Amy was long asleep before Jace even closed his eyes. Her right hand rested lazily over his stomach like even in sleep she needed to make sure he was still there.
The room was slightly dark except for the thin ray of light glowing through the curtains from outside.
Jace stared at the ceiling. Wide awake.
His mind had been restless, wondering since they retired upstairs after the games. Maybe it was because tomorrow they were leaving for Manhattan. Maybe because tonight had felt too normal, too close to the way things used to be before Emma died and things changed in the Prescott household.
Beside him, Amy shifted slightly and buried her face deeper into his shoulder.
Jace looked down at her for a moment.
Then carefully, gently, he raised her head and supported it on the bed before he slipped out of bed.
He opened their door and walked into the passageway.
The house was quiet now but it was still dimly lighted.
Jace walked slowly through the passageway, absentmindedly trailing his fingers over the framed photographs lining the wall.
Rebecca with missing front teeth.
A blurry photo of Rebecca covered in birthday cake frosting.
Him at maybe thirteen or something pretending to smile while holding a football trophy.
His chest tightened slightly.
He stopped in front of an empty space, grazed his fingers there. It used to be occupied with one of Emma's childhood photos.
He remembered clearly what it was. It was one of her learning how to rude a bicycle in training wheels and their was one of James sitting on the grass with Emma in his lap while little Rebecca tugged at his sleeve. Jace stood behind them making some ridiculous face at the camera.
A happy family before things changed.
Jace swallowed hard and kept walking.
Then his steps slowed.
Emma's door.
Even after all these years, Elizabeth had never changed it.
The light pink paint on the door and the tiny silver star still glued crookedly near the handle because Emma once insisted her room needed "real magic."
Jace stared at the door quietly.
He hadn't gone inside since arriving in Virginia.
Every time he passed it, he looked away.
Some things hurt too much to touch.
But tomorrow he'd leave again.
And suddenly the thought of leaving without seeing her room or feeling her presence one last time felt wrong somehow.
Like abandoning her twice.
He rubbed a hand slowly over his face before finally reaching for the handle.
For a second he stopped himself.
His fingers tightened.
Then slowly, he pushed the door open.
The room smelled faintly like lavender.
Jace froze at the entrance.
Nothing had changed.
The pale yellow curtains.
The books stacked neatly on the shelves.
The tiny stuffed elephant sitting on the bed.
Even the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling were still there.
His chest hurt instantly.
It felt like stepping backward in time rather than just entering a room.
Jace walked inside slowly, very carefully like he was afraid the room would disappear if he moved too fast.
His eyes drifted toward the desk near the window.
And suddenly, a memory hit him so sharply it nearly made him smile.
Emma sitting cross-legged on the floor with crayons all over her face while he laughed beside her.
"You're supposed to draw the dog, Em," He had said.
"I am drawing the dog!"
"That looks like a potato."
"Liar, it looks like Jesse's forehead actually" She said laughing too.
Jace had walked in that day to find her drawing on the floor while she looked proud making the ugliest drawing known to mankind. She called it her friend Jesse's forehead because they had a little kids quarrel earlier in the day.
Jace had laughed so hard he nearly fell off the chair.
The memory faded gently. Leaving silence behind.
Jace exhaled shakily and continued walking around the room.
His fingers brushed lightly against the dresser.
There were still little trinkets scattered across it.
Hair clips. Old friendship bracelets.
A tiny snow globe he bought for Emma one Christmas.
He picked it up slowly. The glitter still swirled inside.
God.
His mother really did keep this place alive. Jace knew Elizabeth cleaned the room herself almost every week. The cleaners were never allowed in that room.
And standing here now, he understood why.
Everything looked untouched.
Like Emma had only stepped out for the afternoon to see a friend or maybe went to the park and would come running back any minute.
The thought nearly broke him.
Jace carefully set the snow globe down.
Then opened one of the dresser drawers absentmindedly.
Inside were neatly folded scarves, old notebooks.....
And a camera.
His brows furrowed slightly. He didn't know Emma had a camera.
He picked it up.
The battery light blinked on immediately.
Charged.
Of course it was charged.
Elizabeth probably charged it regularly too.
Jace sat slowly on the edge of Emma's bed before turning the camera on.
The screen lit up.
Then picture after picture appeared.
Emma laughing with missing teeth.
Rebecca asleep in the backseat during some road trip.
Elizabeth in the kitchen holding pancake batter while smiling at someone behind the camera.
Jace's throat tightened.
His thumb moved slowly across the buttons.
Then he frowned slightly.
These weren't Emma's photos. Emma didn't take them herself.
The angles.
The framing.
