Cowboy Baby Daddy

by Claire Adams

  “Oh yeah?” she said in a tone that let me know she was totally uninterested in my plan.

  “Well, if you don’t want to go visit Gram and Gramps, I can call them and tell them you’ve got other plans,” I said casually.

  “Gram and Gramps are back?” Nina said excitedly. “When did they come home? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Yep, they’re back for the holiday, and we’re heading over to help put up the tree,” I said, smiling as Nina reached over and turned up the radio as the Boss belted out “Santa Claus is coming to town! Santa Claus is coming to town!”

  We sang every Christmas song that came on the radio as we drove to my parents’ house. Nina rolled her eyes and scolded me when I got the lyrics to “All I Want for Christmas” wrong. I laughed and kept singing as she danced in the passenger seat, full of holiday cheer.

  My parents were in the driveway looking up at the roof when we pulled up in front of the house. I followed their gaze and saw my brother, knee-deep in snow, on the roof of the house installing a large sleigh behind 12 reindeer outlined in white lights.

  “Have you all lost your mind?” I asked, as I walked up the drive.

  “Gram! Gramps!” Nina exclaimed, as she took off in a dead run and threw her arms around my dad, hugging him tightly.

  “Punkin Pie! How the heck ya been?” my dad laughed, as he hugged his only granddaughter. “We missed you, kiddo!”

  “I missed you, too, Gramps,” Nina said, as he set her down and she turned to hug my mother, declaring, “Gram! You look amazing! So modern!”

  “You’re looking pretty good yourself, Punkin!” my mother smiled. Nina was right; she did look amazing. She’d cut her silver hair shorter than I’d ever seen it before, and she was wearing a purple tunic over black leggings and ankle boots. She looked young and hip next to my father, who was wearing his usual button-down oxford with a cardigan and tan khakis.

  “Hiya, Dad,” I said, hugging my dad then turning to my mom and kissing her cheek. “What on earth is Brian doing?”

  “Your father wanted to put Santa’s sleigh on the roof one more time before we got rid of it, and Brian was the lucky volunteer,” she said, rolling her eyes. “This is the epitome of holiday insanity, so I’m taking my granddaughter inside and making hot chocolate. When you boys are ready to be sane, please come join us.”

  “Ellie, it’s not that bad,” my father said.

  “All I’m saying is that if my son falls off that roof, he’d better come crying to you, not me,” my mother said firmly, as she put an arm around Nina and led her back into the house.

  “She’s right, you know,” I said to my father. “This is totally insane.”

  “Yeah, I know, but she wanted it up there just as much as I did,” my father grinned. “She just doesn’t want to admit it.”

  “Hurry up, slowpoke!” I shouted at my brother. “Mom’s making hot chocolate, and I want to drink it before the marshmallows melt!”

  “Then get your lazy ass up here and help me, big brother!” Brian yelled back, as he hammered on the roof.

  “Not a snowball’s chance in hell,” I muttered to my father as I slapped his back. “How was the trip, Dad?”

  “It was interesting and exhilarating, but I’m glad to be home with you guys for the holidays,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “How are things down at the fire station?”

  “Same old, same old,” I said, as we watched Brian nimbly walk across the roof and descend the ladder. He crossed the drive and wrapped me in a bear hug as he slapped my back.

  “Good to see you, bro!”

  “You too,” I said, pounding his back and then tousling his hair. “I miss being able to pick on my little brother.”

  “You’ll get plenty of opportunities,” he grinned, as he folded up the ladder and stored it back in the garage. “I’m gonna stick around for a month or two before I go back to Brazil.”

  “Hot chocolate is ready, boys!” my mother called, as she cracked the garage door and then quickly closed it again.

  Inside, Nina and my mother had laid out a spread of cookies, fruitcake, and hot chocolate on the kitchen counter. I helped myself to some sweets and then joined the rest in the family room, where my mother had turned on carols and told us it was now our job to decorate the bare tree that stood towering over the room. I looked over at Nina and noticed that her mood had shifted toward happy and relaxed as she pulled ornaments out of a box, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She worried me.

