A gay story: Weak in the Knees Ch. 01 Zachariah Lennox had never really thought he would end up in this situation. He’d had plenty of friends with benefits before, though Kali Hoffman was definitely the one he was the closest friend to. They had great sexual chemistry and a friendship that had lasted for over a decade now, but they didn’t have enough of a romantic spark to push it into a relationship the way his twin, Zayne, and his boyfriend Brinxton had. He was envious of them sometimes, but he was having plenty of sex and knew eventually he would meet someone he’d want to take the next step with. Or so he hoped.
All of his thoughts of that came crashing down when Kali came to him with a positive pregnancy test though. They had talked a while ago about what would happen if they found themselves in this position. Their agreement had been to have an abortion, but now that they were here, Kali didn’t want to do that.
Her birth control had failed and the condom had broken, and now there was a baby in the mix, and she already loved the baby and didn’t want to abort. She was trying to figure out how to make it work if Zach wanted nothing to do with her and the baby, but Zach had surprised her by saying that if she was happy with the baby, then so was he. Seeing those two lines had been different than he had expected they would be. The moment he realized he was a dad to someone, he wanted to be involved and there for everything.
Their plan was to look for a home that would fit all of their needs, but until then, they would turn Elias’ old room in Zayne’s home into Kali’s, and the middle bedroom upstairs, that was currently Zach’s office, into a nursery for the baby and they would raise the baby as co-parents. If either of them decided to date someone else, then they would stop their sexual relationship, but until then there wasn’t any reason to stop having fun together.
Zach joined Kali for half of her maternity photos, and they framed a photo of him holding her belly from behind her to hang in the nursery. They even had a big baby shower with all of their friends and family to celebrate Baby Girl Lennox, who they were naming Nadya.
Zach offered to marry Kali to give her his insurance, but she didn’t want that because she didn’t want that to be the reason neither of them had any successful romantic relationships. Still, the pregnancy and living with each other made their friendship closer. Anyone who asked Zach would hear about how much he adored and loved Kali and couldn’t be more thrilled with who would be the mother of his child.
Of course, rumors were the norm in high society. Everyone around the Denver area part of society knew about one of the Lennox twins having an illegitimate child. Zach mostly ignored it, but anyone who called her a gold digger around him got attacked verbally by Zach. He didn’t allow anyone to talk badly about Kali in his presence.
He even told off Daniel Williamson, who was married to Brinxton’s sister Brielle and used to be childhood friends with him. Zach didn’t have a high opinion of him now, but they kept him around because Brielle had turned over a new leaf and made up her own past ableist behavior towards Zayne, who was in a wheelchair most of the time thanks to an accident when he was twenty.
Having the baby lost Zach most of his other FWBs because they didn’t want to be involved in that. Some of them hated that Zach couldn’t be at their beck and call whenever they felt the desire for him, while others thought he should just commit to Kali and be done with it.
Things were going great until the last few months of the pregnancy. Kali hit seven months along and her blood pressure started going up. They worked closely with her doctor, who was talking about inducing early, but Kali wanted Nadya to be in the womb for as long as she could be for her own safety. She hated the idea that their baby might end up in the NICU.
The doctor agreed that they could try that if they put her on bedrest. With the help of his family, especially Zayne and Brinxton, they usually had Kali hunker down in the living room during the day where they could help her out, and when Zach was home and not working on architectural sketches, he got her anything she might need and helped her get to and from the bathroom. He even ran her warm bubble baths and gave her foot rubs and back rubs that he did not ask for anything else out of.
They had a little less than a month to go when Kali got sick enough that Zach rushed her to the hospital. Nadya Eva Lennox was born a little after midnight via c-section. She came out with a shock of dark red hair just like her dad and quiet as could be. Kali wanted to do a DNA test for Zach so they knew for sure he was the dad, and they had done that with a blood test ahead of time, but if he’d had any doubts, that red hair would have calmed them instantly.
They worked on getting her cleaned off and checked her breathing and development while Kali waited for her daughter to be brought to her. They let her do some skin to skin before they took Nadya away to take her to NICU for slight breathing issues, and only a day later, Kali’s condition started to go rapidly downhill.
The doctors ended up pushing Zach out of her hospital room while they worked on saving her. He didn’t go far though. He stood at the door of the room, watching them as they gave her medicine to help the seizures she had started having. He could see areas on her that were so swollen they were beyond recognition now.
Kali had brief moments of being lucid, ones where she got to see her daughter, but too many times she would fall back into the seizures. Her mom, Diana Hoffman, came to the hospital when she didn’t wake up from one of them. They had gotten the seizures to stop with medication finally, but she was still swollen up and nothing they did woke her up. Zach spent days going between the NICU and Kali’s room, willing her to wake up and help Nadya try to latch so she could breastfeed like Kali had been hoping to. There were nipple pads and nipple cream inside the hospital bag that she had been hoping to use to make breastfeeding easier, but they were sitting untouched now. Nadya was being fed formula because they couldn’t get breast milk from mom at all. That killed Zach because they had talked about how they would split up the work when she was tiny, and Kali had been so excited about bonding through breastfeeding.
