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“Yeah, okay. Thanks. Can I have my daughter back now?”
“No. You’re working. And as much as you hate hearing it from Tamara, she’s right. You can’t keep bringing Amelie to work.”
Damn it. He hated how much Ricky was right. Of course, hearing it from him was better than hearing it from Tamara, who didn’t give two shits about him.
“Until you can find some daycare or something, I’ll watch her in the mornings, and you can take her at night.”
He didn’t deserve his brother. Helping him out in every way possible.
“Fine. I’ll start looking.” Though he hated to. He didn’t want to hand his daughter over to people he didn’t know. How did he know if the daycare he picked was a good one? “But we should switch shifts soon. You’ve been working nights the past month. It’s my turn to do it.”
“It’s all good. I’ll let you know when I want to switch for a bit. Don’t worry about that. Let’s talk about something else now. About this woman?” Ricky cocked a brow.
“What about her? Besides the fact she gave me Amelie’s birth certificate.” He patted his back pocket. “I know her birthday now. She’s a summer baby.”
Ricky smiled. “That’s great news.” Then it vanished. “But she’s going to be a problem. She didn’t strike me as the type to walk away without a fight.”
“Well, if it’s a fight she wants, she’ll get one. Nobody is taking my daughter from me.”
After exchanging a few more words about how the day would go, they parted ways. Ricky went upstairs to his place, while he headed back to finish the inventory. During his lunch break, he headed to the bank and withdrew as much money as he could. He swung by the pharmacy and picked up more diapers and some teething gel. The bar wasn’t too busy when he came back. He pulled up the information for pediatric doctors he had researched, picked the one he thought would be best, and hit dial for the first time. He might’ve never made an appointment, but that didn’t mean he didn’t do his research. He’d held his finger over the dial button many times, wanting, aching to make an appointment. Only he never did, feeling like a complete fool because he didn’t know everything about his daughter. Something simple like her birthday.
Now that he had a birth certificate and more knowledge about his daughter, he could do the right thing. He made an appointment for her. In two days, he’d know whether her fussiness and crying was teething. If he was doing this fatherhood thing right. He just had to pray and hope the questions they asked—why did you wait so long to bring her in?—wouldn’t be too difficult to answer. Couldn’t be any more difficult than the other shit he dealt with in life. Like his grandmother thinking he stole from her. Cutting him out of her life. Dying before he could make amends with her—or her learning the truth it was his father, her son, who had stolen from her.
Three lost years because of one stupid bastard.
By the time five o’clock rolled around, he headed upstairs to Ricky’s apartment and relieved him of baby duty.
For the first time since chaos had wreaked havoc on him this morning, he felt contentment when Amelie was back in his arms. He snuggled her close, kissing her soft forehead before looking at his brother.
“Thanks. How was she?”
“Happy as a clam. Slept most of it.” Ricky walked to the counter and picked up an envelope. “Jezebelle stopped at the bank for me. Dropped this off before heading to the theater. The other half you need. Give me what you got and I’ll take care of it.”
“No, I’ll do it.” He had to. It was his problem. He needed to clean up his own mess.
“With Amelie? No.”
“Says the man who walked up to a big-ass dude with a baseball bat and my daughter in his arms.”
“I had it covered.”
“Well, so do I. I’m not waiting for that asshole to come back here. We don’t need that kind of shit here. I called Gabby to come watch Amelie while I take care of it.”
“Fine. I’ll come with.”
“I got this.”
Ricky slammed the envelope onto the counter and then took two long strides closer to him. “I said I’ll come with. You’re not doing this shit alone anymore. Got it?”
It was nice to know he didn’t have to do anything alone anymore.
Corey sighed and nodded. “Got it.”
But it didn’t mean it was easy to accept. He’d done everything by himself for way too long, he was used to it.
* * *
For a Tuesday,the bar was hopping. She didn’t know why that surprised her, but it did. Maybe because it was such an obscure day. Nothing happened on Tuesdays. Although the sign hanging behind the bar that advertised ‘buy a beer, get a free taco’ might’ve been a clue why the place was so packed. People loved tacos on a Tuesday. She wouldn’t say no to one.
