Third Act (Dark Falkon Book 3)

by J. O Mantel

  “Babe, you’re going to be a great mom. And Lukas or Jake with make a terrific father. They’re both going to be there for you, no matter what happens, because they both love you. You couldn’t be in a better position right now.”

  The realization that she was about to become a mother terrified her. She wiped her tears and put away the articles of clothing she had removed from two of the bags.

  “Where the hell am I going to put all this stuff?” She said.

  “Don’t you have the spare room?” Ivy asked.

  “I do, but I still think I’m going to need more room.”

  The waitress returned with their food, they put the bags away and ate their lunch.

  “Did you speak to Jake and Lukas?”

  “I did, and they’re both meeting me at the clinic at 5,” Sienna replied.

  Ivy froze and looked at Sienna.

  “Are you sure you don’t need me to tag along? You know, to contain the testosterone level in the room? Or maybe hold your hand?” Ivy begged.

  “You’d love that wouldn’t you? You’re such a busy body,” Sienna joked.

  “No, that’s not it at all. I just want to be there to see Lukas and Jake together in the same room, and Jake behaving himself, which will be really hard for him.”

  They finished their lunch before heading back out into the mall to continue looking in a few more shops.

  It was after 4 before Sienna left the mall. Thankfully, she was only a short drive to the doctor’s clinic and made her appointment on time.

  She gave her name to the receptionist and sat down in the waiting area. She flicked through one of the trashy teen magazines that were sitting beside her, constantly checking her phone for any messages from Jake or Lukas. As she monitored the clock on the wall, she started having doubts about having them both there. Maybe both of them were thinking the exact same thing; if the other one was there, then they weren’t going to go.

  “They’ll be here,” she told herself, as she continued flicking through the magazine.

  It was ten minutes to 5 when she looked up and saw Lukas walking toward her. Sienna stood up and greeted him with a kiss.

  “You made it,” she said.

  “I told you I’d be here,” he replied, as the two of them sat down.

  “I’ve never seen you in your biker gear before” Sienna said, rubbing her hands over his leather jacket and she pressed her hair against his chest.

  “Jake’s not here yet?” He asked.

  “No. He said he’d be here.” Sienna looked at her watch and then cuddled Lukas again.

  “Sienna?”

  She looked up at the receptionist who had called her name.

  “Dr. Hughes is running a little late with his patient, he shouldn’t be too long,” she said.

  “Thank you,” Sienna replied.

  She tapped her foot on the floor, continually checking the clock on the wall for the time.

  “If you keep that up, you’ll wear out the carpet” Lukas said, nodding toward her foot.

  “Where the hell is Jake? I told him 5pm.”

  She grabbed her phone and sent him a message;

  Sienna: Where are you? It’s after 5.

  “I’m sure he’s on his way. Relax babe, it’s just gone five o’clock, he’s probably parking the car.”

  “Sienna?” The receptionist called again. “He’s ready for you now.”

  Sienna and Lukas stood up and slowly walked over to Dr. Hughes’ office.

  “Where is he?” She whispered in frustration.

  “Hello Sienna,” Dr. Hughes said.

  “Hello. Doctor this is-”

  Dr. Hughes didn’t need an introduction, “Hello Mr. Dark, please come in” he said.

  Lukas and Sienna removed their jackets and sat down on the chairs provided, while Dr. Hughes grabbed her file.

  Just as Dr. Hughes was about to start talking, Sienna’s phone received a message.

  “Excuse me, but I really need to reply to this.” Sienna left the room to check her message, leaving Lukas with Dr. Hughes.

  “I know this must be difficult for you Mr. Dark, the uncertainty and not knowing.”

  “Please, call me Lukas. To say it’s had its ups and downs would be an understatement.”

  Sienna returned a few minutes later.

  “Jake replied, he’s caught in traffic.”

  “See, I told you” Lukas replied.

  “Jake? I’m assuming he’s the second potential father?” Dr. Hughes asked.

  Sienna nodded. “I asked them both to be here, but Jake’s stuck in traffic. I don’t know how long he’s going to be.”

