Who: Luke and Jack What: Bro bonding and normalcy. Where: Out on the town. When: Let's go with recently idk. Warnings/Rating: None.
Fun had, over time, become a foreign word. It seemed to rightfully belong in the past, when they’d all been younger and less jaded and more innocent. Luke could remember a time when he’d had fun, when fun had been a part of his life in a way it wasn’t now. Year after year, life had become more about surviving than anything else, and then it was about family, about Wren and Gus and providing in the way he was supposed to. Between work and home life, there wasn’t much time for fun. And Jack, he had even less time for anything remotely enjoyable between whatever he did for the CIA and the crumbling aftermath of Mexico and things he wasn’t exactly given clearance to know.
All those reasons and more added up to more than enough justification to forget everything, the worries and concerns and everything else, just for a little while, and pretend to be normal people who did normal things and had normal lives. He toyed with the idea of telling him about Wren’s pregnancy, but decided to hold off on bringing it up right away; if the opportunity presented itself, sure, but even something like that, which was supposed to be happy, was tentative and plagued with complications, which he was trying not to dwell on since the more he thought and obsessed the more worried he became.
But no, he shrugged all of that off in favor of normalcy. Besides, after weeks of hoping that Jack wasn’t killed alongside Max and hearing nothing it was nice to not have to worry about people he cared about ending up dead. To some people, getting a bite to eat and catching a movie might have been standard but Luke hadn’t done either in forever, which struck him as sort of sad. Funny, too, but in a sad sort of way.
Everything else aside, there was no shortage of restaurants in Vegas and good and cheap sometimes, just sometimes, went together. Luke leaned his elbows on the table, chin in his hands. “So, have you found a place yet?”
Jack ordered a beer when they sat down - not a common indulgence, and one that made him think of Max, before he brushed thoughts of her away. If he was really going to try to forget his troubles for the evening, it wouldn't do him much good to think about her. He had resolved to let himself be normal for a night, and do things normal people did, like go out with a friend even when some other things in life were a mess. He took the frosted glass and bottle from the waitress when she returned, looking up at Luke, chin-in-hands, with a little amusement. "Not yet," he said. "I found a place I like, though. Small, but that suits me." He poured into the glass - Pliny the Elder from up in California, cheerfully recommended by the bubbly waitress. "Worried I'll move out without telling you?" he asked, with a half-smile. It felt good to sit down with Luke and just talk to him face to face. It felt like...how long had it been? Ages. No wonder he'd been feeling half-human lately. The routine of work was hard enough without friendly faces to soften it out. Max was gone, and he hadn't seen Gabe face to face since their meet at the diner, and wouldn't be seeing him face to face again, if he could help it. He could only hope that, with Bo back, things would start to swing back in the direction of normalcy.
“That’s good,” he said with a small nod. It felt strange to talk about such small, mundane things, but it was a nice change from worrying about other people and babies and what happened through the stupid doors. There weren’t a lot of people he could really talk to, not unless there was a specific reason to. “Suits you how?” Luke had always chosen places to live for practical reasons, at least recently, and before that anywhere with a roof and running water had been enough; he hadn’t really cared too much back then. “Me, worried? Never,” he said with a grin, a self-jab at his tendency to worry about absolutely everything all the time despite reassurances to the contrary. He’d learned to keep it quiet, his worry, to keep it from taking over, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t present. “I just expect you to get my seal of approval before you move in, that’s all.” The laugh that accompanied the words made it obvious enough that he was joking, and while he didn’t really drink either and had abstained from alcohol since finding out about Gus, which seemed so long ago now, he followed Jack’s lead and ordered a beer once the waitress circled back around and he’d managed to get her attention. "Gus thinks you should get a pet. This week he's in love with... meerkats, I think? Whatever that thing from The Lion King is," he said, shaking his head.
