His attention was immediately diverted and he started chatting about how he would be really nice to the new girl. He was a very social little person and loved meeting new people.
I couldn’t bring Noah with me into the drama that centered around my brother so I hurried from the parking lot to the daycare in a half run with him in my arms. He thought the mad dash was fun and giggled in a way that would have brought a smile to my face any other day.
Not today. My mind was a mess of worry for Joe.
A few minutes later, I was driving like a bat out of hell to get to Joes’ high school. Horns blew and curses followed me as I cut off other drivers. I even almost ran over a pedestrian, only just hitting the brakes. The old woman threw me the bird then took her cool time crossing the road, sending me a spiteful look almost the entire way.
I tried to be more careful after that but still reached the school in record time. Even though I was trying to suppress them, thoughts of all the worse possible consequences of today’s events on Joe’s life played in my mind.
I couldn’t imagine my sweet little brother doing drugs but then I hardly recognized the person he was these days.
“Dammit Joe, why didn’t you call me?”
My angry whisper bounced off the walls of the otherwise empty car. The two of us had been so close. When had we drifted so far apart that he wouldn’t feel safe in confiding in me?
I felt like I had failed him.
When I reached the school, I double parked but was unconcerned about that fact. The police were already at the school. There were two police cruisers, one with lights flashing.
I ran out of my car, leaving everything behind.
I found my parents a few minutes later, being interviewed by the cops.
They updated me on what was going on. Joe had skipped class early that morning and no one had seen him since. A small bag containing a suspicious substance had been located in his locker shortly after. The school was obliged to report this to the police and so they did.
I listened to all of this in shock and disbelief.
What the hell was my brother into?
I could only hope that he hadn’t just thrown his life down the drain.
“Where are you, little brother?” I whispered to myself.
Chapter Fifteen: Wyatt
The seat next to me in biology lab was empty.
I felt Hailey’s absence as if a piece of me was quite literally missing.
At first I thought she might just be late but we were already thirty minutes into the class and she was still a no show.
I pulled my phone out of my bag and sent her quick text covertly.
Hey, where are you?
Even though I didn’t expect her to answer - at least not right away – I placed the phone face down next to my text book.
Yesterday had been great between Hailey and I. A turning point in the dynamic between us I thought.
I had been scared that she would disappear on me – or worse give me the “we can’t be anything more than classmates” speech - like the first two times we had been intimate. After I came, I had actually tried to mentally prepare myself to handle it.
Hailey surprised me though. She had stayed in my arms afterwards. She stayed until we could no longer linger at the very real risk that we might get caught butt naked in the college classroom.
I had walked her to her car afterward. She had even let me to hold her hand and we had shared a lingering kiss before each driving away.
Her eyes had been soft and welcoming with no regret in them and I allowed myself to hope that the romp in the lab had been a changing tide in our relationship.
I meant what I had said to her. I did try to respect her wish for me to keep my distance from her. As much as I wanted her, always watching her turn away from me was killing me and I didn’t know how many more times I could witness it without going totally insane.
However, when she had taken comfort in my arms, I hadn’t been able to curb the urge to feel her lips on mine again. I expected to get slapped and told off. Now I was glad I took the risk in kissing her.
Even after we had left each other’s company in the lab, she had called me late in the night.
I had just stepped out of the shower when I heard my cell phone ring.
I adjusted the towel around my hips – the only thing I wore – as I crossed from the bathroom to the bedroom. I picked up the device from where in had been thrown carelessly on the bed. My heart picked up when I noticed Hailey’s number on the screen.
I swiped to answer and sat on the edge of the mattress.
“Hi, sweetheart,” I greeted.
“Hey.” She sounded breathy and sexy. “I hope I am not calling too late.”
I glanced at the digital clock next to my bed. It read eleven twenty-three PM.
“Not at all,” I told Hailey. “You can call me any time. What’s up?”
A pause, then…
“There’s something I need to tell you but I think I should wait until we’re face to face.”
That made me pause before I answered.
“That doesn’t sound good. Are you going to give me the boot again?”
I made it sound teasing but my heart leapt into my throat at the thought.
She hesitated and the choked feeling only intensified. Shit.
“Hailey?” I asked, so many questions in that one word.
“I’m not giving you the boot. In fact, I think it is something you might like to hear. I’m hoping so anyway. Can we talk after lab?”
Her voice was soft and uncertain and every instinct I possessed wanted to reassure her.
So I said, “Of course we can. I’m sure we can work whatever it is out.”
My mind was turning over the possible scenarios of what she wanted to tell me but there was no use speculating. I would find out soon enough.
Again, she said, “I hope so.”
We just listened to each other breathe for a little while before she asked, “So, Mr. Murphy, what are you wearing?”
I let out a relived breath that things didn’t stay tense between us and let myself fall back in the bed.
“Why Ms. Clarke are you trying to lure me into having phone sex with you because I have to tell you, I really be into that.”
