The Girl Next Door | Baby Daddy

1.3 | Emma Wheeler

"Bonnie, wait." I called after her as I followed her into the hall, closing the door of Ben's apartment behind me. Ben was still in the apartment with Emma, but he was alone since Danny and Riley had went to get a drink while Tucker had left for a date with his girlfriend, Vanessa. "Why are you being so hard on Ben?" I wondered.

"Sweetie, it's like I told Ben. That precious baby needs an adult. Someone who knows what they're doing." Bonnie insisted.

"Did you know what you were doing when you had Danny?" I questioned her, and this seemed to throw her off a bit. "He doesn't know what he's doing because he's never learned. But he will. Especially if you're there to help him. Please, Ms. Wheeler, he doesn't want to give up that precious little girl."

"If that's true, then why did he call the adoption agency?" Bonnie tested.

"Because his entire family is telling him he can't do it!" I argued vehemently. "Not his roommate, not his brother, not even his own mother! If no one believes in him, then how can he believe in himself?"

Bonnie took a deep breath. "He can't do it alone."

"You don't know that." I denied, shaking my head. "Besides, he's not alone. Even if he doesn't have you, Tucker, or Danny, he has me."

"Why are you so insistent on this, Cassie?"

"Because Ben is my best friend and I just had to listen to him pretend his heart wasn't shattering while calling a stranger telling them he was going to give up his own daughter." I told her. "Maybe the timing isn't perfect, but he loves that little girl. I know it would mean the world to him if you would give him a chance."

It took her a moment, but eventually, Bonnie gave a silent nod. She didn't say anything else as she went towards the elevator, stepping onto once the grey doors had opened. She stared at the ground instead of me as the doors slid closed.

Just as Bonnie disappeared in the elevator, Riley and Danny strolled up stairs, mid conversation. I heard the tail end of the conversation. Danny was teasing Riley about something. More specifically, Ben. He must have found out that Riley had practically been in love with Ben since we were kids.

The pair saw me in the hall and their conversation halted. "Hey, are you okay, Cassie?" Riley asked, laying her hand on my upper arm.

"Yeah, I just--" My slumped shoulders tightened as I came up with an idea. "Ben's alone with Emma." I stated.

"Alone?!" Riley panicked and hurried towards the door, but I grabbed her arm to stop her.

"You can't go in there." I told her and she gave me a confused look. Though Danny wasn't exactly the brightest, he seemed to be catching onto what I was saying. "If we go in there, he'll never believe he can do this. He doesn't want to give Emma up."

Riley and Danny nodded in understanding and we decided to hide out in my apartment across the hall while we gave Ben time to think about what he wanted to do. We ordered a pizza and grabbed some sodas from my fridge.

My apartment was a lot tidier than Ben, Danny, and Tucker's, but then again, I had half as much stuff since I lived alone and I wasn't a guy in my twenties. My apartment was a little smaller than theirs with only two bedrooms, but it was plenty for just me. I wasn't there half the time anyways since I was usually working or over at Ben's.

We caught Tucker just before he was about to go into his apartment. I stuck my head out of my apartment door and called his name, motioning for him to come to my apartment.

"What's going on?" Tucker questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. "I was at the movies with Vanessa when Ben called and said Emma was having some sort of meltdown?"

"I don't think Emma's the problem." Danny suggested from where he was sitting on my couch.

My phone rang and I looked at the caller ID. It was Ben calling from across the hall. "Cas, where are you?" He beseeched. I could hear Emma crying in the background of the call. "Emma won't stop crying! I think she's tired, or hungry, or, I don't know, thirsty?"

"Well which one?" I asked.

"I don't know! I don't speak baby!"

"Ben, you're gonna be fine. Try making her a bottle." I instructed and hung up the phone before he could get too dependant on my directions.

"I'm telling you. There is no way. Bodily functions make him queasy." Tucker argued.

"Where's your faith, man?" Danny responded. "He can do it!"

###

We had passed out all around my apartment. Riley had shared my bed with me, Tucker had slept in the guest bedroom, and Danny somehow drew the short straw and spent the night on the couch. I woke up and got the rest of them up when I realized it was morning and Ben was still alone with Emma.

I hurried over to the apartment, slowly opening the door. I found Ben sitting on the couch, Emma in his lap. He was playing with her, tickling her and playing peekaboo as she giggled and flashed drooly smiles. I smiled as I leaned against the doorframe. He eventually looked up, realizing I was there.

"Hey." He said happily.

"Hey." I responded. "You okay?" I asked, kneeling next to the couch and running my hand over Emma's thin hair.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I think I wanna do this." By now, Riley was standing in the doorway and Tucker and Danny were straightening up the assorted baby stuff all over the living room. "I can't let her go." Ben said, gently running his finger along Emma's jaw. "I love her."

Ben kissed Emma on the forehead and everyone smiled. I was so happy Ben had decided to keep Emma. It was still difficult to imagine him as a father, but watching him play with his daughter, I could tell that he really did love her and this is what he wanted.

"You should probably call the agency. It's almost seven." Danny told Ben as I took Emma from him so he could stand up from the couch.

"Somebody could use a bath!" I said to Emma as I held her against my chest.

"You both could!" Tucker teased Ben as he yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"I'm gonna get a bottle ready." Danny volunteered.

"But I wanna give it to her, okay?" Ben said, tickling Emma's arm as he passed me to go towards the bathroom to shower.

"We're gonna have to get on some kind of schedule. For real." Tucker announced to the roommates. I smiled at Riley as she quietly slipped out of the apartment, closing the door. I looked down at Emma, who smiled. She really did look like Ben with his thin nose, round ears, and wide smile. She even had the same fleck of yellow in her iris.

I kissed Emma on the forehead, just as Ben did. "You're a lucky girl, Emma."