“She’s asleep. We should talk about it.” Chase spoke quietly in the back of the Town Car when they were almost back to the rental.
Jaxson stroked Emma’s hair softly. She’d laid down across the back seat on the drive. Her feet were in Chase’s lap, her head in his own.
And between them laid two tiny babies, safe inside their mother’s womb, at least for the moment. But September wasn’t nearly far enough away to get ready for the kind of change that he knew was about to rock the trio.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he finally answered staring out his window at the Los Angeles traffic to avoid looking at his lover.
“The hell there’s not. You’re brooding.”
“I don’t brood,” Jaxson defended.
“Ha! Right.”
Jaxson turned to pin Chase with a warning glare. “This is not helping.”
Chase let his smile slip as he answered. “I can see that. What will help?”
Jaxson looked back out the window as he answered simply with, “Silence.”
“Too bad,” was Chase’s cheery answer. “We got into this by ignoring warning signs. I’m not going back there.”
Anger flared. “No, we got into this because birth control failed. We got into this because Emma missed her appointment. If she’d gone in January, they might have detected the babies and we would have had options.”
The cheery smile was gone from his lover’s face in a heartbeat. In that same heartbeat he felt the crush of guilt press on his chest.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’d better not be suggesting what I think you are, because if you are, we’re going to have major problems.”
Jaxson sighed, resigning himself to having the difficult conversation whether he wanted to or not. “I didn’t mean that. I would never have wanted her to have an abortion. It’s just…”
“Just what? I don’t see the problem here. We’ve talked about having kids in the future. We all fell in love with Natasha when we’ve been around her, Cash, and Sam. So, it’s a little earlier than we had planned, but I thought you wanted to have kids too.”
Jaxson would have preferred Chase stay angry with him. It would have been easier to take that than the puppy-dog sad eyes he was getting from his lover now.
He moved his right hand, laying it on top of Chase’s left that was resting on Emma’s tummy. The small act somehow made him feel a bit better… more connected to his family.
His family.
He’d thought of his lovers as his family for a long time now, but this felt different. Not necessarily bad, just more permanent. But it wasn’t the permanence that scared him.
Jaxson did not scare easy. He’d made it big in a cutthroat industry as a top model. He’d forged his own spot in the business world, playing with the rich and powerful. He’d even gone head to head with his formidable father and the senator’s political cronies and come out the winner. They hadn’t made him so much as flinch.
But fatherhood… twins… infants he would be responsible for? It scared the shit out of him.
“I’m scared.” It was a whisper, barely audible. He closed his eyes to avoid making eye contact for fear his submissive would be disappointed in his weakness.
“Eyes.” Chase shocked them both with his demand.
Jaxson couldn’t help but open his eyes to see what the fuck was going on. The grin on Chase’s face just angered him more. “Since when do you give the orders to me?”
Chase squeezed his hand as he replied. “Since you needed me to. Don’t worry. I don’t want the job full-time, but you don’t have to carry the weight of our family’s decisions all on your own. We’re a team, remember? Where one goes, we all go. So prepared or not, you’re coming along for the ride into parenthood. It’s okay if you need me to take the lead every now and then until you get your feet under you again.”
“It feels weird,” Jaxson admitted. He left off the part that it didn’t necessarily feel bad.
“I’m a switch. It doesn’t feel so weird for me.”
“Don’t get used to it. I’ll pull it together.”
“Of course you will. And like I told you, I don’t want the job full-time. I’m just suggesting that in this one small area of our lives you don’t have to be Superman. Let me carry some of the load for a while. You focus on the clubs and getting the house ready for us. Let the news of the babies sink in slowly. Let me focus on Emma, the babies, and her health. Divide and conquer.”
“Divide and conquer,” Jaxson parroted, trying the idea on, feeling a bit of the weight lifting almost immediately.
The car came to a stop, and he looked up to find they had arrived in the driveway of the rental house.
He turned to look at Chase. “It might work. Let’s get Emma inside. I need to head back over to the mansion to check in with Maxine, but let’s talk about this more tonight, okay?”
Chase looked relieved. “That sounds good. I’ll stick with Emma and get her prescription filled and some food and drinks into her as soon as she wakes up from her nap.”
“Divide and conquer,” Jaxson said again, acknowledging they had already started the plan.
“I’ll come around and carry her in. Can you open the front door?” Chase asked.
