Baby, Just Hold On - Chp. 7
Title: Baby, Just Hold On
Author: Jamie jamieall_over
Pairing: Jalex
Rating: NC-17 Overall
Warnings: Mpreg
“Who’s my pretty Cocoa-Kitty?” Alex cooed in that voice, that one voice that even Jack was beginning to get just a little sick of hearing.
Which totally wasn’t because the damn cat didn’t love him even half as much as she loved Alex, since that would be such a stupid thing to get upset over, especially at his age. No, it was definitely just that… Okay, maybe it was that, but seriously, he was the one to adopt her and bring her into his home, he should get some amount of love, no matter how small.
"Is that you? Are you daddy's baby girl? Huh? Are you my little cutie?" Alex continued on, completely oblivious to the thin man stood in the bedroom's doorway. Jack had been leaning there against the door frame for about five minutes watching his husband murmur away to the purring kitten, and it didn’t seem like he was planning on stopping any time in the near future.
Cocoa was lying on the bed, rolling over onto her back and stretching out her paws, twisting around and curling up into an actual ball of fur every time Alex-who was standing next to the bed and bending forward as far as he could to be that much closer to her-would reach out to pet her.
Jack wouldn’t normally mind that Alex wanted to spend so much time with her, but today was New Year’s Eve, and they kind of made plans to hang out with their friends down at Gemstone, since the producers usually put together a party of sorts in the large front room-many of the bands that the couple had come to befriend over the years would be there as well, and even though they’d more than likely all be drunk, that was still exciting to Alex; he hardly got to see any of them due to their busy schedules. It was tradition to go to the New Year’s party anyway, and though Jack didn’t necessarily want Alex there because there would be gallons upon gallons of alcohol, the elder had given him the puppy dog eyes and pout combo. How was he supposed to say no?
Alex had seemed so excited to be able to go out, even if it was only to Jack’s place of work, and he’d spent the last two days gushing about it. Of course, he also hadn’t stopped cuddling Cocoa for more than five minutes at a time. If she weren’t so deathly afraid of water, she’d probably follow him devotedly into the shower. It’s actually a wonder she hasn’t attempted to brave it nonetheless.
Jack sighed as Alex-surprise, surprise!-continued to mumble nonsense to the cat, both hands moving to cup her face before stroking the fur behind her ears, down her spine, straight on to her tail and right back up again. Neither seemed to notice when the younger man stepped fully in the room, both too consumed in the other, and when Jack placed his hands on Alex’s waist, the elder as well as the cat jumped. The difference, though, was that Cocoa had somehow ended up on the other side of the bed, Alex only having jumped up straight in Jack’s hold.
The taller male couldn’t help but chuckle as the cat stared wide-eyed at him. He deserved to scare them like that, what with how they’d both been ignoring him like the plague those past few days. Alex, on the other hand, didn’t see it as such, and he shifted to glare up at his husband before turning back to his cat, calling her back over to him in that god damn voice.
“Lexy, we’re gonna be late if we don’t leave soon,” Jack said as he pulled Alex slightly away from the bed by his hips before Cocoa could even think to respond.
Alex scoffed as he pushed Jack’s hand away, stepping back up to the bed. “We won’t be late.”
“Remember the last time you said that?” Jack reminded him, resuming his position behind the elder. This time he wrapped his arms loosely around the pregnant man’s midsection, pressing the bottom half of his face into his husband’s shoulder as he watched Cocoa creep closer before hopping the last few steps. “Seriously, come on out into the living room so I can help you with your shoes,” Jack urged after a few moments of watching him play with the kitten as he had previously been before pulling him away from the bed by his hips-again.
Alex didn’t put up much of a fight that time, instead allowing the younger man to drag him out into the living room, who sat the elder on the couch as he went to go retrieve said man’s shoes.
When Jack reentered the living room, he wasn’t even too surprised at what he saw: Cocoa had found her way into Alex’s lap, but how she’d even gotten off the bed without someone’s help was a mystery all on its own. She was a determined one, obviously.
