Jason looked across the table at Jax. They sat in the house Jax and Golden shared. Drew and Golden were out back, checking out the things growing out there, so Jax and his brother could talk this out.
No one was talking.
“I did the math,” Jason said.
“I did, too.”
Jason tilted his head some. “And what did you come up with?”
“That he’s likely mine.”
Jason nodded. “Yeah.”
Silence fell between them.
“I deserve this,” Jax said flatly. “I screwed you over, and now I get this.”
“He’s a kid, not a punishment.”
“I didn’t mean that,” Jax said. He scrubbed his hands over his face before leaning forward. “I just meant… like Golden said… there are consequences to what I did. I thought I’d finally made things right. Now I find out I didn’t. Nowhere close.”
“How’s Golden taking this?”
Jax smiled. “We’d just talked about possibly adopting. A baby. Not pre-teen with a potty mouth.” Jax chuckled. “Golden’s already ready to play dad.”
“And you’re not.”
Jax sighed. “I’m struggling with the fact this could be a permanent reminder of what I did to you. As if I wasn’t guilty enough.”
“I’ve already forgiven you. Maybe it’s time you forgave yourself… for the sake of the boy.” Jason took a deep breath. “And who knows. Maybe he’s not yours and you’re only an uncle.”
“I think we both sense who the father is here.”
Jason did. “But we don’t know for sure.”
“Sounds like we won’t truly ever know,” Jax said. “Either way, one or the both of us takes care of this kid. Agreed?”
Jason nodded, the sight of the kid coming in with a trash bag hitting him hard. “He deserves a real home… and a real family. You ready to give him that?”
“Ready? No, but I’ll figure it out.” Jax sighed again and rubbed his bearded chin. “As if I didn’t need more stress. This whole loan bullshit is going to make me go gray.”
“Is it that bad?”
Jax nodded. “We’re barely staying above water. As fast as it’s coming in, it’s going right back out to cover paychecks and costs.”
“I could help,” Jason said.
“I can’t ask you for help.”
“Why can’t you?”
Jax lifted his gaze. “Your money’s tied up in those lost houses and a bakery.”
“I’m not hurting, Jax.”
Jax frowned. “You came to us to buy those properties.”
“No, I don’t have millions of cash sitting in the bank, nor the kind of connections that could’ve gotten me the bankroll to buy all those houses. That doesn’t mean I’m broke, Jax. Quite the opposite.”
Jax sat up straighter. “I still can’t ask you to bail our company out.”
“If the Kent Street project is what put you guys under water, then you damned straight can.” Jason thought about it for a moment. “You said Damien was leaving… so he’s no longer a partner?”
“He’s out. We still owe him a small sum, but he’s floating it to us until Kent Street’s done.”
“How much would you guys need in order to feel comfortable again?”
Jax looked thoughtful before shaking his head. “It’s too much, Jason.”
“How much?”
“At least three hundred thousand, if not four.”
Jason paused a moment. “That enough to become a partner in the company?”
Jax eyed him. “Merge your company with ours?”
“Yeah.”
Jax nodded slightly, making it appear he was interested. “Let me talk to Linc and Colt and see what they think.”
“Fair enough,” Jason said, offering his brother a hand.
They shook on it before Drew and Golden came back inside.
“Who’s ready for dinner?” Golden asked the trio.
“I can’t stay,” Jason said, rising. He had a full agenda of things to do and was already behind.
“You can stay and have dinner with Drew, can’t you, Uncle Jason?” Golden said, smiling. He handed a stack of plates and silverware to Drew. “You can set the table.”
“Okay,” Drew said, happily heading for the dining room.
“I might not be Uncle Jason,” he whispered back.
Golden shrugged. “We might never know,” he said. “But one way or another, he’s your blood and you’re going to sit down and eat with us like a family.”
“What’s for dinner?”
“Pizza,” Golden said with a grin. “I just ordered it on my phone.”
“Such a special family meal,” Jason chided with a grin.
“It’s been a long day,” Golden said. “Tomorrow’s going to be even longer. I’m going to shop for some clothes for the kid… and get him registered for school. Maybe you can come help.”
“Clothes shopping? No thanks.”
The doorbell rang, and Jax got up to answer it, leaving Jason and Golden alone.
Golden picked at Jason’s t-shirt. “You could use a few new things yourself, McScruff.”
“I build houses. Most of my shit is just that… shit.”
“You’re wooing a man. You need to look good.”
“Wooing?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I think that’s a bit of a stretch,” Jason said.
“Why?” Golden frowned.
“Drew has added a wrinkle. I can’t move forward unless I know what happens there.”
Golden clicked his tongue. “Life happens, Jason. Seeing how well Zach rolls with the punches is a good way to see if he’s got staying power. Plus it’s only been a couple of weeks… it can’t be serious already. Just hang out on occasion and get to know each other. By the time we’ve made a decision, you and he can see if it’s time to shift gears, one way or another.”
“He came into this thinking I was completely free. Did you see how he wanted to get out of there when Drew was there.”
“Did you ask him about it?” Golden asked.
“Yeah… he said he didn’t want to be in the way. That he wasn’t family and didn’t belong there.”
Golden shrugged as Jax came into the kitchen with four boxes of pizza, followed by Drew.
