My son's new daddy is the Alpha Beast

2. Mr. Baby Daddy

CHAPTER TWO

From a small town where everybody was in everyone else’s business, to a big city where nobody really cared if you got knocked up by some boy passing through your town. Throughout the entire seven-hour ride, I’d remained quiet, clenching my teeth so I wouldn’t cry. If someone asked me why there were tears threatening to stream down my face, I would never know what exactly to tell them. I certainly had myself to blame entirely this time round.

Rafael Dexter, Palmer’s biological father, had been nothing but nice to us from the moment we showed up in front of his studio apartment. He was a relatively tall man, well-built, ruggedly handsome and with a big heart. The first night, he let us sleep on his bed while he took the couch.

“You can stay here while we figure things out. It’s not exactly the best place and, hopefully, I’ll move once I’ve saved enough,” he had said the following morning, right after some breakfast. That almost made tears roll down my cheeks. Nobody had ever been this kind to me apart from Palmer. Now it was easy to see where she got the genes from.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Dexter,” I uttered, overwhelmed by my emotions.

“No, don’t thank me. I’m just glad I finally get to spend time with my daughter. I’ve barely seen her since she was born and who knows? Maybe I can get a second daughter now,” he paused,” Look, I know this is not the kind of life you imagine, but I don’t have a fancy job to support the kind of lifestyle you two were used to. I’m sorry,” I glanced around the Studio apartment. It was spacious with the bed on one side, a kitchen on the other, a small dining set in the middle and a separate bathroom. The walls were rich grey and thin enough to hear your neighbor screwing some girl while a spotted electric blue carpet covered the floor. Maybe it would take me a while to get used to it but I was very much appreciative of the kindness. Was it weird that I was glad she cheated on Dad? At least we got a good man.

“Dad, don’t be like that. I’m personally happy that I left that house,” Palmer shrugged, plopping down on the comfy bed while I followed suit.

“How about school?” He eventually questioned, sitting down on a chair.

“Well, we can just transfer here for our last year of high school,” Palmer explained, “Mum cut both of us from accessing our college funds but its okay. We can figure it out on our own,”

“S-She cut you off from accessing your college funds too?” I questioned in a small voice. No, I could not let her ruin her life for me. I loved that she always took my side every single time but just this once, she needed to put herself first.

“Its nothing big,” she shrugged, a look of non-chalance dancing on her face.

“Its nothing big? No, you need to go back. I can’t let you do this for me. I can’t let you throw away your entire life for a half-sister who made bad decisions on her own!” I snapped.

“At first, I really thought I was doing this for you but mid-way here, for the first time I felt free. There is no way I’m going back to that house. You of all people should know how suffocating it is to live there. I’d rather work my ass off than go back to that woman. Do you think she even cares that I left? She never bothered to call or text not even once,” Her cheeks were rosy with rage.

“But what about college? Think about it. You’ve always wanted to become a lawyer and that can’t happen if you throw away your life for me,” I pleaded with her, hoping she’d see reason. Yes, it was very suffocating living in that house but she had always wanted to go to college and if that was the sacrifice she had to make to get there, then she should. After all, it would be all in only a year.

“Look, my SAT score is perfect and you know that. I can easily secure a scholarship no matter where I study. Just don’t ask me to go back there. I can’t stand anyone in that house,” her voice was now soft, recked with emotions, “Many times, I thought of running away from home and do you know who talked sense into me? My father, the only parent who ever cared about me. To me, family has always been you and my dad. Can you please let me have that?”

I swallowed down, looking at Mr. Dexter who sat in complete silence the entire time. It seemed like the older man was trying to hold back his tears, judging from the look he had in his eyes.

“But I’m just a mechanic. How do I give you the life you deserve?” he spoke, sounding slightly broken.

“And who cares about that? Money is not important to me, dad; family is. This is the first time I feel like I’m in a real home with a real family, “she took her dad’s palm on one hand then mine on the other as she squeezed affectionately, “Lets just be a family, please. Maybe its going to be hard at first but we’ll get through it eventually,”

“You are so grown-up now,” Rafael said, the sense of admiration unmissable in his voice. If there was one person I wanted my kid to grow around, it would have to be Palmer. If it was a girl I wouldn’t mind if she was a replica of her and if it was a boy, then I would gladly settle for a mini-Rafael.

“Try growing up with mum and you’ll have to grow up before your years,” She chuckled as we both joined her.

“How can I get a job?” I asked, gaining both their attention as I quickly added, “I’d need money for clinic visits and when the baby comes. We still have some few weeks left before school reopens,”

“But in your condition-“Rafael started, looking worried.

“Come on, I can barely feel myself being pregnant. Look, I can’t just sit around and besides, maybe I will finally get to grow up like Palmer. Yes, I made a mistake, but I’m going to be a mom and I want my kid to get the best version of me. So if there is any vacancy, I don’t care what job it is, I want to do it,” I said determinedly.

“Me too. We could earn some money together, save, help around with the bills and we are not taking no for an answer, Dad,” She added.