After helping Alex get his worn combat boots on and laced up, Jack had to spend a few minutes convincing his husband that the cat would be perfectly fine on her own for a few hours, and then he had to find a way to get Alex out of the apartment without Cocoa trying to tag along.
It was a good five minute ordeal, but when it had been accomplished, Jack had to lead Alex away from the pitiful meows coming from the other side of their front door.
“She sounds so upset,” Alex stated rather glumly, taking one last, longing glance down the hall before stepping into the elevator in front of Jack.
“She’ll be perfectly fine, baby,” Jack assured. “She’s a smart girl; you know that.” And yeah, if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that his girl was smart. All of his kids would be; geniuses in their own little way.
That, of course, got him thinking about his baby boy. He still hadn’t fully picked out a name, and for the life of him he couldn’t remember what he’d told Jack before they’d started dating. He was having to start back from step one all over again, and with so little time to spare it was becoming a bit difficult to focus enough of his energy into it.
Before he could stop himself, though, he was inquiring, “What about Alice?”
The elevator doors pinged open in front of them before the question could really register in Jack’s mind, but once they’d stepped out he took a moment to think, saying, “I don’t think we know an Alice.”
“No, we don’t,” Alex agreed, but he shook his head all at the same time. “I mean, for the baby. How does the name Alice sound to you?”
Jack still didn’t mind what his child was named, really, but before he could tell his husband that, he thought of something: his son, Alice, would be delivered by a man known by the name of Dr. Cooper.
He voiced this to Alex, who’d merely shrugged. "It was just a suggestion," he assured, grinning up at his husband. "We still have, like, six or so weeks to go."
"If you want him to be named Alice, then that's perfectly okay with me," Jack replied with a shake of his head. Alex simply shrugged again.
They reached their car no more than sixty seconds later, and the drive out to the recording studio was near silent save the sounds of Cassadee Pope drifting through the speakers-Alex had become obsessed with her when she was on The Voice and Jack had bought him her cd when it was released.
It was during Cinematic, Alex singing along quietly in the passenger seat, that Jack remembered something he'd heard from Dylan, and he wasn't sure whether or not to tell Alex. His husband was never really one for surprises, but maybe he'd let this one by? However, the real question was, did Jack want to risk it?
Before the dark-haired man could even decide his plan of action, they were pulling into the Gemstone parking lot. A spot had been saved for them closest to the door, and it seemed that even at only eight o'clock the place was packed, bands from all different genres and labels already having started the party inside.
"You sure you wanna do this? It’s not too late if you wanna go home," Jack said, looking between the front door and his husband.
Alex could only roll his eyes and nod as he reached for the door handle, prompting Jack to quickly jump out on his side and run around to the other.
"Just tell me when you're ready to go," Jack requested as they eventually made their way inside. Alex stopped his moving to turn and look at the taller man, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek.
"Stop worrying, okay? I'll be fine." With that, he was walking inside, Jack following right behind.
Jack tried to keep up with Alex, he really did, but for a pregnant man who's about the size of a baby whale-or, like, one-tenths that size but whatever-and can hardly walk, he managed to easily slip away amongst the crowd. Jack was only able to find him after the bigger man had stopped moving and had, instead, stood to gape at none other than Cassadee Pope stood a little less than halfway across the room.
"What's she doing here?" Alex was barely able to stutter out when he realized Jack was standing next to him once more, and that had the taller of the two smiling widely.
"Her boyfriend, Rian, has been recording here with us these past few weeks for his band, All Time Low; that's him standing beside her," Jack explained, reaching down to link his fingers with Alex's so that he wouldn’t lose his man a second time in under ten minutes. "Wanna go over and say hi?"
The elder’s eyes widened impossibly further at that as he furiously shook his head, spluttering out an, “Oh my god, she’d hate me and think I’m a freak, I don’t wanna annoy her, she looks busy, oh my god.”
