Finding My Baby Daddy Novel – The restaurant Derrik had chosen for their date was situated on top of someone’s house. It overlooked a few apartments and Pandora wondered how Derrik had found such a cozy place. She was seated near the window and stared out after looking at her watch again. Her husband was fifteen minutes late. The blinds of the apartment she could see were wide open. Throw them, she could see directly into the kitchen and some woman was surely using her kitchen. She was awash with lust, oblivious to the eyes on her while a huge man stood in front of her, his hip bared to the world as he thrust into her. Pandora was jealous for a quick second, remembering the lack of action in her marriage bed. Pandora’s stomach dropped when the woman stared in horror through the window, realizing she had forgotten to close the blinds. Her lover followed her horrified gaze, looking over his shoulder. The first words Pandora uttered through half-formed thoughts were: “These pricks.” A woman gasped and turned to her. “Miss, please watch your language. My son just heard you.”
Pandora ignored them and cursed under her breath as she raised her phone and started taking pictures. She snapped photographs constantly, thanking god that she had invested in a phone with a camera that could pass off as a telescope. The woman and Pandora’s husband scurried out of the kitchen, scrambling to dress. Her vision tunneled and she got out of her seat, ignoring the scandalized woman. She raced down the stairs and to the next building where she knew her husband and his mistress were. No guard was stopping her and Pandora grinned as she burst into the building. The elevator door opened, revealing the hastily dressed woman and her husband, stepping out. Pandora stopped short. “Caught you.” Pandora vaguely noticed the presence of a handful of people in the lobby leaving and entering the building, taking their mail.
They stopped their mundane activities to watch. The woman froze, but Derrik took two steps towards her, palms up. “Pandora, calm down.” “You’re a prick,” Pandora growled. “And you, do you know he has a wife and he is trying for a child with her? Me?” she addressed the other woman. “Pandora…” the woman said shakily. There were gaps around them as Pandora spoke, “So you did know he was married and still sleep with him.” “This is my apartment building and you are embarrassing me,” the woman hissed. Pandora jerked back. “Oh, I am embarrassing you? You should have remembered that when you were screwing my husband with the windows open, making sure I saw you two… because you guys knew for sure that I was going to be there.” “Mackenna, please…” Derrik said. “Step back.” He sighed and turned to Pandora.
“This is your own fault. You were a nag and I got sick of you.” Pandora swallowed the agonizing tightness in her throat, pushing back the sting in her eyes and the mortification his words caused her. She refused to cry in front of the cheating pair. “Is that so? Am I a nag because I asked you to contribute to the house?” she asked. “It’s not a big deal,” Derrik started but Mackenna cut him off. “It wasn’t a mistake. Why do you think you two stopped having intercourse? He doesn’t want you! What’s more, I know all about how you climbed to the top of your company. You have no talent and you can’t even have children. Years of trying and you can’t even give him a baby? Meanwhile, he and I have been together for three months, and I am two months—” “You should stop talking while I am still calm. The last thing you want is to be handed your pregnant hip by the woman you called barren. And that sick jerk you claim to love? He is going to be on the market and single very soon. I hope you enjoy having a bum hanging around all day.” With a final glare, Pandora turned and put the phone to her ear. “Do you know a lawyer who can help me get divorced?” — It wasn’t finding out that Derrik had cheated that made her realize how poorly he had treated her since they got married. It was a month after.
Derrik came to her work with a bunch of flowers, wishing her a happy twenty-eighth birthday in a loud voice before slapping the signed divorce papers on her desk. He had then promptly turned and left with his head held high. It had been a year since then and the only thing remaining to be finalized was his last name which she was still using. “Let’s get you lingerie for your Vegas tour,” Kiera sang as she pulled Pandora into a luxury underwear store. Pandora scoffed and reminded her friend, “I will be in and out of business meetings while I am there. What use do I have for fancy lingerie?” “Pandora, it’s Vegas. Vegas! If you don’t open your box, how is everything going to come out?” Kiera stated, wriggling her brow. Pandora rolled her eyes at her friend. “Such a witty comment.” “Listen to me. You need dress yourself well.
No one will know you in Vegas, so you can have as much fun as you want. Get laid with some hot guy on your birthday to make up for the birthdays in the last decade. It’s the beginning of a new era… you have to celebrate it by getting railed politely!” Her friend Kiera went shopping with her and said. She would go to Vegas for business. “That sounds like an awful idea.” Keira slapped her arm and picked up a baby doll. “If you had listened to me and not married Derrik, you could have said my idea was awful. And you will look hot in this.” She put the baby doll in front of Pandora’s body and gave her a little wink. “Well, I am thinking of changing my surname back to Leonard. Remove every trace of Derrik from my life,” she said. Keira went silent for a few minutes. “About time. Nice to have you back, Leonard!” She hugged Pandora tightly. – – – – – In Vegas.
