Xander_Part 2_The Present

  “This is going to get bloody, I think,” Lucy tells me.

  “I think so too.”

  Lucy’s been really welcoming to me since I’ve arrived on their doorstep. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she would have been rude or didn’t talk to me much at all. I would have understood, seeing how close she and Xander are.

  Watching him with those babies is lovely. I can’t wait to see him with ours.

  “That was disgusting,” I tell Lucy when “the Ripper” delivers a blow to his opponent that sends blood and spit flying from his mouth.

  “Just, ick,” Lucy replies. “Let’s ignore the blood and spit and focus on the rippling muscles.”

  I sigh, taking in said muscles. “Yes, let’s.”

  Looking past the blood didn’t work out too well.

  "I'm going to find Jesse. Hopefully, he can fuck that image out of my head," Lucy says with a shudder.

  I nod. "Just… yuck."

  "Oh come on," Sera teases. "Didn't you look past the blood and see those hot male specimens?"

  "Who could see past the blood?" I squeak, my stomach queasy and it has nothing to do with the baby.

  I hear Sera laugh as we walk away, and I don’t even care.

  “Sera’s a hardass,” Lucy tells me.

  “I got that. Xander told me a lot about everyone.” I wipe my brow and feel beads of sweat. “Oh, wow. I really don’t feel well.” The room begins to spin a little.

  Lucy grabs my arm. “Are you okay?” She calls one of the security guards over. “I don’t know where Xander is, but Tera’s feeling unwell. We need to get her up to the room before she passes out.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” I reply. The world tilts, and it’s then I realize Linc is standing there, lifting me into his arms.

  “Little sister, did you eat today? Have you been drinking enough?”

  “I did, and I have. I think maybe the heels are too much,” I mutter, irritated because these are one of my favorite pair of Jimmy Choos. Black, strappy sandals with a four-inch heel.

  Linc looks at my feet, then shakes his head. “Tera.”

  “Shut up,” I whine as the elevator doors open.

  By the time we get to the room, Xander is there, waiting for us.

  “Are you okay?” Xander asks. He’s looking frantic.

  “I’m okay,” I reassure him. Linc sets me down on the sofa, and I take a sip from the water bottle Ethan passes me. He blots my brow with a cold cloth.

  “This might ruin your makeup, but you look so pale, Tera,” Ethan explains.

  “I’m sorry to worry everyone.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” Lucy tells me. “It could have been the heels, but I bet all that blood didn’t help.”

  I groan. “No, that definitely did not help.”

  “If you’re not up for going down for dinner, we can order in,” Xander tells me, coming to sit next to me, pulling me onto his lap.

  “I just need a minute to recover. Who knew pregnancy could be so trying?” I ask no one in particular.

  “Me,” Lucy replies, raising her hand. “I have a book you need to read. It tells you about all the things going on in your body right now, all the changes—and there are a lot.”

  “I don’t know how you did it with four,” I admire.

  Lucy laughs humorlessly. “It sucked. Sucked with a capital S. It was summer and I was as big as a house. I kept tipping over.”

  Linc chuckles and Jesse punches him. “Dude. Really not funny. Can you imagine over 13 pounds of babies in that little woman’s belly?”

  Linc sobers quickly, then drops to his knees and bows his top half to the floor. “I bow to your greatness. No joke.”

  Jesse lifts a brow at me. “What if there’s more than one in there?”

  I look to where Jesse’s pointing at my belly.

  “Uh… that better not happen,” I say aloud. “No. That will not happen.” I give Xander the evils.

  “Hey, if there’s more than one in there it’s not my fault your eggs like my swimmers,” he defends.

  “You suck,” I reply.

  Linc laughs. “I have a comeback for that, but I don’t dare.”

  “Smart man. You’re learning,” Jesse praises.

  “I’m going to use the restroom. Then I think I’m okay to go down. I’m hungry.”

  “You’re always hungry,” Lincoln calls after me. I keep walking as I flip him the bird over my shoulder.

  Lucy laughs. “I really, really like her.”

  “Me too,” Xander replies as I close the door.

