by Dagny Rand
Chapter 6
“You know, it’s alright if you don’t want to do this,” Jack said. Willow was in the shower, he blurry silhouette visible in the mirror as he talked to her while she bathed.
“I don’t mind. Just because I’m not always in some loud, banging club doesn’t mean that I don’t like to go to one from time to time. Plus, what your agent said makes sense, this will help your image since you spent the last few years being a royal prick,” she said. Jack shot a look through the mirror towards the shower as if she could see it.
“I wasn’t trying to be a royal prick,” he mumbled.
“Yes you were. You just see it now,” she said, hearing him over the sound of the water running.
“Does that mean that I’m maturing or something, the fact that I’m getting better?” he asked. Willow giggled.
“Perhaps. Then again, you are still the man that laughs at every fart joke you’ve ever come across,” she said. Jack smirked.
“Hey, fart jokes are a lost art,” he said.
“Uh huh, sure,” she said. Jack grinned.
“I’m going to go put on my clothes, since you’re being all mean,” he said.
“Wuss,” she said in return.
“Love you too!” he said on his way out of the bathroom.
He and Willow were going out with the rest of the team that night to a club for a bit of drinking and bonding. She’d come out to the house a few hours before with a change of clothes, and opted to get ready there, so she had less time in the clothes to mess up her outfit. The logic made perfect sense to Jack, plus that meant that there was time for them to fool around a bit before they left the house. That was always a plus, since she was a stellar lover. They were six months into spending time together, and both of them were more open and less guarded with each other. That was why she was meeting the team. They’d all wanted to know what had caused the change in their teammate, so tonight, he had promised to show them.
He peeked into her overnight bag and smirked at the dress she’d brought to wear. It was one that made her the center of attention wherever she went, because she looked fantastic in it.
“That’s my girl,” he said, laying it out flat on the bed to wait for her to finish up in the bathroom.
The club for the night was called the Bass Drop, and the guys had pitched in and rented out the VIP section. It was easier when they all went out to do that, otherwise they were mobbed by people. That wasn’t something that anyone wanted, especially the ones that were attached and planned to bring said significant others to the club that night.
The club had allowed the guys to come in through a side entrance and head straight up to the VIP, to avoid starting a riot. This was going to be Jack and Willow’s first official outing together as a couple, which was huge since Jack was never tied to anyone. Jack made sure that he’d had a sedan service for the night, in case either of them was a little too drunk to drive, or simply didn’t feel like it. Willow was ready just as the car pulled up into the driveway.
They drive downtown talking about the guys on the team. Willow hadn’t really started following football until she’d started seriously seeing Jack, so there was still a lot that she didn’t understand and a lot of faces that she didn’t know. Jack had tried to get her to recognize some of the more forward ones, the ones that would come up and introduce themselves, and she had gotten most of them on site. The others he could feed to her before they went up to them.
“Oh, and Jacobs is a bit handsy when he’s been drinking. He won’t like, grab your ass or something, but he might hug and hold on a bit longer, or brush past something that he shouldn’t. He doesn’t mean to, trust me, he’s just drunk. One of the guys thought he had smacked him in the ass the first time we all went out, it turns out that he’d just turned around rather quickly and let his arm flap around him,” Jack said laughing. Willow giggled.
“Watch Jones when he gets liquored up, got it,” she said.
“There are going to be a lot of cameras here, someone at the club leaked that we’re going to be there. But I am so glad that I’ll bet there with you, you look amazing,” he said. Willow smiled.
“I’m supposed to look amazing, we’ve got to keep your rep up,” she said. Jack leaned in and kissed her gently.
“I don’t care about that. You look amazing for me, and that’s enough,” he said.
“You really have matured, haven’t you?” she said, smiling and resting a hand on Jack’s thigh.
“Somewhat. I still want to peel that dress off of you on the way to the club,” he said, licking his lips. Willow grinned, and playfully swatted his leg.
“We’re almost there, pervert,” she said.
“I can be quick,” he replied.
“Yeah you can,” Willow said with an eye roll.
“Hey, wait a minute…” Jack said, frowning as Willow laughed out loud.
*~*~*
The bass was so deep that you could feel it in your chest when you walked inside of the club, but Willow smiled and began dancing as they made their way down the hallway towards the entrance to the VIP section.
“There he is, the man of the hour!” someone announced as the two of them walked through the door. Henry almost bowled Jack over with the hug as he clapped him soundly on the back.
“Why am I the man of the hour?” Jack asked.
“Don’t mind him, Lance has already had too much to drink,” Paulie said. Jack nodded his understanding.
“Paulie, this is Willow,” he said, turning and introducing her. Willow smiled and held out her hand for a shake.
“It’s a pleasure,” he said.
“Likewise,” she responded.
“You’ve become something of a legend in the locker room, you know,” Paulie said. Jack rolled his eyes.
“Oh Lord, here we go,” he said.
“Have I?” Willow asked, suddenly very interested in what Paulie was saying.
“Oh yeah, most of the guys have been wondering what the hell was up with the pompous jack ass that we’d all come to know and love for a while, and then one day, he finally let it slip that what happened was a woman named Willow,” he explained.
