False Start (Mavericks #1)

by Julianna Marley

  Taking a long sip of her wine, she let the bold sweetness rest on her tongue before sliding down her throat.

  “Because his lease is up on his apartment.”

  Standing up, she walked toward the island grabbing the wine bottle. Even though his lease was up, he could have still renewed it. So why hadn’t he? Another unanswered question she supposed.

  “And I can’t exactly tell him that he can’t come home. This is still his house too.” She acknowledged, waving the bottle around the room, the thought alone of him being back inside the kitchen again sending her stomach into a fit of nerves.

  After what seemed like a hundred gift bags and three glasses of wine later, she and Chelsea finally finished the favors and she was extremely grateful that her best friend only lived three houses down the street so she could walk home. Shutting off the lights, she dragged herself up the stairs to salvage just a few hours of sleep before the madness of a four-year old twins’ birthday party and her love life erupted instantaneously.

  5

  “I think my head is going to explode,” Alivia groaned, searching through a pile of plastic bags for the cake candles, with Mr. Beans circling around her feet at all the excitement. The party was scheduled to begin in forty-five minutes and her house was still in full party set-up mode. The local caterer she used for personal events arranged tables and chairs around the yard, as Ross bustled behind them setting up purple and turquoise tablecloths and mermaid cutout centerpieces on each tabletop. The castle moon bounce was just about standing upright and she had finally finished placing over fifty balloons on the deck, around the pool and even inside the house. Finding the candles, she placed them on the table, vowing that she would never, ever have another party like this again. Even if that was exactly what she had said last year. And the year before that.

  “Where do you want these cakes, darlin’?”

  Turning around at the familiar voice singing behind her, Alivia smiled at her favorite baker whom she used for every single event she planned for her clients.

  “Hey, June,” she grinned, paying little attention to the heaviness inside her chest spotting the two petite cakes she was holding in her hands. As adorable as the personalized purple cakes looked, they weren’t the cakes that the girls wanted. She knew that.

  “Oh, here set them on the table for now,” she said, clearing the table of plastic wrappers and tape. The girls had begged her for a week straight to bake them their traditional hummingbird birthday cakes. The cake they had eaten every year since their first birthday. She couldn’t do it though. She couldn’t make the cake that their daddy made every year for their babies on her own. It was his one fond memory from his childhood that he wanted to keep inside their family, but he made good and sure that he wasn’t here to bake them this year. So she had called June at the last minute to order some consolation cakes, but looking at the seashell shaped confections was more difficult than she had anticipated.

  “June, they are the cutest cakes I’ve ever seen,” she smiled, appreciating that despite it all, her friend had come through at the last minute.

  “Ah, only the best for you and the girls.”

  The door opened again as the young catering assistants passed through the kitchen with trays of food.

  “The sandwiches can go right outside on the long tables,” Alivia pointed to the covered deck. Taking the salad from the young kid passing by, she placed it in the refrigerator to keep from getting warm until the guests arrived.

  Coming through the sliding doors, Ross smoothed out his royal blue paisley shirt, not a single drop of sweat broken on his smooth face regardless of running around all morning.

  “You really need to go get ready, lovey,” he said, looking down at her oversized sweats and back up to her side ponytail. “You look hideous.”

  Realizing that she did indeed only have a few more minutes before guests would start arriving, she hurried up the steps, pausing outside of Hailey’s room at the sounds of the girls laughing. Peeking inside she watched Magda dashing around the room with a hairbrush in one hand and tutu’s in the other, helping the girls get dressed into their outfits for the party. The girls had been talking about their party for weeks and it warmed her knowing that she could do this for them, making all the hard work worth it. She only wished she could have gotten the girls dressed for the party herself, but like the trend that seemed to be forming, she had spread herself too thin; but it’s what happens when only one parent was home.

