"Thank you so much for letting us stay," Evie said, holding her arms out so as to not bump into anything.
"You were serious about the blindfolds?" Mason asked from where he stood, leaning against the wall.
"Riley felt safer that way," Nate said. Once the door was shut, he removed Evie's blindfold and Riley removed Libby's.
As her vision adjusted to being back in the light, Evie looked around the room. "Nice place," she said. "So you two are settling– Who are they?" She pointed to the group of three men she did not recognise.
"Oh yeah," Nate quickly gestured to each man in turn as he introduced them: "That's Abraham, Vinícius, and Mason."
"Oh... Okay."
"Oh damn, Nate!" Mason exclaimed, getting a good look at the child among them. "Is that your–"
Nate made the "cut it out" gesture over his throat, which immediately shut the man up.
"Hey Libby," Riley said, actually smiling. "Why don't I show you where you'll be staying?"
"Okay!" the child said, and let Riley lead her down a hall.
"Now that she's gone," Mason said, "can we please discuss how she's literally a girl child clone of Nate?"
"She is not." Nate huffed.
"I look at her and all I see is you, Cooper," Evie said.
Nate was silent for a moment, then he groaned. "Fuck, you're right."
"I hate all of you," he said after a beat.
"Love you too," Riley sighed as she reentered the room. "Nate, I need to talk to you."
"What's wrong?" he asked, furrowing his brows.
"Just... come with me," the woman said, and started up the stairs to their room. Nate looked at the others with wide eyes, then hurried after her.
"What's wrong, Riley?" the man asked once they were in the bedroom and the door was closed.
"I got to thinking, while showing the kid around," the woman started, crossing her arms over her chest. "We need to be careful while they're here."
"It's just one night, babe."
"I know." She looked up at him, a glint in her eye. "But you know how we can get. We can barely hold ourselves together around the guys. And neither of us have any experience with children."
"Well, Libby's staying downstairs, we're up here." He bobbed his head a few times, as though telling her to put two and two together.
She let out a breathy laugh and shook her head. "The way you think is amazing."
"Is that a compliment?" the man asked, the corner of his mouth quirking up despite his confusion. "It sounded like both a compliment and an insult."
"Take it the way you want to take it," the woman said.
***
"Who wants dinner?" Vinícius called out. "I'm ordering more pizza."
There was a grumble of replies and the man beamed and hurried to find a phone.
"How long have you all been working with Nate and Riley?" Evie asked Abraham and Mason.
"Not long," Abraham replied.
"We started just a few weeks before the Winter Industries incident," Mason added.
Evie simply nodded her head and looked away. Libby emerged from the hall and joined her mother on the couch.
"Mommy," the child said. Then she whispered. "Mr. Nate said he knows who my daddy is."
Evie's heart stopped.
"But he said he won't tell me unless you're okay with it," her daughter added.
"Oh," Evie sighed, relieved. "Okay."
"What's with you not wanting her to know?" Mason asked. "If I didn't know who my dad was and I kept asking, my mom would tell me. And I'd tell my kid who their parent was if they didn't know."
Libby looked up at her mom.
"Not right now," the woman sighed. "She's not... She's not ready."
"You're not ready," Vinícius said, joining the group.
"Mommy..." Libby said, looking up at the woman still.
Evie looked around the room and then sighed. "Not... Not yet."
"But Mommy!"
"No!"
Libby pouted.
Vinícius sighed and headed for the bottom of the stairs and called up. "Yo Nathan! Riley! Pizza's on its way!"
"We'll be right down!" Riley's voice replied.
"Hurry or we'll eat it all!"
There was the sound of rushing footsteps and Nate came running down the stairs. He grabbed Vinícius's shoulders.
"If you do that, I'll skin you alive," he said.
Libby laughed loudly.
"You wouldn't do that, bro," Vinícius shook his head with a coy smirk. "You need me!"
"Dammit, you're right. We do."
Vinícius grinned triumphantly.
Riley strode down the stairs and sighed. "Boys," she scolded. "You're both pretty."
"Mr. Nate!" Libby called out. "Mommy still won't tell me."
Nate looked at her and pouted deeply. "Awh. That sucks."
"Can't you just tell me?"
"Your mom's right there," the man pointed to the woman beside the girl. "She'd kill me if I did."
Libby pouted again.
Then there was a knock on the door.
"Pizza!" Vinícius exclaimed and headed to the foyer.
"Nate, I need to talk to you," Evie said. "Now."
"Oh... Okay," the man's smile disappeared. "We can talk in the guest room."
He glanced back at Riley before following his ex-girlfriend down the hall.
Riley walked over and plopped down beside Libby on the couch.
"Do you know who my dad is?" the girl asked her.
Riley glanced down at her before nodding. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I do. And I know that he loves you and really wants to tell you."
"Everyone keeps saying that," the eight year-old huffed. "Why doesn't my mom want me to know?"
"I don't know. I think it's ridiculous. You'll find out eventually, even if she doesn't tell you. He's bound to slip up."
"How do you know?" The girl's eyes widened more.
"Because he's that much of a dumbass."
"Language!" Abraham exclaimed. "She is child!"
"What language? I said dumb!" Riley let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't know how to talk to kids!"
"It is obvious," the Russian man said.
"I like your tattoos!" Libby pointed at his hands.
"Oh..." Abraham seemed flustered. "Thank you."
"You're welcome!" the girl beamed.
"Guys," Vinícius said from behind them. "Are we gonna eat or let the pizzas get cold?"
"Liz, why don't you go get your mom and Nate?" Riley said.
"Okay!" She slid off the couch and hurried down the hall.
As she reached the room the two had gone in, she overheard part of their conversation.
"She's bound to find out on her own," Nate was saying.
"I'm just not ready," Evie said. "If you and your friends don't stop hinting at it, she'll know that her dad... is you."
"What?" Libby pushed the door open and stared at the adults.
The two turned quickly and saw her.
After a moment of awkward silence, Nate groaned loudly and covered his face in his hands. "FUCK!"