“Sure.”
Chase came to Jaxson’s door while he tried to maneuver the sleeping Emma into sitting in his lap. She stirred but was so tired she didn’t wake. Not even as Jaxson handed her out to the waiting Chase who scooped her up in his arms, bride style.
She had just snuggled her face into the crook of Chase’s neck when a man came running up behind Chase, shouting.
“What’s wrong with her? Is she hurt?”
Fuck. Damn. Shit. Piss.
Jaxson exited quickly, stepping in between Robert Fischer and Chase. He had to place both hands on the older man’s chest to hold him back. Jax had his back to his lover, but it didn’t stop him from issuing instructions. “Go. Take her inside. I’ve got this.”
He knew Chase had left because Robert was struggling to follow them. Jaxson had to use all of his strength to subdue Emma’s father.
“Let me go, dammit! I need to see my daughter.” The older man’s voice cracked with emotion.
“You’ll see her after you settle down.”
“I’ll settle down when you tell me her wedding date.”
Double Fuck. Damn. Shit. Piss.
“Let’s go grab a cup of coffee and talk about this like men.”
“Not until I talk to Emma. I need to make sure she’s okay.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You can be angry at me about not marrying her, but you’d better not insinuate that she’s not safe with Chase and me.”
“Physically safe, sure. I’m talking about emotionally. She sounded so upset when we spoke yesterday.”
“She was upset because you gave her shit instead of being happy for her.”
The men stood in silence as the driver pulled the Town Car out and drove away down the street. At least the older man had stopped fighting to get past him.
Jax didn’t know how he was going to get through to Robert Fischer. He didn’t want there to be a wedge between Emma and her family any more than he wanted to disappoint the man he genuinely loved as a father figure in his life.
It was a long shot, but he had an idea. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
“I want to…”
“She fell asleep in the car. She gets tired easily these days. Let her rest. We won’t be gone long. You can see her when we get back.”
Robert waffled before reluctantly agreeing. “Fine. But just for a little bit.”
Jaxson pulled his key ring from his pants pocket and nodded to the Audi parked in front of the garage. “We’ll take my new car.”
The ten-minute drive felt like it took an hour. The uncomfortable silence between the men stretched out until Jaxson couldn’t wait to arrive. He pulled his keycard out that opened the private security gate they’d installed. In the near future, they would have guards checking IDs of all arrivals and departures. Until then, only those with security access could open the gate.
He drove down the winding tree lined driveway that helped hide the estate from passersby on the street. He normally took the two-lane main drive all the way to the front door of Runway, but today he turned left about a hundred feet early, taking the smaller one-lane through the thick trees, past a brand new twenty-car parking lot they’d installed where Black Light VIPs would park away from prying eyes.
He had kept the keycard out, hoping he’d need it again. He was relieved to find the security contractor had installed the newest security gate that would protect the private entrance to the pool house.
“What’s with all the security? You have enemies after you?” Robert quipped, obviously concerned for his daughter’s safety.
“Not really. Just a bunch of kooks out there and I want to make sure I can keep my family safe.”
That seemed to satisfy Emma’s father at least for a moment.
Jaxson pulled up to the attached garage that faced the driveway. The front of the pool house actually faced the estate with its walk out patios, fire pit, and private gardens that would separate them from the main mansion. He used his automatic garage-door opener to pull into the garage, closing the door behind them and turning off the engine.
They sat in silence in the dark for several long seconds before Robert prompted him. “You brought me to see an empty garage?”
Jax bit his tongue. It would be so easy to pick a fight with the older man. To take his pent-up frustrations out on him, but he had to acknowledge that both men had something in common — they were both freaking out about Emma’s pregnancy. Maybe not for the same reason, but in the end it didn’t matter. One of them was about to become a father, the other a grandfather — whether they wanted it yet or not. Realizing that helped Jaxson stay calm.
He opened the door, inviting Robert inside. “Come on in. I want to show you something.”
He pulled a different card out of his wallet, using it to gain entry into the door separating the garage from the mudroom of the house. George and his security team would be upgrading the system to bio-entry in a few weeks, but this older system would have to do until then.
He wove through the house, making his way to the huge great room that was linked to the state-of-the-art kitchen. Like he had a few days earlier on his visit to the house, he took a seat in one of the couches covered with a sheet, waving his arm to Robert in an invitation to sit.
