The Daddy Dilemma

by Tia Siren

  “Fuck!” I yelled.

  By the time I got to the hospital, I had been in traffic for over an hour. I started shedding clothes in the waiting room without taking a second glance as to who was there, and when I felt a hand come down on my shoulder, I ripped around and was locked and loaded to cuss out whoever was stopping me from getting to Hanna.

  I was shocked to see her father behind me.

  “Marcus and her mom have been taking turns, but she’s close. She needs you.”

  “I know,” I said. “Wait. Marcus and her mom are here?”

  “Yep,” he said with a slight grin.

  I rushed around the corner and sped down to the room from which I could hear Hanna screaming. For whatever reason, she wanted to do this without an epidural because she was scared of needles, and I could tell from her panicked screams that she was regretting her decision.

  “Where’s Kason!?” she roared.

  “I’m right here. I’m right here.”

  I skidded into the room, and Marcus and her mother stepped out of the way. They were shooed out of the room just as the doctor came in, and I held Hanna’s hand tightly while brushing the sweat from her brow. She looked absolutely exhausted, and the doctor said something about her progressing quickly, but all I cared about was the fact that they were all right.

  “You ready to push, honey?” the doctor asked.

  “Kason, I’m scared,” she whispered.

  “I know, sweetheart,” I said. “But when you’re done, Sarah will be here and she’ll be gorgeous. Just like her mother.”

  “You’re never touching me again,” she said with a growl.

  “I’ll touch you all I want,” I said with a grin in return.

  “All right, Hanna. Give me a push.”

  She bared down with the concentration of a wildebeest, and I was amazed at how strong she was. The sweat dripping from her brow trickled down and soaked her hospital gown, and every time she fell back to the bed, I wiped her face and gave her a kiss. In this very moment, I wanted to take all the pain away from her, and it killed me that I couldn’t. She was shaking with weariness and exhaustion, and I was honestly worried she wasn’t going to have the strength to push Sarah out.

  But every time she raised up to push, she surprised me with her strength and determination.

  “One last push!” the doctor exclaimed.

  “Come OOOOOOOOON!” Hanna roared. She clamped down on my hand so hard that I thought she was going to break it, but when her back slammed down for the last time, I captured her lips with mine while nurses swarmed her pelvic region.

  They rushed our little one to the table to clean her up, but I stayed by Hanna’s side. She was panting and trembling, and I knew she wanted to be the first to hold Sarah.

  “Want to cut the cord, Dad?” the doctor asked.

  Hanna shooed me away, and when I cut the cord, I couldn’t help but look down and see how beautiful Sarah was. She had Hanna’s eyes and hair, but the poor girl definitely had my chin. She was going to be just as strong and determined as her mother, apparently, because when she opened her eyes, I could tell she was going to have my color eyes as well.

  “My word, she’s already opened them!” a nurse exclaimed.

  I walked her over to Hanna, who immediately dropped her to her breast. Sarah nuzzled into her bosom before she drew Hanna’s nipple into her mouth, and I watched exactly how wonderful Hanna’s body was. Her body had not only grown my child, but it was feeding my child, and it was absolutely astounding to me.

  Tears trickled down my face as I ran my fingers through Hanna’s hair.

  “That feels good,” she whispered.

  “I’m glad, honey,” I whispered back.

  Sarah ate and I helped Hanna get cleaned up, and when we were all ready, our families swarmed our sides. Mom and Dad must’ve gotten here while Hanna was pushing, and when I saw them, I wrapped my arms tightly around them both.

  “Congratulations, Son,” my dad said.

  “She’s beautiful,” my mom said.

  “Could I hold her?” Hanna’s dad asked. I looked down at her while she looked up at her father, and without a word, she handed Sarah to him. Tears rose to his eyes, and we all watched as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. When Hanna’s hand began to tremble, I took it in mine and brought it to my lips.

  “I’m so sorry,” her dad said.

  “It’s okay, Daddy,” Hanna said.

  “When you’ve got a second, Roger, I’d like to talk to you,” I said.

  He handed the baby back to Hanna, and all of Hanna’s family followed me into the hallway. My parents stayed behind with her to ogle over the baby, but mostly they stayed behind because I’d already talked to them about this.

  The decision I was about to make.

  “Roger,” I began, “I’ll just cut to the chase.”

  “Before you begin, I just want to say how—”

  “Water under the bridge. The important thing is that you’re here for this and that you apologized to Hanna. That’s all I wanted,” I said.

  “Then what were you wanting to talk to us about?” Lisa asked.

  “Roger, Marcus, Lisa, I want your permission to ask your daughter’s and sister’s hand in marriage.”

  The entire area fell silent and I felt their stares on me, but when Marcus moved to take me tightly in his arms, I knew what the answer would be.

  “Way to go, dude,” he said.

  “You’ve got my blessing,” Lisa said with tears in her eyes.

  “I couldn’t imagine a better man being her husband,” Roger said.

