Secrets Don't Make Friends

Alex

After talking with Rian and Cass for a little while longer I was sure I was making the right decision. I couldn't imagine having a long-distance relationship with Jack and watching my stepson grow up through pictures and FaceTime. I wanted to physically be there for them. Jack had hopes and dreams too so maybe I could help him with the baby, to make his life a little easier. And hopefully Zack's family wasn't going to get custody of the baby. That would devastate Jack, and piss me off.

I left Rian's house and went back to the hospital to tell Jack what I decided to do. I was still stalling for time before having to tell my parents, so I wanted to do this first.

Jack said he didn't have to leave the hospital until ten pm, so I knew he was still there with the baby.
I walked into the hospital and went to the floor Jack was on. Instead of knocking on the door and waiting for Jack to tell me to come in, I opened the door; catching Jack off guard. It was just him and the baby alone in the room.

"Alex, what are you d-" I cut Jack off before he could finish talking.

"-I'm quitting the band." I stated, and he looked at me in shock.

"Why would you do that?? You don't have to."

"I do. I love you and him too much to leave. Even if he is just my stepson, I already love him as if he's my own." I told him, and he wiped tears from his eyes. They looked like happy tears.

Jack grabbed a ripped piece of paper, off of the bed, that was taped together and walked over to me. He handed me the paper with saying a word and I read over it.

"The DNA from subject ALEXANDER W. GASKARTH matched with the child. The probability of paternity is 99.99979%." I quietly read to myself. Did this mean what I though it meant.

"I-I'm the dad?!" I asked, and Jack hugged me tightly. He nodded against my chest and I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was almost like I had been given a second chance. But my love for the baby didn't change. I was going to fully love him regardless of him being my actual son or stepson.

"I'm sorry I lied. I just wanted you to go live your dream." Jack said.

"This is my dream, babe. Being happy with you two." I said and kissed him. “Just don’t do that to me again.” I lightly chuckled and held my chest. My heartbeat was racing after hearing this news.

"I’m sorry! I won’t!” He promised, and I kissed him again. “I love you." He pulled away from my lips and told me.

"I love you too." I told him.

I pulled away from Jack and went to pick up my son from the incubator. He was sleeping, of course, so I was careful not to wake him.

"I love you too, Lil' man." I placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Are you sure you want to give up the band? We can make it work. You won't tour-"

"-Jack, it's okay. My mind is already made up. I'm quitting and staying with you two. Especially now." I told him.

"But the record deal-"

"-will be there if we ever decide to do it in the future, but right now you two are my main priorities."

"Okay." He reached up and kissed me on the cheek. I loved that Jack was concerned about me living my dream life, but all I wanted was for him to live his.

The door opened, and Jack's mom came in and handed Jack his cellphone charger. She smiled at me when she saw me holding the baby.

"Finally!" She exclaimed. "I thought he'd never tell you." She said, making me laugh.

"You and me both." I said jokingly, and Jack playfully rolled his eyes at me.

I looked down at my son and smiled at how peaceful he looked. I realized that now I could call my parents and tell them the great news. I handed Jack the baby while I pulled out my phone. I dialed my mom’s number and waited for her to answer.

"Yes Alex?" She answered.

"Mom, do you think you and dad can get to the hospital before ten?" I asked.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because your grandson wants to meet you." I said, and she gasped.

"Really?? He's yours!! Oh my gosh! Peter get up and go put your shoes on!! We have to get to the hospital to meet our grandson!" I heard her excitedly say. I could hear my dad's happy voice in the back ground. "We'll be there shortly." She told me, and I told her the room we were in.

"They sounded happy." Jack chuckled when I hung up.

"They were! Thank God I waited before telling them he wasn't mine." I said, and Jack looked at me sheepishly. "Your intentions were good, babe." I chuckled and kissed him on the cheek.

"How did Zack take the news?" I asked, to change the subject.

"He was sad, of course, and his mom was angry. That's why the DNA results was ripped." He explained.

"Oh. That sucks. I kind of feel bad for him." I said.

"Yeah me too, but now he can go to NYU with a new start." Jack said, and I nodded.

"He's lucky he gets to get away from his bitch of a mother." Lilly added, and Jack and I chuckled.

"I hope he finds happiness somewhere else." I said, honestly.

"That's very mature of you." Jack teased.

"This little guy brings out the best in me." I smiled down at the sleeping baby.

"Well now that he has both of his parents here with him. Can you two give him a name?" Lilly asked.

"I’ve been trying, mom.” Jack sighed. “What does he look like to you?" He asked me, and I shrugged.

"AJ?" I jokingly suggested, and Jack smiled.

"That has a great ring to it!" He exclaimed. "Alexander Junior." He stated, and the baby opened his eyes. We all gasped in shock, it was like something out of a movie.

"Wow that's crazy." Lily said.

"I think he likes it too." I chuckled. "Right AJ?" I asked and tickled his sides. He began to whine I took him from Jack. "Hey you can't be a cry baby if you're gonna be named after me." I playfully scolded him.

"He's hungry, Lex." Jack said. He went to make a bottle while I tried to get AJ to calm down. I slowly rocked him back and forth, but nothing would stop him except for his bottle. Jack warmed it up and brought it over to me.

"You wanna try feeding him?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'll try." I took the bottle from him and held A.J like Lily taught us. I bought the nipple of the bottle to his mouth and he began to suck from it. I smiled down at AJ as I thought about getting to raise him with Jack.