"I don't know," Jack said, bemused at the question. "Suits me because I like small places. I like to be able to see most of the corners of the place, and not feel...the weight of empty rooms, if I want to be poetic, which I think I always do." The statement was light, though there was something at the core of it that wasn’t quite. Obviously, being on his own was his own choice, and really it seemed best for everyone, himself included. But he would miss the bustle of Wren and Luke’s house, some, the eternal presence of someone else, just next door. He took a short swallow of the beer, grateful he wasn't expected to be anywhere anytime soon. No, not after the Mexico fiasco and his troubles with Gabe. Things were quiet, for the moment. "Of course not," he agreed, to Luke's assertion, and smiled.
"A pet doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually," Jack said, shrugging a shoulder. "I had a cat back in Seattle. White one. I gave it to the old woman upstairs when I left. I wonder if he's still alive. I don't think he would have taken too kindly to a meerkat roommate."
Under different circumstances, Luke might have pushed for him to stay rather than accepting his decision to leave. With Wren’s misguided belief that Jack was somehow more important, though, and the baby, well, this seemed to be the best course of action even if he would miss him. “You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t poetic,” he said, laughing. Max might have complained about it, but he didn’t understand why. And maybe seeing Jack’s new place might make it all the more final, but living apart didn’t mean they would drift apart. Not if he had anything to say about it, at least.
“Our cat hates everyone, but I think most make pretty good pets. You could get a white one, like the one you had before” At least then, he thought, pausing to take a sip of beer, he wouldn’t be completely alone. “I don’t think anyone would take kindly to a meerkat roommate,” he added. “Besides, we’ve got enough animals as it is. “I mean, we’re going to have a new addition, but it’s not a wild safari animal.” It was quite possibly the lamest way to bring up the baby, but just saying it felt stupid and Jack was really the only person he actually wanted to tell; there was no sense of obligation or duty, just an actual desire to share it with someone who wouldn’t lecture or make him feel guilty.
“As much as Max might wish I wasn’t,” Jack said, echoing Luke’s own thoughts. Once upon a time that might have been an uncomfortable thing to think about, but not now. It had been too long, and that opportunity was too long ago burned out. He and Max still had their problems to work out, around the fiasco at the CIA and what his big mouth had done to her career, but that was just going to take time. "Maybe I will," Jack said, to the proposal of getting a cat. How domestic that seemed. Getting a cat, moving into a new apartment. If he wasn't running dangerous missions for the CIA weekly, it might even seem like he was settling down. These days, that didn't sound as unlikely as it once had.
Honestly, Jack had no idea what Luke was talking about when he mentioned a new addition to the house. Was one of Wren's friends moving in, he wondered? Maybe MK, he hadn't heard much about her lately. "Well don't hold me in suspense," Jack said, smiling at him. "Go on, I want to know who's going to be taking my place.”
Luke dismissed Max’s opinions of poetry and the essence of being poetic with a wave of his hand. “She just doesn’t get it,” he shrugged. Personally, he thought she was better off with someone who had a penchant for poetry than someone like Thomas, but that was over now and he wasn’t exactly involved in her romantic life. Not that he wanted to be; that was a topic best avoided with the two of them. “If you do get a cat, though, don’t let Gus name it. You’ll end up with something French or a bird. Or both.”
It was easy, really. All he had to do was say it. Still, he couldn’t help fidgeting a little, drumming his fingertips on the table as he thought of how Selina had referred to the baby as a mistake. Okay, so it hadn’t been planned and maybe they weren’t exactly in the best position to be having another child, but they could do it. He and Wren weren’t eighteen anymore. “No one’s taking your place, not really,” he said. “I mean-- it wasn’t planned or anything, but--” He lifted his gaze from the table and smiled, only slightly hesitant. “Wren’s pregnant.”
"No, she doesn't," Jack agreed. No one could argue that poetry just wasn't Max's thing. It was an essential element of who she was as a person. For someone as skilled as she with obfuscation of what was really at her core, she wasn't fond of language that hid its meaning, or beat around the bush. "I wouldn't mind a cat named after a french bidy," he said, mildly. "It would be a nice twist on the whole cat versus bird thing. Brings them together very peacefully."
