Page 13 of Sweet Thing

“I suppose you could call social services or …” I trailed off at the look of horror on my dad’s face. “You have to come up with a plan.”

Dad took a seat at the desk, still with the baby in his arms. “We have tons of stuff left over from Tilly. A crib. Stroller. Everything you need for a baby. We never got around to donating it.”

Lars glared at him. “I can buy stuff for the kid. That’s not the problem here. The problem, in case you haven’t noticed, is that I have a full-time fucking job that involves time on the road, so I’m not seeing how I can take care of herandplay hockey.”

My dad grinned, like these were nonsense obstacles. “Don’t worry about that. We can help and there are a million people in this org who’ll have your back. For tonight, we’re going to take her home to our place and get her fed and changed. She doesn’t stink yet but give it time.” He nuzzled the baby’s forehead. “Right, future poopy pants?”

He sounded so calm, exactly what Lars needed to hear. The panic hadn’t quite left his expression, but his shoulders softened a degree.

“I can’t ask you for that.” But it emerged half-heartedly because he really needed someone to take the reins.

“You’re not. Ellie will help.” He winked. “If my baby mama could have another kid this week, she would totally do it.”

I pointed at him. “I’ll tell her you said that.”

“Best not, Twinkle.” His gaze dipped to the baby and damn, he looked cute holding her. Even Lars appeared transfixed, though that could be a residual stunning effect.

“Listen, I should give Elle a heads up,” Dad said. “Addy, would you hold her for a second?” My dad had evidently decided Lars wasn’t ready for prime time.

“No problem.” I took over while he headed outside to call Mom.

Which left me alone with Lars and his daughter. The silence was deafening; not even a baby gurgle to break the tension. Back in the bar—pre-baby bombshell—we had made great progress, with both of us acknowledging my crush and its beautiful demise. I’d never felt so adult. Now we were mired in another, albeit different, quagmire.

Nervously, I filled the void with some babbling of my own. “She’s so good!”

Lars brooded away in the corner.

I tried again. “Did you want to hold her?”

“Might not be a good idea.”

“No?”

His expression turned even more stern. “I won’t be keeping her.”

ChapterThree

Lars

I was still in shock.

I hadn’t touched the baby since I chased Vicki out of the bar. When I came back Adeline was holding her and my first thought was:she’s got this.

The second?I’m fucked.

Typically, I wasn’t the kind of guy who let things happen to him. I made the plays and tackled the problems head on, but this situation had me frozen, barely able to think of the next move. That’s why I said what I did.

I won’t be keeping her.

It sounded harsh, but common sense dictated I figure out what was best for the baby, which in this instance happened to coincide with what was best for me. We were all selfish fuckers at heart, right? There was no way I could look after a kid. I was not father material.

But you’d swear that with that declarative statement, I had ripped Adeline’s heart out and skated through it on a rusty blade. She refused to look at me when Theo came back into the office with the happy-happy news that Elle was getting the crib out of storage and that everything would work out. As soon as Adeline saw him, she stood and headed to the door without a glance in my direction.

Not only was I fucked but I had fucked up.

I would have offered to take the baby, but Adeline was already gone, so I picked up the bag and nudged Theo with my shoulder.

“You sure Elle’s okay with this?” Still not sure whatthiswas.

---