Charlie & Margot - Bonus Content

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

MARGOT
“Hello?” Craning my neck over the back of the couch, I call along the long hallway that runs the length of the condo to the kitchen and front door.
      “Margot,” Charlie calls back. “Have you heard from Ari?”
      “Uh, no. Should I have?”
      I’m about to haul my not-inconsiderable bulk off the couch when Charlie and Jax appear. Charlie notices I’m getting ready to stand up – it takes a bit of prep these days – and places a hand on my large baby bump. “Don’t stand up. You stay there with your feet up. We’ll find her.”
      “Uh, it’s Toronto. The woman managed to live in LA for years without coming to harm. Hell, she hitchhiked across Mexico.”
       “Don’t remind me,” Jax growls, his face darkening. “We’ve had words about that.”
       “She’s probably getting her hair done.”
    “Vicky does her hair,” Jax replies promptly, frowning as he looks at his phone. I think that’s someone back in San Remo, where they live.
       “Okay, maybe she’s just gone shopping?”
      Honestly, these two fuss over that woman worse than old hens. If I were her, I’d be deliberately winding them up. Hell, maybe that’s what she is doing.
       “No, her last text to me was that she was on her way home.” Jax is still frowning at his phone, and now Charlie’s expression matches his. As they stare at the device, it beeps. Jax swipes to read the message, his eyes widening and his face darkening.
       “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” he breathes, shoving the phone at Charlie in disbelief.
       “What’s happened?” I swing my legs off the couch again, but Charlie catches them with one hand, setting them back on the throw pillow I was using as a footrest.
      “Ari’s gotten into one of her scrapes. We’ll sort it out. You stay here.”
      “What about dinner?”
      “We’ll order in when we get back.”
      Jax has already retrieved his phone, tugging his jacket on as he hurries down the hallway.
      “Hurry up, man,” he calls over his shoulder. “I know my wife. If we don’t get there, she will try to fix it herself, which will only make things worse.”
      Okay, I’m officially confused and a little intrigued. Personally, I think Jax and Charlie go over the top with “fixing Ariel’s messes,” but that’s their business. Also, I think they enjoy it just a bit. As the front door slams behind me, I settle back against the couch, picking my book up with a smile. I like it when Jax and Ari visit. There’s never a dull moment. I also like how much Charlie looks out for his sister. He’s going to be an amazing dad when our daughter arrives. I only feel sorry for anyone she meets in eighteen years. Rubbing my swollen stomach, I hum, turning my attention to birthing facts. I can’t wait to meet our daughter, and I can’t wait to see Charlie holding her. It’s going to be a beautiful sight.