She laughed a low sexy sound. “Of course you would be. Is there anything you’re not into?”
“With you, nothing is off the table,” I told her and meant it.
“Ohhh, I like the sound of that. Now about that phone sex, how long do you think it will take you to make me come with your dirty talk?”
“Is that a challenge?” I had asked, my cock hardening in anticipation. “Because I am more than up for it.”
It had taken ten minutes before she moaned long and low from across the line.
My hand had been beating at my meat and the sound of her gratification sent me over the cliff.
I felt the feeling engulf me and knew I was about to blow when…
“Mr. Murphy?”
I was suddenly thrust out of the memory when I realized that my name was being called.
The professor along with the rest of the class was watching me. Some of the other students were even snickering and I wondered how long I had been out of it.
“Are you with us?” the professor said.
“Yes, Sir. Sorry about that.”
I was sure my cheeks were as red as they felt. It didn’t help my embarrassment that my cock was a steel pipe in my pants just then.
“I would to remind you to pay attention in this class, Mr. Murphy.”
He repeated his question to me and luckily, I knew the answer.
The rest of the class went on without incident and I wasn’t caught daydreaming again.
An hour later, everyone else filed out of the room and I immediately picked up my phone and called Hailey.
There was no answer.
I got the same result the next three times that I tried.
Worry began to settle
in my gut. I knew how important passing was to Hailey. She wouldn’t miss class unless something was wrong.
I was about to dial Hailey’s number again when the phone rang in my hand.
The number is not recognized by the device and it is not familiar to me.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Good afternoon Mr. Murphy. I am calling from the campus daycare. I’m so sorry but Noah is sick. Can you come pick him up? We have tried to contact Hailey several times but haven’t been able to reach her, is everything ok?”
“Excuse me?” I was confused and told the other person on the line, “I think you have the wrong number.”
“This is Wyatt Murphy, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Ms. Clarke has you as the emergency contact on Noah’s form.”
“Hailey?”
“Yes,” the woman on the line answered as if talking to a slow child. She gave me directions without asking anything else.
After she hung up I just looked at the phone, my confusion turning to suspicion.
I headed to the campus daycare, a feeling of foreboding making my stomach cramp.
What. The. Fuck.
Chapter Sixteen: Wyatt
This child was a spitting image of me.
I instantly knew he was mine.
He had the same sandy blond hair and light eyes. His chin jutted out in a stubborn tilt I remembered from pictures of me when I was his age. He even had the small dimple in the center.
Oh God, I have a son.
The words were repeatedly bouncing off the walls of my head, leaving no room for anything else. My mind was reeling and I froze. My limbs felt heavy and it was like I had lost all internal knowledge of how to control them.
I felt light headed and my vision dimmed. There was as loud roar in my ears and it became hard to breathe.
Holy shit. I was a father and all these years I had no idea.
I had missed so much.
Along with my shock and amazement, anger began to simmer in my mind.
“Hello Mr. Murphy, we spoke on the phone. I am Veronica March, the supervisor. Thank you for coming in so quickly. As you can see Noah is not very happy to be sick.”
The woman’s voice grounded me. It gave me something to concentrate on instead of what was going on in my head. I didn’t have time to dwell on my turbulent emotions because my son needed me. Right now he was fussing, demanding his mommy.
The little boy called Noah was wailing. Big fat tears were falling down his cheeks and he squirmed in the woman’s hold.
I held out my hand to catch him when he almost fell out of Veronica’s hold when he pushed hard at her chest. He registered my nearness and stilled, leaning into the middle-aged, brown-haired woman now as he watched me wearily.
Tears were still falling from his eyes but he had stopped letting out those gut-wrenching sobs.
“Come on, little guy, we need to get you home,” I said, my voice was croaked as if I hadn’t used it in years.
I reached for him, keeping my movements slow and deliberate.
Noah shook his head then hid his face against Veronica’s neck, stating, “I want my mommy. Where’s Mommy?”
“He doesn’t seem to be very comfortable with you,” the woman observed, bouncing Noah on her hip.
Maybe because he has no fucking clue who I am I thought angrily, the hot emotion surging in me.
I had to get myself under control though or they wouldn’t allow me to walk out of here with my own son.
I pulled my military training around me and suppressed the violent mix of emotions. There would be plenty of time to feel them later.
Right now, I had to be a father to Noah. He needed me and I wouldn’t fail him. I had already failed him for all these years by not being around.
To the woman, I summoned a charming smile and said, “I have only recently come back into his life and we are still adjusting to each other’s company. We’ll be fine though. He is completely safe with me.”
I watched her fall under my spell, a blush making her cheeks pink as she unconsciously patted her bob length hair back.
She nodded as if she completely understood what I was saying and said, “Ms. Clark has always had you as her emergency contact so I see no reason he can’t be released into your care. Just show me your ID so I can make a copy and you’ll be on your way.”