My parents were here twenty minutes later. My mom nearly trampled me trying to see AJ. I chuckled and handed him over to her.

"Hi baby." My mom whispered and caressed his cheek. "If you didn't tell me he was yours I would have known just by looking at him. He looks just like you did when you were first born." My mom told me. This was her and my dad’s first time seeing the baby. They didn't want to see him unless he was mine because they didn't want to get attached yet.

"All babies look alike." I brushed her off and she shook her head.

"Not when they’re your baby. You can always tell they’re yours." She said.

"Have you come up with a name yet?" My dad asked Jack.

"Your son did. His name is AJ." Jack said.

"Alex Junior?" My mom asked, and I nodded. "That's perfect for him." She chuckled.

"Can I hold my grandson now?" My dad asked her.

"Just give me five more minutes." She said, and I chuckled. That probably really meant ten more minutes.

"I'm going to go get something to drink from the vending machine." Jack told us.

Jack walked out, and I went to take a seat on the couch in the room. Lily came to sit next to me. She placed her hand on my knee and looked me in the eyes.

"I've been wanting to thank you since I got here, but I knew Jack would stop me." She chuckled.

"Thank me for what?" I asked.

"Being here.-" She began, and I stopped her.

"-You don't have to do that."

"Yeah I do. You could have easily left to continue with the band, but instead you decided to give it up for Jack and the baby. Some men wouldn't think twice about leaving." She said while looking down and I nodded understandingly.

"You'll never have to worry about me leaving Jack or AJ. I'm not going anywhere." I assured her and she thanked me again. We sat together and watched as my mom finally hand AJ to my dad.

"Look who I found?" Jack said as he walked in with Cass and Rian behind him. They both greeted everyone, and I stood up to let Cass sit down. Lily did the same so Jack could sit down with Cass and they could catch up.

"Jack told us everything. How does it feel being a dad?" Rian asked me.

"Good right now, but I'm sure it won't when I'm making bottles and changing diapers at three am." I joked, and he laughed.

"I can't even imagine dude."

"I know it's crazy." I agreed. "Have you um given much thought as to what you want to do with the band?" I asked. I hated that I was leaving him and Vic alone without much notice.

"No not really." He sighed. "Vic is a good singer, but we'd need another guitar player and we still need a bass player since you sort of made our original quit." He teased, and I laughed. We hadn't really been looking for a bass player since Zack left the band. We were just giving our music to record labels and hoping we'd find someone on the way.

“I was honestly just thinking we should probably take a break. We're still young and figuring life out. If the band is meant to be then it'll be." He shrugged it off.

"Are you sure?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah man. Plus, this way I can get an apartment with my lady while we go to school." He laughed.

"Rian, I want one." Cass whined as she held AJ.

"Or spending some time apart would be a little bit better." He quietly joked, and I laughed.

"You can have him." Lily said.

"No, she can't. Not after all I went through to get him here." Jack laughed.

"I'll just wait a couple of years." Cass chuckled. She brought AJ over so Rian could see him. He smiled as she handed AJ. to him.

"Hi AJ." Rian greeted him. "Aw look at his tiny hands." He grabbed AJ's hand with his thumb and forefinger and shook it. AJ looked at him grumpily and I laughed.

"Uh oh, you pissed him off, Ri." I told him.

"I think that's just his resting face." Jack chuckled. AJ let out a wail and Rian quickly handed him over to me.

"What did we talk about earlier with all this crying?" I said over his cries.

"He's a baby." Jack chuckled and playfully hit my arm.

A nurse knocked on the door and walked in seconds later. I looked at the time and saw that it was ten pm.

"Hi, I hate to do this, but visiting hours are over." She informed us.

"Oh okay. I guess we should say our final goodbye." Jack said, sadly. I handed AJ over to him so he could carry him to the incubator.

Jack held AJ out for me to kiss and then he kissed him placed him in the incubator. I rolled him to the nurse and he cried as she wheeled him out of the room.

We walked down to our cars with our parents and Rian and Cass. I offered to take Jack home instead of him going with his mom, so we could spend a little bit more time together. I pulled into his driveway but neither of us moved to get out.

"Do you think we can talk tomorrow?" Jack asked, and I slightly panicked.

"About what?" I asked.

"Nothing bad, I just want to come up with a schedule or, I guess, a plan on how we should take care of AJ." He said, and I sighed in relief.

"Yeah of course. I get off at four pm, we can meet after then."

"Okay, perfect." He said and ran his hand through his hair.

I grabbed his other hand and brought it to my mouth to kiss. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, surprisingly. I've just been stressed out for so long that it seems scary to let myself relax." He lightly chuckled.

"Well how about you let me help you?" I suggested.

"How?" He asked.

"I'll take you to get a massage! That'll help a lot."

"I don't know, they're expensive, aren't they?" He asked.

"No, not really and it's the least I can do after everything you've went through because of me."

He playfully rolled his eyes but didn't dispute it. "Okay, fine if you really think it'll help."

"It will. We'll go tomorrow." I told him.

"Okay, well I should get in and try to get some sleep." He said, and I agreed.

I leaned over, and Jack connected our lips. We pulled apart and I kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight, babe."

"Goodnight, text me when you get home. Love you."

"I will. Love you too."

I watched to make sure Jack got inside safely before driving home with a permanent smile.

Notes

Yaay the baby finally has a name! Also sorry this is so late, I've been so busy today but I finally got this uploaded and now I'm going to bed!