Page 45 of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

“So she really signed away her rights?” I lowered my voice to ask the question, because I didn’t want to upset Whiskey any more than I already had.

He tipped his head toward the door, and reluctantly I followed. I stood at a point where I could see in the little window of the door. My eyes stayed glued to Liza as she took the bottle from the sleeping baby’s mouth, and then leaned her up on her shoulder, cradling the head, and started patting her back in order to burp her.

“She’s a natural,” Fox told me before I turned back to him.

“Yeah, it appears so.” I pulled him in for a quick hug and whispered, “Congratulations,” in his ear. He shook a little so I knew he had a lot of pent up emotion he was trying to stave off. “What happened, man?”

“When she ran off after she was banned temporarily from the clubhouse, we found her and convinced her to keep the baby for us. We offered to pay her a stipend, get her through the pregnancy, and had papers drawn up then for her to sign away her rights to us.”

“I remember.”

“Well, over the past couple months she’s been coming around more and more, because Whiskey kept requesting to see her. He couldn’t get enough of feeling Tori moving in her mom’s belly, you know?” The love that shown in Fox’s eyes wasn’t entirely for his daughter at that point. Even I couldn’t deny it any longer. Not that I had been clueless all along, but I was now certain that while the guys had harbored strong feelings for Amy at one point, they were also in love with one another in a different way.

“We thought she might have finally been coming around. The doc had said early on that he thought she was having a heightened, abnormal reaction to the hormones. I don’t know. We thought it was all leveling out and that we’d be able to work through everything. She flat out told Whiskey that she was only ever with us to get to you. Told him that we were both sick fucks, and that she wanted nothing to do with us or our demon spawn.”

“Jesus, fuck! Seriously?”

“Yeah, man,” Fox told me. “It was twisted. It’s like she’s a completely different person to the one we all met and took in. I can’t wrap my head around it.”

“That’s a lot to take in especially with having to worry about what she was doing while she was pregnant.” I sighed. “So, what are you going to do?” Fox was quiet for a few moments as he watched Whiskey hovering over Liza and the baby. He turned to me after a moment and laid it all out there for me. I don’t know if he was waiting for me to judge them, or what, but I could hear the trepidation in his voice. I smiled as he spoke, trying to reassure him that I loved both of my friends, and that I’d have their backs, no matter what.

“We’re going to carry on, and raise our daughter together. When the time is right, maybe we’ll find a woman of value who will take us for what we are already, a family.” I reached over and pulled him in for another quick side hug.

“You know I’m here for the three of you whenever you need me.” I tipped my chin over at the little window that gave us a sliver of a view into the room. “We better get back in there before my old lady steals your daughter.” Fox chuckled, but I could already see Liza growing attached in there. “Keep that in mind though. I meant what I said earlier. We’re both here for you guys whenever you need someone, okay?”

“Yeah, I hear you, T.” He clapped me on the back. “Come on, I can see Whiskey fidgeting. He wants our daughter back. Better go save him from himself and get you guys on your way so you can make a cousin for Tori sooner than later. What’s the point in waiting? If you knock her up now the house will be ready before the baby gets here,” he offered with a wink before heading back into the room.

I stood there a moment longer contemplating what he’d just said. There was a time when I was ready to write off my friends and any advice they might give me. I was coming to realize though that people make mistakes, they grow, and sometimes, they have the best ideas. Damn if I wasn’t about to put those ideas into action. I hoped Liza would forgive me, because my friend’s idea was only half the problem. I’d been dying to see Liza grow round with our baby, and to experience the feel of our son or daughter growing inside of her, kicking, and coming into this world screaming their head off. I could picture it as if it were reality already.