The Hot Daddy Box Set

by Lexi Wilson

I chuckled, imagining her actually saying the words and pouting the way she did. I remember I used to find you in the middle of the night with a huge spoonful of peanut butter in the kitchen. ‘I just needed a midnight snack’ you’d always say.

  Best midnight snack in the world.

  And now you can’t even smell peanut butter without getting nauseous? I asked.

  No. It really sucks. I mean, what other purpose does celery have if not to be slathered in peanut butter?

  Some people enjoy celery with wings you know.

  Blech!

  I laughed. I could picture Evie’s face, that grossed out expression I knew she was making. I missed her, and in a moment of weakness, I decided to tell her. I miss you.

  Brett...

  It’s okay, Evie. I don’t expect anything from you. I just needed to tell you. It’s lonely here when Hannah isn't here. It’s lonely here even when she is in some ways because you’re not here.

  I’m sure Monica could help with the loneliness.

  I am not interested in Monica. I am never going to be interested in what she was offering. I’m only interested in one woman, and I’m talking to her. I meant what I said tonight: you looked beautiful. Absolutely stunning.

  I’m as big as a house.

  You’re pregnant, not fat. And if you don’t know how gorgeous you are, then you need to get yourself a man who tells you every day how gorgeous you are and ditch the loser who doesn’t.

  I need to go to bed; I have plans tomorrow.

  With Matthew?

  Good night, Brett.

  Sweet dreams, Evie. I know I will.

  I was already awake and cooking breakfast when Hannah woke up and joined me. We turned on some music, and she helped supervise as I finished making the pancakes. We ate and then cleaned up the kitchen together before we headed out to the park.

  Going to the park with Hannah was something I always looked forward to when I would come home from assignments. When she was little, I would push her in the toddler swings, and she would laugh and laugh and laugh. Her laughter was always my favorite sound in the world. As she got a little older, she would ask for me to push her higher and she would squeal and giggle while Evie watched with a wary eye. For the last year or so our visits to the park rarely included Evie as things had grown tense between us, but I still enjoyed those memories that I got to make with Hannah.

  Now when we went to the park we would inevitably run into classmates or church friends and Hannah would run off with them and tear around the playground while I sat on the sidelines and watched. I had my camera bag with me because I wanted to take a few pictures to update the ones I had at home with more current ones of Hannah, but I also didn’t want to look like that creepy dude at the park photographing the children.

  “Well, hey there, stranger,” I heard a sweet voice purr from behind me, and a hand snaked across my shoulders and then down my arm as Monica sat down beside me, her thigh touching mine.

  “Hello,” I said, sliding to my left to put some space in between us.

  “You left last night before I could say goodbye,” she pouted. Monica had on a full face of makeup topped off with glossy pink lips. The scent of her perfume assaulted my nose, a sickeningly sweet vanilla smell. It made me long for Evie’s simplicity. She hardly ever wore makeup, and I preferred her natural look. When she did get made up, it was always very simple: a little blush, some mascara, and a quick swipe of lip gloss.

  “Yeah, Hannah was getting tired, and I needed to get her home.”

  “Maybe we can get together with our kids one of the weekends you have Hannah.”

  “Maybe,” I answered noncommittally.

  “It’s so hard being a single parent,” Monica said, scooting closer to me again. “No one to share in the responsibilities or come home to. Sometimes you just really want another adult in the house to talk to and share a glass of wine with, to have some human contact.” Her eyes dropped and then fluttered back up to mine.

  “It’s only my first week, but it’s not so bad. I have Evie to co-parent with, which is good. What about Nate’s dad; is he around?”

  “No, he took off and never looked back. Jerk barely even pays his child support.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. It makes me feel blessed that Evie and I are both here for Hannah.”

  “Does Matthew help out too? We’ve all noticed that they started spending a lot of time together after you went missing. And now we learn she’s pregnant too.” She paused. “If it had been me, I would’ve kept the home fires burning for you.”

  “That’s kind of you, but Evie and I had divorced before I left on my last assignment, so she didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Since she’s moved on, I guess that means it’s your turn now too.”

  I shrugged. “For right now I’m just going to focus on making up for lost time with my daughter. I’m not really looking for anything else.”

  “It’s when you’re not looking that the best things come along,” she smiled.

  “That’s what they say,” I replied. I stood and called for Hannah. “It was nice to see you today, Monica. I’m sure I’ll see you around the school or church sometime.”

  She stood as well and put her arms around me before I could process what she was doing, pressing the length of her body to mine in a hug. I disentangled myself from her as quickly as I could in a polite manner and waved as Hannah came running over. I took her hand, and we started to stroll around the park. We stopped at a few places, and I took out my camera to snap some photos as Hannah climbed in some trees and looked out over the lake in the middle of the park.

  We left around lunch time and went to grab a bite to eat at a fast food restaurant before returning home. We changed into our bathing suits and went out to the pool. I would forever be grateful that my parents installed a heated pool for times like this. We splashed and played in the pool for over an hour before we went inside again.

