“Thank God, she’s stopped crying. I have to admit I was starting to panic.” I confess.
“You were like the coolest person on the planet while I just fell to pieces.”
“No, I wasn’t. I just wanted to try to keep you calm.”
Carefully stepping around a now sleeping Doe, Scott hugs me. His towel is only wrapped around his waist and so his wet chest soaks into my t-shirt. However, I allow him a hug, the man must need it.
“Well, let’s try to get some sleep now because tomorrow you need to make the doctor’s appointment and then we need to tackle emptying your spare room ready for Carl coming.” I say, breaking the hug and stepping away.
Scott nods but he seems distracted. “Nice rack.” He says.
I look at the towel rack and think it’s a strange thing to come out with, but he has just had a shock. “Erm, yeah. Is it heated?”
“You tell me.” He says and winks, and then I realise. Looking down, I see the wet from his chest has soaked through my wet t-shirt and my nipples are standing proud.
“You’re a fucking pig.” I yell.
“Sshh, don’t wake the baby.” He says, laughing as I stomp from the room.
Chapter Nine
Scott
As I lie in bed listening to Doe’s soft breathing beside me, only one image plays out in my mind. Suki’s tits.
I’ve had two nights without sex. Two. And one look at a pair of tits and it’s all I can think about. It doesn’t matter that on a normal day I wouldn’t touch the woman they’re attached to with a barge pole. But I can’t help the allure of a nice full pair. My cock stirs to life as I think about her rosy-pink nipples clearly visible through her top.
I allow my imagination to run away with me for a few minutes before Doe stirs and a stark realisation hits me.
I’m never going to get laid again.
How can I when I’m a full-time parent? I can hardly take her with me.
My frustration with the situation only lasts so long before Doe starts to whimper and I drag my body from the bed so I can prepare her bottle before she really starts to complain.
I don’t bother putting the lights on. I just rely on my torch on my phone to allow me to see enough to prep the bottle so that I don’t wake Suki. I’m not sure when I started being concerned enough about her to allow her to sleep. I tell myself that it’s just because if she were to wake, all I’d see is her tits again and that’s not good for either of us.
I need to remember why she’s here. And it’s not for me.
She doesn’t make a sound behind me, so I assume she’s still sleeping, but when I turn around to make my way back to Doe, rolling her warm bottle between my palms, I find Suki staring right at me.
My movements stop the second our eyes connect. The image of her breasts that I’ve been trying to banish from my mind slams into me once again and I imagine she’s laid there waiting for me. My cock swells with my need for a release. My teeth sink into my bottom lip as my brain shuts itself off and I take a step forward.
Suki’s fingers tighten around the sheets that are around her waist and her eyes widen, but I don’t register, my body moves of its own accord. I’m almost in touching distance when everything comes crashing down. Doe’s cry fills the flat and I freeze.
I stare down at Suki, whose chest is heaving, with desire or fear I’ve no clue, but seeing as the situation is what it is, I can’t imagine it’s a positive response to my approach.
“Fuck,” I grunt, lifting my free hand to my hair. What the fuck was that?
I race from the room almost as fast as I entered and push my bedroom door closed behind me in the hope it’ll cut me off from what just happened.
It’s the sleep deprivation, I tell myself. I’m just acting crazy and given how my life has changed in the last two days, that shouldn’t really be a surprise. I’ve just realised that I’m probably never going to have sex again and I’m seeing her body as a different entity to her personality. I’m sure she’ll give me some shit first thing in the morning, and I’ll remember exactly why I hate her.
I give Doe her bottle and tuck her up onto my shoulder, resting my cheek against the top of her head and tap her back until she burps.
The next thing I know, the morning sun is pouring through the edges of the curtains and I’m curled up in bed.
Doe. I sit up in a panic, thinking that I fell asleep with her on my chest and that I’ve rolled over and crushed her. My heart pounds against my ribs as I look around the bed for her little body.
She’s not there.
A soft sigh comes from next to me and when I glance into her basket, she’s in there sleeping soundly with a little bunny stuffed toy that Suki bought tucked into the crook of her arm. The relief I feel knowing she’s safe is more than I can begin to describe.
Did I put her back but not remember?
I chastise myself for being so irresponsible and quietly climb from the bed, still feeling shaken up from what I could have done to my daughter.
I make use of the bathroom before heading out to the living room to find out what kind of mood Suki might be in. But when I get there, what was her bed has been turned back to a sofa, the sheets folded neatly on one of the seats and her stuff gone. Turning to the kitchen, I also find that empty.
What the fuck? I know I kinda stalked towards her last night like I was starving and she was my prey, but leaving seems a little extreme.
Falling down onto the sofa, I beat myself up for fucking this up. She was here helping, she didn’t even have to step foot in this flat, let alone be here to support me.
I’m such a fucking idiot.
My eyes drop to the coffee table and I find a folded piece of paper sitting on the top with my name on.
