest of the family, leaving two very unwilling people behind in the garden.

A soft chuckle came from Camelia and I turned my attention back to her. I was only formally introduced to her once, but we only exchanged a few words ever since. "Kim's definitely one-of-a-kind."

I huffed in agreement. "That's the understatement of the year. You're Ashton's girl, right? Camelia?" I already knew this, but I needed some way to end the silence between us.

Her eyes lit up at the mention of her boyfriend and I wanted to throw up... again at how disgustingly endearing it was.

"Yep." She moved closer to the railing I was currently leaning against. "I'm assuming there is a reason Kim wanted me to talk to you."

Her soft and sweet voice was a complete contrast from the snarky and sarcastic voice of my wife. But I don't know why I preferred hearing the latter so much more. There was something more appealing to me about a girl who's willing to snap back, yell, and hurl insults like bullets.

I must be going insane.

"It's stupid," I admitted, surprising myself with the emotion in my voice.

"Try me."

I gave up, taking a deep breath. Even though Camelia seemed like a pushover, there was a firmness to her tone telling me that I wouldn't be able to get out of this.

"Kimberly's mad at me because she thinks I'm not giving Alex a chance. Other than that, I don't know why she wants me to talk to you." I didn't mean for the last part to sound like an insult, but it certainly came up that way.

Camellia just smiled and turned to put her back against the railing. "You know, Jace, you and I are more similar than you think."

"How so?"

"I was raised by a single mother, never a father-figure in sight." My eyebrows raised at her admission, but I stayed quiet. "We never needed one. The two of us were completely independent. There was a time when we weren't close, but that's a different story."

"How does this relate to Alex?" I couldn't help but blurt out the question. I was getting impatient to end this conversation because this was the last thing I wanted to talk about.

No one would get it.

"Patience, young grasshopper," she admonished me jokingly. "I'm getting to it. Anyway, one day, when I went back home for the summer, she introduced me to the guy she was dating for the past three years. I didn't know how to react, obviously. I was so used to the thought of it just being the two of us that I couldn't help but be wary of this new guy."

"What changed?"

"I did. I stopped seeing him as a stranger and saw him as a man who genuinely cared for my mom and I. I hadn't known him for long, but he treated me like a daughter from the start. Jace, I'm not saying you gotta start calling him Dad but acknowledging him and how he does genuinely care for you is a good start. I spend a lot of time around Alex, and he looks at his kids like they're the center of his universe."

"I don't know," I muttered, unsure if I was talking to her or myself at this point.

"What's holding you back? You don't need to answer me, but ask yourself that question."

Everything.

Everything's holding me back.

I couldn't help but feel like I was betraying Mom by accepting Alex. Even though she tried telling me about how much of a great guy she is, I've heard her cry about him.

Cry over how much she loved him.

How could I possibly want to be close to the person who made the woman who raised me feel so shitty?

I didn't care that Mom wanted me to have a good relationship with him because I'd always be protective over her. She tried telling me how Alex didn't have much of a choice in the matter, but I didn't care.

I was a son who loved his mother more than anything. I would always choose her.

But, after spending so many years with Alex, there was a part of me that knew if I opened myself up, I would be able to love him like a father down the line. I would be able to be a part of this family.

And, it was terrifying.

With Mom's cancer, I was constantly worried about how much time I had left with her. How could I spend that time being someone else's son when I only wanted to be there for her?

But I felt like such an asshole for treating Alex like he meant nothing to me.

Especially after everything he's done for me and for the woman he used to—possibly still—loved.

God, this was so fucked up.

"You know," Camelia interrupted my thoughts. "Even though it's probably tearing you apart now, Kim means well. She has an... interesting way of showing it, but I'm convinced it runs in the family."

"I get she means well, but..." I trailed off, not knowing where I was going with that statement.

"I'm gonna tell you a little secret, but you can't tell Kim I told you this."

I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously. I was torn between wanting to know what Camelia wanted to tell me and wanting Kimberly to be the one to tell me any secrets about her.

Caving, I let the girl continue.