“But I’m the adult here and I should be taking care of both of you. There is no way I’m letting you and Ava work!” he retorted rather protectively. Damn! Why couldn’t I have him for a parent? Maybe then my life would have been great.

“Dad, we are not taking no for an answer,” Palmer was pretty stubborn.

“Fine but only if I find the jobs for you,” he eventually yielded after an unwavering stare contest with his daughter. If I was being honest, this was the happiest I’d ever seen Palmer. Maybe this pregnancy-this baby- was not a mistake. They were an angel and from now on, that was the only way I’d think of it.

“Okay. Now come on, you are getting late for work. We’ll have the place cleaned up and dinner done by the time you get home,” Palmer urged her father.

“Alright, alright. I’m going,” He raised his hands in mock surrender before he grabbed his bike’s keys then left the house.

I let my back fall on the bed as I stared at the ceiling, my palms on my very much flat tummy. Pregnancy was scary especially when you are just eighteen and the only mother figure you’d had your entire life, had made sure to remind you about how much of a mistake you were, every single day.

“Okay. Lets talk,” Palmer suddenly said.

“Hmm?” I tilted my head towards her.

She grabbed a chair, moving it closer to the bed as she crossed one leg over the other with her most serious face. If she was trying to talk me out of working then she had something else coming. I’d felt like a burden my entire life but I was not going to let myself feel like that again.

“I want to go college and do law. How about you?” she questioned. Okay, admittedly not what I’d expected.

“I have a baby coming. I don’t think college is something I should be thinking about right now,” I paused, “I know you are worried about me and I appreciate that a lot but, I’m not much of a genius like you when it comes to academics. My SAT score is barely average and I’d certainly not get a scholarship,”

“So what? You are just going to give up? You have a baby coming, Ava. That should be the main reason you think about college and your future,” her voice was sharp.

“I know but I’m also realistic. My future is certainly not in academics. All I can do is work hard now and make sure I can put my kid through college,” I smiled warmly, “Don’t worry, when I save up enough, I can take an accounting or perhaps a secretarial course or something,”

“Then I’ll help you save up that money. I don’t want you to just throw your life away,” It would be pointless to argue with her.

“You and Rafael are really related,” I couldn’t help my smile from deepening on my face, “You know what is my favorite thing about all this? That I finally get to feel like I’m part of a family,”

“Me too,” she agreed.

For a while we remained silent, each in their own thoughts. On my part, I was thinking about my future. Before all this, it had never crossed my mind and now I was having all sorts of panics mentally. Sure, I’d thought of applying to a few colleges when school reopen for senior year and at that time I thought if got in I would do something like psychology or perhaps literature as a major; not because I wanted it but it was mostly because I wanted a degree to my name. I always knew we’d all work in Dad’s chain of restaurants, probably in a managerial position and hopefully far away from my step mother and twin step sisters. But that was when I first thought of college. Now, I was pregnant.

“Are you going to call him?” She broke the silence.

“What?” I questioned, a bit confused.

“Mr. Baby daddy Josh. I know you have his number and he deserves to know. I’d rather you tell him and leave him to make the choice of being in the baby’s life,” She shrugged. That thought had laid me awake for almost four hours last night.

“What if he wants nothing to do with the baby? What if…he denies it?” I questioned in a whisper. From the first time I’d see him across the room, acting all oblivious to the attention he was receiving from the girls at the party, he’d struck me as the playboy type. You know, the kind of guy who feels he is too hot to settle down with just one person. Those kinds of boys would straight out deny pregnancy and that scared me. Not to mention, I’d grown up feeling neglected enough and I’d never want my baby to feel like his father wanted nothing to do with him.

“Then at least you would know where he stands in your baby’s life. That is better than living with uncertainty,”

“I know but,” I sighed, closing my eyes briefly before opening them, “I’m not sure I can handle it,”

“Why? You only knew each other for a few hours. I’m pretty sure there is going to be someone hotter and better who wants everything to do with you,” she answered.

“You don’t understand. That night we met at Jaden’s party, it wasn’t just some hook-up. He made me feel alive, Palmer,” I paused, a smile encroaching my face at the memory of that night when it was just him and I, “He was the hottest boy in the room and he had his eyes on me the entire night. I felt…seen. He took me to the rooftop and we talked about random things. Like his cute little German Shepard called Bean and his favorite color is Black. It was the first I felt as more than just the unwanted girl trying to fit in with her father’s family who hate her by the way,” I whispered.

She reached over, intertwining her fingers with mine,” He still deserves to know and who knows? Maybe he has been waiting for you call all this while,”

“Right. Like someone that hot would just be waiting around for some girl he hooked up with during summer,” I rolled my eyes.

“You never know. Life can be pretty unpredictable,”

I knew she was only trying to make me feel better and a part of me wanted to believe every single word rolling off her lips-that I could have hope and that if I got another chance to meet him again, that maybe this time we could be something more. On the hand, the more realistic part of my brain was quick to remind me that the Josh I met at party was only ever going to exist on that night. I may be carrying his child but there would never be an extension of how I’d felt alive that night.