I am determined to ruin that day for Patty and make it a blast for Aidan. Normally, I'm not vengeful but hey, we all got a piece of Hamlet within us.

I still haven't decided if I should call Danny and tell him I'm a guy who likes to surprise people or not. The real question was what would hurt him more - knowing about it or not.

Danny is many things but when it comes to Patty... he loses all of his power just to make her happy. At first, I though that's just the way the relationship is at the beginning, how you're all crazy about each other, but when she got pregnant the second time, I begun to realise he's just the type of a guy to obsess over his lady.

It's early in the evening and I'm feeding Devon spoon by spoon. I think it's needless to say he tries to spit every second one at me because that's what he does whenever I'm the one feeding him. He never causes Annabelle any trouble!

Speaking of Annabelle, she's on her way out of my apartment, probably to attend the dancing class she needs to teach.

"On your way out?" I ask when I see she puts a jacket on her shoulders. It may be early summertime but sometimes in the evening it can still get pretty chilly.

She smiles widely and the excitement of having her own class today is obvious. She really is passionate about what she's doing. "Yeah. I'm leaving early to make a good impression and because I can't sit still here. No offense, stud."

I perk my lips at her remark and turn back to Devon "You haven't seen the stud yet. Trust me, if you did, you'd have stayed for the whole night."

"Yeah, you wish!" She snorts and when I see she's coming closer, my heart suddenly drops at the thought of her making a move on me. The fiery panic is extinguished when she leans down to kiss Devon's forehead but it's a new feeling when I feel jealous. Why does kid always get the all attention!

I turn my thoughts in the direction that needs more thought than some unexplainable jealousy. "Can I ask you something?"

"You can but may you?"

My face falls and my voice sounds worn out with boredom "Are you my teacher from primary school all of a sudden?"

Annabelle scoffs loudly and crouches down to tie her shoelaces "God forbid. I can't imagine at what age you'd lose your virginity then!" She turns up to me the same moment she finishes her sentence "Wait! That came out wrong!"

"How unprofessional of you, Annabelle! I can't say I wouldn't enjoy it, though." I smirk and wonder what put her in such a sassy mood today. Can it be just that she's having a class today?

She fakes a laugh, giving me a plain ha-ha moment then straightens her face "Okay, what did you want to ask me?"

"Right," I grumble when I shift in my chair. It's very uncomfortable feeding a baby like that, especially when you're a grown tall man. "It's about my nephew's birthday. You're more involved in the children scene, what's super modern now? Like a toy that everybody wants."

The first reaction I get from her is the rise of just one of her brows "I'm more involved with the children scene? What's that supposed to mean?"

It's pretty interesting to observe how I've gotten used to our type of communication. Not long ago my assumption would be she'd like to start an argument and that she's one sensitive woman. But as time passed it brought us to a moment where I roll my eyes at her "It means you know more about what kids like or something. You catch my drift."

Annabelle rises up when she's done tying her shoes "What makes you think I know more about kids? Because as a woman I'm a natural?"

I gritt my teeth and hiss through it "Not at all. Trust me, learnt it the hard way that not all women are great mothers." Silently, I add "Or mothers at all."

She squints her eyes a little "You mean Devon's mother who gave him up?"

She preceeded my expectations when she heard the part that was supposed to be silent and I find it even more interesting that she first thought I was talking about Devon's relationship with his biological mother and not about myself. Though, I can see why she'd think I became so selfless - I did kinda adopt a baby!

"She's one of the examples, yes," I mutter and give him another spoon which he tries to dodge at all cost. He's done it before and I know he's not doing it because he's not hungry or because he doesn't like the taste. He's just a natural douchebag.

Annabelle shrugs and pulls a chair out to take a seat. I can imagine she grew tired of waiting for my question standing up. "You can't know what happened to his mother. Maybe she died or had a tough family situation. There are thousands of reasons."

I look at her when I reach for more food with the spoon "As I said, one of the examples."

I can sense it in the air that she'd like to question me more about it. Whether I like it or not, Annabelle knows how to read me, which can be a great thing but also a huge inconvenience. Luckily, this time she's not going to obsess over this topic and I can tell that just by the body language of her uncrossing and crossing her legs again.

"So, you want to know about toys?" She quickly jumps back to the previous topic before she led us to a different one and one I don't like to talk about that much. Who likes to hear someone hates their own mother? If I know anything, that's more of a turn-off than anything else.

