The gutshot

Chapter 1:

“Poker night at Jack’s house,” Tyler reminded me as we walked through the station. 

I glanced at my watch. I had just enough time to run home and shower if I left now. “Yeah, I’ll see you there.”

“Lucas,” my captain called out to me. “You have a visitor.”

“Me?” I asked, pointing to myself.

“No,” he said sarcastically, “the other Lucas with the bald head and beard. Sorry, I got you two confused.”

I smirked at him, shaking my head as I made my way to the front of the station. There was an elderly couple standing by the desk, but I didn’t see anyone else around. Walking over, I hoped this wouldn’t take too long.

“Can I help you?”

“Are you Lucas Mitchell?” the man asked. He was hunched over, leaning on a cane, and the woman beside him didn’t look like she was in much better shape. 

“Yes, how can I help you?”

“Son, there’s no good way to tell you this, but you’re a father.”

I stared at him, then started laughing. “Sure. Yeah, that’s a good one.” I glanced around the station, looking out for Tyler. This had to be his doing. He was fucking with me because of the shit I gave him for leaving me out of the loop with Summer. I saw him walking to the back door and shouted out to him.

“Hey, is this you?” I asked.

Frowning, he walked over. He glanced at the couple, but I could see the confusion on his face. “What’s going on?”

“Did you put them up to this?”

He shook his head slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I rolled my eyes. He was doing a great job of acting. “I get it. This is some elaborate prank because of how pissed I was at you for leaving me out of the loop with Summer.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t even know what’s going on.”

I stared him down, crossing my arms over my chest. This just wasn’t funny anymore. “Look, pranks are fine. We had a few good ones with Penny and Nathan, but inventing a kid? Not cool.”

He looked at the couple again and then back to me. “Did you hit your head? I don’t even see a kid.”

“Whatever.” I almost called him an asshole, but had to watch my language in front of people that came into the station. “Look, whoever put you up to this, I’m sure they got their kicks out of this. Am I on camera or something?” I asked, grinning as I looked around again.

“On camera for what?” the man asked.

“You know, to make me look like an idiot. Wait, did Mary Anne send you over here?”

“I don’t know a Mary Anne.”

“Then Jack,” I continued. So far, I hadn’t seen proof of a kid, or any reason why someone would say I was a father. The whole thing was fucking bonkers. 

The man hobbled around the corner, and only then did I see the little girl whose hand he was holding. I stared at her, with her curly brown hair and chubby cheeks. She was cute, but there was no fucking way she was mine. Not with a head of hair like that. 

“See? That’s not my kid.” I pointed at my head. “Do you see any hair on this head?”

“Her mother’s name was Amy Holland,” he said, not paying attention to the obvious, which was that I couldn’t have possibly fathered a kid with that much hair.

“That name means nothing to me.”

He pulled out a picture and handed it over. Tyler leaned over my shoulder and studied the picture with me. “She looks vaguely familiar, but I’m sorry, I don’t know her.”

I handed the picture back, but he shook his head. He held out his hand and his wife handed him a piece of paper. I recognized it instantly when he placed it in my hands. It was a birth certificate, and listed as the father was Lucas Mitchell. Me.

I scratched at my jaw, trying to come up with a reason that my name would be on a birth certificate. There had to be a logical explanation, but nothing was coming to mind. Unless…“No, this is a mistake. Maybe another Lucas Mitchell.”

“Son, we also have her will, if you’d like to look at that.”

He went to grab that too, but I held out my hands. “Wait…I don’t understand. If this is my kid, she’s got to be…”

“Two years old,” the man answered, coughing slightly. 

“And where’s her mother?”

“She and her husband were killed in an accident in London.”

“You slept with a married woman?” Tyler asked.

“No, I—” I turned back to the old man. “This is a joke. You’re fucking with me.”

He shook his head. “She was married just before she found out she was pregnant.”

I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder and turned to find the captain beside me. “So, everything okay?”

“I…”

“Lucas got a married woman pregnant,” Tyler informed him.

