Chapter Ten
How To Raise Someone Else’s Child
L uke
Alistair tears out of here so quickly I can’t help but allow dread to settle in my stomach. Hailey walks into my section with a glass of water for my customer and a frown.
“I don’t know,” I answer the unasked question. “Give it ten minutes and then start calling them.”
She hands the glass to Steven, the walk-in customer I was hoping for, before leaving us alone. I’ve worked on him before but he rarely plans on getting new ink. He is more a spur-of-the-moment type of guy.
“This is new,” he says and gestures to me.
I chuckle. Hailey strapped Tyler to my naked chest using one of her scarves. It’s a little weird but it works. I can still help customers, and the kid is fast asleep.
“He’s the son of a girl I’m dating,” I reply. A frown pulls at my features.
Wait. What? When did we start dating? Is this what Laine meant when he said I’d know the right woman for me? Can a few days really be enough to make these kinds of decisions?
My mind has been swirling with thoughts of her for hours. It’s been appreciation and lust, thoughts of claiming and keeping her, or just having some fun. I know I want her, but do I want to keep her? Do I want to raise another man’s child? I do know I don’t want to give her or Tyler up so maybe she is my girl after all...
“Not sure you’re dating?” Steven asks with a chuckle.
“We’ve only known each other a few days and there’s lots of outside issues.”
“But you want to be her man, right?”
“Absolutely,” I reply with a smile.
“That’s cool,” he says, lying back down. “Not many guys are confident enough to raise another man’s child.” I raise a brow. “My old lady had four under the age of eight when I met her. She thought I would run for the hills the moment I found out. Now our oldest just finished high school with honors.”
“And the father?” I don’t want to pry but this guy can give me an insight I didn’t know I needed.
“He came around in the beginning. He was more this weird uncle that always brought presents,” he replies as the sound of my tattoo gun fills the room. “But I was never worried. I wouldn’t do anything to keep a man from spending time with his kids, you know?”
“How’s your wife feel about all that?”
He chuckles and I almost fuck up a line. “Sorry,” he says. “I told her if she wanted to go back to him all she had to do was say so and I would step aside. Family is a big deal to me and all. She told me to fuck off. Said if she was done with me, she’d find herself a pretty little wifey, something nice to look at.”
I shut down the gun as my entire body wracks with laughter.
“Sounds like quite a woman.”
“I’ll bring her around next time.”
****
T wenty minutes after Alistair left, Hailey still can’t reach either of them. Steven has left with the little script tattoo he wanted, and I am stressed as fuck. Of course, I don’t have Abigail’s cell number so I can’t call her.
When the door swings open and she walks in, a sigh of relief falls from my lips. She stares at me in confusion before heading to the diaper bag and digging inside. She pulls out her cell phone, quickly scrolls, and dials.
“Dr. Novak, please. This is Dr. Robins.” She waits impatiently, tapping her foot. “Hi, Emma. Sorry to call out of the blue. I’ve sent some friends your way with their pit bull. He has a spider bite.” She listens to the other woman speak. “The owner says she saw the lump last night. I don’t have a practice set up yet, so I gave him some water for dehydration. He’s around eighty pounds.”
She listens once more before turning to me. “How old is Tyson?”
“Three,” Hailey chimes in when I take too long.
“He’s around three years old. I don’t have any other medical history, but I do know he’s a rescue. They should be there in the next ten minutes. Thank you so much.”
She ends the call and pockets her phone before facing me. “Why are you half naked?” Her brow arches with the question.
“He wouldn’t stop crying.” Her gaze swings from mine to Hailey’s before she bursts out laughing.
“I’m sorry I took so long,” she replies after her laughter dies out. “I’m not fully acquainted with Franklinton yet and I wasn’t paying attention when we drove there.”
“I should’ve warned you.” I nod, placing her son in her waiting arms. “Letting Skye drive is a little...”
“Scary,” Hailey adds.
Abigail shakes her head with a smile as she helps me undo the scarf before putting a sleeping Tyler in his stroller. I watch her closely, looking for her previous sadness but I don’t see it. Is she happier around me and my crazy extended family or is she just hiding it better today?