To say Jack was a little shocked would be an understatement; Alex hadn’t even acted like that when he’d met New Found Glory, or Yellowcard, or… well, anyone, for that matter. He was generally so calm about meeting people he idolized, much more relaxed now a days than he’d ever been before, considering it had actually happened a lot more often since he and Jack had started dating. What was it that made this girl so special?
“She won’t hate you,” Jack assured, pulling Alex gently along behind him as he stepped through the crowd towards the other couple. “I met her once before, when she came in to get Rian to go to lunch or something, and she was really sweet, just like everyone says on the TV and radio and stuff. Relax, okay? She’ll adore you.”
“Jack, no, stop, please,” Alex pleaded, trying to tug his hand out of his husband’s grip. He knew that in the long run, he’d just end up making a huge fool of himself in front of the one woman he’d turn straight for. Not that she’d ever want him or anything, but still. “Wait… You met her before, and you didn’t even tell me?”
“Well, now I’m making up for it,” the younger reasoned, nodding as though to confirm his own story.
“But, Jack, I-“
“Rian!” Alex’s husband cried as soon as they were within distance, effectively cutting Alex off and causing the pregnant man to shrink away slightly as Rian and Cassadee-Cassadee Pope, like, the Cassadee Pope-turned towards the sound of his voice over some song playing through the room.
“Hey, Jack!” was the near-immediate response, the man flashing a warming grin and sort of helping Alex loosen up a bit. Of course, he was more so just mesmerized by how white his teeth were. He didn’t think it was possible for someone’s teeth to be so… well… perfect.
Alex did his best to keep a blush off of his cheeks, and he honestly didn’t even know why his face was turning pink in the first place. He hadn’t even done anything at that point in time.
“I’d like you to meet my husband,” Jack said, pulling Alex a little closer and throwing an arm around the silently spazzing man’s waist, who simply looked up and offered a shaky smile at the pair.
“Jack talks a lot about you,” Rian said, dazzling beam still gracing his lips. Alex could only let out a forced chuckle as he looked down at the ground, his heart pounding through his chest.
“He’s not usually like this,” Jack jumped in after getting a quizzical, worried glance from Cassadee. “He’s just nervous, is all.”
“Why’s that?” the tiny woman inquired, bending down a bit to get into Alex’s line of vision, smiling reassuringly and waving as they made eye contact. The eldest male didn’t reply, just stared back in surprise. “I promise I won’t bite.”
“I don’t know why, per se,” Jack replied with a shrug. He was still having trouble figuring it out himself. “He’s not really a shy one, but he’s a pretty big fan of yours.”
Cassadee nodded in understanding at that, as though she knew the situation all too well even after only being famous for a little more than a year-which, considering the fact that her fame was virtually instantaneous, wasn’t really that surprising-and the next thing anyone knew, she was reaching out to slip a hand into Alex’s and then tugging him away from Jack’s body and to an empty couch situated across the room.
Jack and Rian, though they hadn’t necessarily been instructed to stay or go, didn’t know what else to do with themselves and began discussing their plans for the New Year, leaving their other halves to their own devices. The raven-haired man probably wouldn’t have allowed Alex to be somewhere on his own in such a crowded place, not for a second time, but he trusted Cassadee to take care of his man.
Alex wanted nothing more than for Jack to be there to keep him from squealing or doing something else just as equally creepy and overly obnoxious, but Cassadee didn’t seem to mind one bit. She asked simple questions about him, a few about his pregnancy, and it was only when she let out her own little high-pitched squeak of excitement at knowing that the baby would be born soon did his awkwardness seem to melt away.
The hours slowly ticked by, and Rian and Jack, after having gone around greeting all of their other friends and dancing stupidly to whatever had been playing over the speakers at the time, had found themselves sitting with their significant others once more.
A few times Alex and Cassadee’s discussion would have to be put on hold so that someone could get a picture with one or both of them, but as soon as they were back to being left alone, their conversation would pick right back up as though there hadn’t even been an interruption in the first place. It was nice, and Alex was feeling a little silly for nearly having a heart attack.
