The Baby Contract: A Single Dad Romance

by Charlotte Byrd

  It was Friday night, and I’d brought him out of the house to eat out as a treat. I was just too tired and lazy to cook. I didn’t treat him out often, and I felt he deserved this. I found an empty table for two nearby and headed right for it, walking slowly so his short legs could keep up. I would have rather carried him, but he’d been growing stubborn about walking on his own, unless he was really tired.

  “Sit right here and wait for daddy, okay?” I told him as I lifted him onto the seat, squatting down, so I was closer to his level. He shook his head stubbornly, and I sighed. “Just wait here, okay? Please? I’ll bring the food over here.”

  After a short staredown, he slumped against the seat and nodded.

  “Okay,” he whispered, so quiet I almost didn’t hear him.

  That made me smile. It wasn’t easy being a single dad, but I tried my best. He was at least willing to talk to me now. When he first lost his mom, he’d alternate between crying and staying silent, and it had worried me for a while. He was slowly starting to open up though.

  I placed a peck on his forehead, then stood up and headed for the counter to place our order. I kept glancing back at him to be sure he stayed where he was. He was sitting sideways on the chair, keeping his eyes on me the entire time.

  “Why did you have to do that, Kora?” I whispered to myself.

  “I’m sorry?”

  I looked at the McDonald’s employee who’d spoken and shook my head with a smile.

  “Sorry, I was talking to myself. How long until my order’s ready?”

  “Just a minute, sir. Would you like to sit down and someone can bring it over to your table?”

  I shook my head again. “If it won’t take long, I’d rather wait.”

  “Okay, sir,” she said with a smile back at me.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out. I grimaced when I realized it was about work. Because I had to spend more time with my son now that it was just the two of us, work had become tiring. Once upon a time, I was a guy that had always had everything under control, but my life had spiraled in the past several months.

  I didn’t bother picking up the call. Instead, I cut it and sent back a text message instead. I’d made it clear to the people in my office that when I clocked out on Friday, I was out until Monday morning. I didn’t want to just leave my son with a nanny and assume he was going to be fine. Ever since he’d lost his mother, he’d clung to me more, as if worrying I would leave him as well. I’d talked to a psychologist who suggested spending more time with my son, and my weekend was the time for me to do that.

  There was the sound of a yelp, then things crashing to the floor, and I looked up.

  “Oh, Edward,” I moaned under my breath.

  I hadn't looked away for that long, but he’d slid off the chair. He must have been running to me and knocked into a young girl carrying her food to her table. She’d received her order as I stepped up, but it was all over the floor now, with my son standing to the side with his head down, hands held together in front of him. From a few feet away, I thought he was trembling.

  “Give me a bit,” I said to the employee behind the counter. She just nodded, looking curiously at the commotion. I walked over and picked up Edward. He buried his face in my shoulder, and I patted his back. I turned to the girl. “I am so sorry about that. My son didn’t see where he was going. Are you okay?”

  I looked her over, but I didn’t think she was hurt. Her food was all over the floor, but that was a problem easily taken care off.

  “Oh, I’m… okay,” she murmured. She tried to smile, but it trembled on her face.

  “I’m sorry about the food; can I buy more for you? It was my son’s mistake, after all, and it’s the least I can do.”

  She nodded, looking a little listless, and followed me as I went back to the counter. I shot curious looks back at her, wondering what was wrong with her, because she was acting like something was wrong, and something big. I wondered what it was.

  “Thanks for this,” she said, her voice so quiet that I might not have heard if the room were more crowded.

  “It’s fine. As I said, the fault is on my side.” I tried to smile at her, but she was looking down. I noticed she was trembling a bit, much like my son was. I turned to the employee. “Um, can you give her whatever she wants? I think my son ran into her and she dropped her food. Do I have to pay for the clean-up as well?”

  “No, that’s fine,” she said quickly, waving her hands. “The spills will be taken care of; it was an accident after all. Ma’am, can you give me your order?”