"That would be great, yeah. I need the best gift for him to fuck with Patty's mind." I mutter angrily.

"Nathan!" Annabelle warns me and looks at Devon "Even if he can't speak yet, he can still hear you. Watch your language!"

I look at her judgementally "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to be my mother."

She throws her hands in the air and shrugs "Well, it looks like you could use one."

You have no idea.

Annabelle then snorts more to herself and the look she gives me next is playful and daring. It would raise up hope in any man, trust me. "If I were your parent, I'd be the hottest mother on the block. Can you imagine what that must be like?"

All the breath I have in my lungs, leaves me. I'm sitting there, staring blankly in front of myself and into the distance, choking to death when there's enough air for me to breathe. But it's hard. It's hard to take a breath, give my ribcage place to spread when you're too busy thinking about the past when someone triggers such a big part of it.

"Nathan?" Annabelle asks and puts her hand on my shoulder.

"Hm?" I turn to her when the warmth of her palm spreads up to my neck. It makes me want to lean into it...

She inspects me with her bright eyes that look so wide and afraid. Maybe afraid what's going through my mind? "You... You just zoned out. Is everything okay?"

C'mon, smile for the lady. It's what she needs to see.

And smile is what I do. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be? It's just... An unsettling thought to have you as my mother."

She gives me one of her bubbly smiles I saw the first time when I met her in that restaurant. I'm busy thinking about that evening and trying to figure out a way to see her in that dress again when suddenly she surprises me by pinching my cheek "Let's be happy I'm not, then!"

The only person who has ever pinched my cheek was my grandmother when I was seven years old. Nonetheless, this brought a smile on my face exactly because of the memory I hold of my grandmother and the innocence and warmth Annabelle is radiating.

She leans even closer "To tell you a secret, there's that mini car that works on batteries and that kids can drive around. I heard it's pretty popular."

Annabelle pulls away and I look at her in astonishment. She picks her purse and swings it over her shoulder as I mutter clearly "Are you sure you're a ballet teacher and not a professional snitch?"

She brings her fingers to her lips and makes a hushing sound "Try keep it a secret, you hear me?"

I salut her like a soldier "Yes, ma'am."

Laughter comes from both sides as she strolls towards the front door.

"I'll see you tomorrow,' she says and smile when she sees me waving at her in that manly way where you just lift a hand and consider it done.

Devon and I are left alone but it doesn't seem to bother either one of us. Another proof a life without a wife is possible. True that I used to say I don't need family but I'm a rule breaker and sometimes it happens I break my own rules too.

***

I had whole day for my research on those minicars and as I was looking into them, I wished I could have one of those.

I was kind of disappointed I received no call from Miss Jimenez but it's possible my project isn't going to be turned into a prototype any time soon since Wells & Hether is working on many projects at the same time. But I was still disappointed.

I should point out that when I saw Annabelle and gave her a free afternoon, her expression changed but not in a way I expected it to. Our deal is that her afternoons are free as soon as I come home. Previous week was an exception because of my work and she was kind enough to jump in and help. But normally a reaction to a free afternoon would be gratitude, relief, joy. Annabelle shows none of those things.

She kept asking me if I'm sure I won't need help as if she was trying to convince me I'm incapable of doing two things at the same time. Which... I usually am but that's beside the point.

I won't lie and say I normally went about my day without giving her another thought. There was no way to predict her reaction but it still left me feeling guilty and questoning myself if maybe I should have let her come along.

It's amazing when I think about it what goes through my head while I'm shopping. I've been in three stores so far and no luck finding the minicar. There are all sorts of models of different brands and shapes but despite their looks, I can't imagine Aidan sitting in any of them which means this is a no-go.

In the fourth store, I hope for more luck. I obviously took Devon with me and he hasn't caused any trouble lately as long as I kept driving the cart. Whenever I stop to give a product a closer look, he turns to me with a face portraying ultimate betrayal.

"Ehk," he makes his presence known to make, announcing he's not gonna wait for my slow ass to start driving him around.

A week or two ago, I'd probably sprint run him around and do anything just so he would keep his mouth shut but now I mutter in boredom "Shut up, Devon."

And you know what? He shuts up! Shuts up!