During their talk, however, Alex had to take a moment to more or less profess his undying love for her, and she’d simply told him how cute he was-and he will forever swear that he didn’t flail around in his excitement at being called cute by Cassadee Pope, not even just a little bit. Men don’t do silly things like that.
All too soon, it seemed, midnight was tiptoeing around the outskirts of the room, waiting until just the right moment to jump out and attack. The room had quieted down as the seconds ticked away, but as soon as the giant clock in Times Square-displayed on both of the two TVs hooked up to the walls-reached ten, everyone erupted into the famous countdown.
As the clock hit five seconds, however, Jack reached out and placed both hands on either side of Alex’s face, bringing their lips closer. By the time the clock had reached two seconds, their mouths were connected gently, lovingly. They kissed through the rest of the countdown and a little further on afterwards, when everyone had cheered for the fact that they’d all successfully made it through another year.
“Happy New Year, baby,” Jack said as he pulled away to lean their foreheads together, having to nearly shout so that the elder would be able to hear him over the commotion clogging the air.
Alex hummed, the sound not being noticeable by even himself, before he was repeating the phrase, his hands moving to press against Jack’s, which were still cupping his cheeks lightly. They basked in the familiar feeling for a few moments, allowing the knowledge that they were now one more day closer to February to sink in; now it was technically only one month away, though the baby probably wouldn’t be born til the end of that month.
It only seemed like the party increased from there on out, like the party’s participants had been holding off until the official New Year to let completely and wholeheartedly loose. Even more pictures were taken, and Cassadee continued to talk with Alex between random requests for said pictures with various people.
Alex began to get tired at a little past twelve-thirty, much earlier than he’d usually, but Jack didn’t mind having to leave despite the fact that the party had pretty much just begun. They said their goodbyes, promised to keep in touch with their friends, and after getting a picture with Cassadee-and having Jack run out to get his cd from the car so that it could be signed-they left Gemstone, the roads relatively empty.
“Aren’t you glad you decided to leave Cocoa alone for a few hours now?” Jack asked as he maneuvered the car along the streets, keeping a careful eye out just in case.
Alex’s nearly-closed eyes snapped open then, and he shook his head, muttering a quiet, “Thanks, now I feel guilty again. What if she hates me after this?”
“She’s a cat,” Jack answered, but he felt like that wasn’t really much of an explanation, at least not one that Alex would accept. “She’ll maybe be a little upset for an hour or two, but then she’ll totally forget about it, snap out of her bad mood, and go right back to being normal. Besides, she’s gonna have to get used to it at some point in the future; you won’t be in the apartment as much as you are now after the baby’s born.”
The tired man shrugged and leaned back into his seat as he let the sounds of Wasting All These Tears flood his senses. Before he even knew what was happening, Jack was pulling into a space in the apartment building’s lot.
“You gotta at least get upstairs, baby,” the younger cooed after having gotten out of the car and opened up the door of the passenger side.
The climb out of the car, the walk up to the building, the ride to the fifth floor and the last few steps down the hall passed in a blur, Alex having serious trouble keeping his eyes open and needing to lean as much of his weight into the other man as physically possible.
Cocoa, despite what Alex had feared and Jack had predicted, was more than happy to have her owner back. She had run figure eights through Alex’s legs as the men made their way into their bedroom, and Jack watched as she was actually able to jump from the floor to the bed. He didn’t think she’d master such a skill so early on, but stranger things have happened.
After getting Alex changed into a pair of comfortable sweatpants and a looser-fitting shirt, he changed as well, checking that he’d locked the front door once more and turning off the lights before climbing into bed with his beau. One hand moved to rub careful circles into Alex’s belly as the other twirled bits of the elder’s hair between his fingers soothingly.
The dual actions had Alex all but passing out for the night within mere minutes, and Jack wasn’t too far behind. He kind of felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve: if you go to sleep, the hours will fly by without you even knowing and you’ll be even closer to the big day in the blink of an eye.
