"Mom, I need you to watch Bel—" My voice trailed up as I walked into my mother's room to find her fully made up and decked out. She looked lovely as she sat there on the low padded stool in front of her dressing table mirror, fiddling with the back of her pearl earring.

She looked back at me through the mirror, a bit nervously. "I have a date." She stated flatly, finally giving up on the battle and setting her earring down on the table with a frustrated pout.

I bit back a laugh and walked over. I picked up the earring and gently tilted her head to the side with one hand while sliding the earring into place with the other. Once I'd locked the backing into place, Mom straightened her head and thanked me as she began rifling through her lipstick collection.

I quietly pulled out a seashell pink one and handed it to her. It wasn't often Mom got this frazzled, so she must be excited about her date. I watched as she glided the tube over her lips, smacking them together loudly a couple of times in her post-lipstick routine before capping it and giving herself once last glance.

She looked back up at me then. "You were saying something about Bella, dear?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Nothing I can't handle. Now, tell me about this hot date of yours. I'm all ears."

Mom waved a hand at me, but blushed lightly as she stood and walked over to her open closet to step into a pair of sedate, low heeled pumps. "It's not a hot date. I'm merely having dinner with my friend, Richard Senior."

"You mean Big Dick?" I said seriously, biting the inside of my cheek not to snicker.

"Honestly, Ethan. That's disrespectful. The man's name is Richard. I would prefer it if you called him Richard Senior."

"Mhmm. Okay, well... have a good time at dinner. I'll talk to you later." I turned to leave, but stopped when I heard Mom call my name. "Yeah?"

"Did you see the catalogs I left on your bed? If one of the local colleges won't work around your schedule, there are so many online options. It's just ridiculous not to take the opportunity to finally finish your education. You wouldn't have to labor in these menial jobs if you'd just go back to school, baby."

"Mom, we aren't having this discussion right now. I told you, school isn't anything I'm interested in pursuing at the moment. I appreciate your concern, but right now I need to focus on Bella's needs."

"Bella's needs would be far better accommodated if you weren't working crazy hours as a maid, of all things. Your father would be up in arms if he knew you were working like this when you could be pursuing higher education. I even got you the financial aid information for each school. You'll find it right inside the appropriate catalog. Although, if that good-for-nothing ex of yours would help you by at least paying his child support, you wouldn't need to apply for outside help. I swear, I don't know what you ever saw in that man."

And there it was. It always came back to Milton. I pounded my forehead against the door jamb, trying to think of a way to escape before this conversation devolved into something I couldn't take back. I bit back a sigh and looked over my shoulder at Mom, watching as she spritzed on one of her expensive perfumes.

"Mom, I'm going to go check on Bella. She should be about done with her homework, and I want to drill her on her multiplication tables again. You have a good evening."

"I know you don't believe this, but I'm only thinking of you, Ethan. A boy with your intelligence should be doing much better things with his life than changing sheets and folding towels for a pittance. You could have gone into law like your father did. You have the mind for it. And speaking of Bella, do you think that she's going to respect you when she's older and realizes that you only have a high-school diploma? Think about that, son."

"Yes, Mom. I think she will. The daughter I'm raising will look back on her life and realize I worked hard to provide for her, despite the challenges I faced. And as for Dad? I think I can count on one hand how many school functions he attended. He was always at work. Bella knows that I'm always there. That's worth every dirty sheet or folded towel right there."

"That's because you have to be there. You're her only parent. Your dad didn't need to be, because I was there. If Milton had just been a better-"

"Mom, please stop there. No, Dad didn't need to be there, but it would've been nice if he'd wanted to be. I'm not speaking ill of him, I'm just telling you how it felt. We can talk about this all day and still not agree. Can we just agree to disagree? Please?"

Mom opened her mouth to argue, but the doorbell rang just then. Saved by the fucking bell. Mom brushed past me, not stopping to kiss my cheek like she normally would, now that I'd pissed her off.

My mother was a wonderful woman... most of the time. But as a teacher, she couldn't fathom the idea that her only child didn't have any desire to pursue a higher education. To be perfectly honest, and I had been on more than one occasion, college had never been my dream. My dream had always been to be a dad and raise a family. I'd just always thought I'd be doing it in a partnership, but that hadn't quite worked out as I intended.

Mom was already slipping out the door before I was halfway down the stairs. I shook my head and went into the kitchen to check on Bella. I got side-tracked and forgot all about my original plans, so when the doorbell rang, I was honestly shocked to see the two alphas standing there when I opened the door.

"Who's there, Daddy?" I looked down at Bella as she squeezed around under my arm, totally at a loss for words.

"Well, hello there. You didn't tell me that there was a pretty princess living here." Larry said. He stepped in and leaned down to offer a hand for Bella to shake.

Bella giggled and shook his hand. "I like your beard, mister. It's very bushy."

I cleared my throat. Bella knew better than to point out personal appearances to people she didn't know. "Bella, these are Daddy's friends, Mr. Larry and Mr. Ryan."

