Page 76 of Off Limits Daddies
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. The sound cuts through the peaceful aftermath like a warning bell. I ignore it. It buzzes again. Then again, insistent and demanding.
"You should probably get that," Mia says, lifting her head to look at me.
Annoyed, I reach for the phone. Unknown number. My gut tightens. Nothing good ever comes from unknown numbers at this hour. I almost decline, but something makes me answer. Maybe it's instinct. Maybe it's the same feeling I get right before a play goes sideways on the field.
"Hello?"
"Is this Blake Morgan?" A woman's voice, professional and strained.
"Yeah. Who's this?"
"Mr. Morgan, this is Nurse Patterson from County General Hospital. I'm calling about your daughter."
My entire body goes rigid. The words don't make sense. They can't make sense. "I don't have a daughter."
Jack and Noah both sit up, their movements sharp and alert. Mia's hand finds mine, squeezing gently. I can feel all three of them staring at me, tension radiating through the bed.
There's a pause on the other end of the line. "Mr. Morgan, I understand this must be a shock. But according to the birth certificate we have on file, you are listed as the father of a seven-year-old girl named Lily Morgan."
Seven years old. My mind races backward, trying to calculate, trying to make sense of this. "That's impossible." My voice sounds strange, distant, like it's coming from someone else. "There must be some mistake."
"I'm afraid there's no mistake, sir." The nurse's voice turns somber. "The child's mother was brought in earlier this evening following a car accident. She said you needed to know about your daughter. Just before she passed away."
31
MIA
Blake's face drains of color as he stares at his phone, the device trembling in his hand. Jack and Noah exchange confused glances across my bed.
"Blake?" I reach for him, my fingers finding his forearm. His muscles are rigid beneath my touch. "What's wrong?"
He doesn't answer immediately, just keeps staring at the screen. When he finally speaks, his voice sounds hollow.
"They're saying I have a daughter."
The words hang in the air. Jack leans forward. "What? Who?"
"County General Hospital. My ex-girlfriend from college died in a car accident tonight. Before she passed, she told them about her six-year-old daughter. Said I'm the father."
Noah adjusts his glasses.
"College. We dated for maybe three months my junior year. It wasn't serious. She broke it off and I never heard from her again."
I squeeze his arm gently. "You need to go to the hospital."
"I don't even know if it's true." But I can see the wheels turning in his head, calculating dates and possibilities.
Somewhere in that hospital, a little girl just lost her mother and learned her father exists in the same devastating moment.
"I'll go with you." The words leave my mouth before I fully think them through, but I mean them.
"Mia, you don't have to do that." Blake's brown eyes meet mine, and I see fear there mixed with gratitude.
"You're not dealing with anything alone. That's not how this works."
Jack stands. "We should all go."
Blake shakes his head. "I think that would be too much."