Author: Jamie jamieall_over
Pairing: Jalex
Rating: NC-17 Overall
Warnings: Mpreg
“Who’s my pretty Cocoa-Kitty?” Alex cooed in that voice, that one voice that even Jack was beginning to get just a little sick of hearing.
Which totally wasn’t because the damn cat didn’t love him even half as much as she loved Alex, since that would be such a stupid thing to get upset over, especially at his age. No, it was definitely just that… Okay, maybe it was that, but seriously, he was the one to adopt her and bring her into his home, he should get some amount of love, no matter how small.
"Is that you? Are you daddy's baby girl? Huh? Are you my little cutie?" Alex continued on, completely oblivious to the thin man stood in the bedroom's doorway. Jack had been leaning there against the door frame for about five minutes watching his husband murmur away to the purring kitten, and it didn’t seem like he was planning on stopping any time in the near future.
Cocoa was lying on the bed, rolling over onto her back and stretching out her paws, twisting around and curling up into an actual ball of fur every time Alex-who was standing next to the bed and bending forward as far as he could to be that much closer to her-would reach out to pet her.
Jack wouldn’t normally mind that Alex wanted to spend so much time with her, but today was New Year’s Eve, and they kind of made plans to hang out with their friends down at Gemstone, since the producers usually put together a party of sorts in the large front room-many of the bands that the couple had come to befriend over the years would be there as well, and even though they’d more than likely all be drunk, that was still exciting to Alex; he hardly got to see any of them due to their busy schedules. It was tradition to go to the New Year’s party anyway, and though Jack didn’t necessarily want Alex there because there would be gallons upon gallons of alcohol, the elder had given him the puppy dog eyes and pout combo. How was he supposed to say no?
Alex had seemed so excited to be able to go out, even if it was only to Jack’s place of work, and he’d spent the last two days gushing about it. Of course, he also hadn’t stopped cuddling Cocoa for more than five minutes at a time. If she weren’t so deathly afraid of water, she’d probably follow him devotedly into the shower. It’s actually a wonder she hasn’t attempted to brave it nonetheless.
Jack sighed as Alex-surprise, surprise!-continued to mumble nonsense to the cat, both hands moving to cup her face before stroking the fur behind her ears, down her spine, straight on to her tail and right back up again. Neither seemed to notice when the younger man stepped fully in the room, both too consumed in the other, and when Jack placed his hands on Alex’s waist, the elder as well as the cat jumped. The difference, though, was that Cocoa had somehow ended up on the other side of the bed, Alex only having jumped up straight in Jack’s hold.
The taller male couldn’t help but chuckle as the cat stared wide-eyed at him. He deserved to scare them like that, what with how they’d both been ignoring him like the plague those past few days. Alex, on the other hand, didn’t see it as such, and he shifted to glare up at his husband before turning back to his cat, calling her back over to him in that god damn voice.
“Lexy, we’re gonna be late if we don’t leave soon,” Jack said as he pulled Alex slightly away from the bed by his hips before Cocoa could even think to respond.
Alex scoffed as he pushed Jack’s hand away, stepping back up to the bed. “We won’t be late.”
“Remember the last time you said that?” Jack reminded him, resuming his position behind the elder. This time he wrapped his arms loosely around the pregnant man’s midsection, pressing the bottom half of his face into his husband’s shoulder as he watched Cocoa creep closer before hopping the last few steps. “Seriously, come on out into the living room so I can help you with your shoes,” Jack urged after a few moments of watching him play with the kitten as he had previously been before pulling him away from the bed by his hips-again.
Alex didn’t put up much of a fight that time, instead allowing the younger man to drag him out into the living room, who sat the elder on the couch as he went to go retrieve said man’s shoes.
When Jack reentered the living room, he wasn’t even too surprised at what he saw: Cocoa had found her way into Alex’s lap, but how she’d even gotten off the bed without someone’s help was a mystery all on its own. She was a determined one, obviously.
