Chapter 12
Jax
I was so happy I could convince Carter to go to her high school reunion, because I knew it was the perfect opportunity to show everyone how far she had come.
I obviously didn’t know Carter when she was in high school, but I had a feeling people let her hide in the shadows of those around her, rather than realize how much she shined.
It always amazed me that people didn’t realize that the first time they met her in the same way I did, but their loss was certainly my gain.
Now it was her chance to show them what they had missed out on, and I was so excited for her.
Thanksgiving with my family had been amazing, and it was sad to say goodbye after only two days with them, but I was too excited for this weekend to let it bother me too much.
Carter and I left early in the morning and switched between driving and holding Speck. Whenever I was on Speck duty, I let myself doze off, but of course, Carter was the perfect copilot. I tried to convince her to get some rest, but she insisted she didn’t need any.
I could tell by the way she was acting how nervous she was for this reunion. I pulled off at a rest stop when we were about a half hour from her moms’ house, because I knew the perfect way to help her relax.
“Do you have to go to the bathroom?” Carter asked as I parked.
I put the windows down slightly so Speck had fresh air, then shut off the car. “Something like that.”
“Something like that? What is that supposed to mean?”
“You’ll see.”
Carter looked unsure, but she still followed me out of the car and into the rest stop. I walked directly into the bathroom and took her hand as I went toward the stall. As we walked, I was happy to find the bathroom was very clean. My plan might not work so well if it was disgusting.
“What are you doing?” Carter whispered as she tried to pull her hand from mine.
I kept a strong grip on her hand and pulled her into a stall, locking the door behind us. “You need to relax.” I brought my hand to the zipper of her pants and wiggled my eyebrows. “It turns out, I’ve got the magic touch.”
“Jax! We c-”
Carter’s words cut off when my hand went into her pants. “Tell me to stop, and I will.”
“Y-you should, but I don’t think I want you to.”
I smiled, because this was exactly what I was hoping for. I kept one hand in her pants and put the other over her mouth. “Don’t worry,” I whispered. “I’ll make it quick.”
I kept my promise, and after just a few minutes, Carter was coming all over my hand. I took my hand out of her pants and licked each of my fingers.
Before I could get to the last one, Carter grabbed my hand. “Wait.” She took the last soaked finger into her mouth and licked off her own pleasure. She closed her eyes and moaned softly. “Not bad.”
“Definitely the best I’ve ever had.” I pushed a piece of loose hair behind Carter’s ear. “Feeling better?”
“So much better.” Carter sighed and stared at me with all of the love in the world. It was such a beautiful sight, it made me want to drop onto one knee right in that bathroom.
Not that I would ever actually do that. Carter deserved the absolute best, and I was still trying to figure out how to give that to her.
The rest of the drive to her moms’ house, Carter was back to her old self. We talked, sang, and laughed until the time we pulled into the driveway.
As I shut off the car, Carter looked around and sighed. “It’s good to be home.”
I knew there was more to that than just the feeling of coming back to the place where she grew up.
I could tell Carter wasn’t loving Maryland so far, which was hard since it grew on me more and more with each day.
In the end, nothing mattered more to me than Carter though.
There was no way I would stay in an area where she couldn’t be happy.
That wasn’t a worry right now though. We had time to make that decision, and as long as I had this woman by my side, I would always be happy. Right now, I was just happy to see that wide smile on her face.
I grabbed Carter’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m so glad we’re here.”
I was always just as excited to see Carter’s family as I was to see mine, because they really were family to me. They had been family to me even before Carter and I got together. It wasn’t lost on me how lucky I was to be with someone whose family I adored.
Speaking of adoration, before we were even out of the car, Olivia’s car pulled in behind ours, and she immediately hopped out of the driver’s side. I opened my door and got out as well.
Olivia held her arms out as she walked toward me. Her baby bump was really starting to show now, which was even more adorable than I expected. “There she is. My favorite person in the whole wide world.”
Carter opened her car door just in time to hear Olivia say that, and she scoffed. “What about me?”
“You’re also my favorite.” Olivia grabbed my face as if she was a doting aunt. “But look at this face. How could anyone resist it?”
“Beats me,” Carter said, the most loving smile adorning her face.
My heart warmed from the love I was receiving from my two favorite girls. This really did feel like coming home.
