Page 13 of Wanted: Unwavering Daddy

“Boy, I need you to focus. We can come back to buying a live animal later.” Much later. The one time I purchased him a fish, he'd been so fascinated with the poor thing that he'd overfed it, and then bawled for days when he woke up one morning to find it floating belly up in the small tank. He’d called himself a murderer for months. “First, let's focus on what made me thinkyou wanted a baby to begin with.” If you aren’t want a child, what was that about?”

Will's finger made its way to his mouth, and he started chewing on his nail. Oh. I knew he was up in his feels about something when he went after his manicure. I gently pulled his nail from between his teeth and cupped his hand in mine. “Boy,” I said with just enough sternness for him to know I expected an answer.

He huffed. “I'm bored, Daddy.”

My heart stopped. “What do you mean With me?”

He shook his head vigorously from side to side. “No, of course not. I just… I don't have anything to do all day. I can only redesign our home so many times. At first I though maybe I wanted to look for a new house, but that's not it. I love this place. But I want to do something different, and I've been a little obsessed with the idea of designing a room for a baby.”

His whole body wriggled. “I wonder if Hayden will let me help him with his baby nursery. Oh, this is just like how Toby keeps talking about how the Universe prepares you for things. Do you think that's it, Daddy?”

I didn't know if I thought that was true, but it was convenient that our friends were having a baby now. Imagine that, in this whole big crew of Daddies and boys, we’d finally have a little one to spoil.

“Maybe so. Why didn't you tell me?” It was my turn to be confused.

“I don't know.” He ran his hand back through his hair. “You've always given me everything I've ever wanted, and it's so muchmore than I feel like I deserve. So many of my friends struggled in life, but me and Toby always had money even if our parents sucked, but then we had you and Samuel, so how can we complain? But Toby also has his catering business. Food is his passion.” He threw his arms up. “And on top of that, he has his yoga and singing bowls and all of that. I’m the only one who’s aimless.

“My stomach has been in knots the last year watching you suffer with how much you hated your job. And I want you to quit. But you know that. What you don't know is that if you aren’t hosting dinner parties anymore, or we don't have corporate functions to go to, I'll have nothing to do at all.”

“Well, I’d like to think if I’m home more you'd consider me a little more than nothing,” I said dryly.

He rolled his eyes playfully. “No, I know. But I also know that you need something to sink your teeth into.” My eyebrows crawled up toward my hairline and he shook his finger at me. “Something besides my ass, Daddy. Be serious. You won’t be able to sit home with me all the time. You’ll help Roland or find someone else to help start their business. But what about me?”

“I hear every word you're saying. I just don't understand why you didn't tell me before.”

He stood up and dropped onto my lap, wrapping his slim arms around my shoulders. “One, because I didn’t want my feelings to deter you from leaving your job. Two, because I feel like this is something I need to figure out on my own. You've given me everything, but even when you're thinking about making a change, you already know what's next. I need to figure out how to fill my days, just like my friends do. Hayden's even more spoiled than me, and he's decided to be a father. Can youimagine? He’ll go from a life of leisure to having a little person to care for. He’s talked about possibly doing it before, so I know he’s ready, which means he’s figured out what he wants. I want that. To know what makes my heart sing.”

There was not a doubt in my mind that Hayden would be an awesome parent. As spoiled as he was, he had so much love in his heart, and he'd been through so much, that I knew any child of theirs would be adored unconditionally. Will was right, though. I had a pretty clear idea of what he could do—what he should do—and I’d thought about it for years. But I’d give him the space he was asking for. After all, wasn’t that what good Daddies do?

Chapter Six

WILL

We took over a large corner section of The Tap Tavern for all of us boys to get together. Generally, we met up at Christian’s or Samuel’s house, but we wanted to celebrate Hayden’s amazing news in the place where most of our relationships were formed. I missed Timothy being here with us, but he assured Hayden that he’d be home in time to meet his baby.

“Who are we waiting on?” Kenny asked, whispering in my ear.

He and Roland were such a new couple that he’d only experienced a few of our boy gatherings. All the Daddies had converged on Roland’s house and were planning on playing cards. “Just waiting on Dylan.”

“About that time, Dylan!” Toby yelled.

Indie groaned. “You better be glad my Daddy’s not here. He told us we had to keep it down.”

“Yeah, my Daddy’s not here either, so we’re going to have to regulate ourselves.” Chip giggled. “What were they thinking?”

Chip’s Daddy, Ollie, doorman extraordinaire, and Cameron, partial owner and general manager of The Tap, were both at Roland’s house. Christian hadn’t let any of the Daddies off the hook from hanging out tonight since they were celebrating with Waylan over the baby announcement, too.

Dylan rushed over to the table and dropped into his seat next to Archie. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I had to finish taking a test.”

“A test?” Nigel asked.

Dylan leaned in. “Yeah, I decided to take the plunge, and I enrolled in the program to become a nurse practitioner.”

“Congratulations,” Nigel said, nodding. “I know you talked about it before. Good for you.”

Luca narrowed his gaze at Dylan. “Don’t forget, if you ever need a steady study buddy or some encouragement, I’m here for you.”

“Me, too,” Levi chimed in. “I finally finished, but I’ve got your back.”

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