  The moment Alivia’s feet hit the bottom of the steps after ten short minutes of collecting herself, she was greeted immediately by neighbors and their excited children. Taking gifts to lighten their load, she guided everyone outside as they marveled at how beautiful the party looked. The kids ran off in the direction of the bounce house, as more school friends and neighbors arrived through the backyard gate. She was in her element. This was what she was born to do as she gushed over each new guest that arrived. Stealing a quick glance inside the bounce house, she snapped a few pictures of the girls doing small flips with their friends, Ross jumping right along with them instead of supervising. Watching guests head towards the food table, she made her way up the backyard remembering that she left the salad inside the refrigerator. Sliding by some of the mothers, she slipped through the glass doors into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. Grasping the large bowl with two hands, she turned around closing the door with her arm slamming right into the huge chest of a man standing in front of her.

  “Oh gosh!” she shrieked, stumbling backwards into the cool steel door, nearly dropping the salad. Clutching the bowl to her chest, she looked straight ahead into the solid chest that had just nearly knocked her on her rear end. She knew every inch of that large chest. And every freckle on that thick neck and every curve of the irrefutable jaw and the finesse of those smooth lips, as her eyes continued up into distinctive emerald eyes. Not just any eyes…but the ones belonging to her husband.

  “Jax.”

  * * *

  Eleven months, twenty-five days and thirteen hours. That was exactly how long it had been since Alivia saw Jax and had been on the receiving end of those green eyes studying her like they were now. She knew he was coming home, had prepared herself for this moment, or so she thought. Calculating her next move, she held his stare a moment, every ounce of willpower she had screaming to slap him across the face out of complete disgust, and then lurch forward into his arms, kissing him because she had missed him so gosh darn much.

  Good lord, you really are losing your mind.

  Saying hello would be good manners, walking away would be warranted, and dumping the entire bowl of Caesar salad over his head would be therapeutic. Almost opting for the latter, Chelsea interrupted coming through the kitchen door yelling, “Sorry, we’re late, Trevor had an interview with a sports repor-” she stopped in her tracks finally noticing her and Jax in a standoff, like something out of a western movie minus the tumbleweeds.

  She had been anticipating his return home all month, but seeing him again and being close enough to touch him as he took up all the space in the room, was stirring up emotions she wasn’t ready to acknowledge. Couldn’t acknowledge. Quickly turning toward Chelsea, who stood inside the doorway with two large gifts in her hands, eyes wide as Trevor held Asher with a huge smirk across his long face, clearly finding the entire reunion humorous.

  “Hi y’all!” Alivia said, mustering up the biggest smile she could manage, walking quickly over to her friends. Placing the salad bowl down on the island, she wrapped Chelsea into a big hug, before doing the same with Trevor, lingering longer than was necessary before smacking Asher’s chunky cheeks with a big kiss. She felt like a dog marking her territory with their best friends, but Chelsea and Trevor were adamant on remaining neutral throughout the entire separation and they had done a good job of doing so, even if it did irritate her a bit.

  “Well,” she said, feeling Jax’s eyes burning a hole through her back on the opposite side of the kitchen. “It
appears that everyone is here now.”

  Picking up the salad, she walked past Jax, refusing to look at him again, her heart hammering inside her chest. Chelsea and Trevor followed behind her, silence filling the room as she lead the way to the back deck, hearing Trevor give him a pat on the back and Chelsea giving him a hug.

  Just breathe.

  The rest of the party was a blur as Alivia ran around making sure every guest was taken care of and every child was having fun. It was a whole lot easier staying distracted with the little details and the guests than it was dealing with the reality that Jax was home making his rounds to numerous friends in the backyard that he had been noticeably absent from for the better part of a year. He chatted easily with neighbors, introduced himself to some of the school parents, and played with the girls with all the ease in the world as if he hadn’t lost one ounce of sleep since leaving them nor had a ball of nerves the size of his fist lodged inside his stomach. Not like her.

