Saving Ever After (Ever After #4) (4 page)

Chris

It felt good
to be home, I thought when I pushed open the door to my room at Ace’s house.
Our summer tour hadn’t been especially long, just two months, but the label had
packed a lot of stops into that two months. I wanted nothing more than to climb
into the shower and then my bed, but sleep would have to wait. I needed to
shower quickly and then get my ass to the hospital.

The minute
our plane had touched down at Logan International, we’d all been bombarded with
texts that Jax was going into labor. Ky had rushed straight to the hospital. I,
along with everyone else who wasn’t the father of the baby, decided it would be
better to go home and clean up before heading over to the hospital to meet the
newest member of the McCabe family.

He was three
weeks early. It was a damned miracle that we even landed in time for Ky to make
it. If that was any indication, then the kid obviously took after his dad,
impatient and having to make his entrance into the world on his own terms. Jax
was going to have her hands full with baby and daddy. I knew she wouldn’t have
it any other way. Her little family was her whole world. I wasn’t ashamed to
admit that I was the tiniest bit jealous of what her and Ky had.

That
reminded me that I needed to call Katrina. She was expecting me to let her know
as soon as we arrived in Boston, but the baby news had distracted me. I didn’t
know whether I should invite her to go with me to the hospital or not. We’d
been seeing each other for about five months now, but she wasn’t very close
with Jax, or any of the group really.

I decided I
would call her from the hospital and make plans to drop by her place afterward.
With that decision made, I tossed my cell down on my bed and hurried to shower
and change.

Downstairs,
I found Ace in the kitchen, also fresh from a shower, brewing coffee in the
fancy machine Sadie convinced him to buy a few months ago. Now that her stay
here wasn’t temporary – there was no chance of Ace letting her move back out –
her feminine touches could be found throughout the place. More pictures hung on
the walls and there were throw pillows and rugs and blankets on the couches and
chairs. The dishes in the kitchen actually matched and other small things like
that. Of course she always asked Ace before she did anything, afraid of
overstepping, but she should know by now that he couldn’t deny her anything. I
knew from the little box he’d been toting around with him the last month, that
it wouldn’t be long before he had that ring on her finger and gave her free
reign over the house.

I really
needed to start looking for a place of my own. Danny had moved out over the
summer to take on New York with his photography business, and even Spade had
packed up and got himself a penthouse bachelor pad down on the water. He’d
already extended an invite for me to move in with him. At the time it was
easier to stay put at Ace’s since I spent most of my time at Katrina’s anyway,
but if the lovebirds were about to get engaged, they’d probably prefer having
the place to themselves.

“You figured
out when you’re going to pop the question yet?” I asked him, grabbing my own
mug out of the cupboard and waiting for the machine to spit out the hot, rich
brew.

“Not yet,
man. I thought I would do it tonight, you know as soon as we got back from the
tour and I saw her, but of course Ky’s kid would have to upstage me by making
his grand entrance into the world early. I figure I’ll let the little man have
his show, and when that excitement’s faded a little, I’ll ask her.” He filled
his cup and then moved out of the way so I could get to the machine.

“You decide
how you’re going to do it yet?” I raised my now steaming mug and took the first
sip of caffeinated bliss. I needed to remember to thank Sadie, for like the hundredth
time, for convincing him to get this machine and for finding the local roaster
who was enabling our coffee addiction in this house.

“Nah, I’ll
wing it,” he said nonchalantly.

“You’re
going to wing your proposal?” My brow lifted.

“Yeah, when
the moment feels right, I’ll do it. It’s not like I can ask her on stage at a
concert since Ky already did that. Besides, I don’t think Sadie would want that
anyway. For Jax it was right. She needed Ky to make that declaration in front
of the whole world, to publically claim her and make it clear to everyone that
he belonged to her.”