  I stepped back as the girl moved forward and hesitantly gave her order. She shot a glance at me like she was worried I would take my word back and make her pay for it. I didn’t want her to worry about it because I had no intention of doing that. The employee took down her order, and I picked up the receipt. With that handled, and still waiting for my order, I turned my attention to my son.

  Little Edward still had his head buried in my shoulder like he was worried I’d scold him. I rubbed a soothing hand up and down his back, calling his nickname gently.

  “Eddie? Can you look up at me for a little bit?”

  His arms tightened on my jacket, and he shook his head.

  “Hey, buddy, come on. It’s okay. I just want to talk to you for a little bit.”

  With some more coaxing, he finally looked up, a contrite look on his face. I just smiled and patted the top of his head.

  “I’m not mad at you, okay?” I said quietly. “But I told you to sit down and wait for me, didn’t I?”

  He nodded slowly.

  “Then why did you come after me? You should have stayed at the table.”

  He pouted and looked down, not answering. I sighed. I would have preferred he spoke verbally. I didn’t want my son to see a psychologist; he was too young to be subjected to that. I’d talked to the doctor instead, and he’d given me tips on how to help him. I already knew that him talking was good. When I asked things, and he didn’t answer, that was not so good. It was why I couldn’t bring myself to be angry. That, and he probably just didn’t want to be separated from me for too long. But there was no way I could handle carrying both him and our order back to our table.

  I glanced at the girl and the employee then walked back to our table with Edward. I set him down on his chair again, hoping he wouldn’t move this time.

  “Give me just a little bit, and I’ll be back with the food, okay, Eddie? Promise me you’ll sit here until I come back?” Edward hesitated. “I’m not going that far away, right? You can see me from right here,” I said, glancing back to the counter. He nodded slowly. “So you can wait just a bit. Is that okay?”

  Edward had started speaking when he was a year and some months old. He could speak fairly well by the time my wife, Kora, passed away. Since he’d stopped speaking, and I hadn't spent as much time with my son as Kora had, I didn’t know just how much he understood at his age. He at least knew his mom wouldn’t be coming back, but sometimes, when I spoke to him, I wondered if he only pretended to understand.

  It was my fault. I didn’t know how to converse with my son because he was too young. If only he’d been a few years older…

  But, there was nothing I could do about it, was there?

  “Okay, daddy,” he said.

  I sucked in a sharp breath. His voice was louder than earlier. And when was the last time he’d called me Daddy? I remembered it was when he’d woken up from a nightmare and sneaked into my room.

  I smiled at him, pecked a kiss on his forehead again, and then went back to the counter. The girl was still there, and she glanced at me when I stepped up.

  Taking another glance at her, I realized she was young. Probably high school age. She also seemed like she was here alone. I frowned.

  “What’s a girl like you doing out at night on a Friday, and at a McDonald’s of all places? Alone?”

  I ran my eyes over her again. Could she still be in high school? Or recently finis
hed? She looked about eighteen, dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and a jacket, with sneakers on her feet. Her dirty blond hair was tied back away from her face, little wisps framing it. She had beautiful eyes, a deep blue. I noted that they were red.

  Young, I told myself when I began to notice the curves under her clothes. Strange.

  “I was just hungry,” she muttered, frowning at me. “And I was thinking. Not that it’s any of your business.”

  I didn’t take her cold attitude to heart, because it was true, that it wasn’t any of my business. But I didn’t know this girl. Why would she go to a McDonald’s to think? If she was hungry, she could take the food to go, but she had been looking for a place to sit when Edward ran into her and she’d dropped her food.

  “Excuse me, sir?” the employee called. “Your food is ready now. We’re sorry for the delay.”

  “That’s okay,” I said, feeling relieved. I held out my card, making sure there was some distance between me and the weird girl. “Cut the cost of both our orders, please?”

