~ ~ Chris ~ ~

Flipping on the shower. It had been two days. Three hours and roughly twenty minutes.

That's how long it had been since Cal and April drove off with Beth heading back to the bastard's home.

Was Beth alright?

Had Cal kicked his ass?

And why had no one thought to fill me in? And it wasn't from lack of trying on my part. I'd left countless messages.

Grumbling, I should have just ignored Cal when he'd pulled his big-brother act and followed them anyway.

Scrubbing the smell of the hospital off my body, I stuck my head under the jet and let the heavy spray pelt my face like hundreds of tiny punches. I needed a distraction and wondered what Heather might be doing later.

Heather would be a good distraction and I let thoughts of her fill my head. The sound of her voice and the smell of her skin. The taste of her mouth and the noises she made when I kissed her, slow and deep. My hand shifted down to my cock to clean it, but those thoughts made me grip it instead, imagining it was her hand wrapped around it. I then switched it up to her on her knees with her hot little mouth sucking me down.

Yeah, that mental image would do nicely... until I realised it wasn't Heather's smell or taste that I clearly remembered and worse still...

Christ Almighty.

It was dark hair and big innocent blue eyes staring up at me.

And with my cock now swollen solid.

Too Late.

I'd seen it now and squeezing my eyes tightly shut, I tugged harder and faster at the slippery flesh, almost grinding my teeth as my balls drew up and my ass clenched. Bracing my upper body so my forehead rested on my forearm pressed onto the tiled wall and seconds later I came so hard all over the shower wall that I had to lock my knees to stop myself from going down.

"Shit. Shit." I remained perfectly still as bile crawled up my throat, disgusted at fucking my fist with thoughts of Beth sucking my cock.

I deserved to be chemically castrated.

Finishing up, trying not to think. I nearly snapped off the lever when I turned the water off. Cursing, I stepped out of the shower and avoided looking at myself in the mirror. I snatched the towel from the rail and dried off. Still drying my hair I walked into my bedroom and spotted my phone flashing with a message. Picking it up from the bed. It was from Cal. About time.

It read: Sorry been busy. Heading your way. Talk then.

That sounded ominous. Or maybe I was just making something out of nothing?

The message had landed fifteen minutes ago, so I had plenty of time to make dinner. Dressing in sweats, I grabbed a clean tee-shirt from the drawer and dragging it over my head I heard the the doorbell chime.

It couldn't be Cal already?

Making my way downstairs. Halfway down, a rap of knuckles hammered on my door. Someone was impatient. Opening it. "Where's the fi—" fire...

The words died on my tongue as I blinked. There on my doorstep was a young woman. She couldn't have been more than what? Twenty?

And if that wasn't strange enough. She bounced a baby on her hip. "Can I help you...Miss?"

Intense brown eyes peered up at me. "You're Chris Chambers, right—the doctor surgeon?"

My brow furrowed as I asked cautiously. "Who's asking?"

"Mia. Mia Masters."

Mia? About to ask how she knew me. The baby started crying. "Shush now," she said, loosening a bag she had on her other shoulder, letting it fall to the ground. She rubbed its back in small circles.

"He won't quit today," she said with a wobble in her voice and I thought she was about to cry too. "I don't know what's got into him."

Oh. It's a boy. His cries got a little louder, and I looked past Mia to see if anyone else was with her.

Nope. But there was a battered old car parked out front.

"Here," she said, and my attention snapped back to her. "You take him!"

Huh!?

She practically shoved the baby into my chest, so I had no choice but to grab onto him.

I shifted to hold him at arm's length as he wriggled about. Then he just seemed to stop and hang there. And thankfully, he stopped crying too.

Angling my head, I looked around him. "Do I know you—Mia?"

She never answered, but picked up the bag from the floor and dropped it inside my doorway beside my feet. "Can you please explain what you're doing here?"

She stepped back and thrust out her hand. "Congratulations—it's a boy!"

My eyes flew wide. Was this some kind of joke? I sneaked another glance around, half expecting someone to jump out from behind the tree with a camera like I was being punked.

She rolled her eyes with a sigh and spoke slowly like she was talking to a child. "He's your son."