CHARLIE
“You never should have let her go off on her own,” I snap at Jax as he pulls the Jeep he hired at the airport into traffic. His eyebrows shoot up.
       “It’s Toronto. I thought she’d be fine. It’s been a while since she’s needed bailing out. I thought she was getting better.”
      I snort, rolling my eyes. Ari doesn’t get better at not getting into messes. This is just who she is. You’d think her husband would know that. He’s shaking his head, gripping the steering wheel tightly, and muttering. “When I get my hands on her, I’ll paddle her ass.”
        “Uh, dude. That’s my sister. TMI.”
        “Then you shouldn’t have let me marry her.”
       “Just because I think you two are good together doesn’t mean I need to know about your sexual punishment methods.”
        Jax flashes me a grin, throwing his phone into my lap. “Call her.”
       “What if she doesn’t answer?”
       “Call her again.”
       I stare at him. Is he an idiot? Has living full-time with my sister rotted his brain? It can happen. Too many dance workout videos will do that to you. “If she doesn’t answer the first time, what makes you think she’ll answer the second?”
       Jax shrugs. “We have an agreement. If she doesn’t answer three times in a row, I’m allowed to turn on the Find my Phone app.”
         He’s had that option this entire time, and I’m only hearing about it now. Why? “Uh, fuck that. I’ll just turn it on. We’ll find her without having to waste time calling three times.”
         Jax snatches at the phone, his eyes glued to the traffic as I hold it out of his reach. “No. Call Ari three times. I’m not about to invade her privacy without following the stipulated rules.”
          “But we already know she totaled Margot’s car.”
          “Do I butt into your marriage?”
          “Uh, no. But I’m not married to my trainwreck of a sister.”
          “Hey, that’s my wife you’re talking about.”
          “That doesn’t make my statement any less true.”
       He grumbles but doesn’t argue. Sighing, I quickly try calling three times. Every time, it goes to voicemail. Rules followed. Can we finally be sensible now? “Okay, now can I just fucking find her?”
         “Yes. Turn it on.”
         Finding the app, I tap it, enabling the locator device. It pings immediately. “She’s less than a mile away.”
        Jax steps on the gas, following my directions. Sure enough, Ari is sitting on the side of the road, waving sheepishly to us as we pull up behind Margot’s car. Jax is out of the Jeep, pulling her to her feet and checking her over carefully as I stare at the car in front of us. The back is caved in. How the fuck is Ari standing there looking like she doesn’t have a scratch on her? Jax tugs Ari into a tight hug, kissing her fiercely before leading her to the Jeep. They stop at my window. I gesture at the car.
        “How the hell aren’t you laid out on the sidewalk? The trunk is practically in the back seat!”
      Ari winces, glancing around Jax’s bulk at the car. He has her anchored to his side like he’s never letting her go. “I wasn’t in it.”
        “What?” I ask, gesturing again at the car.
       “Where were you?” Jax asks. “And why did you think it would be okay to text me, ‘I’m totally fine, but Margot’s car is undrivable’?”
        “Well, it’s the truth. I am fine, and there’s no way that car can be driven.”
        “Next time you’re in a car accident, I expect a phone call, Trouble.”
        Ari glares up at him mutinously. “I wasn’t in a car accident. I was standing near it.”
        “That’s even worse.”
        I cut through their bickering. “What happened to the car, Ari?”
        She sighs, gesturing at the vehicle. “There was this lady pulled over and looking under her hood. I pulled in behind her, leaving plenty of space, and went to make sure she was okay.”
        Jax groans, rubbing his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. "Trouble, Trouble, Trouble. How many times do I have to tell you? You don’t get out of the car if you’re alone. It could have been a plan to jump you.”
        I nod in agreement, but Ari is already rolling her eyes, drawing a growl from Jax.
      “But it wasn’t. She really was having engine trouble. I was calling her a tow when this guy came barreling around the corner and hit the back of my car. So, it wasn’t my fault.”
       “He wouldn’t have hit the car if you hadn’t stopped when you were alone, which I told you not to do,” Jax points out.
        Ari pouts, pressing herself against him as he glares down at her. “But if I stopped helping people, I wouldn’t be me.”
      He growls something too low for me to hear, and she blushes, giggling. Gross. I don’t need to know that stuff about my sister and best friend. Digging out my phone, I glare at Margot’s car. We were considering upgrading to an SUV now that the baby is close to coming, but I didn’t need the vehicle written off to arrange that.
      “Oh, here.” Ari hands me a piece of paper. “I got the guy’s insurance details. They were going to organize a tow once you arrived.”
        “Why didn’t you call us? Or answer our calls?”
       Ari shrugs. “I texted to let you know, but then I talked to the guy, his insurance, and the police. I knew you were coming.”
       “You didn’t tell us where you were,” I point out, the insurance company hold music playing in my ear. Ari rolls her eyes.
        “Uh, Find my Phone?”
        Jax bites his lip to stop laughing while I glower at them. This is the last thing I need. I want to be home with Margot, sitting on the couch, rubbing her feet. I finally get through to the insurance, organizing a tow. Jax and Ari are making out on the sidewalk while I ignore them. Honestly, those two.
      It’s dark by the time we get home, Jax piggybacking Ari up the stairs. Margot is laying out the takeaway Thai food as we step into the kitchen, her eyes roaming over the three of us. “Did you get everything sorted?”
        Ari blushes, stepping up to her, looking shamefaced. “I wrote off your car. I’m so sorry, Margot.”
        Margot blinks at her, dropping the serving spoon and looking her over. “Are you okay?”
        “Oh, I wasn’t in the car.”
        Margot blinks, shrugging her shoulders. “Then it wasn’t you who wrote it off. We were thinking of upgrading to an SUV anyway.”
       Jax and Ari disappear to wash up for dinner, and Margot carefully sits on my lap. I wrap my arms around her, resting my head in the crook of her neck as my hand strokes over her bump, our daughter kicking beneath my hands.
        “The car got written off?”
       “Some kid lost control around the corner and smashed into the back where she was parked. She was helping a woman call a tow truck.”
        “Thank goodness she wasn’t in the car.”
       “Thank goodness I don’t have to worry about you two getting into trouble every time you leave the condo.”
        Margot snorts. “It’s hardly her fault someone rammed into her. You said she wasn’t even in the car. That’s just bad luck.”
         “Yeah, and it follows Ari like a bad smell. I think she might be cursed.”
         Margot rolls her eyes, hooking her arm around my neck. “There’s no such thing as curses.”
         “Oh yeah, tell that to Ari’s constant bad luck. Everyone else in the family is extremely lucky.”
         Margot looks pointedly at my chair. “You got blown up and have no legs.”
       “Yeah. And that’s how I met the most amazing woman in the world, who is about to have my baby. That’s extremely lucky.”
       With a giggle, Margot presses a kiss to my cheek. “Okay, well, Ari’s bad luck landed her Jax. Isn’t that lucky?”
      Hmm. I hadn’t thought about it that way. Maybe she’s not unlucky. Maybe it is the universe drawing her to Jax.
          “You’re right.”
          “I usually am.”
          “Jax is the one who's cursed.”
         Margot’s giggles cut off as I capture her lips with my own. That poor sod might be cursed, but I’m blessed and wouldn’t change anything in my life. Not when all the best things are currently balanced in my lap.

The End. 

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