  “That’s why I have a motorcycle. Makes it so much easier to get around Manhattan in peak hour,” Lukas said.

  “Do you mind if we wait, doctor?” Sienna asked.

  “Well, I have another appointment in forty-five minutes. If he’s not here soon, I’m afraid we’ll have to get started without him.”

  It was twenty minutes later and there was still no sign of Jake. Sienna grabbed her phone and dialed his number, but it went straight to voicemail.

  “Sienna?” Dr. Hughes called.

  She turned and looked at him, “I’m afraid if we don’t get started now, we’ll have to reschedule.”

  “Please, just five more minutes,” she replied.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  Disappointed, Sienna turned and lay down on the bed, as Lukas held her hand. Dr. Hughes rolled up her top, placed some gel on the ultrasound wand and gently rubbed it over her belly. Before long Sienna and Lukas could hear a heartbeat, as their eyes fixed on the monitor. Suddenly there were the two babies lying in the center of the screen.

  “Wow!” Lukas gasped.

  Sienna smiled and squeezed his hand a little tighter.

  Dr. Hughes moved the wand over a little and they could hear another heartbeat.

  “Would you like to know the sex?” He asked.

  Lukas and Sienna looked at one another and then Sienna turned to Dr. Hughes; “No, thank you. We want it to be a surprise.”

  Dr. Hughes took some photos of the ultrasound, as Sienna and Lukas had one final look at the monitor.

  “Everything all right, doctor?” Lukas asked.

  “Perfectly normal. Your babies are nice and healthy.”

  He turned off the ultrasound machine and packed it away, and then he made some notes on his clipboard, while Sienna cleaned the gel off her belly.

  “What’s the matter?” Lukas asked, seeing the look of disappointment on her face.

  “I just wish Jake could have seen this” she replied.

  After saying goodbye to Dr. Hughes, the two of them walked outside. Lukas hugged and kissed Sienna, she was still upset that Jake had missed out on the ultrasound.

  “Babe, he tried. At least you got some photos to show him.”

  “It’s not the same thing, Lukas. He knew about this appointment, he should have left earlier and allowed for the traffic.”

  “Don’t get so beat up about it. I’m sure once he sees that you’ve tried calling him, he’ll ring you straight back. He’s probably still stuck in traffic. Listen, I have to head over to Matt’s for a while and give him a hand with something. Do me a favor?”

  “What’s that?” Sienna asked.

  “Go easy on Jake. There are going to be times when we are both going to be late to things, you can’t hold it against him.”

  Sienna looked at him, eyes wide open.

  “Are you actually defending Jake, Lukas Dark?” Sienna smiled.

  “What can I say? The two of us have something in common” he leaned forward and kissed Sienna passionately.

  “Thank you” she said.

  “For what?”

  “Everything. For today, for always.”

  “You’re welcome,”

  He put on his gloves and helmet before getting onto his bike. Sienna watched as he left the parking lot and rode off down the street.

  She got in her car, p
ut on her seatbelt and headed home.

  Jake came running through the doors of the doctor’s clinic some five minutes later, and walked over to the receptionist.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Yes?” The receptionist asked.

  “Sienna Forrester? She has an appointment with Dr. Hughes, I’m a little late. Could you tell me what room they’re in please?”

  “I’m sorry but Ms. Forrester’s already had her appointment. She left about five minutes ago with Mr. Dark.”

  “What?” Jake gasped, slamming his fist on the table.

  “I’m sorry” she said.

  Jake couldn’t believe his luck. He’d tried so hard to make it on time and he failed again. What hope did he have now of ever winning Sienna’s heart, if he couldn’t even make a simple doctor’s appointment?

  Frustrated, he left the clinic and headed home.

  He opened the front door and saw Sienna sitting on the sofa eating a bowl of ice cream. He took off his shoes and walked over to her.

  “Sienna, I’m so, so sorry” he said, sitting down beside her.

  “It’s okay, don’t worry about it” she said, standing up and walking over to the kitchen without even looking at him.

  “Are you mad?” Jake asked.

