Don't You Go and Carry On With Your Life

Jack

Today Kellin was turning seventeen. He begged me not to cry like I did last year, I couldn’t help myself. He was one step closer to graduating high school and going to college. I couldn't help but feel sad when thinking about him leaving me and growing up.

"Daddy please, I can't breathe." He pleaded as I hugged him tightly.

"Just a few more minutes." I said and continued to hold on to him. As soon as he got out of bed I wrapped him in my arms and I haven't let him go.

I kissed him on the cheek and finally released him a few minutes later. He exhaled in relief and laid back down in his bed. "You can hug me as long as you want when I turn eighteen." He promised.

"I don't want to hear any complaints when it's been over two hours and I'm still hugging you." I joked and he laughed.

"Happy Burt-Day Kelly." Kylie told him. I told her to say 'happy birthday' to Kellin today and that was the closest she could get to it.

"Thanks Kyls." He chuckled. He threw on his pajama shirt and followed us downstairs so he could eat the breakfast we made him.

We were celebrating Kellin's birthday tonight by having a family dinner. It was just going to be my side of the family celebrating with him. I'm not sure if he made plans with Alex and his parents yet.

"I invited Vic to come tonight, is that okay?" Kellin asked.

"Yeah as long as you're ready for your whole family to question him." I chucked and he sighed.

"Yeah might as well get it over with."

"I invited Austin, is that okay?" I asked using the same tone he did. Kellin met Austin two weekends ago when I invited him over for dinner. They seemed to get along great, but Kellin said Alex and I were better for each other.

"Um yeah, it just might be a little weird with him and my Dad there." He said and I dropped my fork.

"You invited Alex??" This was the first time I was hearing if this.

"Yeah and grandma and grandpa. I don't want to have two separate dinner parties. I can just have one and invite everyone and get it over with."

"And you don't think this dinner is going to turn into a family WWE wrestling match?" I asked and he laughed.

"No Daddy, I'm expecting everyone to get along because they're there for me. If anything happens then we can deal with it then."

". . . You don't think Joe's going to do anything when he sees Alex?"

"Well no because his kids are going to be there. Trust me I'm positive this dinner is going to work out perfectly." He said confidently and I nodded. I wasn't as sure as he was, but I wasn't going to tell him who he could and couldn't invite. I just knew it was going to at least be awkward with Alex side of the family and my side of the family being together tonight. They haven't been together since our Memorial Day family barbeque last year before Alex and my divorce.

"Okay if you say so."

"Can Vic come over and ride with us?" He asked, ignoring my worrying.

"Yeah, just tell him to be here at six-thirty. The reservation is for seven so we have to be there before then." I told him and he nodded as he text Vic back. "Wait, I have to call the restaurant and add four more people right? Vic, your dad, and his parents."

"Yeah, it's not too late is it?"

"No, it's fine. I just didn't want us to have to wait a little later because they have to find another table. I'll call now." I picked up my phone to search for the restaurants number.

"Call dad?" Kylie asked.

"No I'm not calling your dad, I'm calling the Cheesecake Factory so I can make a bigger reservation." I told her.

"Call dad!" She whined and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I think she was telling you to call him, not asking." Kellin chuckled.

"I'm not calling him, Kyls. Ask Kellin." I said and she turned to Kellin.

"Yeah yeah I'm calling him." He said and picked up his phone.

I continued to call the restaurant after I found the number. I asked to add four more people to Kellin's party and the waitress told me our reservation would be at 7:15 now. I thanked her and hung up.

"We have to be there at 7:15." I told Kellin.

"Should I bring an ice pack or are you guys going to keep Joe on a leash?" I heard Alex say on FaceTime. He was sitting up in bed with no shirt on and I couldn't stop myself from glancing at his toned stomach.

"You should probably bring the ice pack just in case." I joked and he laughed.

"I'll make sure he won't hurt you, Dad." Kellin said.

