Page 25 of Daddy's Unexpected Gift

Cecelia smiled at me and laughed a bit. “Probably. I’m sure there are ‘daddy and me’ groups you could join, but?—”

“Daddy and me?”

“Groups for dads who are the primary caregiver in the family. A lot of early development classes are called ‘mommy and me’. You could go, but as you already mentioned, lots of moms.”

I muttered about the term ‘daddy and me’. Cecelia kept glancing at me and laughing.

“That makes you really uncomfortable, doesn’t it?”

I let out a low grumble. We were still in a big crowd of moms and strollers. I leaned in close, my lips almost brushing Cecelia’s ear. “My last date called me ‘Daddy’. I’d be more comfortable if you were the one calling me Daddy and not some child, if you understand what I’m saying.”

The blush started on Cecelia’s cheeks and then spread over all of her exposed skin. It was a charming look on her. I would have to remember that.

Her eyes went wide, and she smiled but then stared hard at the ground. “Sterling,” she said through clenched teeth.

That’s all she said, my name, and then she kept blushing. Yeah, she could call me Daddy anytime.

“So, where are we headed?” I asked as if she weren’t lit up like a beacon and my jeans weren’t getting tight in the crotch.

She cleared her throat. “I’m not sure. I’m just following the crowd.”

The tide of zoo visitors pulled us along until we entered a petting zoo area. Strollers were lined up like motorcycles at a roadhouse bar. Toddlers scrambled everywhere.

“Is this what I have to look forward to?” I muttered out loud.

“If you still have custody of Georgie when she’s walking, then yeah, probably.”

I grabbed the stroller away from Cecelia and kept walking. I didn’t want to be overwhelmed by all the kids. They outnumbered the adults, and I didn’t want them to overwhelm us. I navigated back to the flamingo display before I lifted Georgie out of the stroller and held her so she could look at the pink birds.

“Hey, look at me,” Cecelia said.

I turned. She had her camera phone pointed at us. “I thought you might like a picture.”

“Come here. You should be in this picture with us.” I held out my hand and took the phone from her.

We positioned ourselves, and I held up the phone for a selfie.

“Oh, we should get the flamingoes behind us,” Cecelia said.

As we tried to get situated so I could take a picture that also showed the birds in the background, someone’s grandmother approached us. “Would you like me to take that for you?”

I handed her the phone. I held Georgie in one arm and wrapped the other around Cecelia, tugging her in tight against me. She felt nice. Like she belonged tucked in against me.

“What a lovely family. This is going to make a great picture,” the lady cooed as she pointed the camera phone at us.

“Oh, we’re—” Cecelia started.

“We’re so grateful you could help us out.” I cut Cecelia off. That lady did not need to know we were not a family. “Thank you.”

I looked at the photo before sharing it with Cecelia. The lady was right. We looked like we belonged.

“Were you going to say anything about how we are all in yellow?” I asked Cecelia. I must have subconsciously picked this shirt so that I coordinated with her and Georgie.

“By the time I realized it, we were already in the car. You aren’t mad, are you?”

I shook my head. I actually liked it.

We strolled past enclosures and through exhibits. I carried Georgie for a while before setting her back in the car seat, now stroller. Cecelia carried her for a bit, and after a while, we only picked her up when we reached a new animal to look at. When we reached the tigers, Georgie made the same set of noises that meant cat for her.

---