Within a few weeks, there was no brain activity left, and her mom and Zach had to make the difficult decision to take her off life support. Zach held her hand and kissed her forehead as Kali died in the hospital.
Zach was so lost once he got home with Nadya. He had a newborn and now he was doing it without his co-parent and he felt like he was drowning. He really only got through it because of his family, Kali’s mom, and people like Brielle and Brinxton. Since Zayne already worked from home, he was happy to take Nadya during the day to let her lay on his chest while he worked, and Brinxton would help when she needed to be walked around the house to calm her.
Everyone took turns letting Zach get sleep during the newborn stage, helping him figure out how much to feed her, how warm the bottle should be, how to change her, how to calm her down, and getting her to doctor’s appointments. He didn’t think he could have handled it without them. He was dealing with the loss of Kali on top of everything being thrown on its head from how they planned it, and he was so much more exhausted than he thought he should be.
Zach started to let Aspen take over more of the day to day work at the construction company while he fell back to the planning part and drawing up blueprints for their workers. Sometimes he did that work at home but he still had an office at the headquarters where he would go a lot to work on his sketches.
This was working well when Nadya was sleeping most of the time, but by the time she hit six months, she was wanting to be on the floor more and trying to scoot herself around. Zayne told Zach that he was fine to take care of her, but Zach decided it was probably time to use their wealth to their advantage and hire a nanny that could help more.
Zach walked into the house to find Nadya on her back playing on a play mat with some of the toys dangling from the top. She was such a beautiful mix of both parents. Kali had been shorter, with rich caramel skin, honey colored hair, and dark brown eyes, while Zach was six foot two, with auburn hair, freckles on his pale skin, and light gray eyes. Nadya had his red hair, her mom’s caramel skin and dark brown eyes that looked almost black. She had long eyelashes that came from Zach, which had always annoyed Kali about him.
“Those eyelashes are wasted on you,” she used to tell him. “Let me do some makeup on you. Then we can use those lashes to their full potential!”
He had always laughed that off, but Kali would have loved to see that Nadya had them. She had gotten chunky over the last few months, with tiny little rolls on her thighs and arms. The doctors said she was on the lower side for height, but her weight was good. Her red hair was starting to take on her mom’s curls at the ends. She noticed her dad walk into the room and turned her head toward him with a big gummy grin. She had a single tooth trying to make its way out now but you couldn’t see it quite yet.
Zach smiled down at her. “Were you a good baby today, my princess? Were you good for Uncle Zayne?”
“She’s the best manager,” Zayne replied with a smirk. “She keeps sleeping on the job though.”
Zach looked down at Nadya with a mock surprise face, though he was smiling. “Did you sleep on the job?” She cooed at him and he nodded his head. “Oh I see. Yes, I guess nap breaks for 6-month-old managers are a must. You’re very right.”
“Mom wanted me to give you this,” Zayne said and handed over a manilla folder to Zach.
Zach looked through it quickly with a nod of his head. They were resumes of nannies for him to go through so he could schedule interviews before picking one for Nadya. Zayne had said he was fine looking after her, but Zayne had his own work to do and he didn’t want his disabled brother to have to keep up with her once she had started running around. A nanny who was able-bodied would be exactly what they all needed around here.
“Just don’t choose one based on their hotness,” Zayne joked.
Zach held up one hand and the manilla folder in a placating way. “Wouldn’t even think to. Sex hasn’t really been on my mind since…” Zach trailed off but he didn’t need to finish the sentence for Zayne to know what he meant. Zach cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the memory before he slapped the manilla folder on his hand and folded it up to put in his back pocket before he picked Nadya up from her spot under her play mat toys.
Once upstairs, he changed Nadya’s diaper and gave her a bath before he got her dressed into a sleeper for bedtime. He put the monitor on her foot, which checks for her pulse and oxygen at night while she is in her crib, and then he got a bottle ready and sat down to feed her. He got home late tonight, so he only had time to do the nighttime routine and get her down into her crib for the night.
“Daddy will be home all day tomorrow, okay?” he whispered to her as he cradled her close and kissed the top of her head before putting her into the crib. She was already blinking long and slow, the sure sign she was tired.
He grabbed the baby monitor and then slipped out and closed the door before he returned to his own room to start going through the profiles his mom had sent over. A full time nanny was the way to go. He had permission from both Zayne and Brinxton to offer a live-in position to the person who takes the job, which would give the nanny the room that should have been Kali’s.