A chill ran down my spine with no interruption, as everything else stopped. My brain was incapable of forming a thought and the only thing I could feel was my heart thumping like a crazed person held against their will, about to be injected with sedatives.

Did she say my son?

It didn't compute. And it couldn't be true. There was no way this baby could be mine. I was careful. Always.

Shaking myself from my stupor, that left me with only one conclusion. "I think you made a mistake, Miss—" correcting myself. "Mia."

The expression of despair from a moment ago shifted into something else. The way she stared back now. So cold, it threatened to freeze every cell in my body.

Shaking my head adamantly, I stepped toward her to hand him back. Lowering my voice. "This baby cannot be mine."

Mia shook her head and put up her hands, taking a step back.

I wasn't sure what game she was playing, but it wasn't damn funny.

Her sub-zero stare softened a little with another sigh as her hands dropped to her side. "Look. He's not my kid." Her eyes glazed over. "I've tried and you don't know how hard..." she stopped and straightened her spine. "I can't do it. Not anymore."

My eyebrows climbed. "If the baby's not yours—who does he belong to?"

"My sister, Kimberly."

She said the name like it should mean something to me. "Kimberly who?"

A small huff left her parted lips. "Kimberly Masters."

Nope. It didn't ring any bells.

"Does your sister know you're here, trying to give her baby away to a complete stranger?" I tried again to hand him over but she was quick to take another step back.

"No." Her eyes dropped to her boots and her hands came around front, picking at the hem of her vest. "Kim was in a car accident right before he was born." She shrugged but didn't look up. "Been in a coma since."

Oh. Shock brought about a quietness and what felt like minutes slipped by, when in reality it was only seconds in the awkwardness between us. Sighing out. "Look." I softened my tone. "I'm sorry about your sister, but I think you've made a mistake. This baby cannot be mine."

Her eyes now narrowed on me. Cocking her hip, she planted a hand on it. "Well, sorry to break it to you, Doc. But it's no mistake. That their baby is yours."

I could feel a headache forming and I tried to remember if I had any painkillers lying around or if I'd have to make a run to the drugstore.

A gurgle fetched me out of my thoughts, I was still holding the baby at arm's length. For a small thing, he was quite heavy. He hiccuped and drool leaked from his mouth, dripping onto his chin.

I almost smiled. I guess he was kinda cute in a baby kind of way.

But this wasn't getting us anywhere. "Tell me. What makes you think he's mine?"

Mia reached into her back pocket. "Here," she held out a crumbled letter which had a brownish stain—was that blood?

"What's this?" Reluctantly I had to fetch him closer, holding him against my chest.

She shoved it into my free hand. "It's all there in black and white. They found it on her the day of her accident."

As I looked down at the crumpled letter in my hand, Mia placed a chaste kiss on his head. "Bye Onix Blue. I gotta go and I need you to be good for your daddy. You hear me?"

What! The actual Fuck.

She was gonna dump and run?

My mouth went slack, but no words formed.

I stared at the baby for a second. His name was what now? Onix Blue?

Who named their kid after a colour?

And why was that the most disturbing thing I was thinking right then?

She was halfway down my path when I looked up. Shit. With nothing on my feet, I took off after her, shoving the letter in my sweats pocket. "Hey. Hold up. You just can't turn up and leave me with your sister's baby!" It was crazy. "I might be a serial killer for all you know."

Not stopping, she opened the rear passenger door and yanked out a small suitcase but set it down quite gently. "That's all the stuff I have."

"Mia, wait!"

She wouldn't look at me as she opened the car door and climbed in, slamming it behind her. I banged on the window. "You can't just leave!"

Mia rolled down the window. "You're his daddy. He belongs with you. Not me!"

She was leaving whether I liked it or not. I shook my head and asked. "Where is she, Kimberly? Which hospital?"

"At the UT Southwestern Medical Centre."

Damn, that was a few hours' drive from here. "And that's where you're from, Dallas— you and your sister?"

"We're from all over, but we've lived there for the last three years."

Surely she had someone who could help her with the baby until Kimberly got out of the hospital. "Don't you have parents that can help?"

She turned over the engine and the rear end kicked out a cloud of smoke.

Christ, that thing was a death trap.

"No. Our Mama took off a few years back. Just me and Kim."

