Bonus Christmas Chapter
JAX
The unexpected Christmas guest …
“Oh, my God,” Maddie squeals, practically bursting my eardrum as she comes barrelling through the front door. She almost bowls me over in the process.
“Hey, steady there,” I say in a slight panic, grabbing hold of her arm. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s wonderful, Daddy,” she replies with a dreamy kinda sigh. What the fuck . “Where’s Mum?”
“She’s in the kitchen feeding your broth—” She doesn’t even wait for me to finish what I’m saying as she dashes in that direction.
I’m hot on her heels because I need to know what the hell this is about.
“Mum, look,” she practically screams. “Look what, Jordan, gave me for Christmas.” Jordan ? I watch on in horror as my fifteen-year-old daughter extends her arm, revealing a silver bracelet. The moment my eyes fix on the heart-shaped locket attached to it; my mind goes into overdrive.
“Who in the hell is, Jordan?” I ask as I come to an abrupt stop beside them.
Jordan better not be a boy, but I can already tell by the widened eyes of my wife, he is.
Fuck . I’m in no way prepared for this. She’s my little girl, and far too young to be receiving heart-shaped jewellery from a male.
I was hoping I’d have at least another ten, or possibly twenty years up my sleeve before having to deal with this shit.
Candice quickly stands, wiping the food from around our son’s mouth, before lifting him off the chair and passing him to Maddie. “Go run a bath for your brother,” she asks. “I need to speak with your father in private.”
Ah, shit. That’s never a good thing. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to like whatever’s about to be said. Actually, I know I won’t.
“Sit.” Grabbing hold of my elbow, Candice leads me towards the chair she was just seated in.
Jesus, I suddenly feel like I can’t breathe.
“Calm down, babe,” she says, plonking her sweet arse on my lap and snuggling into my chest. Her comfort is always soothing, but not at this moment.
I’m too highly strung. I’ve been dreading this day for as long as I can remember.
“Who’s Jordan?” I ask. I try my hardest to say it in a calm voice, but it comes out more like a growl.
“Umm … Maddie’s boyfriend.” She answers me in a voice so soft, it’s barely audible.
The second those ugly words fall from her pretty mouth, a sharp pain shoots through my head. If I’m not mistaken, I’m sure an artery just exploded.
“Boyfriend!” I grumble as I place my hands on either side of her hips and lift her from my lap. The moment I’m on my feet I start to pace back and forth. This is way worse than I thought. “Jesus Christ, she’s too young to have a boyfriend.”
“She’s fifteen, Jax. God, I gave my first blowjob when I wasn’t much older than her.”
“Stop!” I immediately place my hands over my ears. That’s something I don’t need or want to hear. Ever . “Are you trying to fucking kill me?”
My wife tenderly runs her hand down my arm, as a heavy weight settles in my chest. Fuck, I think I’m having a heart attack.
“Relax. Maddie hasn’t done anything like that, babe. She hasn’t even kissed him yet. This is puppy love, nothing more.”
“Huh! Puppy love. She has Snoopy. She doesn’t need this … Jacob kid, or whatever the fuck his name is.”
“Jordan. His name is, Jordan.” There’s amusement in her voice as she corrects me, but I can’t find anything funny with this conversation. “Jax,” she says with a sigh, sliding her arms around my waist. “Our little girl is growing up. We need to accept this.”
My eyes lock with hers. To this day, I still get lost in her baby blues, I could drown in her damn eyes. A smile tugs at her lips as she pushes her chest out slightly, rubbing against mine. I’m not stupid, I know exactly what she’s doing. This little minx is taking the seduction route.
“Are you trying to distract me with your tits? Because it’s not working.” It’s so working .
“Never,” she chuckles.
As much as I try to fight it, my gaze involuntarily moves down to her spectacular rack. I groan when I feel my cock jump in my pants. Get your head out of the gutter, Albright, you have a more pressing situation at hand .
“How long has this been going on?” I ask as I take a step back. I need some distance if I’m going to get through this conversation without bending my wife over the kitchen island.
“A couple of weeks?” I shout. A couple of weeks . I’m not going to lie, the fact that they’ve been keeping this from me hurts. It hurts bad. Her expression softens as she runs her hand down the side of my face.
“I’m sorry.” So she should be, hiding something like this from me is fucked up. “I’ve met him, Jax, he’s a nice kid. He goes to Maddie’s school.”
“Why am I only finding out about this now?”
“Because I knew you’d overreact.” Overreact? She hasn’t seen anything yet.
