The Little Decisions Series (Jai Courtney)

Parental Guidance

"Honey, is anybody home?" her best friend, Jai shouted opening her front door and strolling in as if he owned the place. To be fair, once upon a time he had. She'd moved into the apartment when Jai had decided to get a bigger apartment about a year ago.

"Nope." she shook her head, walking into his sight line a smirk on her face. "I'm just a figment of your imagination. Oh, is that beer?" she perked up seeing the pack of cans tucked under his arm.

"It is." Jai nodded happily, lifting the bag in his hand he smiled. "I've also got chicken wings and pop-tarts."

"Oh, Jai, did you finally get that role where they demand you to be fat?" she teased the buff actor, accepting the bag of food from him and walking to the kitchen.

"Ha ha." Jai grumbled following her into the somewhat small kitchen. Setting the beer down and pulling out two cans, he popped one open and handed it to her. "I am sad to say that is not the case."

"Then what did I do to deserve chicken wings, beer, and pop-tarts?" she asked pulling out a container of wings. They smelled amazing, the container did little to hide the curry bathed wings, her favourite. In the bag sat a box of brown sugar pop-tarts another one of her favourites. Jai was up to something.

"Uh, well." Jai rubbed the back of his neck, taking a drink of his beer with a sloppy slurp.

"Jai Courtney, tell me right now." she demanded, her eyes narrowed on him. The look alone commanded some kind of answer and fast.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, Jai chuckled nervously. Beer aside, he dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Leafing through the worn brown leather wallet, Jai produced a folded piece of paper, his hand clutched it tightly. Raising her brow at him, she waited.

His move.

Over the four years Jai had known her, they had shared everything. They had been introduced by a mutual friend at a bbq, their personalities clicked and they had been almost inseparable ever since. Sharing his news shouldn't be so nerve wracking. Yes, she would probably be shocked as hell, but she was his best friend and always his biggest supporter.

Unfolding the paper, Jai smiled and handed it over to her waiting fingers. Paper in hand, her eyes scanned back and forth picking out words like adoption, parental, and the name Denzi Mason. Confused, she continued to gawk at the paper that her best friend had handed over. What exactly was he trying to say?

"Who is Denzi Mason?" her gaze lifted to Jai.

"He's my son." Jai announced happily. With his announcement, his shoulders seemed to square and his posture straightened. His thick beard did a decent job of hiding his lips, but nothing could hide the current smile that stretched across his face.

"Your son?" she practically shouted. Jai couldn't tell if it was happiness or disbelief. "You have a son? Jai, whatever this woman is telling you has to be checked out. You can't just accept this with no proof."

"Clam down." Jai laughed, his eye almost twinkling. "It's legit, okay? I uh, I adopted him."

"Adopted?" she shouted at him practically dropping her can of beer.

"Yeah." Jai rubbed his hand over his beard, his tone sounded as if this were something he did every day.

Here they were, in the middle of her kitchen, Jai clearly having lost his mind. He was nuts. There was no way he could continue with his acting and raise a baby. His life was anything but kid friendly. Maybe this was some sort of life crisis? Nobody said turning thirty was easy. Everybody struggled with thirty, there was a chance that this was some sort of life struggle for Jai. Last year, when she had turned thirty, her crisis was getting a tattoo and dyeing her hair purple. This was too much.