Page 26 of Heartache & Playdates
We’d spent a lot of time at Alex and Ash’s apartment during the time we were together. We’d babysat AJ, who was around one. I remember watching Peyton with him and thinking what an amazing mom she’d be one day.
“How is he?” As soon as she asked the question, she shook her head. “That’s a stupid question. I’m sure he’s devastated. Ash and AJ were…everything to him.”
“He’s okay. I couldn’t have said that a year ago. Nick and I were really worried about him. He just sort of, I don’t know, shut down when he lost them. He had to keep going because he had Lexi, but it was like he was a robot, or on auto-pilot.”
Peyton nodded in understanding. “Of course.”
“But then he met Sadie.”
Peyton’s eyes lit up. I’d always loved that about her. Every emotion she had was advertised on her face. She was so expressive. So real. So honest. Which was another reason her taking off without saying goodbye had hurt so much. I trusted her, more than I trusted anyone except Alex and Nick.
She’d always said that she had a hard time expressing what she was feeling, but to me she didn’t have to. You could see it on her face.
“Sadie?” she repeated.
“Yeah, he didn’t really date and was completely closed off. But one day, he walked into a bakery, saw her and, it was game over. He fought it, of course, but they are engaged and just had a baby. Penelope. Lexi named her.”
“Really?” Her bottom lids filled with moisture, and she smiled from ear to ear. “And how’s Nick? Is he still…” her question trailed off.
“A man-whore? Yes. I thought fatherhood would slow him down, but if anything, having Bella just opens up more opportunities for him to meet women.”
“He’s a father?” Her eyes widened.
“Yeah, he had a real-lifeThree Men and a Babysituation.”
“What?” She chuckled as her full cherry red lips parted and a huge smile spread on her face. There it was. The smile. The smile that could end wars or start them. The smile that had cast a spell on me that I was still under.
That smile spread through me like butter on a hot skillet. It coated my soul, my heart, my entire being. I hadn’t seen it yet, but there it was.
I took in a shaky breath and did my best not to let her see how much she was affecting me. “Um, yeah, he uh opened his front door and there was a baby in a stroller with a note that said her name was Isabella and he was the father.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah, that was his thinking, too.”
“What did he do?”
“He got a paternity test, contacted his lawyer and hired a nanny.”
“Wow. That’s so…”
“Un-Nick-like,” I finished for her.
She grinned as her eyes twinkled up at me. “I was going to say responsible, but same thing.”
I laughed. “Yeah, it is.”
“And then what?” she asked.
“The paternity test came back two days later. I actually read the results out loud like we were on Maury. Nicholas Matthew Locke you are the father.”
Her smile widened. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, and then he spent months and a small fortune on private investigators to find Bella’s mom. She turned out to be a model he hooked up with once. She asked him not to go the media, and he said he wouldn’t if she signed over her parental rights to him. She did, and I have to tell you, I never thought Nick would or should have kids, but he is an amazing dad. I guess you just never know what a person’s going to be like as a parent until they’re in the situation.”
Her lips pursed and she nodded.
“And honestly, I feel bad for Bella’s mom. She’s such a great kid and I don’t think her mom has any idea what she’s missing out on.”