  “Mad? Why would I be mad? I only told you about it a few hours earlier.”

  “I’m really sorry” he said, placing his hand over her shoulders. Sienna brushed him off and she went back over to the sofa.

  “I said I’m sorry. I don’t know what more I can say or do” he said again.

  Sienna still hadn’t looked at him. Instead she fixed her eyes on the television set.

  “Sienna, please talk to me.”

  “What’s there to talk about Jake?” She finally spoke. “I told you where and when the ultrasound was, it’s not my problem you can’t keep an appointment. Lukas had things to do as well, and yet he still managed to get there on time. Here’s a photo in case you’re interested” she said, placing the photo on the sofa. She stood up and headed for her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

  “Fuck,” Jake whispered, smacking his fist on the sofa. He picked up the photo and stared at the two tiny humans in the center of the screen, the realization suddenly sunk in, in a few short weeks it was going to be known for certain whether or not, he was the father of these two little babies.

  Sienna stayed in her room for most of the night, occasionally coming out to grab a snack or something to drink. Each time, Jake would look up at her and try to beg for forgiveness, but he didn’t want to press his luck and make things worse than they already were. She didn’t say a word to him, and after a few hours, the light in her bedroom turned off and Jake figured that she must have fallen asleep. Angry with himself, he got off the sofa, changed into his boxers and went to bed.

  After two days of countless, “I’m sorry” notes, roses, chips, chocolate, and dinners, Sienna finally forgave Jake and the two of them were back to normal. He couldn’t wait to tell her the news that he had received from Mike.

  “Hey, I have a surprise for you,” Jake said.

  “Jake, you know that I don’t like surprises, I get enough of those from Lukas.”

  “Oh, I’m pretty sure you’re going to like this one.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out two tickets, he handed them to Sienna.

  “What’s this?” Sienna asked, reading the tickets.

  “OH MY GOD!” She screamed. “Jimmy Fallon? How the hell did you manage to get tickets to Jimmy Fallon? They always sell out.”

  “Well, Lightning Ridge are going to be on the show tonight. Taping starts at 5, but you have to be there before 3:15pm.”

  “What?” Sienna gasped.

  “Yep! Stuart told us the news yesterday. I wanted so badly to tell you, but you were still angry with me.”

  “You’re going to be on Jimmy Fallon?”

  Jake nodded.

  “Jake this is amazing news. Is it okay if I bring Lukas?”

  “The tickets are yours, you can bring whoever you like.”

  She threw her arms around Jake and pulled out her phone, and then she remembered that Lukas was in meetings all day with Mike and the band. Sienna squealed and ran to her room, the smile that seemed to have disappeared from Jake’s face over the last couple of days, finally found its way back. Satisfied, he grabbed an apple from the bench and headed out the door.

  Sienna emerged from her room a little while later, Jake was still out, so she decided to ring Lukas.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” he answered. “What are you up to?”

  “Not much, I’m just lying here on my bed, in nothing but my negligee.”

  “Oh my God, is that black one that I love so much?” Lukas asked.

  “Sorry to disappoint you babe, this one is pink.”

  “Is everything okay?” Lukas asked.

  “Yes. There’s actually something I wanted to ask you. Do you have any plans for this afternoon?”

  “No. I’ll be finished with Mike and the guys in a couple of hours, I can head over.”

  “Guess what Jake just gave me?”

  “Um…I have no idea. Did the two of you kiss and make up?”

  “Yes. We did.”

  “Okay, what did Jake give you?” Lukas asked.

  “Two tickets to Jimmy Fallon live. His band is appearing on the show, they are taping at 5pm, but we have to be there before 3:15pm, and I wanted you to come with me.”

  Lukas laughed a little.

  “What’s so funny?” Sienna asked.

  “You’re not going to believe this, but we’re actually appearing on Jimmy Fallon tomorrow.”

  “What?” Sienna gasped.

  “I only found out five minutes ago. This is why I’ve been in meetings for most of the day. The band and I are going on the show tomorrow.”

  “Oh my God.” Sienna said. “This is unreal.”

  There was a moment of silence before Lukas finally spoke.

