Chapter 24: Vacation in Vegas: Day One.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Fosters.
AN: Picks up the next morning in Vegas.
Jude's POV:
I jerked awake with a jolt, shaking for a couple of seconds. It was another few seconds before I came back to my senses and shook the remains of the nightmare and remembered where I was.
I wasn't at Anchor Beach. I wasn't getting shot at. I was in Las Vegas, in a suite at the Bellagio, laying next to my boyfriend in bed at 8:00 in the morning.
I remembered the events of last night when we arrived in Vegas. Connor and I had been exhausted when we arrived last night, so we went straight to bed, while Jesus and Brandon, presumably, hit the bar to celebrate.
I laid back down and rolled over and wrapped my arms around Connor. He snuggled up to me and slowly opened his eyes with a small smile on his face.
"I could get used to this." He mumbled sleepily.
"What?" I asked.
"Waking up being cuddled." He said.
"Yeah." I said, distractedly.
"You okay?" He asked, rolling over to look me in the face.
"Yeah, just the usual nightmare." I said.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You want some coffee? I can make a pot if you want."
"S'okay." He said, "I'll get a drink with breakfast."
"What do you want?" I asked him.
"I want a McGriddle and a glass of milk." He said.
I snorted a laugh.
"You and your McDonald's." I teased him.
"You like their hotcakes." He pointed out.
"Well duh, they're pancakes." I said deadpan, "What's not to like?"
"My point exactly." He said, smiling, before sitting up and throwing the covers off of him and getting out of the bed. He stretched loudly, showing off his muscles as he did so.
"Show off." I teased.
"You love it." I shot back with a smile.
"Yeah. I do." I admitted, getting out of bed myself, "But you're still a showoff."
"You're not so bad looking yourself, JJ." He said, walking up to me and wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me close, "Ever since you started working out with me, you're practically drool worthy."
I smiled at the compliment and kissed him softly on the lips.
"Should we wake up Brandon and Jesus?" He asked.
"Nah. Let them sleep. They probably went on a bender when we got here last night." I said.
"I can't see Brandon going on a bender." Connor pointed out, while rummaging through one of his suitcases, "I can see him trying to keep Jesus out of trouble, but not actually joining in."
"What are you looking for?" I asked.
"I told you my Uncle gave me gambling money to give to you." Connor said, extracting a thick envelope from the suitcase and handing it to me.
"I cannot believe he allotted us $3,000 just for me to gamble." I said disbelievingly as I opened the envelope and counted the money. I very quickly noticed something.
"Um, Connor?"
"Yeah?"
"This is a bit more than three thousand dollars."
"How much is it?" He asked confused.
"It's eight thousand." I said shakily, "And there's a note."
"Read it."
"Dear Jonnor," I started to read but was cut off by Connor's groan.
"Oh god, he found out the damned name!" He swore, "I'm gonna kill Taylor."
"Hush! Let me read it." I said, poking him in the side, "Dear Jonnor, Hope you like my gift. Inside this envelope is the gambling money I promised you guys for the trip. As you have probably noticed, there is quite a bit more than what I originally indicated. I did not, however, lie. There is $3,000 from me. The extra five thousand was accumulated from generous gifts from Jude's family: Stef, Lena, Callie, Mariana, and Donald all threw in some money. Connor's grandfather Alexander threw in a couple thousand, and Adam and Elizabeth threw in some as well. Enjoy Vegas, have fun, get rich, and bring me back a nice souvenir. Love, Uncle Evan. PS. Don't get into too much trouble, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."
I turned to Connor and laughed.
"Wow." He said. "How much time are you gonna spend in the casino?"
"I'm not leaving until I have enough money to buy a new Camaro." I said.
"Seriously?" He asked.
"Hell yeah."
"You, my dear, are insane." He said.
"Sanity is overrated." I pointed out.
"That is true."
"Now come on. Let's get dressed and go eat." I said.
We quickly got dressed and left the room. We both laughed as we saw that the door to Brandon and Jesus's room had a do not disturb sign hung on the door with something scribbled on it in permanent marker.