“You want something to drink?” Jaxson asked, absentmindedly as he looked out the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a view of the expansive lawn and pool in the foreground and the three-story mansion beyond.
Robert hadn’t sat yet. Instead he walked to the windows, looking out at the paradise of flowers, gardens and water features.
Jaxson let him stand in silence as he got back to his feet to cross to the refrigerator. He owed Maxine. She’d had Nalani stock the refrigerator with drinks as he’d asked. He grabbed two bottles of beer, popping the tops off before he crossed back to stand next to Robert.
Neither man spoke. Each sipped absent-mindedly on the beer, as they stood side-by-side, looking out into the California sun.
Jaxson broke the silence. “For what it’s worth, I wasn’t ready for this any more than you are.”
“Then why the hell did you let it happen?” Robert answered, angry.
He was an asshole for doing it, but he chuckled. “Don’t make me paint you a picture, man.”
His candid comment threw Emma’s dad off base. Jaxson felt, rather than saw, Robert looking at him. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
Jaxson turned to meet his gaze. “I do know. You’ll have to forgive me. I’m a bit off my game these days.”
“You?” Robert scoffed. “I don’t believe it. I don’t understand it, but I know you’re always in control of yourself and everything around you, which includes my Emma.”
“I’m not going to get into a pissing contest with you, Robert. We all love Emma. You, me, and Chase.”
“I’m her father.”
“And I’m not her father. What’s your point?”
“My point is I went along with this crazy trio of yours when you were just dating Emma, but it’s not natural. It’s confusing. It upsets people.” He paused, before admitting, “It upsets me.”
Jaxson wanted to rail into the guy. To tell him it was none of his fucking business, but he resisted, in part because he genuinely knew Robert Fischer was a good man. But more importantly, because like it or not, they were now family, he and Robert. They would forever be linked. Emma would be miserable if she didn’t have the support of her parents and that meant that Jaxson had to somehow get through to the guy standing in front of him looking like he was going to explode or cry… which ever burst out first.
“I’m sorry you’re upset, Robert. I really am, but it’s time you realize that Emma has not been dating Chase and me these last few years. We’ve lived together. Traveled the world together. Built several successful businesses together. Decorated several homes together. And yes, this month, we found out we created life together. The sooner you accept that Emma is my family now too, the sooner you’ll be able to be happy for us.”
“Happy? Are you kidding me? She’s only twenty-four. She’s too young…”
“Don’t give me that shit. I happen to know for a fact you and Linda got married when she was twenty-two and Emma was born when Linda was twenty-four.”
“You’re missing the key part. We got married first.”
“This is not nineteen-fifty, dammit. Are you really going to tell me you’re going to dig in and break your daughter’s heart by not accepting her relationship with the two men she loves? If you think I’m making her pick between Chase and me, you’re nuts.”
“Fine, I’m not saying you can’t all stay together. All I’m asking is that one of you marry her. I don’t even care which one.”
Jaxson stepped a bit closer, leaning in to make sure Robert was paying attention. “There is no way two of us will get married and leave one person out. It would be the beginning of the end for us.”
“Then what? She is a single mother?”
“Haven’t you been paying attention at all? Emma does nothing alone. She has not one, but two men to stand by her… love her… protect her… support her.”
“What happens when you get tired of this arrangement?”
“Do you honestly think I’d ever just desert Chase or Emma? If you do, it cuts me to the core. I thought I’d earned your respect by now.”
The older man ran his fingers through his cropped hair nervously. “I just want to know she’s set up for life. That her and my grandchild won’t end up cast aside when you move on to something or someone else.”
“Fuck you. When have I ever given you the impression I was only in this for the short term?” Jaxson was furious.
“Give me a break. Men like you…”
“Men like me? What kind of men are those?”
“Rich. Powerful.” He paused before slicing the dagger into Jaxson’s heart. “Men like your father.”
“Jesus Christ, is that what this is about? My dear old dad?”
“It’s only a matter of time. You’re on the same path he took. Big business. Growing influence.”
Jaxson let loose a maniacal laugh before tipping the beer back to take long swigs. He needed to numb himself for the bullshit conversation he was having. “I’m disappointed in you, Robert.”
“In me?” Robert countered incredulously.
