We've Got Unfinished Business

My mom didn't have to work today so I texted Alex and asked if we could meet somewhere instead of my house. I wasn't ready to introduce him to my mom and I don't think he was ready to meet her. He texted me back saying we couldn't meet in public because Lisa might find out. It hurt to hear that, but I had to deal with it for now. He told me that we could meet at Vic and Mike's house in an hour.

Kellin was just walking in for his lunch break. I didn't tell him that Alex came over yesterday or that I think he accepted Aubrey as his daughter. I thought it would be best that I told him in person.

"Hey. Why are you two dressed? Where are you going?" He causally asked as he grabbed Aubrey out of my arms and sat on my bed.

"Um were going to Vic's house." I said and he looked at me confused.

"Why?"

"Because we're going to meet Alex there."

"...why?"

"Alex came over yesterday after Vic talked to him. He actually held Aubrey for a little bit and it seemed liked he finally believed she is his."

"Wow really?"

"Yeah. So I'm going to take her over Vic's so Alex can spend more time with her. Also maybe we can talk about what will happen in the future. Like if he wants to be a part of her life or not." I said.

"That's great! I honestly thought he would never believe you." He said and I chuckled.

"I know. I was nervous the entire time he was here yesterday. I thought he was just stopping by to tell me to stop spreading rumors or something."

"Thankfully he didn't or I would have broken his ribs. He's already skating on thin ice because of that Dancing with a wolf piece of shit song." He said bitterly.

"He apologized about the song yesterday." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"He shouldn't have wrote it. Right Aubrey?"

Kellin spent the rest of his break playing with Aubrey and eating a quick lunch he begged me to make him. Then he left around the time Aubrey and I was leaving to meet up with Alex. I told my mom that I was going to meet up with a friend. I was trying not to lie to her as much as I used to.

We made our way to Vic and Mike's house and Alex's car was already in their driveway. I got out and got Aubrey and her diaper bag. Then we went to the door and rang the doorbell.

"Hey Jack." Vic said as he opened the door for me.

"Hey." I greeted him back. He moved to the side and let us walk into the house. Alex was sitting in the living room talking with Mike, but they both stopped when we walked in.

"We're going to give you two well three sometime alone." Vic said and he and Mike walked upstairs.

"Hi." Alex finally said once we were alone.

"Hey, how are you?"

"Good, and you two?"

"We're doing okay. She hasn't had a nap yet so she might become a little cranky." I warned him and he nodded. "Do you want to hold her again?" I asked.

"Yeah." He smiled and I handed her over. He sat her on his lap supporting her back with his arm. "She's so quiet." He said and I chuckled.

"She won't be once she warms up to you."

He bounced her up and down for a few minutes and tickled her sides. He was just doing anything to make her smile. His phone started to buzz from a text message and he picked it up. Before he could unlock it, Aubrey grabbed it from his hands.

"Hey that's mine." He told her.

"She loves cellphones." I said. "But she also loves to try to eat them so you should probably grab it back."

"She can play with it. As long as I don't see it go to your mouth." He told her. She looked up at him as she brought his phone closer to her mouth.

"No." Alex said as he pulled her hand away from her mouth. She grunted at him and tried to bring it back to her mouth. "No no." He said and pulled it away again.

Aubrey stuck out her bottom lip, something she just learned would sometimes work on me. It was either that or her crying that made me cave in.

"Awww no don't give me that face." Alex chuckled. Once Aubrey noticed he wasn't going to let her put his phone in her mouth she started crying.

"Aubrey we don't want to hear it." I told her.

"Oh no I'm sorry, but you can't eat my phone." Alex took his phone and put Aubrey against his shoulder. He rubbed her back trying to calm her down and it worked. She quickly forgot about his phone and found interest in his hair.

"Alex-" I tried to warn him, but she had quickly grabbed a chunk of it and pulled.

"Ow!" Alex cried. I laughed as I helped untangle her tiny hands from his hair.

"My mom had to stop wearing hoop earrings because of her. But she's only doing mischievous things because she's getting sleepy. Just give her a minute and she'll began to fall asleep."

"You just better be happy you're cute." He smiled at her and she giggled.

I went into Aubrey's bag and pulled out something I thought Alex needed to see. I brought over her birth certificate so there would be no doubt in his mind that I actually had Aubrey.

"What's that?" He asked.

"It's her birth certificate. I wanted you to see it." I told him.

"Oh okay." He said as he slowly took it from me. He read over the front and the words that named me as her mother, since I was the one who had her, and a blank spot for the father.

"Aubrielle Marie Barakat." He said to himself.

"My mom picked her name." I chuckled.

"It's nice. I like it!"

"But do you believe me now?" I asked and he sighed.

"Yeah. I believe you. I have a daughter." He said and kissed Aubrey on the cheek. I was so happy I moved closer to him and hugged him. He chuckled as he hugged me back.

"I just don't know how to break this news to Lisa. Shit or my parents." He sighed.

"I just blurted it out to my mom, if that helps." I said and he laughed.

"I probably won't blurt it out to them but I'll tell them some time after the wedding."

"So you're still going to marry her?" I asked without thinking.