Plucking it from its resting place, I suck in a deep breath, preparing for what she could possibly need to say to me in the form of a letter instead of in person.
Scott,
You both looked too peaceful to wake. I thought it was important that the two of you spend some time alone. Book a doctor’s appointment, take her out for a walk or something. Bond.
You’ve got this, Daddy.
Suki.
My hand trembles. She’s left? And without even saying goodbye.
I look back to my bedroom where Doe sleeps. I get that she could leave without saying anything to me, but Doe means more to her than she even wants me to see. How could she leave without saying goodbye to her?
My chest aches as I think about the women in Doe’s life constantly turning their backs on her. I thought Suki wanted to make up for what she’d experienced, yet she runs at my first little fuck up.
Maybe she’s not just the bitch I know her to be. She’s a fucking pussy too.
Anger swirls around in me as I make the most of my still sleeping baby and have the quickest shower of my life. The second I turn the water off, I grab a towel and run towards the bedroom to make sure she’s not fallen out or something.
Her big brown eyes turn my way when I step into the room and her lips curl up into a smile.
“Good morning, baby girl. Did you sleep well?” I coo at her, my heart constricting for a whole other reason when she looks at me like I’m the most important person in her world.
Wrapping the towel around my waist, I scoop her up and cuddle her to my chest, breathing in her incredible baby scent.
“Looks like it’s just the two of us today, sweet pea. What do you fancy doing?”
She makes some cute little noises as I walk us through to the living room and place her in her bouncer so I can make her bottle.
I turn the radio on so we’ve both got something to listen to and set about my new normal morning routine. Never in a million years did I think that would ever involve bottle prep but there we go. I would say stranger things have happened, but I don’t really think they have.
I phone the doctors surgery the second they open and after a small argument with the woman on reception and having to briefly explain the situatio
n, she finally caves and gives me an appointment for two hours time. I’ve no idea how long it might take the two of us to get ready and get out of here so I can only hope and pray that we don’t miss it.
With Doe dressed in a pretty pink dress and bundled up in her polar bear outfit, the two of us step from the flat. I’ve got her in one arm and the folded pushchair in the other.
I’ve no idea how I’m going to manage this, but I figured anything was better than bouncing her down the stairs.
By some freaking miracle, I manage to open the frame with just one hand and my foot, and keep Doe safely tucked in my arm. In mere minutes Doe is safely strapped in with a blanket tucked around her. I smile at myself for how seamless it was, but when I look up, I find a couple of young women sitting on a bench a few feet away with amused smirks on their faces. Usually at seeing them, I’d march right over and find out what about me had them so interested, but right now the only girl in my mind is the one who’s ready to go exploring the big city.
“Come on then, let’s go and find that doctor, hey?”
She coos and we set off on the short walk to the surgery.
We arrive right on time and thankfully aren’t forced to wait too long. I was proud of myself for remembering to bring everything Doe might need in case we ended up spending the rest of the morning sitting here waiting, but when my name’s called to go through I’ve not had to touch any of it.
The doctor’s lovely. She listens as if she’s not got a waiting roomful of other patients to see and does a thorough check of all Doe’s vitals just to be sure that’s she’s healthy. Much to my relief she’s happy with everything and with all the information I need to go about getting a DNA test, we head off home.
I give Doe her bottle and get us both settled before getting online and reading up more on paternity tests, something I probably should have done before going to the doctors but I’ve not exactly been firing on all cylinders the past couple of days.
I’m just reading through how to get a test when my phone pings with a message.
Sarah: Hey, how’s it going?
Since we reconnected after my bumping into her at Inhale around eighteen months ago, we’ve become pretty good friends. Her guy, Emmett, can even look at me now like I’m not trying to steal his woman. I’d broken her heart when we were teenagers but she realises now that I was a horny teenage boy with family problems and I couldn’t do much about my abrupt departure from her life as I was carted off to hospital to get my head checked.
Me: It’s going…
I snap a photo of Doe and send it. Not two seconds later, she’s calling.
“Please don’t tell me you’ve started cradle-snatching now?”
“Nah, I’ve always gone for older over younger if I’m honest.”
“Ugh, such a pig. So whose is she?”
“Mine,” I state proudly.
“Fuck off. You banging her mum or something?”
“Yeah, apparently I did, like eleven months ago,” I can’t help my own joke.
“Scott,” she warns. “You’re worrying me. Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Deadly serious. Deadly.”
“You’ve got a fucking kid?” she screeches, making me pull the phone from my ear.
“Ssh, she might hear you.”
“I don’t even know where to start.”
I fill Sarah in on the basics of my weekend, much to her horror. She’s a nanny, so a kid’s safety is a number one priority to her.
“Do you need me to come over? I’ve got the twins, but if you need me then—”
“We’re going okay. Suki’s been here helping.” My stomach gets heavy at the mention of her name. I’ve managed to ignore the fact she upped and left this morning without a word, but it hits me upside the head once again.
“Suki? Sarah asks sceptically.
