Page 17 of Sparks Still Fly

he hugs me far more than i would like.

owen

Yep. She still hates me. She’s civil enough with her hellos and goodbyes, but she won’t be caught in a room alone with me. How else do I know she hates me? She just brought up watching porn. In front of my sister. I absolutely cannot get turned on thinking about Maeve watching porn while my sister is within 100 feet of me. Evil woman, that Maeve.

But here I am, changing her password for the tenth time this week, making sure she’s being as safe as possible because some creep decided to start sending her dick pics on every possible social media platform. He somehow got a hold of her email addresses too. We know it’s the same asshole because he’s got her name tattooed on his Johnson. It’s fucking weird. And if we ever find this idiot, I’ll be the one to personally break his nose.

I’ve been trying to think of ways to be around her, but I’m pretty sure changing her password isn’t gonna cut it. There has to be another way for me to cut through this wall of indifference she’s built around herself.

My phone rings with an unknown number and I groan before picking it up. Raf loves to remind me that it could be a client, but I don’t like talking to people like he does, so I avoid it at all costs.

I pick up reluctantly. “Hello?”

“Yes, hi, is this Owen James?” a strange voice asks.

“This is him.”

“Mr. James, my name is John Perez. I represented Clayton and Monica Moore.”

I drive straight to Raf's once the call ends. I don’t say goodbye to Maeve and Lainey. I just take off and call him on my way asking if he has any cold beer because I’m gonna need one. Or five.

When I arrive, he greets me with an open bottle and his arms outstretched.

“I’m not ready for a hug, Raf. Can we just sit for now?”

He looks like a wounded puppy when I walk past him, but he follows me into his living room and sits on the chair while I take the couch.

“All right, so if you don’t need a hug to go with your beer, what do you need?” Raf is the kind of guy you want on your side in all ways. As someone I was deployed with, as a Marine, as a business partner, and as a friend. He’s just all-around good, even if he hugs me far more than I would like.

“I guess I just need you to listen, for now? I found myself in a…situation today.” I pause, looking down at the cold bottle in my hand, peeling the label off. “You remember Clayton?”

“Yeah. Good guy. Intense as fuck, but he had some great dad jokes. And he was really good at karaoke. Remember when he did “My Heart Will Go On”? I’m pretty sure I cried.” Okay, good. He at least remembers who I’m talking about. Clay was one of my closest friends when I was still a Marine. Unlike me, he hadn’t retired yet, and a few months ago he was killed in action.

“That’s him, yeah.” I take a deep breath to settle my heartbeat down, because what I’m about to say next doesn’t feel real just yet. “Well, his wife was pregnant. Last time I spoke to him, he asked me to check in on her, which I did. She lives here in Cali, so that was part of the reason I wanted to be here. I knew she’d probably need some help now that she’s a widow and about to become a new mom.”

“That’s really good of you, O. And I’m happy to help too, you know?”

“Yeah, man. I know. Thank you.” I take a deep breath followed by a few gulps of my beer, needing the liquid courage for what’s about to come out next. “Well, Monica died while giving birth. Apparently, she lost a lot of blood. I don’t have all of the details yet.” Raf looks up at me, wide-eyed as he shakes his head in disbelief. And I haven’t even gotten to the crazy part yet.

“The baby made it,” I continue. “But now she has no parents. No grandparents either. Monica was in the foster care system most of her life. So was Clay. It was how they met.” My stomach starts to turn, my lunch from hours ago threatening to propel its way out of my body. “They didn’t want the baby to go into foster care if anything ever happened to the two of them, you know?” I look up at Raf. He’s still wide-eyed, elbows on his knees, waiting for me to get to the punchline he has no idea is coming.

“They put me on their wills as the chosen caregiver for any of their future children. Clay asked me a couple of years ago when they got married and had decided to start trying for a baby.” The lump in my throat is too big. I can’t swallow it down. I can’t breathe around it. I can’t do anything but stare at the floor, trying to pull air into my lungs.

“Fuck, Owen. Are you telling me you just became a dad?” He looks as nauseous as I feel.

“Yeah, Raf. That’s exactly what I’m telling you. The baby’s a girl. She's healthy.”

I haven’t even finished the sentence before Raf is sitting next to me, both of his giant arms wrapped around me in the most awkward side hug of my life. I don’t fight it. He’s strong as fuck, and honestly, I should have seen this coming. After years of knowing Raf, and now running this business with him, I should have known he’d hug me one way or another.

“Owen. My dude. I know this is a lot, but you can do this. Wow. Shit, man. You’re a dad now!”

I scoot as far away from him on the couch as I can, his words ringing in my ear.

“Well, it’s not official yet...” I mumble into my beer bottle.

Raf rears his head back. “But you’re doing it, right? You’re gonna be her dad?”

I don’t think before answering. “Of course, I am, Raf. I promised him. Swore to him I’d never let any kid of his go through the foster system like they did.”

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