“You obviously haven’t been paying attention to anything these last few years. Have you even met my father?”
“No, but…”
“You haven’t met him because I haven’t even seen him. Not once. Not since the fundraising event where we outed ourselves and took down his campaign. In case you haven’t been paying attention, I loathe my father and everything he stands for. You can accuse me of many things because I’m far from perfect, but I draw the line at being compared to my father.”
As he finished his impassioned speech, Jaxson was glad Chase wasn’t there to hear it. He had to smile to himself. Chase had been trying for days to convince Jaxson that he was nothing like his father. He’d be gloating if he were there to know Jaxson was now agreeing with him.
“And for the record, I treated Emma better in the first weekend I met her than my father has ever treated my mother. I would give my life for her and Chase. Do you hear me? There is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep them safe and happy.”
Robert had turned to look back out over the lawns, thinking over Jaxson’s words.
“Listen, if I thought for one minute having Chase and Emma get married would make things easier or better, I’d let it happen, but it would only drive a wedge into our relationship that we would never be able to overcome. It’s time you realize you’re stuck with both Chase and me as your unofficial sons-in-law. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ve already been in touch with my lawyer.”
Robert turned to him again, looking concerned, but he kept quiet. “I’ve asked Connor to look into family law and come up with the best plan to make a legal arrangement that will setup Chase, Emma, and our children for life. I don’t know what he’ll come up with yet, but I can assure you that I will formalize a plan before the babies are born to make sure that no matter what happens in the future, Emma and the kids will never have to worry about their financial security ever again.”
The worry lines around Robert’s eyes seemed to relax ever so slightly as he internalized Jaxson’s words. But then they returned with a vengeance. “Wait. You said babies. Plural.”
The memory of Dr. Tipton telling them about the twins just hours before flooded back, bringing a fresh wave of panic. Jaxson stuttered through his response. “We just were coming back… Emma’s doctor’s appointment. He did tests… they showed… two…” He took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “Twins. She’s carrying twins.”
Robert swayed. “I think I need to sit down.” He turned to stumble towards the long couch that faced the windows.
“I know exactly how you feel. I think I’ll join you.” Jaxson collapsed into the lounge chair facing Robert.
The two men drank their beers in silence for a minute, each retreating to their own corners to regroup. Robert broke first.
“Twins run in Linda’s family, you know.”
Jaxson chuckled. “Naw, I didn’t. That might have been helpful information before now.”
“Would it have changed anything?” Robert probed.
Jaxson thought for a second and then answered truthfully. “Not a damn thing.”
“So, my baby is really going to have twins?”
Jaxson was unsure why Robert was asking such a rudimentary question at this stage of the conversation, but he went along with it. “She really is. I saw pictures of them both today at the doctor’s office. They are each about the size of a lemon, or at least that’s what the doctor assured us.”
“When is her due date?”
“September twenty-second”
“That means she’s…”
“Yes, much farther along than we thought.”
“I can’t believe you all kept it a secret from me this long,” he groused.
“You can thank you daughter for that. She only told Chase and me five days ago.”
“I don’t believe you. You guys share everything. How could she keep a secret like that for so long?”
“Believe me, I’ve been asking myself that question all week. If you figure it out, let me know.”
“So why did you bring me here instead of talking back at your house? Which, I will tell you, I was a bit surprised you’d bought a pretty simple ranch. It didn’t feel like your type of house.”
Jaxson looked around the room before asking, “And what do you think of this place?”
Robert looked around, taking in the upscale details of the home. “Much closer to what I’d expect, but isn’t this all part of the club?”
“Not any more. I’ve changed the plans. This is a four-bedroom private home that I’ll be able to build a security net around. We’ll still be on the same grounds as the club but have more privacy and safety for my family out here.”
Robert looked nostalgic as he repeated, “Your family.”
“That’s what Emma and Chase are to me. I don’t give a damn if we have an official document that says so or not.”
The older man nodded, silently acknowledging Jaxson’s claim before asking, “So, you haven’t talked to your own family in years? That must be lonely for you.”
The pressure on his chest returned like it did whenever people talked about his father. He forced a calm response. “I talk to my mother every once in a while. She’s come to visit a time or two on her own, but…”
“But what?”
“Her visits always end in us arguing over why she stays with my father. I’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to get her to leave him.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I don’t talk about it much. I guess I’m a bit surprised Emma hasn’t mentioned it.”