Zach pushed that thought aside and went back to looking over the resumes. He could deal with the live-in part later, if the nanny wanted that. He’d offer but it was possible whoever he hired wouldn’t necessarily want that. They had already packed up Kali’s things with her mom’s help, though there was a storage unit with her furniture that Zach still needed to go through. He had put that to the side for now because he didn’t have the energy to deal with it. It hurt too much.
Zach slowly read through each resume, looking at their background, their experience with watching children, and what they brought to the table as far as skills went. He put the ones he wanted to interview to the side so he could call them to schedule that. He had the day off tomorrow as it was the weekend, which gave him plenty of time to figure out the interviews, though he felt overwhelmed by it all.
He held interviews the next day at the house while Diana Hoffman, Kali’s mom, helped with the baby upstairs. She was only going to bring Nadya down if Zach decided he wanted to see the prospective nanny with her, but many he hadn’t even done that with. He was starting to feel discouraged when the doorbell rang again. He turned his papers to look at the resume of this one – a Diego Martinez – and then went to answer the door.
Zach already had on his polished professional smile as the door opened and he took in the man before him. Diego Martinez stood shorter than Zach, at around five foot eight. He was extremely polished in his looks, clean shaven, with neat dark brown hair that was cut short, almost to military style standards. His tanned skin was obviously his normal complexion, probably only made darker in the summer months when he was outside. Zach pushed down the want to really take in this man’s muscular physique and handsome face.
“Mr. Martinez, come on in,” Zach said affably and held the door open for him.
It gave Diego a little time to take in the man who could be his boss. Zach stood at six foot two, and it was obvious that Zach Lennox was an incredibly active man. His auburn hair was cut in a style that left the top longer, though he didn’t wear it too long. It never really touched the tops of his ears before he cut it all off again. The sides were much shorter than the top and it made it look like the sides were much darker in color than the rest of his hair. Zach had freckles along his nose and cheeks, the one thing that wasn’t entirely identical with his twin as their freckles had never matched and changed with how much sun they each got. Zach’s gray eyes were warm but it was clear he was sizing Diego up a little, trying to figure him out with a glance before he started asking questions. Zach was clean shaven but he had a five o’clock shadow right then, showing that the red hair was definitely natural by how red the prickles of hair on his face were.
“My name is Zachariah Lennox, and yes, I know how pretentious of a name that is, so please call me Zach,” he said as he motioned for Diego to take a seat.
Diego nodded as he limped into the room, “Please, call me Diego. Mr. Martinez was my father.”
Zach smiled, flashing his perfectly white teeth that Diego thought could likely come from the use of braces as a teen, and he took a seat on one of the wingback chairs in the room. “Diego it is then. So, I’ve read through your resume, know your certifications and past work. What made you want to work with children?”
Diego collected his thoughts, mentally reviewing the answers that he had prepared for these questions. “I grew up in a large family, and have been surrounded by children for most of my life. I was one of the middle children and often ended up helping to take care of my younger siblings. When I came back from the military, I needed to reconnect with that youthful innocence again and my therapist suggested teaching. I’m in school for education thanks to the GI Bill but I have practical needs while I attend school and I still love kids, so…”
Zach’s smile became a little warmer and more genuine at that. He asked a few more questions, which Diego answered well and Zach found he liked this candidate the more they spoke. “I’m willing to offer a live-in opportunity, but you don’t have to take that, especially if stairs aren’t great for you. The open bedroom is on the second floor next to my daughter’s. Weekends and evenings would be yours to do as you please. Are you used to dealing with diapers and formula? She’s on soy because she has a milk allergy.”
Diego blinked a little at all of the rapid-fire questions, trying not to get his hopes up too much that this person seemed eager to get more information. He mentally reviewed the questions and tried to answer them in order. “I have changed plenty of diapers, yes. Formula is a lot easier for me than breastfeeding would be, though she and I share the milk allergy. I can manage stairs just fine, though I’m a little slower than I used to be. I don’t need a place to stay, per se, but it would be nice to get out of my parents’ place.”
Zach’s smile faded a little bit before he said, “Nadya has never been breastfed. Her mom was too sick when she was born, so she’s only ever been on formula.” Then he seemed to shake off the grief and returned to his professional smile. He picked up Diego’s resume again, looking over the things he had marked on the piece of paper.
Diego immediately registered Zach’s words and change in mood and quickly responded, “I am so sorry, I didn’t know what happened but that was still a very inappropriate thing to say during an interview.”
Zach looked up from the resume, noting how genuine he was being. He put the resume back in his lap and folded his hands together thoughtfully. “No, it’s a good thing to bring up. Many nannies deal with reheating pumped milk. Nadya’s mom died of eclampsia, or else she would be in the other room and we’d be coordinating our work days against each other’s schedules. I always had the heavier workload, though, so it’s been difficult to juggle. I appreciate your apology. It’s been hard adjusting, but I want to do what is best for her.”
