I took my lunch break an hour early in order to walk with Patrick and figure everything out. This is both new to us- he never had any idea he was someones father until a few minutes ago, and I've never had to deal with the possibility of sharing Haley- that is, if Patrick even wanted anything to do with her.
We decided to attend a local coffee shop nearby. It was mostly a hangout space for the students at the community college, so it wasn't too busy; but the students there all wanted pictures with him, but promised not to post them or tell for an hour so we'd be gone with plenty of time. We both ordered Venti coffee's, coming out to a little over six dollars.
"I got this, just go find a seat, please," Patrick told him. I nodded and found a table in the corner for two people and waited a moment for him.
Once he sat down, we both stared at each other for a moment; it was completely awkward. I lowered my eyes towards my coffee cup before I brought it up to take a sip, and Patrick sighed as I did.
"How the fuck did this happen?" He asked blankly.
"We were drunk and stupid," I explained.
"Yeah, but I've never gone without a condom my whole life," he told me.
Good to know? I said in my head. "People do stupid shit when they're drunk and celebrating big moments..."
"Like being drafted and weddings?"
"Basically."
We had another awkward pause that we dealt with by both taking sips of our coffee's.
"I'm not sure how this works, because I'm really new to this, as are you, but like, if you want a DNA test or anything, that's cool," I told him.
"Oh, uh, thanks," he said, "do you have any like, baby pictures? I know what she looks like now, but ugh, it'd be cool to see how she used to look."
I unlocked my phone and went to my photos, purposefully scrolling up fast to avoid the photos in the middle and went to the beginning, where there were tons of pictures of Haley along with me, Derick and Kristen, and Jamila. I found one of Haley by herself as she she was coloring.
"She was probably close to 18 months here," I said as I handed it to him.
Once Patrick saw it, he started chuckling. "Yeah, she's definitely mine. She looks exactly like one of my younger sisters as a baby. Cute."
"Yeah, very few people believed she was mine when she was born," I said.
"So, what's she like?"
"Well, she's really into princesses, something Derick encourages way too much..." I sighed, "but she's also really rowdy and active, definitely and handful...but she can't help but spread positive vibes everywhere she goes. She's beautiful and amazing."
"Wow," was all Patrick could get out. His eyes were wide open in disbelief. "I can't believe I have a kid..."
"Yeah, neither could I back when she showed up," I told him.
"What the hell happens now?" he asked.
I shrugged and took a quick sip. "Do you want something to happen?"
"Kat, she's my kid and I wanna be in her life. I can't just unhear this entire conversation," he told me.
I sighed. "I agree, it's just...I don't know how to handle this. I never expected to meet Hales' dad again, and I have no idea how to tell her that you're here when I keep dismissing all her questions about him."
"She's been asking about me?" Patrick asked me.
I nodded. "She's a little girl, all her friends have dads and she wants to know why she doesn't."
Patrick sighed. "I need to meet her, like for real. Not a little 30 seconds conversation again, but like, start forming a relationship with her."
"You really want to do this?"
"Absolutely."
I thought about it before responding. "We have nothing planned next Saturday, so...if you want to meet her then-"
"Yes, totally-"
"Be quiet I'm not done," I quickly warned him. He shut up quickly though. "I'm not just leaving her alone with you. The three of us spend it together, and if it goes well and you still want to be involved...we'll cross that bridge when we're ready."
Patrick was quiet for another moment before slowly nodding. "8am saturday morning, I'll pick you ladies up. Be ready."
"I think you're the one who should be ready, actually."
Patrick chuckled as he stood up. "Don't worry, I'm ready for whatever you two have to offer, no matter what."
I shook my head and smirked while taking another sip of coffee.
It's good Patrick wants to be a dad to Haley, but he has no idea what he's about to get himself into.
A/N: keep reading, things are about to start getting interesting.
Next update: Wednesday, september 2nd.
