Birth of a Baby Daddy

by Piper Rayne

“Come over, I want to introduce you to some people,” I say, my arm outstretched like we’re not in the middle of a cold war right now.

  She stops pouring, puts the drinks on Rachel’s tray, and wipes her hands before weaving through the tables.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Martle, this is Harley, my girlfriend.” I place my hand around her waist, but she doesn’t lean into my hold like she normally does. Her hip never touches mine as she leans forward and shakes both their hands.

  “Pleasure to meet you,” she says.

  “Your daughter is the cutest thing. I miss that age.” Val looks to Cory and he laughs.

  “Oh, you’ll have your own grandchild one day,” he says, sipping his wine.

  “Thank you. She’s becoming a handful. Just this morning she tried to jump off the couch.”

  “She did?” I ask.

  Harley nods, barely looking at me. “Yep. Takes after her father from what I hear.” Harley puts on the front and it amazes me how well she can pretend things are okay. It’s actually kind of scary.

  “Oh yes. I could tell you about Rome. I don’t think he owned a pair of pants he’d actually keep on until he was six.” Val smiles at me fondly.

  “He was always testing his parents,” Cory fills in.

  “Sounds like Calista as of late.” Her hand falls over her stomach for a second and I wonder what she’s thinking in her head. Probably secretly hoping the next one isn’t like me.

  She looks behind her to see another waiter waiting at the bar. “I better get back to work. It was very nice meeting you both.” She shakes their hands, smiles at me, and walks away. The smile was forced, and I wonder if Val and Cory noticed how distant we seem.

  “She’s delightful. Your mother would be happy.” Val hugs me to her.

  “Thanks. I better get back into the kitchen.” I hug them both again and leave the table, this time deliberately not looking over to Harley.

  The afternoon continues to drag. Usually the days Harley works are my fun days. The ones where I take small breaks and head to the dining room where we shoot the shit about a movie or a band we disagree about. Let’s face it, there’s still so much we don’t know about one another. Usually I prepare her lunch and she gives me advice on seasoning like she’s a chef. But today, I don’t go out there and she doesn’t come into the kitchen at all.

  At five o’clock right before all the reservations are due to arrive for our dinner service, my phone rings.

  “What’s up, Sav?”

  “Hey, it’s Liam actually.”

  I stop cutting the peppers and wipe my hands.

  “There’s been an accident and we’re on our way to Memorial.”

  My breath lodges in my throat and I begin unbuttoning my chef’s jacket immediately. “Who?”

  “Calista, man. She fell and cut her forehead. We’ve tried to get it to stop bleeding, but we’re going to take her in.”

  “I’ll be right there. Just wait there.” Then I think better of it. “No, go, but please Liam…”

  “No worries, I got this. She’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” He hangs up and I know I can trust him, but damn.

  I feel like I’m going to be sick.

  I throw my chef jacket on the counter. “Colin, you need to handle service tonight. I’m leaving and I’m taking Harley. Sorry man, you gotta earn your paycheck today.”

  He laughs for a moment before he sees my face. The spoon drops next to him and panic laces his features when he realizes I really am leaving, and he’ll be on his own.

  I ignore him and run out to the dining room. Harley’s laughing with a co-worker, her back growing more rigid, the closer I get.

  “Rachel, I need you to cover the bar tonight or say it’s closed. Harley, we’re leaving.” I grab her hand, but she slides it out of my grasp.

  This is no time to show your stubbornness woman, I think to myself.

  “Okay,” Rachel says, her eyebrows crinkling.

  “We’ll talk later,” Harley whispers to me.

  “We’re not going to talk. It’s Calista.”

  “What?” Her eyes widen.

  “She fell and Liam and Savannah are on route to Memorial.”

  She unties her apron and tosses it behind the bar, running into the kitchen to grab her purse and then leaves out the back door.

  I follow right behind and hop into my truck. That’s when I realize that Harley’s not in the passenger seat, she’s about to climb in the Cadillac.

  “Get in the car,” I say, opening my door.