“Don’t worry, you can be as shocked by the whole situation as me.”
“Wow, just wow, Scott. Is there anything you do need?”
We chat for a while longer and she agrees to pull together some stuff for me, before the twins need her attention. We say our goodbyes and when I look to Doe, she’s out cold.
I guess there’s no time like the present to start on her bedroom. Pushing the door open, I assess the situation and set to work.
Chapter Ten
Suki
I’m out of here.
After the stress of Doe and her colic last night, he stared at my breasts like he’d never seen any before. Then this morning, well, I don’t know what that was all about, but it’s uncomfortable territory. We’re not even friends, never mind anything else. So, I decided to come back to my own place, grab a shower and go back to work. I’m on a shift from midday until nine pm and I’ll think about whether I call and offer to sleep on the sofa again or not while I’m at work. I want some normality.
Jenson sounded surprised when I rang to tell him I was coming in as normal. I just told him Scott seemed to have a plan, which he did. I’d no intention of going to the doctors with him and I’m sure he can push a pram around the park on his own. Basically, I need to get it into my own thick head that this baby is nothing to do with me and let him get on with it.
I start to wipe down the bar and get everything ready, but my mind keeps straying back to Doe. How heart-breaking it was when she was in pain. The sheer helplessness that came with trying to look after her. Surely I cried and looked like that when I was a baby, but it hadn’t been enough for my family to want to keep me either.
I wish we knew something about Doe’s mum, so I could reach out. I could see if she was just needing help. I mean what if she’s in a bad way? How can Scott not even know her name? It just shows what a pig of a human being he is when he sticks in dick in women and doesn’t even know what they’re called. He can’t tell you who his baby mama is and where she might live. Appalling, that’s what it is.
“What’s the cloth done to offend you?” Chester, who’s on shift with me asks. I look down and see I have it clenched in my hand like I’m strangling it. “You imagining it’s Scott’s neck?”
“How d’you guess?” I laugh.
Chester is a student who works for us between his studying. He’s tall and thin with soft blonde wavy hair and he attracts the younger women into the bar it has to be said. Luckily, he’s what you’d call a nice boy, quite bashful, and goes bright red at Scott’s suggestions of what he should do with interested parties.
“I can totally believe he has a kid, as in fathered one. I’m actually surprised it’s just one. But being left to look after it.” He shakes his head. “That I can’t imagine. Finally, a woman to bring him to his knees, even if it’s just to change a nappy.”
I burst out laughing. This is what we do at InHale. We banter, we mostly all get along, and our shifts pass fast because it’s a great place to work.
It’s a busy shift and I only get a brief chance to chat to Jenson who tells me that Leah has sorted out a pile of clothes, toys, etc that they no longer need. It looks like I need to go back to Scott’s after my shift after all.
I head into the staff room on my short break and take out my phone to find I have two messages. One is from Carl who wonders how I’ve got on. I call him because it’s easier and ask if he can pop to Scott’s flat tomorrow evening. I’m off tomorrow anyway and although I should keep out of it all, I want to make sure Doe has everything she needs in that room, so I want to be there. Just another couple of days, I tell myself. Then I can get back to normal. My arms crave to hold Doe and to smell her baby smell. I’m hooked on a baby that’s not mine. She’s not even family to me. Maybe what the issue really is, is that I crave more family of my own. I know my personality can be a little, can we say, fiery, but underneath the ash I have a warm centre. It’s just I’ve spent a lot of my life being rejected, so trusting people doesn’t come easily.
I’ve had relationships in the past, but they’ve been largely just sexual. As soon as someone tries to get to know me more, my prickly b
arriers come back up and then they’re gone. And I’ve told myself I’m fine. That I’ve managed years on my own and I can manage more, but Doe is already showing me that it’s not true. That I do want more. I want my own child. Not now, but one day, and I want love. The love of a good man who can put up with my baggage and well, unpack me, I guess. Carl has offered to set me up before. I might consider it soon. I’ll just get all this helping Scott out of the way first.
And that’s who the second message is from. I open the text.
Scott: I’m so fucking tired, Suki. Where are you?
I begin to type
Suki: I’m at work.
Scott: But Jenson gave you time off to help me?
Suki: You don’t need my help.
Scott: Yes, actually, I do.
Suki: Did you go to the doctors?
Scott: Yes, she’s in perfect health and I know what to do about the paternity test.
Suki: How’s Doe now? Any colic again?
Scott: No, that colic stuff with a feed is working.
Suki: Then you don’t need me.
Scott: I need to fucking sleep.
Suki: I’m not coming around just so you can sleep. That’s just life with a baby.
There’s a pause.
Scott: Well if I nod off and she rolls off the sofa, I did ask…
Suki: Oh FFS, I’ll be round after my shift so about half ten. Also I’m off tomorrow and Carl is coming around to look at the room so I’ll help you empty it if you haven’t done it already.
Hot Daddy Package: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 6