Jack grinned, immediately, when Luke told him. "Really?" he asked. The surprise was genuine. After everything that they had all gone through in the past year or so, it was a real surprise that the two of them would go through with having another child. But, on the other end, he couldn't imagine it not happening. They had always seemed like the sort of couple that would end up with a good sized family one day, lots of happy children in a happy house, babbling in french and tending to a herd of dogs. Jack reached across the table and grasped Luke by the shoulder. "Congratulations. Really. That's amazing."
“I guess a cat named after a bird would be ironic,” he said. “I think.” High school english class had been forever ago and it wasn’t as though Luke had any reason to use what he’d learned; it had all but gone in one ear and come out the other. Once upon a time he’d thought his future would be found in the business world, but that had fizzled out and died. Maybe it was for the best, though. He wasn’t sure he could see himself in a suit and tie on a daily basis. “You could really go all the way and get a bird, and then name it after a cat. Maybe then they’d end up being friends and their unlikely friendship would inspire the world.” He grinned, enjoying the fact that, for once, he could joke and laugh without feeling guilty about it. So often he felt he had to be serious, but it was nice to not be for a while.
That grin was everything he’d hoped for and more. It wasn’t disapproval or judgmental, two of the things he could definitely do without. “Really,” he said, and somehow saying it out loud made it feel more real. The more real it felt the more nervous he became, but there was excitement, too, and no matter how he might worry or panic he was genuinely happy. His own smile widened when Jack grasped his shoulder, and just like being able to relax it was nice to not have to hide how he felt, or temper it like he’d have had to do with MK or Adam. “Thanks. We’re both nervous, you know, but she wants it and I want it and I think it’ll be good, you know?” He let out a long exhale. “It’s like… we finally have the chance to do it right, like we couldn’t with Gus.”
"That's what I think of when I wake up every morning," Jack said with a nod. "Inspiring people through birds named after cats and cats named after birds. It's long been a dream of mine. I'm just so happy you share it."
"I think it'll be good too," Jack said, letting go and leaning back. His smile was fond. It was strange, how much he had invested in Wren and Luke and seeing them do well. They'd all gone through so much misery, on their own and collectively, that it had started to feel something like a family. A messy family, and a strange one, but most families were both, in his experience. Though he was moving into a place of his own again, that feeling hadn't gone away. There was no one who knew him better than the two of them, with the possible exception of Max and Cerise. It was important to know there were still people he could talk to who knew everything he was, everything he'd done, and still wanted to be his friend. Luke had been that, and he remained that. How could he be anything but happy that they'd be adding another child to their life, if that was what they wanted?
"The way things worked out with Gus was no one's fault," Jack said. "And considering how well that boy is turning out, regrets aside, I think you did right."
Luke couldn’t help but laugh, and after feeling like he didn’t have reason or right to for so long it was nice to not have to worry or overthink every little thing. “I knew it. See? This is why we’re friends,” he quipped. “We’re like, in sync. But not the band.” He pulled a face. Sometimes, just sometimes, it felt like the time between eighteen and now had passed by so quickly (even though the days had felt like an eternity while he was living them) that he hadn’t really had a chance to grow up like everyone else did. There was no normal progression; it was too fast. Maybe that was why he could feel like a teenager again one minute and an old man the next. Right now, though, he could forget all that. Temporary as it might be, that was all he really needed.
“You’re really the only person I wanted to tell,” he admitted. “I mean, Wren’s scared, and I guess I am too, but it’s the good kind, if that makes sense. And we both want it.” Maybe they weren’t the best qualified parents in the world but he knew they’d love their child, just like the loved Gus, and do everything and anything necessary to make sure it grew up happy and healthy. “You know I’m going to rope you into helping me paint the baby’s room and put the crib together, right?” There would probably be a fair amount of panicking thrown in there too between now and when the baby was born, but he figured Jack knew him well enough to be able to assume that on his own. As for what had happened with Gus being no one’s fault, well, he hadn’t necessarily absolved himself of that and he knew Wren hadn’t either, but he just shrugged. Arguing it seemed pointless now. “He is a great kid. He’s nervous for school, but he’s really come out of his shell this past year.” He smiled, fondly, as he thought of his son. “We’re not really doing too bad, are we?” He knew there were complications with Max and his job, whatever it was he wasn’t supposed to know about, but nothing seemed to have happened yet and life almost seemed stable. Not quite, but close enough.
