Page 7 of Daddy's Best Friend’s Baby

I mean, in abject terror.

“I… I’m…” I can’t finish.

“Hush,” he says. “There will be plenty of time for you to apologize. Hell, I’m going to spank you until you can’t sit down for a year but all of that happens later, a few months from now. Right now, we’re going to take care of you and that’s that.”

“And once he’s done spanking you, it’s my turn,” my father says, stepping into the room.

“Daddy!” I wail.

They both think I’m going to collapse because they rush to me and hold me up. My father says, “Don’t worry, baby. I blame my asshole best friend, not you. He doesn’t get to borrow my power drill for three whole weeks.”

I look at him and I realize the two of them probably had a much, much deeper conversation than his comments suggest. And then, I hear another voice. “Oh, leave the poor girl alone. In fact, you men go make yourself useful and get coffee for me and Tracy.”

“Mom?” I ask.

She smiles and says, “It’s okay, Sweetheart. This is your get out of jail free card. I always give on to all of my kids. They get to use it when they’re really, really, really, really stupid.” It’s amazing the amount of meaning she can fit into really.

The men leave. Mom and Tracy stay. The men come back. The nurses and the doctors come in and out and the world is suddenly a whole lot less complicated and scary as it was.

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