  After getting out of our bathing suits and into warm house clothes instead, Hannah and I climbed onto the couch together, and I put on Despicable Me 2 for us to watch. She laughed at the movie, telling me to watch at her favorite parts. Before the movie was over, she had fallen asleep, and I quietly got off the couch to start making dinner.

  The next morning as we finished breakfast, Hannah looked up at me. “Daddy?”

  “What is it, baby?” I asked her.

  “When are you coming home?”

  This was a moment I was dreading, and I had wondered when I might have to deal with it. Her little eyes shined with tears, and I felt my heart break. “This is home,” I told her.

  “No, Daddy, my home, with mommy and me. I want you to read me a story every night.”

  “I would love to be able to do that, Hannah Banana, but I can’t.”

  “But why? Don’t you love me?

  “Baby, of course I love you. I will always love you, but you know that your mom and I aren’t married anymore, and that means we live in separate places now.”

  “Why can’t you just tell mommy you love her too and come home?”

  If only it were that easy, I thought. “Can I tell you a secret?” She nodded eagerly. “Okay, but you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

  “I promise.”

  “I love your mom very much, but I did some things wrong, and now I have to show mommy how much I love her. And for right now, that means I have to give your mom her space and live here but one day I hope we’re all living together again. Soon.”

  “Do you promise, Daddy?”

  “I promise, baby girl. Now, why don’t we go do something really, really fun?”

  “The park?” she asked hopefully.

  “Something even better. Go get dressed, and we’ll leave.”

  “Okay, Daddy!” she exclaimed as she ran from the room.

  I chuckled and cleared the table and went and got myself dressed. My parents had been out of a town visiting family the last couple of days and were due back later in the day and Ha
nnah and I would be picking them up, but we had to go to Boston to get them.

  The drive took us a couple of hours, but when we made it to Boston, we headed straight to the mall. I had already looked at a map of the stores and knew exactly where I wanted us to go, and as soon as Hannah saw the bear building workshop we were heading towards, she let out an excited squeal that nearly burst my eardrums.

  It took more than ten minutes of picking up and hugging very stuffed animal option before Hannah settled on a purple and pink unicorn with wings. Before it could be stuffed, we had to pick out a sound to be played when it was squeezed and then once it was stitched closed, the right outfit had to be selected. When she was finally finished, her princess unicorn had a dress, shoes, crown, and a scepter to go home with.

  We wandered through the mall for a little bit and had lunch before leaving to meet my parents. They were excited to see Hannah, and the car ride back to Connecticut was filled with Hannah’s voice telling her grandparents all about the feast that we all helped serve at school on Friday. When we reached home, we quickly dropped off my parents’ things and let them change before heading out to dinner. Hannah picked her favorite place in town; a nice little family-run Italian restaurant.

  I called ahead to reserve a table, and we were seated shortly after we arrived. Everyone knew what they wanted so when our waitress came around for our drink order, we ordered our food as well. I had worried that Hannah’s questions that morning about me coming home would put a damper on the rest of our weekend but despite that bump in the road, we had a really enjoyable time and I was very happy for the time I got to spend with her. I was sad to see the weekend coming to a close, but overall, I felt like it had been a good bonding experience for Hannah and me.

  After dinner, we returned home, and I helped Hannah gather her things, and we made the drive to Evie’s. The warm, happy feelings I had been experiencing all day started to disappear and were replaced by a sadness as I pulled into the driveway. I parked the car and walked Hannah to the door. Evie waited in the doorway.

  “Hey, baby, did you have fun with Daddy?” she asked, leaning down to hug our daughter.

  “Mommy, when can Daddy come home? Please let Daddy come home,” she begged.

  She looked up at me sharply, and I threw my arms up. “I told her that even though we live apart that we both still love her.”

  She sighed. “Hannah, tell your father goodnight and then go inside, okay?”

  “Goodbye, Daddy,” she wailed as she wrapped herself around my legs tightly. I lifted her up and hugged her close, kissing her cheek and whispering in her ear. When I set her down, she sniffled but went inside, disappearing up the stairs.

  Evie waits until she heard her bedroom door close. “How long has she been like this?”

  “Just this morning. I thought it had passed, otherwise I would have warned you.”

  “I guess I should go ahead and start getting her ready for bed. It might take a little more time than usual.”

  She started to turn to go inside, but I reached out and touched her arm. “Evie?”

  “Yes, Brett?” Her voice was heavy.

  “I just wanted to say how wonderfully you’ve raised our daughter. She’s pretty amazing, and that’s all you. I’m sure you’ll raise this baby to be a pretty outstanding human too, even if it does come out with ninja skills.”

  She laughed, and the sound touched me. Oh, how I had missed that sound. “Can you believe that I’m craving pineapple with this kid?”

  “Pineapple?” I asked incredulously. “But you hate pineapple.”

  “I know,” she laughed again. “But I can't get enough of it, go figure.”

  “Huh. You didn’t have any weird cravings with Hannah.”

