Page 89 of First Comes Forever

I hold up the box of Chinese food. “I brought dinner and more diapers and wipes. I’m only here to help, I promise.”

The electronic door latch clicks and I’m able to push the front door open. After setting the food down on the kitchen island, I make my way back to the master bedroom. Chase moved back into his condo in Hollywood and let Kayla have free rein over his beach house. There’s pink shit everywhere, and I’m not sure if it’s mostly because of the baby or Kayla.

I knock on the door lightly. “Are you decent?”

“What?” Kayla calls out.

Chase warned me that Kayla breastfeeds around the clock, shamelessly. Good for her, but us alone is uncomfortable enough. I don’t need to live through a nip slip today. “Are you feeding the baby?”

“Oh,” she says. “My boobs are not out, Adam. You can come in.”

I laugh lightly as I open the door. Kayla’s sitting up in the bed, the baby bundled and sleeping in her arms. She looks a little worse for wear. Her long, dark hair looks a little greasy. There are giant dark circles around her eyes, and there’s a yellowish stain on her tan tank top I don’t want to ask about.

“I wouldn’t have been talking so loud if I knew she was sleeping,” I say, softening my tone.

Kayla scoffs. “She takes forever to fall asleep, but once she’s out, she sleeps like a rock. Look.” Kayla tickles the tip of the baby’s nose, and she doesn’t even flinch. “Presley,” she coos. “Uncle Adam’s here.”

Two surprising revelations in a row. Kayla’s calling me “Uncle Adam” and apparently the baby has a name. “Presley? You guys decided on a name?”

“Yep. Presley Leanne.” Kayla gives me a small smile. “Leanne was my grandma’s name. If she were alive, she would’ve loved to see me like this. Attempting to be maternal.” Kayla laughs.

“It’s a pretty name. I like it.” I take a seat at the foot of the bed and look around the cluttered room. There are diapers piled into a corner, dirty clothes everywhere, empty plastic water bottles, and open boxes of crackers, cereal, and other snacks sitting on all the furniture. All evidence of a mother trying to survive life with a newborn. “Kayla, have your parents been by?”

“No,” she says, shaking her head. “They don’t even know I had the baby. I doubt they’d care.” She clears her throat. “I don’t have anybody, so… I know you hate me, but I’m grateful for everything Chase and you guys have done. I know it’s just for Presley, but now we have a common goal, so that’s cool.”

I sigh, watching Kayla look everywhere but at me. It seems niceties between us are uncomfortable for her as well. “We’re not just doing this for Presley. I don’t hate you, Kayla. I hate the way you treated Chase and how reckless you were with his heart. But we’ve all grown up a lot. So maybe it’s time to let bygones be bygones.”

“Seriously?” she asks, her eyes fixed on me now.

I nod and gesture to the bundle in her arms. “That’s my best friend’s baby. I’m going to be around.”

“I thought you hated babies.”

“Why does everyone think that?”

“Because you’re in your thirties, have never had a serious relationship, and don’t want a family.”

I give her a deadpan stare and consider a snarky response. But out of respect for our newfound friendship, I politely correct her by saying, “I am in my thirties. But the rest is incorrect. I was married once, got screwed over, and I’m still working through it.”

Kayla drops her jaw and gawks at me. “Chase never told me you were married.”

“I got divorced the first year we started working together. I asked him not to bring it up.”

She nods. “Well, okay then. I, um… Sorry. I guess I made a lot of assumptions about you.”

“Well, how about we start fresh as friends?”

All I’ve been doing this year is forgiving people and mending bridges with women who hurt me and my loved ones. Liv, my mom, now Kayla. Every time I do this, somehow, I feel closer to Amani. Like I’m getting unstuck.

“I’d like that,” Kayla says and smiles. She cuddles Presley a little closer to her chest, then asks, “Have you heard from Chase? Did he hunt down Noa?”

“Not yet.” I grimace. “How are you doing with all that?”

Kayla reaches for her phone, lying on the bed just out of her reach. I grab it and hand it to her so she doesn’t have to strain with Presley still in her arms. “What do you mean?” she asks after checking the time.

“You just had Chase’s baby, and now he’s in another state trying to win back the woman he loves. I wasn’t your biggest fan, but I’m not a monster. That has to sting a bit.”

Kayla raises her brows. “Are you asking if I’m jealous?”

---