Chapter 4
JAXON
It was barely sunrise when I walked into the local hangar where I helped my friend repair planes when I was in town. Kavan and I had been in the service together, and after he got out, he’d gotten a job there.
The owner didn’t have a problem with me coming in to help—as long as I didn’t expect payment for any work I did.
Which I didn’t, considering that it was a hobby for me and not one with many opportunities available to practice it.
It wasn’t like I could walk into any old junkyard and find a plane to fix up.
Going over to the machine I’d been busy with before I left for my last haul, I found it exactly as I’d left it and grinned. This was another reason why I loved the place so much. Only Kavan and one other guy worked there, and both of them knew to leave my shit alone.
I got right back into it and was wiping sweat off my brow a little before eight when I saw Kavan coming in. He shook his head when he spotted me, walking up to give me a back-thumping, one-armed hug.
“Only you would get to my job before it’s even time for me to start work. When did you get in?”
“Yesterday. I woke up early and got bored at home.” I smacked him on the shoulder. “We’re not all slackers who sleep in, you know.”
He narrowed his blue eyes to slits in a mocking glare and dragged a hand over the top of his blond faux-hawk. “We’re not all perpetual bachelors who can sleep whenever we want.”
I smirked. “Hey, I was there when you married the lovely Mrs. Roberts, remember? You were of sober mind and senses when you said yes. You could still be sleeping whenever you want too. How’s she doing anyway?”
“She’s fucking pregnant, man.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s part of why I was asking.”
“I know, and that’s my answer. She’s fucking pregnant now. The baby’s kicking the shit out of her, she can’t really sleep much anymore, and as a result, neither can I. She keeps tossing and turning, and seven seconds after she falls asleep, she wakes up again because she needs to pee.”
“You knew all this before you knocked her up though, didn’t you?” I arched a brow at him in an attempt to stop myself from laughing. “As far as I know, it comes with the territory.”
“No. You think you know what comes with the territory. You fucking don’t, man. Thinking you know and living it are two very different things.” He patted his stomach. “I’m even picking up weight. Apparently, it’s a sympathy thing.”
“A sympathy thing or an excuse thing?” It was meant to be a joke, but Kavan flipped me off and punched me in the bicep with his other hand. I rubbed the spot. “You may be picking up weight but at least your fists can still do some damage.”
This time, he was the one who smirked. “We’re having a little girl. Now is not the time for me to ease up on my fighting skills. I need to hone them more than ever. Who knows when the first potential suitors will start showing up at my door? I need to be ready for those little fuckers.”
“Uh, I think you’ve probably got a few years yet.”
He shrugged. “Who knows with kids these days? The youngest girl I’ve ever even held was eighteen. I have no idea what to expect from having a kid, but especially not from a girl.”
“Tutus, tiaras, and tea parties?” I suggested and dodged his fist when he swung it at me again. “I’m not even trying to give you shit. That’s honestly what I expect you’re in for with a daughter. Besides, at least you’ll have Shira around to help you.”
“Shira’s brain has turned to mush.” He scrubbed his hands along the stubble on his jaw, his mouth hanging half open. “I don’t know how long it’ll be before she’s back online either. We’re taking it day by day for now. At least we’re almost ready for the baby to come.”
“By which you mean you’ve been spending your salary on diapers instead of beer?”
He nodded, grimacing. “Whenever I even look at a beer, Shira reminds me we have better things to spend our money on. I can’t even remember the last time I tasted alcohol.”
I took a step back in case he would be tempted to try to hit me again, then laughed. “I never thought I’d see the day any of this happened in your life. Weren’t you always the one who said you’d never let a woman rule you or have kids running around? Look at you now, bro.”
“We were in our early twenties when I said that shit, Jaxon. We could’ve taken down Zeus back then in our minds. Times change.”
“You mean you don’t think we can take down Zeus anymore?” I smacked a hand over my chest. “That’s insulting, man. And discouraging. I had a beatdown scheduled with the king of the gods for this afternoon. Think I should cancel?”
“Yeah, I think you should fucking cancel.” He laughed as he pushed past me. “At our age, the only thing we should have a beatdown scheduled with is some or other joint disease.”
“Speak for yourself. I’m still healthy and fit as a fucking fiddle.” I curled my arms to show off my biceps and he snorted in response.
“I’ve known you, what, almost twenty years now?” He eyeballed me with amusement in his gaze. “Trust me. I’ve seen you look much more ready to take on the king of the gods than you do right now. Sorry, bro.”
“I think I look pretty good for my age.” I lifted the hem of my T-shirt to smack my abs before dropping the act and walking to the breakroom with him to get coffee. “All joking aside, you really ready for this kid?”
“Ready or not, she’s coming.” He sighed as he pushed through the door and flipped on the ancient coffeemaker. “I think we’re as ready as we’re ever going to be. We’ve got everything the books say we need and we’ve been to the classes. What about you? What’s going on in your life?”
“I’ve actually been thinking about taking a trip to Fiji,” I said as I grabbed two mugs from the drying rack beside the rusted sink. “I probably won’t do it, but we just flew over there, and I got to talking to a guy who’d visited. Sounds fucking chill.”
“I’ve seen some pictures.” He scratched his jaw while he thought. “Why don’t you think you’ll go? I would. You don’t have any ties here holding you back.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’ve been playing with the idea. I haven’t taken a real break in years. It’ll be nice to cut loose a little.”
“So go.” He lifted the pot when the coffee was ready and filled the mugs I’d set down.
Cocking his head at me as he picked his up, he flashed me a smile.
“Maybe you’ll meet the future Mrs. Scott on faraway shores.
Fair warning, if you do, all the shit you’ve ever given me is coming back at you tenfold. ”
“I wouldn’t expect anything different.” I cracked my neck before wagging my eyebrows at him. “Why don’t you come with me? Isn’t there a name for a break before the baby is born?”
“Yeah, it’s called a babymoon and it’s taken by the parents.” He waved a finger between our chests. “Shira would never agree to you and me going on a babymoon and leaving her behind.”
“I could always talk to your baby momma. Shira loves me.” I took a sip of my coffee just as Kavan nearly sprayed the one he had just taken all over me.
Once he swallowed, he coughed a few times before he had his laughter under control.
“She doesn’t love you that much. Fuck, I don’t even think she loves me that much.
Letting us take off to go on vacation in Fiji when she’s due in less than eight weeks?
There’s more of a chance that all the profit made from every oil reserve in the world will be donated to charity than there is of Shira agreeing to that. ”
“She’s been making you watch documentaries about the importance of conserving nature and marine life again, hasn’t she?”
He nodded, a heavy sigh parting his lips. “It’s the baby animals, man. They get to her.”
I hummed a sympathetic noise at the back of my throat. “You have less than eight weeks to go. You’ll make it. Just hang in there. It’ll all be worth it in the end.”
“I think so.” He smiled and gave himself a visible shake. “Worrying isn’t going to help anyway. So, Fiji? You going?”
“I think so,” I said, echoing him. “Fuck it. Why not, right?”
“You only live once. Or whatever it is the cool kids are saying these days.” We walked out of the break room and to our respective workstations.
When I got to mine, I took my phone out of my pocket and pulled up the airline’s website. There was no harm in knowing when the next flights out were.
As if fate itself was giving me the nod on this plan, there was a crew seat available on a plane leaving in just a few hours. I hovered with my thumb above the reserve button for all of thirty seconds before I made my final decision.
Kavan and the cool kids were right. We only lived once. If even fate wanted me to go to Fiji, I sure as fuck wasn’t saying no.