“Are you kidding me? She is so loyal to you and Chase, she wouldn’t have shared anything she thought you wouldn’t want us to know.” Robert paused as if deciding what to say next before adding, “Maybe you should try calling your mom again. I’m sure she’s going to be happy to hear she’s going to be a grandmother.”
Jaxson chuckled. “Yeah, I bet you’re right about that.”
The muffled sound of a cell phone ringing filled the quiet space. Robert stood so he could dig the ringing phone out of his pocket.
“It’s Linda. I’m guessing she’s calling to chew my ass. I left her a note this morning when I left telling her where I was going.”
“Ouch. You might want to get that before you end up in more trouble than you’re already in.”
“You might be right. You mind if I go out on the lawn to take this? I’d rather get my ass chewed in private if you don’t mind.”
Jaxson couldn’t help but laugh. “Have at it and good luck.”
“Thanks. I think I might need it.” Robert was just sliding the glass door to the patio open as he answered the phone. “Hi honey.” He closed the door before Jaxson could hear any more of his in-law’s conversation.
He took the last swig of his now-warm beer before reaching to put the empty bottle on the glass top coffee table.
Jax looked around. He would need to talk to Ted, their interior decorator for the main building, to see if he’d be able to help them refresh the house and make it move-in ready. The sooner he could get them all settled into their new home, the sooner things might finally start to feel like normal again.
Normal. What the hell was that anymore?
He replayed the day’s events over in his head again and again, trying to sort out his complicated emotions. It was damn confusing being thrilled and scared shitless at the same time. There were so many things he couldn’t do shit about and he hated that.
As he thought through everything, he realized there was only one thing he had in his control at that moment that he could try to cross off his list. He fished his own cell phone out of his pocket and searched his contacts to find the number he’d probably have memorized if he were a better son.
Jaxson had started to make this call twice yesterday but had hung up before his mother had answered each time. While a big part of him longed to share his exciting news that he was about to become a father with his mother, he didn’t know if he could trust her to keep the news a secret from his father. The last thing he needed was to add the stress of dealing with his father’s bigoted opinion on their unusual relationship.
Like he’d shared with Robert, he hadn’t spoken with the man directly in almost three years. Not since Jaxson had outed their trio at his father’s campaign rally. That hadn’t stopped the bastard from sending messages and veiled threats to Jaxson through intermediaries, the primary being his mother.
He pushed CALL again, this time holding his breath, refusing to hang up.
“Jaxson?” His mother’s voice was so quiet he barely heard her.
“Mother?”
Only muffles could be heard at the other end of the line, so he asked, “Are you still there or did I lose you?”
“I’m here.” Her volume had increased, but it only made it easier for Jaxson to hear the warble in her voice.
“Is everything okay, Mom?”
The ultimate southern politician’s wife, he expected her normal bullshit assurance that life was grand in the Davidson household just as she always did. When it didn’t come, he became alarmed.
“What’s going on? Where are you?” he pressed.
A long sigh greeted him. “I’m in New York with your father.”
“Where in New York?”
“Where is not important. It’s the why you should be asking about.”
“I’ll bite.” Alarm bells were going off. “Why are you in New York?”
He waited for her answer. It was almost a minute in coming. He could hear her sniffling on the other end of the phone, as if she had been crying. “Your father, against my wishes, is here to meet with the party leaders to explore the possibility of another run for the presidency next year.”
Jaxson had been so sure he’d put the final nail in his father’s dreams of living in the White House that it took him a few long seconds to understand what his mother was saying. “Who in their right mind would be encouraging him to run again?” Jaxson asked, incredulously.
His mom chuckled sadly. “Oh come on. You know how this works. As long as there is money to be stolen or deals to be made in backrooms, men like your father will flourish. Until the American people wake up and elect people who want to serve the country instead of their own personal interests, they will continue to get more of the same.”
Jaxson had never heard his mother talk like this. While he agreed with her new sentiment completely, she had never broken her strict politician wife’s code of unwavering support for her blowhard husband.
“Are you okay, Mom?” When she didn’t answer, he added, “Has he hurt you?”