To the guys, I said, "I'm sorry. I forgot all about our plans. My mom had a date, and we had a few words,” I emphasized that so they’d understand without me having to spell it out in front of my precocious daughter. “...then I was helping Bella with her homework and... well, now here you are… and I’m… sorry."

Ryan grinned. "One of those nights, huh?"

I shuddered. "You can say that again. Um, why don't you guys go ahead and come in? Maybe we can at least order pizza or something." Ordinarily, I'd never bring a guy—or guys in this case—around Bella until it was serious, but... shit. Tonight wasn't going to plan anyway.

"I have a better idea," Larry said with a grin. "Why don't we go out to pizza? We can have a family style night out. I'm good with that."

"Me, too. In fact, why don't we go to Chuck E. Cheese? I bet none of you can beat my high score at Whack-A-Frog," Ryan said with an easy smile to Bella.

"I think you mean, Whack-A-Mole, Ryan." Larry corrected.

"Nope," Ryan said cheerfully. "Trust me. I run a contest every semester for kids to push harder in PE. The ones with top scores earn a pizza party with me, and that's where I take them. Now that they got rid of the weird animatronic characters putting on those creepy shows, it's a lot better. I mean, the pizza still isn't much to write home about, but that’s not the point of Chuck E.'s pad. The point is to have fun. And whacking frogs with a rubber mallet is right up there."

Bella giggled. "You're funny, Mr. Ryan." She turned to me and began tugging at my arm. "Say yes to your friends, Daddy. It's rude to turn down an invitation if you're free to attend, remember?"

I rolled my eyes. Kids always had a way to throw your own shit back at you when you least expected it.

Larry stuck out his lip and batted his eyes dramatically. "Please, Daddy? Don't be rude and turn down our invitation."

I chuckled and looked down at Bella's pleading face. "Go get your coat."

While she scampered off, I wagged a finger at the two men. "Dirty pool, using the kid."

Ryan shrugged with a lopsided grin. "Hey, it got us what we wanted. A date with her dad. Getting to spend time with Bella is just icing on the cake."

Before I could answer that sweet statement, Bella came back and thrust my own coat at me, then began shrugging into her prized pink coat she'd just had to have when we'd gone shopping for winter clothes. Ryan took the jacket from me, holding it out for me to slide into, while Larry went to Bella's rescue when her hair got caught in her zipper.

A few moments later, we were headed out the door for our family style date. I shook my head at how the three of them had managed to successfully steamroll me into this, not that I minded. Not even a little bit.

A whole new side of Ryan came out at the restaurant. While Larry and I went to order our meal, he was practically racing Bella to the arcade games.

"I don't know why seeing this side of him surprises me, but it kind of does, ya know?" Larry said in my ear.

I nodded. "Right? I mean, he's a gym teacher or whatever his title is... Activities Coordinator? Something like that... but yeah. He works with kids, so obviously he's more at ease with them. But even knowing that, it's kind of weird seeing him like this. Good weird, though.”

Ryan was currently battling Bella in the frog game he'd mentioned. They were both swinging the mallets and laughing like crazy. By the time we finished ordering and collected our order number placard for the table, they'd moved on to skeeball. We stopped to fill our pitcher of root beer—Larry's request, not mine—and looked around for a place to sit.

Larry paused as we passed the salad bar and stopped to fill a plastic container with Ranch dressing. I wasn't quite sure what to make of that, so I just kept my mouth shut and headed for the dining area again when he was ready.

Larry took my hand and kept me right behind him as we threaded our way through the mob and headed for the one clean booth that was open. Larry slid in next to me, presumably so we could hear ourselves speak above the noise. Once he'd set our order number out where it would be seen, he turned to me with an easy smile as he poured us each a glass of root beer.

"Tell me about yourself, Ethan. I'm curious about you. I feel like I know you well... yet not at all."

I shrugged. "Not much to tell. Divorced. Single dad. I work over in housekeeping over at Dew Drop Inn."

"Really? Housekeeping? That's a rough job. Do you spend more time cleaning up puke or folding towels?" Larry said as he stretched an arm over the booth behind me.

"I'm mostly on laundry detail lately, which sucks. I don't get room tips there, but at least it's not shit detail, so there's that, I suppose."

"Why laundry? That's kind of... specific."

"Well, partially because my boss is a dick because I turned him down when he asked me out. But also because I'm mainly on the night shift. I was working days and covering the nights as needed until my hours got cut a few weeks ago. Now I can get called in or be scheduled for an eight to midnight shift, then get sent home after an hour. I need to find another job that works with Bella's schedule."

"Is her other dad not in the picture at all?" Larry asked curiously.

"No. He's an asshole, to be honest. He hasn't been to see Bella once since the divorce. When I sued for child support, he made her undergo a DNA test, as if there were any doubt. And even after all that, I have to threaten legal measures every so often to get a few pennies of what he owes in back support. Her Christmas and Birthday gifts this year from him were actually bought by me online and shipped to a dear friend who lives in our old town. She wrapped and mailed them to Bella to help me keep up the façade."