  I dug around in my pocket for the ring and showed it to them. Their eyes lit up when the saw the diamond ring I’d purchased for Hanna, and they quickly swarmed the room as I sat back down beside her.

  “Hanna, baby, how’re you feeling?” I asked.

  “Tired,” she admitted.

  “Could I ask you something before you drift off to sleep?”

  “Of course,” she said with a smile. “What’s up?”

  “Well, for the past seven months, things have been—well—interesting. I fell in love with my best friend’s sister who was carrying my child, and then I made her my secretary and helped her finish her schooling early so she could graduate on time.”

  “It’s been a whirlwind, but one I wouldn’t trade for the world,” she said.

  “And now we have a family and Sarah will have my last name, and I just don’t think that’s very fair to you.”

  “No, no, no. We talked about this. Sarah should have her father’s last name,” Hanna interjected.

  “I know,” I said with a smile. I took out the box and cracked it open before I handed it to her. Her eyes grew wide as tears began to brew in them.

  “That’s why I was wondering if you’d like it, too,” I said.

  “What?”

  “Hanna Rendon, I grew up right beside you. I watched you go through elementary school and middle school. I defended you from bullies with your brother and watched you go off to college, but never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I would fall in love with you. But, just like in middle school, I want you to know that I’ll always be there. To protect you and defend you, to pull you out of pools you fall into and to catch you whenever you slip. You’ll never hit the ground so long as I’m with you, and I was wondering if you would do me the honor of marrying me.”

  “Oh my gosh, Kason.”

  Tears streamed down her face while Sarah slept in her arm, and she tossed her free arm around me and pulled me close to her. She sobbed into the crook of my neck, and my fingers fluttered through the tendrils of her hair. When she finally resurfaced, she pressed her salty lips to mine in a flurry of kisses.

  “Yes. Yes, Kason Marx, I will marry you,” she said.

  I held her in my arms while we both looked down at Sarah, and when I could, I slipped the ring from the box and placed it on her finger. Our parents were crying and Marcus was smiling, and when Hanna finally drifted o
ff to sleep, I scooped Sarah up and walked her over to the window.

  “This is San Francisco, Sarah Marx,” I said. “This city is full of beauty and wonders, but it’s also full of people who might hurt you. I need you to know that I will never let them hurt you. Ever. You and your mother will always be safe no matter the cost to me.”

  “And so long as we’re together, you’ll always be loved.”

  I turned around at the sound of Hanna’s voice, and her arms were reached out for Sarah. I smiled and walked her back over only to place Sarah into her mother’s arms. Before I knew it, Sarah was eating again.

  “You’re incredible, Hanna,” I said.

  “And you’re mine, Kason,” she said back.

  “Always and without a doubt,” I said with a smile.

  “Always and forever,” she whispered back to me.

  ***

  END OF THE THIRD STORY

  Man Candy

  Grant Markus. My new boss. My ex- boyfriend.

  Arrogant. Vengeful. Impossible.

  Man Candy.

  I hate him.

  At least that’s what I tell myself.

  When Grant buys the candy store chain where I work, I hardly recognize him.

  He used to be the class nerd.

  I broke up with him for the star quarterback.

  Now Grant’s got more muscles than The Rock and more money than Christian Grey.

  Just looking at his ripped body gives me a toothache.

  And staring into his piercing eyes gives me a sugar overload.

  I know he wants to punish me for what I did to him.

  He orders me around and makes me work late.

  Makes me sit on his knee behind his desk and say, “yes, Boss.

  He’s making my life impossible.

  He wants to punish me for what I did to him. Show me who’s boss.

  Well there’s no way he’s gonna turn me on - even if he is man candy.

  So why the hell do I love his punishment?

  Chapter 1

  Grant

  My favorite café in the whole world was a hole-in-the-wall spot just around the corner from my building called Split Bean. The food wasn’t anything spectacular. The coffee was usually weak. It was always overcrowded, and for some reason, it carried the distinct odor of old cheese. Even the wait staff had more bad days than good. They had messed up my order so many times, I couldn’t even count them on two hands. Still, for some reason, I couldn’t get enough and went there nearly every day.

  Today was no different. It was getting close to lunch time, and my best friend, Jack Cooper, called me up and asked if I was free. I told him that I was, on the condition that we get a coffee there first. I had taken Jack to Split Bean one other time, and it had been as unremarkable as ever. In fact, if I remembered correctly, they’d burned his coffee and put cheese on his sandwich, even though he’s lactose intolerant. I thought it was hilarious. He did not.

  “I still don’t know why you always suggest this place,” Jack said. He grimaced as we settled ourselves into a small booth in the corner of the café. The place was hopping as usual, and even as Jack asked the question, a customer bumped backward into our table. He didn’t even apologize before picking himself up and moving away.

  “It’s cheap,” I said dismissively, picking up the menu. There was no point to this, of course. I had the thing memorized by this point.

  “Cheap?” Jack asked, snorting. “How about this? I’ll buy the place, refurbish it, and then you can eat here for free? How about that?”

