Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Kemp
I didn’t know which was worse—the daddy guilt or the fatigue.
Both were raging as I walked out to my SUV Saturday night.
The last thing I felt like doing was going to the dads’ get-together.
I hated leaving Oliver with Anna for something that wasn’t crucial, like one of my jobs.
For once, I wasn’t feeling very sociable.
And while I knew all the guys, I didn’t like being the outsider or the new kid in the group.
I was still trying to wrap my head around even being eligible for a dads’ group.
But Anna had all but shoved me out the door, and I didn’t want to sound like a whiny bitch to her when she was being kind and generous.
If I was honest, I also wanted to avoid spending several hours straight with her on a Saturday night.
After the ill-advised New Year’s kiss, we’d managed to go back to our normal interactions, but between her job and mine, sleeping, and Oliver, we’d mostly only seen each other in passing.
Stretching out in the living room, watching a movie together…
I wasn’t sure I could pull that off without my mind wandering back to the kiss, to the feel of her softness…
Dammit.
If I had a buck for every time my mind had wandered down that path in the past two days, I was pretty sure I could afford a luxury vacation.
Once in the driver’s seat, I took in a big, long breath, got over myself, and backed out.
Max’s house wasn’t far, in spite of the differences in property values between my place and his. I pulled up, my vehicle barely fitting in the drive due to all the others. Looked like I was the last one here. I checked the dash clock and noted I was two minutes early.
These guys were motivated to get to their sacred guys’ night.
Maybe one day I’d feel that way too.
I went to the door, planning to stay an hour, then duck out.
“Hey, Kemp,” Max said when he let me in. “Come on in. Glad you’re joining us.”
“Thanks for having me,” I said, glancing around. I’d been here a couple of times for parties, but there was no sign of the guys in the living room.
“Everybody’s downstairs. Harper calls it my oversized man cave.”
“Every guy should have one,” I said, grinning. “Smells good in here.”
“I’ve got ribs smoking. They’ll be ready soon. In the meantime we’ve got wings, ham-and-cheese sliders, nachos, and pizza-stuffed mushrooms to get us started.”
I followed him down the stairs, my stomach growling in response as my crummy mood started to wear off.
“Look who’s here,” Max said as we entered the main room.
I was greeted by a chorus of hellos and what’s ups and welcomes along with a couple of hand shakes and a back smack, as if I’d been a part of the group for years.
A college football bowl game was on the big-screen on the wall.
Chance and Knox were at the foosball table.
The pool table had the balls set up for a new game, and the bar was lined with food as Max had promised.
Near the sofa was a pile of wrapped presents, which had me wondering if I’d forgotten or missed something about bringing a gift.
I was immediately distracted from that when Ben said, “It’s the man of the hour! Welcome, newest dad.”
“Thanks, man,” I said. “Thanks for letting me into the inner circle.”
“Grab a plate,” West said. “We got a lot of chow to get through before the ribs come out.”
“I’m starting to understand,” I said, heading to the counter with Max. “You guys do this for the food.”
Luke ambled up and grabbed more sliders. “The food’s a part of it. We always eat well, whether it’s at somebody’s house or a bar.”
“We don’t get as much time away from our families now, but that’s welcome too,” Chance said. “Particularly when you have an infant.”
“Where’s Harper and Danny tonight?” I asked Max.
“All the ladies are at our place,” West said.
“They’ve decided moms’ night is a thing too,” Ben said.
“Did they get stuck with the kids?” I asked.
“The kids are at my place with Sam, Kinsley, and Allie watching all ten of them,” Chance said
“Ten?” I said, shaking my head. “That’s a lot of kids to watch.”
“We trust those girls implicitly,” Max said.
“And we pay them well,” Knox said.
“It’ll be interesting to see if your house is still standing,” West cracked as he popped a mushroom in his mouth.
“You must be down to the last of your clean laundry if you’re stuck wearing that,” Chance called out, nodding at my Blackhawks sweatshirt.
I laughed. He and I frequently talked hockey smack at the brewery. “Top of the fresh pile. First pick,” I assured him. “I see you didn’t even have the balls to show off your team.”
He was a Predators fan, but tonight he wore a blue thermal shirt.
“Oh, here we go,” West said, sitting on one of the barstools and adding more mushrooms to his plate.