"That's... I don't even know what. I don't have words for that. Is that why you got divorced? Because he was a shitty-ass father? Stop me if I'm prying, or if it's not my business."

"No, you're fine." I looked around to make sure that nobody was listening, then lowered my voice. "Okay. Here's the thing. We hadn't had sex, like at all, in over five years. I figured he just had a low sex drive or something, you know? Then he missed Bella's birthday party last year. I ran home to get her cake and found him in our bed with some omega I'm not entirely sure was even old enough to be legal. But then, he was thirty to my seventeen when we hooked up, so I guess that’s just his pattern. I have no idea if that was his first affair, but I highly doubt it."

"Wait. First he cheats on you, gets caught fucking someone in your own bed, and then tries to deny your beautiful little angel is his own daughter? Fuck that alphahole. I hope I never meet him. I'd love to teach him a thing or two about loyalty. And he really seduced you at seventeen? Crap. You must have been in high school!"

I heaved a sigh. "Yeah. Reason number thirty-seven why my mother disapproves of my life choices. I ran away with him the night of my graduation. I was already two months pregnant. But that's a story for another day."

Larry's hand came up to rub my neck. "And your words with your mom earlier? What was that all about? Not you living there or her helping with Bella, I hope."

"No, nothing like that. Although, for the record, Mom doesn't help that much with Bella. She does fun grandma stuff, but I do all the heavy-lifting. I have Bella in bed most nights before I leave for work. Being a hands-on dad is super important to me."

"What was the issue, then, if you don't mind my asking? I mean, if it's personal..."

I shot him a grin. "I think we're past that, right?" I heaved out a sigh. "No. Same shit, different day. Mom can't comprehend I don't want to go back to school and earn a degree so I can be an important business person or something. She doesn't get that her dreams aren't my dreams. They never have been."

"And what are Ethan's dreams, then? If not school or a career, then what?" His thumb was doing delicious things to the knot of tension at the base of my neck, making me relax into his touch.

"My dreams have always been about being exactly what I am—a dad. I wouldn't have planned it to be by myself, but I won't regret a second of grief, if that’s what brought me my baby girl."

Before Larry could respond, Bella came running with Ryan two steps behind her. Her face was flushed red from excitement as she waved long streams of game tickets.

"Look what Mr. Ryan and I earned! He says I get to use them all at the prize counter, too!" Her eyes were shining as she looked up at her new hero.

I took one look at her and pointed to the seat across from me. "Take a five minute break. I'm even going to let you have a half-glass of root beer."

At the mention of that rare treat, Bella slid right into her seat and scooted over to make room for Ryan. They both began regaling us with their game victories, and as I listened, I didn't miss that Ryan was just as happy as Bella was. Bella was blooming like a flower in May after April rains under his attention. Poor kid. She was so hungry for that type of father figure that only came from an alpha.

Our food came a few minutes later, and we all dove in. I was halfway through my first piece when I noticed Ryan and Bella staring at Larry in fascination. He wasn't paying attention to their stares as he casually dipped his pizza in the Ranch before taking a bite. He was mid-chew when he realized we were all watching.

He swallowed quickly and said, "I'm sorry. I'm hogging it, aren't I? Would any of you like some Ranch?"

"Yeah, that's a hard no from me." Ryan laughed. Bella scrunched up her nose and made a grossed out face as she dramatically shuddered, while all I could do was laugh. “I mean… Dude. What’s up with the Ranch?”

Larry merely shrugged. "Ranch is… heaven. It’s okay, you guys don’t have to eat it. More for me that way. You don't know what you’re missing, though. Trust me, it's that good."

When I reached for a slice of Pepperoni, I stopped with it halfway to my mouth and looked at his dip. Larry cracked a smile and pushed it my way.

"Try it, man. Just once," Larry encouraged. Ryan and Bella watched with dropped jaws while I dipped the tip of my slice into the cup then took a bite.

"Mmm, mhmm." I moaned around my mouthful. Larry and Ryan both looked like my mouthgasm was getting to them, so I dialed my reaction back since Bella was here.

Once I'd swallowed, I told them what I thought. "He's not wrong, you guys. Seriously, don't knock it 'til you try it. The creamy, zesty sauce balances the pizza well, and cools off your tongue, too."

"That's okay, Daddy. Mister Ryan will just sit over on the normal side of the table and let you guys be the weird ones." Bella said resolutely.

"Yeah, what she said." Ryan grinned.

I shrugged and dipped my slice back into Larry's cup. It really was good. The rest of our date went just as well, especially for Bella. She had enough tickets to pick out the Sleeping Beauty wand that she'd been eyeballing. That was my Bella. Always the girly-girl.

When we got back to my place, Bella was the one to ask the question I'm sure was on everyone's minds.

"Daddy? Can we all do this again sometime soon?"