Loud banging on the front door was not something Cody wanted to wake up to in the middle of the night. Despite him being a heavy sleeper, it startled him awake, and even through the heavy thunderstorm that roared outside he could hear the bangs clear as day.
His newfound senses were something he was still getting used to. He struggled to wrap his head around the idea of being a dhampir (or, at least, part dhampir?), and although he didn’t seem to have any powers, he was much easier to wake nowadays. It kept him on edge, being able to hear things from far, far away.
Cody made sure to let his wife know he’d go investigate, god knows Octavia didn’t need any stress in her current state, and if anything happened to her or their unborn child, he’d never be able to forgive himself.
He grabbed his cellphone off of his nightstand and made his way out of the bedroom. Through the halls he could hear the banging grow louder and louder, but it seems like now whoever was outside figured out they had a doorbell.
He held back the urge to yell out “One moment!”, he needed to stay as quiet as he could so he could grab some sort of weapon to defend himself and his family.
Luna crept close behind him, like the good girl she is. She whispered for her to go back to Octavia, somebody needed to protect her and Parker.
Sprinting to the kitchen as quietly as he could, he reached for a knife, the biggest one he could find, God forbid he had to use it. His heart raced just thinking about doing something that would wind him back into jail.
He promised Octavia he’d be there for her and his family, and by God, he was going to keep his fucking word.
Finally, making it to the foyer, he took a deep breath before peeking out of the window, ready to attack whoever was outside, but the familiar sight made him drop the weapon...
He kicked the knife aside and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he opened the front door.
“Luke?” He asked. “What the hell are you doing here at 4 in the morning... And who’s kid is that?”
“I... I-I think she’s mine,” Luke said, stammering.
The man looked shaken up and tired. He was visibly shivering as he held the sobbing newborn close to him. He was soaking wet, and his car was parked sloppily in the driveway. From the looks of it, he took out a few of the rose bushes. Octavia’s gonna be pissed.
“Luke...” Cody said, going quiet for a moment as he took in the sight. “When did this happen? How did this happen?”
“I, uh... Sh-shit, man, I don’t even kno-ow...”
The man was basically hyperventilating at this point, then realization hit Cody like a fucking bus.
Luke’s afraid of thunder. He’s afraid of thunder and has a baby.
“Fuck, right, come on in, dude,” Cody offered, opening up the door to let him in.
Brewing a pot of coffee in the kitchen, Cody paced back and forth as Luke got himself and the child dried off in a towel he lended them. He had the fireplace going, hoping it’d warm them up and keep his focus off of the storm for a moment.
Luke tried shushing and bouncing the sobbing child, to keep her quiet, to do something. He looked absolutely panicked, and Cody could only really stand back for the moment.
At this point, he needed to put his focus on settling his friend down before he could even try and get answers from the man. He was normally so laid back, so relaxed, he had no thoughts on anything, really. But now? He was so tense, his eyes were so wide they looked like they’d pop out. He was so on edge, and yet, he looked so exhausted.
Pouring himself and Luke a couple of mugs of coffee, he came out to the livingroom. “Here, you look like you need this”
“Th-thanks, man,” Luke said as he reached for the mug with one hand. His other was holding onto the swaddled baby, and Cody couldn’t help but stare.
He bit down on his tongue and held back the thousands of questions that ran through his head, his fingertips lightly drummed on the sides of the mug as he gulped down as much coffee as he could. He needed to wake up, this all felt like a dream.
Luke looked so nerve-wracked, it was unnatural. Cody felt awful just looking at him, all he wanted to do at that moment was to ask what was wrong and to just make everything all better so he could rest easy, but... This wasn’t something he could just fix.
Luke gulped the last of his coffee, he was on his third cup by now. Cody had just finished his fourth, and he was tempted to brew another pot.
Luke let out a shakey sigh, looking down at the child who had finally settled down after he bounced her for what felt like an eternity. She slept silently in her swaddle, aside from the occasional sniffle that sent Luke on edge. He looked absolutely terrified to even think of putting the child down, so Cody held out his arms to take a spin.
Luke’s focus darted between Cody and the newborn for a short moment before he gulped and handed the child over.
“Okay,” Cody started quietly, “how did this happen? Where did you find her and when?”
“I-I found her a few hours ago,” he admitted. “She was at the frontdoor of my apartment, all swaddled up in a carseat”
Cody raised a brow, “And you said she’s yours?”
Luke nodded, handing him a note.
“Dear Luke,
I’m sorry I have to just drop this on you, but I can’t take care of this child. I wasn’t really ready for anything more than a one night stand, let alone being a mother. If you even remember me, please don’t try and contact me. Leave her at a firestation or whatever if you can’t take care of her, but she IS your daughter.
