It'll Be Your Name on My Last Breath

“Little man’s first trip out of the country,” Jake smiled once we were stepping off the plane.

The little boy just grumbled in his arms and nuzzled into his chest more. He was so tired. Poor thing. It was cute though. He clung to Jake tightly, leaving me to get our bags. Moving quickly, we found the car that was to take us to the hotel. Once we were there, Jake put Liam down… and collapsed onto the other bed.

“I wonder if Eli and Calyn made it yet?” I wondered out loud as I checked my phone.

I didn’t send her anything… and wasn’t sure if I should. I mean, we’re overseas, so texting could be expensive. Letting it go, I fell next to Jake with a huff.

“Didn’t they get an earlier flight before us?” he asked, glancing over at me.

“I thought so, but… I don’t know if they had any connecting flights or anything,” I sighed… and texted her anyway. My best friend is worth an extra fifty cents!

I waited a few minutes before I got one in return. It… wasn’t from Calyn though. It was… from my baby’s daddy.

“Wil wants to hang out with Liam for a bit,” I told Jake, feeling like I had to tell someone.

“No,” he was quick to reply.

“Why?” I glanced over at him quickly.

“Because he can’t have him,” was his genius of a response.

“Jake,” I huffed and put my head in my hand.

“I don’t see why he’s all wanting to be a dad now,” he countered.

“But what’s wrong with it?” I just didn’t get him!

“What if he just bails out and doesn’t want to see Liam for months like before?” he was getting a little testy.

“But what if he doesn’t? What if he just wants to be his dad?” I was trying to stay calm, but… the jetlag was working against me.

“You’re going to take that risk with your son?” he sat up now.

“Why do you have such a piss pour attitude about this? Liam always has you. Why does it matter to you if Wil’s involved or not?” I couldn’t hold it in.

“Because it’s going to happen again. He’s going to start not seeing him for a day and then two, three, weeks, months. Why are you letting this happen?”

“Just because you’re jealous, doesn’t make it ok that you think Liam shouldn’t see his father.”

“You know what? He’s your son. You do whatever you think is right,” he threw out there.

I knew he was upset. And the slight sliver of pain flashed over his eyes wasn’t helping the way I felt right now. But… why can’t they just get along? They’re going to have to if Jake and I are going to be together. I regret even telling Wil… but then if I didn’t I would regret not telling him. This is just a stupid situation and if I had a good head on my shoulders when I was sixteen, I wouldn’t be in this predicament right now!

“I know that… you’ve grown into… his daddy role,” I started.

“Ky, just don’t,” he shook his head and got to his feet.

“He loves you, Jake. And no matter what, you’ve been the most consistent father figure in his life,” I kept going.

“Ok,” he was huffing now.

“He… wouldn’t call you daddy if that weren’t the case,” I softened my tone once I was next to him.

He let out a long sigh before slowly looking over at me. I couldn’t keep my smile from curling at my lips either. This made Jake’s start to peak through as well. He blinked and then looked back at the sleepy boy.

“You’ll always be his Jakey,” I added, giving him a playful nudge. “And mine.”

“I hope so,” he countered and hooked an arm around me.

My reply was reaching up to leave a soft kiss on his cheek. It brought more of his smile through. There we go! Everyone’s happy again.

“Can I… be honest with you for a second though?” I asked softly.

“Yeah,” he countered, letting his brow wrinkle up.

“I wish… you and Wil would really try and get along,” I sighed.

“I know,” he huffed as well.

“But…” I knew it was coming.

“I’ll… try,” he told me.

“Really?” I was so hopeful… and wasn’t expecting that.

“Yeah,” he smiled once more.

“And if it doesn’t work out after this, I’ll leave it alone. I promise!” I compromised.

“Ok,” he chuckled now, “Go take Liam to see him,” he went on, reaching down to give my ass a playful smack.

“You going to be ok with that, papa?” I teased.

“I think so,” he smiled and reached in to rub his nose against mine.

“I’ll be back,” I assured him and stepped out of his reach.

Gently, I woke Liam up. He still seemed a bit sleepy, but when I told him that he was going to see his father, he perked up a little. Before we left, he went over and gave Jake a hug and a kiss and told him that he’d see him later. It put the biggest smile on Jake’s face. He so needed to hear that. I was still hopeful that Jake and Wil are going to eventually get along once again some day. Until then though, we’re just going to have to keep working like this… and worry about the race coming up.