  26

  XANDER

  The gala is super classy, all black and white. Reminds me of how CFD used to be when we had the black and white tiled floor—before Jesse went all Papa Bear and had carpet put in with about two inches of foam padding. Just in case one of the kids fell. At first I thought he was overdoing it. Then they started to walk—the K-Quads, and that changed everything.

  We find our table and somehow, they managed to squeeze all eleven of us onto one table. Sera and Cage, Lucy and Jesse, Tera and me, Ben and Nicole, Kennedy, Ethan, and Linc.

  Tera and Lucy coo about the dim lighting with the white fairy lights that surround the edges of the room.

  “It’s so romantic,” Lucy adds.

  “I’m proud to be here tonight,” I say out loud. “Sponsoring such a great charity, something that hits close to home—well, it’s a good choice.”

  I think of Nicole and Linc as well. Both suffered from leukemia and both needed financial help to get them through. Organizations like St. Jude’s Children’s Network are ones I support and donate to on a regular basis.

  "What's on your mind, Fee?" Cage asks.

  Sera looks up at him. "It pisses me off that there isn't a cure."

  He nods.

  "If only they didn't have to go through what they do. If only it were as simple to cure as the common cold," Sera murmurs, a tear slipping free.

  Cage reaches up and wipes it away with his thumb. "Fee."

  I look away, their conversation a private one, an intimate one I don’t want to intrude on.

  “I don’t think you all know, but Nicole’s not the only one who battled the big C,” I begin. “Linc had a brief battle with leukemia as well. It wasn’t pretty, but he kicked its ass just like you did, Coley.”

  Nicole smiles. “I’m so glad you did, Linc.”

  “Ditto. Some day we can share war stories,” Linc replies.

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  Dinner is served.

  Jesse bites into his lamb and I note Sera watching him.

  "Baaaaah,” Sera voices.

  He looks up, brows furrowed.

  "Baaaaah." She does it again, and I’m trying hard not to laugh. I nudge Tera with my elbow and she snickers.

  Jesse raises one of his brows as he chews thoughtfully.

  "Mary's missing her little lamb," I say and Sera nods.

  "Totally is because Jesse's eating it! Baaaaah!" Sera adds.

  "What about you over there? You're eating Nemo. Or maybe it's Dori. Maybe it's Nemo's dad?" Jesse mocks.

  "Whoever it was should have just kept swimming and they wouldn't be on my plate," Sera snarks and we all crack up.

  "And Mary should have taken the key and locked her up and the lamb wouldn't be on my plate," Jesse retorts.

  Sera shakes her head and snickers. "That's London Bridge, but I'll give it to you. Well done, brother-in-law. Well done.”

  Jesse fakes a bow, still sitting. "Thank you. I'll be here all week. Not really, but… really, how does that go? Mary had a little lamb?" He forks a piece of meat into his mouth and Sera visibly shudders and Tera gets pale.

  "Nasty."

  "You should know your nursery rhymes by now, Kingston. What the fuck?" I taunt.

  "There are way too fucking many. You've seen that stack of books in the baby room. No way can I remember that shit," Jesse replies.

  "Yet you can remember your locker combinatio
n from freshman year in high school," I scoff.

  "Damn straight. It's 34-15-12."

  "Freak," Kennedy mutters.

  I lean over and whisper to Lucy. “Hey, we going Elvis hunting later?”

  Lucy nods enthusiastically. “I was hoping you would ask. Tera’s coming too, right?”

  Tera smirks. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

  “It’s going to be so great.”

  "Uh-oh," Sera mutter and Jesse sighs.

  Kennedy laughs. "They're going Elvis hunting again."

  "And taking Tera with them," Ethan announces, brows raised.

  "Did you think I'd just sit here when there's a mission to be accomplished?" Tera asks.

  Sera looks to Lucy. "Sister of mine, I'm turning my phone off and getting my kink on with Batman tonight, so if you need bail money, you're gonna have to call someone else.”

  Lucy nods. "Noted. Did that one Elvis really get a restraining order?"

  Sera snickers.

  Cage sighs. "Please avoid that Elvis, Lucy. My phone will be off as well, and I'd hate to wake up to a shit storm tomorrow morning."

  Lucy smirks. "I make no promises."

  Cage sighs again.

  "It's just a little Xananigans," Tera declares proudly.

  "Oh hell," Ethan mutters. "She's got a word for it."

