I'll Be Waiting up Counting the Stars

"Okay Jack attack, where do you want to go today?" I asked from the front seat of the car. Today was our fourteenth day together.

"The dinosaur museum!" He answered immediately.

"The dinosaur museum it is." I nodded as I put the car in drive.

"Austin, are you gonna tell mama soon? I don't like lying to her." He spoke up.

I sighed, feeling bad for putting this kid through such a fucked up situation.

"Trust me, bud, I want to tell her as bad as you, but I'm waiting for the right time. Uh, how is she?" I asked, trying to seem like I didn't care too much.

"She's still sad. I mean, she smiles and stuff but she's still upset. When she gets sad or mad she cleans a lot and she cleaned every night this week." He told me.

She was still sad about the break up? If that's what you want to call it.

I kept replaying that day over in my mind. I should have made Alex tell me before I went over there. Or when I saw Jack I should've told her that it was okay and I would love him too. I fucked up so bad. The worst part is that I was too afraid to fix it.

We pulled up to the natural history museum and got out of the car. I held his hand through the parking lot and we walked into the nearly empty building. He knew exactly where the dinosaur exhibits were probably because Janie had taken him here a lot. She needed to stop letting the kid learn so much.

"Herbivore means you only eat plants, and carnivore means you only eat meat." He babbled as we walked through.

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket and pulled it out, recognizing my manager's number right away.

"Hey buddy, I have to take this call. I'll be right back, okay?" I told him.

He looked up at me and nodded before continuing to look at the skeletons.

"Hello?" I asked, stepping off to a corner.

"Hey Austin. What's up?" He asked.

"Not much, man. What's up with you?" I replied.

"I got you on tour with All Time Low, dude. The venues are gonna be big and loud!" He cheered.

"Tim...now isn't a great time for a tour, bro." I sighed.

"But Austin-" He began. I glanced back to where Jack was standing a second before, and my heart dropped into my stomach.

"I gotta go." I said quickly, before snapping my phone shut. "Jack!" I called out as I jogged through the museum.

"Sir-" a security guard said as he cut me off at the entrance to another part of the building.

"My kid, I'm looking for my kid. He's about yay tall, blue eyes, brown hair, wearing a jean jacket and cowboy boots." I rambled to the guard, straining my neck to look all around.

"I haven't seen him but you can go to the front desk and-"

I pushed past the old guy and ran further into the museum looking for him. I looked down through the geology section, the dinosaur exhibits, and the rain forest section with no luck.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." I muttered as I ran a hand through my hair.

If I were Jack, where would I be?

"Sir, are you looking for your son?" I heard a voice ask.

"Yes! Have you seen him?" I responded frantically to the middle aged woman.

"I believe he's in the astronomy section." She replied.

"Thanks!" I yelled before running off in the direction she was pointing to.

As I rounded a corner I sighed in relief when I saw the tiny kid standing in the middle of the room.

"Jack! You can't just run off like that, dude. I've been looking everywhere!" I cried as I ran to hug him. "What're you doin'?" I asked.

"I was trying to count all the stars but I keep getting stuck after a hundred." He replied sadly.

"They've been trying to count the stars for years, buddy." I chuckled.

"How long does it take?" He asked.

"A long time." I replied.

"Were you waiting to count all the stars before you talked to mama?"

Janie

I sluggishly typed up the complaint against Jed in the mail room for drinking on the job when my phone rang.

"Hello, this Jane Carter." I answered.

"Jane? It's Lisa from the front desk. There's a man here to see you." She told me.

Oh my God. I bet it's Austin! Who else would be coming to see me at work?

"Let him right up. I'm in my office." I told her.

"Alright." She said.

"Thanks." I replied.

I saved my draft of the report and pulled out my compact mirror, fixing my eyeliner and my bangs. Ugh, why do I even care? He said he didn't want Jack, right? Well, he did take it back...

My thoughts were cut short when my office door opened and in walked my worst nightmare. My throat went dry and my palms started to sweat.

"Janie lanie. How are you?" He asked softly with his gorgeous grin and Irish accent.

"Wh- what are you doing here, Jacob?" I asked nervously, staring into his familiar blue eyes.

"I made a huge mistake, Janie. I'm so, so sorry. I went back to Scotland and for the past four years you and the baby have been all I could think about. I thought leaving was for the best because you'd be such a great mother and I'd be a horrid father, but I can't stop thinking about ya, dear." He confessed. Oh God he made me melt.

"So what are you saying?" I asked.

"I want to meet my son."