Growing with J.A.C.I.E. (All Time Low Fanfiction | Jack Barakat)

Chapter 3

A few months before Jack's birthday, before I got pregnant, and even before we started trying for a baby, we had taken the initiative to plan a vacation. Jack had a few weeks off in September, and I made sure to block out my availability for two weeks out of that time. We didn't often get a getaway from the bustling city life, whether that be in New York or LA. This time, we decided to really take advantage of it and go far away, further than we'd ever been before.

We stepped out of the airport and into the bright African sun. Jack was transporting our suitcase with clothes for the next two weeks as well as my backpack on a trolley, while I was simply scanning the people to see anybody holding up our name. Eventually, my eyes landed on a sign that read 'Barakat.' Together, we approached the person who would be our tour guide.

"Barakat?" he asked, his voice full of a charming warmth.

"Yeah, that's us," Jack smiled back.

"I'm Elias," the tour guy introduced himself, shaking hands with Jack first and then with me. "How was your flight?"

"It was great," I smiled, not wanting to come over as an ungrateful tourist. But, fuck, the flight had been awful.

I praised this pregnancy as much better than the last. The food aversions barely existed, and the morning sickness only hit on bad days. Those bad days were infrequent. Turns out, though, that travelling for twenty-four hours would trigger a bad day. I was nauseous the entire trip. I even threw up on the plane, which was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. At least Jack pushed aside his own embarrassment to make sure I was okay.

Elias led us to a sturdy-looking jeep. It was painted a dark green, ready to take on off-road adventures. The air conditioning was a relief from the heat I was already struggling with, but I was still anxious about the drive to come. It was going to be a long one, and I was incredibly worried about getting some kind of motion sickness.

I decided my safest option was to do the unsociable thing and try to get some sleep as Jack and I settled in the backseats. It meant I missed a lot of the beautiful landscape changes, but I definitely needed the nap after barely getting any sleep since we left New York.

Eventually, I woke up with my head against Jack's shoulder, his voice vibrating through me as he chatted animatedly with Elias. At least somebody was being sociable. It took me a second to come back to reality, but I quickly noticed Elias was sharing facts about the area, pointing out various landmarks, as Jack asked questions.

I slowly sat back upright. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the light outside, my jaw dropped. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Spread before us was a panorama of vast, golden plains, the occasional acacia tree standing out. The sky was a different kind of blue than I had ever seen before, contrasting so brightly to the ground below.

"Holy shit," I breathed out, my hand instinctively reaching for Jack's.

He intertwined his fingers with mine, and looked out the window with me.

"How you feeling?" he asked quietly, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

I briefly turned to him with a soft smile. "Okay."

My attention immediately returned to the world outside. It was mesmerising. Somehow, this place existed on the same Earth I had been alive on my whole life. It was almost as if I was on a different planet – one that I was lucky to witness.

"This is just the beginning," Elias chuckled from the driver's seat, catching my enthusiasm. "I'll show you so much more over the next two weeks."

The journey continued with the jeep navigating through the terrain as we went deeper and deeper into the heart of the country. Elias shared all these different kinds of anecdotes about the wildlife we might encounter on our other days, the unique flora and fauna, as well as stories about his childhood.

Eventually, we started to approach the lodge we would be staying at for the first few days of our trip. I could see a large central building with small cabins dotted around, all with thatched roofs and more trees than we had seen anywhere else. Elias brought the jeep all the way up to the large building, stopping right at the entrance.

A group of hotel staff greeted us, offering some sweet juice and helping us with our luggage. We checked in at the reception and were led down winding stone paths to our cabin, getting a quick rundown of where things were as we walked past them. As we entered through our door, I was taken aback once again.

On the far side, the wall consisted solely of large windows, giving us an amazing view of the landscape ahead. There was even a terrace for us to go out on and enjoy our surroundings in private. It was nothing short of magical, especially with the sun starting to set, casting a warm glow on the dry ground.

"Wouldn't this have been a nice place to conceive our little bean," Jack joked as he closed the door behind us and dropped our suitcase onto the floor.

I chuckled, turning to him and wrapping my arms around his waist. "Not a bean. Avocado by now."

Jack laughed, placing his hands on my belly. "Avocado it is. Our little avocado."

I leaned forward and started a gentle kiss. At sixteen weeks, you could barely tell I was pregnant yet. I just looked like I had gained a little weight, which was also true. But if you didn't know that there wasn't a baby behind it all, you wouldn't know. Knowing that there was, though, just made me excited.

Jack returned the kiss, his hands slipping to the small of my back instead. I couldn't help but smile into the kiss. Everything just felt so serene and right. Maybe the actual flight hadn't been the biggest success, but being here now made it all worth it.

I pecked him one last time before pulling away slightly. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth."

"Tasty," he commented, realising I never even had the chance to do so despite literally throwing up earlier.

I pulled away and headed towards the bathroom, making sure to bring my toiletry bag with me. After freshening up, I returned to find Jack out on the terrace, leaning against the fence as he looked out at the world in front of him. The air carried the faint sounds of birdsong and the rustle of leaves as the sun started to turn the sky pastel hues.

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom," I joked as I joined him.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side.

"Guess that makes our avocado Simba," he teased, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

I laughed, resting my head against his chest, enjoying the moment as the sun slipped onto the horizon.