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ereardon · 2 days

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Before I Knew [Jake Seresin x Reader] Chapter Thirteen

A Jake Seresin unexpected pregnancy fic

Overview: On your first night after moving to San Diego to spend more time with your brother Bob, you unknowingly have a one night stand with his teammate Jake Seresin. For the first time in his whole life, Bob has a closely knit friend group and you’re desperate not to rock the boat. But an unexpected and unplanned pregnancy upends your world, forcing you and Jake closer together, against Bob’s wishes. What will happen when you find yourself actually falling for the father of your unborn child?

Pairing: Jake Seresin x Reader; Bob Floyd x Sister!Reader

Warnings: Pregnancy, cursing, eventual smut, angst

Chapter summary: Ducky goes on a date; Jake and Ducky come to an understanding, before everything becomes complicated again

WC: 2.4K

Masterlist here; previous chapter here

It happened when you least expected it. You were at the grocery store, reaching for the top shelf, when a hand appeared from behind, plucking the jar of salsa you had been wiggling your fingers at.

You turned, looking up at an insanely gorgeous guy. He was tall, but not too tall, still under six foot, with a sleeve of tattoos and a layer of dark stubble over his cut jawline. He grinned, handing you the salsa jar. “Here you go, sweetheart.”

You smiled, placing it in your cart. Salsa Guy kept his eyes on you, just the two of you in the aisle alone close to nine o’clock at night. “Thank you.”

He looked down at your cart. Chips and salsa, a pack of Twizzlers, a container of stuffed olives, a bar of white chocolate, three apples, a pack of ginger beer. “Someone has a good night planned,” he said with a grin.

“Oh, you know, cravings.” It came out automatically. But once you realized, you looked up and gulped. Here was a cute guy who had probably been hitting on you, and had failed to see the enormous baby bump hidden behind the handles of the cart.

His dark brown eyes gave you a quick once over. At twenty two weeks, you were pregnant. It was obvious by now. No matter how flowy the dress, there was a little bump there. Your fingertips gripped the cart handlebar tighter.

“Sorry, I, uh, should get going.” You were just about to turn the cart around when his voice stopped you.

“How about you let me take you out for a real meal.” You looked up in surprise. He shrugged. “Unless you’re involved?”

“Um, no, I—” You faltered.

He tilted his head. “No to dinner,” he said slowly, “or no you’re not involved with anyone?”

You straightened. “No, I’m not involved.”

He held out a business card. Phillip Walker. You cocked your head to the side. Attorney. Since when did attorneys have sleeve tattoos? “Can I ask your name, before we go to dinner?”

You smiled. “Y/N.”

“Let me get that for you,” he said, steering the cart down the aisle.

“Wait, you were serious?” you asked. “You want to go to dinner now?” It was almost nine thirty. Your bedtime.

Phillip nodded. “I would.”

You paused at the end of the aisle before the rows of cashiers. “Um, Phillip?”

“Yes?”

“You know I’m pregnant, right?”

He laughed. It was low and rumbling. He nodded. “Yes, doll, I can see that.”

“Is this some kind of kink thing?” you whispered.

His eyes went wide. “No?”

You frowned. “Alright. Well, free dinner, I guess I’d have to be insane to say no.”

Phillip grinned. “Your pick then.”

“I know just the place.”

You and Phillip ended up eating tacos from a food truck near the beach, sitting with your feet hanging off the side of a picnic table as the waves crashed against the shore in the darkness. Phillip was funny, a dry humor that caught you off guard at first. He was an immigration attorney, just turned twenty seven, and his mother was born in Venezuela.

After you finished your final taco, four in total but who was counting, Phillip turned to you. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“The guy,” he said. “Is he in the picture?”

Phillip was the first person you had really talked to, let alone gone out with, since everything that had happened with Jake. You weren’t sure what to say. He was your roommate? Your friend? Your brother’s coworker?

Was he anything?

Sometimes it felt like Jake was a stranger. And other times it felt like he was the only thing you had. And yet, you still didn’t know what to say about him.

“We’re not involved,” you replied after a moment. “But we’re friendly.” You paused. “He and my brother work together.”

“Ah. Sounds complicated.”

“I am a complicated woman.”

“Who also likes white chocolate and nacho flavored Doritos.”

“Everyone likes Doritos!”

