“Beg to disagree,” Harper mutters under her breath.
“Can’t an old man have a nap without being bothered?” her father, Henry, asks from the armchair where he was sleeping. Since Kai fell in love with Harper, her dad has joined our growing family.
“I warned you to go to bed early last night.” Harper wags her finger at him. “But, no, you had to stay up late and binge watch the new detective series.”
“I have to watch those series when you aren’t around. Otherwise, you spoil the ending.”
Harper shrugs. “I can’t help it if I figure out who did it within five minutes.”
“Who did it?” I ask even though I have no clue what show they’re referring to.
Mom tuts. “You can’t avoid my questions all day.”
I can try. Except I can’t use the exploding diarrhea excuse and hide in the bathroom when I have a little baby to care for.
“Nope.” Mom grasps my hand and squeezes. “You aren’t escaping with your motorcycle now.”
Kai snorts. “He doesn’t have a motorcycle today.”
“Because he has a baby,” Mom adds. “Where did the baby come from?”
I smirk. “Do I need to explain to you? You have six boys. I thought you figured it out already.”
Stuart growls. “Do not tease your mother when she’s concerned about you.”
I open my mouth to remind him he isn’t part of the family but snap it shut before I can speak. Stuart is Mom’s husband. Whether I like it or not, he’s part of the family. Mostly, I like it. But I’m having a hard time liking anything at the moment.
“A woman showed up on my doorstep the other day with a baby. She said I’m Adele’s father and then announced she’s done being a single mom and left.”
Mom gasps. “She abandoned her baby?”
“She’s young. I think she’s a college student.”
“College student?” Eli pulls out his phone. “I’ll let the PI know.”
“The PI?” Mom’s brow wrinkles. “Why did you hire a PI?”
“To figure out where Daisy is.”
“Daisy?”
“Adele’s mom.”
Mom growls. “You’re not giving Adele back to a mother who abandoned her, are you?”
That was my plan. Give the baby back, pay monthly child support – assuming Adele is my baby – and move on with my life.
“Hold on. We don’t know the baby is Zane’s yet.”
I nod to Rhett to thank him.
“He has the Raider blue eyes,” Miles reminds everyone.
“We’ll make sure anyway,” Eli says. “We can do a home test, but we should do a lab test in case we need proof for litigation.”
I swallow. “Litigation?”
“In case Daisy fights your claim for custody.”
