Page 2

Chapter Two

BODE

“I just need a signature in a few places and then I’ll be off.”

That’s it? A few signatures and this kid is mine?

That drowning feeling is back. I don’t have the first idea on how to raise a kid. I take the pen from her hand and sign on each line she points to.

“I’ll be checking in periodically, but since you are his father, this is an easy case.”

“Okay?” It comes out more of a question.

“Here.” Miss Mitchell takes a diaper bag and hands it over to me. “There are a few things in there that his foster family said he loves.”

“Okay.”

“My card is also here if you have any more questions.” She eyes me for a moment before turning on her heel and leaving.

“That’s it?” I shout after her.

“You’re the baby’s father. That’s all there is to it.”

Shit. I thought she’d be here for a while longer. She’s not going to wait and let him get settled?

“Here’s what we’re going to do.” Harper snaps into action. “Jasper, tell everyone to go home. Party’s over. Marcus, we still have one of the cribs at home from the girls. Go home and bring it and any of Jamie’s old baby clothes with you.”

“I thought we were saving those just in case?” Marcus asks.

“Doesn’t matter. Bode needs them more.”

“Got it.” Marcus pecks Harper on the cheek and is out the door.

“Now, Bode.” Harper turns her attention on me. “You need to meet your son.”

“Oh God.”

I’m freaking out. Every cell in my body feels like it’s on fire. Whatever happy, buzzy feelings I had earlier walked out the door when Miss Mitchell walked in with this kid, uh, I mean Caleb.

Harper pulls him out of his carrier and cradles him to her chest. He coos. Of course he does. Everyone loves her.

“Hi, sweetheart. Aren’t you a little cutie?” Harper fusses over him as she walks him to me. “Are you ready to meet your dad?”

She passes him over to me, and I take him in my hands, not quite sure how to hold him. Caleb is eyeing me with contempt. Can a baby even look at someone like that? If they can, he definitely is.

“How old is he?” I ask. I don’t know if I’ve ever held a baby before. Fuck. That makes me feel pathetic. I mean, I must have held Jamie at some point, right?

“The paperwork you just signed says seven months.” Harper grabs my shoulders and steers me deeper into my living room, guiding me to sit on the couch. “You need to hold him against your chest.”

“Uh, right.”

Bringing him closer, he smells like a baby. Clean, like a soft powder. He gives me a gummy smile. At least he looks happy.

I’m trying to grab on to any memory of his mother, but I can’t. The harder I try, the worse I feel.

God, I really am a dick. That’s becoming more and more clear the longer I sit with him in my arms. But at least it’s getting easier.

“Is he your baby?” one of Marcus’s girls comes up to ask me.

“Sam, Sadie, why don’t you go see if Jamie is awake, okay? Let’s leave Bode alone right now.”

“Okay.” Their feet carry them toward the office as Harper drops down next to me.

“Is there anyone you want to call? Maybe they can come stay with you for a while?” Harper asks.

“Yeah,” I groan.

“That doesn’t sound like a good thing,” Dax tells me.

“Because she’s going to rip me a new one.” I adjust Caleb in my arms and fish my phone out of my pocket. “Text Gran for me and let her know what’s going on.”

Knowing her, she’ll be here within thirty minutes, breaking every speed limit to get here. Hearing she is a great-grandmother? Yeah, she’ll be banging down the door within the hour.

“Are you ready to meet your great-grandma?” I ask Caleb.

He gnaws on his fist in response. I don’t know how much time has passed since he was put in my arms, but he’s happy. A smile sits on his face and fuck, he really is cute.

“Daddy’s here!”

Marcus waltzes through the front door with parts of a crib in his arms. Jasper and Dax are behind him, laden down with bags upon bags.

“I grabbed everything. I figured we can take what he doesn’t need home with us.”

“You’re the best,” Harper tells him.

It’s then I notice a smell starting to infiltrate my senses. “Uhh, guys? He’s making a face.”

Harper smiles at me. “Marcus will show you how to change a diaper, and I’ll have the guys start setting up his room.”

“A diaper? Do we even have those?”

“Same day delivery!” Harper shouts behind her. “Everything you need will be here soon.”

“C’mon, buddy. Time to get elbow deep in parenthood.”

Marcus walks me through each step of what he does, and by the time he’s peeling open the diaper, I think I’m going to be sick. Miss Mitchell had a pack of diapers she left. If only she’d left instructions on how to raise a baby.

“Oh my God.” I gag. “How can something so small smell like this?”

Marcus laughs. Asshole. “Get used to it. Now, grab some wipes and clean him up.”