“Interesting, what else did he say about me?” Willow asked. Paulie grinned.
“That’s the thing. He wouldn’t say another word. He said he didn’t want us to jinx it or something.” He said. Jack grinned and shook his head.
“Why do you think I was scared to bring her tonight? You all might convince her that I’m not worth her time, and I would be completely destroyed,” he said. Willow cuddled up against Jack’s side and smiled, winking up at him.
“Don’t worry, I’ve seen you at your jack assiest, I’m pretty sure that if I haven’t walked away by now, I’m not going to,” she said. Jack grinned and kissed her again.
“Hey now, none of that shit. Some of us are here alone, you know,” a rather slurred voice said. That was Ian, and he had apparently pregamed pretty hard from the look of it.
“Are you already drunk, Ian? Damn, you work fast,” Jack said as he and Willow began to move farther inside.
“That’s what she said,” Ian laughed.
“Dude, if that’s what she said, that’s not positive,” Jack said.
“Oh… yeah,” Ian said softly. Willow grinned.
“Someone should take his keys,” she said.
“Already got them, no worries,” Paulie said.
“Paulie doesn’t drink at all, so he’s usually the keeper of the keys and the one who makes sure that everyone who needs a cab has one and all of that. He’s probably saved everyone’s ass here at least once, including Coach,” Jack said.
“So he’s the team hero,” Willow said. Jack nodded.
“Exactly. Do you want something to drink or eat? They serve high quality bar food here, like nachos and hot wings,” he said. It hadn’t occurred to him to find out if she’d eaten before she’d come over that night, he felt bad about that now.
“Ooo, nachos. And a c
oke please,” she said with a smile as she sat down on the plush red overstuffed couch behind her. She wasn’t really a big drinker, which was one of the things that kept Jack in line with his.
“Girly drink,” Jack said with a smirk.
“I am a girly,” she replied. Jack laughed and turned to walk over to the bar for the food order and the drinks. By the time he returned, she had three other guys sitting with her.
“…I’ve always wondered if he does that at home too, or is that just a locker room thing,” Bo was asking.
“Hey now, don’t go asking this beautiful woman about all of my secrets. They are secrets for a reason,” he said, handing her the drink and settling beside her. He had no idea what Bo was talking about, he was just playing around.
“Sorry, I can’t talk about Jack’s secrets,” she said. “While he’s around,” she added for good measure with a smirk.
“What the hell is all this?” I asked as a laugh traveled around the group perched in front of her.
“We were just wondering how an ass like you managed to land a woman like Willow. She’s beautiful, intelligent and talented. How has she not seen through you yet?” Scotty asked.
“Hey, be nice. He’s a sweet guy when he wants to be,” Willow said. Jack grinned.
“Thank you,” he said.
Willow blinked, and suddenly the topic was football at a level that was way above her pay grade on the sport. And her soda was empty, so she politely excused herself and went to the bar in the corner for a refill.
“They’ve started talking football, haven’t they?” A female voice said. Willow turned and met the gaze of the cute blonde that was speaking to her, smiled, and nodded.
“Yeah. It happened so fast that I wasn’t aware that it was coming,” she said. The blond smiled.
“You get used to it. I’m Mia, by the way. I’ve been dating Oscar, the full back over in the corner of the couch, for about eight months,” she said. Willow smiled and nodded, but didn’t respond. There was something the she immediately picked up on behind Mia’s words, like a well-hidden vial of venom inside of them, which meant that she wasn’t really in a sharing mood.
“Wow, eight months. That’s a pretty serious relationship,” she said instead.
“What about you and Jack?” Mia asked. Willow planted a smile on her lips and took a sip of her soda.
“Long enough,” she said, leaving it at that.
“You know, Jack and I used to date,” she said. And there it was, the venom. Willow had to work hard not to roll her eyes as Mia watched her for a reaction. Willow didn’t really care, that was clearly before she even knew the man existed.
“Interesting,” was what she chose to respond with.
“Well, actually, he picked me up in a club and he and I spent a few days together. I don’t think we left the bed to do more than eat, and sometimes not even then,” she said with a laugh, waiting for a green eyed monster that wasn’t going to come.
“Oh, so you didn’t date. He just used you for a bit and then tossed you out on your ass,” Willow said, her voice calm as she held Mia’s gaze steadily. Mia looked confused as to why her revelation didn’t have the desired effect.
“What?” Mia asked.
“Babe, can you come her for a second?” Jack said, calling Willow back to the couch.
“I’m sorry, I‘ve got to go,” Willow said, excusing herself from Mia’s trap and starting to walk back towards Jack.
“Wait a minute, did you just call me a slut?” Mia said, her voice louder now. Willow stopped.
“Not at all. When did the word slut ever come out of my mouth?” Willow asked.
“You said that Jack just used me and then threw me out,” she said, angry.
“That’s what you told me happened. Why in the world would you think that screwing for a few days constitutes dating someone?” Willow asked the more irate Mia got, the calmer Willow felt. This woman had clearly approached Willow with the intention of making her blind with jealousy, or something similar. It wasn’t working though.