“You feeding an army?” Jason asked.
“You saw this kid eat,” Golden said before turning to Jax. “You guys carry all that to the dining room. Jason and I will be right there.”
Jax eyed them both before leading the kid to the dining room, pizza in hand.
Golden turned to Jason once they were as alone as they could be. “Maybe that’s all it was. Maybe he thought he was overstepping by staying. If I’d been in his shoes, I think I might’ve felt that way.”
“Hopefully you’re right.”
“You both better get in here before Drew inhales it all,” Jax called from the dining room.
Jason chuckled as he saw Jax and Drew play fighting over a slice. Jax might think he wasn’t ready, but he was perfect dad material. His brother just didn’t see it.
That is, if he was Drew’s father.
When he reached the table, he sat down across from Drew and took a couple of slices from the nearest box.
“Where’s Uncle Zach?” Drew asked sarcastically, using air quotes around the word uncle.
“You’re a little asshole, you know that, right?” Jason asked the kid.
Drew smiled widely. “Yep.”
Jason laughed but quickly realized the sound of Uncle Zach sounded pretty damned good.
“Eat your pizza, brat.”
Drew wiggled his eyebrows and kept on chewing.
* * * *
Monday passed without Zach hearing from Jason. No one came to check the jobsite. After checking with Jason’s foremans, all he heard was Jason was dealing with personal business. Zach glanced at his phone throughout the day, hoping for something, but was disappointed.
By the end of Tuesday, Zach was going nuts. He had a list of things he needed answers on, but he didn’t want to bother the man. If Jason wanted to talk, he knew how to get ahold of Zach.
Midway through Wednesday, he finally got a text. Come to my house tonight after work. The workday then began to crawl and every issue that could arise, did. He was finally done when the sun had gone down. When he finally arrived on Jason’s doorstep, he was dirty and exhausted.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” Jason said after he’d opened the door.
“Shitty day.”
Jason ushered him inside. “Anything I should know?”
“I’ve got a list of issues,” Zach said before stretching his arms over his head. “They can wait until the morning,” he added before catching Jason’s gaze. “You will be back tomorrow, won’t you?”
“Yeah,” Jason said. “Why don’t you go take a shower? I’ll order us some takeout.”
Zach sighed. “Yeah.”
Thirty minutes later, they sat at the kitchen island, eating Thai food. “Mind me asking where you’ve been?”
“Spent some time with Drew and social services… got him some clothes and basics with Golden. Golden and I registered him in school. Took a DNA test, along with Jax, which we already know will more than likely come back as both of us being the father since we’re identical twins.”
“So what are you two going to do?”
“Golden did some research… seems there’s a newer test that might be able to tell which one of us actually is the father. We did the math, though. From Drew’s birthday back—we both could indeed be the dad. But there’s a strong chance the kid is Jax’s.”
“How does that make you feel?”
Jason shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“After what I did… you were angry. Golden thought it was because I brought up memories of what Jax did. This isn’t doing the same thing?”
Jason lowered his bowl and scrubbed a hand over his face. He turned to Zach. “I was angry because I wanted you… and I feared you wanted Jax. Yeah, it brought back some memories I thought I’d buried. This is different somehow.” He held Zach’s stare. “It doesn’t involve you.”
“I hate that I caused the two of you to fight.”
“It wasn’t really a fight. It was me getting drunk and being an asshole.”
Zach went back to his food, not sure how much more digging he should do. He wanted to know everything and how he could help. But they didn’t have that kind of relationship yet.
Yet.
“If Drew turns out to be mine? How does that make you feel?”
Zach shrugged. “How should it make me feel?”
“Do you like kids?”
“They’re okay,” he answered before realizing what Jason was truly asking. He lowered his fork. “What are you asking me?”
“When you met me, I didn’t have a kid. Now, I might. Some guys aren’t interested in someone with children.”
“I like you,” Zach said. “Kids or no.”
Jason smiled before leaning over and capturing a kiss.
They returned to their food.
A few minutes later, Zach couldn’t help asking. “So, we’re a thing?”
“I suppose so,” Jason answered. “A slow thing, if you’re okay with that.”
“Slow? We’ve already had sex.”
Jason grinned. “Slow as far as defining what we are to one another.”
Zach nodded. “Okay.” A smile grew on his face and he turned to see Jason wore one, too.
Jason leaned in and stole another kiss. A kiss that led to a round of hot, kitchen sex on every available surface. When they were done, Zach chuckled breathlessly from the kitchen floor. He stared up at the ceiling. “Good thing you don’t cook food in here yet.”
“Soon,” Jason said. He turned to his side and drew Zach close. “It’ll be a gourmet kitchen… and I’ll still want kitchen sex. That was hot as hell.”
“It was hot because this place doesn’t have air conditioning and it’s unseasonably warm.”
“The HVAC is coming soon, too.”
They lay there silently a few more minutes, recovering. Jason laid gentle kisses on Zach’s neck, cheek, and shoulder.
“I was thinking you could bring some clothes… for nights like this,” Jason whispered. “So you can stay over after work on occasion.”
“I’d like that,” Zach said. “But what if Drew comes to live here?”
“We’ll figure that out once it comes.”
Zach smiled. “Good plan.”