“I didn’t know she was married!” I said, panicking the more reality was seeping in. Her face flashed through my mind. I sort of remembered a woman a few years back. I had a one night stand with a woman from a bar. She looked sad, and I was there. It just sort of happened, but there was never any mention of a husband, and I always looked for a ring.

“He just found out this kid is his,” Tyler continued.

“She’s adorable,” the captain grinned, bending over to get a closer look.

I shook my head, taking a step back. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

“We should draw some blood first,” Tyler said, grabbing my arm.

“Why?”

“Paternity test.”

“Right,” I nodded, feeling lightheaded. 

“You can get one,” the old man continued, “but you’re named her guardian in Amy’s will.”

“But…that’s just silly. Anyone can write down a name,” I laughed, losing my shit. “I could write down ten names right now. That doesn’t make the kid mine or anyone else’s.”

“According to the lawyer, you are to take custody of the child. Emily is her name.”

“I don’t know anything about kids. I’m not a father. I’m…I’m…”

“You’re taking emergency leave, is what you’re doing,” the captain informed me. “You’ll need some time to get this sorted out and find childcare for your daughter.”

“My…” I slowly turned to Tyler, shaking my head at him. “You’re fucking with me, right? This is some elaborate hoax.” My eyes darted around the station, at the crowd that was now watching. Everything seemed to be shifting around me. I was sure Jack would bust in any second just to laugh his ass off at how terrified I looked.

Tyler winced as he watched me lose my shit. “Sorry, even I’m not that much of a bastard.”

“We have her bags in the car,” the old man said, turning to go outside.

“Wait, why aren’t you keeping her?”

“Son, I can barely get out of bed in the morning. I’m in no condition to care for a toddler.”

“Well, I can barely shave my own head. I’m not in the position to take care of a toddler either,” I argued. I knew it was a weak argument, but what the hell was I supposed to say?

“How about I grab the bags,” Tyler suggested, following the old man out. The woman stayed close, but she still hadn’t said a word.

“How are you related?”

“We’re Amy’s aunt and uncle.”

“So, there are grandparents somewhere. Or the husband, he must have family…”

“But you’re her father,” the woman said. “None of us knew. Trust me, this is a shock to all of us.”

I ran my hand down my face, trying to get a grip on all this. Insanity, that’s what this was. Twenty minutes later, Tyler was installing a car seat in my back seat and I was shoving bags into my trunk. When I walked back into the station, I stared at the little girl, trying to see the resemblance. It was crazy. She didn’t look a thing like me. The aunt and uncle brought her over to me and I knelt down in front of her, unsure of what to say.

“Hey, kid. I’m Lucas.”

She was holding a stuffed black bear under her arm, staring at me curiously. I didn’t know what else to say. I wasn’t about to tell her I was her dad. That wouldn’t be happening until I got the paternity test back. But I looked at the will, and sure enough, I was listed as her guardian.

“We have to get home,” the uncle stated.

“Right.” I held out my hand for the little girl, and after a few seconds, she grabbed it. I picked her up in my arms and studied her face some more. “Um…do you want to say goodbye?”

“She doesn’t even know us,” the aunt said with tears in her eyes. “We only had her for a few days.” Stepping forward, she grabbed the girl’s chubby little hand and kissed it. “You’ll be happy with your new daddy.”

The little girl’s lip quivered as she held out her arms for the old woman.

“Albert, let’s go.” The old woman turned and walked out with her husband, leaving me with a crying two year old. Not knowing what to do, I bounced her on my hip, staring at Tyler in disbelief.

“I’m guessing you won’t be around for poker night,” he laughed.

✯

I grappled with the door as I tried to carry in as many of the bags as possible while carrying Emily on my hip. I shoved through the front door, the bags falling to the ground with a thud. Penny and Nathan were sitting at the kitchen table, and both of them stopped to stare at me.

Nathan pointed his fork at me. “That’s a kid.”

“I know.”

“You know you’re not actually supposed to take other people’s kids home, right?” Penny questioned.

“I’m a cop. I’m well aware of what I’m supposed to do.”

“Then why do you have a little girl?” Nathan asked.

I sighed, pulling out one of the chairs to sit in. “Apparently, I’m her father.”

