“Where’s your lady of the night, then?” Amy asked, making a show of craning her neck to look around the club.
“She’ll be here, don’t you worry,” I replied.
Amy grinned, “I still don’t understand why you don’t just marry the damn woman.”
Carter laughed over his drink, “That’d give his old man cardiac arrest babe. No, Jax deserves a ‘queen,’” he placed his glass down to air quote the word queen, “Nothing but class for our Jax,” he continued to mock, using my father’s words.
“It’s 2020; surely he doesn’t still have such a massive stick up his ass?”
Both carter and I laughed at that one before I answered, “Oh, he does. Archibald Murdoch is a square at heart. The dealing coke is just a front, darling.”
We each grew silent as we sipped our drinks, it didn’t escape me that Amy, lover of all things alcoholic, was drinking orange juice. She never drank orange juice, and when her eyes met mine, she knew I was figuring out their little secret.
Her greens grew wild with excitement, and then she was pulling Carter to her side. “So, Jax, we have a little something to tell you.”
My back was rod straight as I waited for them to spit it out.
They shared a glance at each other, and Amy’s voice penetrated the music blasting overhead. “How do you feel about changing your name?” They both laughed, leaving me confused as fuck.
“What? Fuck, spit it out, will you?” I grumbled, despite the muscles in my mouth desperately trying to create a smile.
Carter spoke next, “We reckon ‘uncle’ Jax has a nice ring to it.” His smile was so fucking infectious as his worlds spiraled around my brain. Fuck me.
“What?” I bellowed, getting to my feet, “No fucking way, Paulson!” I hurried to hug my best friend, our hands slapped each other’s back, and I never thought I’d be so fucking happy to hear the news of a baby before.
“Way, man! She’s twelve weeks, look.” He reached into his suit, pulling out a grainy black and white photo, handing it to me, the smile never wavered from his face. “We got this today. Fucking amazing, right?”
With one hand on the photo, my eyes studying the small image of a child very much wanted and longed for, I pulled Amy into my side and kissed her forehead. “Congratulations, sweetheart. You’re going to be a fucking amazing mother.”
She swatted my arm and placed a protective hand against the tiny swell of her belly. “Hey, no swearing around infants.”
Resuming our seats, Carter took the bottle of champagne from Pretty Thing, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the ultrasound photo. It was so clear you could see the little thing’s spine, the shape of its head, the outline of feet.
I had to give it to Carter: he was a braver man than I. The thought of me ever reproducing filled me with a dread that left a bitter taste in my mouth. Carter had his fair share of problems, despite them though, and by the look on his goofy as shit face, I knew, with no uncertainty, that he was going to be a goddamn perfect father. His chance to show himself and the world that he wasn’t a carbon copy of his own.
Carter’s father, Derek, was a mean sonofabitch with a penchant for younger girls, heroin, and a side of armed robbery.
“Let’s make a toast,” I declared, pouring Carter and I some bubbly, and topping up Amy’s orange juice, “To Amy, Carter and this-” I waved the photo, “bundle of absolute fucking, sorry, joy. To a happy, healthy nine months!” We raised our glasses, and all took a drink. Fuck me; this night was getting better and better.
Not long after Amy and Carter’s announcement, I felt the warmth of a body I knew very well slide up to me, dainty hands wrapping around my neck.
Before I knew it, I had one delicious Mindy sitting sideways on my lap. “Hey, Murdoch,” she purred in an accent that should have been illegal. She looked incredible. She was working tonight, so she wore a barely-there gold bikini, her rosy red nipples visible beneath the thin material of her bra. She straddled my lap, turning her back on the couple opposite us, and as she opened her legs, my eyes flew between her thighs, where I could see the edges of her waxed pussy. Jesus. Her poker-straight, bleach-blonde hair was so long now it brushed against my knees as I held her to my chest, my hands gripping her ass.
“Jesus Christ, Mind. You know how to drive a man to insanity,” I brushed the hair from her neck, sinking my teeth into her soft flesh, inhaling her familiar rosy scent. She laughed and pulled from me, taking the tequila from the table and swigging straight from the bottle.
She shuddered then turned her head to face the couple still wrapped in each other’s arms. “So, what’s the occasion?”
Carter and Amy looked over at us, and in unison, they said, “We’re pregnant!”
Mindy screeched, jumping from my lap to run at the pair, wrapping her arms around the both of them.
After lots of congratulations, questions about due dates, birth plans, and names, we all settled into the booth and shared stories over our drinks.
It was nearing midnight when Amy dragged me to my feet, “Dance with me, Jax?”
I threw a glance towards Carter, who laughed, “Bring her back in once piece, alright?”
Amy’s fingers slipped between mine as she pulled me to the middle of the dance floor. Always the center for Amy, where she could have the most eyes on her. Her silver dress dipped low at the front, even lower at the back, and I shook my head, unable to fight the smile. For a woman, barely five feet, she was strong. The music changed to something softer, sexier, slower, and I groaned; dancing wasn’t my thing, and she knew it.
“Relax, Jax. You look like you’ve stolen your dad’s stick,” she teased, her hands snaked up my chest, her hands in my hair, our bodies swaying in time to the beat around us.
“Only for you, would I embarrass myself like this, you know that?” I asked.
She nodded, “I know. Thank you. Carter is even more of a reluctant dancer than you are.”
We were quiet for a moment, letting the pulse of the gentle guitar blow a bubble around us, enveloping us. Purple, blue, and pink lights danced across her face, setting her green eyes on fire.
I let my finger trace the outline of her jaw, moving from her bare collarbone, down her ribcage, finishing on the slight bump of her belly. “I am so fucking happy for you guys,” I breathed, the mix of alcohol, baby news, and the few lines I’d snorted, creating an emotional tornado inside of me. Her eyes suddenly lost a bit of their glow, the spark we all knew so well, and I frowned, lifting her chin to look at me. “What’s up, darling?”
Her eyes shimmered with tears, and she laughed, shaking her head. “Ugh, nothing. These damn hormones.” She laid her head on my chest, and I smoothed back her hair, our feet never moving, our hips in time with one another’s. It was a beautiful moment and a moment that told me just how things would change once this little one was here. I didn’t profess to be the most paternal of men, but even I knew that babies changed shit. I figured tonight, Amy’s need to be close to me, was our unspoken way of saying goodbye to our trio.
“Do you ever think about it, Jax?” her voice asked, sending chills all over my skin.
I cleared my throat, feeling uncomfortable, “No. And neither should you, okay?”