  Carrying Hannah’s cake out to the deck with Ross behind her with Hailey’s, her legs threatened to give out feeling Jax watching her with every step she took. The guests choired into “Happy Birthday” twice, once for each girl, as was a general rule she and Jax had instilled that each girl get her own song sung to her, just like they had done in the delivery room the day they were born. Concentrating on singing and taking more pictures of her daughters, she fought the impulse to look at him across the table, sharing that special moment between parents. The tender moment when they realize that their babies had grown another year older.

  But there was no moment.

  Snapping another picture of the girls blowing out their candles while holding hands, she focused on her babies and how in the world they were already four years old.

  Adjusting again to get comfortable, Alivia tried to let go of the guilt of kicking Mr. Beans and Jax all night disturbing their slumber.

  “Gosh, I can’t wait for these babies to come,” she muttered into the bedroom to nobody in particular. Stuffing another pillow under her head, she let her mind drift to all the things that still needed to be done before the babies arrived. Normal things like interviewing a pediatrician, baby proofing the house, and finding baby furniture. The nursery was only half finished, but Jax had promised to get it done as soon as his first week of mini-camp was complete; both of them thankful that the babies were due before full blown training camp began.

  The past year had been such a whirlwind she could barely believe that she was a little over five weeks away from giving birth. After Jax had proposed she only had five months to plan the wedding of their dreams; which was like two days in wedding planner time. Working against the beginning of football season and with lots of grit, sweat, and some tears, everything had come together beautifully with the help of her mama, Ross, Chelsea, and even Charlotte. She had everything she had ever wanted in a wedding, but seeing Jax waiting for her as she walked down the aisle was all she ever really needed.

  Tahiti had been a magical honeymoon, it was a wonder they even had time to actually see the island. They had been just as content lying in bed together, skinny dipping in their private pool and breaking some kind of love making record. It wasn’t in their nature to be so idle, both loving to explore and try new things, but they were too wrapped up in wedded bliss and in each other to care much about anything else. Three weeks later, shock, happiness, and worry were just a few of the emotions running through her as she stared down at the small stick in her hand. She was only twenty-five years old and had just gotten married. What did she know about having a baby and raising a family?

  A family was always a part of the plan, something that they both wanted, someday, just not particularly that day. The plan was for Jax to lead the Mavericks to the Super Bowl, sustain a contract as a franchise quarterback, while she and Ross continued building Save the Date, expanding to surrounding cities. A baby was not part of the current “master plan”….and twins were absolutely not part of the current master plan.

  Watching Jax’s face light up when she told him that they were, in fact, expecting and the self-righteous grin on his face that he had been the man that hadn’t only put one baby in her belly, but two; all her uncertainties about the next chapter in their life disappeared in his delightful kisses.

  Rolling over on her side of the bed, she stood up, determined to let her two men salvage a good night’s sleep as she waddled into the living room. She remembered the doctor mentioning that insomnia would be normal in the last months of her pregnancy, but this was bad, marking the eighth consistent night in a row with little sleep. Walking over to the computer, she checked her Facebook. Most of her hometown friends were on Spring Break drinking, partying, and having random summer romances; but there was nothing she wanted more than to be exactly where she was, with Jax and about to start their new little family. He never ceased to amaze her with how attentive and excited he was about every phase of her pregnancy and the babies’ arrivals; foot rubs being her current favorite. It was because of him, that her pregnancy was so perfect. Well, maybe she could have done without the swollen ankles, bloated face, and the urge to eat everything in plain sight because if she kept it up then she would be able to join the Mavs as a lineman.

  Turning off the computer, she inspected a milk chocolate bunny on the counter. Jax had made her an Easter basket full of chocolate, her sole pregnancy craving, earlier that day. Bless his heart, he was so good to her, but it was the last thing she needed. However she was extremely thankful for it now. Managing to get comfortable on the couch, she draped the white throw blanket over her legs and flipped through the channels on the television.

