My Baby's Daddy

t felt warm under the covers. Despite the continuous thunder outside, it didn’t seem as frightening anymore.

Shirley felt herself tensing up. It was as if her sanity had taken a brief leave of absence, but now that it was back, she wondered, What the hell has gotten into you, Lloyd? How can you be sharing a bed and even a blanket with Zacharias?

Not only that, you’re even resting your head on his arm! Their bodies were only fractions of an inch away from each other, seeming rather improper.

Still, undeniably, the sense of warmth and security was intense.

“Go to sleep,” Zacharias uttered in a low voice. It was evident that the effects of the sleeping pills were kicking in.

Shirley was pressed into the man’s arms by his large hand. Due to the injury on her back, lying flat would naturally compress the wounded area, but turning her back to the man didn’t seem like a good idea either. So, she turned on her side, her face resting on the man’s chest, and fell asleep in his embrace.

She listened quietly for a while, and ten minutes later, Zacharias’ breathing became steady. Listening to his rhythmic breathing, Shirley seemed to catch the drowsiness as well. She closed her eyes and decided not to move.

and closed her eyes. On this rainy night, on the gray bed,

woke up first the following morning. After four hours of deep sleep, he felt remarkably refreshed. He had been aware that

clear and tender, tempting him to kiss it. However, Zacharias refrained from doing so because he didn’t want

reached for it, disconnecting the call from Freddie, who was already

usually got up at seven, surprisingly hadn’t gotten up yet. They had a tight schedule that day, so leaving at seven in

and knock on his boss’ bedroom door

Zacharias was up when his call

be that Mr. Flintstone

come upstairs to check it out for himself. When it came to work, he always maintained a serious and

the second floor, he

usually well-styled, was now a bit disheveled, resembling

young man to disturb his