  “I’ll drive myself.”

  “No. Get in the truck!”

  “You don’t want to talk to me, so I’d rather be by myself.”

  Fucking hell. I climb out of my truck, go around the Cadillac right before she can climb in and pick her up, carrying her over to my truck. Once she’s securely in, I climb in and drive out of downtown Lake Starlight like it’s the Daytona 500 track.

  “Don’t touch me like that again,” she says, her knee bouncing up and down. “Did they apply pressure to the cut?”

  “I’m sure they did.”

  “And they couldn’t stop the bleeding?”

  “I’m guessing not.”

  “Why is Liam calling? I left her with Savannah.”

  “I know as much as I told you. We just need to get there.” I take a sharp right turn, hoping I can cut off some time going the back way.

  “Don’t get all angry at me. I’m just asking.” She crosses her arms.

  “Are you okay? Isn’t stress bad?” My eyes zero in on her stomach.

  She follows my line of vision. “I’m fine. Not like you care.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” My grip tightens on the steering wheel.

  “You’re ignoring me. Thanks for the cold shoulder because that’s making this all much easier to deal with.” She looks out the window.

  “I wasn’t ignoring you, but how about we talk about you not trusting me. What did you think I would do? Run away? Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I turn the wheel at the last minute almost missing the emergency entrance to Memorial.

  “I didn’t know how you would react.”

  I slam on the brakes in the first parking spot I can find. She pushes open the door and runs to the entrance without waiting for me.

  I guess our conversation is over.

  I catch up to her at the nurse’s station, but notice Savannah sitting in a chair, her entire body shaking as she sobs.

  “Where is she?” I ask her.

  Harley looks back hearing me and runs over to Savannah, sitting down in the seat beside her. “How is she? What did they say?”

  “I’m so sorry. I turned around for a second to grab her a juice and next thing I knew she was coming over to me with blood pouring down her face. I ruined my niece.”

  A nurse looks over at Harley. “Are you the mother?”

  Harley heads back to the nurse’s station, leaving me with Savannah.

  “I’m sure she’s fine.” I don’t have time to console her though, so I head to the station because I need to see my daughter.

  “Come on back.” The nurse presses a button and Harley sprints to the door. I follow, the two of us walking fast and then having to slow down to keep pace with the nurse. Can’t she just give us the room number and we’ll go ourselves?

  She opens the door to the room and there’s Liam doing animal sounds with some toys, but he’s making the wrong sounds. He picks up a plastic cow and says baa. Calista cracks up. My heart relaxes and returns to a steady beat.

  Harley runs over and touches the bandage on her forehead.

  “Mama!” She smiles at her then pushes Harley away, wanting Liam to continue with their game.

  He takes the hint and picks up a dog saying meow. Her laugh is the best sound in the world right now.

  “The doctor said they’ll continue to keep monitoring her,” Liam says. “That maybe we rushed it by bringing her here, but that it’s always better to be cautious with a child with Von
Willebrand.” He gets up from his chair so I can sit down.

  “Thanks so much,” I say. “I should make sure Savannah’s okay, she’s so shaken up out there.”

  “Nah. I got it. She called me when it happened and thankfully I was at Smokin’ Guns, so it didn’t take me long to get there. You stay here. I’ll make sure she gets home and is in better shape.”

  Harley rushes over and throws herself into Liam’s arms. “Thank you so much. I owe you.”

  Liam looks at me over her mess of blonde hair. “You owe me nothing. I’m glad she’s good.”

  I share a thank you look with him, but Calista picks up the cat and says woof woof then laughs at herself.

  Harley leans over, kissing her face and looking over her body.

  “What are you looking for?” I ask.

  “Bruises. I want to double check she’s okay.”

  I help her investigate our daughter, who appears to be great.

  A half hour later a nurse and doctor come in and tell us they’re going to keep her a little longer to make sure the protein in her blood works and that she develops a clot. I act like I understand but realize quickly I need to do my own research on this disease.

