Disclaimer: I don't own the Takers.
Jake inhaled deeply and paused, holding the club air in. John smiled. "You know, suffocating yourself really isn't going to work." Jake finally exhaled, glaring at his friend. He could do this. Lilly would be rational right? She had put up with a lot worse with Ghost and their relationship was not nearly as strong as Jake and Lilly's. But that face. God that look she had just minutes before. It was that of a child who had seen their dad hitting their mom or their beloved pet being run over by a monster truck. How could he face her when he had caused her such pain? Straightening his back and steeling himself for an argument, Jake led John Boy into the office.
Lilly tore her eyes away from the Russian painting she had been staring at to gaze wearily at the intruders. She put down her glass of warm cranberry juice and stood. They stared at each other across the battlefield. Finally, he broke the silence. "Baby I don't know what you're thinking you saw or heard but believe me it's not nearly as…"
"What?" There was quiet anger in her voice. "It isn't what it looks like? Are you really gonna use that line on me Jake?" She crossed her skinny arms, holding herself together.
"You really have no reason to be upset." He immediately regretted those words.
"I don't have a reason to be upset? You know what Jake, you're full of it. You say you're so much better but you're not. You talk about the guys for boning everyone but what do you do? You fuck around behind my back. You tell Jesse to stop being a player. But then you do much worse, you cheat on your GIRLFRIEND!"
"I didn't cheat on you, baby."
"Oh so that wasn't your jump-off coming into OUR club telling you she had your baby?" Gaining confidence with her mounting anger she strode across the room until she was right in his face. She looked over the lines of his beautiful face and her heart broke. Her Jake had messed up. He had broken his promise to never hurt her. "You little…uhhh." She was so hot she could think straight. "After all the shit you talked about Ghost…" She started horribly imitating his voice, "How you gone love someone who has children and don't do a damn thing with 'em. How you gone act like it don't kill you that he got that chick pregnant when he was supposed to be loving you?" She huffed. "What the hell makes you so much better? Last I checked your dick wasn't made of gold and your name wasn't Jesus." John was amused he had never seen her so mad.
Jake tried to put his hands on her arms but she took a step back. He sighed and looked around the room. Suddenly he was struck by the number of times they had had sex in that very room and he remembered the simple times they had just hung out and talked about the world together in there. He loved her. "Just listen okay? That woman was an old friend." Lilly raised an eyebrow. "Yes, a friend. Well, okay a girlfriend but that was 10 years ago. We dated for 2 years and yes we were in love but she left me. I didn't know why until tonight." He looked back at John who nodded at him. "She was pregnant. She left to have my child. I don't know much that's all she told me before she ran off."
"She gave birth to a girl. I don't know her real name or her nickname. I don't know her birthday or her favorite color. I don't know what her first word was or when she started talking. I don't know when she took her first step or when she was potty trained. I don't know when she lost her first tooth or when she learned to ride a bike. Hell, I don't even know what she looks like. All of that was taken from me." That look of pain in his eyes convinced her to back down. She slowly stepped into his arms. As soon as she was close enough, his arms encircled her, trapping her in his love. John stayed behind them for 3 awkward seconds before quietly slipping out of the room.
"I'm sorry Jake." She knew how important family was to him. He had lost most of his family as a kid. His mother had left when Jesse was in diapers. His father jumped in and out of jail during most of his life. His Uncle Richard who had replaced his father and his mother in Jake's life died two years after Jake and Jesse moved in with him and they were handed down the short line of family members still alive until they finally wound up with their Aunt Ida. She had died in an armed robbery of a gas station leaving Jake to raise Jesse himself from age 19. Family was a tough subject for him and for him to have missed out on the love of having a child and for his daughter to not have him would be eating away at his sanity.
"I love you but please don't try to keep her away from me. I don't want to choose." The emotion in his voice was heavy.
"Jake…" She hesitated. "Do you think we might be able to see her soon?"
He pulled back to look down at her in complete adoration. "Really?"
"Jake the last thing I would do is keep you from anything you love, especially a child. If she is going to be a part of your life, she will be part of mine too."
He kissed her lovingly on the lips. It turned into a slow, passionate kiss. They moved to music only they could hear."I love you like a fat kid loves cake."
She smiled. Tiredly but contently she rested her head on his broad chest, listening to his heart beat. "Does that mean you want to eat me then mister?"
"Oh I always want to eat you, sweets."
AJ tossed his cigarette out of his car before slowly pulling up in front of an unattractive purple house. From where he sat he could still clearly make out Tiffany's Audi. She sat for a few minutes, probably collecting herself before finally exiting the vehicle. She stepped onto the curb and continued to the small blue house 3 houses down from the one AJ sat in front of. He watched as she fished in her clutch for her house key. After a beat she was opening the door and entering. He made a note in his phone of the address. When he looked up at the house again he could just make out a feminine figure in an upstairs window.
I wonder if that's the kid's room, AJ thought. He couldn't believe Jake had a kid or that Jake never knew about her. Shit got real tonight, he thought with a small chuckle. He sighed taking one last look at the house before pulling off.