By the signs the stores have hanging from the ceiling, I find a way to the section of toys. Devon's eyes grow larger at the sight of colourful, squishy and plushy toys that are the same size as he is. Is it surprising he starts drooling and points at various toys with curiosity and demand? No. He's all just about taking and taking and taking and shitting all around.

We come to the last aisle where larger toys are displayed and there I see countless amount of minicars. Just at the sight of so many things that do the same thing, I think I'm having a migraine.

I'm gonna be here whole day.

I lean forward to Devon "Kid."

He turns to look up at me and apparently finds me so entertaining he slaps my cheek and pokes my eyes. 

I yell out from the pain and want to threaten him with death and no more of lovely Annabelle but I can't even see him because my eye is watering so bad. 

"Fuck!" I groan and cover my eye with my palm to prevent this little jerk from stabbing it again and gauging it out of my eyesockets. 

It take a while for my eye to calm down and even longer for my temper.

My eye stops watering aggressively and I look at Devon who's glaring at me with clueless eyes. I can hear him speaking in the dumb voice of Goofy saying 'Oh, what's wrong? You know, your eye looks funky!"

"I'll do that to you once! Guess what, I won't apologise either!" I point a finger at him and Devon grabs it. 

All of his five fingers wrap around mine and it's impossible to imagine how to top it off, yet he succeeds. Devon's priceless toothless smile that radates joy and playfulness makes you forgive him everything and anything. Deep down I know he would poke my other eye completely out of spite and because that's jus what he does but I put my faith in him and surprisingly he doesn't cripple me. 

I have forgotten what led us to this point and what I was planning on telling or asking him but it all makes no difference because Bon Jovi in my pocket starts to sing. Several custmoers in the supermarket turn my way when they hear the familiar and famous melody as I look for the phone in my jacket. 

I don't look at the caller's ID when I answer the phone and I hear the voice I'm nicely surprised Daniel is calling me. After giving it another thought, I jump to a conclusion Patty has changed her mind and now doesn't want to see me anywhere near the street they live, even less near her kid. 

"Hey, am I disturbing something?"

I close my eyes and stop the cart to cross my fingers "Please, tell me I'm still invited."

The break from the other side sounds concerning but thankfully I worried for nothing "What? Of course, you are, why wouldn't you be?"

"It rhymes with fatty." To my joke, Daniel doesn't respond. He keeps his mouth shut and I snicker "Get it? Fatty Patty?"

Perhaps my brother is not much of an audience but Devon seems to have an ear for a good comedy. He starts laughing and rocking the cart with it. 

"I hoped that wasn't you meant," he sighs over the phone. 

I know for a fact that he laughed at it. If not that, he at least smiled because that's who Danny is, a very easily entertained guy. "You gotta admit that it's funny. Even a baby that never met-"

"Dont,"

"-Fatty Patty gets the reference!"

Danny sighs again out of pure desperation. After knowing me for his whole life he could've figured out that I'm not a guy who's easily stopped. Though, sometimes I wish I were different. "Do you have any other bad jokes in store or can we continue with this conversation?"

"We'll hae to see about that along the way." I hold the phone a little farther away from my mouth and tear the soap from Devon's hands "Leave that."

Devon opens his mouth to remind me of the Kraken's abyss of sharp eeth and horror when he starts crying and he does exactly that - he starts crying. 

"Ngh, fuck-" I mutter under my breath. People in the store are already glaring at me because of the stubborn little bastard, they don't need to hear me cuss too. 

"Nathan? Are you listening?" Daniel's voice from the phone is distant as I try to handle this big load of stress. 

I lift him from the cart and lean him on me so his head is resting on my shoulder. "It's okay, Devon, nothing's wrong. Shhh, everyhing is just fine." Then a most not-manly-at-all whimper follows, "Please, just stop crying..." Looking up towards the ceiling, metaphorically at the sky, I whisper "This is a fucking nightmare..."

I start looking around, hoping to spt something that could be useful, like a hammer but unfortunately this is a toy's section. Maybe if I decide to put him on a shelf he could pass by as a broken BabyBorn. I can't believe I'm fucking thinking about that...

I reach into my pockets to find anything that could keep him busy and put his mind off the crying. All I find are keys, a wallet and three packs of condoms. It's sad for how long these three have been there. When I reach into the inner pocket of my jacket where I usually keep nothing, I stumble along a pack of tissues. 

