Page 51 of Surprise Baby for Daddy's Best Friend

I tried to tidy up the condo as best as I could before Maurice got there. Most of my plates were still shoved in boxes and I had no idea where any of the glasses were. I couldn't remember the last time I had willingly enjoyed a meal at home. Most of my meals were either from the cafeteria in the office or through Uber Eats. I still didn't have anything I could cook at home.

Before I could try and decide how I was going to make dinner for us tonight, there was a knock at the door.

"Jared? It's me!" Maurice called out as he opened the door.

"Already?"

Maurice held up the beers. Half of them had small paper bow ties taped to the cans. "Told you they would wear tuxedos for you."

A hardy belly laugh escaped and I wiped a tear from my eye. The sheer absurdity of the promise made me feel instantly better.

"So, you ready to watch some wrestling?" Maurice asked with as strong of a Southern accent as he could muster.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

We sat on the couch and I turned on the television to the wrestling matches that were well underway. I couldn't tell who was who in the tiny ring as dozens of men stuffed themselves inside it while punching one another. Still, the beer and Maurice made it not matter at all.

"You said Kim's not been doing well? Have you gone to visit her lately?"

"Yeah. We met up for dinner. She's been dealing with some huge assholes. Thankfully she knows my rules when it comes to standards. What about Mandi?"

"She's coming back from her vacation any day now."

"Where this time?"

"Mexico. Said she wanted to experience life like a local."

"Sounds like fun. Hopefully, those two can find someone to settle down with."

I lifted my can in the air, "Here's to all of us getting the one we want without judgment from others and happiness all around."

Maurice clinked his can against mine, "I can drink to that."

We chugged down our beers and I could finally settle into the moment. If Maurice was serious, then perhaps I could reach out to Kim at some point. I just needed to find the right opportunity to do it.

17

KIM

The light just barely reached my windowsill, adding a strange orange, hazy glow to everything. I blinked away some of the sleep, trying to remember everything I could about the dreams I had. But I couldn't remember anything, and it was grinding at the back of my mind. Almost as if I was supposed to remember something important and couldn't recall the exact thing.

My phone buzzed and I scrambled to reach it, hoping to once again see Jared's name. Another notification from the dating app. I groaned and rolled back over. Whatever I was dreaming about, it wasn't as important as I thought it was, but I could at least get another hour of sleep in before I had to get up for work.

Again, my phone buzzed. This time it didn't stop, as if my phone was catching up on multiple notifications throughout the night. I groaned and picked it up to silence my phone, but stopped.

Carl's name filled the screen with a photo of us as the background. I answered the call and tried to push what little sleep was still there away. My head spun from the sudden movement so I closed my eyes to keep myself steady.

"Hello?"

"Kim? Hey, are you free today?"

I glanced at my alarm clock. Monday, "I mean, I have work today, but I get off at five if that--"

"Perfect! We made it back home last night and wanted to sit down and chat. If that's all right with you."

I sat up with a soft grunt and leaned against my headboard, "Sure, I could probably do some dinner. You're paying right?"

"Of course."

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