  The funny thing was that Jack wasn’t even kidding. Jack was a very successful club owner, owning some of Manhattan’s most successful nightclubs. He had more money than he knew what to do with and wouldn’t have hesitated to go through with his statement if it meant never having to come here again.

  “You could try. But I don’t think they would sell. In fact, I know they wouldn’t.” I knew this for a very specific reason, one I didn’t tell Jack. The fact was, I used to work at this very café. When I was in my teens and doing all I could to scrape my pennies together, I was one of the below average waiters that this café wore like a badge of honor. No one knew this, of course, aside from myself and the owner.

  “Okay, okay, enough about this dive,” Jack began, looking over his shoulder as he tried to get the attention of one of the waiters. “I wanted to have lunch today so we could discuss your new store. I think it’s going to be a fucking hit. So much so that I might even—”

  “Hello!” Just then one of the young waitresses popped up by our table. She was no older than twenty, with big brown eyes, long brown hair, and a very pretty face. And although she wore an apron over her t-shirt and loose jeans, I had noticed, on more than one occasion, an athletic body to accompany the face. “Mr. Marcus and—”

  “This is Jack Cooper, Sally,” I said.

  Sally was one of my favorite waitresses, and I had the distinct impression that I was one of her favorite customers. I hated feeling so full of myself, but I always got the sense that she tried to serve me specifically each time I came in. I often wondered what I would have done had I been just a few years younger.

  At the moment, Jack had managed to grab her attention and then some. Jack was without a doubt a good-looking guy. Although he boasted an English name, he liked to tell people he was of Italian descent. He could usually get away with this, too, on account of his olive skin, dark hair, and darker eyes. He also had a wicked smile that he used to great effect on Sally.

  “Sally, was it?” he asked, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. “My, oh my, aren’t you something? Say if you’re ever looking for work I happen to run a—”

  “Okay, Jack,” I cut in, stopping him before he got going. Her cheeks were quickly turning a deep shade of red. “Sally, I’ll just have the usual, and he’ll have the same thing.”

  “Sure thing,” Sally said, scurrying away.

  “Hmm, now I know why you come here,” Jack concluded, watching the spot where Sally disappeared. It was only after a few seconds of this that he suddenly remembered himself and turned his attention back to me. “Right, where was I? Oh yeah! Your new store. I’m glad you’re finally taking the leap. I’ve been telling you for ages how well your products have been selling at my clubs. It’s about time you opened an actual location.”

  “I know, I know. These things take time though.”

  “Well, how much longer? I’m almost out of those chocolate dildos. Not to mention the anal walnuts.” Jack wasn’t exactly a soft talker. As he said this, a few people nearby turned their heads around to see who was responsible for the obnoxious, somewhat inappropriate discussion.

  “Will you keep it down?” I asked, holding my hand up in apology to a middle-aged couple with their infant son, sitting one table over. “Two weeks, okay? Then you can have all the chocolate walnut anal beads your heart desires.”

  “Excellent. You know, if your store does well, I’m even thinking of opening up a club branch. Think of it, Luscious: The Club. Now that’s what I call a winning combination. The place will basically print money for the both of us.”

  I appreciated Jack’s excitement. I’d been toying with the idea of this new shop for a while now. It was a bit of a risky business venture, but it encouraged me that Jack looked to dip his own fingers into it as soon as he was able. For the better part of seven years, I had owned, run, and managed a series of very successful candy stores.

  Not only did I run these stores, but I had invented a line of state of the art manufacturing machines to produce candy and other foods. Most of my money had come from the machines. Food companies all over the world bought these devices, making me a very wealthy man. But my candy shops also did very well. That was where my true passion lay, in candy-making. My sweet confections were so popular that most of my competitors stocked them, too.

  But after seven years of this, I craved something different. Candy was still my passion, but I wanted to explore a different avenue. Th
at avenue, I soon came to realize, was adult-themed candy.

  The idea started when I saw a lollipop dildo in a novelty store. I thought it was funny and provocative. But as I came to find out, the candy itself was garbage. There was no reason it couldn’t be both fun and delicious. So, I decided to give it a go myself.

  At first, I used Jack and his clubs to test their popularity. They proved to be a hit, and Jack insisted that I open up an actual store that sold them to the public. And so, after a little persuasion, I did just that.

  “Do me a favor,” I said. “If you can hold on for two weeks before making any sex club announcements, that would be great–ah, thanks, Sally.” Sally arrived with our coffees. I took mine with a smile, hoping she hadn’t heard the talk about the “sex club.” Jack took his with a wink. Sally smiled at him and left.

  “Two weeks?” he asked. “So everything’s ready? Who’s managing the place–Oh! You know who you should get? That redheaded chick with the big butt? She runs your store on Fifth, I think.”

  “No, I need her to stay there. Besides, I’ve got someone in mind.” I took a sip of my coffee. Jack wouldn’t be too impressed with my decision so I opted to give myself a moment before making the reveal.