I’m gentle as I wipe up the mess he made. My face is buried in my shoulder as I do my best not to get it on my hands. It’s the most disgusting thing I’ll ever do. I pull out wipe after wipe, dropping the used ones in the messy diaper.

“One will do.”

“Excuse me if I’ve never done this before.”

He shrugs. “You’ll be doing it in your sleep in no time.”

Marcus hands me the fresh diaper and I slide it under Caleb. Opening the tabs, I fasten it around him. “Is that good?”

Marcus nods. “Nice job. I’m going to go check on the guys, but deep breaths. You’ve got this. We’re all here for you.”

“Thanks.”

I choke back the emotion that’s clogging my throat. That’s the first time anyone all day has said I can do this. It shouldn’t mean as much to me as it does.

Whenever I make a decision, I jump in with both feet. It’s how I’ve always lived my life. As soon as Harper told me he would go into the system, I made up my mind.

Honestly, I’m surprised people didn’t try to talk me out of it because I’m not exactly the best father figure. Hell, I’m not even the best uncle material.

“Everyone out of the way.” The front door bangs open, startling the baby in my arms. Great. More noise to add to the chaos of this day. This time, by someone much, much older than Caleb.

“Hi, Gran.”

Fierce brown eyes bore into me. This is what I was expecting from her. “Don’t you ‘Hi, Gran’ me, young man. You have a baby and you don’t bother telling me?”

“Gran, you found out about an hour after me. It’s not like I was hiding this from you.”

She waves me off. Her short, cropped gray hair is tucked beneath a hat. Grabbing Caleb from my hold, she coos at him. “We will deal with your father later, you sweet boy. I’m your great-grandmother, but you can call me Gran.”

“I don’t think he can talk.”

“Never mind you.” Her fiery gaze snaps to mine. It’s like night and day when she turns back to my son. That’s something that’s going to take some getting used to. “You are going to be so spoiled. I’ve always wanted a grandkid.”

“And what am I?”

She ignores me while peppering his happy face with kisses. At least he’s not screaming, so I have another thing to be thankful for.

“Hey Bode,” Dax calls out from the bottom of the stairs. “You want to see his room?”

“Yes, we do,” Gran answers for me.

I wave her in front of me and follow behind. Having raised her own child, and me, she’s a natural at this. Caleb is staring at me as we walk up the stairs.

It’s a look of fascination. One that I’m mirroring back at him. The only kids I’ve ever been around are Marcus’s, and they’re easy. Maybe I’ll be lucky and get an easy kid too.

“I’ll take him.” Hitting the top step, I reach out to take Caleb from Gran. I need to get familiar with him, and…is it weird I want to be the one to show him his room?

Gran passes him over. “We’re going to have a word later.”

“I have no doubt.” It’ll be more than one word, but I figure the less sass I give her right now, the better.

Walking into the spare guest room, I find it completely transformed. “How in the world did you get this done?”

The crib is sitting in the corner with a mobile of animals hanging over it. The dresser now has what I’m assuming is a changing mat on top of it. The oversized chair by the window has a basket of books sitting next to it with a baby blanket thrown over it.

A complicated device—I think it’s a baby monitor—is mounted in the corner of the room facing the crib.

“The guys helped. You’ll need to figure out what to do with the furniture in the other room, but at least Caleb has his own space,” Harper tells me.

This woman does not get enough credit. I know she directed the guys to do all of it. If she weren’t here, I’d probably be cowering in the living room without a clue what to do.

“What do you think, buddy?” I ask Caleb. “Do you like it?”

His eyes stare at me, wide and wondering. He coos at me.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Harper tells me. “I’ll go get a bottle started for him. He’ll need a nap, and then I can walk you through a few more things before we head out.”

“Thank you, Harper. I mean it.”

She presses up onto her toes and kisses my cheek. “We’re here for you, Bode.”

For the second time today, emotion is taking over. This has been the craziest day of my life. I keep waiting to wake up from this dream. Me with a baby? Kids were never in the cards for me. I didn’t want them. Now, in the span of a few hours, my life has changed completely.

Dropping down into the chair, I hold Caleb in my lap as he stares up at me.

“I can do this, right?” I voice my concern to the only person who won’t judge me, and the one person I don’t want to fail.

Come hell or high water, I’ll do whatever it takes for my son. To be a better dad than I ever had. It’s a promise that I make to myself as much as him.

Because once I set my mind to something, I won’t stop until I succeed.

“I promise, Caleb. No matter what happens, I’ll be the best damn dad ever.”