After helping Alex get his worn combat boots on and laced up, Jack had to spend a few minutes convincing his husband that the cat would be perfectly fine on her own for a few hours, and then he had to find a way to get Alex out of the apartment without Cocoa trying to tag along.
It was a good five minute ordeal, but when it had been accomplished, Jack had to lead Alex away from the pitiful meows coming from the other side of their front door.
“She sounds so upset,” Alex stated rather glumly, taking one last, longing glance down the hall before stepping into the elevator in front of Jack.
“She’ll be perfectly fine, baby,” Jack assured. “She’s a smart girl; you know that.” And yeah, if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that his girl was smart. All of his kids would be; geniuses in their own little way.
That, of course, got him thinking about his baby boy. He still hadn’t fully picked out a name, and for the life of him he couldn’t remember what he’d told Jack before they’d started dating. He was having to start back from step one all over again, and with so little time to spare it was becoming a bit difficult to focus enough of his energy into it.
Before he could stop himself, though, he was inquiring, “What about Alice?”
The elevator doors pinged open in front of them before the question could really register in Jack’s mind, but once they’d stepped out he took a moment to think, saying, “I don’t think we know an Alice.”
“No, we don’t,” Alex agreed, but he shook his head all at the same time. “I mean, for the baby. How does the name Alice sound to you?”
Jack still didn’t mind what his child was named, really, but before he could tell his husband that, he thought of something: his son, Alice, would be delivered by a man known by the name of Dr. Cooper.
He voiced this to Alex, who’d merely shrugged. "It was just a suggestion," he assured, grinning up at his husband. "We still have, like, six or so weeks to go."
"If you want him to be named Alice, then that's perfectly okay with me," Jack replied with a shake of his head. Alex simply shrugged again.
They reached their car no more than sixty seconds later, and the drive out to the recording studio was near silent save the sounds of Cassadee Pope drifting through the speakers-Alex had become obsessed with her when she was on The Voice and Jack had bought him her cd when it was released.
It was during Cinematic, Alex singing along quietly in the passenger seat, that Jack remembered something he'd heard from Dylan, and he wasn't sure whether or not to tell Alex. His husband was never really one for surprises, but maybe he'd let this one by? However, the real question was, did Jack want to risk it?
Before the dark-haired man could even decide his plan of action, they were pulling into the Gemstone parking lot. A spot had been saved for them closest to the door, and it seemed that even at only eight o'clock the place was packed, bands from all different genres and labels already having started the party inside.
"You sure you wanna do this? It’s not too late if you wanna go home," Jack said, looking between the front door and his husband.
Alex could only roll his eyes and nod as he reached for the door handle, prompting Jack to quickly jump out on his side and run around to the other.
"Just tell me when you're ready to go," Jack requested as they eventually made their way inside. Alex stopped his moving to turn and look at the taller man, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek.
"Stop worrying, okay? I'll be fine." With that, he was walking inside, Jack following right behind.
Jack tried to keep up with Alex, he really did, but for a pregnant man who's about the size of a baby whale-or, like, one-tenths that size but whatever-and can hardly walk, he managed to easily slip away amongst the crowd. Jack was only able to find him after the bigger man had stopped moving and had, instead, stood to gape at none other than Cassadee Pope stood a little less than halfway across the room.
"What's she doing here?" Alex was barely able to stutter out when he realized Jack was standing next to him once more, and that had the taller of the two smiling widely.
"Her boyfriend, Rian, has been recording here with us these past few weeks for his band, All Time Low; that's him standing beside her," Jack explained, reaching down to link his fingers with Alex's so that he wouldn’t lose his man a second time in under ten minutes. "Wanna go over and say hi?"
The elder’s eyes widened impossibly further at that as he furiously shook his head, spluttering out an, “Oh my god, she’d hate me and think I’m a freak, I don’t wanna annoy her, she looks busy, oh my god.”