“I love both of you too.” A laugh bubbled out of me because I was so happy.
When Speck barked, I laughed even harder. “You too, buddy. Don’t worry.”
When Speck started to wiggle around in Carter’s arms, she let him down and he ran over to me. I leaned down and gave him pets while Olivia took that opportunity to give Carter a hug.
“Where is Quinton?” I asked when I noticed no one else was getting out of the car.
“He’ll be at the reunion later. I couldn’t wait until then to see you two, so I decided to stop by. I can’t stay long though.” She tossed her hair. “Need to get home and get myself looking beautiful.”
I chuckled at her. God, I had missed my best friend. “You’re always beautiful, my dear.”
“More beautiful.” Olivia winked at me, then pointed toward the house.
“Let’s get inside. My newest little smush is in there, and I need to squeeze her chubby little cheeks.
” Olivia walked backward toward the house as she continued to talk to us.
“You two haven’t met her yet, right? Ugh. Just wait. She’s precious.”
That was another reason I knew Carter hadn’t been herself recently.
Her niece was almost three months old, and she still hadn’t met her.
That might not seem strange for other people, especially given the distance between us and Ronan, but it was unusual for Carter.
She talked to her moms every day and she and I normally talked to Olivia at least once a week, but she hadn’t seen any of them since we moved.
She was stretched to the brim, and even though I was trying my best to help out, none of it felt like enough.
Right before we reached the front door, Ronan opened it, holding the cutest little baby girl I’d ever seen. There was a tiny tuft of curly brown hair right in the middle of her big, otherwise bald head, and her eyes were as blue as the ocean.
“Shit, Ronan.” I ran my finger over her super smooth cheek. “You made this adorable little creature? Seriously?”
“She’s adorable, isn’t she?” Olivia asked, passing by me to scoop Baby Ruby into her arms. “Clearly, she takes after Mallory.”
A gasp came from behind me and I knew that meant Carter had just noticed Ruby. “She’s even more perfect in person,” Carter said wistfully. She walked up to Olivia and reached out her arms. “You’ve had time with her. Hand her over.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Fine. I guess you can have her.”
“Aunties!” a little voice shouted followed by loud stomping as Ronan’s son, Duncan, ran down the hall to greet us.
Much to my surprise, it was my arms that he jumped into. Luckily, I was able to realize what was happening quick enough to grab him, and I twirled him around in a circle before tickling his sides. “How are you, buddy?”
“Aunt Jax,” Duncan said between giggles. “Stop. I can’t breathe.”
“Do you really want me to stop?” I continued to tickle him. “I don’t think you’d be laughing if you didn’t like it.”
“Stop!” he shouted a few more times between his laughter.
After a few seconds, I decided to give him a break and stopped my tickle attack. Soon, both of Carter’s moms and Mallory also met us by the door. After taking turns greeting each other, Olivia only stayed a few more minutes before announcing she had to leave.
She pointed toward me as she was walking out the door. “Tomorrow before you leave, we are having some special bestie time. I miss you!”
I smiled at my best friend. I was pretty sure I was the luckiest woman alive. “Deal. See you tonight, Liv.”
She blew me a kiss, then walked out the door.
Ronan scooped Duncan off of the floor. “We’re going to go give this one a bath, so moms don’t have to do it.”
My mama patted Ronan’s arm. “How very sweet of you. Last time I gave him a bath, it felt like I had gotten one by the time we were done.”
Ronan laughed. “That’s my boy.” He looked over at me and Carter. “See you girls in a little bit.”
After everyone had dispersed from the hallway, Carter turned toward me and put her hands on my arms. “Do you mind if I take a quick shower? I feel gross after being in the car for so long.”
I leaned in and kissed her. “Of course I don’t mind. Just do me a favor and don’t make it quick. Take your time and enjoy it. Don’t worry about me. I can hang with your moms.”
I was mostly being selfless. There was one small part of me that was being selfish and needed Carter to take a long shower so I could talk to her moms about something very important.
“Thanks, babe.” Carter gave me a kiss on the cheek before heading upstairs.
Once she was gone, I went to the kitchen since that’s where her moms said they would be. I found them sitting close together at the kitchen table, laughing at something on Charlie’s phone.