"It says: Never let Jesus talk you into drinking Jägermeister." Connor read, laughing, "Well no shit Brandon, I could have told you that."
"I swear, I'm the only male Adams Foster with any form of common sense." I said, completely serious, "Let's go find a McDonalds."
Twenty Minutes Later
Connor's POV:
We decided to walk to McDonalds, since it was a beautiful day. We went inside ordered our food and sat down. Jude took a look at the interior of the place and raised an eyebrow.
"I expected the McDonald's in Vegas to be fancier than this." Jude pointed out.
"I know right?" I agreed, "It's no different than one back home. Food tastes a little better though."
"McDonalds is McDonalds." Jude said dismissively.
I took a bite out of my Sausage McGriddle with extra cheese.
"I still don't see how you cannot like these." I said, referring to my sandwich.
"I don't like the sausage at this place." He said, "Too spicy."
"That's what makes it taste good though." I said, "I think I'm gonna go swimming when we get back to the hotel."
"Go ahead, I'm heading for the poker tables." Jude said, "I've got a car to buy."
I laughed. I wasn't entirely sure if he was joking or not. My phone rang at that moment, and I checked to see who was calling. It was Brandon.
"Sup B?" I said as I answered the phone.
"Where u guys at?" He asked, his voice slurred slightly from sleep and hangover.
"McDonalds eating breakfast." I said, "Long night I'm guessing?"
"Yeah, You can say that again." Brandon groaned, "Is Jesus with you? He isn't in his bed."
"No. He's not." I asked.
"Wonderful." Brandon mumbled.
"Where did you guys go last night anyway?" I asked.
"Jesus dragged me to the bar, and somehow convinced me it was a good idea to go to a strip club." He said, before laughing, "Found him. He's sleeping in the bathtub. He's got himself wrapped in the shower curtain. Jesus, get your ass up! We're going swimming!"
"What is it?" Jude asked me as I shuddered with laughter.
"Jesus got Brandon drunk and dragged him to a strip club." I said, laughing almost uncontrollably, "Brandon found him asleep in the bathtub."
Jude guffawed at that.
"You guys coming back soon?" Brandon asked.
"Yeah, I'm going swimming with you two." I answered, "Jude is gonna hit the casino."
Brandon snorted.
"Oh god, and it begins." He said in mock horror.
"Yep. He will be rich by the end of the night." I said, only partially joking.
"Alright, well hurry back." Brandon said, "We're gonna get ready."
"Kay, see you in a bit." I said, hanging up before turning back to Jude, "You ready?"
"Yep, let's hit it." He said.
We walked out of the McDonalds hand in hand.
After about ten minutes of walking, we walked past one of the infamous Vegas wedding chapels.
"Haha." Jude laughed, "How much of a heart attack do you think our parents would have if we did that while we were here?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, "If we eloped while we're here?"
"Yeah." He said.
I laughed.
"They'd go nuclear." I said, "Why?"
"I've just been thinking a lot about that in the last week. Do you think we will?" He asked, "Get married someday?"
"Well, yeah." I answered, "Of course we will. But it'll be on the beach, with our families. Not eloping in a Vegas chapel with Elvis officiating."
"I know that. Just wondering what it'll be like." He said, laughing.
"It'll be wonderful." I said, "I can't wait to marry you. But it'll be a couple of years, At least until after we start college."
"Sounds like a plan." Jude agreed.
When we arrived back at the Bellagio, and Jude gave me a kiss and headed straight towards where you exchanged cash for chips. I shook my head fondly as I went up to the room to get my swim trunks.
I met Brandon and Jesus at the pool and sat down in the chair next to them.
"Good morning gentleman." I said.
"Sup dude." Jesus said.
"Connor." Brandon nodded in greeting.
"Where's Jude?" Jesus asked.
"Oh he's already in the casino." I said, laughing.
Jesus laughed.
"Awesome." He said, "Is it me or are all the chicks checking you and I out Connor?"
I looked around, and sure enough, at least seven girls were ogling Jesus and I.