I pull those out, reminding myself it's a harmless item and that all these people that are looking at me strangely won't know that the only reason I carry tissues is to wipe... well, myself when I'm done. First I put Devon back in his seat and am quickly blessed with peace, quiet and weak music that is played in the background when I shoved the tissues into his hands. 

You know what I hate the most about this kid? That he's all about manipulation and when he gets what he wanted, he doesn't even try to hide it!

A minute or two I spend looking a him to calm down and to make sure the tissues will suffice for longer than brief ten minutes. I want him as busy as possible. 

"Nate? Are you still there?"

The phonecall I've completely forgotten about worsens my mood. I don't think I can handle any information about Patty too. 

I bring the phone back to my ear and sigh "Yeah, sorry. Devon's being a douchebag."

"Yeah," Daniel sounds unsure and a bit nervous, "that's what I wanted to talk to you about?"

"About babies who should be put down?" I start pushing my cart, hoping to achieve the same effect as cars have on the kid. 

"Is that how you see Devon?" The slight judgement in his voice is inevitable and I give him all the right. That's no way a person should see or think about a kid but Devon kinda makes that pretty hard. 

"And if I say yes?"

Danny is my little brother. He might be a family guy, an ultimate keeper who cherishes his family so strongly he crosses all the borders. He can judge me all he want for the way I am with Devon and that's very apparent. "Then, yeah."

As I walk around the toy section and wait for Daniel to get to the point, I never stop looking for the minicar I could get for Aidan. "Okay?" I mutter absent-mindedly. 

If he tries to make it sound easy-going, he doesn't succeed. From what I gather he couldn't make it more obvious he'd rather skip the whole discussion. Patty probably gave him a hard time and not as a boner. "It would be for the best if you... get him a babysitter for the time of the party."

"Is this Patty's doing?" If he'll say it isn't, he's lying. 

"No, it's not. This is all me, trust me." I'd like to accuse him of lying but he invested so much seriousness in he words that it's hard for me to say if that is the case or not. A strange and scary gut feeling is telling me he is telling the truth. 

I weight the idea of Danny going 'on his own'. He's oriented to make Patty and Aidan happy. Where I'm concerned, his own interests turn into a conflict, especially when I'm ready to pour extra hot oil to the burning area. What is he ready to do for them? 

He takes my silence as an encouragement to keep on talking and in a way he's not wrong. I don't know what would I say to that, though I also don't want to hear his elaboration. "Nathan, you and Patty... It's rough. Always has been. Bringing the baby along would just make things worse and I also have no idea what that would do to Aidan."

Oh, what a load of bullshit!

"What it might do to Aidan? You mean me with Devon or the dragon of his mother?" I bark back, not stopping for a second to think about the comeback and I do so with no regret. 

"Take it easy, Nate, we're just talking," Daniel's voice suddenly drops along with his confidence. He wasn't sure about having this conversation before and now I'm more than sure he'd rather die than continue this discussion. 

"Are you sure you don't want to say that to Patty? She's the one who needs to relax." My voice starts to rise along with my irritation but I bring it down for Devon's sake who doesn't seem to deal well with my anger. I mean, obviously, who does, right?

"Really? She's the one who needs to relax?"

I should be careful with how many times I insult Patty, though. Daniel can handle some of my remarks for her but in the end she's still his fiancee and the mother of his children. "Danny, if I wanted to have a loud, moving and alive object at home, I'd get a dog or a cat, not a baby." Not totally true...

He doesn't seem to handle my reply too well. "I'm just asking you to make an exception. It took Patty a long time to even consider inviting you and now you want to taunt her by bringing a kid?" 

"Yes, Danny. Devon's my son now." It's fascinating that when it comes to talking to people about kid I turn into a worried and protective father while I'm anything but that and am just a man with impusive decisions.

"I maybe made it seem like this is all about Patty but have you ever thought this is about Aidan and me as well? It's us who have to deal with her later, you know?" He tries to guilt-trip me even though he makes a good point, I refuse to believe it it's that bad. I doubt Patty beats him up because she's angry with me. 

I beam into the phone "Are you two really so scared of Patty?"

"Yes, Nathan!" He exclaims and surprises both me and Devon who gets startled in his seat. "You didn't have to break the news to her about you getting a kid! And you have no idea what it did to her, okay?"

