I look down at the baby in my arms, his chubby little fingers gripping the now-empty bottle. “Well, baby? Should we go ask Auntie Charlie’s new friend to do us a huge favor? I want you to know your dad, but I still need to know you’ll be safe.”
I get up and make quick work of getting us ready to leave, and soon I’m bundling Lincoln into his car seat for the short drive to Bump & Grind.
Let’s hope Xena feels like prevailing upon her brother’s kindness for us. Because having a cop tell me Archer is safe would go a long way in giving me some peace of mind when it comes to leaving Lincoln with him.
“I love that plan,” Xena says as soon as I’ve laid it out for her. She’s snuggling Lincoln to her chest right now, doing a little dance with him in her arms. “And you’re in luck. Devon and Kaden should be here for coffee any minute before Kaden heads in for his shift.”
Like she summoned him, the bell over the door tinkles, and in walks Devon, the gigantic man momentarily blocking out the sun. He’s followed by a man in a police uniform, who I’m guessing is Kaden. Even if he wasn’t in uniform, it wouldn’t be hard to guess he’s a police officer. His short, dark hair and the mirrored aviator-style sunglasses he pushes to the top of his head scream cop.
“It’s about time, dickhead. I need you to do something for me,” she says to her brother as he walks up to where she’s dancing with Lincoln. “We need you to look into a guy.”
He puts his hands up and shakes his head. “No way, no. Not happening. I’m in enough shit at work because of you and your damn sword. I’m not using police resources for whatever illicit plan you’ve cooked up.”
She turns Lincoln around to face Kaden. “Please, mister,”she says in a fake baby voice.“Do it for me? It’s really important.”
“Gah!” Kaden covers his eyes with the heels of his palms, his tattooed biceps testing the strength of his sleeves. He’s attractive, in an authority figure way, but he doesn’t make me weak in the knees like Archer. Too bad, because unlike Archer, I’m pretty sure Kaden is single. “Don’t use a baby against me, you evil little witch. You know I’m powerless against adorable squishy babies.”
Xena holds Lincoln up in front of her face, edging closer to Kaden.“Please, mister? It’s for my safety. Don’t you want to be a good person and contribute to my safety and well-being?”
Kaden peeks through his fingers. “What do you mean by safety? Explain.”
Xena lowers Lincoln and snuggles him to her chest again. “Phoebe needs you to run a check on someone.” She tips her chin at me. “Phoebe, this is my brother, Kaden. Kaden, this is Phoebe. She’s Charlie’s sister.”
He lowers his hands completely and holds one out to me. “Hey. I’ve heard so much about you. I can’t believe this is the first time we’re meeting. I’m here all the time. Gotta support my little sister, you know?”
“Yeah, he’s always here mooching free coffee from a small business owner,” Xena says with an eye roll. “So supportive.”
“Shut up and give me that baby so you can go make my coffee.” He reaches out and Xena hands Lincoln over. It’s a good thing I’m relaxed about letting people hold my baby because every time I come into this place, someone other than me ends up with him on their lap.
It wasn’t always this way. Therapy and medication do wonders for postpartum anxiety. Without them, I probably wouldn’t be here looking for Lincoln’s dad at all, let alone contemplating what will happen when it comes time to leave Lincoln with him for visits. Even though the thought of it gives me heartburn, I know it’s something I need to get comfortable with, hence speaking with Xena and Kaden.
Xena rolls her eyes at Kaden but walks over to the counter to make his coffee, anyway. Devon tips his head to me and tells us he needs to step outside and make a call, leaving me alone at the table with Kaden.
“Charlie mentioned you were here to find this little guy’s father. How’s that going?” Kaden isn’t looking at me while he talks, instead, he’s making funny faces at Lincoln. “Find him yet?”
“Actually, yes. I got the call with the paternity test results before I came here today. When I called my mom to tell her the news, she started putting all theseideasinto my head. And she has a point because I don’t actually know this guy.”
Kaden looks up and nods sagely. “Ah, and she’s worried he’s a bad dude.”
I snort at his use of the word dude. He sounds more like a surfer than a cop. “Actually, I believe she was most worried about him taking Lincoln to a carnival and forgetting him there. I’m not sure she’s made it to the ‘bad dude’ part of her worries yet.”
“What do you think?” He cocks an eyebrow before going back to making Lincoln giggle with his funny faces. “Does he seem like the type to forget a baby at a carnival?”
I snort a laugh. “I don’t know. Maybe? How would I be able to tell? Is there a registry for that sort of thing? Should I text him and ask him if he enjoys leaving babies at carnivals?”
Xena chooses that moment to drop Kaden’s coffee off and steal Lincoln back from him. “Probably not the best idea. If he were into that, I doubt he’d come right out and say it. Good thing we have the very capable Officer Cross here to look into him for you. Isn’t that right, Kaden?”
“This is really the favor you wanted?” He looks at me. “You want me to check him out? I thought Xena was messing around.”
My cheeks heat and I nod. “It was a one-night thing. We had lunch earlier today after we met up at the lab, but aside from that, I know next to nothing about him. I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything, though.”
He laughs. “I get in more trouble because of Xena and her stupid sword. Quietly looking into one guy isn’t a problem.”
The tension that’s been wracking my shoulders since I got off the phone with mom leaves me in a whoosh. “That would be amazing.”
He looks down at his phone and stands. “I’m going to be late if I don’t get going. Get my number from Xena and text me everything you know about this guy. The more details, the better. Middle name. Birthdate. Parents’ names. All that stuff, okay?”
“Sure, yeah. Okay. Thank you so much.”