“We might have to fight it out on the pool table,” I said.
“Let me finish destroying Knox,” Chance said as he spun one of the foosball rods and sent the ball to the goal.
Knox swore, grinning as he shook his head. “Lucky shot, Cordova.”
I laughed with everyone, thinking this was a lot better than I’d expected. I grabbed a plate and started adding some of everything to it when I noticed a banner on the wall behind the bar that said Welcome to the Dadchelor Party.
I chuckled at the word dadchelor and said, “What’s this about?”
“Heads up,” Max called.
When I looked his way, he tossed something to me. I set my plate on the bar as I caught the shirt with one hand, then held it up to see that it said Dadchelor Party and had a baby bottle and a beer bottle on it.
“What the…?” I said, glancing back at Max.
“Happy Dadhood, my friend,” he said.
“Welcome to your man shower,” West added.
I glanced at the pile of gifts, more than a little blown away. “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I said.
“Harper got the banner,” Max said. “Just be thankful I stopped her from ordering the sash that says The Man, the Myth, the Legend.”
“Or the bar glasses that say Daddy’s Sippy Cup,” Luke said.
I laughed. Today, I understood that. A month ago? The humor would’ve been lost on me.
“Shit, you guys,” I said, shaking my head. “You didn’t need to do this.”
“You’re a new dad,” Knox said. “Doesn’t matter how you got here. It’s a big deal.”
“When you have a kid, you need stuff,” Luke said.
“When you’re single dadding it, you need a tribe too,” Ben said.
“I can’t argue with that,” I said. “I’ve never felt so out of my league.”
“Kinda like the Blackhawks,” Chance said as he landed the winning ball in Knox’s goal.
“Dammit,” Knox said lightly. “Good game. I’m not playing you anymore unless you have one arm tied behind your back.”
“Kemp’ll take him down in pool,” West said.
“Kinda like the Blackhawks versus the Predators,” I quipped.
“Ribs are about ready,” Max said. “I’ve got some Rusty Anchor in the fridge. Help yourself.”
I went to the fridge and still got a thrill that there were rows of Rusty Anchor—my creations—out in the world, even though we’d been building the brand for more than two years. I picked up a Kayak Smack Ale, popped the lid off, took a swig, and felt even more at home.
“I seriously can’t believe this,” I said, looking at the banner again.
“Take that terrible shirt off and put the Dadchelor Party one on,” Chance said. “After we eat, you get to open your presents.”
Two hours later, leaving early was no longer on my radar.
We’d eaten to within an inch of our lives, watched the end of the game and started another, and talked about hockey, football, Magnolia’s nonprofit, West and Presley’s honeymoon, and Ben’s latest efforts to keep his llama, Esmerelda, from breaking out and heading to the bakery.
Not a word had been spoken about Anna being my roommate, even though I was sure they’d all heard.
Not a mention of whether I should pursue the fire department lieutenant position.
And not a single crack about whether Anna and I should be more than friends.
So far, I’d dodged those bullets and had a good time with the guys.
I was stuffed so full of food that I groaned when Ben brought out a cake made to look like a box of diapers with a beer bottle and a baby bottle on the top. I couldn’t help but laugh, and you could be damn sure I’d find room for a piece of it.
“Good thing you’ve got a direct line to the beer,” West said. “The adult beverage budget gets shrunk way down to cover the diaper budget.”
“Don’t worry though,” Luke said. “That little guy’ll be out of diapers in another two or three years.”
I groaned. “Between diapers and formula, I might need to get a third job.” As soon as I said it, I held my breath, waiting for comments about me getting in over my head with the brewery and the fire department, but Chance sympathized on the formula, and Knox said Quincy was researching cloth diapers to do their part to save the planet.
Once we all had cake, Max brought one of the presents to me. “Might as well get to the loot part of the night. The witching hour when we all turn into pumpkins is getting close.”
“If pumpkins means getting in trouble with the women,” West said. “Presley said Rowan left already, saying if she didn’t get home, her boobs were going to explode.”
Chance sat up straighter. “Maybe I better go help.”
Everyone laughed, and several cracks were made at Chance’s expense.
“We agreed to eleven o’clock,” Ben said, meaning the guys and their wives.
“We’re all living on the edge tonight,” Luke said.