“Cool Ranch forever,” he replied and you tipped your head back in a laugh. Phillip leaned over, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “You’re beautiful when you laugh.”

“Thank you.” It was a whisper. Suddenly the sound of the sea, the waves crashing loudly against the shore, was dulled by the sound of your heart beating in your chest.

“I’d like to kiss you,” Phillip whispered, one of his hands pressed against the table behind your seat, the other still lingering against your jaw.

“I probably taste like tacos.”

“You’re in luck,” he murmured, “cause I love tacos.”

And then his lips were on yours. He was a good kisser – firm, but not hard, no tongue at first, and he smelled like a woodsy cologne that transported your mind to a lush forest. For a moment, you felt yourself melt into the kiss. There was something so lustful about being wanted.

It wasn’t until after, when Phillip pulled back and your eyes fluttered open, that the heart sinking realization kicked in.

Was this the last time someone was going to kiss you like this? With expectation, with the unknown hanging out in the abyss. Soon, you’d be a mother. Soon, you’d belong to someone else. And nothing would ever be as easy as it was in that very moment.

“I’m tired,” you whispered. “I should be getting home.”

“Of course.” Phillip leaned back, stepping off the picnic table and holding out his hand. “I can drive you home in your car, and I’ll get an Uber back to mine.”

“Are you sure?” you asked. “That’s a hassle.”

“I’m sure.” He held open the door and you took a seat in the passenger seat. It felt like a different world, just ten inches from where you usually sat. You turned as Phillip slid into the driver’s seat.

Everything felt different.

He set down the bag of groceries next to the door and straightened. “I’m really glad I went to the store for toothpaste tonight,” Phillip said.

You frowned. “Did you forget to buy the toothpaste?”

He nodded and you laughed. “Yes, yes I did.”

“I’m glad we met, too.”

“Can I see you again?” he asked.

“Are you sure you want to?”

“I’m positive.”

“Here.” You pulled out a pen and scribbled your number on his card, handing it back to him. “Call me.”

“I will.” He waited until you had opened the door to the apartment before turning and walking down the hallway.

You set the bag of groceries on the counter before a voice behind you burst out into the silence. “Who was that?”

You whipped around. Jake was wearing a Naval Academy sweatshirt and a pair of boxers, tall socks pulled up around his bony ankles. “Fuck, you scared the shit out of me.”

“It’s midnight, Y/N. Where have you been?”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re not my father.”

“Someone has to be looking out for you.”

“You and Bobby, you’re the fucking same,” you spat back.

Jake squinted. “Is that how you see me?” he asked.

“Right now, yeah, it is.” You shook your head and started to unload the groceries. “Just some guy I met at the grocery store. He helped me reach the salsa.”

“You left three hours ago.”

“Jake, it’s late.” You turned, one hand on your hip. In the bright light of the kitchen, you had a sudden glimpse of the future. Standing in a kitchen, rolling your eyes at your husband. But then you blinked, and it was just Jake, standing in front of you in a pair of almost too-tight boxers. “Ask the real questions you want answers to.”

“Did you fuck him?”

“Did you fuck the redhead from the bar?” you spat back.

Jake went ghost white.

“I said ask questions you want the answers to,” you replied. “And for your information, no, I didn’t whore it out for a bottle of salsa in the back of a pickup truck. That kind of naiveté ended about five months ago.” You pressed one hand against your tight stomach and rubbed a gentle circle. “What do we owe each other, Jake?”

He stepped closer. “I know you don’t want to be with me,” he whispered. “And maybe you don’t really even like me. But we’re stuck together, Y/N. For better or for worse, we’re having a baby together. So I guess what I’m saying is we owe each other the truth.”

“You want the truth?” you asked. He nodded. “The truth is, I don’t know who I am anymore. Because in four plus months, I’m going to be a mom. And that scares the shit out of me.”

“I’m here,” Jake said. “I’m going to help. You’re not alone in this.”

“How can I trust you when I don’t even know you?”

“Well you haven’t really tried, now have you?” A bit of his Texan accent slipped out. It was small but it was there. A twang at the end of the sentence.

“You’re right.”

“That’s the first time you’ve ever said that.” He grinned.

“Don’t get used to it.”

“I’m trying here,” Jake said. “I want to do what’s best for you. And for the baby.”

“What about what’s best for you?”

He shrugged. “What’s best for you is best for me. Happy wife, happy life, right?”