The way moments were captured looking chaotic and peaceful rather than posed.
He recognized it.
James.
These were his father's pictures.
Jace stared harder at the screen.
There was one of Emma sitting on James' shoulders during a parade.
Another of little Rebecca crying because ice cream had fallen on her shoe.
Then one made his breath catch.
Himself.
He couldn't have been older than seven.
Standing barefoot in the backyard holding a plastic camera in his tiny hands while James crouched beside him helping adjust the lens.
Jace stared at it for a long time.
More photos followed.
Family dinners.
Beach trips.
Christmas mornings.
Emma asleep against Jace during a movie.
Half of their childhood preserved through James' eyes.
A happy family before grief tore through them.
Jace swallowed hard.
Something painful shifted inside him.
Because for years, he had reduced his father into one terrible moment.
One mistake.
One unforgivable day.
But sitting here now, looking through these photos, he was suddenly forced to remember the man James used to be before guilt hollowed him out.
And somehow…
That hurt too.
Jace lowered the camera slowly.
His eyes burned, but he blinked everything back quickly.
No.
Not here.
After a while, he carefully placed the camera back into the drawer exactly where and how he found it.
Then he stood.
He looked around the room one last time.
At the bed. The books. The stars on the ceiling.
"Goodbye, Em," he whispered quietly.
Then he left. The hallway suddenly felt colder.
Jace walked downstairs slowly, his thoughts heavy. He just wanted some air.
Space.
Anything to quiet his mind.
But the second he stepped outside, he stopped.
James sat alone near the far end of the porch on one of the outdoor cushions, staring out into the darkness.
"Not this drama now" Jace muttered immediately and turned to head back inside.
"Jace."
His father's voice stopped him.
Jace paused.
For a second, there was complete silence, no one moved.
James looked exhausted tonight. Like he has been carrying something very heavy in his heart for a while.
There was a long silence before he finally spoke.
"I know you probably don't want to hear this anymore," James said quietly, staring ahead instead of at him. "But I'm sorry."
Jace didn't answer.
James nodded faintly to himself. "I'm sorry for all of it." He said a little louder this time.
Jace adjusted his cardigan and moved a step to enter inside. He had heard enough already.
"Jace." His father's voice stopped him again.
He sounded very tired.
Jace paused with one hand still on the door handle.
"I'm not looking for a fight," James said quietly.
Then reluctantly, Jace turned facing him but remained far from him.
James eyes were not on him, he looked away into the empty space in front of him.
"You remember that river near the old cabin?" he asked after a while.
Jace's jaw tightened slightly.
"We used to skip rocks there." James said smiling weakly to himself after Jace didn't say anything.
"You were terrible at it at first." A soft breath of amusement escaped him. "You used to get so angry." He glanced over briefly. "You'd throw the rocks straight into the water and glare at me like the river personally offended you."
Jace's expression didn't change. He just looked at him blankly expressing no emotions at all.
But he remembered.
He remembered his tiny hands searching for the flattest stones.
He remembered his father crouching beside him saying,. "No, do it like this".
James continued quietly.
"Then one day… you skipped one seven times." His eyes softened at the memory. "You diddn't stop talking about it till we drove home. You told everyone about it and even made a motivational speech with it about never giving up."
A small look of amusement crossed Jace's face and disappeared almost immediately.
His fingers tightened together.
"There was another time too," he murmured. "You were maybe five… maybe six. You wanted to learn how to ride your bike without training wheels."
Jace looked away toward the dark yard. It was where it happened.
"You kept falling," James said softly. "Over and over. You've already bruised a knee. Elizabeth wanted me to stop because she thought you'd hurt yourself."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"But you were stubborn then, for some reason you just didn't want to learn with those training wheels."
James let out a tiny cough.
"You looked at me and said…" James swallowed softly. "'Don't let go yet, Dad.'"
Jace frowned.
"And I promised I wouldn't."
James lowered his head to look at his hands with the dim light.
"But eventually I did let go." His voice cracked slightly. "And you rode on your own for the first time."
Jace shut his eyes briefly.
Because suddenly he could see it. The street. The late evening sun.
His father running behind him laughing breathlessly. Emma clapping wildly from the driveway.
Everything before life became divided into before and after.
James inhaled shakily.
"I keep thinking about that lately."
Jace finally spoke, his voice rough and guarded.
"Why?"
James looked at him then.
"Because somewhere along the way…" he said quietly, "I let go of you when I shouldn't have."
The words hurt Jace more than it should have.
Pain flashed in his face.
"You let go of all of us." He said.
James nodded immediately. "I know."
The answer came without defense. Without excuses. He knew what he did and how he did it and somehow that hurt worse.
