Her Dad’s Best Friend

The kid barely glances up before he says, "Whatever."

"He'll warm up to you." Marcia's voice is strained. "He just hasn't heard much about you."

"I don't need to know about whatever deadbeat sends you a check every month, thanks. Thank you for your sperm donation and the cash. Fuck off."

"Ryan!" Marcia's voice is sharp. "That's not polite."

"Whatever." Ryan's thumbs are moving quickly on his gaming device. "I don't care."

Not really a good start if this kid really is mine.

"Just give it time." Marcia's eyes are a little lost. I know why I was attracted to her. She's pretty enough, but she's broken inside. I wanted to be her white knight, but I should have broken it off after our first fight, when she'd thrown knives at me. Live and learn.

"Give me your phone. I'll put in the address." Marcia hands over her phone. I open the Maps app and tap in the location. "I'll follow you there. Is your phone number the same?" "Yeah."

"Call me if you get lost."

I turn and go to my car. What a cluster fuck. First this whole thing with Camilla destroys my friendship with Jack, and then Jack sends in Marcia to ruin the whole thing. I had no idea that he'd been paying her off all these years.

I watch as Marcia starts driving to the lab. I back out of my parking space and follow her.

The head of the lab knows me pretty well, since I'm one of his angel investors for his side business. He wanted to revolutionize blood testing. After the crash and burn failure of another huge lab testing startup, nobody wanted to be duped again. I'd taken a chance on him. It would be years before investors recovered any money, but the chance that he could do what they tried and failed to do was worth the money. He had the industry experience that was sorely lacking in the other company, the one that had caused a severe scandal which had ended with the CEO being banned from running a similar company for two years. I call him from my car.

"Hey, Dr. Mike."

"Just Mike. What's up?"

"Well, Just Mike, I'm coming in. I need a paternity test."

"Get wild on the weekend?" he jokes.

"Something like that."

"I was kidding."

"I'm not."

"Holy shit. It's really for you."

"Yup. How fast can you get it done? I'd like to know today if possible."

"I'll fast-track it with our lab techs." There's a moment of silence. "You have an illegitimate child?"

"It's a surprise to me," I reply. "And I need to know if it's real."

"I can tell you in a few hours whether or not you're the father. Damn, this is like a bad reality show or daytime television."

"I know. I'm on my way so that we can clear this all up as soon as possible."

"We'll do our best for you."

"We'll be there in fifteen minutes. Bye."

I hit the end call button. Either way, I'd have an answer within a few hours.