“Hey, Chuck. Bad plan. Tying yourself up for eighteen years? To the baby and—” Brian was pretty sure he was going to say “Lori,” and from the narrowing of her eyes, so was she. “What if she asks for child support, huh?”
“That’s not what this is about,” Lori snapped.
Damon said, “Don’t do it, Lor. You can’t afford to get mixed up in a court case if he tries anything. Let me make a fake dad.”
“I want Josh to have a chance at a picket-fence life.”
“We used to laugh at people like that.”
Because we couldn’t admit how bad we wanted it. Brian remembered trick-or-treating in neighborhoods like that. Lori and Damon would be strategizing— “The road to the left has more decorations out.” —while he just wished… Maybe Lori had been wishing too.
“Things change,” she said.
“You’d take this size gamble, for that?” Damon demanded.
Lori glared at him. “You’re not the only person who can tell what someone’s like. Charlie’s a good guy.”
Brian watched as his siblings had a brief but intense battle of meaningful looks. A sucker, you mean? Someone you can use? Or are you telling the truth this time? He was surprised to see Damon be the one to shrug a shoulder and step back.
Nick said slowly, “If Brian might be the dad, maybe I should—”
“No!” Lori snapped. “No offense, Nok Nick, but not a fucking chance in hell.” She turned to Charlie. “If we do this, Josh is still my kid, and only my kid to raise. This is just on paper, in case. It doesn’t give you the right to take over. I sign away child support, you sign away meddling as long as I’m alive. You good with that?”
Charlie raised his hands in acceptance, the bad one slow and halfway. “Yes. I’ll be your backstop.”
“You’re a better man than I am.” Nick turned forcefully to Lori. “He is the better man. Don’t you screw him over.”
“I’m not the fucking better man, Nicko,” Charlie said.
“Well, maybe not if you’re gonna cuss around the fucking baby.”
Zander faced Brian, his tone gentle. “If you are the biological father, you’d have a harder time getting rights later with Charlie on the certificate, than if it’s blank. DNA works, but it’d be messy, especially if it indicates, um, related parents.”
“If I am his father, I’m never telling Joshie,” Brian said. “Can you imagine?” He shivered. “No. Nope. Charlie. Charlie’s good.” A rush of relief flooded through him, making him light-headed and giddy. Lori could be the mom and Charlie the sort-of dad, and he could be an uncle. He could take care of Joshie as family, but without the complications. Without the guilt and the pressure and the wondering. “You already live together. Charlie would be a great dad. Excellent dad. He’s dad-like. Daddyish.” He pressed his lips shut. Dr. Murphy. Tomorrow.
There was a moment of silence as they all exchanged glances. Finally, Zander said, “Lori, Charlie, that works for you?”
Damon said, “I can still snatch him if need be, no matter whose name’s on there.”
Lori looked back and forth between the baby in her arms and Charlie, and finally nodded. “Yeah. I’ve lived with the dude for weeks. He’s got a bee in his bonnet about some stuff, but he’s reliable. Charlie Connors, official dad. Although I’m keeping Anderson for Josh’s last name.”
“Fine with me.” Charlie slid his finger up the baby blanket and stroked over the tiny pale-pink cheek. “Hi, Joshie, any time you need me, you’ve got me.”
Lori coughed. “Don’t get carried away. But thank you. You can hold him for a bit if you want. I need to pee and clean up and sleep, and I don’t want to touch him by accident and hurt him. Put him down in the crib when you’re done?”
Charlie’s smile was slow and brilliant as he lifted the wrapped baby carefully out of her hands, trying out a one-armed cradle of the precious bundle against his wide chest. He stared down, like Josh was the best thing he’d ever seen.
Brian’s heart hurt. Why is my life never simple? If Lori was someone else, anyone else, that could be his baby for real. Except if she was somebody else, there’d be no baby. He wanted to take Josh, to claim him, and yet that would be a disaster. He couldn’t deny his relief, the selfish feeling of a weight off his back. This room was already cluttered with a crib and changing table and piles of stuff. Bottles out on the dresser,