"More for you, brother." I said, rolling my eyes.
"Is Jude the jealous type?" Brandon asked curiously.
"Hell yes he is." I said, "He punched some guy in the face once because he flirted with me."
"Like you wouldn't do the same thing?" Jesus said.
"No. I wouldn't." I said, "I don't have to. If somebody flirts with Jude, he shuts them down so quick they barely have a chance to blink. I don't get jealous easily. I know I have Jude. He's mine. I'm his. It's gonna stay that way. Nobody can change that. So I don't have to worry about it."
We spent the next five hours in the pool, during which Jesus flirted with every woman with a developed body, Brandon rolled his eyes, and I ignored him and swam. We decided to go up to the room and get changed into proper clothes to await Jude so we could go to dinner. We had only been in the room for five minutes, and had just got changed when the door opened and a smirking Judicorn was escorted into the room by two armed guards. I immediately noticed that Jude was carrying a medium sized briefcase.
Jesus was the first to vocalize his thoughts.
"How much did you win?" He asked.
"Weeeeeell." Jude said, smirking evilly, "I did have more than this, but I already went out and bought something. Want to see how much I've got?"
"Yeah." We all chorused.
He smirked, and sat the briefcase down.
He popped it open.
The briefcase was full of cash. My jaw practically hit the floor. Jesus started laughing hysterically. Brandon tried to speak, but couldn't form a coherent thought.
"We are going shopping. I'll need you to escort us to the car. Please wait outside." Jude said to the two guards, and pulled two hundred dollar bills out of his pockets and handed them to the guards, who made a speedy exit. He pulled a couple of large wads of cash out of his pockets and sat them next to the briefcase.
"Holy. Fucking. Shit." I said, approaching the small fortune, "You made all of THIS in seven hours?"
"Yep." He said smugly.
Jesus continued to die from laughter. He was laughing so hard he was turning blue.
"How much is here?" Brandon asked, his eyes wide as saucers.
"I cleaned a couple of people out." He said, "Had this old guy in a suit literally emptying his pockets onto the table."
"Yeah?" We all asked eagerly.
"Ninety two thousand dollars." He said, "Plus the eight that I started with."
I sputtered loudly. Brandon fainted and landed on Jesus while Jude cackled loudly.
"You made a hundred grand in five hours?"
"Actually, there was more, but I spent some already." He said, still supremely smug.
"What did you buy?" Jesus asked, finally regaining control of himself.
"Put on your best clothes and follow me." He said, before leaving the room.
We all scrambled for our clothes. Ten minutes later we were dressed in our best clothes and exiting the lobby.
Jude stood leaning against a very shiny black four door car, that looked a bit old, but was obviously expensive.
"What do you think?" He asked giddily, "Isn't he beautiful?"
"What is it?"
"It's a 2010 Aston Martin Rapide." He said, waving his arms at the automobile in excitement, "I have always wanted one of these things. I got if for $35,000."
"You spent $35,000 and you still have a hundred grand left?" I asked in shock.
He nodded.
"I'll never doubt your gambling skills again." Jesus said as he approached the car.
"You wanna know what is funny?" He asked.
"What?" We all asked.
"Today I spent all day gambling at the Bellagio." He said, smirking, "Tomorrow, I'm spending all day gambling at Caesar's Palace."
We all burst out laughing as we got in the car.
"You know, Jude." Jesus said as he piled into the back of the car, "When I said you'd end up bankrupting the casinos all those years ago, I didn't think you seriously would."
"Wow this thing is spacious." Brandon said.
"That's one thing I like about it." Jude said from the driver seat as he started the engine and pulled out onto Las Vegas Boulevard.
"Where are we going exactly."
"Shopping." He said, "I might have a surprise for you three."
"Sounds good." Brandon said.
AN: That's it for this chapter. Next chapter, they visit Primm and Nipton, and Jude continues his conquest of the Vegas casinos. Also, the car, which cost almost $200,000 when it was brand new in 2010, is only $35,000 in the story because this chapter takes place in 2019, almost a decade later. The car would have depreciated quite a bit in that time.