Don't Worry Baby_A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance

by Eva Luxe

  Logan wrapped her arms around her mother, allowing her to cry on her shoulder for once.

  “Should I come home?” Logan asked. “Move back here? I could take a semester off. You know what, I am not even asking. I am doing it.”

  Tracy shook her head. “No. That would kill him. He loves knowing you’re living your life and your dream. Having you home would break his heart. He’d feel like he’d let you down. His heart couldn’t take it, sweetie.”

  Logan shook her head in frustration. “I can’t just do nothing. I can’t just go to class, play soccer, see Solomon, and pretend my favorite person in the world isn’t dying. It’s killing me.”

  Her mother’s expression changed for a moment.

  “See Solomon? Who is Solomon?” Her mother had forgotten her grief for a moment. “Logan Lowery, you have never mentioned a Solomon. Or any boy or man before. So… spill.”

  Logan shook her head. “It’s nothing. Not important. He’s just a friend.”

  “He is so not just a friend,” her mother smiled. “Tell me about him.”

  Logan paused. What did she even know about Solomon Kano? Their runs and their talks tended to be centered around her. Solomon knew her father was sick. He knew her entire story from birth to now. He’d asked her a million questions about herself but had actually revealed very little about himself in return.

  She hadn’t realized that until just this moment.

  “Solomon. Well… he’s from Fiji. But he lives here in Cincinnati with his uncle. I think his parents might be dead, but I haven’t asked and he doesn’t talk about them. It’s just something I kind of assume. He’s a judoka who is training for the Rio Olympics. He likes Scorcese movies and chocolate and peanut butter ice cream from Graeters. We eat some at least once a week after our runs.” She paused. Was that seriously all she knew about him?

  “So is he your boyfriend?” her mother asked.

  Logan sighed. “No. Neither of us have time for something like that. He’s just… a friend. Who makes me happy. He’s helped take my mind off things. Which makes me feel guilty.” She looked at her mother expecting a disapproving look.

  But instead her mother was smiling. For the first time in a long time.

  “You should invite him over for dinner,” she replied. “I’d like to meet him. I know your dad would too.”

  Logan squirmed. “Ugh, Mom. I don’t know… I mean, I know I like him a lot, but I don’t know how he feels about me. I think meeting the parents might be kind of a little much?”

  Tracy Lowery looked at her daughter, sad again.

  “But, Logan,” she said. “We don’t know how much time we have with Daddy. I think it would be nice for him to have the experience… Of making a guy who likes you nervous in his presence.”

  Logan laughed. “Oh Lord. I can’t even imagine what Dad would be like to a guy I brought home.” Logan stared out into the living room where her father was watching a Seinfeld rerun. “Mom? What if he doesn’t like me?”

  “Impossible,” her mother said, leaning over to kiss her head. “You’re beautiful. Smart. Talented. You’re a Lowery.”

  And with that, any point Logan might have had was made moot.

  * * *

  “So,” Logan said the next week after one of their longer runs and walks. “I have what is probably a very weird question.”

  Solomon was spread out on the grass, his chest still rising and falling after their latest sprint. He rolled over on his side and propped his head up with his arm.

  “I’ll try not to give a very weird answer,” he said, a smile on his face.

  “Well,” Logan had never been so nervous. And she wasn’t someone who got nervous. “I was wondering… If you’d like to meet my parents. Have dinner with them I mean.”

  Solomon looked at her, surprise marking his handsome face.

  “Well, that wasn’t the question I expected,” he replied.

  Logan looked down at her legs, embarrassed. He didn’t feel how she felt. This was all so stupid.

  “I was talking to my mom about you and she wanted me to ask you over… But I know, it’s weird. I mean. We’re just friends,” she said. She looked up at him and was pleasantly surprised to see him grinning at her.

  “Are we?” he asked. “Just friends?”

  Before she could say anything else, he wrapped one of his large, muscled forearms around her waist and pulled her toward him. Their bodies were completely touching now, their sweat intermingling.

