Fake Daddy ( Single Brothers #2) Read online

  Noah was just as bad, as he said, “Right, tomorrow we’ll see if he naps for the same length of time. If so, then maybe he needs to see the doctor.”

  Sure guys, because Richard has a stressful lifestyle and probably wasn’t sleeping for those ten minutes. He was probably happy about the breathing space.

  I shook my head, deciding that they weren’t an option.

  Martin and Gia weren’t, either. Martin had managed to turn the one woman that didn’t have a maternal bone in her body into a woman who was obsessed with not only pleasing the kids, but Martin, too. Even he admitted that she was going over the top these days.

  I needed to stay from my dramatic friends and their wives.

  Dan wasn’t an option after he’d been dumped by his wife. He’d turned into a hermit. Shit, he was more miserable than me at the best of times. I called to check in with him once in a while, but there was only so much drinking I could do in one day and he wanted to do it every second of the day.

  No, I needed to wait until Olivia got home from work. She would be able to help me out. Make me look more dadable. If there was such a word.

  I didn’t have a fucking clue about parenting. Sure, I baby sat him once in a while, but Olivia made sure that he was sleeping whenever I did. I would listen out for him. He’d cry, I’d give him a bottle and then he was sleeping again. That’d been our interaction… until now.

  I knew the moment Joshua was at least walking and talking, we’d be the best of friends. I’d take him to hang out with Richard, even teach him to ride a horse and we’d all hang out. It would be a win-win situation for all of us.

  I struggled with babies. They’re cute to look at. Smile at. But that’s about it. I watched Noah have deep conversations with Richard and every time I knew that Richard wasn’t listening. I knew that I fucking wasn’t. It was always something boring.

  “Today, Richard, we went to the farm and looked at the horses. Then we looked at the chickens. And you smiled as I showed you how to milk the cows. When you’re older, you can do the same thing.”

  How fucking exciting to hear exactly what they did the whole day, all over again. Noah said that it helped with Richard’s memory. I would say that Noah had been reading one too many books. Because not only did it send Richard to sleep, but me, too. When I went with them on one of their exciting trips around his farm, I didn’t remember Richard seeing anything because he slept most of the time.

  I’d been sitting in my sister’s driveway thinking about how to ask her about Joshua. I knew this was a win-win situation for both of us. Olivia has been down lately. I’ve been bored ever since I sold my dating app. I made money and then found myself just fucking sitting at home bored.

  I’d spent the last five years developing it and making it what it is today. Winton, my business partner, wanted to sell. He had a fiancee, a kid on the way and it felt as if selling was the best option for us. It was for him. He invested in property, bought a house and got married and has a wife.

  I felt as if I was in the middle of a mid-life crisis and I wasn’t even thirty yet. I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I had money. Good looks. Charm. But no job and no interest in starting something all over again.

  Part of the reason that I wanted mom to go on the cruise was because she was always complaining that I’m not doing anything with my life. I’d booked her on a cruise so I didn’t have to hear her nagging me all the time. Travel and jewelry are a way to a girl’s heart, because it always seems to work with my mom.

  Olivia was pissed that I sent mom on a cruise when she was struggling to work and look after Joshua. When I offered to help, Olivia ignored my offer. Maybe now she would listen because I had to get out of the house more often and my baby sister needed more rest.

  ***

  Olivia stared at me as if I was crazy or something. I waited for her to say something before I repeated myself once again.

  “You want to borrow your nephew on the weekends only?”

  “Exactly! Just for a couple of weeks or so. Nothing more, then you can go back to doing whatever you guys do on the weekends.”

  She shook her head, looking at me as if I was insane.

  “Let me get this straight, you don’t want to babysit your nephew. You want to borrow him?”

  Why was I repeating myself?

  “Yes. You see, I met this single mom, Ivy, when I went to look at the preschool and she thinks that Joshua’s mine. She even came up with this suggestion that we’ll go to the next preschool tour as a couple, just so that Joshua has a better chance of getting into a good one. Apparently, they frown upon single parents. You should have seen the dirty looks they were giving us when we were on the tour.”