“Yeah, I get
that.” Ky and Jax were still somewhat of a shock. It’d been almost three years
now, but it still seemed like a miracle that they made it through everything
they did and got to this point. “Whatever you do, I’m sure she’ll say yes. Now,
we better get our asses to the hospital. I want to meet my nephew.”

Ace didn’t
argue, and seemed equally excited about getting there to see Jax and the baby,
whose name we still didn’t know. They’d been keeping it hush. I think there was
some disagreement between them about what his name would be. I just hoped Jax
wasn’t trying to convince Ky to go with some new age, artsy, hipster name, like
Kale or Lotus. Ky was so in love with her that he’d probably let her get away
with that shit.

It was a
good feeling for a change to be able to walk into the hospital and ask for
directions to the maternity ward instead of the emergency room or ICU. There’d
been too many of those kind of visits to the hospital.

 When we got
to the waiting area, we found most of the gang assembled there. Spade was the
only absent one, which wasn’t surprising. He’d show eventually. I was surprised
to see Mia sitting next to her sister. I don’t know why since I’d heard she moved
to Boston over the summer while we were on tour, and that she would be starting
at BU in the next couple weeks. I guess I just hadn’t expected it. She caught
me off guard, and with her that was never a good thing. In the past, she hadn’t
been the most subtle about her crush on me.

 I hadn’t
seen her since we all flew out to Seattle for Sadie’s birthday during the
spring, but I’d thought about her a few times. Something about that girl had
struck a chord with me since the first moment I met her, coming up on a year
ago. She looked about the same as she had then, pretty, but too young for me to
give it anymore thought than that. I gave her a slight smile and nod, before
Bas came over to update us on Jax.

“Jax and Ky
are in the delivery room, so I guess that means the baby should be here any
time. I think it will be a while before any of us get in to see them though.
The doc said they’ll clean up the little guy and then take his weight and
measurements and all that. Then they’ll give Jax and Ky some time alone with
him before we can go in.”

“Dad
coming?” I don’t know why I asked. I knew my dad wouldn’t miss this, I just
expected him to be here already.

“He’s
already here. Not in the delivery room, but he used his connections to get back
there.”

“Okay, then
I guess we better take a seat and get comfortable,” I said. Ace wasted no time
in going to sit beside Sadie, who had been staring at him with those big googly
doe eyes since we walked in. I shook my head and rolled my eyes, which then
landed on the amused smirk Mia was giving me. Bas returned to his seat next to
his pregnant wife, which left a seat between him and Mia or one over by Vi and
an also pregnant Lucy. Both their other halves were missing. Izzy, who was
growing like crazy every time I saw her, was absent as well, probably in school
by this time in September.

After taking
in my choices, I plopped into the seat between Mia and my brother. “Hey, Mia,”
I said softly. “How’s it going?”

“Really
good,” she smiled at me. It was good to see her smile. Ignoring the fact that
it was a beautiful smile, the last time I’d seen her, she’d been pretty
miserable and going through a rough time after her accident. She was a sweet
kid and I was glad to see her get away from the rest of her family, especially
her mom. It always brought out my protective instincts thinking about her
trapped in that house with her vicious mother and that catty sister of hers,
Leila.

“Heard
you’re going to BU,” I said, making small talk.

“Yeah. Move
in day was Monday. Classes start in a little over a week.” I could hear the
excitement bubbling under the surface of her words. That was also refreshing.
She deserved this fresh start. I knew from talking to Ace and Sadie that she’d
made her share of mistakes, but no doubt they stemmed from the pressure put on
her by her parents and her unhappiness. I’d seen it in her eyes last winter
when she showed up on our doorstep trying to escape.

“So you’re
settling in then? Liking Boston alright?”

“Yeah, it’s
great so far. I like it here a lot and I think I’ve already made some good
friends,” she shared.

“That’s good
to hear, Mia. I’m happy for you. It’s a great school. I know you know Bas went
there, but I also graduated from Boston U.”

