Orlando: Boyle Heights #4

by Elizabeth Reyes

  “But you’ve changed a diaper, right?”

  “Yeah, but only when she’s just wet.”

  “Well, walk me through this, man. I’ve never even done that.”

  Beast walked him through it, the whole time holding his shirt to his nose. He started laughing when Orlando gagged but then gagged himself and started to walk away. “Get back here, ass,” Orlando called out for him in sheer panic.

  He grabbed a handful of wipes as Beast instructed and started wiping. It took a while with Nine getting curious and sticking his head in the room only to run back out of there cussing like a little bitch. By the time he was done, Orlando was sure he’d used far more wipes than he was supposed to. But it was over. Beast offered to hold the baby while Orlando ran outside to throw everything out in the dumpster. Beast was coming down the stairs when Orlando walked back in. He looked way more comfortable holding the baby than Orlando had felt so far. But then the guy was a dad.

  Before Orlando could take the baby from him, his phone rang. Remembering the call he was waiting on, his heart rate spiked. He rushed to his phone, and sure enough, it was Slater.

  The first words out of Slater’s mouth the moment Orlando answered the phone were, “Call Child Protective Services.” Instantly, Orlando felt his stomach drop as he listened intently to everything else the guy had to say. “I just got off the phone with someone who knows about this stuff. Even if it is your kid, this needs to be reported. Do you know who the mother is?”

  “I have no idea,” Orlando admitted. “He’s three and a half months according to the note, so this has to be someone I slept with last year. I don’t have a fucking clue.”

  “Well, first things first, call Child Protective Services, and they’ll take it from here.”

  “Whoa, whoa, wait.” Orlando turned back to Beast still holding the baby. “What if he is mine? What do you mean they’ll take it from here?” Unbelievably, he was already feeling alarmed. “Are they just gonna take him from me?”

  “Absolutely. They’ll take him straight to the hospital to get him checked out and rule out any illnesses or abuse—of any kind. Then he’ll be put in emergency foster care until they know for sure he hasn’t been kidnapped and the real parents aren’t out there frantically looking for him. Even if you can prove you’re his dad, just ’cause you made him doesn’t mean you’re fit to be a parent. A child is a very delicate thing. If you really want to keep him, you’ll have to prove you’re fit. It’s a whole process. They’ll check your background, test you for drugs, and even send someone out to check out your living arrangements. But you gotta call them, O, or you’ll be in a lot of trouble, and I’ll tell you this much: if they find the mother, she’s already in a world of trouble.”

  By the time he was off the phone, he felt dazed. Beast’s contacts told him pretty much the same thing. Orlando had no choice but to make the call. Then he sat and waited. His heart was already telling him this baby was his. The whole time he sat there holding the baby he felt numb.

  What Slater had said was no exaggeration. The police arrived first, followed by the paramedics who’d be transporting his son to the hospital where they said he’d be thoroughly checked out. The social workers were going straight to the hospital. But even more surprising was he was asked to come into headquarters for questioning. The idea that he might be a suspect in the case of this kid’s missing mother hadn’t even crossed his mind. Just like that, Orlando’s world was turned upside down.

  Chapter 2

  Danica

  It was the right thing to do. Danica knew this. There were no two ways around it. The only other choice she’d had was out of the question. All she could do now was pray Orlando would do the right thing and fight to keep him. As the biological father, he’d be the first choice for guardian of the baby. She knew he wasn’t the fatherly type, knew it was a risk to leave the baby with him, but she couldn’t imagine anyone not falling in love with that beautiful near-toothless smile. Thinking about it only made her sob even more. Danica buried her face in her hands. As much as she wanted to hate Ted for forcing her to do it already, she knew he was right. The only other choice meant losing the baby forever. Of course, she didn’t tell Ted that. Not only would he think her crazy for her farfetched plan of being able to see him again if she at least knew who was raising him, he’d be completely against it. It was still way too soon to know if that part had even worked. But her wretched heart was already begging for her to come up with something else. Seeing him just once in a while from afar was not going to cut it. As insane as it sounded, if Orlando did decide to keep the baby, she was definitely going to have to find a way to get her foot in. It hadn’t even been a whole day since she’d left him at that doorstep, and already she was falling apart. Gathering herself, she got up and walked to the bathroom in the spacious home. She rinsed her face clean only to start crying all over again when she glanced at the bathtub and saw the baby wash. Sitting down on the toilet seat, she snatched a towel off the rack and wiped her face. How in the world would she ever get through this?

  Twice that morning she’d nearly just kept driving. Thoughts of packing her stuff too, running away with baby Orlando and never looking back, had plagued her for weeks. But in the end, she always came back to the same conclusion. She wouldn’t get far, and eventually she’d be worse off than where she was right now. At least now she was just without him and miserable but not locked up. Knowing where he was, was the only thing that keeping her from completely spiraling into a deep depression. When she’d tried to buy more time with the baby, saying she was afraid of getting in trouble for not taking him to his dad sooner, Ted had suggested she just take him to a fire station. “Just tell them his mother never picked him up and now you can’t get ahold of her.”