“No problem,” I pulled my license out of my wallet and she still held onto Noah as she walked over to the copy machine. So that’s why they called me, Hailey had me written down. Did that mean she had always thought I would come back? Or that she would tell me about him?
She returned, handing me my ID. “Looks like it’s all in order.”
Still bouncing Noah, she coaxed his head away from her neck and told him, “Be a good boy now, Noah. Go on with Mr. Murphy. He will take good care of you and you’ll feel better soon buddy.”
When she passed Noah over to me, my arms wrapped around the child like I had been doing it for years. It felt natural and right to hold him and I fought the urge to smother him closer.
I savored the feel of his slight weight even though he was stiff against me. I inhaled deep, emotion threatening to take over, and smelled the shampoo from his hair. Same as his mom’s. Happiness was now in the mix of feelings.
My heart opened up and accept the boy into it without reserve.
I was a father to what I already knew was Noah the most lovable child in the universe. I internally promised to spend the rest of my life taking care of him and making sure he had everything he needed, most of all my love.
He would never doubt how much I loved him.
“He seems to be coming down with a stomach bug. I’m sure with a little medication and rest, he will be right as rain soon,” Veronica said. “I have placed the medicine Ms. Clarke keeps here for emergencies like this in the bag for you. I already gave him a dosage about thirty minutes ago. All you have to do is stick to the instructions on the bottle and everything will be fine. Don’t worry if he is drowsy. It is a normal side effect of the medicine. Plus he is likely tired from his body fighting the sickness.”
I nodded, eyes only for my child.
She handed me a bag decorated with cartoon characters and I shouldered it.
I buckled Noah into the backseat of my car a few minutes later. He was watching me with wide, unsure eyes. I didn’t even have a car seat. Did he need one? I had no idea.
“Where’s my mommy?” he asked.
I pushed his hair away from his forehead, the gesture unthinking. He stiffened initially but relaxed into my touch when I kept it gentle.
“I don’t know, bud. I would very much like to know that too. I’m going to take care of you until your mommy can come pick you up, though. We can watch movies and have a snack until she gets there. Would you like that?”
He nodded and told me, “I like Spiderman. He’s super cool.”
I put an expression of delighted shock on my face. “Yeah? So do I. We seem to have all the right things in common then. We’re going to have a great time together.”
He nodded as if I spoke a proven fact.
I couldn’t stop a genuine smile. The little guy was adorable.
He kept his eyes on me then surprisingly said, “I have seen a picture of you in my mommy’s room. She told me I would meet you one day. You look like me.”
My heart beat in an erratic pattern, racing one second then slowing down the next.
“Yeah?” I said.
“Yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “We should be friends.”
I didn’t know when was the last time I cried but I felt the telltale prick of tears in the corner of my eyes.
“I would like that every much,” I said, voice choked.
Once I got to my apartment, I settled Noah on the couch.
He was impressed by the size of my television and we located a channel playing cartoons.
I asked if he was hungry, having spotted a few snacks into his bag. He decli
ned respectfully.
I offered him a glass of water after and he accepted. When I returned from the kitchen with the glass though, he had already curled up on the couch and fallen asleep.
I pulled his shoes off and settled him into a more comfortable position before settling across from him.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him. They moved over, my brain trying to catalogue everything about him.
I called Hailey’s phone a few more times, pissed as hell I had a kid and had no clue about it.
Hailey had a lot to answer for when we saw each other.
Chapter Seventeen: Hailey
Joe had been found.
And thank goodness, he wasn’t into drugs.
His life was filled with way too much drama for a high schooler though.
He had a crush on a girl that went the same school as he did. She was being abused by her boyfriend, a guy who went to the same school but was one year older than them. To add to this guy’s no good tendencies, he was also a small-time drug dealer.
Joe had stolen a stash of the teenager’s drugs in effort to take the guy’s focus off his girlfriend and direct at him.
His plan had worked and he now had a busted lip, blackened eyes and various other scrapes to prove it.
My family and the police hadn’t been the only ones searching for Joe. The small time crook had gotten to him first and given him a beating.
My heart had ached when I saw his injuries even though he had tried to play them off, even going so far as to decline medical attention.
I hadn’t accepted that and had demanded he be seen by a doctor. He had finally agreed when he saw I wouldn’t budge on this and he had been declared not too worse to wear at the hospital.
He was sitting next to me in my car now. He was going to spend the night at my place. He and Dad had a fight. Dad questioned his decisions as of late and Joe hadn’t taken it well. Everyone was very emotional and I thought it best if Joe came with me so the two of them could have a chance to cool off.
I agreed with my dad for once though. Joe’s choices didn’t reflect the smart, level-headed person I knew him to be.
I didn’t interrupt the silence in the car because I honestly had no clue what to say to my brother about his choices. He didn’t need another person breathing down his back right now so I left the conversation for another time.
Twins Make Four: A Mistaken Identity Secret Baby Romance Page 51