 “That’s
where you joined the first band you played in before you met the guys, or umm,
I think that’s what I read somewhere, maybe,” she admitted almost bashfully.

“Yeah,
that’s right,” I chuckled. “I had a lot of fun there and met a lot of cool
people. I actually heard Ky play at a campus bar when he was doing his solo
thing.” Her eyes drank in my expression and she seemed riveted on every word I
spoke. I had to remind myself to be careful around Mia. Her crush was
flattering, but I didn’t want to do anything to encourage it.

I couldn’t
figure out what it was about Mia that tugged at me. Maybe it was that I’d
recognized that lost and angry look in her eyes when she showed up in Boston
last winter and could relate with her need to push boundaries and test limits. I’d
been there. I’d been that kid until my music gave me an outlet.

Or maybe it
had to do with the night back then when I heard her crying in the guest room
across from my bedroom, and had literally felt the pain I heard in her cries.
Fifteen minutes I’d stood there, hearing it, not knowing what to do, but
wanting to make it stop, until finally it had. The next morning she joined us
all for breakfast with a bright smile like nothing in her world was wrong, when
I knew she was keeping something inside, something that was tearing at her.

Whatever it
was about her that got to me, that made me want to do whatever I could to keep
that smile on her face, she was still just a young, emotionally vulnerable
girl. I didn’t need to give her any reason to pursue her little crush and turn
it into anything more. The last thing I wanted was for her to have any more
hurt, and the thought of being the one to cause it, was too hard to stomach.

We chatted
for a little while longer. I made sure to keep it friendly but casual, and then
when Spade finally strolled in, I got up and moved over by him. It wasn’t too
much later that Ky appeared to say that Jax had given birth to their son, Abel
Fender McCabe –
good girl Jax, no hippy name
– and that she was resting
and he was going with the nurse who would clean the baby up. Everyone’s
excitement increased, and the girls gushed over the name. It was a good name. A
solid name.

A little
while later, a doctor came out to say that we could go back, but just a couple
at a time and only for a few minutes. Of course my brother insisted that he and
Lissa go back first, and no one argued. Not that doing so would have stopped
him from going back there first anyway. Jax had Ky and Bas had Lissa, but that
didn’t change what Jax was to my brother or vice versa, or that they hadn’t
been talking about the day they would have kids and their kids would be best
friends, since they were little more than children themselves.

That was
happening for them. Lissa was just over a month away from her due date, so it
wouldn’t be long before we were all here again. I didn’t know how far along
Jax’s sister-in-law, Lucy, was, but this damn baby business seemed contagious.
I looked over at Sadie and Ace, sitting close, smiling and whispering low to
each other.

Yeah, they
were definitely next, just as soon as he found the time to pop the question.

When Bas and
Lissa reemerged about ten minutes later, my brother’s eyes were unusually
shiny. My dad was with them, and he looked really close to losing his shit.
They both walked over to me and Liss went to Lucy and Vi.

“How is
she?” I asked

“Really
good,” Bas choked out somewhat hoarsely. “She’s really good. I’ve never seen
her look as happy as she does sitting next to Ky, holding their baby.”

Since the
day Jax had come into our lives when we were kids, Bas had appointed himself
her champion, and even though Ky had taken on that role, I knew that Bas and
Jax would always share their unique bond. As long as Jax had been believing in
fairytales, wishing for her own to come true, my brother had been right beside
her, wishing for all those same things for her.

“Patricia
would have been so proud of her. It’s just a shame that little guy won’t ever
get to meet her,” My dad said, more than a little emotional. He never talked
about the way his and Patty’s relationship had changed and grown over the years
before she passed, but even as kids we’d all seen it happening. Losing her was
hard for everyone, but my dad was right, Patty would have loved today, and been
so proud of Jax. It sucked that she wasn’t here, but I knew Jax was going to be
a fucking great Mom because she’d had the best Mom for twelve years.