  She almost had, but then another idea came to her. This way she still had a chance to try and be a part of his life. Even before she’d given him up, she was certain she’d try just about anything to be able to see him and be around him again. Now that she knew just how agonizing it’d be to go even a day without him, she knew she’d stop at nothing.

  Chapter 3

  Orlando

  Ironically, it was only a few months prior that Orlando had started dating someone and taking it a little more seriously than he ever had in his life. Since getting his business running had been his only priority so far, a serious relationship hadn’t even made it onto his list of priorities. His mother had always said, “You don’t go out looking for the right one. The right one will show up one day when you least expect it. You won’t even know it until you realize she’s sucked you in.” And that certainly hadn’t been the case in this instance.

  He’d met Felicia in the less-than-profound way he often met chicks, at the local watering hole just around the corner from the shop. He’d gone there after closing up shop, and they’d exchanged a few words and ended up hitting it off. She’d walked home with him at the end of the night since he’d walked there, and she and her friend had Ubered there. As expected, she’d spent the night. The only difference between her and any other girl he’d brought back to his place after just meeting her that same night was that she was still there in the morning, and for once, it hadn’t felt awkward. He’d awoken to the smell of breakfast being made. Normally, a girl inviting herself to stay for breakfast would’ve annoyed him. But the way Orlando saw it even now, she had three things going for her that made her a standout from most of the girls he’d come home with. For one, she hadn’t been a lush. She’d known when she had enough and switched to water before they even left the bar. Two, she’d known exactly what she was doing when she agreed to come back to his place and hang for a while. Most girls, unlike Felicia, were pretty lit by the time they got back to his place then did the walk of shame in the middle of the night or early morning, and thankfully so. Three, Felicia had been perfectly honest and upfront about her decision to stay the night. For starters, she said one-nighters with someone she just met weren’t the norm for her, and somehow, Orla
ndo believed her. She also said she had too much going on to be looking to get into anything too serious. “But naturally I do have desires that crave more than the DIY stuff every now and again.”

  Orlando had laughed at that but appreciated the honesty. Moreover, he’d been relieved when she hadn’t asked when or even if he’d be calling her again. She even insisted on taking an Uber home and not putting him out of his way. Even knowing it was technically his day off, she hadn’t even hinted about them spending the day together. In fact, Orlando got the feeling she was hoping he wouldn’t hint at it either. That had been just over five months prior. Obviously, he had called her eventually. He’d always had his doubts about fuck buddies, which he did get the impression she’d be okay with. That kind of shit never worked out, but he figured he could maybe hang with her every now and again. They’d made plans to meet again, and each time she’d spent the night, the next morning she’d been up before him, making something, even if it was just coffee and bagels. Orlando assumed this was just what she was used to. Unlike most girls who were clearly used to making a quick exit before he could even wake, something he’d always been grateful for, Felicia was different. Before he knew it, she gave into what just happened. She became his go-to girl. He preferred referring to her as that, rather than his fuck buddy.

  Still, no promises had actually been made, but for the first time in like—ever—he’d found himself oddly annoyed when hearing her mention other guys in her life: friends and co-workers she occasionally hung with. This happened about three months into hanging out with her off and on. Felicia wasn’t drop dead gorgeous, but she was good-looking enough, and Orlando knew that’s all it took for most guys, if it was just going to be a physical thing. She didn’t bring up her guy friends often, but after hearing her mention who she’d hung with during a weekend he went to Vegas with the guys, he had to ask, “You sleeping with him?”

  Her appalled expression had cracked him up as much as it relieved him. “Of course not. He’s just a co-worker and a friend.” But it opened the way to a conversation that had him regretting asking. “Are you sleeping with anybody else?”

  Orlando had been honest because it’d been easy. He hadn’t slept with anyone else since he’d met her. Except he left out that it wasn’t out of loyalty. He’d just been too damn busy, and Felicia was convenient. He figured he was convenient for her too. It’s why he’d asked if she was sleeping with the dude she’d hung out with. Orlando had yet to presume he was her one and only. Even after the conversation, he dared not make such demands either, because, despite the slight annoyance he felt when hearing her speak of her guy friends, he still wasn’t sure he was ready for such a commitment. So, he hadn’t made any promises either. While he gave her the respect of behaving like her boyfriend in her presence, old habits died hard, especially when he’d never once committed to killing them in the first place. Despite his giving into the curiosity and asking if she’d slept with her friend, he hadn’t asked her to cut him off because, technically, he hadn’t cut off any of his girlfriends either, and he had no intention to. Felicia was the one who’d initiated the whole “I don’t have time for anything serious” disclaimer when they first started, and he was holding her to it. It was the closest they’d come to even touching on the subject of exclusivity. But it hadn’t been brought up since, except it felt like an unspoken precedent had been set. Both were okay with things staying as they started, but both would appreciate a heads-up if someone new came into the equation. It was absolutely the closest Orlando had come to being in an actual grown-up relationship. And since he was so busy, he could live with the understanding for the time being. Felicia was cool people to hang with, and given a choice of who to bring to hang out with him and his friends, he was more comfortable bringing her than any of the other chicks he knew. So, even his friends had jumped to the assumption that things were getting serious. Despite all that, it still didn’t take from how awkward as fuck today’s conversation was about to get. He stood in his small kitchen, having to give her the news about the baby. He hadn’t seen or really talked to her in days, since he’d been up to his eyeballs dealing with lawyers, social services, and being interviewed by the police. Now, days after he’d been hit with the bomb, he was just now getting around to giving her the details about it.