  I picked up my tray of food as the employee processed the payment. Then I got my card back. I glanced back at the girl once as I headed back to the table where my son was waiting for me.

  Chapter 3 - Lexi

  I watched as the man walked back to his son with their order, feeling traces of guilt.

  You didn’t have to be so rude, I thought to myself. He probably didn’t mean anything by it.

  But I was feeling on edge. I wasn’t sure how long I’d stood outside crying before deciding to get something to eat. I hadn't had anything since that morning, and even though I knew there were more important things to do, like looking for a place to spend the night, getting food into my stomach was the priority.

  So, I’d walked around. I’d passed a few restaurants, but I was very conscious of my lack of money. I could probably get a motel to stay at for a few nights, cheap. It would give me the time to think, not that I hadn't been when I happened upon the MacDonald’s and walked inside, because it was probably the cheapest place I’d come across so far.

  I still didn’t know what I was going to do.

  Just kill your pride already and call someone!

  I rolled my eyes at myself. No way would I do that. Not if it meant having to explain to my friends what was going on. I wasn’t quite that desperate yet. I had relatives other than my mother, but none of them lived in the city. Besides, they’d try to encourage me to go back home, and I was already sick of my mother.

  There was no way I was going back there ever again.

  “Ma’am? Your order is ready.”

  I looked up at the employee behind the counter. She was probably a few years older than me and calling me ma’am. I tried not to show how awkward I felt as I smiled at her and picked up the tray.

  “Thank you,” I said quietly, then turned away.

  For a Friday night, the place wasn’t all that crowded. Still, most of the tables had at least one person seated. I took a few steps away from the counter, looking for the best place to sit where I would be away from people. I’d already had a table in mind, but it was the one where that man had sat down with his son, so I needed to look for a new table.

  As my eyes passed over them, my gaze stopped.

  I wonder where the kid’s mother is, I mused to myself. That guy’s wife?

  It made me a little sad, thinking about my mom. They were clearly on a family outing, and I wondered if his mom was like mine and wasn’t in their life, or maybe she was busy. Or he didn’t have a mom? Like how I didn’t have a mom.

  Poor kid.

  I winced, remembering how angry I’d been when he’d knocked into me and made me drop my food. Because I didn’t have that much money, and this kid’s dad looked pretty well off. I’d felt guilty the moment I looked down at him to see him standing there, all silent and trembling. I hadn't said anything, but he was probably scared. I’d felt bad, then I’d felt like crying again.

  Then his dad had come up.

  I could tell he was a few years older, though I couldn’t guess his age. He was at least younger than thirty, probably. I’d been too out of it to notice much, besides that he was tall and good-looking. He’d been acting like a gentleman, offering to pay for more food. Then he did it.

  And I’d treated him so rudely. The guilt doubled.

  After a short hesitation, I sighed quietly and walked slowly over to their table. I stopped some feet away, but neither of them looked up to notice I was there.

  “Hello?” I called out tentatively.

  They both turned their eyes to me, and I was hit with how much they resembled each other. Both with dark hair and green eyes, the little boy’s face still chubby with baby fat. He couldn’t have been older than three years old.

  Shit, Lexi, I chided myself. You could have at least asked if the kid you knocked into was okay or not.

  “Um, I’m sorry about back there,” I said. “I just realized I didn’t ask if your son was all right. I didn’t hurt him when I knocked into him, did I?”

  His eyes widened a little before his expression twisted into one of guilt. He’d probably remembered he hadn't done the same. I wanted to reassure him, but the man turned to the little boy, and their eyes met.

  “Eddie? Did you get hurt before?”

  Eddie… so maybe Edward? He shook his head, and I could tell both of us let out sighs of relief at that.

  “I was also rude,” I said, making the man turn back to me. “I apologize for that. I’m… going through some stuff and it made me overreact, I guess…”

  I let my voice trail off, feeling awkward, shifting on my feet and feeling the weight of the tray I held in my hands. This guy probably didn’t want to know my life’s story. I’d given the apology, so I might as well leave. I glanced around, only to wince when I realized more people had come in, a big party that took up at least two tables.

