5. Jace
JACE
My vision blurs, and I press the palms of my hands into my eye sockets. When I open them, the baby’s still there, all serene and asleep, bundled up like a prop in a movie.
Rhett closes the door behind us and quietly talks to the woman. What’s the baby’s name? How old is she? When did you “meet up” with Jace last?
He’s being very diplomatic. One of us should be ’cause I’m losing my shit over here.
One question repeats in my head like a bass drum—Is this really my daughter?
All I’m able to gather through the roaring in my head is the kid’s name.
She named the baby Layla.
Jesus, does this woman not listen to Eric Clapton? Layla’s a heartbreaker, not your cute little girl.
Rhett’s nodding and carrying on a conversation. He’s handling this better than I could, so I cross my arms and focus on not passing out.
After a minute, he clears his throat and gives me another look. Does he expect me to speak? Not sure I’m capable of more than blinking and grunting at the moment.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Internally, I laugh at the absurdity of this situation.
I’m supposed to go on a national tour in a few weeks, but I had to turn into a fuckboy after Marlowe crushed me under her pointy boot, and here we are.
I turn to the blonde. “My apologies, but what’s your name? ”
She scowls. “Deanna. I told you that already.”
“Sorry, I was busy getting rocked by the news I had a, what, eight-month-old?”
“She’s a year old.”
Rhett asked that question already, didn’t he? “Okay, a year old.” I sit with that information for a beat. I squint at her through the bright sunlight. “Why now? Where were you since she popped out?”
She stares off into the distance. “I thought I could do this on my own. Thought I could handle it. Turns out I hate being a mother.”
The more I stand here, the more pissed I get.
I take a deep breath so I can choose my words carefully.
“Look, I can appreciate that it’s your body, and you choose whether or not you want to have a baby, but would it have killed you to have given me a heads-up a little sooner once you decided to have her?
” Do I have serial killer written across my forehead?
While I can admit I’ve never wanted kids, that doesn’t mean I’d abandon them.
Which I’ve now done by default.
Apparently.
After my mother took off and left us up shit creek without a paddle, I’d rather chew on broken glass than not be there for my kid.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. Deanna’s telling me I have a child, and I haven’t been in her life for a goddamn year.
I’m the chill brother. The one who laughs everything off like a joke.
The one you can trust to say something inappropriate to lighten the mood.
Not the one who seethes with rage. But there’s definitely something simmering in my chest, and if I don’t get control of it right now, I’ll say something I’ll regret.
Bracing my hands on my knees, I bend over to breathe and remind myself that I don’t know what this woman’s been through, and I shouldn’t judge her even if I don’t remember hooking up with her. Although I suppose it could’ve happened.
Calm down. Deanna was probably doing her best with the hand life dealt her.
Once I get control of myself, I straighten and study the baby again. The little heartbreaker yawns and opens her eyes. I freeze when she smiles up at me, unaware of the chaos she’s unleashed on my life. She’s tiny. Fragile. And so fucking beautiful.
The back of my nose stings. I cough and turn to Deanna. “I always use protection. We used a condom. Right?”
“Yes,” she says quietly.
At least my dumb ass did that. Fat lot of good it did me, but still.
Rhett places his hand on my shoulder, his voice level. “Let’s all take a breath here. Deanna, we’re gonna need a paternity test. For everyone’s sake, especially that baby’s.”
She pulls a folded piece of paper from her pocket. “I knew you would want that, and while this probably won’t hold up in court, it shows Layla shares twenty-five percent of her DNA with one of your brothers.”
It’s a printout from one of those big ancestry companies. I stare at the tiny font that lists a match with Maverick and notes he’s likely the child’s uncle.
I have so many questions right now.
But maybe paternity shouldn’t be one of them.
Because this baby has my green eyes.
The excitement of the afternoon pops like an overinflated balloon when Rhett and I walk inside with a baby.
I’m sitting in the same spot I was a little while ago, but my entire world is upside down.
I vaguely remember Maverick doing that DNA test for some ancestry project in college. He’s obviously not the father.
Deanna said the baby was born in March last year, which means we theoretically hooked up the summer before in… June?
It can’t be Isaiah ’cause he was out of the country. Rhett was happily married to Paige, and Beau’s not really a one-night-stand kind of guy.
Fuck. The kid has to be mine.
I think I’m going through the five stages of grief. There’s anger, denial… and I can’t remember the rest.
Thank God Rhett was there to get Deanna’s contact info. I feel like I can barely string together a sentence.
The living room suddenly erupts.
“No fucking way. This is crazy.” Maverick.
“She just dropped off her baby and left?” Paige.
“Who leaves her kid with a stranger?” Baylee.
“Why didn’t she contact you sooner?” Isaiah.
Layla’s eyes get big and glassy before her bottom lip starts to quiver. Shit.
A fierce protective urge I didn’t know existed roars to life somewhere in my chest. I unbuckle her belt and scoop her into my arms. “Hey, baby. I’m Jace.
” I swallow. “Guess that’s Dad to you.” Holy shit.
I think I’m her father. She looks around the room at all the faces.
“This group of miscreants is your family. We’re a ragtag bunch, but we’re scrappy. We have your back, kiddo.”
Paige grabs her little hand. “She’s beautiful, Jace.”
“Thanks.” I resort to humor ’cause that’s what I do. “My sperm knew what it was doing.”
Isaiah leans forward. “Now’s not the time to joke.”
I give him a hard stare. “No shit. But since you deserted us for years, I don’t think you get an opinion right now.”
His jaw tightens, and everyone grows quiet. This is where I’d usually apologize for being an asshole, but my brothers have been tiptoeing around him long enough.
Layla starts to fuss, and I stick my hand in her diaper bag and pull out a can of formula. Seriously? All Deanna left me was one can? Overwhelming doesn’t begin to describe the chaos in my head right now.
Paige holds out her hand. “Want me to make her a bottle for you?”
“That would be great. Thanks.”
“We’ll get her situated, and then Bay, Honey, and I can run to the store to get her a few supplies.”
I’m so grateful for my sister-in-law, I could cry. I won’t because I’m a grown-ass man, but fuck.
Beau comes over and sits in Paige’s spot.
Puts his hand on my shoulder. Talks softly so he doesn’t spook the baby, or maybe he’s trying not to spook me.
“Let’s get that paternity test, just in case.
There’s one in Austin that will get you results in forty-eight hours. My buddy had a scare a few years ago.”
“Okay.”
“We might want to get some custody papers drawn up.”
“Yeah.”
“We can set up a crib in your room if we move out some of your equipment.”
“Sure.”
“Unless…” He looks across the room to his fiancée. “Unless you’d like to stay with me and Honey. We have that spare room.”
I shake my head. They’re having their own baby soon. They need that space. “I’m good here.” I look to Rhett. “If you’re okay hosting one more. She probably doesn’t eat that much.”
My oldest brother smiles at my pathetic joke. “The more the merrier.”
He’s a good liar. We’re filling up fast here in the main house. I’ll need to save up some money so I can find my own place.
Behind me, Paige whispers to the kids in the kitchen, who are the quietest I’ve ever heard them. I carry Layla over to them. “Y’all have a new cousin. This is Layla.”
Standing her on the table, I hang on to her as she bounces on her toes.
“She’s pretty,” Gabe says.
“How did this happen?” Austin asks. “Did you inseminate someone? Dad says the bulls inseminate the cows and that’s how we get calves.”
Jesus, the shit kids say. I chuckle and avoid the question. “I am as big as a bull.” I make a muscle, and the kids laugh.
I’m gonna need that laughter in my life.
Especially when I tell my bandmates I can’t do the tour.