"Thanks son, I'm sure you and Kylie can protect me. Right Kylie?"

"Yes!" She giggled.

"Is Aaron going Jack?" Alex annoying asked, making Kellin laugh and me roll my eyes.

"You know his damn name." I said.

"I just remembers it starts with an 'A.'" He shrugged.

"It's Austin and yes he'll be there. He's meeting my mom for the first time tonight." I said smugly.

"Hm it sounds like you two are getting pretty serious."

"We are. Are you finally going to stop trying to 'get me back?’” I said using air quotes.

"Nah. If anything I'll just start trying harder."

"Alex I swear to god if you say one word to him I will give Joe permission to hurt you." I threatened.

"Daddy no one is going to hurt anyone at my dinner." Kellin scolded me. "And Dad be nice to Austin."

"Yeah sure, I'll be nice." Alex said. I knew he was lying, he was going to make this dinner more awkward than I needed to be.

"Okay I'll see you tonight." Kellin told him.

"Okay Happy Birthday again. Bye Kylie!"

"Bye-bye!" She exclaimed.

"Bye Jack." He said and I reached over and pressed the hang up button without saying anything.

"Why are you such a child?" Kellin chuckled.

"Because he brings out the worse in me. I wish he didn't have to come with us tonight." I pouted.

"Let's just get through one night as a family and then we can go back to hating each other."

********

Austin came over at around six since he got off work a little early. He was already ready so he just kept me company while I finished up. I was trying not to think about how bad this dinner could go with everyone being there. Kellin still didn't seem worried so maybe I could calm down too.

I went to my bathroom to fix my hair and Austin followed. He sat on my bathroom sink, distracting me by kissing my shoulder, neck, and cheek.

"Can you stop so I can do my hair." I giggled.

"Sorry, I just can't keep my hands off of you." He chuckle as he pulled me closer to kiss me. I gave up trying to fight him and kissed him back. I completely forgot about my hair as we continued to make out for a while.

"Ahem." I heard from my bathroom door. I quickly pulled away from Austin and saw Alex standing there. He scared the shit out of me. I didn't even hear him come in.

"When...How...Why?" I talked over myself.

"Kellin let me in like ten minutes ago. You probably didn't notice cause you were sucking face with this guy." He rolled his eyes and I glared at him.

"Is there a reason you're in my room?" I questioned.

"Yeah, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked.

"Sure." I shrugged.

"Alone." He stated while looking at Austin.

"...We can go talk in the hall." I said. I kissed Austin on the cheek and followed Alex out of the room. I stopped when we reached the hall outside of my room.

"What is it?" I questioned.

"I just wanted to talk." He smiled at me and I put hand on my forehead.

"Do you actually have anything important to say to me?" I asked annoyed and he chuckled.

"Do you remember that thing I used to do that you loved? You know, when I used to raise your legs above your head and stick my tongue in your-"

"-Alex!" I quietly exclaimed, cutting him off. I looked around to make sure no one else heard what he was about to say. I could feel my cheeks heat up as thoughts about what he was describing filled my head. "Why are you bringing that up?"

"Because I want you to think about me all day while you're with Austin." He smirked.

"You can try all you want but nothing you do will actually work." I huffed.

"Yeah sure." He said and walked away. I stood there glaring at his back. His little mind trick wasn't going to work on me.

I went back into my bathroom where Austin was standing fixing his own hair. He smiled when he saw me but it quickly fell when he saw the annoyed look on my face.

"What's wrong? Do I need to go talk to him?" He asked and attempted to walk out of the room.

"No, he just wanted to talk about the kids." I lied and grabbed his arm. I didn't want Alex and Austin to get into an argument and ruin Kellin's birthday.

"Okay. Tell me if he bothers you and I'll go handle alright?"

"Okay." I told him and he kissed me.

I finished getting ready while trying to push thoughts of Alex out of my head. I felt flustered thinking about the many times we had sex together in our bathroom. Ugh! I was letting him get to me.