  “Who?” She blurted out, as if that was really important, but I answered all the same.

  “The parents. Anyway, I asked her out on a playdate and she agreed so that we could figure out the next preschool. Besides, Joshua needs some company. He gets lonely at times.”

  “Really? How do you know?”

  She shook her head as she entered her house. Maybe I should have at least waited for her to come in, instead of catching her at the driveway and then coming out with my proposition. She walked towards her open-plan kitchen. She was laughing at the same time, which meant that she wasn’t taking me seriously.

  “Well, he told me.”

  “My six-month-old baby told you that he needs company?”

  She had her hands on her hips and her blue eyes were looking at me as if I was insane as she rose an eyebrow waiting for me to respond.

  “Yes, when he was with her kid. He was laughing and obviously having a good time.”

  “Chad, he probably felt your testosterone going into over time. Besides, do you want to start a relationship based on a lie?”

  I lifted up my hands, “Who said anything about a relationship? I just said that I’d give you a break, go out with Ivy on a couple of playdates and then I’ll tell her the truth. Besides, this is helping Joshua. Think about ‘tomorrow’s child’.”

  She shook her head, probably because I was throwing her own words back at her.

  “Let me get this straight. You want to borrow my son so that you can go out with a girl. Oh, but you’re helping Joshua get into a good preschool by pretending that you’re his dad and this girl is his mom. And then to make matters worse, after she likes your dumb ass, you’ll tell her the truth?”

  I nodded my head thinking that this made perfect sense, but I could tell by the look on her face she wasn’t convinced. Besides, I didn’t like the way she used my name and the word ‘relationship’ all in the same sentence. I was getting the shivers, so I headed to the fridge to grab a beer.

  “I could do with a break. Things are getting stressful at work…”

  I handed her a bottle, “Exactly! So, I’m doing you a favor, too. Helping out my little sister and spending time with Joshua. And he’ll be in line for one of the best preschools. Shit, you wouldn’t even have to worry about researching them. I’ll do all that. This is a win-win situation and you know it!”

  She smiled, “Chad, if that’s what you need to tell yourself then go ahead, be my guest, go and be a Fake Daddy with your nephew!”

  Now she saw things my way. I knew that she would in the end. I clicked my bottle against her’s and took a swing of it. I must admit my plan was to get Joshua into a good preschool. How I would do that with Ivy’s name and not Olivia’s was a minor technicality. We would go on a couple of playdates and then I’d tell her the truth. Olivia was exaggerating; I doubted Ivy would hold it against me. She’d think that it was cute that I used Joshua to get close to her. Then again, this Fake Daddy thing could get out of hand.

  I sip my beer thinking that there was no way that I would let it get out of hand. Officially, I didn’t work and I had no reason to let things get out of hand. I’d never gone to so much trouble to get close to a woman and that was the part that scared me the most.

  Chapter Four

  Ivy<
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  I felt like a little kid on Christmas day. I was sitting in the living room while Hazel was taking a nap and I was looking at my phone wondering what time Chad was going to call. I could have gone to work after the tour, but to say that working for Smith & Jones was the most exciting job in the world would be a lie. It was a far cry from it.

  When I left Chicago and came back to Granbury, it felt like the right decision at the time. I would be focused on my daughter and not working stressful hours and most of all, I wouldn’t have to deal with bad boys like Danny, Hazel’s dad. I wouldn’t be around guys that made me weak in the knees and do stupid things like having sex without protection because they preferred for us to be skin-to-skin.

  I love Hazel like crazy, but when did I become twenty eight and boring? I used to go out. Have fun and now I was lucky if I could get a babysitter.