Diego nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you for that background information. I know it’s a little early but have you given thought to approaching the eventual questions she may have about what happened to Nadya’s mother? I’ve read that it is a good idea to have a plan in place for consistency.”
It was Zach’s turn to blink, and his cheeks flushed a little at the realization that he hadn’t considered that at all. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. We keep photos of her in the nursery, but I suppose getting a plan together is smart, even if she is still very little.”
Diego nodded and sat quietly, waiting for the next interview question, searching through his brain to see if there was anything he had forgotten to mention to sell his skills and abilities. He really liked this guy’s openness and direct speech and was beginning to see himself working here.
Zach, meanwhile, was considering everything in his head. The man’s qualifications were solid, but more than that, he was thinking ahead about things psychologically, and Zach could see where his learning was coming in handy. Zach put the resume back on the table and got up to walk over to where the stairs were before he called up to Kali’s mom. Diana Hoffman came down the stairs with Nadya in her arms.
Zach took his daughter and smiled at her when she turned her attention to him, giggling at him and grabbing at his shirt collar. He gave her a kiss on the side of her head and walked back over to sit down with her. “This is her highness, Princess Nadya. She just turned six months old and is trying to crawl but she’s only managing to scoot backwards so far.”
Diego looked at her and smiled. “She’s precious!”
That made Nadya beam, like she knew she was being talked about in high praise. Zach ruffled her hair affectionately, making her reach up and grab his hand, which meant he wasn’t getting it back anytime soon unless someone else made her want to be held by them.
“If I can be blunt, Diego, your resume and qualifications are impressive, but even more so your thoughtful way of handling yourself in an interview and thinking ahead about her needs when she’s older,” Zach said plainly. “That’s probably exactly what I need right now too. Someone who can help not only now but can give me ideas of how to be the best dad in this situation as well.
“The position includes board, so there’s no rent to pay. We can work with your schooling schedule too. I work from about seven AM to around four, but I do have late nights sometimes. My brother can take over if need be after five. I also include health care — medical, dental, and vision — as a benefit. So what do you think?”
Diego seemed shocked by this turn of events but recovered quickly. “I think I would be honored to help take care of such an adorable princess,” he said with a smile.
Zach looked at Nadya with a fond look. “He already knows the hierarchy too. I think this will work well.” Nadya babbled happily at him. “I’ll give you the week to get things in order and then could you start next Monday? My brother works from home but the more mobile she gets, the harder it might be for him to keep an eye on her while he works. Plus he’s limited in mobility and I’ve heard toddlers get fast.”
Diego smiled and agreed to the terms, standing and shaking Zach’s hand before cooing at Nadya and following Zach to the front door. He couldn’t believe he had landed the job so quickly but this was just the break he needed to finally regain some of the independence he had enjoyed between harrowing experiences in the military. He returned home to his parents’ house and let them know the good news.
Zach and Elias spent the rest of the week getting the room into as much of a blank space as Diego could ask for — just a bed, dresser, and desk and then he could set up things however he wanted to. The nice thing was that the room he would be in was the one right at the top of the landing, putting Nadya and Zach further down the hallway.
When Diego moved his stuff in, Zayne was one of the first people to greet him while Zach, Elias, and Brinxton did their side to help him get things moved in quickly so he could get to organizing. Nadya watched them from her bouncer where she was fascinated by all the goings on.
By the time they were done and Zayne called everyone to come and get chicken wings, pizza, and beer, Zach looked more wiped out than anyone.
“Are you not sleeping well?” Zayne asked as he put some plates on the counter and Diego came down the stairs into the living room.
Zach shook his head. “I am, I think. Nadya is actually sleeping through the night now, so I’m getting far more sleep than I was. I just feel so wiped out all the time. I go up the stairs and it’s like running a marathon some days.”
“Can you get mono more than once?” Elias joked before realizing Diego was with them and maybe shouldn’t joke about the poor guy’s employer being a slut so soon.
Zach shook his head though. It had been about five years since he had caught mononucleosis and he had been told it wasn’t something you got more than once. “I’m probably just doing too much. Once we get into a good rhythm here, I’m sure it will get better.”
“Ah, that’s where you come in,” Zayne commented conspiratorially to Diego.
“The best rhythm I can manage is a little mariachi,” Diego said, raising both hands palm out as if in surrender.
“At least Nadya will like that,” Zach laughed as he went over and picked her up. She grabbed onto his shirt and let her dad bring her over to where everyone was, slipping her into the high chair to hand her some cheerios to play with and try to munch on.