  She stood across from the small kitchen island, staring at him silently as he told her everything he knew so far. The results from the paternity test weren’t back yet, so her first question didn’t surprise him. “Do you think it’s your baby?”

  Orlando shrugged, not wanting to admit the truth. As crazy as it seemed, with each day that passed and he remembered what it felt like to hold that little guy, his heart yearned for it to be true. He’d already been gently warned by his mother and not so gently by Beast and Nine that this could all be a hoax. He shouldn’t be getting his hopes up for anything and instead be prepared to be disappointed. It wasn’t unheard of for unscrupulous women to pin kids on men who weren’t actually the father. “It’s no secret that you’re part owner of a shop that stays so busy our waiting list for restorations is huge and we’re now scrambling to find qualified help, O,” Beast had reminded him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if word’s already gotten out about the number of celebrities we now cater to and that we’re looking to expand. It’s pretty obvious we’re gonna have to. This could be someone down on her luck just trying to make sure she leaves a kid she can’t afford in good hands.”

  “Yeah, but by that logic,” Orlando had argued, “wouldn’t her little scheme be over the moment the paternity test came back negative?” Beast hadn’t been able to argue, but both of Orlando’s two best friends were suspicious about the whole thing. He knew they just meant well and were worried he’d end up scammed or worse—heartbroken. Never in a million years would he have believed it if someone had posed the situation as a hypothetical question to him that he’d be feeling this way. But the more he thought about it, the more excited he got about the possibility.

  Felicia was still staring at him, as speechless as he’d known she’d be. Until he found out for sure if the kid was actually his and what that meant for their future, he had no idea what else to say to her. When he didn’t offer more about his thoughts on whether the baby was his or not, she moved on to the next question he’d known she’d be asking. “Do you have any idea who the mother might be?”

  Shrugging again, he exhaled sharply. “A few girls come to mind, but to be honest at this point I don’t think it matters. Push comes to shove and it turns out he is mine, I’ll make damn sure whatever bitch could just walk away from him so easily never gets him back. I’ll be raising this kid alone.”

  Her brow arched, and for the first time since Orlando started telling her all this, she no longer looked as floored as he’d felt the day he found the baby at his doorstep. Now she seemed hurt. It almost irritated him. Was she expecting an apology for something that happened long before he’d even met her? It’s why her next question took him by surprise. “By yourself? What about me?”

  What about you? The words almost slipped out until he realized what she was hurt about. He’d been so caught up in this insanity that he hadn’t even given any thought as to how this could or would change things between him and Felicia. In his defense, he’d expected she’d want out. And he wouldn’t have blamed her. Nine was the only person he knew that’d been more than willing to take on the role of stepdad to his girl’s kid. But things between him and Drew were completely different. Even if he didn’t admit it then, Nine had been balls-to-the-wall whipped over Drew almost as soon as they first connected. As long as Orlando had known Felicia now, he just wasn’t there yet. If the tables were turned here, he knew he’d likely take a step back, so he just assumed she would too. Clearing his throat and stumbling with his words, he finally got something out. “I, uh . . . well, I just meant his mom will be out of the picture if I have anything to do with it.” He reached across the kitchen island for her hand and kissed it. A part of him was wa
rmed by the fact that she hadn’t made a beeline to the door when she heard he was very likely a single dad now. “I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about this, but I don’t want you feeling like you have to pretend to be okay with it.”

  “Pretend to be okay with having a boyfriend who, after just a couple of days of finding out he might be a dad, is so ready to own up to it?” She smiled big. “I didn’t think I could possibly be more attracted to you.”

  Boyfriend? Instantly, Orlando was torn. While he appreciated Felicia’s willingness to step up and stand by him through this, if he thought he had too much going on before to be able to commit to anything, his life was about to get even crazier.

  Orlando smiled, feeling like a coward about not addressing her boyfriend comment, but he did want to make one thing clear. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen yet, Felicia. All I know is I have even more going on now. Or will have more once I find out for sure if he’s mine. I just wanted to be honest with you about this and let you know what’s going on.”

  Felicia’s smile waned a bit when she understood this was his response to her boyfriend comment. For a moment, she even looked embarrassed by it, but she shrugged. “I understand. I mean, of course, this is life-changing. But I just want you to know, if there’s anything I can do, you can count on me.”

  “Thanks.” He nodded but he’d leave it at that. Last thing he needed was for Felicia to start jumping the gun with their relationship when he had something so much bigger to focus on now. She’d been cool from the beginning, and her offering to help was a nice gesture. But he didn’t want to give her the idea that, by life-changing, this meant he was ready for any other type of commitments. He’d leave things between him and Felicia as is for now. But if she ever used the B-word again to describe his relationship with her, he’d be sure to address it.