“What are you doing today?” Kiera asked on the third night. “Having dinner in my room,” she sighed. “I sense some sadness in that sigh of yours. What’s wrong?” Kiera asked. “Just that the guys I have met so far haven’t made me want to spend time with them.” “As happy as I am that you want to pick up a man, I need to remind you that you are not picking a guy to date, Pandora! You just have to bang them once!” Pandora chuckled. “Stop sulking. I am not telling you to fall into bed with just anyone. Dang, you don’t need to sleep with anyone. But have fun. Get some guy to buy you drinks and make you feel like the goddess that you are.” “Kiera, how will I find a guy who makes me feel like a goddess when you already do it for me?” Pandora joked. “Stay back, woman. As happy as my boyfriend would be to watch us together, I don’t swing that way. And it’s been a year. I think it is overdue for you to get out there.” Pandora didn’t respond. “I will talk to you tomorrow. Now go out and have fun.” The words made Pandora smile. After hanging up, she looked at her watch. It was after six. The perfect time to walk into the night. “Let’s do this!” she told herself and headed off to the bathroom to get ready. When she was done, she took a selfie and sent it to Kiera. It didn’t take her long to find the club Milton had recommended to her. Milton was a police officer who came to Vegas to meet his wife. Pandora knew him on the plane.
She entered the club and looked around, hoping she would see him. When she didn’t see him, she headed to the bar and ordered again. “I need a shot,” she told the bartender. “Out for a good time?” the bartender asked. “I think so…” The bartender cocked his head and recommended a drink. “Ask for Royce if you want a drink. I’ll take care of you.” “Thank you, Royce. Keep the drinks coming,” she said, tapping the bar. As Royce placed down Pandora’s drink, she felt someone come up behind her. “Royce, can I have some Jack?” the guy said and Pandora found herself chuckling, she didn’t know why. “Something funny?” the husky voice said into her ear. She could smell a hint of whiskey on his breath. “I’ll have a Jack too,” she told the bartender and pushed her shot away. “Thought you were doing shots? You’re cheating if you go down to Jack.” Pandora shrugged. “My friend here reminded me that I can change my mind.” She said, placing her hand on the man’s arm. “Oh, am I your friend now?” the guy said. “I am not sure I like that. We don’t even know each other’s name.” “Dora,” Pandora said, not giving her full name. The guy cocked her head. “Fake names, is it? Call me Nemo then, because I sure I am glad to be found by you.” The joke did so well with Pandora that she threw her head back in laughter.
She calmed down and looked at the guy. Her breath caught in her throat and she hissed under her breath. “Sleep with me,” she blurted out as she got lost in his piercing grey eyes. “Do I hear an offer?” he asked, his eyes dancing over her body. “Maybe?” She couldn’t see how nicely he was built because of how covered he was. “On what?” he asked deviously as he leaned in. “On what you look like under that leather jacket,” she answered. He frowned and looked down. “I suppose I won’t be sad to see it go.” He slid it off, revealing an arm full of ink. It was so hot that she eyed the paintings hungrily. ‘Sleep with me,’ she thought. “I am planning on it,” he replied to her thoughts. Pandora had always had a thing for ink but Derrik never got anything and forbade her from the same. “What do you say? Like what you see under the jacket?” “I just wanted to know if you are in good shape, but now I am fascinated.” The mystery man turned to the bar and yelled, “Royce! A bottle of Jack!” Finally, his eyes found hers. “Join me?” he asked and Pandora nodded numbly. “See you, Royce,” she said without looking at the bartender. She took the man’s hand and followed him without another word. Pandora had already looked at his left hand to make sure there was no white line or a ring on there.
As they spoke, she realized that they were from two opposite parts of the country. She felt her heart drop a little, knowing that this man was really a stranger and she would never see him again. He seemed to sense it. “Don’t be sad, Dora. We have tonight.” Pandora chuckled before nodding. “I know just the thing to cheer you up.” In an hour’s time, Pandora was straddling his lap and smooching him. The man smoocked her back right away, pushing his tongue inside her mouth. “Dance with me,” he urged as he removed his lips from her. Without waiting for an answer, he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to the dance floor. As their bodies moved together, she felt his other hand move to her side and his lips moved to her neck. He smoocked her jaw, making her weak in the knee. “Please…” she said, her stomach burning with need. “Yes, ma’am,” he complied. He pushed her out of the dance floor and pressed her up against a wall, smooching her the whole time. She felt both his hands on her and at that moment, she suddenly remembered the bottle of Jack they should have had. She soon forgot all about it when he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his body.
