“I don’t know.” Orlando ran his fingers through his hair, pacing around the room for the millionth time. “I’m waiting to hear back from Slater. But he’s on a flight to Colombia right now. It’ll be at least another hour before he lands and calls me back. I did leave a long text explaining this. So, hopefully he’ll call me as soon as he reads it.”
That seemed to confuse Nine until his eyes widened. “Slippery Slater? He’s a contract lawyer.”
“I know that, but I don’t know any other lawyers, and if he doesn’t have answers for me, he can hook me up with someone who might.”
“What’s going on?” Beast asked, walking in the back door. “Why are we still not open for business?”
“We’re not opening today,” Orlando said, moving out of the way so he could see the baby in the car seat. “I gave all the guys the day off.”
Beast slowed when he saw the baby and took his sunglasses off. Orlando glanced down at the baby nervously then back at Beast.
With his brows furrowing, Beast met Orlando’s eyes. “Whose baby?”
Nine chuckled, bringing his fist to his mouth.
“Mine, I think,” Orlando said, even as insane as it sounded hearing it out loud.
“Yours?”
Orlando explained quickly about the knock at the door that morning and everything that followed. He handed the note and the vaccine records left with the baby to his friend, hoping for some words of wisdom since Nine had zero so far.
“And this was at what time?” Beast asked.
“Just before six in the morning.”
Reading the baby’s full name off the vaccine records, Beast glanced up at Orlando. “You remember banging someone with this last name?”
Orlando shook his head with a frown. “You know how that goes. If it was a one-time deal, we likely never got as far as exchanging last names.”
Beast looked at his watch. “Who’d you call?”
“Nobody,” Nine said, answering for Orlando with a shake of his head and another chuckle. “Oh wait. He texted Slippery Slater.” This time he all-out laughed, making Orlando frown.
With a murderous glare, Orlando turned to Nine. “He’s a lawyer, okay?” Orlando glanced back at the baby when the baby started fidgeting. “He can at least tell me what I shouldn’t do.”
“Are you nuts?” Beast handed him back the note and vaccine record. “You gotta call the cops. Cover your ass. What if this kid’s been reported missing?”
“But what if he is mine?”
“Even parents get arrested for kidnapping their own kids, O.” Beast stepped up, getting a closer look at the baby. “For all you know, this could be a set-up, some jilted chick you fucked and never called back.”
The words “watch your mouth” nearly jumped out of Orlando’s mouth, but he caught himself. He’d been around this baby fewer than three hours, and already his protective instincts were coming alive. It’s why he hadn’t called the cops yet. After rocking the baby to sleep and holding him for a while just staring at him, he’d instantly felt a connection.
“I’m giving it another hour,” Orlando said then panicked when he saw Beast calling someone. “Who you calling?”
“My lawyer,” Beast said, bringing the phone to his ear. “This is some serious shit, O. If this isn’t really your kid and his parents are looking for him, they’re probably losing their fucking minds right about now. I know I’d be.”
“Can you”—Orlando paused, catching himself again— “not be so loud?” He glanced down at the baby, who wasn’t just fidgeting anymore; he was making faces. “Took me forever to settle him down and get him to sleep.”
Beast glanced down at the baby, who was making noises now. “Well, looks like he’s gonna be up soon. It’s what babies do. If he is yours, I hope you’re ready for it. I don’t know what the hell I’d do without Ali.”
Beast started talking into his phone, and as if on cue, the baby began to whimper just as Orlando’s phone dinged. Anxiously, he looked down at the screen, but it was Felicia—someone he’d been casually seeing for a few months now. No way did he have time for her now. Ignoring the text, Orlando walked over and picked the baby up as awkwardly as he’d done the first time.
Nine, who was standing closest, winced, bringing his hand to his nose. “Ooff!” he said, and at that very moment, Orlando smelled what he was referring to. Practically running, Nine was already several feet away. “That’s nasty.”
It wasn’t pleasant. That was for damn sure. But Orlando didn’t know about nasty. He had shared a place with these two guys not too long ago, so he knew all about real nastiness.
“Relax. He just needs to be changed. The note said he would, remember?”
He grabbed the bag and headed upstairs, gulping because he’d never changed a baby in his life. He had no idea what he was in for. Thankfully, everything in the bag he’d gone through so far had been labeled in detail. It seemed odd to Orlando as he thought about it, walking up the stairs. This was only the second time he was holding Baby O, and already the little guy had grown on him so much he wasn’t dreading the diaper change as much as he thought he might.
Aside from the heart murmur, he was otherwise healthy enough and well taken care of. From the looks of all the labels in the meticulously organized bag, the baby’s mom seemed to care about him. She certainly made sure everything was unmistakably labeled and even left a typewritten list of the foods he’d need to shop for. The note on the baby formula firmly stated, “This is the ONLY formula he can have. NO EXCEPTIONS!” Clearly, she cared about him. So how could she just leave him at his doorstep?
Already, Orlando was in love with the pacifier. That thing was godsent. The moment he stuck it in Little Man’s mouth, it shut him up and calmed him. Even that was labeled “use sparingly.” Fuck that. Until he got the hang of this dad thing, he was using every cheat he could find.
“Dad,” he whispered as he laid the baby down on the bed.
The more he thought this might actually be a possibility, the more terrified he felt for two reasons. For one, he was in no way ready to be a dad—much less a single dad. Already, he had no idea what to do next. But the second was a dread that was growing with every passing minute he spent with the kid. He crinkled his nose. No matter how stink-ass he was, what if they did take him from him? He shook his head, deciding he wouldn’t start worrying about that just yet.
“Beast!” he called out, staring down at the baby’s wiggling legs. He held his nose as the stench got a little stronger. “Yo, man, can you come up here when you get a minute?” He glanced down at the smiling baby. “You stink.”
The baby smiled so big the pacifier fell out of his mouth, but he didn’t cry. Instead, he giggled, kicking his legs a little harder. “You doing that on purpose?” Orlando asked, pinching his nose even tighter. “You’re making the smell worse, dude.”
As much as the pungent smell made him grimace, Orlando couldn’t help smiling. He’d since been corrected. The little guy wasn’t as toothless as he’d first thought him. He had one tiny tooth—that Orlando could see anyway. He hated to jump ahead of himself, but something in the twinkle in the baby’s eyes reminded him a little of himself. Feeling the weirdest flutter in his heart, he swallowed hard. Could this really be his kid?