  Well, damn. Now, where am I supposed to sit?

  “It’s fine.” I looked back at the man to find him looking at me, eyes curious. “It was probably rude of me to pry in the first place. Would you like to sit with us?” he offered.

  I stood by for a minute, indecisive. I didn’t want to intrude on them. But, there wasn’t any other free table now. I smiled at him awkwardly as I walked around the table. It had four seats on all four sides, and with the two of them sitting across from each other, I got a seat that let me see both of them at once.

  “So,” he started. “Would you mind telling me what you’re doing out here on your own? You look… a little young.”

  “I’m eighteen,” I said before he got the wrong idea. I wasn’t running away from home—I was leaving. There was a big difference.

  He nodded, and for a second, I thought he looked… relieved?

  “All right,” he said. “But still. What are you doing out this late alone? Wouldn’t you rather go home? Maybe be with your family?”

  I grimaced when he said, family. Could I even claim to have one, with the way my mom had been acting? And I’d left home anyway. I didn’t plan to visit any of my relatives since for most of them that meant going back to my hometown… and there was no way I was doing that just yet.

  “I, uh, actually had to leave home,” I explained.

  He frowned. “Did you fight with your parents?”

  I pursed my lips, considering. After a minute, I gave a slow nod. “I guess you could say it like that.”

  He looked confused. I opened my mouth to explain further, but then I paused. This man was a stranger. I glanced at the little boy, who wasn’t paying any attention to either of us, swinging his legs as he ate happily. They were both strangers I’d given trouble to already. Did they need to hear all my bullshit just because I didn’t have someone else to vent to?

  “You can tell me,” he said, encouragingly.

  “It’s just,” I started hesitantly. I bit on my lip.

  But suddenly, my hesitation went out the window. Why not? I had no one else at the moment, and I wouldn’t u
ntil I called one of my friends, but it would be a while before I would do that willingly. This guy was a stranger, yeah, so what if I vented to him? I’d probably never get to see him again anyway.

  “It’s my mom,” I admitted. “Or I guess you could say it’s me wanting to go to college. I thought it would be something possible for me after I finished high school. I mean, mom never really made me any promises, but I was willing to work for the money. Only, now that I’m out of school, I guess she expects me to feed us both, but I want to save my money up for college, not so that she can keep up with her alcohol problem.”

  I stopped myself there. Not because I was rambling, I’d realized it and gone ahead anyway, because I didn’t want to stop just for that. But, talking about alcohol addictions around a child was probably not a good thing. And what else was there to say? That was my big problem. My wanting to go to college and mom not at least supporting me if she wasn’t going to give me the money for it. Well, that, and how I was too fucking proud to call my friends for a helping hand.

  “Would you like a job?”

  I looked up at the man, blinking at him for a moment, not sure I’d heard him right.

  “What?”

  He smiled, looking amused. “I asked if you wanted a job. You’re looking for one now, right?”

  “Well… I was going to start looking for one soon, I guess,” I murmured meekly.

  He grinned. “That’s great then. Because I have a job opening if you’re interested.”

  I glanced at his son, curious. “Do you need a nanny?”

  Was I right, and the boy’s mother wasn’t in the picture anymore?

  He chuckled. “Not quite,” he said. He held his hand out to me, and I stared at it for a second,p before realizing he probably wanted me to shake it. So I did. “My name is Ryan. And this little guy here is Edward.”

  “I’m Lexi,” I offered.

  He reached a hand inside his jacket and pulled out a pen. He looked around before picking up one of the napkins.

  “I don’t have anything else with me,” he said sheepishly, bending over the napkin and writing something down. “If you have your phone on you, maybe just copy it down, so you don’t lose it.” He gave me the napkin and put his pen away. “You can come to this address the day after tomorrow, and I’ll explain everything about the job.”