  We spent the afternoon decorating the Christmas tree while singing carols and reminiscing about holidays past until the sun sank below the horizon, leaving only a trace of pink and purple smudged in the night sky. When it came time to place the angel at the top of the tree, Brian hoisted his niece on his shoulders, despite my mother’s protest that someone was going to get hurt. Nina carefully placed the angel on the very top of the tree before Brian walked over to the couch and dumped her off into the soft, fluffy cushions.

  My father dimmed the lights and then flipped the switch, and the tree blazed in all its Christmas glory. We clapped and cheered our hard work as my mother called us for supper. Sitting around the table eating soup and fresh, homemade bread my mother had made as we talked about the past year and planned the one to come, I felt more at home than I had in a long time. I loved the fact that my parents were so active, but I missed them when they were gone.

  “So, what do you say, Blake?” my father asked.

  “Huh?” I replied.

  “Dad! You’re not listening!” Nina scolded. “You always tell me I need to pay attention, but you’re not!”

  “I was just thinking about something,” I said, trying to cover for myself.

  “I said, are you and Nina coming to Christmas Eve dinner?” my father repeated.

  “I can’t,” I said. “I’m working. But if Remy okays it, we’ll be here Christmas Day.”

  “Mom’s going to go to Nana and Papa’s,” Nina said. “She asked if I want to go, but I told her I wanted to stay here, so she’ll be fine with it.”

  “Are you sure about that, Punkin?” I asked warily. Nina had a bad habit of saying what she wanted when it wasn’t quite true.

  “Check with her when you drop me off,” she shrugged.

  “Well, good!” my mother declared. “I’m happy that I’ll have my whole family here at the same time!”

  After supper, my mother packed up bags of cookies and food for Nina and I before we headed home. Brian carried the bags out to my truck before I could protest that there was more food than we could eat in a month, let alone the week between now and Christmas. I watched Nina hug my parents tightly before we headed out to the truck.

  “See you next week!” Nina shouted through her open window as I backed out of the driveway. She rolled up the window and cranked the radio up saying, “Now, don’t screw up the lyrics this time, Dad!”

  “I’ll try not to,” I promised, as I smiled and pointed the truck towards home.

  Chapter Ten

  Emily

  Saturday morning, I woke up entirely too early, so I laid in bed enjoying Howard’s soft, fuzzy warmth under the flannel sheets and letting my thoughts wander back to Blake Gaston. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since he’d left my classroom, and the thoughts grew progressively racier this morning. As I let them flow, I felt the warmth spreading as I slowly caressed my body with one hand. I closed my eyes and imagined Blake’s face above mine as I slid my hand between my legs and softly stroked my already-damp panties.

  Just as I was about to move my hand lower, I felt a furry paw batting my eyes and ears.

  “Knock it off, Howard,” I growled, as I tried to shift my focus back to Blake. The paw tapped my lips as Howard mewed loudly. I opened one eye and said, “I’m not kidding, buddy. Knock it off!”

  Howard turned in a circle and then leaned his considerably large backside up against the side of my head as he began to methodically clean himself. I reached over and
shoved him off my head, but he dug in and resisted, leaving me no choice but to sit up and pick him up. By the time I’d relocated him to the other side of the bed, I’d lost the train of thought that I’d been working on.

  “You are a royal pain in the ass, mister,” I muttered, as I pulled a robe on over my pajamas and slid my feet into a battered pair of slippers. Howard lay on the bed looking up at me, blinking as if I’d disturbed his sleep. I waved a hand as I muttered a few choice curse words at him and walked to the kitchen.

  The house was freezing cold, but while I hated waking up in a frigid house, I also knew better than to leave the space heaters running while I was asleep. I flipped the switch on the heater in the kitchen and then went and flipped the one in the living room on, too. I started the coffee and then turned my attention to breakfast.

  Once the house had begun to warm up a bit, Howard strolled into the kitchen and hopped up on his stool.

