Race the Storm

Chapter 9

Her kid. Jax bit the inside of his mouth for a moment, drawing his cheek between his teeth. It was actually their kid. Not just hers. But it was hers. And his. He was going to keep his mouth shut before he said something stupid and made her angry. At least she had seemed to completely accept that it was actually her baby.

"I'm still working that out," Jax said simply. No details. Hopefully he sounded confident. He was usually pretty good at that.

He could feel Willa staring at him.

Ignoring her, he kept his own eyes on the road. There hadn't been a lot of time to plan some elaborate escape, complete with an intricate plan, travel ideas, and a true destination. He had been too focused on finding her and getting her out of there before the Estate could hurt the baby.

But now that they were on the run with the full force of the Estate and PsyOps behind them, he could now consider the idea that maybe he should've waited another month. Gotten some more ideas. Possibly convinced Wes or Malachi to come with him. Or the whole team... The idea of a kid having to go through what he had when PsyOps had discovered him or having to live the life he did had made him reckless. Which wasn't normally his MO.

Diego was going to be so mad at him when he found out. As the team leader, Diego had always made it clear that he put a lot of trust in Jax and often said he was one of the more levelheaded ones out of the group. Well. He had effectively crushed that opinion with one heavy hammer fall of a decision.

"Let me get this straight," Willa said, putting up a finger, "You came up with an idea to break into the Estate, get me out, and that's it? Nothing else."

"I'm good under pressure," he said in a deadpan, his own brand of humor.

"You better be," she said with a weighty sigh. "My skills lean more toward baking, crocheting, and motorcycles, not running away from government shadow departments."

"Motorcycles?" he asked, curious.

"'Cause my dad." She plunked an elbow against her passenger window. She didn't seem to want to elaborate, and he still was reluctant to irritate her more than she already was.

She peeked over at him, as if expecting a question, but Jax kept his gaze firmly fixed on the road. If there was one thing he'd been taught about women, you don't question them if they don't want to be questioned.

If you liked the woman or wanted to stay on her good side, that is.

There were a few more moments of silence, and then Willa broke. Not surprising, really. She didn't seem to be as comfortable with silence as he was. When you spent what seemed like half your life on long-ass stakeout missions, you got used to sitting around, listening to others but never talking yourself.

"What about your family?" she asked, tentative. Jax held his hand out and without him actually having to ask, Willa understood, placing more chips in his hand. He took a few minutes of chewing to think of what he wanted to tell her.

He guessed if he wanted to be a part of the baby's life, he was going to have to share other things with her too. If anyone had the right to know about him now, it was her.

Didn't make it any easier though.

"Mom's dead," Jax said, keeping it brief and saying it first so she didn't have a chance to ask for details. "Dad's living in a retirement community in Georgia, last I heard." Jax checked on him when he could–when a mission was nearby and he could keep it discrete. He didn't want his dad tangled up with his work, so he kept that part of his life as locked up as possible.