**Present Day***
Chapter Eleven
Dan
I realized I’d been dreaming when Noah returned with the baby and I'd realized that what I'd said before about not being with anyone since Laila was a lie. The baby was quiet, but my friend definitely wasn’t.
“Dude, you better appreciate all the trouble we just went through for you and this kid. I know you’re down in the dumps now, so you can take this as a present for now, but the second you get back on your feet, you are going to hella owe me.”
I wrinkled my nose when he used the word ‘hella’ and didn’t use any other swear word. Fuck, was I going to have to be like that, too? But with my life going to shit, there was too fucking much to swear about…
I looked up as he dumped a bunch of baby stuff on the coffee table in front of me. My eyes, though, were all for the baby. Before, I didn’t even want to look at… well, him. But, after my little daydream, I felt like I was onto something.
“Are you sure you guys bought enough stuff?” Martin snorted, directing the question at Chad, who walked in behind Noah with more stuff in his arms.
Chad shrugged, completely serious as he said, “I don’t know, man. I mean, there’s more stuff in the car, but it’s not like I paid all that much attention when the wife was shopping for the new baby. I pretty much just went for the toys, and…” He looked down at the bags he’d just brought. “I’m pretty sure that’s all I contributed to this purchase, actually.”
Noah sighed. “Yeah, but we paid separately, just so you know. You still owe him for the stuff he bought for your kid, too. Well, whoever this kid belongs to, anyway.”
He frowned at me.
“Wait a moment!” I said, jumping from the sofa.
I was too busy playing detective in the clinic. I didn't recognize the woman next to me. If I had, then I would have known back then.
I did know the mom. How the fuck had I not even recognized her? We might not have known each other that long, I thought that she had been a dream, not my reality. The last time I saw her was ten months ago and she looked completely worn out.
It couldn’t be…
But there was really no other explanation. I’d thought the baby was left with me by accident. But, maybe not.
“Dude, what is it?” Martin blurted out after a few minutes of silence where my friends all stared at me like they were waiting for me to share some epiphany. “Did you think of something? And is it relevant to the current issue?”
I turned a glare at one of my best friends. “Of course it’s fuc—” I cut myself, glancing at the baby— “of course it’s relevant. I just figured it out, who the mom is.”
“Wait, really?” Noah said, eyebrows shooting up. He looked down at the things he’d just brought in. “Dude. You better not tell me I bought all this stuff for nothing. I can't take it all home, my wife would kill me.”
I snorted. “Okay, first of all, you are way too afraid of your wife. And second…” I let my voice trail off as I grimaced, for a moment not sure how to explain this to them. These were the guys that knew me best, after all.
“And?” Chad prompted, after a while. “Well, go on, Dan. Don’t leave us in suspense.”
I sighed. “That whole thing…about the kid not being mine…may not be all that right.”
I didn’t look at any of them as I said it. I could practically feel their need to start shouting shit at me, all at the same time so it was just noise and I’d have no way to even hear let alone answer them. But noises from the baby made us all freeze. I realized Noah had the baby asleep in his arms for the first time. No wonder the kid was staying so quiet. I hadn't realized he’d fallen asleep.
“Okay,” Martin hiss-whispered, being the nearest to me. “You have some serious explaining to do.”
I heard him, but I wasn’t really listening to him. Already, I’d turned my mind to more important shit. I needed to find the baby’s mom first thing, right? I’d barely taken more than a glance at her, but while I was sleeping on the sofa, it came to me, like a fucking tidal wave.
“I know who the mom is,” I blurted out. “And, I know exactly where to find her.”
Again, there was a short silence in the room as everyone took that bit of information in, broken only by some slight cooing noises from the baby. Immediately, Noah was rocking him until he quieted down again.
Seeing Noah cradle a child that might possibly be mine, made me feel a little jealous. He had some practice, so he knew what to do. But if I tried to touch the kid, he’d probably just start crying again.
I pushed that out of my mind for the moment, though. Wherever my sudden paternal thoughts had come from, I didn’t have definitive proof the kid was mine. I was pretty sure, but I also knew that I wanted to see Scarlett.
I remembered when I’d left her, how it had felt so difficult, almost harder than the split with Laila before her. But, I’d thought to myself that it would be for the best. I never thought about her getting pregnant, and that was my mistake. I would own up to it, because I was too busy being caught up in the moment.
I had regretted letting her go almost since the moment I decided to, and I wanted to see her.
“I think I’m gonna go find her,” I said, looking up at my friends.
Martin was giving me a look of disbelief. “Dan, are you sure? What if you made a mistake and it’s not even the person you’re thinking?”
I shook my head. “There’s no way I’m wrong about this. I don't think that I’ve ever been more sure of anything in my life.”
I patted my pockets, until I found where I’d left my car keys. Only to freeze again when my eyes fell to the kid. I grimaced, wondering how I could take him all the way to his mom’s. I wasn’t even sure how she’d happened to be in a clinic in my town, when her town wasn’t all that close by.
Martin sighed with impatience, rolling his eyes. “Come one, Dan. Like we would actually leave you alone with a kid when you don’t know the first thing about how to take care of one.”
“We’re going with you,” Noah added, glancing at Chad, waiting for his nod in agreement before he turned back to me. “You’ll have to drive us there, though.”
I shrugged. “Fine.”
I remembered all the stuff Noah and Chad said they’d left in the car. I turned to them with a scowl as they came up behind me.
“Seriously, you two?” I growled. “Did you buy out a whole fuc—effing store?”
Noah just gave me the stink eye. “Just shove everything in the trunk. So, we got a little carried away. Let's go!”
I sighed, pushing some of the stuff in the front to the back. I really did need to be grateful to them, because I had a feeling I was actually going to use all the shit they bought for me. Martin sat up in front, and Chad and Noah sat in the back with the baby in his chair between them.
I started up the car and drove.