Morty was beaming behind the counter, mixing up drinks with a highly contagious smile that never seemed to falter. He announced to several curious patrons that he would become a father the very next day, earning many congratulatory remarks and cheers. Every time he would say it, a large group would applaud and cheer for him, leading several bouncers to look over curiously as Morty nodded and thanked everybody for their congratulations. 
        Halfway through his shift, hours before he was supposed to be in, Jo wandered through the doors with a heavy frown. He wandered towards the back door, though Morty saw him intercepted by another dancer. It didn't take long for the brunet to realize what was happening. He saw the sly grin, the casual shoving of a shoulder, and Jo's near-tearful expression. It had already begun.
       Quickly, Morty announced that he would be right back to the patrons, setting a towel on the bar and rounding the counter. He knew the dancer was Dave, and knew he could be a real pain in the ass. 
       "-oy, huh?" he heard, standing behind Dave now. Jo's eyes flicked to him and Morty read the obvious ask for help. He cleared his throat, watching Dave spin quickly. "Oh," he muttered. "Thought it was one of the bouncers."
       Morty laughed lightly, standing tall now. "What's going on over here? It looked fun." Dave smiled politely after a minute. "I was just telling our boy here about being a daddy's boy just now," he explained with a shit-eating grin. "Aw," Morty cooed, frowning at Jo for a minute. "Did you give him a chance to say anything back?" Dave shook his head, "Nah I just finished."
       "Well," Morty stood to the side, closer to Dave for a minute as he addressed Jo. "I would like to hear what he has to say now. I missed what you said."
       Jo looked like he didn't know what to do, almost trembling as his eyes flicked between Dave and Morty. The brunet winked at his friend and Jo seemed to relax a very tiny bit, swallowing heavily. "I'm not a daddy's boy," he mumbled. Morty almost rolled his eyes. Really? Was that all he had?
       Dave scoffed, stepping closer. "You went back there yesterday, and all of us saw it." Morty watched the man shove Jo rudely, furrowing his brow. "Hey," he warned. "Don't start anything."
      "Or what?" Dave ground out, glaring at Jo. "Or I might think you're jealous. Maybe you wanna be the daddy's boy. Maybe you just wanna dig at him because you wanna be him." Dave scoffed, stepping closer to Jo. "As if. This little shit ain't anything but a whore." Morty saw Jo almost cry at the name, knowing his friend never was any good with name-calling.
       "Now that was uncalled for. Do you want to be daddy's little whore? Because, really, you can tell me and I'll say the magic words." Morty watched Dave shove Jo again, seeing the man completely ignore Morty. The brunet sighed, hating himself in a moment. 
        He pressed the button on his earpiece, the first time he's touched it in a month and a half, and muttered, "Put me down for a suspension."
       He heard a very confused response, though it never really registered before he was spinning Dave to face him, throwing a punch that had the man stumbling backwards. Morty nodded, watching him embarrassingly fall flat on his ass. "Seriously, every time. You guys are always so stupid. If you're gonna complain about who's a daddy's boy and who isn't, put more work into it and see where it gets you. God, you're all so incompetent."
       Morty spun to face Jo, finding the man almost trembling against the wall. "Oh my God," he breathed, staring at Morty. "You didn't have to do that. You got yourself suspended." Morty nodded, having already seen Gary walking towards him. "Well, it's alright. I'm gonna be a dad tomorrow. I'm completing the adoption process, and it'll give me time to spend with my son!" Morty grinned, even as Gary was practically beside him now. Jo hugged him quickly.
       "I don't want to be the daddy's boy," he muttered to Morty. "How do I get out of it?" Morty sighed, patting the man's back. "Tell him, and, trust me, he can't fire you because he knows I'll kick his ass." Morty watched Jo stand with a light laugh, the man quickly calming himself down. Morty saw Gary talking to Dave, sending the man away while the brunet told his friend to hurry to the back room.
        "Hey, kid," Gary called as Morty spun to face him. "That doesn't earn you a suspension, necessarily. You weren't acting out, you were defending another, which doesn't fully warrant a suspension. That was nice. Boss says it's up to you if you want to be marked down for a suspension, but it doesn't look to pretty on your record."
       Morty shrugged. "Gary, I got something important to tell you and all the other guys. Can I talk to all of you before I leave?"
       Gary sighed, opening the channel for his earpiece. "Morty has an announcement for all the bouncers. Can you get them all for him?"
       The bouncer nodded, muttering an 'alright' before he faced Morty. "Give it a second. He's gonna use the all call, just ignore it."
       He was right. Morty heard his channel open, hearing the instruction. "Everybody inside near the back door for a minute. Lock the entrances." Morty almost laughed, finding it humorous that Rick had to order them to lock the doors. He waited patiently, watching bouncers file in curiously. Morty smiled at the faces that had become familiar, watching as they all gathered around Morty, staring at the kid in confusion. Morty pressed his earpiece, holding a hand up. "Is Jo still back there?"
       "Right here," he heard his friend answer the radio smiling. "Alright, I want you to hear this, too." "Okay."
        Morty held the button on his earpiece, ensuring Jo could hear it too. "This applies to everybody, no matter what kind of issues I have with you," he clarified, knowing he was probably screwing himself royally though knowing he couldn't leave anybody out of this. "I have a really big announcement. As of tomorrow, I'm going to be a father. Being that I'm fully accepting my suspension for a week, I'm telling you all now that I'm having a get together to celebrate his home-coming in three days. I don't have any of your numbers, but you all have Gary's. If you wanna come and get to know him, because I know all of you bouncers have a weird soft-spot for kids and some of your own that could potentially befriend the shy-guy. I'll have Gary get the rest to you, but that's all. Sorry to interrupt your day." Morty let go of the button now, grinning as he saw the bouncers doing the same, some even laughing at his comment. "I think it's safe to say we'll all be there with kids," Don announced with a laugh. Morty grinned, accepting more congratulatory remarks before the bouncers resumed their posts. 
       "I can only assume that introductory was directed at me," Morty heard as he saw Jo exit the room. "It was," he responded, greeting his friend, though furrowing his brow at the expression on his face. "What happened?"
        "Apparently I was still fired," Jo admitted. Morty arched a brow, "You fired him because he said no?" he stated into the earpiece. "No. I fired him because he poured my whiskey in my lap and walked away because I got him in trouble with the other guys." Morty rolled his eyes, staring now at his friend. "I can't help you with that one," he announced, pressing the button now. "Fair enough. If you show up, just know that the kid hates loud noises." 
       "Yea, sure. Now shoo before they get pissy at you for staying this long after a suspension."
       "Sure thing, boss," Morty replied, exiting the club with Jo. "By the way," he called to Rick. "Sam needs tomorrow off. He's going with me to the courthouse to finalize everything."
       "'Kay."
       Morty exited the club with his friend. "I believe the manner in which you declined his offer after one fuck would probably warrant being fired," he stated, finding Jo shrugging and walking to his own car. "I can't do that, not like you did. I can't kick ass and handle it all." Morty shrugged, though he grinned as he climbed into his own car. 
       At least now he didn't have to worry about the trouble his friend would get into.