To say Jack was a little shocked would be an understatement; Alex hadn’t even acted like that when he’d met New Found Glory, or Yellowcard, or… well, anyone, for that matter. He was generally so calm about meeting people he idolized, much more relaxed now a days than he’d ever been before, considering it had actually happened a lot more often since he and Jack had started dating. What was it that made this girl so special?
“She won’t hate you,” Jack assured, pulling Alex gently along behind him as he stepped through the crowd towards the other couple. “I met her once before, when she came in to get Rian to go to lunch or something, and she was really sweet, just like everyone says on the TV and radio and stuff. Relax, okay? She’ll adore you.”
“Jack, no, stop, please,” Alex pleaded, trying to tug his hand out of his husband’s grip. He knew that in the long run, he’d just end up making a huge fool of himself in front of the one woman he’d turn straight for. Not that she’d ever want him or anything, but still. “Wait… You met her before, and you didn’t even tell me?”
“Well, now I’m making up for it,” the younger reasoned, nodding as though to confirm his own story.
“But, Jack, I-“
“Rian!” Alex’s husband cried as soon as they were within distance, effectively cutting Alex off and causing the pregnant man to shrink away slightly as Rian and Cassadee-Cassadee Pope, like, the Cassadee Pope-turned towards the sound of his voice over some song playing through the room.
“Hey, Jack!” was the near-immediate response, the man flashing a warming grin and sort of helping Alex loosen up a bit. Of course, he was more so just mesmerized by how white his teeth were. He didn’t think it was possible for someone’s teeth to be so… well… perfect.
Alex did his best to keep a blush off of his cheeks, and he honestly didn’t even know why his face was turning pink in the first place. He hadn’t even done anything at that point in time.
“I’d like you to meet my husband,” Jack said, pulling Alex a little closer and throwing an arm around the silently spazzing man’s waist, who simply looked up and offered a shaky smile at the pair.
“Jack talks a lot about you,” Rian said, dazzling beam still gracing his lips. Alex could only let out a forced chuckle as he looked down at the ground, his heart pounding through his chest.
“He’s not usually like this,” Jack jumped in after getting a quizzical, worried glance from Cassadee. “He’s just nervous, is all.”
“Why’s that?” the tiny woman inquired, bending down a bit to get into Alex’s line of vision, smiling reassuringly and waving as they made eye contact. The eldest male didn’t reply, just stared back in surprise. “I promise I won’t bite.”
“I don’t know why, per se,” Jack replied with a shrug. He was still having trouble figuring it out himself. “He’s not really a shy one, but he’s a pretty big fan of yours.”
Cassadee nodded in understanding at that, as though she knew the situation all too well even after only being famous for a little more than a year-which, considering the fact that her fame was virtually instantaneous, wasn’t really that surprising-and the next thing anyone knew, she was reaching out to slip a hand into Alex’s and then tugging him away from Jack’s body and to an empty couch situated across the room.
Jack and Rian, though they hadn’t necessarily been instructed to stay or go, didn’t know what else to do with themselves and began discussing their plans for the New Year, leaving their other halves to their own devices. The raven-haired man probably wouldn’t have allowed Alex to be somewhere on his own in such a crowded place, not for a second time, but he trusted Cassadee to take care of his man.
Alex wanted nothing more than for Jack to be there to keep him from squealing or doing something else just as equally creepy and overly obnoxious, but Cassadee didn’t seem to mind one bit. She asked simple questions about him, a few about his pregnancy, and it was only when she let out her own little high-pitched squeak of excitement at knowing that the baby would be born soon did his awkwardness seem to melt away.
The hours slowly ticked by, and Rian and Jack, after having gone around greeting all of their other friends and dancing stupidly to whatever had been playing over the speakers at the time, had found themselves sitting with their significant others once more.
A few times Alex and Cassadee’s discussion would have to be put on hold so that someone could get a picture with one or both of them, but as soon as they were back to being left alone, their conversation would pick right back up as though there hadn’t even been an interruption in the first place. It was nice, and Alex was feeling a little silly for nearly having a heart attack.