Jack grinned at Luke's joke. It was one of those moments where he saw the person he'd become friends with in the first place, the altruistic kid who wanted nothing more than to do good in the world. He liked the grownup version of that kid too, but it was nice to see flashes of that, to know that sense of playfulness still existed in him.
When Luke said Jack was the only person he wanted to tell, his expression turned a little incredulous. "Really?" It was still hard to wrap his brain around the idea that he could mean enough to someone that they didn't feel the need to tell anyone else they were having another child. It was a good feeling, a reminder that something still mattered, that he still mattered, in some small way, to the people in his life. "I expected that as soon as you said a kid was coming," Jack said. "I'm starting to think that you and Wren just keep me around for the free babysitting and the paint jobs." But he was grinning. Did he care? Hardly. It was nice to do normal things, and to help his friends. Christ, it wasn't as if he had a dozen hobbies, and helping Wren and Luke had more value than anything else he could imagine spending his time on.
"No," Jack said. Despite everything, it was so much truer than if he had tried to say it just a few months before. "We're really not."
Luke nodded. To him, it was fairly obvious that Jack would be the first, and likely the only, person that he told. Others would find out eventually, of course, because a pregnancy was something that couldn’t be kept secret permanently, but he wasn’t in the mood for a Max lecture and the only one of their friends who would be genuinely happy was Evie, who already knew. “Aside from Max, you’re the closest thing we have to family here,” he said, “and I don’t think she’d react as well as you did. You’re actually happy for us. You’re not jealous or bitter or disapproving, you won’t lecture, and I wanted to tell you.” He shrugged, as though it was that simple. He adopted an expression of mock guilt at the mention of babysitting and paint jobs, and it was indicative of just how far they’d come, really, from being acquaintances in Seattle that he didn’t think for a minute that Jack actually resented them. “Oops. Looks like you figured us out,” he joked. “You’re just the best babysitter-slash-painter around.” In all honesty, though, he appreciated everything that Jack had done, and continued to do, for them beyond the scope of words. They’d never be able to thank him properly, no matter how many times it was said.
It was, as Wren often said, scary, this kind of peace, because it was so fragile and so rarely lasted. Still, he wasn’t about to take it for granted. “Let’s hope it stays like this, right?” Maybe he was jinxing it, actually saying it aloud, but whatever. “To us not doing so bad, and maybe even doing pretty good one of these days,” he added, raising his beer in a sort of impromptu toast.
Jack smiled faintly. "I think Max wants what's best for you, and she's bad at showing it," he said. Understatement of the year. "Did someone else get jealous?" he asked. That seemed like a strange reaction. He couldn't imagine Max being jealous of Luke and Wren's new child, which meant it had to be one of their other friends, someone he didn't know well enough to cast them in the role of bitter and jealous of the couple's brief moments of happiness.
"I knew I'd put together what was going on eventually," Jack said, gesturing with his glass. A moment later the waitress swung by to take orders. Jack ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup, even though the weather outside was never really conducive to comfort food. Sometimes it just seemed appropriate.
Jack smiled and tapped his glass against Luke's. "To doing good," he said, with a touch of humor. They both knew it couldn't last forever, but there was no reason not to take pleasure in it while it did.
That made him laugh. “Reminds me of Seattle,” he remarked, shaking his head. “Almost everybody wanted what was best for me and sucked at showing it back then too.” Maybe that was a little unfair, but the bitterness that would have been there a year ago had cooled considerably and was little more than something old and faded; a distant memory. “You’re right, though. I know you are.” Because he knew Max cared, regardless of how it might seem sometimes. As for who was jealous Luke shrugged, not all that keen on getting into that, but he didn’t like bringing it up around Wren and there wasn’t really anyone else he could talk to about it. “Yeah,” he admitted. “Well, they would. You remember MK? Her and her boyfriend, Adam. They’ve had it rough lately and they’re constantly comparing themselves to us and trying to make us feel guilty about what we have.” He frowned down at his beer. “Like we don’t deserve to be happy or something, and it’s one big competition with them about who’s had it worse,” he explained, shaking his head. “It really gets to Wren, you know? It bothers her. I just get angry.” He tried to hold it in around Wren, but the truth was they’d been through so much and anyone trying to make them feel like they didn’t deserve how far they’d come angered him in a way few things did.