  Harley nods, understanding exactly what they’re saying. Of course, she does. And now we have another baby growing inside of her that could suffer from this same disease.

  Thirty-Four

  Rome

  Calista falls asleep and the nurse comes in to change the bandage, Harley hovering over her shoulder the entire time.

  The nurse tells us it will only be a little while longer, that it looks as though it’s clotting.

  “I’ve never been so scared in my entire life,” I murmur, holding Calista’s hand in mine. “What if it had been worse?”

  Harley says nothing for a minute, holding our daughter’s other hand in hers.

  “The first time she got a bloody nose and it wouldn’t stop, I lost all sense. I feel bad for Savannah because I was as petrified as she is. I grew more used to it each time, but she hasn’t had an episode in so long, I think I forgot how scary it is.”

  “I’m sorry, I have no idea how you did all that alone.” I peek up and look at her. Truly look at the woman I love. She doesn’t know it and I’m not even sure she’d believe me if I told her.

  She shrugs like she just loaded the dishwasher or charged my cell phone for me. She raised this amazing little girl for eighteen months all on her own. It’s huge and it’s about time we have a heart to heart about our next addition.

  “Harley,” I approach the subject like a hesitant dog taking a treat from a mean owner.

  “I’m sorry,” she blurts out. “I didn’t mean to keep it from you, it’s just, I mean I’m pregnant.”

  I laugh because that pretty much sums it up. With the words I’m pregnant comes everything else in our lives bearing down on us. Here I am just opening a restaurant, already running on empty with my schedule. To add another child into the mix is ridiculous and crazy and people are going to look at us like we’re aliens with three heads and two bodies.

  “It’s not funny. I mean how can this be happening?” Her head falls to the bed, her blonde hair a veil over her face.

  I look at Calista peacefully sleeping. My heart and mind at peace now that I know she’s okay. We’ll get through every other moment like this, but we need to do it together. God, we’re so much better together than apart. I’m a man I never thought I’d be because of her and Calista and I’m man enough to admit it. Harley makes me into the man I want to be. A man like my father was.

  “Hey.” I reach across and brush her hair away from her face. “It’s just an unplanned pregnancy. Think of it this way, at least you know where to find the father this time.”

  I chuckle, but she picks up her head with a death glare that could strike me dead.

  “I’m kidding.”

  “People in this town are going to think I can’t keep my legs closed,” she groans.

  “Who cares?”

  She blows out a breath and stares at Calista. “But I can’t help but love the fact that we’ll get another one of her.” Her hand reaches out and she runs it down our rosy-cheeked daughter.

  “Do you think I’m a bad dad?” I voice the fear that’s been nagging at me, wondering if that’s why she didn’t tell me.

  Her hand falls and she looks at me. “No. Why would you think that?”

  I shrug. “Why didn’t you tell me when you thought you might be pregnant? Why didn’t you trust me to handle it?”

  Her lips thin and she looks at her hand around Calista’s. “I already feel like a noose around your neck, adding another baby is only going to tighten that noose. Don’t you ever think about where you’d be if I never showed up here?”

  I slide out my chair and pat my leg, but she shakes her head. “Come on,” I say. There’s no way we can continue having this conversation being so far apart. “Please?”

  She reluctantly walks over, and I pull her down to my lap.

  “I’m not sure what I have to do to convince you that you showing up is the best thing to happen in my life.” I press my hand to her stomach. “Calista is my world and this little one will be, too. But none of that is possible without you. You’re not a noose. Yeah, our life is going to be crazy for a while, but I think we’re able to handle that. I mean we’re the comeback kids, right?”

  She laughs and places her hand on my cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away.”

  I place my hand over hers. “That’s okay, but next time you tell me, and we’ll wait out the three minutes to find out together, got it?”

  She raises her eyebrows. “Next time?”

  “Two is easy, if we’re really gonna be the comeback kids, we need at least three. Unless…” I run my hand over her stomach, and she stares down at the action. “You’re carrying twins.”

  Her eyes widen and I laugh.

