Page 12 of Wanted: Unwavering Daddy

“What’s wrong, boy?” John asked.

“Hayden is always so dramatic. He says he has something important to tell us, but he’s dragging it out. Why can’t he just say it?”

“You mean like you would? You two are exactly opposite, yet exactly the same. It kind of blows my and Waylan’s minds.”

“You and Waylon talk about us?” I asked, scandalized.

“Pay attention to your messages, boy. You’re going to miss something important, and I can’t hear my podcast.”

No, I actually wasn’t going to miss a thing. My gaze was boring into my screen waiting for the text bubbles to disappear and become real words. Obviously, everybody was excited because no one else was speaking either.

Hayden:About six months ago, Waylon and I found a surrogate, and she’s pregnant.

The screen filled withno way.Congratulations.I’m so happy for you.A baby?Yeah, that one was me. And on and on it went.

“Oh my gosh, Daddy. Waylon and Hayden are having a baby.”

John’s head whipped toward me, and I pointed out the window. “Eyes on the road, please. You’re carrying precious cargo.” I pointed a thumb back at myself.

He chuckled but paid attention to his driving. “That’s… well. How do you feel about that, boy?” he asked, making a weird face.

“I’m excited for them. This is amazing. We’re going to have a baby to play with. Levi’s sisters are getting irritated at having so many big brothers, but now we’ll all be uncles.”

“It doesn’t bother you at all?”

Confused, I turned my phone off. I could catch up with all of the messages later. Right now, I felt like there was something happening here that I didn’t quite understand. “Is there something you want to tell me, Daddy?” Did John want a child? We’d both agreed years ago that we weren’t interested in having more than our family of two, but if he wanted kids… well, I’d adjust.

John stopped at the light and turned toward me. “That’s what I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

John

Willand I didn't talk any further until we were home. My poor boy seemed so perplexed. I wondered if I'd gotten this whole thing wrong. But why else would he have been looking at nurseries for a baby then because he wanted one? After grabbing us drinks, I sat down on the couch next to him. “Boy.” I took a deep breath. “I've noticed that you've been pulling up websites for designing a child’s nursery.”

Will tilted his head to the side, obviously still confused at what I was getting at. “So?”

I hated pushing him to share something when he wasn’t ready, but I had to know. “Well, is there something you'd like to tell me?”

He shrugged. “Daddy, I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Okay, I'm going to cut to the chase. Are you wanting us to have a child?”

His dark eyes widened in horror. “As in a little, fragile, breakable human? Like what Hayden and Waylan are having?”

I growled low in my throat. “Yes, boy. That’s exactly what I mean.”

“But, Daddy, I'm your baby.” He grabbed his chest like he was in pain. “But…if that's what you?—”

I quickly held my hands up in a stop motion. “No. That's definitely not what I want, but I noticed you kept looking at nurseries and things online, and bringing magazines home and hiding them, so it seemed like you were hiding it from me.”

His cheeks flushed instantly. “So you were hiding it from me? But if you don't want us to grow our family, then I don't understand why.”

Will held up a finger. “I never said I didn't want us to grow our family.”

“Wait. Okay, now I'm confused.”

“I think it would be fun to have a kitten. I mean, at one time I was thinking it would be great to have a dog, but first they go through the puppy stage, and then they need to be walked and we don’t have a yard, so I’d have to take them out everytime, and what if the weather’s bad? No, I’d much rather have a kitten, I think.”

This was the thing about Will that many found frustrating. Not only did he tend to ask inappropriate questions or say pearl clutching things in the wrong company, but it only took one comment to throw him off on a tangent. Me? I found it absolutely charming and endearing.

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