"Look, Mia. I can help you out. With money, until Kimberley is better. You can use it for childcare, or whatever else you need..."

Her hands moved to grip the steering wheel, and her voice grew shaky as she spoke. "They don't think she's gonna wake up. And her insurance ain't gonna cover the cost for much longer." When she turned to look at me, her eyes brimmed with tears. "I thought I could y'know take care of him..." she trailed off and inhaled deeply. "She never got to meet him."

I didn't know what to say.

Blowing out a breath, the back of her hand captured a tear.

"Mia. I know nothing about babies?" I said lamely.

She straightened in her seat. "And you think I did?" She sniffled. "You're a doctor so I'm sure you're smart enough to figure it out."

"Are you sure this isn't a mistake?"

She sighed out. "Look. I'm sorry to do this to you. I'd like to say my sister was a good person, but most of the time she did the craziest of things and you were one of them."

"I'm not following you."

"Kim was looking for a way out. She wanted to get knocked up and thought by getting herself a rich doctor they would look after her."

My eyes took in more light than I expected. None of this made sense. People did that?

Duh. Dumbass. Case in question.

"That night—the night you and her, y'know had sex."

No. I honestly didn't remember.

"Well, she sabotaged the birth control. Stabbed holes through it." She did what!? "Kim said it was easy to distract you. You'd been drinking."

Shit. A vague memory ran across my mind. A condom splitting when I pulled out, but I was sure the woman said she was on birth control. "Where was this and when?"

"At some medical conference. She was working the bar in the hotel you stayed at."

Oh God, no. The brunette with the pretty smile. I swallowed hard. Her hair colour reminded me of Beth's.

The colour drained from my face.

"Look," said Mia "Don't hate on her. We didn't have the best example growing up." The gears crunched. "There's a blanket in the suitcase, he likes to sleep with it."

And then she took off, leaving me standing there holding the baby... literally.

Oh My God.

I slowly turned around and my head pulled back to find I wasn't alone.

Mrs Lassiter. Ugh. She was my neighbour and she was standing not three feet away from us with her mouth hanging open and her eyes glaring as though I was making a porno-film in her front yard.

Fucking great. But I smiled. "Great day for eavesdropping, isn't it?"

She gave a small humph and spun around and marched off.

Ah, well, she already hated me.

Walking back inside the house, I scooped the bag from the ground and kicked my front door shut.

Standing there, I looked down at the baby in my arms. "What am I going to do with you?"

I walked us to the front room and dropped the bag on the coffee table. I looked around the room as if the answer was there. Blowing out a breath, he started to cry.

Oh shit. This wasn't helping my headache. "No. No." I held him at arm's length again, hoping he didn't make me deaf before I figured out what the hell I was going to do.

"Shhhh, C'mon now. You don't want to do this?" Yeah, like he could understand me.

Adam! Yeah, he would help me. He had a Gracie and she looked around the same age. I moved over to the sofa and sat him down. "Stay!" I told him and dipped into my sweats pocket to pull out my phone.

"Hey," he answered, and I could hear Riley Jo, his wife in the background.

"How fast can you and Riley get here?"

"You alright Chris?" No. "Wait—is that a baby I can hear?"

And right on cue, Onix Blue's cries got even louder. "Ah-huh," I shouted over the cries, taking a few more steps back to put some distance between us and stuck my finger in my other ear.

How the hell did anyone cope with this?

"What's going on, Chris?"

"You won't believe it. Hell, I don't believe it, but apparently, I'm a father?"

Adam choked a cough. "You're what?"

"A father. A dad."

"Give us an hour." And the call disconnected.

Whilst waiting I opened the bag and found a made-up bottle. "You hungry?" Obviously, he wasn't going to answer. Shaking my head, did it need to be heated up?

Thank the Lord for Google. And a short while later, I was sitting feeding him.

What Google didn't tell me was that babies throw up. So yeah, he sicked half of it back up on me and I had to change my tee-shirt. The rest he kept down. Seemingly satisfied, and not crying... he now lay on the sofa, gurgling to himself with his chubby legs kicking out.

And now after finding some painkillers my head hurt a little less and I was standing in front of the window, my attention flicking between the baby and the road outside. Waiting for them to arrive was the longest hour of my life. The weight on my shoulders lightened when I saw their car pull up next to mine.