  I grin proudly and throws my arm around Tera and give her a smacking kiss. "She participates. Of course, she's going to have a word for it. Xananigans,” I repeat. “I like it.”

  Cage scrubs a hand over his face and shakes his head, chuckling as he does.

  Sera smirks and elbows Cage gently. "Are you wondering how this has become your life?"

  Now he laughs. "Close enough."

  "Imagine how boring it'd be without this," Sera tells him, looking around the table.

  Cage nods. "Boring… or peaceful?"

  Sera shrugs. "Same diff."

  "I suppose," he mutters.

  "Admit it, Cage dude. You love me," I tease.

  "I wouldn't go that far," Cage replies.

  "I'm wounded. Deeply, deeply wounded," I retorts, feigning sadness.

  Cage sits there, the only sign of his amusement is the tiny lift of one of the corners of his mouth. "You'll recover."

  Sera whispers something to Cage and he gets a look on his face he only gets when Sera’s around.

  "If you'll excuse us," Cage addresses.

  “Oh, yeah! Sera and Batman sexy time!” I call out. Everyone joins in. There are wolf whistles and cat calls until they exit the ballroom.

  I laugh. “That was awesome.”

  “Imagine how fun Elvis hunting is going to be!” Lucy replies.

  Indeed.

  Elvis hunting didn’t go as planned. Poor Lucy’s sad. Someone rained on the Elvis parade last night and if I’d have had more liquor in me, I’d have likely punched them in the face. As it was, Linc lifted this Elvis up by his gold lamé lapels and gave him a good, hard shake. I swear we heard his teeth rattle. It seems no one likes to see an upset Lucy.

  We went back to the hotel, hung out in the suite and Lucy got completely shitfaced. Drunk Lucy is hilarious—unless someone fucks up her plans, and that asshole Elvis did just that.

  “Do you think Lucy’s still upset?” Tera asks as we finish getting dressed to go down for breakfast.

  “Yeah, I’m sure she is. I’m fucking bummed about it myself. Why’d that fuckface have to ruin our fun?” I whine.

  “Aww, my poor baby,” Tera croons, hugging me.

  “It’s just, we have so much fun when we go Elvis hunting,” I whine some more.

  “He’s not really dead. That article was in the Enquirer, for fuck’s sake. Total bullshit. And there is no way Elvis looks like that. He looked horrible. Elvis is too handsome to look that shitty.”

  “Valid point,” I reply.

  “We’ll just have to come back and avoid that lousy Elvis. I did go and tell the casino manager what a dick he was. I think he got fired,” Tera tells me happily.

  “Good. He was a total dick to Luce.”

  “He wasn’t any better to you.”

  I let out a sigh. “No, but I can handle shit like that. Lucy’s too soft-hearted.”

  “I’ll talk to her at breakfast. Let’s go down. I’m hungry.”

  “Woman, pregnancy makes you hungry all the time—for both food and sex,” I remind her.

  “Are you seriously complaining?”

  “Hell no!”

  She laughs. “I didn’t think so.”

  27

  TERA

  We make our way to the buffet and, oh my God, am I hungry. Bacon. Bacon, bacon, and more bacon. French toast with strawberries and whipped cream. Scrambled eggs. Hash browns. I fill a bowl with a mixture of fruits.

  “Uh,” Xander begins, looking at my overflowing plate with raised brows.

  “Yes?” I ask, not even a little ashamed. I’m damn hungry. There’s a baby growing in there, and he or she is hungry too.

  “Do you want coffee? Juice?”

  “Decaf coffee with creamer,” I begin.

  “Of course.”

  “Apple juice would be perfect. Lots of apple juice,” I tell him, stuffing a piece of bacon in my mouth.

  Xander grins, those beautiful white teeth showing, his dimples winking, and I sigh blissfully.

  “I love you, Xan.”

  His eyes go soft. “I love you, Tera.” He kisses my lips. “I’ll get your beverages, babe.”

  “Thanks,” I reply, eating more bacon.

  “Damn it, Tera,” Linc bitches, “you didn’t take the whole thing of bacon, did you?”

  “Screw you. If I did, I wouldn’t share. Not with that tone,” I reply, lifting my nose to snub him. “That’ll teach you to do tequila shots, you freaking lightweight.”