  “Hey.” I bring our conversation back to a serious level and stare into her eyes. “I love you. I don’t throw those three words around loosely, so put them in safe keeping. From the moment you walked into Terra and Mare, my life hasn’t been the same and I never want to go back to the way it was. I always did play well with a team.”

  She kisses me and pulls back resting her forehead against mine. “I love you, Rome Bailey.”

  “It means nothing unless you seal it with a kiss,” I say, tapping my lips.

  Just as our lips are about to meet, a screeching voice sounds in the room.

  “OH. MY. GOD! My great-granddaughter!” G’Ma D sits down in the chair Harley was in moments ago and presses her lips to Calista’s cheek leaving a red lipstick mark. Calista stirs and looks over at us, smiles and then turns to see G’Ma D.

  “Doodoo,” she says in her sleepy voice.

  I exchange a look with Harley.

  “Oh, you can call me whatever you want.” She hugs her tightly to her chest as she leans over the bed.

  “Doodoo!” Calista wiggles because heaven forbid anyone show her affection when she doesn’t want it these days.

  G’Ma D sits back down in the seat. “Thank goodness for Liam, huh? Savannah told me all about it. She’s a mess in the waiting room.” She thumbs to out the door.

  “I’m sure she would’ve been fine in Savannah’s hands.” Harley stands up. “I’m going to go see if I can catch her.”

  Once Harley’s out of the room, G’Ma D sets her eyes on me. “You!” She points. “Good thing Calista got hurt.”

  “What?” My head rears back.

  “Otherwise you would’ve continued being an ass to Harley. What were you thinking? This is your chance to right a wrong.”

  “I don’t even want to know what you’re talking about.” I arrange the farm animals back up on the bed for Calista.

  “This new baby. You get to experience everything from day one and you act like a spoiled brat because she didn’t take the test when she was with you? Good thing I’ve been a great mentor to your sister. S
he knew exactly what to do.”

  A second later Savannah and Liam walk in with Harley.

  “See, she’s great,” Harley says, pointing to Calista. “Kids are resilient.”

  Calista spots the animals again and holds up a cow. “Nayyy.”

  “Oh shit. She’s mixed up all her animals.” I act panicked and pick up a dog. “What’s a dog say, baby girl?”

  “Meow,” Calista says with a laugh, her head falling back to the pillow.

  “Shit babe, how hard did she hit her head?” I act worried and Harley rolls her eyes at me.

  Savannah runs forward to the edge of the bed. “Not hard at all.” She picks up a chicken. “What does a chicken say?”

  Calista grabs it from her hand. “Moo.”

  “Oh my God, look what I did!” Savannah sounds half ready to sob.

  I laugh and Savannah looks over at me confused for a moment before looking to Harley who gives her an apologetic smile. I kind of like her apologizing for me, it’s sweet.

  Savannah hits me on the head. “You asshole.”

  “Azz hhhoole,” Calista says.

  Everyone in the room laughs and Savannah’s shoulders slump and her chin falls to her chest like she can’t win.

  “Way to teach my daughter a bad word,” I joke.

  “It’s fine. She said it last week when Rome was on the phone with his alcohol rep.” Harley raises her eyebrows at me. I kind of like us together—a lot. “Now go home and relax.” Harley nudges her toward Liam who puts his arm around her.

  I narrow my eyes at them, but Harley shakes her head telling me to shut up.

  “I gotta go, too. I just needed to see that she was okay. Bye, sweetie.” G’Ma D waves at Calista. “It’s poker night and I’ve been watching those Texas Hold ‘Em games. Ethel is gonna wish she picked some other game.” She bends down and kisses Calista on the forehead. “Did you really hit your head?” she whispers.

  “Doodoo,” Calista smiles. “Bye-bye.”

  The three of them say their goodbyes and as they leave the room, G’Ma D’s loud voice can be heard saying, “Good thinking on the hurt kid thing. That really got them together.”

  I glare down at Calista’s forehead seeing no sign of blood on the bandage. Surely they didn’t set this whole thing up.