Page 42 of Surprise Baby for Daddy's Best Friend

My calendar for the day was empty except for a huge block listed as moving-in duties. I ignored it and left the apartment. There was really only one place I could go to at this point where it didn't matter who I was anymore. We were all blue at the VFW.

I managed to thankfully wear something that didn't make me stick out too much. A basic pair of jeans with small blotches of paint and a white T-shirt. They weren't peak clothing in style, nor were they really any style. Perfect for moving around the apartment and unpacking boxes, but the idea of changing into something else just sounded exhausting. Since returning from vacation, I seemed to have lost every bit of motivation, like something was missing.

The VFW had a few other veterans inside. Most of them were older gentlemen from the Vietnam War or the early years of the Gulf War. For the first time in a long time, I felt dwarfed by others. So often I was the biggest person in the room, but each of them had experiences that I couldn't compare with.

"Hey newbie! Welcome in!" one of the older men near the bar called out. He swung an arm in the air. "Come join us for a drink."

I raised a brow. It was barely after lunch. Not exactly the time to be drinking, but I wasn't going to argue. I sat next to him. His clothes were worn with small patches at the seams, but the warm smile on his face told of all the experiences he had behind him.

"So, what brings you out here? Haven't seen your face here before."

I gave the bartender my order for a soda and turned back to the veteran.

"Just moved to the area…the Financial District, figured I'd check out the nearby chapter."

"Hear that boys?" the old man yelled out over the din of conversations. "Boy here says he lives in the Financial District."

A few of the others let out a low whistle and a few jokes about me being some big shot or something. I chuckle along with them. They had no idea who I was in reality, so in their minds, I was just a big named manager somewhere and not the business mogul I actually was. It reminded me of how Kim looked at me when we first started seeing one another. There was no power imbalance between the two of us, even though I knew better.

I tapped the bar, “Let’s pay for a round, on me for everyone. It'll be my welcome gift to the group."

Roars of approval filled the room with a few getting up to slap me on the back.

Once the crowd slid back into the old noise levels, the elderly man next to me leaned closer, "So why are you really here, boy? Someone like you could go somewhere nice, not here with a bunch of old men living in the past."

I shrugged, "Just let my feet take me where I needed to go, and this was where I was needed."

He shook his head, "No, you weren'tneededhere.Youneeded to be here. I know that look. You can take the man out of the military, but you can't take the military out of the man. You needed the brotherhood tonight. So, talk. We're here to listen."

I cupped my glass and stared down at my reflection in the pool of dark liquid, "I've really fucked up a lot lately."

"We've all been there. Bad marriage?"

I shook my head. "Already had two of those. Lost my first wife and the second divorced me," I grunted. I didn't like thinking about it, "She was a stupid bitch anyway and every time I was around her, she just pissed me off." I gripped the glass tighter.

"Lived that one. One failed marriage under my belt as well." He pointed toward a group of four men at the pool table. "Those fellas have at least ten failed marriages between the lot of them."

I raised a brow.

"Marines."

I did a silent ah and took a sip.

"But marriage isn’t what’s troubling you, if it's already done and over with."

I shook my head and took another sip, "You're right. I met someone recently. Not sure I could ever be with her. She let a beast inside me come out, and I don't want to hurt her if it gets uncontrollable."

"Did you hurt her yet?"

"No, not yet. I--"

"Then you probably won't. If you know it's there, then you can work to fix it." He downed another shot, "Maybe you need to go see her and talk it out. It might be good to talk with your ex-wife too. God knows they like to be malicious when they see one of us in a successful marriage. Listen to someone who knows."

"Yeah, I probably should smooth things over with Sarah. She deserves that at least. So does Mandi."

"Mandi the girl?"

"No!" I almost shouted in horror, my voice coming out a little louder than I expected. "No, Mandi's my daughter and the woman I like is her friend."

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