“He’s hurt me every day for the last twenty years. Oh, not physically. He’s too much of a gentleman to do something as unsavory as physically hurting a defenseless woman, well, unless you count forcing himself on me in the bedroom. The only good thing about his multiple affairs over the last few years is that he’s finally stopped pretending to be attracted to me. No, he’s moved on to forcing himself on innocent personal assistants, campaign volunteers, and cronies’ wives.”
“Mom, you need to get out of there. I’m going to buy you a plane ticket to come to California. You can stay with us and we’ll figure out what comes next.”
Her manic laughter frightened him. “Oh honey, it’s too late for me. There is no saving me. Your father has made sure of that.”
“I don’t understand.”
Her anger was dissolving. He heard her crying at the other end of the phone instead. He suddenly wished for her anger back instead. “He’s a real bastard, you know that?”
“Yes, Mom. I’ve known that since I was eleven and I watched him throw grandmother into a nursing home against her wishes so he could sell off the family homestead to finance his first senate race.”
“He broke her.” She sobbed. “He broke me.”
“That’s it. You’re leaving.”
“I can’t.”
“Of course you can. You can start over. We’ll help you.”
“I tried to leave once already.”
“You did? When? Why didn’t you come to me?” Jaxson questioned.
“Because he is evil. He made sure to have dirt on me. His wife. Now he’s blackmailing me into staying through the next damn election. The problem is, there will always be another election.”
“Screw that. You’re a saint. What could he have on you anyway?”
Silence.
“Mom?” he questioned.
“I was so lonely, Jaxson,” she cried.
“Ah shit. Listen, who cares if he has proof that you cheated on him? We’ll get proof that he cheated first. And anyway, you cheating looks worse on him than it does on you. He couldn’t keep his wife happy. He’ll never go public with that story.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Of course it is. Or what? Is the guy someone famous himself?”
Her answer was slow in coming. “It isn’t a guy,” she whispered.
“Then…” Jaxson’s mind raced, trying to read between the lines of the disjointed story his mother was reluctantly sharing with him.
“I met Marjory at the country club. She’s the tennis pro.”
Mind blown. It was rare that Jaxson Davidson was left speechless. Ironically, it had happened several times on this super confusing day. “Okay, I admit. That was a bit unexpected, but I stand by my advice. Who cares if it comes out?”
“You aren’t scandalized?” she asked incredulously.
“Mom, have you forgotten that I am in love with both a man and a woman and we are living our lives as a trio? If anyone can understand that love is love, it’s me.”
“Oh Jaxson, I don’t know what to say. I’ve dreaded you finding out and being disappointed in me.”
“Are you kidding me? This is the first smart thing you’ve done in years.” He then realized what he’d said and hurried to add, “Sorry. No offense.”
He relaxed a bit hearing his mother chuckle between her tears. “No offense taken. But, I still can’t leave. He’ll demonize me with this information. I’m not strong like you are. I can’t take the negativity that would swirl around me if word ever got out.”
“How does Marjory feel about it all?”
“I haven’t a clue. We haven’t spoke for over three months now. And before you get upset about that, I’m fine. She was just someone who helped me through a rough time in my life. We were good friends first and foremost. She needs to find someone permanent. And I need to play the role I signed up for when I married your father.”
“Bullshit. You deserve your own happiness. And he deserves to go to jail.”
“That will never happen and you know it. He has too many connections.”
“You know what they say. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. If he makes it too hard on you, we’ll just have to find something big enough on him to make him back off.”
“I’ve dreamed of that day. I even have a few secrets tucked away in a safety deposit box in downtown D.C. just in case I ever needed it. But, I’m too old to change now.”
Jaxson’s mind raced for anything he could say in that moment to change his mother’s mind. She’d never been this close to getting out before. He knew he only had a limited time before she’d get sucked back in fully again.
He smiled, realizing the universe had surely had a hand in all of the complex things in his life coming to a head all at the same perfect time. His mother would never leave his father for herself. Hell, she wouldn’t even leave him for her son. But just maybe…
“I haven’t told you yet why I called.”
“It wasn’t just to say hello?”
“Sorry, but no. We’re in California and I’m buried trying to get the club ready to open on time next week.”
“Then why call?” she asked sounding a bit brighter.
“I have some exciting news of my own.”
“That’s wonderful. I could stand some good news.”
“What would you say if I told you that… you were going to be a grandmother?”
Jaxson had to hold the phone away from his ear. He’d never heard his mother squeal like a teenage girl before.