She gasped when she felt him push his underwear to the side and stroke her inner thigh. “Please take me,” she said yet again. Pandora had never felt this way before. This man could use his fingers. She had to say, they were doing God’s work at this point. “Do you want me to?” he asked, pulling away a little from her. “Do what?” “Do you truly want me to take you?” She looked at him deeply and nodded. He went back to smooching her, slowly going to her neck and chest. He was surrounding her completely. She heard the sound of his zipper and her eyes popped open. She finally realized that they were still in the bar, but away from everyone. Her eyes landed on Milton who was with his wife, looking around. “Eyes on me, baby,” he said, entering her. Pandora gasped and clung to him. “Oh god,” she sighed and tugged at his hair. “Hold on tightly. This will be quick. But once we are done, we will go back to my room so that I can taste every bit of you.” Pandora nodded dumbly.
“I want to taste you, too,” she told him, spurring him up. He swallowed her cries until it was time for him to grunt in release. “Come on, baby…” he said, rubbing her leg as he set her down. “We have time and I want you all to myself.” He wrapped his hand around her shoulder and guided her out of the back door. “I want your real name and I want you to say my name when you come all over me,” he said firmly. Pandora nodded, making him grin and smooch her. And then both of them stopped by for another drink. — Next day. It was almost nine at night when she arrived home and Pandora felt like she would die from exhaustion. She let herself into the house and dumped the bags near the door. She kicked off her shoes and dropped them down to the floor beside her luggage. She was just about crawl to the stairs when she heard a knock on the front door. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” she muttered to herself and went towards the staircase. “Pandora!” She frowned when she heard Derrik yelling from outside the door. He began to pound on it, making her moan.
“Nothing important, it seems. Just a lunatic knocking at an odd hour,” she said to herself and moved to the door, knowing Derrik wouldn’t leave without seeing her face. She only managed to pry the door open when Derrik pushed it open and barged in. Pandora stumbled, shocked by the force he had used. “Finally came home, I see!” he yelled and crossed his arms over his chest. “You look like a hooker with that hair color. What? Are you trying to look good now? You’re already divorced and nothing can help with that face of yours.” He snickered sarcastically. “What I have been doing or how I look is no longer your business. Cut the rubbish and tell me what you want.” Derrik glared at her before rolling his eyes. “Did you get the eviction notice I sent you? You need to move out immediately; I need the place.” Pandora pressed her fingers to her forehead, hoping the headache would lessen. She didn’t have the energy to fight with him.
“Not going to happen. This is my house… the court gave it to me. Go cry to someone else because I ain’t complying with your void eviction notice,” she said firmly. She opened the door, needing him to get out of her house. If possible out of her life, too. “Still as stupid as ever,” Derrik spat out so harshly that Pandora was sure he had hated her for all the years they were married. “Don’t you flaunt your money all the time? Use some of it to buy a place of your own. This is a family home where a couple who will have kids should live.” Pandora scratched her forehead, trying not to respond to him as she wished. But mincing words was not good for her health. She had wasted enough time on this man. “The doctor told me I could get pregnant if I tried. It seems part of the problem is also with you… and what mistress of yours? Take care…” She stopped with a grim look. “This is my house. Now leave.” Derrik laughed incredulously. “You’re right. This house and you go together. I deserve a much better place where I can raise my children. How about we sell the house and go our separate ways.”
He waved between the two of them. “We will never see each other ever again.” “Even if I sell the house, you won’t get a dime from it. This is my house. That I bought with my money. The money I spent a lot of effort making… of course, you wouldn’t know what that feels like, would you?” Derrik snorted. “Ah, if only you had put in as much effort into our marriage as you did your work and house… Maybe we could have actually lasted.” Pandora rolled her eyes. “If you actually loved me and not the money you are drooling after right now, we could have been happy,” she corrected quickly. “Wow. How did you expect me to like you when even your parents abandoned you? I’m not a saint, Pandora.” “Out,” she hissed through her gritted teeth.
“Get out this second!” she yelled louder this time. “You’ll do well handing the house over before I drag you back to court. Mackenna and I are trying for a baby and we need a house to raise our family,” Derrik responded angrily, knowing he was getting on her nerves. ‘Please leave. Why isn’t he leaving?’ she screamed internally. She was already drained from the trip, she couldn’t handle a fight right then. “Then get a job like a normal man and pay for a house,” she sneered. “Well, I can’t because I have to look after Mackenna. We need all the help so that the baby is safe.” He stopped talking and looked at her menacingly. “Oh, I understand now, you don’t want me to have children because your broken body can’t have any.”