He just grinned over his glass as the waitress came around to take their orders and ordered a cheeseburger and fries without hesitation, falling back on what was familiar. No one in their circle ever did well for long and happiness never seemed to last, but instead of constantly worrying about loss maybe it was better to enjoy what they had while they had it, and do everything possible to hold it close.
"These...don't really sound like 'friends', exactly," Jack said. He assumed he and Luke knew each other well enough that Luke would know how to take that - they simply didn't. "I think you and Wren have mentioned them having problems to me before. Everyone has their issues to surmount and their demons to fight. Using that as an excuse to be jealous of other people doesn't accomplish anything. If anything...it's selfish. If they were actually your friends, they would want you to be happy, even if they felt that jealousy. It's not as if you and Wren have had it easy. I don't blame Wren for letting it get to her. Why have you stayed friends with them?"
The real complication was between MK and Wren, rather than between himself and Adam. He’d considered the other man a friend, once, less so these days, but they’d never really been that close. “That’s exactly how I feel,” Luke admitted. He was glad Jack understood, and it was nice to know that he and Wren weren’t being selfish and that they weren’t horrible, ungrateful friends. “Making us feel guilty isn’t going to solve their problems, but they don’t stop.” He shook his head. “I guess-- I guess I felt bad for Adam. I don’t know. I’ve tried to be his friend, I have, but there’s only so much I can do. But the real problem is with Wren and MK. They were best friends back in Seattle, Jack. Wren cares about her, and she blames herself for a lot of what MK’s been through. She-- she can’t just abandon her, I get that, but she lets MK guilt trip her and make her feel horrible and I don’t know what to say,” he said, shrugging helplessly. “She and MK are like you and I, I think, except that you’d never do what she’s doing. I’d never do that to you either.” He was incredibly grateful to have a real friend, someone who was more like family and would never try to make either of them feel worse about themselves just to soothe his own demons. “I don’t mean to unload,” he said, after a few moments, feeling a little guilty about talking about his own problems when he was sure that was the last thing Jack needed. “You’re a really good friend, you know that?” The mess with Adam and MK had only made that clearer, highlighting who their real friends were.
"I don't think there's anything to fix, then," Jack said. "It sounds like Wren ought to cut ties with MK, at least until she stops behaving like this, but if she can't bring herself to, there's nothing anyone can do." He shook his head. "I think it'll sort itself out, though. Wren has to have a breaking point with her eventually." Jack didn't really know, come to think of it, where Wren's breaking point was with anyone. She was much too generous with herself than she ought to be, that was for sure.
"No," Jack said. "And I would hope that if I ever acted that way, you'd know when to cut me off until I realized what an ass I was being. You're not unloading, I understand." And in the grand scheme of things, what were arguments with friends, after deaths, violence, and demons? He smiled a little. "I try," he said. "You're not a slouch yourself." Luke had stood by Jack at some of the darkest moments of his life. If anyone was a good friend, it was Luke.
What Jack said only reinforced his own beliefs, which didn’t change anything but still came as a sort of relief. There weren’t many people he would accept advice from but he was one of the rare few, and Luke felt better about his opinions when someone he trusted shared them. “You’re right,” he sighed. “I’ve told her what I think, but I can’t force her to cut things off with MK. I think she’s sort of keeping her distance, though, which is better than nothing. The less guilt she takes on herself, the better.” As for Wren’s breaking point, he wasn’t sure she had one either. Not with MK, at least. With others, she was pretty sure it was tied to himself or Gus, like how she’d severed ties completely with Thierry after he’d gotten him to help cover up that girl’s murder. But he wasn’t about to bring that up, and so he merely shrugged. “I don’t know, honestly, but I’m hoping things get better.” He didn’t actually want MK or Adam to self-destruct, but they’d tried so many times to help and neither were very receptive. There was, he believed, only so much they could do before the two of them needed to start trying to help themselves.
