Baby Daddies

Chapter Twenty-Two: 1706

With the house to himself, Cole had invited Naomi and the rest of the gang over to discuss their plan that Tuesday night.  For now, she was the only one who’d turned up on time.  Paul was busy with basketball practice and Noah had some business with another friend to take care of.  The two of them sat in the living room, quietly sipping from their soda cans.  “I heard what you did last night.  Saw the video you made,” he grinned.

“It’s like I never get to take a break.  One minute, I’m saving you guys then I’ve got another pair of gays to help out.”

“Our hero,” he chuckled.

“It’s all in a day’s work.  His mom is a bit of a bitch, though, I can’t lie.  I met her when she was handing out these fliers in the park.”  Cole choked on his drink.

“The fake coupons?  That was August’s mom?”

“Mhm.  She owes Quincey’s the price of one of our meals.”  Cole nodded and turned to face the television.  There was no reason behind why he found horrible reality shows so entertaining, but he did.  It was as if everything put together was so bad that he loved it.  Two of the girls were taking a picture with a six foot giant of a jock.  He had an arm around either of them, playfully grabbing at their breasts.  A twinge of sadness struck his chest and he reached for the remote.  Too close for comfort.  Naomi knew something was bothering him but had no idea that it was about the picture upstairs in his shoebox.

Thankfully there was a knock at the door.  It gave him an excuse to leap off the couch and run to see who it was.  Who stood on his steps when he did took him by surprise.  Rather than just Noah and Paul, three others stood behind him.  Kacey, Laura, and Kendall.  “Surprise,” Paul smiled, letting himself into the house.  The others followed behind him.

“What… what’re you all doing here?” Cole asked.

“We’re here to fix a problem,” Kendall said.  He sounded confident in himself which was surprising to Cole.  Just yesterday, he’d seemed apprehensive to speak his mind or utter a word that defied the leader that Anthony seemed to be.  But here he was, ready to fix their baby situation.  “I shouldn’t have helped them steal your kid.  If I don’t help, I’ll be responsible for the death an innocent baby.”

“A little dramatic, but we’ll take it,” they all heard Naomi call from the living room.  Kendall shrugged and put an arm around Laura’s waist.

“And you, Kacey?” Cole said.

“Noah said he’d take me on a date.”  She smiled triumphantly, her hands rising to her hips and her hair whipping over her shoulder.  Cole bit his cheek to keep from smiling.  Instead, he glanced at Noah who had been staring at him, waiting for his reaction.

“I’m sure it’ll be great,” he smiled, taking a deep breath.

“It better be.  I’m not an easy to impress,” Kacey explained.

“I don’t doubt that,” Cole said quietly, waving the others into the living room as he walked.  They followed, taking up seats on the couch and armchairs around the room.  Paul took a seat next to Naomi, nudging her with his shoulder.  She smiled sweetly and pinched his thigh.

“Hey!” he exclaimed.

“Alright, so we have, what, seven people?  That’s enough to intimidate him.  Maybe just seeing that people don’t think he’s funny will make him give Robert back,” Noah offered.  From his tone of voice, he didn’t sound too sure of himself.

“Man, you and I both know that’s not the case.  We’ve both been around the guy for a while, and when has he ever listened to other people?  That’s not how Anthony works.”  As much as he wanted Kendall to be wrong, Cole didn’t think he was.  Anthony was willing to do almost anything for a laugh or embarrass somebody else.  He threw insults almost professionally, and he had people who did whatever he wanted.