Chapter 5 He almost ruined it

Bang!

The door of Jade's room closed behind her.

She walked back into the room and let herself fall freely to sit on the bed.

Jace turned and gave her a wide look with a brow raised.

"What?" She asked

"You didn't think the sound of the bang would have terrified her?" He inquired while patting Harper on her back.

She rolled her eyes, folds her arms Then forced a smile which was obvious.

"I'm fine, I can be like that most times." she responded.

"How often do you do that?" He asked again, turning slowly to her.

"You know what, nevermind."

He mimicked her, keeping a weird look with his tongue which stuck out a little and then he let out a scoff.

Harper let out a giggle that softens the atmosphere. She placed her small fingers on his lips hoping to get his tongue and he quickly withdrew it in.

He held her closer

"Uh... you like that huh?" He released a tender smile and cuddled her which made her laugh. He repeated the face and the mimicry and she giggled the more.

Jade didn't have any other option than to dance with the rhythm in the room.

She couldn't control the joy that emanated from within her, she only let out a soft chuckle while maintaining her position on the bed.

She began to think and reflect on the joys of motherhood. How lovely it would have been if this was truly what her home looked like but she wouldn't risk it as.

How Jace would have been the perfect father figure to her precious Harper. She watched as both of them were carried away in their world of play until Jace almost stumbled over the chair in the room.

Harper was frightened only for a little while before she bounced back to the very first giggle that softened Jade and Jace again.

It was innocent and shrill.

"Careful! I wouldn't forgive you if she gets hurt" She warned and quickly made for the rocky chair by the corner.

"So what if I get hurt? What are you going to do?" Jace stopped, the smile gradually fading from his face to a more relaxed and serene look.

"Definitely, I ain't gonna give a damn about you, that's because you aren't my problem. You are a problem to yourself only, my child is my priority. Plus, if you fall, you too won't know how to hold her.

Please.. the chair, before you step into another mess. I won't clean it up even if it's not your fault." she offered.

"Hmm, interesting" Jace muttered and sat on the rocky chair now patting Harper who was now calm and rested gently on his chest.

He felt his chest tighten as the baby already started dozing.

"How can she be this calm on me, a total stranger? Well it happens" he thought to himself.

A deafening silence crept into the room and dropped dead. Jade rose gently and walked to the window, counting her steps and being very careful to not make one wrong move to show how she was feeling.

Everything around felt like it was spinning. "How can I be gradually moving back into this loop I've been trying to avoid? There's nothing else for me here." her inner voice whispered to her.

The air in the room was beginning to feel like there was a strange gas pumped in, so she walked to the window to look at the view of the night.

She held the bars of the louvre and pressed her face against it, shutting her eyelids tight against each other.

Jace was lost in his own world with his face fixed at a spot and his hands still patting Harper who was already asleep.

He swallowed hard and tried to remember how the closeness got to that point.

His mind started washing up the incident of the past hours to the present.

At last he broke the silence but only mumbled to himself.

"Did you say something?" Jade asked, turning her head slowly to look at his direction with her hands still holding the louvre. She'd been silently listening while trying to absorb the pain within her.

"It's just strange, I mean everything."

He said, still maintaining the angle of his gaze in that particular direction he had been looking at.

"What's strange?" She asked

"Why'd she have to say Da, pointing at me and..." he was cut short by Jade almost immediately.

"...and babies do say strange things. Perhaps that was another sound or she probably wanted to do something funny. Brush that off."

She wasn't agitated, she just sternly remained calm with her hands now folded against each other and she looked at him straight in the eye.

"Brush it off?" He asked and raised a brow.

"Yeah.." just as she was about to walk towards the baby drawer, her phone rang. As soon as she checked the caller, she gasped aloud.

Jace was already dozing off while still tapping Harper and rocking the chair.

He turned his head a little and chewed a little for two seconds then steadied back in the rocking chair.

She took the phone outside and gently closed the door behind her.

"Hey, sup babe,you called in quite late."

"Yeah, I know. Guess what?" the caller responded with enthusiasm.

"What now? You are making me feel nudgy in my stomach." she moaned raising her head up.

"C'mon, just try. Give it a thought,"

"Just say it already or you forget about it. Who wakes up someone in the morning and starts asking them to guess?" she began to feel irritated.

"Alright lollipop, this is it... I was scrolling through my website tonight and I think I found something that might interest you."

"You're still not saying what it is..." Just then, her door knob squeaked open, she turned her head and Jace Sticks his head about to say a word, she flagged him down and begged him to keep quiet, but he almost seemed stubborn

"What?" He asked confused with his sleepy eyes.

"What I'm trying to say is that I... is someone with you?"

"I'll give you a call later girl, I think my neighbors are at it again." she lied.

She hung up and turned to face him almost in a hushed tone.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Well I don't sleep in your room!" He blatantly said and brushed her off, walked into the kitchen, poured himself a glass of water and gulped down.

She watched him all the while in despair and her eyes followed him until he entered his room and closed the door behind him.

"Urgh! He almost ruined it"