In truth, he didn’t know what his own breaking point was either. With Adam, maybe, it was coming close, but Jack was different. He couldn’t imagine ever giving up on him, but then again he couldn’t imagine getting to that point either. “You wouldn’t,” he said decisively, certain that he would never be so cruel, deliberately or otherwise. “Thanks,” he joked of not being so bad himself. “I try too. I’ll even let you pick the movie.”
"I know it's not very satisfying, but for the moment, there isn't much more you can do," Jack said. It was disheartening to know that some of Wren and Luke's only other friends were so cruel in their own misfortune, but what more was there to do? "Eventually, they'll either realize how badly they've alienated the two of you with their behavior, or they never will, and they'll just continue being unpleasant and miserable." He shrugged. "It's not kind, but that's all there is."
Jack smiled again. "So generous," he said, picking up his beer. "I don't think I've seen a movie in a theatre in about three years, so this ought to be interesting."
Luke didn’t see any epiphanies happening in the near future, and he knew when Wren’s pregnancy became known it would only make things worse between them. When, not if, because despite her best attempts Adam and MK were bound to find out eventually. They couldn’t just hide a baby and pretend it didn’t exist. “I’m hoping they’ll come around, but if not, you’re right. We’ve tried and tried, and it’s up to them now,” he said, wishing Wren could see it like that. “I’ll just try to keep her from thinking about it too much.” The last thing she needed was to stress herself out further, after all.
“Three years, huh? If it wasn’t for Gus, I would’ve had you beat,” he grinned. “The next time one of those campy animated movies comes out, I’m letting you take him.” In the midst of another swig of beer their food arrived, and he realized, then, just how long it had been since he’d left the house to eat. A simple thing, really, but still significant.
"Like I said, I think that's all you can do," Jack said. As food arrived, Jack drained his beer and ordered another, waiting until the waitress was gone again to continue. "I look forward to that," he said. "Now, an animated movie, I haven't seen one of those since I was about fifteen." It was funny how much culture you missed out on when you were busy running around the country for a governmental organization hunting down terrorist ties.
Jack tucked into his grilled cheese. It had been some time since he'd been out to eat as well - beers with Max didn't quite count. "How do you feel about the new job?" he asked.
Since the topic of Adam and MK wasn’t one he wanted to dwell on anyway, Luke was more than willing to shrug it off and move on. “Fifteen?” He grinned. “Do you remember which one you saw?” It was a good-natured question, and while he didn’t actually expect Jack to remember, he didn’t mind. “Either way, you’re definitely long overdue for one,” he added. “Especially one with musical numbers that all the little kids want to sing along to.”
He took a bite of his burger as he considered the question, swallowing before he spoke. “Honestly? Pretty good,” he admitted. “Wren worries, you know, but it’s better than working security. Better pay, benefits, that sort of thing. And now I’m covered when stuff through the door goes nuts.” He lowered his voice a little, just in case, but he knew Jack would understand; sharing a Door had its perks in that regard.
"Something I got dragged to by a little cousin, I think," Jack said. "You're not the first person I've been pressganged into childcare for, you know. Grow up in a big enough family and it's just expected." None of which,of course, he'd seen in years. Somehow it felt better that way. He knew he had aunts and uncles and cousins out there who might wonder where he'd disappeared to, but after everything that had happened in Seattle and the sort of work he was doing now, it was for the best. Maybe one day things would be different, but when he'd left, he hadn't even been able to imagine ever going home again, back to places with the sort of memories that felt like they were better left forgotten.
"Good," Jack said. His own experience with the CIA hadn't been wholly positive, but it had, at least, done something good for someone, which was a relief. The less stress on Luke and Wren, the better. "I imagine that by itself is worth it." Jack helped when he could, but it was good to know Gus was taken care of when he was pulled into messes through the door too.