  “No,” she admitted. “We’re something else. But I don’t know what.”

  Without any hesitation, he attempted to give her a definition of what they were.

  He kissed her powerfully, pouring his passion into her trembling body.

  The kiss, unlike any Logan had ever received, left her weak at the knees and clamoring for more of Solomon. Over her initial surprise, she emptied her own voracious need into him, a hand on the back of his head and the other on his granite chest.

  When they each withdrew, both Solomon and Logan found themselves out of breath and aching for the other. They kissed again, smaller and quicker, but neither really wanted to stop. Logan put both hands on Solomon’s chest to establish a boundary of sorts.

  “Well, if that doesn’t make it clear that we’re not just friends, I don’t know what else will,” she said, but even then she didn’t believe her own words, the size of Solomon’s swelling bulge so near to her giving her plenty of ideas of other things they could do to prove their less than platonic desire for the other.

  “I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you,” he whispered in her ear, making goosebumps come up on her skin. “And yes. I’d love to meet your parents.”

  She grinned, relieved to know they might just be on the same page.

  Maybe Solomon was as crazy about Logan as she was about him.

  * * *

  Logan and Solomon drove together to her parents’ house which was right outside of Dayton. Logan wasn’t one to get nervous but she couldn’t deny it; she was terrifically anxious for Solomon to meet her father.

  Solomon held her hand as he drove, amused at her clear fidgeting.

  “Why are you so nervous?” he asked, squeezing her hand. “Are they not going to like me?”

  Logan shook her head. “They’ll adore you. Who wouldn’t? I… I’ve just never brought a guy home before.”

  Solomon looked at her, seemingly shocked at this news. “Come on. You must’ve had a million guys clamoring to get to you. I can’t be the first.”

  Logan smiled. “I guess none of them quite hit the mark. Until the great Solomon Kano ran into me.”

  At a stoplight before their neighborhood, Solomon kissed her for so long that the car behind them had to honk to remind them that the light was green, and it meant go.

  * * *

  “Solomon!”

  Tracy Lowery’s hug was inescapable. She’d opened the double wood paneled front door for the couple and immediately embraced the tall, bulky, and confused Solomon.

  It was one of the best hugs of his life.

  Logan’s mother reminded him a bit of her. They both had such a positive spirit about them. Both were tall and willowy.

  He liked Mrs. Lowery immediately and was instantly at ease in her presence.

  Which made Logan feel a lot better. Her momma was always one to be counted on in awkward situations.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Lowery,” Solomon said.

  “Oh! Call me Tracy!” she said. “And my… You’re a handsome young man.”

  “Mom,” Logan said, embarrassed. “You’re flirting.”

  “I am not,” Tracy said as they followed her through the door and into the foyer. “Maybe a little. I’m just so excited to have you with us tonight. Do you like chicken pot pie?”

  Solomon nodded. “I do. I think. Actually… I’m not sure I’ve had it before.”

  Tracy clapped her hands. “Well, it’s Logan’s favorite! And not to toot my own horn, but I make a pre
tty mean pot pie. Come on in to the living room, you can meet Logan’s father.”

  That last sentence made both Logan and Solomon’s stomachs fall.

  Solomon had never met a girl’s father before. His palms began to sweat. Logan squeezed his hand for reassurance.

  “He’s going to love you,” she whispered. “I hope you love him too.”

  Before Solomon could reply, they were in front of the great Chuck Lowery. This was the man Logan held up as an example of the perfect human. He’d raised her and adored her. Solomon knew Chuck’s opinion was the most important opinion of all when it came to Logan.

  And as soon as Solomon saw him, he wanted to cry.

  Chuck Lowery was skeletal. He sat in a recliner, pillows piled up around him to help him sit up. The cancer was doing it’s worst in a quick fashion, and Solomon could hardly make eye contact with him because his appearance was so heartbreaking.

  “Kiddo,” Chuck croaked out, his voice dry and hoarse. His customary loud timbre had also been beaten down by his illness. Logan walked over to him, gently wrapping her arms around him.

