Mancave (Wild Men 3)

“Melissa isn’t staying with her mother. She’s staying with my sister. But my sister, though she loves Melissa, is a very busy woman. She works as a—”

“—sales representative for a big company,” I finish, as the picture starts to form in my brain. “But her mom is—”

“A junkie,” Matt finishes, a frown on his face. “is she around at all?”

“No.”

“But then what is her relationship to you if—” I start, and lean against the table, seeing what had been right in my face all along.

“She’s your daughter,” Matt says. “You’re Melissa’s father.”

Holy shit.

Evan nods, passes a hand over his mouth. “My fiancée left because she found out about the kid. Melissa doesn’t know this. Doesn’t know I’m her dad. She thinks I’m her uncle, Deanna her aunt. She hasn’t seen her mom in years. None of us have.”

“Is that why you moved here?” I ask. “To get Melissa away from her mom?”

“As far away as I could. Then my sis moved to St. Louis to be closer to us, and I stayed. Melissa needs a mother, and I’m not… I tried to find her a new mom, but it just didn’t work out.”

I squeeze his shoulder, not sure what to say. He looks so sad, he’s breaking my heart. “She’s a wonderful kid. You should be proud of her.”

“I am. I just wish…” He passes a hand over his eyes. “I wish I could be what she needs.”

“You are,” Matt says. “Damn, man, believe me, you are. And we’ll find a way to get Jasper off your back.”

Holy crap. I stare at his black eye and split lip and wonder if I should start worrying all over again...

* * *

Melissa comes into the kitchen as I set the table, and Matt heats up some mac and cheese for dinner. He’s nursing a beer, same as Evan, who still looks morose. He cracks a smile when Melissa comes around the table to hug him. Leaving his beer on the table, he opens his good arm for her, and she climbs onto his lap.

I wince, thinking of his ribs and collarbone, but his smile is real.

He’s a good dad, I think, hiding a smile of my own as I turn away to grab some glasses. I pour myself some juice, pour Melissa some milk, and sit down, suddenly bone-tired.

Again.

Mom told me it’s hormones making me so tired all the time, but boy, I’ve slept most of the day away today and here I am, ready for bed. I place a hand over my rounded stomach, trying to imagine having a baby in my arms.

We sit around the table to eat, and for a while there’s quiet, the only sound the clang of forks on plates. Familiar, comforting sounds.

Then Melissa says, “Octavia is having a baby. And Matt will be his daddy.”

Glances pass between the adults at the table.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Evan says.

“I want a daddy, too. And a baby.”

“A baby?” Evan chokes on his mouthful of mac and cheese, a horrified look on his face.

“A baby brother. My friend Louise has one, and he’s so cute. He threw up all over himself the other day.”

I can’t help it, I laugh.

They both give me a look. Like, this is serious.

Oops.