They both stared at me. I swore neither of them blinked for a whole minute. Then Nathan shifted in his chair. “Let me get this straight, you left here this morning a single person, and came home a father.”

“It would appear so.”

“How…”

I looked at Penny, shaking my head. I still didn’t understand it myself. “I think I slept with her mother about three years ago. She was about to get married.”

“You did what?” Penny hissed.

“I didn’t know,” I snapped. “Do you ask every person you sleep with if they’re married?”

“Yes,” they both answered.

I looked at the little girl in my arms, still baffled by all of this. The way she stared at me was unnerving. I’d never had someone watch me so closely, especially not a kid. She looked at me like she was inspecting every inch of me, just waiting for me to fail. And I most definitely would fail. I wasn’t father material. But the longer I stared at her, the more protective I felt of her. I was all she had in this world…if the paternity test came back as a match. And then I would have no choice but to face this thing head on. 

“We need a paternity test,” Nathan said, shoving back his chair.

“They did one at the station. I should get the results tomorrow.”

“So, what now?” Penny asked. “What’s her name?”

“Emily. And I don’t know. I was sort of hoping…”

She sat back in her chair, narrowing her eyes at me. “You were hoping what?”

“That you could…you know, take care of her until I get a nanny or something.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re a woman. You have motherly instincts.”

“No,” she laughed, getting up from her chair. She took her plate over to the sink, so I got up and followed. 

“Please,” I begged. “I have no idea what to do with a kid.”

“Neither do I,” she spun around. “I don’t have a kid, nor do I want one.”

“Seriously?” I asked. I glanced at Nathan. “When did this happen?”

“Right now?” he said, shrugging helplessly. “I guess we’re not having kids.”

“We might, but not right this minute,” Penny snapped. “Look, it doesn’t matter what Nathan and I are doing. You have a kid, not me. I can’t be responsible for that little girl.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ll screw her up!”

She got in my face, lowering her voice so only I could hear. “I put my husband in a cock cage. Is that the kind of influence you want around your daughter?”

I nodded vigorously, but she kept shaking her head. “I can’t just stay home with her all day,” I whined. “I have to get back to work and take down bad guys.”

“There are no bad guys,” Nathan retorted. “At least, not any recently.”

My arms were getting tired, and I couldn’t hold the little girl any longer. She weighed a shit ton for a girl so small. I set her on the ground and shook out my arm. “What the hell am I going to do? I don’t know anything about kids. I’m a single guy. I don’t even date seriously. How am I going to take care of a toddler?”

“I would start by not letting her eat dog food,” Nathan said, jerking his chin at the dog bowl. Emily was kneeling over it, trying to eat the food. I quickly rushed over and scooped her up in my arms, prying her mouth open to pull out the dog food.

“Gross! No!”

Her face crumbled at the harshness in my tone. My eyes widened in panic as she started crying, her tears streaming down her cheeks in long streams. I held her out in front of me, bouncing her up and down, but she only cried harder. 

“Oh fuck. What do I do?”

“That’s great. Make her cry on her first night with you. That’ll make this all so much easier,” Penny said sarcastically.

When bouncing her in the air didn’t work, I tucked her into my side and swung her from side to side. I was pretty sure I’d seen someone do that on a TV show. But that didn’t work either. Her cries were hurting me, not because I was sad, but because she was screaming really fucking loud now.

“This isn’t that big of a deal,” I shouted over the noise. “I mean, we’re one man down with Tyler gone now, but we can work as a team and somehow—”

“Whoa,” Nathan stood, laughing slightly. “What are you talking about?”

I rubbed my hand up and down Emily’s back, and finally she started to calm down. Taking a deep breath, I looked at Nathan and Penny hopefully.

“Well…” I looked between the two of them. “Raising the kid. It’ll be just like the dogs.”

“No,” Penny said firmly. “Not going to happen. I’ll start looking for a house.” She rushed out of the kitchen to grab her laptop and flipped it open as she sat down at the island.

“I’ll start packing your shit,” Nathan said, taking off in the other direction.

“Oh, so when I was on your side, you were fine with using me, but now you’re kicking me out?” I asked Penny.

“Precisely.”