  “Nice of you to join me, Mr. Lazy Pants,” I said, as I grabbed his bowl off the floor and filled it with his breakfast. I set the bowl down on the floor and watched as he eyed it and then shot me an irritated look before finally hopping down and walking over to it. I reminded him, “Beggars really can’t be choosers, you know.”

  As the coffee brewed, I set about making a full Saturday morning breakfast while I listened to the news. The Boston Celtics were playing a game tonight, and I was looking forward to kicking back on my couch and watching them increase their winning streak by one more game. Despite the fact that I always had work to do to prep or grade, I allowed myself complete freedom from work on Saturdays, and today was no exception.

  I’d just flipped the last of the pancakes and pulled the crisp pan of bacon out of the broiler when Kendra knocked on the back door. I opened it and was surprised to find her standing on the back porch holding a bag full of groceries.

  “What are you doing here so early?” I asked, taking the bag from her and peeking inside. It was full of fruit, vegetables, a carton of milk, and a variety of pastries. “What’s this for?”

  “I’m working all weekend and then leave on Monday morning bright and early,” she said. “Thought you might be able to do something with these.”

  “Indeed I can!” I said, as she walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee then rooted around in the bag and pulled out the milk. “Good thing you brought that; I used the last of mine on the pancakes. Want some breakfast?”

  “Yeah, sure, I could eat something,” she said, as she ran a hand through her curly dark hair and shrugged off her coat and tossed it into the living room. “You want some help?”

  “Yeah, grab some forks and napkins; we’ll eat in front of the television,” I said, as I put the food on plates and grabbed a bottle of syrup out of the cupboard.

  We sat down on the couch and I flipped on ESPN as Kendra doused her pancakes in syrup. We ate in silence as the commentators ran through the results of all the sports events the night before, and cheered silently as they, again, announced that the Celtics were leading the NBA and looked like they might win the championship this year.

  “How are the kids?” Kendra asked, as she leaned ran her finger around the edge of the plate and then offered her finger to Howard, who had jumped up between us and was now acting like we didn’t exist. He sniffed Kendra’s finger, blinked once, and then turned and walked away. KO laughed. “Wow, picky little bastard, isn’t he?”

  “He’s his own person,” I said, as Howard curled up at the far end of the couch and licked his paw before putting his head down and closing his eyes. “The kids are good. I met with one of my students’ fathers this week.”

  “Oh yeah? Helicopter parent come to read you the riot act about his precious angel?” she asked dryly.

  “No, actually he was a divorced dad who came to find out why his daughter is failing history,” I said, wondering if I wanted to tell KO just how hot Blake Gaston was.

  “Was he hot?” she asked, cutting through my question.

  “Unbelievably,” I said, grinning as I fanned myself.

  “Why didn’t you ask him out?”

  “KO! Are you kidding? That would violate about ten of the clauses in my teaching contact!” I protested.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” she shot back. “That’s utter bullshit. I mean, I can see you not dating students, but their parents? Bullshit.”

  “Well, I don’t think there’s a specific rule against dating a parent,” I admitted. “But it would feel weird to date a student’s dad, don’t you think?”

  “I don’t know, Em,” KO said, as she leaned back and laced her fingers behind her head. “We live in Waltham; it’s a small freakin’ town, and there are a limited number of eligible men around here. My theory is that if you like him and he likes you, you should go for it!”

  “I have no idea if he likes me,” I admitted. “I just can’t stop thinking about him, but there’s no way I’m going to just call him up and ask him out.”

  “What’s he do?”

  “Firefighter,” I said.

  “Oooh! That means he probably comes into the Clover!” KO said perking up. “You should come in and watch the game tonight! Maybe you’ll run into him! No harm, no foul if you meet him out on the town, my friend.”

  “You’re so bad,” I laughed.

  “We’re going to have the Celtics game on the big screen,” she teased. “And the drinks are two-for-one until 9!”