Everyone spent time during dinner asking Diego questions about himself, like if he grew up around here and how his schooling was going. Diego gave a brief history of his life; telling them that his family was from the Las Vegas area originally but that they had moved here when his mother had gotten pregnant with his oldest sister. His father had said that the schools in Las Vegas were not good enough to educate their children.
He talked briefly about the lack of higher education options for children of poorer families leading him to join the military for the GI Bill and then skipped ahead to his educational goals now that he was in school. He told them that he wanted to be a high school teacher some day, but for that he needed a Master’s degree in Education or something similar, so he was trying to stretch his GI Bill for as far as possible by saving the room and board money they supplemented with, which was why he had been living with his parents.
“None of us here can really imagine having to figure out money for schooling,” Zayne admitted. “But, I think you have very admirable goals, and are going about it very wisely. I’d like to think we’re resourceful bosses, too, who will make sure you can meet those goals.”
Zach looked thoughtful. “Yeah, we’ve started up scholarships at my company to help poorer college kids get experience in construction and architecture, and some of them even work on the internet side with Zayne.”
“See? He’s such a good boss,” Zayne teased his brother.
Zach scrunched up his nose at that, his cheeks flushing red a little bit. “I’d say I’m kind of at a bare minimum of what I should be right now. I’m talking with dad to try and do more, but we’ll see. Excuse my brothers, Diego. They just like to dig in where they can. They make fun of me like the world will collapse if they don’t.”
Diego nodded, as if that was to be expected of brothers. He was enjoying observing the familiar atmosphere that his new employer had with his friends and brothers. It told him a lot about the man and helped him settle into being comfortable in this new environment. He had been required to act brashly and decisively in combat, but his personality really lent itself more to observation and quiet introspection around new situations. Because of that, he was glad that they weren’t pressuring him to be more vocal right away.
They were more than happy to let him do his observing while keeping up their normal banter with each other. One of the first things Diego was able to discern was that Zach was an incredibly attentive father when he was at home. He was happy to get down onto the floor with Nadya to play with her, and when she started to get grumpy and wanted a bottle, he laid with her on the couch to feed her. Zach took the time while getting her a bath and changed into a new diaper and pajamas to show Diego the layout of the nursery so he would know where diapers, wipes, and clothes were and how everything was organized.
Zach was a fan of organization. Everything had its place, and he even had her clothes separated and folded up by what they were, with the sleepers together, the shirts in one place and pants in another, and tiny baby socks in the top drawer. Zach also taught Diego how to put the monitor on her foot for when she was sleeping, and the baby monitor.
Once they had Nadya’s room closed, with Zach able to see her through the camera on his phone, he pointed down the rest of the hallway. “I know I mentioned it, but the bathroom is right after Nadya’s room, and my bedroom is the one down at the very end if you need anything. I don’t expect you to deal with overnight stuff, but she doesn’t wake up often so it’s not hard for me to do.”
Diego nodded, responding quietly, “That’s probably best. I’m normally a light sleeper but the meds I take to prevent nightmares puts me in a pretty deep sleep.”
Zach gave a sympathetic look at that. “Understood. Even with my sleep aid, I am a light sleeper because I worry every little sound is something wrong with Nadya. I’ll see you in the morning then.”
With that, Zach retreated to his own room. He knew he should probably shower but he just couldn’t find the energy to. It took him a good thirty minutes just to find the motivation to get out of his jeans, and by the time he managed that, he gave up on getting pajamas on and just pulled his shirt off to fall asleep in his boxers.
It took Diego a couple of hours to fall asleep, even after taking his night time medications, because of the unfamiliar surroundings. He didn’t normally lie awake long, but he was processing a lot from the past week. In many ways his whole life had just changed, though it did not interrupt his plans for the future. He spent that time before sleep took him thinking increasingly more about his new boss and wondering what type of person he was. He seemed very genuine and sweet, and his daughter was as adorable as only tiny people could be. With those things swirling through his mind, Diego finally found sleep.
The household fell into a routine with each other once they figured out how their schedules would fit together. Zach generally got up before either Diego or Nadya, taking a shower in the morning before getting dressed for work. He would take the first diaper change and bottle before handing her over to Diego for the day and heading to work. The first few days Zach was nervous through the day as this was all new for him and for Nadya, but she seemed to take to Diego really well.
Diego found that Nadya was generally a pretty happy baby, though she was grumpy when she had a tooth coming in and she hated shots, but Zach was keeping her up to date on her immunizations. She had a few designated nap times, and they worked on tummy time and playing on her play mat through the day.
Zach tried to get home at reasonable times, and kept Diego up to date on when he had to work late. Some days, Zach would work from home, locked up all day in his room at the desk drawing up plans or on business calls. It was when he was putting Nadya down for naps on the days Zach was on calls from home that Diego learned that Zach spoke both Spanish and French fluently.
