Lightning In a Bottle {A Chase Elliott Story}

Chapter 30: That's Our Baby

Jess hadn't planned on her telling Chase about the baby to go as well as it did nor did she expect him to want to stick around and be a part of the baby's life. Maybe she had misjudged him after all. Now all she had to do was get through the next few days being around him.

Chase left Jess's apartment that night in shock. He hadn't thought when he went over there she'd tell him she was pregnant, but then again he wasn't entirely disappointed either. Sure the circumstances weren't the best, but he loved her and he had pictured her as the girl he wanted to spend his life with, well before he had cheated on her like the asshole he was. He hit call on his truck screen and called Ryan.

"What up Clyde?" Ryan answered.

"Are you home? I need to talk to someone."

"Sure man, come on over."

He got to Ryan's house and knocked on the door as Allie answered the door, her pregnant belly getting bigger. "Hi Chase!" she said with a big smile.

"Hi Allie," Chase answered, giving her a hug.

"What's up man? You sounded like something was wrong on the phone."

"Well yes and no."

"I'll leave you two," Allie said.

"Want a beer?" Ryan asked. Chase nodded yes. Ryan came back with two beers and sat down across from where Chase was.

"What's wrong man? Jess?"

"Yep. I did run into her today at the autograph session and she invited me back to her place to talk. I figured it was because of what happened in Daytona and how we left things, but turns out Daytona wasn't just about mistakes."

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked. Chase pulled something out of his jeans pocket and handed it over to Ryan.

"Holy shit dude. Jess is pregnant?"

"Yeah. He told me tonight since she figured I had the right to know I was the baby's father. She even told me she didn't expect anything from me and that she'd just raise our baby on her own. I'm not letting that happen. That's my child too man."

"Are you sure you're the father?" Ryan asked.

"Jess said if I wanted to take a paternity test we could, but the way she straight out told me and how genuine she was about it, I knew it was mine. I love her Ryan and maybe this baby will bring us together, but I guess we'll find out."

Chase's phone went off early the next morning as he rolled over and saw a text from Jess.

Not sure of your schedule today, but I have a doctor's appointment before the event this afternoon. I wanted to let you know in case you wanted to go, no pressure at all.

Chase's eyes got wide at the fact that Jess had actually texted him about going to a doctor's appointment. He quickly typed back he could make it as he got up and went to get ready.

Jess's heart raced as she waited outside the doctor's office for Chase. She knew it had been the right thing to invite him to the doctor's appointment, but it surprised her even more that he was actually coming. She watched as a black Chevy SUV zoomed into the parking lot as Chase got out and walked towards her.

"Hi," he said, giving her a big smile.

"Hi," Jess replied, putting her hands on her stomach. "So, are you ready for this?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright Miss Andrews, you'll feel a little pressure," her doctor began. A little blip came up on the screen as they saw their baby together for the first time.

"You're developing very nicely and it looks like the baby's heartbeat is strong." Jess felt an overwhelming calm as she looked over at Chase who had tears in his eyes and a big smile on his face.

"I'll leave you two."

"Are you ok?" Jess asked.

"Yes. That's our baby," he said as his smile got bigger.

"It is," Jess answered. "Are you ready to do this with me?" she asked, taking him aback.

"Absolutely," he answered, kissing her forehead.

Chase got to the charity event later that afternoon as he now proudly carried the photo of his child with him. He wanted to show everyone, but this was something he and Jess decided would need to only be shared between them and a select few for a while. He knew this would be a very hard talk to have with his parents, especially his mom, but it was worth it to have a baby with Jess.

Jess and Michelle got to the event as everything was in full swing. Tonight was more like an auction with the fans and then tomorrow would round everything out with the charity gala with a lot of the other drivers. After how well this morning went, Jess was very impressed with how quickly Chase wanted to be involved and he seemed to be genuinely excited to be a dad. Now, she stood off to the side in the room with Michelle watching fans bid on pieces of sheet metal, old racing suits and even a weekend at the track with their favorite driver. She watched as fans snapped photos with Chase, just as she had the first weekend she met him and had no idea who he was or the world that surrounded him was. She took a couple photos for her article as Michelle was off conversing with some fans.

"Hey beautiful," his southern drawl startled her.

"Oh hey," she said.

"I was wondering if you're free for dinner or something. I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, just two friends having dinner." Jess gave him a questioning look before a smile crossed her face.

"Sure."