  “Fine! Fine! I’ll come sit on a stool at the bar and watch the basketball game while you work,” I laughed. “How pathetic is that?”

  “It’s only pathetic if you stay home and watch the game with your cat,” KO said. Howard opened one amber eye and looked at her disdainfully before rolling over and going back to sleep.

  That evening, I put on jeans and my Celtics jersey in anticipation of the game.

  “Sorry, buddy,” I said, as I flipped off the space heaters. From his spot curled up on the couch, Howard lifted his head, blinked once, and then curled back up and ignored me. “Can’t leave these things on if I’m not around. Stay curled up. I’ll turn them back on when I get home, okay?”

  I pulled up in front of The Lucky Clover and immediately found a front parking spot.

  “Great, this is pathetic,” I muttered under my breath, as I made my way across the room and sat down at the far end of the bar closest to the television screen and the back door. KO smiled and poured me a beer without saying a word as I sat waiting for the game to start.

  “Hey, darlin’,” a voice from behind me said halfway through the first quarter. “You waiting on your husband?”

  “Huh? What the—” I said, shifting my attention from the game to the guy now standing next to me.

  “You alone, darlin?” he asked.

  “Uh, yeah,” I said, scanning the bar for KO. She was at the other end pouring drinks for a group of guys who looked like they’d already had one too many.

  “What’s a pretty girl like you doing alone in a bar like this?” he said, before chuckling to himself.

  “Um, watching the Celtics kick the crap out of the Pistons,” I said in a flat tone that couldn’t be mistaken for anything but utter annoyance at the interruption.

  “Can I buy you a drink?” he asked, ignoring the frosty chill radiating off of me.

  “No thanks; I’m good,” I said, shifting my attention back to the screen but keeping him in my peripheral view.

  “So, you from around here?” he continued.

  “Look, I know you’re just a guy in a bar trying to make a connection with someone,” I said, turning to look at him. “But I’m not that someone. I’m here to watch the game, and I really don’t feel like being social. Not with you or anyone else, so I’m going to recommend that you pack up what you’re selling and move it a little further down the bar.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, no need to get hostile, babe,” he said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

  “I’m not hostile; I’m just trying to watch the game!” I
repeated, as I turned and looked up at the screen. “And you’re making me miss all the scoring! Now move on, buddy!”

  He picked up his drink, and as he moved several seats down the bar, I heard him repeating his opening line to a pretty brunette sitting alone nursing a drink. I muttered good riddance and then quickly felt my spirits lift as I watched Thomas sink a three-pointer from the side and take the Celtics lead into the double digits.

  “Hell yeah!” I shouted, as I pounded the bar.

  “Man, you turned that guy down cold,” KO grinned, as she nodded at the guy several seats down now intensely involved in a conversation with the brunette.

  “Didn’t seem to stop him from moving on,” I shrugged.

  “Girl, you’re a piece of work,” KO said, pouring me another beer and sliding it across the polished wood surface.

  I watched the Celtics cream the Pistons in peace as I drank a couple more beers, and by the time the game was over, I was in good spirits. KO and I talked for a bit as the late night patrons began to filter in, and as business picked up, I waved goodbye and headed home for the night wondering what Blake Gaston was doing.

  Chapter Eleven

  Blake

  I pulled up to the station on Christmas Eve and saw that Chief had gone all out on the annual cookout we threw for members of the community. The lawn in front of the fire station was covered in lights, and off to one side was an enormous blow-up Santa blaring Christmas carols from the bag next to his feet. I laughed as I grabbed my bag out of the truck and walked up the drive.

  Inside the station, Tony was in a foul mood as he slammed cases of soda and bottled water onto a dolly. I went back to the locker room and stored my stuff before I returned to the kitchen to help.

  “What’s up, man?” I asked, as I took a couple of cases of soda from him and set them on the dolly.

  “She’s driving me crazy, B!” Tony shouted, as he hauled three cases of water out of the storage closet and dropped them on top of the soda. “She’s got me doing things that aren’t my job!”