Zach usually took about fifteen minutes to decompress from work before he picked Nadya up each night to get into the routine of taking care of her. Diego, for his part, sent Zach updates on important or cute milestones and plenty of photos of Nadya being adorable. Taking care of an infant, even one as mobile as Nadya, wasn’t very much trouble, though, so Diego was able to get a great deal of studying done as well.
It was a few months into his employment in the Lennox household when some of his friends talked him into coming out with them on a Saturday night to take a break from work and studying. Zach always gave him the weekends to do what he wanted, which usually meant studying or catching up on sleep. He met up with his friends at a club where they had already ordered him a drink.
“So spill,” Priya said to him. “You’ve been working under Zach Lennox for almost three months. Is he as hot in person as he is in the photos?”
Diego smirked, “You say that like I’ve been under him while working for him, Priya. He’s just my boss, I haven’t looked at him that way. Besides, I thought Society decided he was straight.”
“You can see that man shirtless and not think of him that way?” Priya asked with a grin while fanning herself.
“They did,” Rasul added, answering the question Diego had posed. “I mean, he had a baby and was living with a woman until she died. To Society, that’s as straight as it gets. Plus, I heard he offered to marry her.”
“Oh my, his hand in marriage!” Priya exclaimed in a faux southern belle accent. “How exciting!”
“Well, whatever happened, I don’t need that kind of drama in my life right now anyway. I spent four years dodging questions about my sexuality while getting shot at and blown up and had to toe the middle-of-the-road political line to get accepted to this school and I’m not about to jeopardize this sweetheart of a deal job just because my boss is cute,” Diego said.
“Too bad, can you imagine what it would mean to marry into a family like that?” Priya pointed out. “You’d never have to worry about money again. Zach is especially doing well for himself. Lennox Construction has been signed on to build that new theater downtown. That’s big money.”
Rasul shook his head. “Not like any of us are in the league that men like that would marry.”
“I don’t know,” Priya replied. “Kali Hoffman came from a lower middle class family. Shacking up with Lennox the way she did could have been her big meal ticket in life.”
“Except she’s dead now,” Rasul pointed out. “So that didn’t work out very well did it?”
“I haven’t known him for very long,” Diego offered, “but something tells me people like him and in his position have ways of figuring out who is looking for a meal ticket and avoiding them.”
“I think they only avoid that by being smart,” Rasul commented. “I don’t know if your boss is, but many of them aren’t. Though he did get a woman pregnant out of marriage, which is a big no-no for Society. Don’t know how smart that makes the man.”
“That’s not about being smart or dumb,” Priya pointed out. “That’s about being horny and fucking up. He has a bit of a reputation as free with his body.”
“So a slut,” Rasul laughed.
Diego said, “It’s completely possible to do everything to prevent a pregnancy and still end up with one. The rumor-mill is surprisingly quiet about his personal life aside from Nadya’s birth. Whether he was playing the odds and lost or it happened the one and only time he had sex, I won’t judge the man on pure speculation. I’m kinda done with this conversation. If this is what we’re going to talk about, I’m going home.”
“You’re right,” Rasul said, stopping Diego from leaving. “Besides, we can’t let you waste one of your few nights out.”
“Damn right!” Priya cried and then called out for another round of drinks.
Zach, meanwhile, had been talked into leaving his baby in his mom’s capable hands for the night so he could get out for once. All he had been doing for the last nine months was taking care of his baby and going to work or the gym. Elias and Zach bumped into Daniel at the club, not at all surprised he was out hunting for a night with a guy rather than his wife. They had an agreement though, and while Zach didn’t think it would be something he would want to do, he wasn’t going to judge Brielle for it. Just Daniel.
“Left the tiny ball and chain at home, huh?” Daniel asked Zach.
Zach frowned at that. “I happen to love that tiny little bundle far more than just about anyone I know, so I would be careful what you call her, Danny.”
Elias pushed Daniel’s shoulder. “Stop. He’s already arguing just about being out away from her. He might rush back to the house if you push it.”
“And how’s Brielle?” Zach asked, noting some annoyance at the question from Daniel. Daniel didn’t reply, just moving away from the two of them to get onto the dance floor, which made Zach grin at Elias. “I do love pissing him off. Come on.”
Elias laughed as Zach followed Daniel toward the dance floor. He cared less about actually dancing with people than he did about keeping that sour look on Daniel’s face, which seemed to be working because he wasn’t amused by being practically sandwiched on the dance floor between the two of them. The two of them were being very over the top and exaggerated in their dance moves to annoy their “friend”, which of course got the attention of people near the dance floor too.
“Can you two ever be serious?” Daniel asked them while he pushed Zach away from him.
Zach let himself fall backwards where Elias stopped him from falling completely and pushed him back to a standing position, a grin on his face the entire time. “Nope. Who do I look like, the joker?”