  “Hi, Daddy,” Logan said. “I brought a guest.”

  “I heard,” Chuck said, looking up at Solomon. “She tells me you’re a judoka.”

  “Yes, sir,” Solomon said, putting a smile on his face. “Or at least, trying to be.”

  “I’d say,” Chuck replied, holding up a newspaper. “Just read an article about you heading to Brussels for a match next month. You’re the real deal.”

  Logan lit up. Her father had researched him. That was a good sign. And melted her heart.

  Solomon blushed. “Thank you, sir. Yes, I have a tournament next month. It will help decide if I have a chance of going to Rio.”

  Chuck smiled, the light in his eyes back for a moment. “That sounds wonderful. And Logan tells me you are hoping to represent Fiji, right?”

  Solomon looked over at Logan. “Yes, sir. I hope to bring home their first Olympic medal. Though it may not happen in Rio. But maybe in 2020, when we go to Tokyo. Rio will be good practice for me.”

  Chuck shook his head. “Solomon, I already like you. But may I give you one piece of advice?”

  “Of course,” Solomon said. “I’d be happy to hear it.”

  “Don’t go in assuming you’ll have another Olympics,” Chuck said. “We aren’t guaranteed shit in life. That’s a hard lesson I’ve had to learn recently. You go to Rio like it’s the only Olympics you’ll ever see. You take down the competition and you win, Solomon. Don’t wait for another chance that may never come. Seize the moment.” Chuck looked Solomon right in the eyes, his own having tears rimming them. “Do it for me, okay?”

  Solomon tried his best to keep his composure. “Of course, sir. I’d be nothing but honored.”

  Chuck smiled. “A great hero of mine said once, ‘You become what you think you are.’ Have you heard that before?”

  “Yes. Muhammad Ali,” Solomon replied. “He said that. He’s one of my heroes too.”

  Chuck looked over at Logan. “This one’s a good one, kiddo. Let’s keep him around a while, okay?”

  Logan rolled her eyes but inside she was beaming.

  She would never forget this day.

  Because it was the first and only time Solomon would get to speak to her father.

  Chapter 15 - Solomon

  Meeting Logan’s family had taken them to a new level of affection and trust. He felt like he knew her, really knew her, in a way he hadn’t before.

  And her father. He was an amazing man. It killed Solomon that he never got to meet her father when he was well.

  Chuck Lowery clearly loved Logan and his wife more than anything in the world. It made Solomon ache for his own father, a man he’d never even known.

  What would Jack O’Connor be like? Solomon liked to think he might be a lot like Chuck Lowery.

  * * *

  He couldn’t take his mind off her. She was always in his thoughts. His uncle would comment on his trance-like states at training and Solomon would laugh it off.

  They’d still run in the evenings and eat dinner in the dining hall or at Uptown Chili. Solomon felt himself laying down his guard when he was with her. If nothing else, she made him feel safe.

  And one night, Solomon would be the one called to return the favor.

  * * *

  “Solomon!”

  It was Logan. His cell had started buzzing on his nightstand in the middle of the night. It had taken him a moment to wake up and realize it was his phone and not some weird dream. First he glanced at his alarm clock (2:47 am. He would never forget) and once he saw Logan’s name on his caller ID, he was immediately wide awake. He sat up and pressed the button to answer, nervous already.

  Good news never came at 2:47 am.

  “Solomon, my dad died.”

  Her wailing, her anguish, her pain, was so thick that Solomon almost broke down right then. He’d never heard a voice like Logan’s in that moment. It was pure despondency, the worst kind of heart ache.

  And there was nothing he could do about it.

  “Logan,” he said. “Where are you? Right now?”

  “In my dorm room,” she sobbed. “My mom just called. He was fine earlier, I just talked to him about San Diego and National team tryouts…” Her voice cracked, her sob choking her for a long moment. “I’m all alone. And my dad is dead.”