“I want to meet him,” I say through gritted teeth. Wring his neck more like it, but I’m not about to voice that out loud.
“Sure … I umm … can arrange that.” Her hesitance only seems to escalate my annoyance.
“Good. I want him here tomorrow for our Christmas Eve barbeque with Carter.”
“What?” I see the colour drain from her face. “I’m not subjecting that poor kid to both of you at once.”
“Tomorrow, Candice,” I demand as I turn and stalk from the room.
I need some fucking air .
When the doorbell chimes, I rub my hands down the front of my jeans as I jog down the staircase, heading towards the front door. I shouldn’t be the one feeling nervous here. Justin , or whatever the hell his name is, should be. And with good reason.
Game on.
My eyes take in the heavily decorated banister and foyer as I go. It looks like Father Christmas puked up all over this place, but in all honesty, I love the effort Candice puts into the holidays.
Christmas was never a fun time for me growing up, but now that I have a family of my own to celebrate with, I’m on board. My girls and CJ, which is what we now call him, are my world. They make everything brighter.
We moved not long after our son was born.
We’d outgrown my two-bedroom terrace house.
We chose a place at Ultimo, not far from Sophia and Brendan.
I miss my old house at Newtown, but at least I still get to work in the area every day.
My kids needed more space, and that’s far more important.
The yard is expansive and even has an in-ground pool. It’s perfect for our hot Christmas’.
When I open the door, I’m surprised to find Carter, Indi and the kids standing there, instead of Maddie’s …
ugh … boyfriend . Candice was supposed to organise for Joseph to come a little earlier.
She thought it best if we got the formalities out of the way before the others arrived.
Formalities , huh! I have a little more than formalities planned for this punk .
I refuse to accept that my Peanut has a boyfriend, and after today I’m hoping it’s something I no longer have to worry about.
I hardly slept last night, stressing about his intentions with my little girl.
I was a horny, testosterone-fuelled teenager once, so that only heightened my concerns.
If I get the slightest inclination that Jacob has any untoward feelings towards my daughter, he won’t know what hit him.
Carter gives me a knowing look as I hug Indiana, and the kids, wishing them all a Merry Christmas. I called him last night when I went for a walk to cool down. He has a daughter too, even though Eve’s only five. But he gets me. He’s going to be facing this same shit in the years to come.
I direct Indi and the kids towards the kitchen where Candice, Maddie and CJ are, while I offer to help Carter get the gifts and their luggage out of his car. It will also give us time to put a plan in place.
“Has the twat-waffle arrived yet?” Carter asks as we walk down the front path. I chuckle at his use of words, even though I’m still pissed he stole that from me. That’s my damn word.
“Not yet,” I reply as I exhale a deflated breath.
“Hang in there, big fella.” He gives me a sympathetic smile as he taps my back. “After today this may no longer be a problem.”
One can only hope .
I’m so glad he’s here. He’s always had my back, like I do his.
Spending Christmas Eve together has become our family ritual.
After the kids open their presents from Santa, on Christmas morning, we have a big breakfast feast. Carter and his family will head to his parent’s house tomorrow for lunch.
Candice, the kids and I will spend the rest of the day with Sophia and Brendan.
“Fuck me,” I say when I see the overstuffed trailer attached to the rear of his SUV. “Did you ram-raid Santa’s workshop?”
“Fuck off, cock,” he chuckles. “You know what Indi’s like, she always goes over the top.”
“Candice is just the same.”
“Look on the bright side, at least business is doing well, otherwise we’d be looking for second jobs just to keep up with our wife’s spending habits.”
Our Wicked Ink franchise is booming. We have a total of fifteen stores now, located in three different states, and have plans to expand.
“Exactly,” I laugh. We often joke about the girls when they’re not around, it’s what husbands do. But deep down, we both know how lucky we are to have them. I’m not sure if either of us would be where we are today if it wasn’t for their love and support.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Carter says, removing the cover from the trailer and reaching down between a pile of gifts, pulling out a shopping bag.
“I bought you something. I remembered seeing it in a store a few months back, so I ducked out and got it before we left. It made me think of Eve, at the time … but seriously dude, you’ve gotta wear this today. ”
Without thinking, I reach into the bag, pulling out the T-shirt inside. I throw my head back and roar laughing when I hold it up and read what it says. Yep, he so gets me. This is why he’s my best friend.
Rules for dating my daughter:
Understand I don’t like you
Get a job
I’m everywhere