“You aren’t teasing me, are you?”
“Why would I tease about something this important?
“I don’t know. To try to cheer me up?”
Jaxson chuckled. “Sorry. I love you but getting Emma pregnant wasn’t on my radar for this year.”
“Well planned or unplanned, it’s no matter. It’s wonderful news, Jaxson.”
“Thanks, Mother. But there’s more.”
“More? Are you getting married to Emma too?” she guessed.
Why does the older generation think marriage is a requirement?
“No. That isn’t in the cards for the three of us. But it looks like twins are.”
“Oh my! Two babies? That’s fabulous news.”
“It’s news, alright,” he deadpanned.
“Jaxson Andrew Davidson, don’t you dare make light of this. I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with you. It was one of the best days of my life.”
It felt weird to talk about emotional things with his mother. They’d never had that kind of touchy-feely relationship like most families.
“I have to admit. The last week has been pretty memorable for me too. I might have officially bit off more than I can chew.” If there were anyone on the planet who would understand his fear of parenthood, surely his mother would get it. “I mean, with my old man as my role model, how the hell am I going to be a good father?”
“Jax, you are going to be a wonderful father. You know how I know?”
He could hear the passion in his mother’s warbling voice. His own throat felt like it was closing up as his emotions threatened to get the best of him. He’d be damned if he was going to cry like a fucking pussy. He managed to grunt enough to encourage his mother to continue.
“You are the most honorable, loving man I’ve ever met. Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I realize I gave birth to a natural born leader like you. I couldn’t possibly be more proud of you. Trust in yourself and learn to lean on Emma and Chase more.”
Jaxson couldn’t have answered her if he’d had a gun to his head. He swallowed again and again until the lump in his throat dissipated enough that he could finally grunt out, “Thanks, Mom.”
A heavy sigh broke the silence. “I hate it, but I should probably get back inside before your father sends one of his lackeys to look for me.”
He cleared his throat and spoke. “Pack a bag. Call a cab to take you to the airport. Get on a plane for Los Angeles. I’ll pick you up at the airport. We have more than enough room for you here.”
Even as he said it, he cringed, remembering how much having his mother around would inhibit their sexy times. But it didn’t matter. If there was any possibility of getting his mother free of Gregory Davidson, he needed to help make that happen.
“I’ll think about it,” she waffled.
“I’m going to call you every day and badger you until you agree to leave.”
“You do get that stubborn streak from your father you know.”
“Don’t remind me, please.” He didn’t want to have anything in common with his sperm donor.
The sliding door to the patio opened, letting the cool air-conditioned air out into the warm California afternoon. Robert let himself back into the house, looking a bit shell-shocked from the conversation with his wife.
“I need to run, Mom, but I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Congratulations, daddy.”
“Oh Christ, let’s not start that already.” But he smiled to himself when he realized instead of sounding sad or upset, he’d cheered his mother up. “Bye.”
Robert collapsed back onto the couch like a deflating balloon.
Jaxson stifled the smile trying to erupt at the elder man’s expense. “I take it that didn’t go well.”
“You could say that.”
“Need another beer?” Jaxson offered.
“You have anything stronger?”
Jaxson chuckled. “Sorry. All the good stuff is up at the mansion waiting for opening day next week.” When Robert didn’t so much as smile, he got more serious. “You want to talk about it?”
“Not really, but since there is zero chance you aren’t going to get dragged into this, I guess I better let you know that Linda found my note faster than I expected. She hopped a plane right behind me and is already back at the house with Emma and Chase.”
It looked like they were about to have another unexpected houseguest.
“Okay. I guess that’s a good thing, right? You both get to see Emma.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“I don’t understand.”
Robert grimaced as if he had swallowed something sour. “Seems my lovely wife has forbidden me from stepping foot into your house or seeing Emma until I, and I quote, ‘get my head out of my ass and apologize to all three of you’.”
Jaxson’s first instinct was to rib his unofficial father-in-law for letting the woman in his life call and speak to him like that, but considering there was a pretty good chance he was going to fuck up fatherhood a time or two, who the hell was he to cast aspersions?
Instead, he pushed to his feet and offered an olive branch. “What do you say we head on up to the mansion? I’d love to show you around. I need to check in on a few things and we’ll see about getting you a stiff drink.”
“I’d say that sounds like the best idea of the day
