“Hmm,” is all he says as he nods his head. “Your last name is much cooler than mine.” I just smile at him.
Give it time, kid… we’ll get there.
Ash hangs up the phone and walks back over to where Jag and I sit on the couch as he just shakes his head.
“It’s weird.” He just looks at me as I nod my head and then laugh. Leaning over to Jag, I whisper loud enough for Ash to hear me.
“I mean, it could be worse. You could have a super lame name like Anderson.”
“Hey,” Ash snaps back, “fuck off.” He shouts out a laugh.
“Fuck off,” Jag repeats Ash from my side, which makes my mouth fall open as I try not to let Jag see me laugh about the use of the word.
You’re in so much trouble. I mouth back at Ash, who just looks at Jag before he backpedals.
“I said a bad word.” He tells him. “We shouldn’t use that word.”
“Then why did you?” Ash looks instantly relieved when the door opens.
“Daddy!”Both boys shout as they rush up to Ash and he leans down, bringing them in for a hug. I can’t help but notice how Jag looks over the couch. The longing that his face shows tugs at my heart.
“Boys, we have been over this. You cannot run from the car like that.” Caroline comes in through the door and smiles when she sees me. I can tell that she’s kind of shocked when she sees me, though. “Axe.” Then her eyes drift across the room as they land on Jagger for a brief second as he looks at her and then back up to me. “Oh!” She sounds completely surprised.
“Boys,” Ash says to his sons, “I want you to meet your cousin Jagger. He’s over there with Axe.” I laugh, getting up and walking up to Caroline, grabbing some bags out of her hands and taking them into the kitchen.
“Like Eliza and Liv?” I hear the boys ask their dad, making me laugh. “But another boy!”
“Yup.” He tells them before Ash walks into the kitchen where we are standing.
“I see…” she stops herself abruptly before she continues, almost as if she was stopping what her sentence was going to be, “my husband has forgotten to fill me in on a sizable piece of this puzzle.” I just smile at her before Ash walks up, leans over, and kisses her. “Congrats.” She sends me a questioning look as I just sigh again.
“Yeah, it’s been a bit of a life-altering day.” She laughs.
“You could figure it out that fast?” Ash teases Care.
“Ash, I may have a pregnancy brain but those weren’t difficult dots to connect.” She laughs.
“You’re pregnant again?” I can’t help but ask her as she just smiles, nodding her head.
“No one knows.” Ash grimaces as Caroline tells me. “Well, no one’s supposed to know. Who the fuck did you tell?” She smacks his chest, and he laughs.
“Just Ella.” He laughs as he grabs a biscuit out of the bag and eats it.
“Mom,” one twin yells for Caroline as she just smiles and walks back into the living room. “Did you meet Jag?”
“I did not.” I watch her as she introduces herself to him, and I just watch my kid in awe.
“Saw you two were bonding,” he smiles as he looks over at me.
“Yeah, how do I make up for 3 years?” I ask no one in particular, to the universe more like.
“You just do.” He says as I look back over at him as he shrugs. “Because the alternative is that you don’t try to, you just add more years to it.” I nod back at him as the front door opens again