  I sighed as I flicked through the different channels. Every few minutes, I would stop to see if Chad had called me. I shook my head and turned my phone around so that I wouldn’t see the non-flashing screen seeing as I turned the phone onto vibrate so that it wouldn’t disturb Hazel. Considering she was only nine months and was upstairs, sometimes I swore her ears were too sharp for her own good.

  If I was sitting in front of the TV and flicking through the channels, she never woke up. But the moment my phone rang and it was one of my girlfriends or parents, then she would wake up. It was as if she didn’t want me to do something exciting, then again, maybe I was just fucking paranoid.

  My phone vibrated and I didn’t hesitate in picking it up.

  Chad: I was just thinking that if you’re bored, we could go to the park. Joshua’s just woken up from his nap. You game?

  I sighed as I thought about Hazel sleeping, I could wake her up, even though I shouldn’t do it. I had to get her up and prepare dinner, give her a bath and then put her in bed. Mom always complained that I put her to bed too late. I sighed as I thought about his proposal and coming up with all the reasons that I shouldn’t do it.

  Me: Sure, where and what time?

  I’ll give Hazel one of those ready-made meals that I have stashed in my bedroom. The last time mom came over, she raided my cupboards claiming that I was poisoning her granddaughter with that ready-made shit.

  Chad: Do you know Parr Park? I could meet you there in about twenty minutes.

  Ivy: By the jungle gym?

  Chad: Sure, in Parr Park.

  He made me laugh, I was talking about where in the park. I knew that I would find him. He would be the one with the dark hair with shades and with his stroller, it would be impossible not to see him. I had to wake-up Hazel and get her ready for a trip to the park. Something that I hadn’t been doing lately. I decided that it was best to wait until she was a toddler and older so that she could enjoy it more.

  Me: See you in twenty.

  Chad: Great.

  The park was pretty great and had everything for both the younger kids and the older one’s, too. That wasn’t the real reason that I was excited to go. The idea of seeing Chad twice in one day was the real reason that I was getting ready to go. Quickly. Before I changed my mind about seeing him again.

  ***

  Hazel was just lying in her crib. I loved watching her when she did that, because I wondered what was going through her mind. Before, when she wasn’t able to sit up, it was because she had no choice. Now she had the option, I wondered why she would sit and watch her mobile at times, or other times she’d be too busy trying to destroy it.

  I lifted her up and smiled, she was quiet as she looked in my eyes, then attempted to pull my chain. That seemed to be her favorite pastime whenever I held her in my arms.

  No wet diaper.

  Not feeding time.

  There was no reason for me not to leave home immediately, apart from changing again. I had a feeling that we weren’t just going to the park and if I was a lucky girl, I could get more than a swing at the park. I could possibly get a kiss, too.

  The were two playgrounds and even a splash pad. I knew that the kids were too young to enjoy that, but Hazel was old enough to enjoy the sand pit. She could sit up, which was more than Joshua could do. Maybe Chad could hold him and let him get a bit of a feel of the sand.

  I shook my head as I was thinking of us as a couple and we’d only just met. This wasn’t a good idea, but Hazel started to clap her hands on my shoulders.

  Maybe she could feel that her Mommy was a bit too excited about our trip to the park. I had exactly fifteen minutes to calm down and just hope that I did by the time we got there, but I had a feeling that I would be even worse. There was something about Chad that was making my body’s temperature go beyond 37.5 degrees and it wasn’t good. But I liked it.

  Chapter Five

  Chad

  I felt as if I was in a maze. I was just walking around not having a clue what end of the park I should wait at. Olivia wasn’t happy about me going to the park, but when I told her that I would only be an hour and that would give her some chill time, she didn’t hesitate in saying bye to us. I wondered what was up with her.

  My baby sister used to be fun, and then after being dumped by Brent the moment she told him that she was pregnant, she was hurt. So deeply hurt that I thought that the minute Joshua came out and was in her life, that hurt would go away. I could see by the way that she was behaving that it wasn’t that simple.

  Fucking bastard!