  “So I guess my question is, would you like to join me tomorrow and meet Jimmy Fallon?”

  Sienna was speechless. Dating and living with a rock star was one thing, but meeting Jimmy fucking Fallon was a whole different type of amazing.

  “Wow. I don’t know what to say or do right now,” she replied.

  “Why don’t you ask Ivy to go with you today, then tomorrow you can get a backstage pass with me.”

  “I get to meet Jimmy Fallon not once, but twice? Holy fucking shit!” Sienna screamed.

  “I take that as a yes?”

  “Of course it’s a yes,” she replied.

  “Great. I’ll have Joseph pick you up at 2:30. We can go to dinner after the show, if you feel up to it.”

  After finally organizing her evening with Lukas for the next day, Sienna messaged Ivy and told her about Jimmy Fallon. Dick was working overtime at the paper and Ivy had been buried in bridal magazines all day, so she didn’t need to be asked twice.

  Two hours later Sienna was sitting on the sofa, when Jake walked in the door.

  “Where did you go?” She asked.

  “To a quick meeting with Stuart, so he could tell us what to expect on the show later. I’m kind of freaking out right now. This is going to be my first ever television appearance, and I’m scared shitless.”

  “Not that I’m not proud of you or anything Jake, What I don’t understand is, Lightning Ridge haven’t released anything yet, why Jimmy Fallon?”

  “Tori asked Stuart the same thing. Jimmy’s all about promoting new talent, the single and album may not be out yet, but that’s the point. This is all part of the publicity prior to releasing an album. It’s about the exposure, the thrill of being a celebrity.”

  Sienna was quiet, she looked at Jake.

  “What?”

  “Jake, you just referred to yourself as a celebrity,” she said. She smiled, stood up off the sofa and headed to the bathroom to get herself ready for the show.

  It took a moment for him to process what Sienn
a had said, but she was right. After all his years rehearsing, performing, recording, the rejections, the joys, the heartache, the pain, the arguments, the sleepless nights, it all lead up to this moment. For the first time in over twenty years, Jake Cooper was finally a celebrity.

  Sienna and Ivy found their seats were in the second row for the Jimmy Fallon show. They’d both been to many concerts before, but neither had been in a television studio. There were monitors and cameras everywhere, people running from all directions, sets, props and almost anything else you could think of.

  Lightning Ridge were backstage in the green room, getting ready for their appearance.

  “I can’t believe you’re going to be here again tomorrow,” Ivy said.

  “I know, but it’ll be different with Lukas, he’s my boyfriend.”

  More and more people started to fill the seats around them. Sienna constantly looked at the stage, making sure not to miss the second Jimmy Fallon walked onto the set.

  Within thirty minutes, every seat in the audience was filled. Sienna felt very hot and claustrophobic, and at times, she felt an elbow in her stomach.

  The lights in the studio dimmed slightly and someone yelled “THIRTY SECONDS.”

  There was the hurrying of feet in all directions. There were people running around everywhere.

  “FIFTEEN SECONDS” the same voice said.

  Sienna adjusted herself in her seat trying to make herself as comfortable as she could, but it proved difficult.

  “TEN SECONDS, PLACES PEOPLE.”

  People on set started moving a lot faster now. The lights above Sienna turned off, putting the audience in near darkness.

  “FIVE, FOUR, three, two… ”

  There was a cheer and applause from the audience as the lights on set lit up. The voice over came on and introduced the host. As Sienna and Ivy clapped with the crowd, to the left of the stage, the doors opened and Jimmy Fallon walked through.

  The audience continued to cheer, as Jimmy made his way behind his desk.

  “He looks so much older in real life,” Sienna said.

  The crowd finally settled and Jimmy started the show.

  It was only thirty minutes into the show and Sienna was really starting to get restless. She hadn’t sat this still since the road trip, and even then, she could get out and pee whenever she needed too. Here in the studio you could only get up to pee when there was a break, otherwise you had to remain in your seat. Katy Perry performed her hit, Chained to the Rhythm, before doing a brief interview with Fallon.