  “I know. It’s crazy, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I better go,” she said, gesturing towards the stairs. “She needs a bath still.”

  “I’ll see you,” I told her.

  “Bye, Brett,” she replied as she closed the door.

  I stood on the porch for a moment before I turned and got into my car to drive home. It was goodbye for now, but not forever.

  Chapter 20

  Evie

  I closed the door on Brett and leaned back on it with a sigh. My emotions were rioting in my head. I wanted to still be mad at him, to hate him, but the wall I had built around my heart was starting to crack. I had spent the better part of the weekend replaying my most recent conversations with Brett over and over. I was touched that he both acknowledged and complimented the work I had put into raising Hannah tonight, and that despite the fact that he believed this baby was another man’s, that he knew I’d do good by this one as well.

  When I finally pushed off the door, I headed upstairs to find Hannah lying face down on her bed and crying her eyes out. Immediately my heart broke a little to see how sad she was at Brett leaving tonight. Normally Hannah was very stoic and did not really wear her emotions on her sleeve. I was almost angry with Brett for leaving me to deal with the fallout of him leaving when I reminded myself that he left because of me, not his job. He’s not running off on assignment this time; he’s going home, which was only a few minutes away instead of miles and different time zones away.

  I sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed small circles on Hannah’s back until her cries became sniffles. “Daddy and I both love you very much, Hannah.”

  “But why isn’t he here with us? Don’t you love Daddy still?”

  “I care about your dad very much, baby, but we aren’t married anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  “You don’t need to worry about things like that, little girl. It just didn’t work out for your father and me anymore. It will never change how we feel about you though. Now, did you have fun with your daddy this weekend?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did you do?” I prodded her.

  “We went to the park, and we swam, and we went to the store and built a unicorn and had dinner with Grammy and Pop-Pop.”

  “That sounds like fun.”

  “It was.”

  “Come on, let’s get you in the bath and then ready for bed, okay?”

  “Okay. Mommy?”

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too, sweetie.”

  Before I knew it, it was Wednesday again, and I realized during lunch that I had forgotten to let Brett know that Hannah joined the children’s choir at church and they were starting to practice for their Christmas concert later in the month. Hannah loved singing, and I just couldn’t say no when she asked to join this year. In addition to my out of control hormones, I had also developed “momnesia” as of late and was forgetting things I would have never missed before. Which was why instead of letting Hannah venture out the car rider line alone to meet Brett, I went with her.

  As Hannah climbed into the back seat of his car, Brett rolled down his window, so I leaned down to speak to him. “Hey, Evie, how are you?” he greeted me.

  “I’m good, thank you. I forgot to tell you that Hannah is in the Christmas choir at church and they’re meeting on Wednesdays to practice. They also might have a Friday evening towards the end of the month for practice too.”

  He nodded. “Not a problem. I can take her. What time?”

  “Five thirty.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.”

  I nodded and stood up straight as he put the window up. I waved to Hannah before they pulled off and hurried back inside. I had an appointment of my own to make, and I did not want to be late.

  Going to see the OB-GYN by myself for this pregnancy had been a strange experience and made me a little sad not to have someone to share each visit with. As I laid on the table waiting for the doctor to come in for my examination, I began to wish that there was someone with me to share with and I wondered if maybe I should have told Brett the truth about the baby.

  “Hello again, Evie,” Dr. Bennett said as she came into the room, flip
ping through my chart. “Are we ready to find out what you’re having today?”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s a ninja,” I joked. “It’s kicking up a storm.”

  Dr. Bennett chuckled as the nurse came into the room and started to set up the ultrasound machine. I settled back as the doctor lifted my gown and squirted gel on my belly. “Let’s have a look, shall we, see if this baby wants to cooperate today since it didn’t at our last visit?” she asked as she picked up the wand for the ultrasound.

  I nodded quickly, and within moments the sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the room, and a few seconds later, a picture came up on the screen. Dr. Bennett took some measurements and nodded at the screen as she did so. Finally, she smiled and looked up at me.

  “Are you ready to know?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re having a boy.”

  “A boy?” I repeated.

  “Yep.” She pointed at the screen. “That is definitely a boy.”

  “Oh my god,” I whispered as I felt tears begin to wet my cheeks. “A boy.”

  Dr. Bennett smiled and wiped the gel from my belly. “I want to see you again in a month. You can make an appointment on your way out unless you have any questions for me.”

  I shook my head. “No, no questions. Thank you, Dr. Bennett.”

  “Of course.” She left the room, and the nurse handed me the ultrasound pictures. I thanked her, and after she left the room, I dressed again. I was in a bit of a daze as I made my next appointment and made my way to my car and then drove home.

  After I had Hannah, Brett and I had talked a few times about having another child, but we had kept putting it off for one reason or another. It didn’t change the fact though that he really wanted a boy so that Hannah had a sibling and we had one of each. I knew if I was to tell Brett the truth about this pregnancy that he would be over the moon, especially with the news that it was a boy.