“You’re definitely a joker, that’s for sure,” Daniel grumbled.
“I thought club dancing was supposed to be sexy,” Priya said as she watched the spectacle on the dance floor. “Am I missing something?”
Diego looked and laughed. “Looks like someone tried to start a Mosh.”
“It’s not a metal concert,” Priya complained while Zach and Elias backed up to give Daniel more room, and it was now while Zach made a kissing face towards Daniel to annoy him that Diego realized who it was.
Diego’s eyes nearly popped out of his head with the shock and surprise that registered on his face. The man who Zach had been annoying turned his back on them while Diego watched, leading Elias to tell Zach to just dance because they weren’t leaving until Zach at least danced with people. Zach let out a huff and started to loosen up and lose himself to the music.
Zach was a good dancer. He was tall, and lean even with his muscles, like he was a runner and swimmer mostly. He had good control over his body and didn’t discriminate against who he danced with. At one point he was dancing with a woman, running his hands along her sides as she grinded against his crotch, and then not long after he had a guy’s arms around him as Zach leaned back and closed his eyes against the feeling of the man’s stubble against his neck.
It had been a while since Zach had felt anyone’s body against his in any sort of sensual way; not since Kali. While they hadn’t been in love with each other, he had love for Kali that meant her death had come with a lot of grief and feelings of guilt. Kali had talked so much about wanting each of them to be able to find great romance eventually, and that, plus Zach’s grief, had kept him from getting under or on top of anyone since he and Diana had pulled the plug on Kali. He probably wouldn’t go home with anyone that night, but he was happy to accept the kiss from the guy on the dance floor when he turned Zach to face him.
Diego watched them quietly and resisted his friends’ efforts to get him to dance. He had some moves on the dance floor but he didn’t want to accidentally make a faux pas with his boss on his first weekend out. He did, however, allow his friends to ply him with drinks, figuring that there would be plenty of time to dance once Zach found someone to go home with.
Zach danced just long enough to get thirsty again, following Elias and Daniel off the dance floor and to one of the bars.
“You’re losing your touch, Lennox,” Daniel teased him. “Normally you’d already be in a cab home by now.”
“I know,” was Zach’s only response as he took the water he’d asked for and slowly drank it down while his eyes swept over the crowd. They stopped on Diego as he laughed at something his friends said, causing him to stop drinking for a moment in surprise.
Elias and Daniel followed where Zach’s eyes were, and Daniel said, “Oh, found someone, did you?”
“Is that Diego?” Elias asked.
“Who?” Daniel asked.
“The nanny,” Elias replied.
“You hired a man for that?” Daniel asked Zach with a laugh.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Zach demanded. “He was easily one of the most qualified people I interviewed, and is currently in school studying Education. CPR certified, well equipped in first aid thanks to his background. Plus he’s great with Nadya.”
The way Zach talked about Diego caught Daniel’s attention as he turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. Zayne was usually the twin who was quick to compliment people and talk about their strengths while Zach was the type to nitpick about someone’s personality with anything that personally annoyed him about a person.
Daniel got a little smirk on his face and then pushed away from the bar and started heading the direction of Diego and his friends. Zach tried to call him back but Daniel never did listen to Zach. If Zayne were there, it might have been different, because Zayne had always done a good job of keeping Daniel under control — and Zach for that matter — but Zayne wasn’t here.
“I’m gonna fucking kill him,” Zach growled as he went after Daniel, with Elias leading up the back with a shake of his head. Nothing good could come from this.
“I hope you don’t mind us coming over, but my friend here was eyeing your group,” Daniel said as they got to the small seating area Diego and his friends were seated at. Zach had to force himself not to glare at Daniel now, because he didn’t want Diego and his friends to get the wrong idea.
Diego swept Daniel with a cold look that clearly communicated that he wasn’t interested, hoping the rest of his group backed him up. There was something very off-putting about this guy and not just his behavior on the dance floor with Zach. “I’m sure your friend’s eyes are capable of checking out our group from where you were. You were the one who headed over here. Your desperation is showing.”
Daniel looked Diego over for a moment before Zach pulled Daniel back a little bit and looked between the three of them. “I’m sorry. I’d tell you he’s drunk and stupid, but really, he’s just stupid. He’s just curious as to the new addition inside our house, tiny one not included.”
Daniel made a face at the “tiny one” comment, like the idea of being near Zach’s baby was the last thing he wanted to do. That solidified Diego’s distaste for the man instantly. He smiled warmly at Zach, however. “Well, you know what they say about curiosity and the cat. Is the Princess spending the night with her Nana?”
