Jezebel Mallory Parker
It had honestly been a whirlwind couple of months, and Jezebel had found a happiness unlike she had felt in so many years, all because of one person. Jordan Williams, her first love, and really her only love. What she felt for Jordan was nothing like she had ever felt for anyone else. Nobody else had ever been able to compare to the man who had her heart since their first date, the man who could always make her feel at ease. So much had happened and changed over the years, but one thing that had stayed the same was how Jordan made her feel. They both grew up, lived their own lives apart from each other, raised children, even spent years not talking to each other, but he still was the person who could make her feel like the worries of the world didn’t matter, with only a simple smile. He was still the person who she always wanted to be her forever. Even since they were just young teens, Jezebel knew she wanted to spend her life with him, to marry him, and have a family with him. Now it seemed that after so many years that dream she had long thought was lost, was finally coming true. Jordan, the man she loved, father of her child, her fiancé.
19 years, for half of her life now, Jezebel had been a mother. A mother to a daughter that truly meant the world to her, and in some ways it was them against the world. Mother and daughter, they had each other. Of course, there was the rest of the Parker family, but since that day a 19 year old Jezebel found out she was pregnant, her daughter had been her entire world. There were so many things Jezebel knew she could have, or even should have done differently in raising Laurel. So many things Jezebel wished she would have known then. Now, now things were different. Everything was different. Jezebel wasn’t that kid she was in high school with no idea where she fit in life. She was a grown woman with a close support system, a career, experience, and someone she loved so, so much. So what had been the concern Jezebel had on her mind, oh yes, how to tell her 19 year old daughter that she was going to be a sister. Jezebel was pregnant, so she would be having another child, almost 20 years apart, which was terrifying in itself, but there’s only so much time to tell people before they start to figure out what’s going on. Of course, the first person she told was the person who most deserved to know, Jordan. She wasn’t going to make the mistake of not telling him right away like she had once, a lifetime it seemed earlier. Then came the reveal to most of her own family, and telling Laurel herself. Since the day she told her, Laurel had been… distant. Jezebel understood that it was a lot to ask of her to handle and process, even without the news that she was getting married, but if there was ever a time Jezebel wished for the closeness that had been between them when Laurel was just a young child, it was now.
Despite the distance between her and Laurel, Jezebel was happy. There was a side of her that was terrified and worried about all the ways things could go wrong, but there was that other side that was just happy, hopeful, that side that Jordan brought out more of in her. So when Jordan came walking over towards her while she was with the dog, she couldn’t help but smile, simply feeling so much more at ease with his presence. Even since they were young, from the moment she started to first get to know him, all it took was a look from him to feel like everything would be alright. Although he asked her how she was feeling, she didn’t even get the chance to answer him when the doorbell rang. Though, at the door, was someone who had not been invited. More like the opposite, as Jezebel explicitly told her brother not to come, but there was Daniel Parker, uninvited and bringing popcorn. Not cool Daniel, even if Jezebel couldn’t deny that she wanted some of said popcorn. Was it the time and place for it, no, but the small human inside of her said otherwise, so what could she really do? Delicious popcorn aside, Dan being there certainly wasn’t a help, but he wasn’t going anywhere as Laurel came with him and Jordan’s kids were right behind them.
Despite one of Jordan’s kids, Annie, not being there yet, they sat at the table and it was actually going well for the most part. Laurel sat next to her, but stayed focused on her phone, doing who knows what, hacking, texting, simply playing a game, Jezebel wasn’t sure. Then there was Jordan’s daughter, Kyra, sitting across from Jezebel, asking questions about being CEO, which were questions Jezebel was happy to answer. Jezebel was glad to be having a conversation, a normal conversation with one of Jordan’s kids. Before long, Annie did arrive, which also brought a clear shift in the mood, but that was only the beginning. With her hand with Jordan’s, he began to make the announcement of that they were getting married, an announcement which not everyone took well… Laurel clicked her phone off, looking up from it for the first time since she got there, surprised by the announcement. Then there was Annie, with an outburst, much like Dan must have been hoping for, including bringing up how Jezebel was pregnant, having found out not even from Jordan. There was a part of Jezebel that wanted to say something to Annie, tell her how she wasn’t trying to cause more problems and be part of replacing anyone, but what could she even say. She was Jordan’s daughter, and the most she could do was keep ahold of Jordan’s hand, looking at him before looking to her own daughter, who was about to get up from the table herself. “Laurel…”
@benitz786 - Jordan & Dan
@novella - Annie