When Bad Boys Fall II

Seventy-One

Lucas' POV

A month has gone by since Jackie brought our son into the world and it has been the best month and at the same time, stress filled. One thing I didn't prepare for was how loud and fussy a baby could be. Even though the books said babies would keep their parents awake, Drake's was too much. We barely slept a wink almost every night. He was always hungry. When I asked why he was fussy, my mother told me it came from me.

From then, I didn't complain but right now, it was three in the morning and Drake has been crying.

My eyes were heavy, and my arms hurt from carrying him for two hours. Jackie had breastfed him, but he still continued to cry. He was either crying or refusing to sleep. I was sporting a headache already.

"Hey, Drake," I said to him as I rubbed his back softly. "Why don't you close your eyes so daddy can go to sleep, hm?"

The only thing I got was a burp as a response and when I felt a little warm weight on my shoulder blade, I knew he had thrown up. I sighed and gently moved him from my shoulder and cradled him in my arms. I looked down at him with a playful glare. The side of his mouth was caked up with his vomit as he looked here and there.

"This is the sixth time today you've thrown up on me, boy," I said as I walked over to his crib.

Once I laid him in the bed, he started to cry out loud. The first thing I thought of was Jackie who had gone to bed half an hour ago. She has been going through so much due to postpartum and it hurt me when Drake cried so much, stressing her more. I placed my hand against my mouth, shushing him but he continued to cry, not that I expected a month-old baby to understand what I was doing.

"Ssh. Mommy's trying to sleep," I said in a low voice then rushed over to his cabinet where I grabbed a wet wipe and cleaned his vomit off my shoulder.

As I threw the soiled wipe away, I heard the door open and close. I turned around and saw Jackie slowly walking into the room with her hand on her hip. I rushed to the crib first and took him in my arms. She stood before me and motioned for me to give him to her.

"I got him, Jackie. You need to rest." I rubbed his back, hoping he stopped crying, but he only cried out more.

"Don't worry about me. You need to rest," she said and took him from my arms.

Immediately she had him secured in her arms, he stopped crying and I glared at his small back. Really? I have been carrying him for hours and he barely kept quiet.

"Oh, I see now. You're a mama's boy," I said with false saltiness and Jackie laughed. "Tsk. I need to start having Paul on my side more. I can't have two boys picking mommy over daddy."

Jackie continued to laugh. It made me feel proud that she was laughing, it made me feel fuzzy on the inside.

"Anyway, you need to rest. You've only slept for five hours since yesterday and didn't you say you've got a lot of work to do?" Jackie asked with concern heavy in her voice.

I was about to lie but a yawn escaped my mouth, followed by the weight of fatigue on my body. I rubbed my eye with my hand and sighed. She was right. I needed to rest. If I didn't, I was going to pass out and I needed to rest so I could take care of Drake when she was resting.

"You can go to bed, Lucas. I'll be fine."

I placed my hands on hips and bent back a bit, cracking my back. I have been sleeping on Drake's adolescent bed and it was too small for my giant height. I would kill to lay on the big bed...the bed where Jackie laid on every night.

Even though we decided on taking things slow, I still felt there was a barrier between us and that made me feel I was trespassing.

"You can lay on the bed." She came closer to me and placed a hand on my bare chest.

The weight of her hand on my chest sent a warmth through my body, down my spine and into my heart. Fuck. I missed her touch in every way. Just her hand on my chest made me want to hold her and never let go. And that look in her eyes.

"I missed sleeping in your arms," she said in her low voice and my throat tightened.

"Jackie," I whispered as my heart ached. I missed her so much.

"Come on." She patted me on the chest. "Go take a rest."

I nodded and she walked past me. I sighed and made my way out of the room and straight to ours. I entered the room and went to the bed speedily. I jumped onto the bed and groaned at how big and warm it felt on my skin. I inhaled and got a whiff of Jackie sweet's smell.

As my eyes started to go heavy from the pull of sleep, my phone dinged in my pocket. I was not in the mood to see what it was, especially since I purposely set that notification tone for my emails only, which meant it was important but right now, sleep was far more important. I sighed and closed my eyes, feeling sleep embrace me.

I was already halfway into dreamland when my phone started to ring, followed by someone pulling the phone out of my back pocket. I opened my eyes and looked around in confusion before my vision cleared and I saw Jackie talking on the phone.

"...okay. I'll let him know."

I closed my eyes to sleep again but when I felt her sitting on the bed, I opened my eyes. I watched her lay beside me, facing me. I smiled and she smiled back then placed her hand on my cheek. Goosebumps rose my skin at the feel of her soft hand, and I could not help but lean into her palm. She began to run the pad of her thumb on my cheek, and I moaned.

"I missed your touch," I said sleepily, and she chuckled. "Where's Drake?"

"Sleeping," she replied, and I hummed. "Axel called."

"Mhm," I replied and accepted the pull of sleep, especially from her caresses on my cheek.

Axel can wait. I was happy being with my woman right now. I felt complete just laying here with her, nothing else mattered.

| | |

I felt sweat roll down my face, and I opened my eyes, feeling heavy. The first thing I saw was the white ceiling and sharp rays of light from the side. I blinked and sat up, realizing I had just woken up. I looked to Jackie's side of the bed— She was not there, and I panicked. I had overslept, which meant I left everything in her care.

"Fuck," I said as I got out of bed.

I looked around the room for my phone to check the time and when I saw it on the nightstand, I rushed over to it and took it. I checked the time—- 1:23PM.

"The fuck?!" I had overslept into half of the fucking day. I was such a great father! I needed to give myself a round of applause.

I ran out of the room and went to Drake's room first— It was empty. I left the room and went downstairs. When I reached the living room, I saw Paul standing with Drake laying in his carry-on baby bed. I sighed and walked over to them. I ruffled Paul's hair and smiled down at Drake who was fast asleep.

"Where's your mom?" I asked both of them.

"Mama," Paul said.

I froze at the word that came out of his mouth. I turned my head to look at the boy in shock. Did he just speak?

"What did you just say, Paul?" I asked and he grinned, giving me a glimpse of his four teeth.

"Mama!"

I grinned. "That's good... does mommy know that you–"

My ringing phone caught me off. I sighed and answered the call when I saw it was from Axel.

"What part of 'I am on a family reunion break' don't you understand, Axel?" I asked, pissed off.

"I'm afraid that reunion needs to end, bro...It's dad... Just check the link I sent you. Now."

I ended the call and quickly opened the text he had sent hours ago. It was an article link and I clicked on it.

My heart dropped at the headline displayed on my screen.