"Yes Jack. Did you honestly think I would call it quits with Lisa? I know we have a kid together but that doesn't mean we can be together. Even if I wanted to I couldn't because you're still underage." He said and I felt my eyes water.

"Yeah. You're right." I mumbled. I took deep breaths to hold back my tears.

Alex could probably sense that I was upset, but he choose to ignore it. That was probably best. He brought Aubrey to his chest and she sleepily laid her head on his shoulder. He rubbed her back slowly and her eyelids became heavy. She finally closed her eyes and fell asleep on Alex's shoulder. I grabbed her blanket out of her diaper bag and Alex laid her on one of the couch cushions. I placed her blanket over her and a pillow next to her just in case she tried to roll over off of the couch.

"I didn't mean to come off harsh, I just don't want you to get your hopes up over something that could never be." He whispered.

"I know. I don't know what I was thinking." I whispered back and shook my head. I wanted to desperately bring up how I would be eighteen in three months, but I didn't.

"It's alright. So should I give you money every month or something?" He asked and I frowned.

"Money to keep me quiet about her? We don't need your mon-"

"No no I mean money to help you support her. I mean I can buy a lot while I'm here, but when I'm on tour or in New York I can't." He clarified.

"Oh...sorry. Um you don't have to if you don't want to. My mom buys her everything she could ever want and I spend my child support check from my dad on other things that she needs." I said and he took a deep breath as if something was wrong. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing it's just...you can still get child support checks." He said and I grew confused. How was that a problem?

"Yeah I will until I turn eighteen." I said and then it clicked. He was still bothered by my age. "Oh yeah I guess that is kind of weird."

"How did I not notice you were so young? I mean now it seems obvious, but then I was blind to it."

"Well I did sort of lie to you, there really wasn't a way for you to find out the truth without someone telling you." I said.

"But I still feel like I should have been able to figure it out. How were you even able to spend the night with me so much?" He asked.

"Well my mom is a doctor and she would work night shifts. So I could spend all night with you and leave early in the morning before she got home." I told him and he placed his palms over his eyes.

"That's why you left every morning."

"Yeah that's why." I exhaled.

"Wow I'm actually surprised you were able to fool me for so long." He said and I blushed embarrassingly. I didn't like talking about the many lies I told him.

"I don't think you'll ever understand how sorry I am." I apologized.

"No no it’s cool. I'm over it now, plus you taught me a valuable lesson." He chuckled.

"What's that?"

"I began ID-ing every person I was interested in. Lisa had to show me her license when we first met." He said and I chuckled. "But back to Aubrey. I'll be sure to drop money in your account every month for her. I'm sure she'll want more toys or food or whatever babies like. I want her to make up the time I missed with her. So right now she can have whatever she wants and more." He said smiling down at Aubrey.

"She has enough toys, but we'll take anything you'll give her. I was going to open up a savings account for her for college pretty soon."

"That's smart." He said.

"It was my mom’s idea."

"Does your mom know that I'm the father?" He asked.

"No. I told her that I was a little promiscuous and that I didn't know who could possibly be the dad. Of course she doesn't believe me and she knows I'm hiding someone, but she doesn't know who." I said.

"Oh do you think she would flip if she met me?"

"I'm not really sure. I would like to believe she wouldn't, but she might surprise me. I think the age difference would piss her off." I said and he nodded understandingly.

"I didn't tell my parents the truth about our break-up for that very reason. I was afraid they were going to flip. That's why I'm scared to introduce them to Aubrey. My mom's gonna want to know who's the mom and that's just going to complicate everything."

"Well take your time and tell them whenever you're ready." I told him.

"I will. Are you going to wait until you are eighteen to tell your mom the truth?"

"Yeah. I know it won't change how angry she is, but it'll probably stop her from attempting to call the cops." I said and he laughed.

"Thanks."

"Mhm. So what are you going to do with the rest of your time here in Baltimore?" I asked.

"Well next weekend is my bachelor’s party and then this weekend me and the guys are going to play at another festival. Lisa's never heard me play live so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for her to."

"Oh sounds fun." I said with faux enthusiasm.

"Yeah it should be." It sounded like he wanted to say more but he didn't. I was wondering if he was going to ask me to come, but he wouldn't want me there with Lisa there.

Mike came down a few seconds later he had his fingers in his ears so he wouldn't over hear our conversation. "Ignore me." He said.

"No it's okay. I probably should get going anyways. Lisa wants to double date with her, Cass, and Rian." Alex said.

"Oh okay. Well we'll see you later." I said.

"Yeah I'll try to visit you two tomorrow if I have time." He stood up. He went over to Aubrey and kissed her on the cheek.

"Okay." I said and stood up too.

"Here I'll carry her to your car." He said as he picked Aubrey up.

We walked outside and he walked to the back seat of my car. I opened the door for them and he carefully placed her in the car seat. Thankfully she didn't wake up as he strapped her in the seat. He kissed her one last time then lightly closed the door so it wouldn't make a loud noise.

"Bye, Jack." He said as he opened his arms to hug me.

"Bye, Alex." I hugged him.

We pulled apart and went our separate ways.

Notes

Wow Alex has no intention of leaving Lisa right now.

Next Chapter is one of my favorites!