Zach chuckled and then nodded his head. “He’s more of a rabid chihuahua than a cat, and yes, she is. Elias and Zayne think my social life is non-existent, so my mom offered to take her for the night. I’m glad to see you’re getting some social time in too rather than just keeping your head in the books. Taking breaks from studying helps.” Then Zach looked at Diego’s friends and introduced himself and Elias, with an added, “And the idiot is Daniel, but don’t mind him.”
“Oh the boss!” Priya exclaimed. “It’s so nice to meet you. Diego has been gushing about your daughter and how adorable she is. I’m Priya, and this is Rasul. Consider us Diego’s besties.”
Zach couldn’t help but smile as he shook their hands. “It’s nice to see Diego in a more relaxed setting. He’s either in work mode at home or study mode.”
Diego blushed slightly, reacting less stoically with the buzz he was feeling. The bartender had really made that latest drink very strong. Priya eyed him critically as she admired Zach’s firm grip, “Yeah,” she said, “he doesn’t really know how to relax.”
“Zach should teach you how,” Elias joked. “He’s always been the King of joking around and finding laughter in life.”
Daniel snorted at that. “If that’s what you want to call it. He’s been boring lately, though.”
Diego coolly appraised Daniel and still found him wanting, by his expression. “Some adjustments are bound to happen when an entire life depends on you for everything,” Diego responded.
“Isn’t that what people in your profession are for? To let parents be able to live a life beyond just being a parent?” Daniel asked.
Zach frowned at that. “You don’t hire a nanny to have a social life. I hired Diego because everyone in my house also has careers of their own and we needed someone to watch Nadya while we work. I do everything I can once I come home. I’m not trying to work the man to death or not spend time with my daughter. I love her totally and completely and want nothing more than to get home to her snuggles.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t even snuggle with us anymore,” Elias teased, which earned a laugh and slight shove from Zach. That only widened the grin on Elias’ face. “Zachie pooh, I miss you.”
“Oh shut up,” Zach laughed.
“While some folks in your position do rely on paid labor to raise their children, most partnerships with childcare experts are limited,” Diego stated. “No matter the arrangement, however, my off time is my own and I’ve spent quite enough of it being bothered by you,” he said directly to Daniel, turning away from the high top table and striding confidently over to the bar to get another drink.
“Oh, I like this guy so much more now,” Elias said to Zach, who had to nod his head in agreement while Diego’s friends went to refresh their own drinks and make sure he was okay.
“He’s a mouthy little brat, isn’t he?” Daniel asked.
“Or he has standards, and you don’t fit them,” Zach said with a shrug. Then Zach used his fingers to count for a moment. “That’s officially three dicks uninterested in you tonight. Don’t worry. Someone will drop their standards down for you, though.”
“He’s not interested in you either, though,” Daniel said with a shrug, which made Zach stare at him long and hard for a moment.
“Danny-boy, he’s my employee,” Zach stated. “There is a power differential there, and he’d probably hate to be in a position like that, and I understand that. I’m not using resumes and child care to meet a partner anyway. On that note, though, you’ve exhausted me and I just want my daughter.”
Zach handed some cash to Elias and whispered something to him before he turned and walked away without saying goodbye to Daniel. Elias gave Daniel one last long look before he went over to the bar where the trio had gone, finally getting their new drinks and talking.
“Hey,” Elias said as he came up. “I’m not going to apologize for Daniel because that’s not on me, but Zach feels bad he dampened your night, so please accept a round or two on him, okay?”
Diego shook his head. “Zach didn’t sour my stomach, that other guy did. He has no need to pay anything, though keeping that creep around probably isn’t a good move in the long run. Thank you, though.”
“He doesn’t,” Elias said quickly while he handed the cash over to Priya to take. “Keep him around, I mean. Zach doesn’t like Daniel much but you know how it is when you kind of have a comfortable standard you fall in with someone you’ve known since you were young. We’re mostly nice for Brielle’s sake. I have no doubt Zach will punch him again eventually…I mean…Ugh, just forget I said that. Have a good night, you three.”
“Well, that’s interesting,” Priya commented.
“That’s one way to put it,” Diego said, taking a large gulp of his drink. “I’m done thinking about wet blankets. Let’s have some fun.”
“About damn time,” Rasul said and led them toward the dance floor.
Zach, on the other hand, headed home. He called his mom to find out that Nadya had already fallen asleep at their house, so he decided to leave it alone and just go back to the house. He took a long shower, trying to wash away the scent of the club and all of the annoyance at Daniel and the way he talked. He vaguely thought that Daniel’s attitude probably looked pretty bad on Elias and him too, because you are who you associate with.
He didn’t really want Diego to think badly about him, but he also wasn’t going to sit and think of the why of that too much. Diego was his employee and he wanted the working relationship to work. That was the only acceptable answer.
He was wiped out again by the time he got into his room, barely managing to dry off his hair to his liking before he laid down. He’d worry about it later. Right now, there was a bed calling his name.