Chapter Text
Jacob remembered the day he had been told he had a daughter more clearly than the breakfast he had eaten that morning.
He had stared down at the letter, his expression completely blank as he read the words over and over again.
“Jacob,
You probably don’t even remember me, but my name is Aubree Tanner. We spent a night together four years ago when you were on leave. We hadn’t traded numbers or any sort of contact information, but you gave me your name, and I knew that you were in the army. With that and the knowledge of what you looked like, I was able to pull a few strings with a bit of money.
Long story short, you have a daughter. Her name is Josette Grace Tanner. I felt that, if anything, you deserved to know that she’s alive. But when I was given your information, I was too scared to tell you. I’m sorry for that. I have a friend who agreed to mail this for me in case something happens to me. If you’re reading it, it means something has.
I have no living family, which means that Josette will be going straight into Foster care.
Jacob, we barely know each other. You don’t owe me anything, but please… take care of our daughter.
Sincerely,
Aubree Tanner”
He barely remembered the woman. He vaguely remembered blonde hair and a really short skirt, but that was it.
That was when Jacob noticed there was something attached to the letter.
Every single ounce of denial that the baby was his went out of the window as soon as he picked up the attached picture of a toddler that had auburn hair and bright blue eyes.
Jacob barely remembered the following weeks after everything that had happened after getting separated from his unit with Miller and being sent back to a hospital for medical treatment. His time was almost over, and if he said that he was the child’s only parent and that he had gotten word that her mother had died, they would most likely let him go back to the US- at least he was hoping they would.
As soon as he saw his doctor, he said he needed to talk to someone about the custody of his daughter, and then came the weeks of medical testing to see if he was fit to even take care of her after spending so much time on the frontlines.
And then his superiors got word of his regular night terror,s and his entire world shattered.
He was sent back to the US, but not to find a job and a house for him and his daughter to live in. No, he was sent to a military hospital, where he proceeded to stay until he ran out of money and they tossed him onto the streets.
The only thing that kept him going was the picture of the toddler in the pocket of his military jacket.
Then came two years of pure torture- trying to find a job, but ultimately finding nothing, which left him at a homeless shelter in his hometown.
He saw the first sign of hope when Joseph and John showed up, looking for him.
He couldn’t believe that his brothers were standing in front of him. He couldn’t believe how much they had grown, and it hit him like a truck how much he had missed. And he felt sick as he realized he was missing it with his daughter too.
They had set him up in a hotel, John getting him new clothes and actual food. When they sat down at the table, Joseph started to explain everything, and as soon as Joseph mentioned that John was a lawyer, Jacob’s head snapped up so fast he heard something in his neck pop.
“Do you do custody agreements?”
John smirked. “I can do anything you need me to, Jacob.”
“You have children?” Joseph asked quietly.
Jacob leaned back in his seat, pulling out the now wrinkled picture, and said, “Haven’t gotten to meet her yet. I was overseas. Found about her, and then they said I wasn’t stable enough to take care of her.”
“The resemblance is undeniable,” John whispered as Joseph smiled softly. “I’ll make sure you bring her home.”
And a few weeks later, Jacob was standing outside of a neighborhood home. At his nervousness, John reassured him that Josette had not been adopted and that this was the home of her foster parents.
John looked weary about going in, so Jacob patted him on the shoulder and said he could do it alone, telling Joseph to stay with their youngest brother.
Both men ignored him and followed after him towards the door.
The woman who answered looked to be in her early forties as she said, “You must be Josette’s father.”
Jacob assumed it was the hair that gave it away, but simply nodded, and the woman motioned for the brothers to come inside of the house.
“My name is Patty,” The woman told him. “The social worker told me that you didn’t know about her?”
“I was unaware, and when I became aware, I was overseas,” Jacob explained formally.
Patty nodded, not pressing for any further information as she started to walk down the hall, saying, “Josette’s only been here a few months but she’s a sweetheart. Does whatever she can to help. She’s a sweet kid.”
The woman opened the door to what appeared to be the backyard and saw about six kids. But there was only one with auburn hair.
Jacob’s breath caught, feeling a comforting hand on his shoulder. He knew it was one of his brothers, but didn’t look back to find out which one as he saw a now six-year-old Josette, sitting on the ground and playing with Legos.
“Kids, time for lunch!” Patty yelled, making most of them run inside and past the three men.
But Jacob’s eyes were locked on his daughter as she seemed to be glued to what she was doing.
Jacob nervously walked into the backyard towards her, feeling his palms start to get sweaty.
As soon as he got near the child, she looked up, her eyes bright with curiosity. Everything in Jacob tensed. Would she be scared of him because of the scars and burns on his skin? Would she run away?
But the first thing out of her mouth was, “Your hair is like mine!”
That was when Jacob smiled and said, “Yeah, it is.”
He knew that they would be okay.
He spent the next few weeks visiting his daughter every single day right before lunch so that they could eat together.
Patty was never far away from them- Jacob assumed it was because there had been cases like his where the parents turned out bad and she needed to make sure that Josette would be okay with him.
But Jacob was nothing short of what Patty deemed a great father. He drew with her, put her hair up in pigtails when she wanted her auburn ringlets out of her face, and never ever raised his voice at her. He never really got mad at all.
The only time Patty had ever seen Jacob get mad was when a child, who had just been put in the house, shoved Josette over onto the ground.
Jacob and Patty had been talking; the woman informed him that a social worker would be coming by the next day to observe how he interacted with his daughter, and, if everything went well, to finalize the paperwork so that Jacob could finally take his daughter home.
The moment the cry fell from Josette’s lips, Jacob saw red. He restrained everything in him as he practically sprinted over to his daughter and scooped her into his arms, shushing her as he immediately took her back inside the house to let Patty reprimand the child who had shoved Josette.
Jacob had yet to tell Josette who he was, but apparently, he didn’t need to.
As he was cleaning her cut and placing a bandaid on her scraped knee, she sniffled and said, “You’re my daddy, aren’t you?”
Jacob had instantly stilled before looking up at her.
“Yes,” Jacob had said, his jaw clenched.
Josette had instantly reached forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, starting to cry as she said, “I knew you would come.”
Jacob hugged her back, feeling tears in his eyes as he said, “I’ll always come when you need me, pup.”
Josette didn’t question why it had taken him so long, and Jacob was thankful. There was no way he could have explained it to the six-year-old without confusing her, so he didn’t.
When it was time for her to leave the foster home, she hugged all of the older kids tightly before hugging Patty.
Then, with a wide smile and stars in her eyes, she ran over to Jacob, who was on one knee waiting for her. She launched herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. He stood up and nodded at Patty, saying, “Thank you for taking care of her.”
“Now it’s your turn to take care of her,” Patty told him. “You’re a great father, Jacob.”
And Jacob felt pride blossom in his chest.
Growing up with such an abusive father, he had always wanted to be nothing like him. He wanted his kids to come home and be happy to see him. Not get that instant pit in their stomach. He wanted them to be able to run up and hug him. He wanted them not to be scared that he would get angry or lash out at the smallest thing. But more importantly, he wanted them to feel safe and loved.
And as he carried Josette out of the house towards his brothers, who were waiting by the car for them, his daughter’s head resting on his shoulder as she cuddled the pet wolf he had given her, for the first time in a long time, he felt happy.