She shook her head, having enough of his nonsense. She pushed him against the chest and toward the door. “You are pathetic, you know that? You can go around telling your sob story to everyone, but at the end of the day, I will be getting this house. I promise you,” he said before storming away. Pandora slammed the door shut and locked it. She sank to the floor and tears started to drip down her face without her permission. It was strange how a year of her life could completely change how she felt about the man she thought was her soulmate. The love she had felt for Derrik had slowly morphed into hatred. A hatred so deep that the tears were short-lived and it gave her the energy to get off the floor, head upstairs and change for bed.
“This house is mine. I gave him ten years of my life and I won’t let him take away another moment of happiness from me.” With that mantra in place, she closed her eyes and dreamed. Her dreams were plagued with taunts from Derrik and Mackenna. She tried to push them away, but she tumbled instead. She waited for the fall to hurt but two strong arms wrapped around her protectively. “Hey, I’ve been looking for you,” the voice said. “Why did you leave me without saying goodbye?” Pandora turned to look at her face, but she couldn’t see him. She recognized those piercing grey eyes of his. She looked down and saw a swirl of tattoos on his arms. “Wh—who are you?” she whispered. “Did you forget me? It’s me, Dora… Nemo.” Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell he was smiling. “Don’t worry. I’ll find you,” he promised before disappearing. Pandora awoke feeling rested and happier than she had when she went to bed.
Pandora groaned, still feeling tired after ten hours of sleep. As she sat up, she felt a wave of dizziness overcome her. Before she could lay back down, her stomach turned. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, hoping and praying she wouldn’t puke on the floor. She hunched over the toilet and heaved. Nothing really came up. She didn’t have time to be sick. And she willed her body to stop without much result. When the retching finally stopped, she dragged herself to the sink to clean up. Still, her stomach felt uncomfortable. As the day passed, she felt worse. Nothing seemed to help with the nausea she was feeling. “It has been three weeks. I think it is time you went to a doctor,” Keira said to Keira as she felt her head. “Hey,” she said, pushing Pandora’s hair back. “You need to get up and dressed. Your doctor’s appointment is in an hour.” Pandora nodded and slowly sat up. Her eyes drifted to the clock and she found it was almost two in the afternoon.
“Oh no!” she muttered. “It’s fine. I called in for you. Now get dressed.” Pandora shook as she thought about how she had not taken a sick day in all the years she had been working. She went to her room and grabbed some loose clothes. Keira helped her into the car and drove slowly to the doctor’s office, making sure she didn’t feel sick again. Pandora was thankful that she didn’t need to wait with other patients and was ushered into the doctor’s office. After a few minutes of wait and Pandora frowned as the nurse looked at the pregnancy stick with a smile. “Just as I thought. You’re pregnant.” The nurse placed the test down on the table beside her to see. Pandora’s eyes fell on the positive sign on it. “I can’t be,” she said. “Keira, you know I can’t have a baby. Derrik and I tried for years!” “Pandora, just take a scan and you will know what is going on, right?” “The doctor isn’t here today, but I am a licensed technician. I can sign you up and perform the scan for you.”
She paused. “I want you to calm down so that we can take a look and see what is going on. Okay?” Pandora sighed before nodding. Soon, she was pulling her pants off and sitting on the table. The nurse prepped her and told her what to expect. Pandora gripped the bed as the scan proceeded. The nurse made humming noises before she stopped moving. “There you go,” she murmured and turned the screen for Pandora to see. “Do you see that?” she asked as she pointed at the screen. “Yes,” Pandora said, nodding. She frowned as she looked at the bean-shaped mass. “What is it? Is that the cancer?” she asked. The nurse frowned. “That’s your baby,” she corrected. Pandora looked at her and then back to the screen, feeling a sob rip out of her mouth.
Keira helped her sit on her couch and walked away. Pandora knew she was still in the house because she could hear the other move around the house. She was speaking to someone, but Pandora had no idea who it was. “Here, have some tea,” she said, placing a cup in Pandora’s hand. Her hands lingered. “You got it?” she asked and Pandora looked down before tightening her grip on the cup. “I’m going to have a baby?” she questioned, still thinking that the universe was playing a cruel joke on her. “You are,” Keira confirmed. “This is real, right? It’s not a joke.” “No, it’s not a joke.” Keira rubbed her shoulder. “I’m going to be a mom?” Keira squinted, reevaluating Pandora’s sanity. “Derrik and I tried for years and nothing happened. I didn’t even mistake myself to be pregnant. But I sleep with a random guy and I am immediately pregnant?” A stranger whom she didn’t remember, whose face she had forgotten, let alone what his name was. What should I do? Pandora thought and began to sob.