  Shit, I wasn’t a fucking angel when it came to women. But I was clear about my intentions. One night. And that was all I could give them. I knew that some of them agreed, hoping that they could change my mind. They never did, but now I knew I was crossing a line. One that I didn’t know if it was a good idea.

  I wasn’t honest with Ivy. Shit, I was lying about being a dad and thinking about getting Joshua into a good preschool as justification for doing it. I took a deep breath as I saw her standing by the jungle gym. When I read it, I thought that it was another park. I didn’t realize that it was part of this park. I needed to learn a lot about parks, babies and all the other shit that came with it. I thought that I’d work on the stroller one day and for today it was all about the baby carrier.

  I had to tell Ivy the truth. Fuck, I was breaking my golden rule of being straight with women. She had changed, she wasn’t in the hot green dress that she wore to the preschool. She was in some skimpy halter top and jeans. So fucking tight that all I wanted to do was squeeze her butt cheeks. Judging by some of the dads in the park, I could tell that I wasn’t the only one that was thinking about doing this, she was attracting attention.

  I walked up to her quickly, Joshua was asleep as usual. Good thing he wasn’t Kylie and Noah’s kid. Otherwise, they would have him at the clinic at least three times a day.

  I felt flustered as I approached her, at first I thought that it was the brisk walk that I took to come by her side before one of the pervert dad’s tried to hit on her. But then as I drew closer and smelled her floral fragrance, I realized that it was her that had made me feel this way. She was hot. Smoking hot and she was so damn sexy that I found myself saying exactly what was on my mind.

  “How come you’re single?”

  She laughed while flicking her hair, a motion that I assumed she did when she was nervous. She did it when I asked for her number and again just now when I was very direct.

  “Do you always say exactly what you think?”

  I nodded, thinking that she was avoiding the question. She was nervous about answering.

  “I thought that maybe the kids could play in the sand pit. Hazel’s nearly stretching from the stroller to get in there.”

  “Sure, but only if you answer my question.”

  I drew closer towards her, the only thing in my way was Joshua in his carrier. Next time, I’ll bring a stroller. Now, I feel trapped, which is why I always think of them as being straight jackets.

  “Well, Hazel’s dad didn’t want to know.”

  I sighed, “Sounds like Olivia.”


  “Who?”

  I nodded, “My sister. As soon as she found out that she was pregnant, then her boyfriend of five years dropped her like a bad smell. The bastard was okay with living with her and fucking her. But when it came to the responsibility of bringing up their child, it was too much for him.”

  “So, Joshua has a little cousin?”

  Shit, I said too much. And on cue, Joshua started to whimper and I had an excuse to change the subject. Why the fuck didn’t I think before I even started speaking? Sometimes I was a prick. I would have to tell her, especially if we were going to look at preschools. This thing could get out of hand. Olivia was right. I hated when my little sister was right about something and I was so fucking wrong about playing out this whole fake daddy shit. It sounded right in my head, but right now it felt completely wrong.

  Joshua’s whimpers turned into screams as I tried to calm him down. I was patting him on his back, which just seemed to upset him even more. I spun him around which he liked every time we were at home and I did it. He giggles or attempts to laugh. Now, nothing but tears and screams. Even Ivy tried to get him to settle down by gently rocking him and singing to him.

  “I think that the day’s been too much for him. I’ll call you. We can do it another day.”

  I didn’t wait for her to reply as I walked away. I felt like a chump telling her about being a dad in the first place. I hurried up to the car, panicking about what could have upset Joshua too much. Call me fucking paranoid, but the moment I opened the jeep and strapped him in his seat, he stopped. I picked him up thinking that maybe we could go back to the park and I could give Ivy some bullshit story about what I’d said earlier. It was too late, Joshua started to cry again. I wondered if he knew that his uncle was full of crap before he was even old enough to start walking. I knew one thing for sure, I had to take him home and when I arranged our next play date, I’d make sure that I told Ivy the truth.

  ***