  Surprise! Nothing decent was on. Some infomercials, the Newlywed Game, and a made for television movie circa 1983. Finally finding a Fresh Prince of Bel Air rerun, she felt a tightening in her belly. The first one was just a little pinch and then harder. A lot harder. Getting up to make her way to the bathroom, she made it down the hall when warm water mixed with blood ran down her leg. Waddling quickly with her legs spread apart into the bedroom, she panicked. It was too early to have the babies. And blood? Shaking her peacefully sleeping husband, she felt another strong pinch nearly taking her breath away.

  “Jax,” she said shaking him harder. “Hunny I think it’s time.” She managed between breaths grasping her lower belly again. “Something’s not right.”

  Rolling his huge body over, matching her surprise, he jumped out of bed. “But we have almost another six weeks!” he said confused, pulling on a pair of sweats.

  Sitting on the edge of the bed, she held her stomach, bracing for another contraction. Through slow breaths and the dizziness, she could feel it was all wrong. It shouldn’t hurt this bad and contractions shouldn’t be coming this fast. This soon. Heart racing, her legs went numb, the pain increasing by the minute.

  “Something’s wrong Jax,” she moaned clenching her stomach, almost doubling over. Before she had a chance to fall to the floor, he scooped her up in one fast movement, carrying her through the house, right out the front door and to the car. Breaking every major traffic law in the state of South Carolina he called the obstetrician, pulling up to the hospital in record time.

  Things were a haze from that point forward. She remembered the ice cold operating room, cords and wires wrapped around her body and before she could count to ten, the doctor had performed an emergency C-section. She had suffered placental abruption and thankfully Jax had got her to the hospital fast enough before the babies’ oxygen supply was cut off. After an intense evaluation of both her and the babies and what seemed like hours later, Alivia finally held her daughters, Hannah Mae and Hailey Rae.

  They were so beautiful, so tiny and most importantly, healthy. They needed to be watched closely by nurses for several days after, but her babies were okay. Looking up into Jax’s damp eyes, she realized that she had everything she ever wanted in life.

  Life in that moment was absolutely perfect.

  * * *

  “Six ball, cor
ner pocket,” Trevor demanded becoming eye level with the cue ball lining up his move carefully. Taking another swig of his Corona, Jax leaned his pool stick into his hip, listening to his teammates Myles and Shay sitting in the large theatre chairs across the room arguing about the best Hall of Fame quarterbacks in the NFL. A few of the guys had stayed after the girls’ party ended to hang out and he welcomed the distraction.

  “That’s what I’m talking about!” Trevor hollered, whipping his solid fist into the air.

  Placing his beer down on the small high top, Jax walked towards the table carefully inspecting the position of the ball.

  “Don’t get too excited there, Skipper,” he said bending down, concentrating on the cue ball, eyeing up his direction perfectly. Sliding the stick firmly between his index and middle fingers, he jerked it forward, missing it. Not just the pocket, but the damn ball too.

  What the hell!

  “Damn it,” he mumbled.

  Chuckling, Trevor took another draw of his Heineken. “This lack of concentration wouldn’t have anything to do with you suddenly re-cohabitating with your wife, now would it?” he asked eyeing Jax. If there was one person on the planet who knew him better than he knew himself, it was his best friend.

  “Please.” Jax scoffed, staring back at the pool table. “It takes a lot more than my annoyed wife to break my concentration.”

  Truth was, Trevor was right. The look in Liv’s eyes when they knocked into each other earlier was all he could think about over the past few hours. He hadn’t seen a look like that from her since, well, ever. And if he were being brutally honest with himself, it unnerved him. She had a right to be angry, he wouldn’t argue that, but that look seemed to be filled with angst, disgust and even hate. She couldn’t hate him, could she? He only hoped that she could put it all aside for the sake of their daughters. He may have been absent from her life, but he saw the girls twice a week and every Saturday during the offseason since living in his apartment across town. He had only wanted what was best for his girls and being in an all-out brawl with their mother, was not what was best for them.