Page 4 of Professor Next Door

I loved women, don’t get me wrong, and I knew they deserved every single right a man has. I just couldn’t become attached to them. Kayla had taught me that.

I turned on Rikki’s nightlight and left the door open as I went downstairs. I couldn’t think about Kayla right now, that part of my life was too painful to investigate, even after two years. I walked down the stairs and took a seat.

“So, what’s these papers you got today?” Steve asked, a slice of pizza dripping oil on his plate.

“Rikki’s grandparents want custody of her.” The guys knew who I was talking about without me having to tell them.

“Fuck them, man! They weren’t here when you two needed them!” John was straight in, his ring-covered fingers formed into an obscene gesture as he pointed his hand into the air.

“Yeah, fuck them! Don’t worry about that shit, Galen. We got your back!” Eric concurred.

“What about the other thing? No babysitter?” Steve asked, his pizza now dripping down the front of his black t-shirt. Like John, Steve was a bit of hipster, but without the beard.

“I don’t know. I can take her into the school’s daycare, but we’re starting week two which will mean getting her a place is difficult.” The possibility I might end up taking her to class with me was becoming more likely the more I thought about it.

“I’ll watch her until you find somebody, Galen, no problem. I don’t have any gigs for a couple of weeks so it’s cool. I’ll try to find somebody too.” John, as always, was there and ready to help out.

“You need a new wife, Galen. Seriously. You get a babysitter, sex, and it might help get your in-laws off your back.” Tom, always the quiet one, spoke up from the dark side of the table, voicing his opinion for once. Tom hardly ever spoke, preferring to sit back and observe.

The ideas he felt deserved voicing were usually right, but this time I was dead against it. Nuh uh! It wasn’t going to happen.

“I’m not getting married again. Do we remember what happened the one and only time I tried that? No, that’s not an option.” I threw Tom a baleful glare, but let my face relax. “Besides, who would I ask?”

Steve raised his hand, bouncing in his seat with what I knew was going to be a stupid suggestion.

I squinted at him and glared again, waving my hand in his direction. “No, I don’t want to hear it. We need better ideas than this. Come on guys, who do we know?”

They all looked at each other and for the first time, the thought that maybe I really was screwed started to sink in. Damnit, I was going to have to interview babysitters. Great!