Page 92 of Manny's Surprise Baby
“Nice to meet you.” Brad didn’t seem intimidated.
“How old are you?” Seth asked, frowning.
Brad laughed. “Twenty-one.”
“I just asked him that.” I winced.
“It’s cool. Honestly, if you didn’t ask I’d find it odder. I’m fully aware I look twelve.” He straightened. “Should we go take Emily to school? I don’t want to be the reason she’s late.”
“Oh, yeah. Let’s go.” I moved to the door. I usually kissed Seth goodbye, but I felt awkward in front of Brad. “See you in a bit.”
Seth nodded. “I’ll be here.” Emily walked over to her dad, and they hugged. He kissed her hair and held her tight. “Promise me you’ll be good?”
“Yes.” She sniffed. “I’m gonna miss you.”
“I know.” He sighed, frowning. “But we’ll be back before you know it, and then you can help with the new baby.”
“You have a new baby on the way?” Brad asked cheerfully.
“Yeah… we’re… adopting.” I cleared my throat. “We’re going to go spend some time with some of the kids and see who we connect with.”
“Cool. What agency are you using?”
I flicked my gaze to Seth’s. I hadn’t expected Brad to ask any detailed questions, and Seth and I hadn’t completely ironed out our adoption story yet.
“It’s a private agency,” Seth said smoothly. “We don’t like to talk about it too much in case we jinx something.”
Brad’s gaze flickered. “Oh. Right. I understand.”
“Shall we go?” I opened the door.
“Of course.” Brad went out first.
Emily hugged her dad some more, and then she followed me outside, looking glum. She perked up a little when Brad got in the back with her.
“I feel like a chauffeur,” I said as I pulled out onto the street, heading toward the school.
Brad chuckled. “Driver, after we drop Emily off at school, take me to Rodeo Drive. I need to do some shopping.”
I smiled. “You must make awesome money for a manny. I usually shop at Target.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Brad and Emily talked quietly as I drove. I was relieved to see he connected with her well, and she seemed to really like him. I’d grown extremely fond of Emily over the last few months, and I hated leaving her while we went to the mountains. But there was no way around it. I couldn’t show anyone that I was pregnant, and hiding my soon-to-be-big belly would be impossible.
When we got to the school, I explained the intricacies of which driveways to pull in and out of for pickup and dropoff so you didn’t get yelled at, and which crazy drivers to avoid. I got out and hugged Emily. I didn’t care if that looked uncool or not; she’d just have to put up with it because I was going to miss her like crazy, and I needed my hugs.
On the way back to the house, Brad sat up front with me. “So did you know Emily’s dad before you went to work for him?” His voice was curious but respectful.
“No. In fact, when we first met, I couldn’t stand him.”
He laughed. “Really? He seems nice.”
“I didn’t like alphas. Any alpha.”
“Oh.” He stared out the window at the little houses that lined the street. “I can understand that.”
“Really? You seem to get along with everyone.”
