Page 75 of Hired By My Rich Baby Daddy

“Me!” Summer shouted, and I laughed. They were greedy as hell.

I took King’s hand in mine, and PB took Summer’s.

I glanced back at the headstone one last time and said, “Happy birthday, Reesie.”

Somehow, I managed to smile at it too before we all turned and walked to the car.

One Week Later…

It was my baby's first birthday and I was being evicted.

Let me back up though.

After not getting a response for those first couple of weeks, I made one last attempt to reach Ozy and his team after seeing mypositive pregnancytestand confirming it with my doctor. Still, nothing.

So, I stopped reaching out and made the decision to keep my baby.

And thank God I did, because Oaklynn was the happiest, cutest, smartest, chunkiest little thing I had ever laid eyes on.

She had his eyes. The same exact shape and the same long lashes. She laughed at everything. She said “mama,” “no,” and“bye-bye,” and she was already trying to walk on them little bowlegs.

The only thing I felt bad about was that I couldn't give her the life I wanted to give her.

Because seven months after she was born, I lost my job.

I had been at Hillcrest Early Learning for three years. I really loved that school, and the babies loved me. When I went out on maternity leave, my whole classroom made me a card with their little handprints all over it. I still had it in a box in my closet.

I came back from leave, and not even two weeks later, it was all over.

The whole strip the school sat on had been bought by some big corporation. They planned to knock everything down and put up a shopping plaza.

The neighborhood fought it. We had meetings, petitions, and parents standing outside with signs. That school was the only decent early learning center within walking distance for a lot of families.

Unfortunately, none of it mattered.

The paperwork had been signed months before anybody even knew about it, and every single one of us got laid off.

And here's the part that killed me.

It was the middle of the school year, so every school in the metro area was already staffed. I applied everywhere. Public, private, charter, church schools, learning centers—everywhere.

I got the same response every time.

We’ll keep your résumé on file for the next hiring cycle.

You’re on our waitlist.

Waitlist?

Ugh!

I had a good savings account. I wasn't the type to be out here living check to check with no cushion. But five months of rent, a car note, car insurance, groceries, gas, daycare, diapers, wipes,formula, clothes she outgrew every six weeks, shoes she outgrew even faster, doctor visits, and one emergency room trip when she spiked a fever ate through my money real quick.

I wasn't broke broke.

But I was close enough to ground zero, and honestly, I was scared.

Then the notice came on the door.