Jace looked away sharply, jaw clenched tight.
"I was working," James admitted softly. "Always working. Always thinking there'd be more time later." His voice thinned painfully. "More chances to tell my children I loved them but I missed all of that"
His eyes glistened under the porch light.
"But life doesn't wait for later, does it?" James scoffed bitterly.
Jace was already filled with anger, fist clenched.
James swallowed hard.
"The day Emma died…" His voice broke completely this time. "It replays in my head every single day."
Jace's eyes shut instantly.
"That day still broad as daylight" He sighed.
"I know you blame me," James whispered. "And maybe you always will but I understand that"
Jace released his clenched fist.
For years he had carried that anger like something alive inside him. He had shouted, cried, yelled, broken things before finally leaving the house but tonight, tonight felt overwhelming as he listened to his father.
"I miss her" Jace managed to say.
"It's all my fault, I told her I'd pick her up myself." His breathing grew uneven. "And then I got that call about the meeting."
Jace shut his eyes briefly.
"I thought…" James laughed bitterly at himself. "I thought I could do both. I thought I could stop by quickly and still make it in time."
His voice cracked.
"But I was late."
The words hung heavily between them.
"And because I was late…" James whispered, "that truck hit her instead of me."
Jace felt a sharp pain in him and when James finally looked up, his eyes were already red and heavy with tears.
"I left my daughter alone that day," he whispered. "And I will regret that for the rest of my life."
Jace's heart broke hearing that. The anger he had carried for years suddenly didn't feel as solid anymore.
Because standing here now looking at how distraught his father was, the anger was really necessary anymore. His father was feeling all the pain even more than the one Jace would have inflicted.
James no longer looked like the powerful businessman Jace spent years resenting.
He just looked like a father who never survived losing his child.
James looked away again quickly, like he was ashamed of crying.
"I know I lost you after that," he said softly. "And maybe I deserved to."
Jace stared at him silently.
"I should've been there for you too," James continued. "But after Emma…" He swallowed hard. "I didn't know how to be anybody anymore and my stupidity made me disrespect your mother."
The words landed hard.
James slowly stood from the cushion.
"I'm so sorry, I won't keep bothering you with this," he murmured quietly. "I just needed you to know that not a single day passes where I don't wish I could take that day back."
Then he walked past James and toward the door.
Something inside Jace panicked. He could let it all out now or allow the feud to continue.
It was sudden even before he could stop himself.
"Dad."
James froze. For a second, he didn't move at all.
Like he genuinely thought he imagined it.
Then slowly, James turned to face him.
The word had slipped out naturally. The first time in over ten years, Jace called him dad with intent.
James looked stunned. His eyes immediately filled.
Jace looked away briefly before forcing himself to speak.
"I saw the camera." Jace blinked. "In Emma's room." James let out a tiny chuckle.
"She used to steal it from my office," he said quietly, almost smiling through the sadness. "Said my pictures were better than hers."
Jace swallowed hard. "You took a lot of pictures."
"I didn't want to forget anything." James said nodding.
Silence settled softly between them.
Then finally, Jace looked at him fully.
And for the first time in years, he didn't see the man who let his sister die. He just saw his father.
Broken. Tired.
James stared down at the porch floor.
"I lost my daughter," he said quietly. "But after that… I lost my son too."
Something inside Jace cracked painfully at those words.
James let out a shaky breath. "And I deserved that. Every bit of it, every slammed door. Every ignored call. Every moment you looked at me like I was a stranger."
"I just.…" his voice trembled, "I miss my son."
Jace looked away immediately.
Emotion surged violently in his chest.
Jace's voice came out rough. "I missed you."
James inhaled sharply.
Like the words physically hurt him.
Then suddenly Jace crossed the distance between them.
James pulled him into his arms instantly. Almost desperately.
And Jace hugged him back just as hard.
Years of grief sat inside that embrace.
Years of silence. Of blame.
Of missing each other while living in the same world.
James hand pressed against the back of Jace's head the same way it used to when he was a kid.
"I'm so sorry, son," he whispered shakily.
Jace shut his eyes tightly.
For the first time in years, being called son didn't hurt. It healed something.
After a long while, they finally pulled apart.
James wiped quickly at his eyes before clearing his throat awkwardly.
"Lets go get some sleep," he said quietly. "You've got a long day tomorrow."
Jace nodded once.
Then after a small pause.
"Goodnight, Dad." Jace said. He'd allowed himself heal rather than carrying the pain and anger in his heart for much longer. It's a new year and a good time to start afresh on a clean slate.
James looked down briefly, emotion overwhelming his face again.
"Goodnight, son."