During their talk, however, Alex had to take a moment to more or less profess his undying love for her, and she’d simply told him how cute he was-and he will forever swear that he didn’t flail around in his excitement at being called cute by Cassadee Pope, not even just a little bit. Men don’t do silly things like that.
All too soon, it seemed, midnight was tiptoeing around the outskirts of the room, waiting until just the right moment to jump out and attack. The room had quieted down as the seconds ticked away, but as soon as the giant clock in Times Square-displayed on both of the two TVs hooked up to the walls-reached ten, everyone erupted into the famous countdown.
As the clock hit five seconds, however, Jack reached out and placed both hands on either side of Alex’s face, bringing their lips closer. By the time the clock had reached two seconds, their mouths were connected gently, lovingly. They kissed through the rest of the countdown and a little further on afterwards, when everyone had cheered for the fact that they’d all successfully made it through another year.
“Happy New Year, baby,” Jack said as he pulled away to lean their foreheads together, having to nearly shout so that the elder would be able to hear him over the commotion clogging the air.
Alex hummed, the sound not being noticeable by even himself, before he was repeating the phrase, his hands moving to press against Jack’s, which were still cupping his cheeks lightly. They basked in the familiar feeling for a few moments, allowing the knowledge that they were now one more day closer to February to sink in; now it was technically only one month away, though the baby probably wouldn’t be born til the end of that month.
It only seemed like the party increased from there on out, like the party’s participants had been holding off until the official New Year to let completely and wholeheartedly loose. Even more pictures were taken, and Cassadee continued to talk with Alex between random requests for said pictures with various people.
Alex began to get tired at a little past twelve-thirty, much earlier than he’d usually, but Jack didn’t mind having to leave despite the fact that the party had pretty much just begun. They said their goodbyes, promised to keep in touch with their friends, and after getting a picture with Cassadee-and having Jack run out to get his cd from the car so that it could be signed-they left Gemstone, the roads relatively empty.
“Aren’t you glad you decided to leave Cocoa alone for a few hours now?” Jack asked as he maneuvered the car along the streets, keeping a careful eye out just in case.
Alex’s nearly-closed eyes snapped open then, and he shook his head, muttering a quiet, “Thanks, now I feel guilty again. What if she hates me after this?”
“She’s a cat,” Jack answered, but he felt like that wasn’t really much of an explanation, at least not one that Alex would accept. “She’ll maybe be a little upset for an hour or two, but then she’ll totally forget about it, snap out of her bad mood, and go right back to being normal. Besides, she’s gonna have to get used to it at some point in the future; you won’t be in the apartment as much as you are now after the baby’s born.”
The tired man shrugged and leaned back into his seat as he let the sounds of Wasting All These Tears flood his senses. Before he even knew what was happening, Jack was pulling into a space in the apartment building’s lot.
“You gotta at least get upstairs, baby,” the younger cooed after having gotten out of the car and opened up the door of the passenger side.
The climb out of the car, the walk up to the building, the ride to the fifth floor and the last few steps down the hall passed in a blur, Alex having serious trouble keeping his eyes open and needing to lean as much of his weight into the other man as physically possible.
Cocoa, despite what Alex had feared and Jack had predicted, was more than happy to have her owner back. She had run figure eights through Alex’s legs as the men made their way into their bedroom, and Jack watched as she was actually able to jump from the floor to the bed. He didn’t think she’d master such a skill so early on, but stranger things have happened.
After getting Alex changed into a pair of comfortable sweatpants and a looser-fitting shirt, he changed as well, checking that he’d locked the front door once more and turning off the lights before climbing into bed with his beau. One hand moved to rub careful circles into Alex’s belly as the other twirled bits of the elder’s hair between his fingers soothingly.
The dual actions had Alex all but passing out for the night within mere minutes, and Jack wasn’t too far behind. He kind of felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve: if you go to sleep, the hours will fly by without you even knowing and you’ll be even closer to the big day in the blink of an eye.