He shoves the iPad at me, and I take it from him. "Broken." He pouts, his lower lip quivering.
I tap the screen and it doesn’t light up, letting me believe it’s fully dead. I toss it to my desk and spot my collection of classic model cars on my bookshelf and get an idea.
"Hey, do you like cars?" I ask, trying to divert him away from the dead iPad.
He nods, his lips tipping up at the corner. “I love them.” He waves his hands around wildly.
I lift Matty in my arms and he rests his head on my shoulders. I do wonder why this kid trusts me when Holly said he normally doesn’t trust anyone. The thought is sobering, but I don’t overthink it. I take him to the door, peeking out to Mary who is working away at her desk.
I clear my throat and grab my assistant’s attention. “Mary, I need a favor.”
Mary looks up from her laptop and her jaw slackens. “Yes, Mr. Morgan,” she stutters as her eyes dart between Matty and me.
“Can you find us some toy cars this little guy can play with and grab some graham crackers and ice cream. You can eat ice cream, right?”
Matty nods his head vigorously and rubs his tummy. "Chocolateee icecream."
“Right away, Mr. Morgan.”
“While we wait, I have something you can play with. You just have to promise to be careful.” I pick up a model car from my shelf, one of a 69’ cherry red Mustang. “This is just like the car I drive.” I hand it to him, and he squeals.
“Vrooom…” He swings the car around and almost whacks me in the face.
“Alright. Let’s not get too crazy, bub.”
“Thanks for watching him. He wasn't any problem, was he?" Holly asks, picking up Matty and wiping away the excess chocolate from his face.
The two of us just finished downing our cups of ice cream that Mary had picked up from the ice cream parlor down the road. The kid ended up getting more on himself and the carpet than in his mouth.
“No, of course not. We played with cars and ate a gallon of chocolate ice cream." Her eyes go wide. "I'm kidding, about the gallon. We had ice cream though, just one cup."
She giggles. "If it was that much, I'd be calling you back to clean up his vomit or entertain his sugar high at two a.m."
"We had fun. Right, bub?” I raise my hand for a high five and Matty slaps it in return.
She combs her fingers through his hair. "So, will you let me know about the testing? If that's something you still want to do."
“I do. I’ll handle it and get back to you. Hopefully, it won’t take too long to get the results. If he ends up being mine, well, you should know, I take care of what’s mine. If not, then we will go from there.”
“Right. Well, we should go. Thank you for watching him. I got a lot done.”
“Good, but I do hope your babysitter is better by tomorrow,” I say curtly.
"Yes, of course." She frowns. The cherry model car smacks her in the shoulder. "Oh, did you want your car back." She goes to reach for it out of Matty's hand and he pulls it back. His eyebrows pinching together defensively.
“No, he can keep it.”
“You sure? It looks nice, and I can promise you after tomorrow it won't look that way."
"I'm sure. I have the life size version in the garage."
Her mouth forms a little 'o.’ She's impressed, and for some reason it makes my stomach twist. "That's sweet. Thank you."
"Don't think too much into it," I snarl, and her face scrunches at my reaction.
“Alright. Well, thanks.” She shuffles Matty to her other hip and whispers something in his ear.
The little boy with my matching eyes smacks a kiss into his hand and then waves at me. “Bye Li-um.”
“Bye buddy.”
"So, what did you want to see me about?" Landon makes himself at home pulling a soda from my fridge and propping himself onto a barstool. He twists the cap and takes a long pull from the coke bottle before setting it down on the counter. “I’m actually shocked you wanted to see me.”
“Yeah, well, only you can help me answer some questions. Plus, you're my brother, and when have you known me to hold a grudge against you for long.”
“Is that a serious question?” He snorts.
“Listen, I’m not in the mood to debate. Right now, I need you to be serious.”
“Okay, man, what’s up?”
"It's about my new interior designer. We apparently have history.”
"Meaning you've already fucked her."
"She says I have, but the thing is I have no memory of her. That's what I need to talk to you about. Do you remember that Comic Con we went to a little over three years ago where we both decided to go as Thor?"
"Vaguely." He scratches the back of his neck. "Why?"
"Did you happen to sleep with a girl that night and use my name to do it?"
“What the fuck, man?” he seethes. “I’ve been with Maria since high school. I wouldn't cheat on her.”
“I didn’t think you would, but fuck man, I’m at a loss. She says we slept together at that Comic Con, but I don’t remember a thing about that night. Nothing. All I remember is you and I wanting to see if we could get some autograph and act like total dorks, but I'm sure I ended up being strung out the whole time.”
Landon snorts. “When weren’t you?”
“Fuck off.”
“Sorry. Okay, start over. What is this really about? So, what if you slept with her once? Does she have a grudge against you? Does she want something?" he asks as he lifts his soda to take a drink.
"It matters because she's claiming I'm the father to her son."
He chokes on his soda, spluttering some from his lips. "She's what?"
“Yeah. My sentiments exactly.” I shake my head and throw him a roll of paper towels. “She says I got her pregnant that night. The thing is…the kid looks just like me. Like us."
I yank out my phone and open the gallery finding the picture I took of Matty this afternoon. He's holding up the model car I gave him and grinning at the camera. I show it to Landon.
"Okay," he says slowly. His eyes darken as he studies the picture, and then he shoves the device away. “Cute kid, but I don't know why you would even consider asking me if I slept with her? That’s a fucking low blow man."
"I told you it's because I don't remember. You and Maria have had your problems.”
“Wow, I didn’t even think you would have even noticed,” he grits through his teeth and rises from his seat. “But I love Maria with every fiber of my being, and I wouldn’t ever cheat on her, despite any issues. I’m nothing like you man where I have to sleep with everything that has legs because of a fear of settling down.”
“I don’t sleep with every woman I see,” I grind out. “Stop trying to sound like Dad.”
“Stop trying to accuse me of cheating.”
“I’m not.”
“Fuck if you’re not.”
“I don’t know what I’m thinking alright.” I grip the edge of the counter and take a deep breath to steady myself. “Sorry. I was hoping you could give me some answers to that night. You’re the only one who can.”