"Wait here," I said and ran to the door and opened it to a smiling Riley Jo.

"Hey there Daddy," she sing-songed. Oh, she was loving this. "Where's Junior? I can't wait to meet him."

Figures. "Go through into the main room."

Adam followed, holding Gracie, and I stood aside so he could come on in. "You took your time."

"What? I said an hour."

It felt like four.

"Heavens to Betsy," I heard Riley say.

When me and Adam made our way to her, she was already holding him and like every man I knew; he already liked her, gurgling happily in her arms.

"Oh, you are the most handsome baby boy I've ever met," she cooed. "Just look at you!" She turned him so Adam could see him but spoke to me. "What's his name?"

"Onix Blue." Still couldn't get my head around that.

Her eyebrows knitted together and then she shrugged. "Oh, well, different is good, right?" She turned her attention back to him and pinched his chubby cheeks. "Hello, Onix Blue. You are just the sweetest little thing. I could eat you up!"

Adam moved to stand beside his wife with Gracie. "You kept this quiet."

"Yeah, why have you not told us 'bout him?" asked Riley Jo.

"I only found out he existed ten minutes before I called you guys."

They looked at each other and back at me. "So where's his mama?"

I repeated the entire conversation with Mia.

"Oh, this poor baby." Sadness washed over her face. "That's just so awful, he might never know his mama."

"I can't believe she did that." Adam shook his head, his thoughts mirroring mine. "What does she say in the letter?"

The letter. I'd forgotten all about that. Pulling it from my pocket, I opened it up. It told me what Mia had said and she wanted us to be a family; raise him together.

Breathing out heavily through my nose, my chest tightened. She conveniently forgot to mention sabotaging the condom and I was her escape to a better life. Yeah, I was feeling a little bitter.

"Oops. I think someone is doin' their business," grinned Riley Jo.

I looked up. "Huh!?"

"Yeah, see how his face is goin' a little red." Yeah, I could see that. "That means he's gonna need changin'"

Adam laughed. "You might want to prepare yourself."

I looked at them, confused. Then I smelt it. Oh god. How could something so small smell that bad? "I don't know how to change a diaper."

"Well, lucky for you, I'm here to make sure you do it right!"

"Can't you do it? C'mon, you're a woman. You know about these things, yeah?"

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say as she shot me a hard look.

"Did you seriously just imply it's only a woman's job to change diapers?"

Adam sucked in a hiss... giving me a look and Gracie gurgled, almost sounding like she was laughing at me.

"No. I just meant."Hell. What did I mean? With pleading eyes I looked to my best friend. "Help me out here, Adam?!"

"Baby, go easy. The man's in shock. He's just realising his life is never gonna be the same again."

She made a non-committal sound and walked toward me. "Adam is right so I'm gonna cut you some slack... this time."

Phew.

She handed him over. "Where you keepin' his diapers?"

"There is some in that bag. There."

Riley Jo got one out along with some wipes. "Is this here all you got?"

I nodded. "Hmhmm."

"Well, you're gonna need a lot more." She paused, looking thoughtful. "I will make you a list of all the stuff you're gonna need." She held up one finger. "We got quite a few things I can let you have. Save you buyin' everything."

This was too much. "Stop," I said, feeling my heart pounding. "I can't keep him."

They both stared at me with identical, confused expressions.

"I don't even know that he's mine?"

"Did you get up and wear stupid today?" She narrowed her pretty green eyes at me. "Because have you looked at him, Chris? He's the image of you."

I looked at him. Yeah. Maybe he looked a little like me.

"You can do a hundred tests and I'm tellin' you right now they will all come back the same."

The realisation sank in.

A knock on the door had my head turning with hope. Had Mia changed her mind and come back for him? About to shoot off and get the door.

"Hey. Stop right there," ordered Riley Jo. "Adam will get the door, you're 'bout to learn a life lesson."

Adam squeezed me on the shoulder on his way past. "I got this."

Well, it looked like I was changing my first diaper.

"C'mon, fetch him here."

My feet started moving and then froze when I heard the voice of my brother. Oh, shit. Cal had arrived and by nightfall, everyone would know.

Worse still. Was Beth with him? How the hell was I gonna look her in the eyes?