You rolled your eyes. “I’m not your wife, Hangman.”

“Do me a favor.”

“I’m carrying your enormous child, and you want another favor?”

“Don’t call me Hangman, OK?”

You frowned. “Alright, I won’t.”

“I can be Hangman at work. But with you, I want to be Jake.”

“OK.” A silence enveloped the room and for the first time in a long time, you felt at ease with Jake. “Well, Jake, I’m going to go to bed. I’m exhausted.”

You shuffled off to the side of the kitchen toward the bedrooms. Jake’s hand reached out, fingertips curling around your wrist. You looked up. “I didn’t get to tell you before, so I’ll tell you now. I’m really happy it’s a girl.”

You smiled. “Yeah, me too. Little boys' clothes suck.”

Jake grinned. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight, Jake.”

***

Jake was sixteen the first time he held his niece in his arms. His older sister Mary had gotten married young, and immediately had a baby.

Kirsten was tiny, shriveled little fingertips, a nose that barely protruded from her face, almost no hair to speak of.

And yet, something changed in that moment. He felt his world flip upside down. For the first time in his life, he knew what it was like to hold someone’s life in his hand and know that he would lay down his life for that person.

Kirsten was thirteen now. At age eight, she asked Jake to be her show and tell item for school, and he took off a long weekend to go back to Texas to tell her class what it was like to be an aviator. And even though all that time had passed and she had grown up, sometimes Jake still looked at her and saw the newborn balanced perfectly in his scrawny arms.

***

Your second date with Patrick created even more mixed emotions.

On one hand, he was beautiful and successful, dynamic and smart. On the other hand, you still had a lump in the back of your throat that some random man would want to date a pregnant woman.

“It’s weird, right?” you said. Phoenix paused for a beat and you frowned, your fingertips gripping the steering wheel tighter. You had opted to drive yourself home from the restaurant, giving Patrick a kiss before he asked that you texted him when you got home.

“It’s a little weird,” she replied, her voice crackling through the car speakerphone. “But not unheard of.”

“It’s a porn category,” you argued.

She laughed. “OK but so is girl on girl. Doesn’t make it a fetish. He might just genuinely be a good enough guy to be OK with it.”

You flicked the turn signal, waiting for the light to turn green before taking a left into the apartment complex parking lot and switching the call back to your phone. “I guess,” you said. “I don’t know.”

“Do you like him?”

“Yeah, I do,” you replied, locking the car and stepping into the lobby. “It’s just kind of weird. Everything is weird right now.”

“It’s uncharted territory,” Phoenix said. “Just take a shower, get in your pajamas and watch Young Sheldon.”

“God, a perfect night,” you said. “Alright, I’m home. I’ll see you tomorrow for the party?” Coyote was having a house party for his new condo, and you and Phoenix had made plans to go.

“I’ll pick you up at nine.” She hung up as you opened the apartment door.

It was quiet, but there was a light on in the hallway. “Jake?” you called out, setting your purse down. “Are you home?”

“In here!” You rounded the corner into your bedroom. Jake looked up. “Surprise.”

You gasped. A brand new white crib sat in the corner, the one you had gawked at in a Pottery Barn catalog and then promptly flipped the page when you spotted the price tag. There was also the matching dresser, with a changing table on top.

“Oh my God,” you whispered.

Jake stood up, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Sorry, just finished building it, still have to clean up.”

“You did all of this?”

“Well we needed a crib. Oh and look.” He stepped over to the dresser and pulled open the first drawer to reveal a perfect line of folded onesies. “My mom sent them. Look at this one.” He tugged one out and held it up.

It was a Naval Academy onesie.

Jake grinned. “Great, right?”

“I can’t believe you did this,” you whispered.

“No big deal. Besides, we needed a nursery. Maybe once we move into a house we’ll have a spare bedroom, and—”

You held up one hand. “A house? Since when are we moving into a house?”

Jake looked around slowly. “I mean, it’s just the next step, right? This apartment is OK for now, but when the baby gets here it’s going to get crowded.”

You crossed your hands over your chest. “I thought this was temporary,” you replied. “I needed a place to stay to get away from Bobby. But this.” You swooped your hand out toward the crib and dresser. “This is feeling very real.” Your pulse started to race.

Jake frowned. “What are you saying?” he asked. “You don’t want to continue to live together once the baby is born?”

“I don’t know.”

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