"No, I don't, just like she has no idea what she did to me and to you, Danny." For all this time I kept quiet about Patty being spread between Daniel and me but I find it more and more stupid how she keeps getting emotional reactions about me while she's planning to get married with my brother!

He doesn't get it at first or he pretends he doesn't understand what I mean. In reality, I believe this has been on his mind for a really long time. "What? Look, this isn't what she did to you and whatever she supposedly did to me. This is about giving Aidan the time of his life on his big day."

I nod, keeping the disineterest in my voice and enhancing it a little bit "So, if it's about him, why are we talking about her?"

"She's his mother and he loves her! If she'll be planning on killing you and crying in the corner, it will ruin the party for him." Danny sighs after a moment of hysteria he just experienced. "All I'm asking you is to be a little bit decent. Do me this one favour, okay?"

"I don't get it why would she cry if I come with a baby. Aren't kids' birthdays about kids?" I groan, pushing the limits further. Danny is a calm guy, which is the reason he used to get pushed around a lot. He'd always allow people treat him like shit and he'd always come up with excuses for their behaviour, just like he's doing this now.

"Nathan, Patty was in love with you and your relationship fell apart because you didn't want to have family and here you are now adopting babies! If you'll bring your kid to the party, you'll be rubbing it in and spitting in her face!"

I stay silent for a few moments and not because I'd realise what a horrible person am I for doing something like that. No, it's because I can't believe he's defending feelings his bride had for me, his brother, over than ten years ago. And what's worse, I can't believe Patty dares to do this to him. 

When I speak, I try to keep my voice calm even though I'd rather scream at him to slap those abusive feelings out of her, tell her to decide what she fucking wants and start behaving that way. "Daniel, I did consider not bringing him but now after we had this conversation about Patty tearing your family apart and playing you because ten years ago there was something between her and me, now you can count on me that I'll bring the kid along. It's time for her to realise what she has and to learn to appreciate you. Now, I'm sorry, but I'm buying a gift for Aidan and I can't talk anymore."

He hasn't hung up on me even though that's what I first think when I hear no one calling me and try to stop me from hanging up the call myself. When I look at the screen of my phone, I still see the timer that indicates the call is still lasting. 

I'm sorry, Danny... 

I want to tell him that and I want to apologise for saying all those things but I can't. It was about time he heard that from me. If other members of our family wouldn't want to address the issue they have with Patty and her behaviour, that's too bad, I don't have such problems. 

I do like the family Daniel and Patty have created and I'd hate to see it fall apart but my first and primal role is still the role of a big brother, not the one of an ex or of an uncle. 

Devon and I have been walking and exploring the land of minicars for a little while now and it looks like the business with it is blooming. When I see Barbie and LEGO minicars, it's safe to say all these bigger brands are making them because it's a good source of income. But I don't want to buy Aidan a Barbie car. It's his mother that I want to anger and drive nuts, not the kid. 

Red, blue, silver and black cars list all the way down to the wall of the supermarket. I could spend an eternity here gathering all the cool stuff and I guess that's kind of the point when you live in a consuming society. 

Among all different types of cars of different brands like Mercedes and Porsche, I don't find any that would call my or Aidan's name. I'm exhausted for looking into so many stores, walking around with that slow pace and still finding nothing. It's not just about me, Devon's probably gonna get hungry any minute now and I don't want to spend another day tirelessly searching for the gift. 

Then, like a call answered from up above, luck has smiled upon me and sent me just what I've been looking for this whole day. The perfect minicar for Aidan. It's not what I imagined it to be like, it wasn't a Land Rover or a Rolls Royce but it would suit Aidan's playful spirit and his adoration of the simple games. I approached the minicar, surprised companies would make something like that. And trust me, I'm more than glad that they did. A minicar of a Mariokart. 

If I weren't so satisfied with my own Alfa Romeo, I'd get one for myself too. And the best thing about it? I could see Patty turn red at the sight of it. A happy nephew and his pissed off mother is exactly what I want the most. And little Devon over here is gonna help me get to it!

A/N: The chapter shows two different sides of Nathan crumbled into one. He's worried about his brother and he wants to make life for Patty hell. Can that go hand-in-hand or will Nathan soon realise this is another thing he should've thought through a little better?

Join the Community Discord: https://discord.gg/W4CeMpYdkR (clickable link on my profile)

If you liked this chapter, don't forget to colour the vote star and leave a comment ^o^

~Blackie