Page 131 of Timeless

His expression didn’t soften. “Don’t joke about it, Amber. I’m serious. I don’t find anything funny about you being sick.” He really was serious. The fact I had joked about my health had really pissed him off.

“Okay.” I glanced at the doors. “We need to get back. Before Jack eats his weight in pie.” I stepped away from him. I couldn’t stop the yawn escaping my lips.

“How long do I have to wait until you are in bed with me?” He brought the back of my hand to his mouth, planting a kiss. “I want you in bed, sleeping.”

“I doubt I’ll be getting much sleep tonight.” I was honest. Jax didn’t realize that his son was currently a ticking time bomb. “Whenever Jack has been away from me, he gets nightmares. Then on top of that, he is stuffing himself with sugar. That usually also gives him nightmares.” I slowly took my hand from him. “Sorry, but don’t be surprised if Jack is in between us in the middle of the night, or if I disappear.”

“What do you mean by disappear?”

“Sometimes he is too upset to go back to sleep, so we get up. I distract him. Soon he forgets all about what has upset him.” I yawned again. “Now we need to get back.”

I walked toward the door. I was about to open it when Jax’s hand covered mine, stopping me from sliding it open. His arm went around my waist, too.

“I love you.” He kissed my cheek. “Now I’ll try and behave and not drag you away from our son again.”

“Um, there is another thing, Jax. Just something to think about. Jack is going to ask you if you are family. I’m not going to tell him if you are or not. You can tell him. But if you say you are, that means you can never not be there for him. So, think about it.”

I gently pushed his arm off me and slid open the door, walking out. I knew I had just given Jax something to think about. I think he got a glimpse of what family meant to Jack tonight. I could answer Jack’s question for my brothers. But Jack wouldn’t be looking at Jax as an uncle. He would be looking at him as a dad, that would always be in his life. Yeah, I couldn’t make that decision for Jax. It was one he had to make for himself.

Chapter 15

Jax

Amber was on my arm, and my other arm was wrapped around her. I’m sure her idea of a good night’s sleep didn’t involve me not letting her go all night. I slowly started to wake up feeling her move on my arm.

She hadn’t moved all night. It was like her body had been knocked out from exhaustion. Then I felt it. Someone was in the room. My eyes snapped open. Jack was standing at Amber’s side of the bed. The need to reach for my gun disappeared as soon as I realized the threat was my son.

Amber stirred on my arm again and I saw Jack touching her arm. It wasn’t like he was trying to wake her up, it was like he just wanted to hold her hand. From what I could tell in the dark.

“Jack, you okay?” I asked, trying my best to wake up.

He shook his head.

I slowly pulled my arm out from Amber and she sighed but didn’t wake. I got out of the bed, trying my best not to wake her. I picked up my jeans and shirt, having a feeling I wasn’t going back to bed any time soon.

I don’t know what had me thinking that but my gut was telling me it.

“Jack, come on.” I put my hand out for him, and he slowly started to walk away from Amber. I knew that was going against what he was used to. I had a strong feeling that when it came to Jack, Amber was always the one up with him.

I opened the bedroom door fully and let him walk out first, closing the door after us.

He stood in the hallway, his eyes on the ground. The hallway had dim lights running up it. I’m guessing Amber had them put in, because Jack would walk in the dark to get to her.

“Jack, what’s wrong?” I dropped my clothes to the ground and lowered myself to his level, because he wasn’t going to look up at me. Something had upset him. I would bet Amber would know exactly what had him upset as soon as she looked at him.

Tears ran down his cheeks. And he was quick to wipe them away.

I remembered how I would never cry in front of my dad. No matter how upset I was. I didn’t want Jack to be like that with me. I didn’t want him to feel like I would see him as weak. And I knew right now, how I handled this situation, would determine if he would come to me when he was upset or not.

Suddenly, I needed Amber’s advice. God, what I would do just to have her here, telling me what to do. I didn’t want to fuck this up.

“Jack, I know you aren’t used to me, and you normally have your mom when you are upset. And if you don’t want to tell me, I’ll wake your mom up.” I gave him the option. I couldn’t just expect for him to come to me instead of Amber. He was used to going to her when he was upset.

He just stood there. Okay. If this was how much of a successful parent I was going to end up being worse than my own father.

I sighed. Okay. I’d wake Amber. Just as I went to get up, I felt his hand on my shoulder and I looked back at him, to see he was staring at me. A burst of happiness went through me that he had stopped me but then I saw how upset he was and that happiness disappeared.

“Uncle Tae said Mom’s dying.” He started to sob. “That’s why she cooked me pies, because she’s leaving me.”

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