“Get to unwrapping, my friend,” Chance said. “Who’s that one from?”
“That’s from me,” Knox said.
I set my beer on a side table and got busy ripping the paper off, still trying to wrap my head around what these guys had done.
I opened a box to find about a dozen board books. “My little man’s going to grow up literate and smart as hell,” I said.
“That’s a Knox gift if I ever saw one,” West said of the author among us. “You got Goodnight Moon in there?”
“Of course. Plus a llama one, a couple of Dr. Seusses, and several touch and feels,” Knox said.
“Addie loved the touch-and-feel ones,” Luke said.
“Oliver’s gonna love these,” I said, taking out each book and reading the title. “Thank you, man.”
As I put the books back into the box, Max wheeled a full-sized red wagon loaded with packages of diapers over to me.
“There’s a tag on the handle,” he said.
Boggled by how many diapers were in that wagon, I picked up the handle and read, “‘Wishing you a life of no blowouts. Good luck. Luke.’” I laughed. “Too late. My son is a blowout king.” Shaking my head, I told them about the two he’d had just yesterday.
“What did Doc Julian say?” Chance asked.
“Our appointment is next week.” I once again doubted myself, wondering if I should take him somewhere sooner.
“Be sure to tell him about the blowouts,” Chance said. “It could just be his genes, or it could be his formula.”
“Most likely the genes,” West said.
I shook my head. “I hope he got more than that from me.”
Next I opened a jogging stroller from Max, who admitted he was hoping for a running buddy.
“You’re on,” I told him. “This is too much, dude. You shouldn’t have. But I’m damn glad you did.”
“Let me know when you want to go for a run,” he said.
“I’ll do that. Thank you.”
Next up was a smaller box from Chance. When I opened it, I groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me. My kid can’t wear this.”
It was a Predators onesie, a Predators sweatshirt, and a Predators bib and spit cloth.
“He’ll be the coolest baby in town,” Chance said, laughing.
“We’ll make good use of the spit cloth for sure. Anytime he spits up, I’ll make sure that’s what he hits,” I joked.
From West, I got a kids’ toolbox with tools made of different materials and different textures and a baby’s workbench with a hammer and big colorful plastic pegs for him to beat on. “Oliver’s gonna love this,” I said.
“He can hammer out some energy,” West said. “Maybe he’ll sleep a little longer.”
“From your lips to God’s ears,” I said, knowing my son would love chewing on the tools.
“Last but not least,” Max said as he handed me one more gift. “You’ll know who that’s from the second you see it.”
I unwrapped the box and opened it to find a soft plush llama with long white hair. “It’s Esmerelda, the local celebrity llama,” I said, laughing. “Thanks, Ben. Do any cookies come with this?”
“Cookies not included. Your son will be healthier than my llama.”
“I don’t know. Esmerelda gets a hell of a workout trekking to the bakery,” Max said.
“That’s the truth,” Luke agreed.
I looked at all the presents, then took in the men around me.
“I have to be honest,” I said. “I almost didn’t come tonight. I was tired and didn’t want to barge in on your established group, but I’m damn glad I did—and not because of the presents. This has been a blast and a welcome break from bottles and diapers.”
“That’s why we do it,” West said. “Even those of us out of the bottle-and-diaper stage.”
“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Chance said. “How long will it take for you to put a baby in your new wife’s belly?”
West’s eyes sparkled. “I don’t know, but you can bet I’m already working hard at it.”
At five till eleven, after helping Max clean up, then lugging my loot to my SUV, we were all on our way to our respective homes as they’d promised their wives.
As I drove home, I felt lighter than I had since the night I’d gotten the call that I had a kid I didn’t know about.
I hadn’t laughed so much since bringing Oliver home.
I couldn’t wait to lay eyes on my little boy, and I even looked forward to giving him a bottle as soon as he woke up, thanks to the break guys’ night had given me.
More than anything, I felt less alone. More supported.
Understood. Those guys all knew what it was like to be a single dad, even if they were all married or engaged now.
They got the challenges and the overwhelm.
I was lucky as hell to have Anna, but I was also happy to have a bunch of dudes who’d been there.
Guys I could text when I had a baby question.
The fact that they never got around to hazing me about Anna was the cherry on top, making the evening truly feel like an escape from real life for a few hours.