  Solomon was already pulling on a t-shirt as he spoke to her.

  “I’m on my way over right now,” he said. “Give me five minutes.”

  * * *

  When she answered her door she immediately collapsed into his arms. He picked her up, clutching her to his chest, lifting her off the floor to hold her, to comfort her.

  But this kind of agony wasn’t something he could heal with touch or words. This was something only to be survived.

  But he’d survive it with her. Solomon wouldn’t leave her by herself.

  “Do you need me to take you home?” he asked as she wept into his chest. “Logan, what can I do?”

  “Erase me,” she cried. “I don’t want to exist without him.”

  “I couldn’t bear that,” Solomon said, kissing her head. “I don’t know what to do or say. I’d do anything I could… I’m so sorry.”

  She clutched his shirt in her hands, her cries echoing around them, breaking his heart.

  “Drive me to my mom,” she finally said. “The only person in the world that is as sad as me… Is her.”

  * * *

  Solomon had never been to a funeral.

  Chuck Lowery’s funeral was a packed house, as he himself would have said. And been proud of.

  Solomon sat next to Logan who sat next to her mother, who was so distraught at the sudden loss of her husband that she’d been half sedated for most of the last 3 days.

  Although Chuck had been dying, he’d been gone too soon. Tracy Lowery had expected more time. She needed more time. And no one could comfort her, not even her own daughter.

  Being that Mrs. Lowery was out of sorts, it had been up to Logan to come up with a eulogy, something she’d worked on late the night before while Solomon had lied sleeping on the couch in the living room of her childhood home. He refused to leave her side.

  “I’m so nervous,” she’d confessed to him that morning. “It’s so many people and I’m afraid I won’t have the right words.”

  “Speak from your soul,” Solomon said. “You are his most prized accomplishment. You can do no wrong. I promise.”

  She kissed him then, softly.

  “I have no idea how someone like you actually exists,” she said, touching his face. “But thank you. For being here. You did not sign up for this mess. And I am a complete mess, Solomon.”

  “Anyone would be,” Solomon said. “Now. Go. Make your father proud.”

  Logan had stood confidently at the pulpit of the Catholic church she had grown up going to. The same church Chuck Lowery had grown up going to. Where they’d both been baptized as babi
es, taken first communion as children.

  Logan never in a million years imagined she’d one day be eulogizing her father in this church that he’d raised her in.

  She took a deep breath and looked out at the hundreds of people gathered in the church to pay respects to Chuck Lowery. Some were fellow coaches and teachers. A huge majority were former students and athletes, almost all of them crying as she stepped up to the stage.

  It was time to say something.

  She’d decided it was easiest to write a letter and speak to the crowd as if she was speaking to her father.

  “Dad,” she started, her hands shaking. “This was unexpected. So I have struggled with what I should say. Because not that I could ever be ready for you to leave us, but I made the grave mistake of thinking I had more time with you. To say the things I wanted to say, to tell you everything you needed to know.”

  She paused looking out at the audience. She sought out Solomon’s face. He nodded, letting her know she was fine. She sighed.

  “But I should have known better. The theme of my entire, majestic, perfect childhood was ‘Seizing the day.’ You taught me every day to do my best, to wake up and throw myself at life. So I did. I threw myself at everything. Sometimes literally! But your lesson was always clear. Each day is a gift. Treat it like one. It’s not just a Hallmark card. It’s the truth.”

  She choked up for a moment but was able to gain her composure.

  “I have never known a man as good as you are. You are good right down to your bone marrow. Your words were always kind, even when you were scolding. You always strived to do right by those around you. You had your glory days before me, times I am sure you missed. But you always made me feel…” Logan was crying now. “You always made me feel like my life was your glory days. You looked at me like I was the most amazing thing you’d ever seen. People would say to me, ‘You’re Chuck Lowery’s daughter.’ But if you were standing there you’d say, ‘No. I’m Logan Lowery’s father.’ You made me believe I was important and that I was capable of doing great things.”