As close as they were, Luke couldn’t recall many times when Jack had spoken about his family. He didn’t exactly talk about his own on a regular basis, but he knew about his parents, about Thomas, and that was really all there was to tell. But Jack, he only knew about Jack’s wife and little else. The mention of a younger cousin was a rare mention. He tipped his head to the side curiously, but he didn’t push. “So that’s why you’re so good with Gus,” he joked. “You have practice.” There was, after all, no denying that the little boy had become extremely attached to ‘Uncle Jack’.
He nodded. It probably helped that he wasn’t an actual agent, only a liaison, but he’d come to terms with his job in the past weeks. “Yeah,” he admitted, “It is. One less thing to worry about.” He paused, swallowing another mouthful of burger before shaking his head. “Well, I still worry, but you know what I mean.”
"A little," Jack said, going after the tomato soup next. "I was pretty rusty by the time you two brought Gus home, but I think I picked it back up alright." Gus was, after all, easy to take care of, at least by Jack's standards. The worst thing one could say about the boy was his tendency to hide under the bed when things turned bad, but that was no shock, considering everything he'd been through.
Jack smiled a little. "Yes, I think I do." He'd seen the kind of worrying and arguing and nervousness Wren and Luke had around Gus and what happened when they were forced to suddenly leave. The poor kid hardly needed any reinforcement of his fears of being abandoned. "Have you thought about what gender you want the baby to be? I can't say which I think Gus would like better. He’ll have to learn to share, now, that’ll be quite the shock.”
Having finished off his burger, Luke began chewing on his fries with a grin. “Yeah, I think you did too.” Considering the fact that he still felt unsure of his own parenting abilities, even now, he thought Jack was something of a natural. Maybe part of him was worried that he wouldn’t know what to do with a baby, since he was still trying to figure out how to be a father to a four-year-old, but he did his best not to agonize over it too much.
He nodded slowly, almost carefully, when Jack asked about the gender. “I’d be okay either way, you know, but… I think I’d like a girl,” he admitted. “One of each. And maybe Gus might feel a little less, I don’t know, jealous. He really likes Amanda, so I’m hoping he’ll warm up to the idea of having a younger sibling.” He laughed and shook his head. “We might have to work on the sharing part. We decided to wait, though, so we won’t know the gender until it’s born.”
"If Gus gets along with Amanda, I think he can get along with anyone," Jack said, wry. Amanda was a smart, sharp girl, but she had all the most stubborn qualities of both her parents. Entertaining for an adult, but maybe not so much for another kid who came up against her. Gus seemed to do just fine despite being younger, so any younger sibling would be a cakewalk in comparison.
When his food was finished, Jack picked up his beer again to polish it off. "Do you think two will be the end of it?" he asked. "Or do you think you'll go for the extra half child for the full national average?"
Luke laughed. Amanda was, in his opinion, more Max than Thomas, though he could see hints of the latter in the way she spoke sometimes. Most kids might be put off by her maturity but Gus was easygoing enough to lap it up, and by comparison a younger sibling would be someone who would look up to him. “True,” he agreed. As for them stopping at two of continuing, his expression turned thoughtful. Honestly, he had no idea. He thought a lot of it might hinge on how this pregnancy went and whether or not Wren wanted more children, but as for him, well, he kind of liked the idea of having a big family even if it would be tricky financially. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t mind more, but I’m okay with two, if that’s what Wren wants. We haven’t really talked about it, I mean, not in depth, and this pregnancy wasn’t exactly planned. I guess we’ll see.”
"I guess we will," Jack said. A moment later, the waitress brought the check by and Jack took it from her before Luke had an opportunity to do so. His job might be strange, occasionally distasteful, and sometimes disagreeable, but it paid better than anything he'd ever done. The least he could do for Luke's friendship was pick up the tab now and again. "Now," he said, sliding the tray to the edge of the table, and picking up his beer to polish it off, "Let's go do something really normal."
It was instinct that caused Luke to begin to reach for the check, but when Jack beat him to it he didn’t argue. He wanted to, but with the baby on the way and Wren not working as much, well, he was trying to make a little go a long way, though he’d never admit it to anyone, and he smiled gratefully instead. After finishing off the rest of his beer he stood, waiting for Jack to do the same so they could head out, and nodded. “Really normal sounds really, really good.”