Six-forty-five came sooner than I thought it would. Vic came over and left with us to the restaurant. Our family was already waiting when we made it to the Cheesecake Factory. I greeted everyone and whispered in Joe's ear not to make a scene with Alex here. He told me he wouldn't since today was about Kellin.

"Who's this Jack?" My mom asked gesturing to Austin.

"Oh this is Austin, my new boyfriend." I told her, but of course everyone else heard.

"It's nice to meet you Austin! I'm Jack's mom, you can call me Joyce." She introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Joyce." Austin told her and shook hands with her.

I introduced him to May and Joe while we waited for the table. I didn't feel comfortable introducing him to Alex parents so I made an effort not to, but I did go tell them hello while we waited. Alex was hardly paying me any attention as he played with Kylie to keep her occupied. He was probably distracting himself so he wouldn't have to see Austin be introduced to all of my family.

Once we were seated I took a deep breath and focused on making this dinner as normal as possible.

*************

"Call me tomorrow." Austin told me as he stood by the front door about to walkout.

"I will! I'll call after I wake up." I promised.

"Okay, and also call me if he won't leave you alone." He grumbled angrily, looking in the direction of the stairs because Alex was up there.

"Don't worry about him. He's just putting Kylie to bed and then he's leaving." I assured him.

"Alright I guess I'll go. Goodnight."

"Night Aus." I said, leaning up on my tippy toes to kiss him some more. We pulled apart and I let him leave.

Austin seemed to enjoy spending time with my family tonight. He spent most of the time talking to Joe about workout techniques. Surprisingly the whole dinner went well. There was no arguments or disruptions. My mom and Alex's mom even talked to each other like old times. It was almost like nothing bad happened between us.

I went to sit on the couch so I could lock the door after Alex left. He was reading Kylie a bed time story so she could go to bed alone tonight. We let Kellin stay out late with Vic and he wouldn't be home until after Kylie was sleep. Kellin said he and Vie were going to just watch movies at Vic's house but I had a hard time believing that.

"She's asleep now." Alex told me as he walked into the living room ten minutes later.

"Okay, thanks." I said.

"Yeah of course." He turned around to leave but stopped in his steps and turned back to me. "I uh feel like I should apologize for messing with you ealier." He said apologetically while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I didn't think you knew what an apology was?" I joked and he rolled his eyes.

"Come on, I'm being serious. I know it can be annoying, but it helps me deal with the idea of you being with someone else." He walked over and sat down next to me. I could tell he was being sincere right now. "I really do miss you, Jack."

"I uh don't know what you want me to say." I said quietly.

"Say you miss me too or something. Anything that'll prove that you still have just the slightest amount of feelings for me." He pleaded.

I sat quietly, still not knowing what to say to him. I didn't want to make our parental relationship more awkward or worse than it already was.

". . . Nothing? You feel nothing for me?" He asked and I looked down. "I don't believe that. I don't believe that after fourteen years of marriage you feel nothing for me this fast." He said. He grabbed my chin and turned my head so that I was looking at him. My heart started racing as soon as our eyes met.

He pulled my face closer to his and I didn't stop him. I easily could have, but I didn't stop him from pulling me closer. Our lips were inches away from each other and I held my breath ready for him to connect them. He pulled me closer and closer and then he let go of my chin and pulled back.

"Sorry I ...sorry I wasn't uh thinking." He stammered. "I'll show myself out." He said, sounding disappointed with himself.

I didn't stop him from leaving. I didn't feel angry that he almost kissed me either. I felt confused. I should still be angry at Alex. I should have pushed him away and told him to leave. I'm with Austin now. I shouldn't have let Alex get so close to kissing me, but I did.

Notes

I skipped a chapter and posted this one instead. The other chapter was just Kellin meeting Austin but it was kind of pointless. I like this chapter more since it has more Jalex scenes!!