She was born April 7th, 6.3lbs, 17 1/2 inches. She reminds me so much of you, it kind of hurts. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of her when I found out I was pregnant, because part of me feels like WE could work, but I feel like -I- don’t work...
I wish you and her well, and maybe one day I’ll change my mind and find you two again, but for now, I need to discover myself before I discover motherhood.
~A”
Cody’s brows stitched together reading the note. “So she just... Dumped this kid on you?”
He nodded again, his leg bouncing.
Cody looked down at the newborn. ‘A’ was right, she did look a bit like her father, but he could tell she had a lot of her mother in her, too. Soft black hair, mono lidded eyes, a flat nose. But her face in general had the Luke-y vibe she wrote about.
“Do you intend on keeping her?” Cody asked.
“I... I-I don’t know... I really really don’t know...” He said, his voice was aching.
Luke’s head fell into his hand, and his back sunk as he tried to keep himself together, but the strings holding him up snapped and he just fell apart right in front of Cody.
“M-Man! I-I haven’t even seen her mom in forever! We went out once in July, and n-now I got a kid out of it! I can barely take care of myself, h-how do I take care of a baby, Dakota?”
Cody rushed over to him, using his free arm to put around Luke as his occupied one bounced the child.
Cody pat his back, and Luke hicced into his hands.
“Hey, man, you’re gonna be okay. Just breathe for me, okay?” Cody requested.
Luke nodded shakily, and he tried his best to take deep breaths as Cody guided him.
“You really think I could be a dad?” Luke asked, holding the baby once again.
“Well... I think you should definitely go get her DNA tested, first. If babymama wants to put child support on you, make sure it’s actually your kid. Don’t trust looks alone, Luke”
“Y-Yeah, you’re right...”
“And were you using protection, do you remember? Regardless, it wouldn’t hurt to get tested for STDs”
“Don’t you think I’d know if I’d gotten one by now? It’s been, like, 9 months, dude”
Cody smiled lightly when he called him dude, the real Luke was shining through.
“You never know. Besides, it’s been 9 months and you just found out about this kid tonight. No signs are clear from the begining, play it safe”
“Y-yeah, alright,” Luke admitted defeat, scratching behind his ear. “You think I should move back here, then?”
Cody mentally slapped himself, “Right, yeah, you live out of town. Out of state, for that matter!”
“Y-yeah... I panicked and just drove here as fast as I legally could when I finished reading the note... I didn’t know where else to go, and I figured since your kid’s gonna be here soon, I’d just.... Come here...”
Cody sat back, “Yeah, he is... God, I thought I’d be the first out of the Mathletes to be a father. Son of a bitch, it looks like you might’ve beaten me to it”
Luke laughed into his fist, and the child wound up waking up. Luke panicked, and Cody scootched back in to help.
“Baby’s kinda startle easily, you don’t wanna disturb them while they’re sleeping. But she might be hungry or need her diaper changed, have you done any of that at all?”
“N-No...” Luke admitted.
“...Did babymama leave anything for you? Any diapers? Any formula or breast milk, by chance?”
“Uh, no, no I don’t think so”
Cody held back a cuss as he stood up. “A-Alright, luckily I stocked up on stuff for Parker. We’ve got diapers of all sizes in his nursery, and I’ve already bought some formula to have on hand. Let’s go get her cleaned up first, alright?”
Luke nodded and slowly stood up, following Cody upstairs.
“So, you got any names in mind?” Cody asked.
“Um, well, I kinda like Mary-Jane-”
“No.” Cody stated dryly.
“What, why not?” Luke asked.
“Simple. Your last name is Kush. I’m not letting you name your kid Weed Weed.”
“...Well, if you ask me, Weed Weed is an awesome name”
“That kid’s gonna be made fun of constantly, dude. You’re setting her up for bullying at this point”
“Oh fuck- Good point”
“Feel free to take your time thinking on it, it took me and Octavia a while to figure out Parker’s name,” he stated.
Cody rolled his eyes. “Ramona Flowers, Ramona Kush. How fun,”
“C’mon, man. It’s cool, just like she’ll be! Now I just gotta focus on your middle name!”
Cody hid a smile from him, he couldn’t deny, it was cute hearing him say that.
Cody opened up Parker’s Nursery, reaching over for his closet which was full of little outfits and supplies. Cody reached for a handfull of newborn diapers and a onesie from the rack.
“If you don’t mind dressing your Ramona up a little gothic, this should help keep her warm. Have you ever changed a diaper before?”
“Um, n-no...”
“Cool, pay attention, then. This’ll be your first of many.”
Here, Elise is a stubborn veterinarian who, at 18, lost her parents when they and her little brother, Cody, got in a wreck, leaving the little birthday boy and her orphaned and leaving Elise to have him live with her during her college days in her tiny apartment in the city.