“Who the hell are you to tell me what dating is?” she squealed. Willow shrugged and settled beside Jack.
“No one. I’m not sure why you are even exerting so much effort on me,” she said.
“I don’t know why either, since I’ve got a man,” she said.
“Willow has a point, why are you spending so much time talking to her about how you were with her man if I’m right here?” Oscar said. The room went almost silent, save for the music filtering up from downstairs.
“I just… I wasn’t trying to tell her about Jack or anything,” Mia stuttered.
“Could have fooled me,” Jack said.
“It’s alright. Maybe she just wanted me to know that I’m not the first woman that Jack has slept with. The thing is, I already knew that. He’s not the first woman that I’ve slept with either,” Willow said.
“But he sees me all the time. How do you know he’s not still with me?” Mia asked.
“You do realize that Oscar is standing right beside you, right?” Willow asked.
“I know, I’m just… saying…” she faded out, realizing that in her quest to make Willow jealous, she’d probably just ended what she had with Oscar.
“You and I need to talk,” Oscar said. The two of them walked off to an area more private and the conversation immediate became visibly heated between them.
“I tried to tell Oscar that she was dating him to get to me, but he thought I was just trying to be jerk,” Jack said softly. Willow sighed.
“I hate that he had to find out like this.” She said. Jack nodded his agreement.
“Is it bad that this makes me so happy that lost her and found you?” he asked. Willow giggled.
“Probably,” she said. Jack shrugged against her and kissed her cheek.
“I don’t care,” he said.
Chapter 7
The night out resulted in Jack and Willow’s picture being everywhere, both sports related and not. Jack was suddenly the center of attention for a lot of news outlets again, which made the two of them going out a bit more difficult, but that just meant that they had to get inventive. It wasn’t until a few weeks later that things started to get more difficult suddenly. Jack could barely get out of the complex due to media clogging the entrance, and he had no idea why.
Until he saw the paper that day. Jack Carson’s Lover Spotted Exiting Doctor’s Office. Could This Mean A Little Jack On The Way? The headline screamed. Jack stared at the heavy ink words for almost a full minute as the PR team waited for his reaction. He didn’t say anything, he simply dialed.
“Hey,” Willow said, the smile clear in her voice.
“Hey babe. Remember how I told you not to come out to the house because the media was insane all of a sudden?” he asked.
“Yeah?” she replied.
“Someone saw you coming out of a doctor’s office and printed that you might be pregnant. Is there something that you need to tell me?” he asked. He wasn’t upset, and he prayed that was coming across in his voice.
“I was trying to wait until I knew for sure, which I didn’t until about ten minutes ago,” she said.
“Know what, exactly?” he asked. There was a slight hesitation before she answered.
“I went in because my stomach had been feeling off for a while, and I was pretty sure an upset stomach shouldn’t last so long. My doctor asked me a bunch of questions, and then asked if she could have my permission to run one last test. This morning, she called and told me that she’d gotten the results back and that they were positive. That I’m pregnant, and that what’s been going on with my stomach is actually morning sickness,” she said carefully, not really sure how Jack would take the news.
“So, you actually are pregnant?” Jack said.
“Yes,” Willow said. Then, she waited.
“So what happens now?” he asked. Well, he wasn’t freaking out, that was good, Willow thought to herself.
“Now, I have an a
ppointment for my first pre-natal visit in a week,” she said.
“Day and time?” Jack asked.
“Next Wednesday, at 2,” Willow said.
“Good. Someone tell Coach I’ll be late for practice next Tuesday. I’m going to be a father. And you, Willow, you come out to the house tonight,” eh said. Willow stopped, a little shocked.
“Really?” she asked.
“Of course, what did you expect?” he asked.
“I’m not sure, honestly. I figured there might be some sort of disagreement as to whether I’m actually going to have the baby or not,” she said.
“Why wouldn’t you have the baby?” he asked Willow laughed softly.
“I have no idea. I’ll see you tonight,” she replied.
*~*~*
The confirmation that Willow was pregnant caused an almost deafening roar in the media. The news that Jack was over the moon about it broke all class in a five mile radius. The media was aghast, most figuring that he would pressure her to give the baby up because it would hamper his career or his personal life, so the shock was massive when they found out that was the farthest thing from the actual case.
Paula had set up a press conference for him to take questions with Willow by his side. She wasn’t showing yet, of course, but she looked like she was glowing, even Paula saw it.
“So you found out that she was pregnant from the speculative story?” a reporter asked. Jack slipped his arm around Willow’s waist.
“Willow wanted to be sure before she said anything to me. Honestly, the reason that she went to the Doctor that day was because her stomach had been upset for longer than she thought it should be, and she was afraid something was wrong. Pregnancy never occurred to her,” Jack said, echoing their first conversation about it.
“Is this going to affect your football career, now that you’re going to be a dad?” a female reporter asked. Jack paused, thinking.
“I think I’m going to let Willow field this one,” he said. Willow turned to him, shocked.
“What? Um, it’s not really something that we’ve talked about,” she said, a little off guard.