  “I’m not a lightweight,” he defends.

  “Lies. I don’t ever drink, but even I can outdrink you,” I remind him.

  “Yeah, well.”

  His go-to reply when he’s proven wrong.

  Ethan chuckles then groans and grabs his head.

  “I have some pain reliever if you want some for your hangover headache,” I offer to Ethan.

  “You, Tera, are a goddess. I bow at your feet. I will forever be your servant,” Ethan teases, coming over and accepting the tablets, taking a couple more for Linc.

  “Get away from my wife, you lech,” Xan teases.

  Sera and Cage come walking up. Sera looks at Lucy then at Xander questioningly.

  Xander makes a sign of the cross. "Elvis is dead."

  "What?" Sera asks.

  Xan nods. "We went to Denny's last night looking for skinny Elvis, the one who married Jesse and Lucy. He wasn’t there but the one who was told us there was an article in the newspaper that Elvis was found dead under one of the overpasses near LA."

  "I'm sure it was bullshit," Sera placates.

  I shake my head. " There was a photo."

  "A photo?"

  Kennedy's grinning as he bites into his strip of bacon and Ethan's smirking. Ben and Nicole both turn away.

  "Yes, a photo," Lucy says vehemently. She pounds a fist on the table. Jesse wraps his arm around her, biting his lip, trying not to laugh. "There was no mistaking it was him. It was a photo of him at the age he would be now."

  Cage coughs into his coffee.

  "I'm so sorry, Luce," Sera says when in reality I can tell she wants to laugh.

  Lucy nods, sniffling again. "I just wanted to meet him."

  "I know, baby," Jesse replies, rubbing her arm with his hand, pulling her closer to his side.

  "Do you think he died happy?" Xan asks.

  Cage opens his mouth to reply, but Sera kicks his foot under the table. Kennedy snickers and Ethan grins. Ben and Nicole still have their backs toward us, but I see their shoulders shaking with laughter.

  "I'm sure he died happier than he would have had he died by overdosing on the toilet,” Sera answers.

  "He was hom
eless," Lucy adds.

  Sera sighs. "Homeless or not, I'm sure he lived a happy life, Luce."

  Lucy nods. "We should go to Graceland sometime. Pay our respects to his memory."

  "Yes. Let's do that soon," Xan agrees, I nod along.

  "We've got some gigs lined up in Memphis and Nashville next month. That'd be a good time," Cage offers.

  Lucy and Jesse are up at the buffet and Lucy looks miserable.

  “I have a plan,” I whisper to Xan.

  He nods. “I’m in.”

  Lucy sits across from me and Jesse across from Xander at the long table Lincoln, Kennedy, and Ethan have chosen for us. Sera and Cage are sitting adjacent to Jesse.

  “Lucy,” I begin.

  She looks up, despondent and bleak.

  “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come back to Vegas with all of us and go on the true Elvis hunting mission we got cheated out of by that lying Fat Elvis bastard,” I challenge.

  “But he’s dead.”

  I scoff. “You really think Elvis would look that shitty? Dead, alive; old, young? Please. He’s Elvis.”

  Lucy perks up. “That’s right. Even when he got fat, he was handsome. That lying bastard.” She pounds the table again.

  “Luce,” Xander begins. “It was the Enquirer. Of all the rags out there, that one is the worst. Remember the alien boy? All the UFO bullshit?”

  She nods more enthusiastically now. Beside her, Jesse grins and winks at me.

  “I remember that!” she shouts, then looks around. “Oops. I didn’t mean to shout, I was just so excited.”

  “Who isn’t?” I reply. “This is our mission.”

  “You’re going to have to hold off on that for a month or so,” Cage tells me.

  “Oh?” I ask, devouring more bacon. I didn’t even see Cage and Sera walk up.

  Cage looks around the table. “I got a call this morning. Falling Down and Blush are requested to perform at four charity concerts. There’s one in Nashville, as I mentioned earlier.”

  “When?” Jesse asks.

  “One each Saturday for the next month.”

  Jesse nods, as do the Falling Down members.

  “I’ll need to talk to the rest of the band. I don’t know what Jace, Meggie, or Trace have planned since this is such short notice,” Lucy explains to Cage.