The Girl Next Door | Baby Daddy

2.1 | Emma's Bar Crawl

"Good morning, residents of apartment 4D!" I greeted cheerfully as I opened the door to the guys' apartment with my free hand. The other held a pink box of assorted donuts. I closed the door behind my me, seeing an exhausted Tucker and Danny. Both of them were downing oversized cups of coffee, both of them still in t-shirts and boxers, though Tucker wore a plaid robe. They were still getting used to living with a baby and had clearly endured some sleepless nights.

"I hate you." Tucker groaned at me, his face contorted in anger. I gave him a questioning look. "Just because you get to sleep through the night doesn't mean you get to rub it in our faces."
"Woah there, Tuck. You shouldn't be so rude to the person who brings you donuts." I said, holding up the pink box. Both Tucker and Danny's eyes lit up as they spotted the box.

"Donuts!" They called in unison.

Footsteps echoed through the hallway and Ben slid into the kitchen within seconds. "Donuts?" He repeated, looking around. I chuckled, holding up the box. The guys ransacked the box of frosted donuts. Luckily, they left one for me, which was frosted with pink icing and sprinkles.

"You look like you lost a fight with a fire hydrant." I commented, glancing down at Ben's work shirt. It was completely drenched.

"Well, it turns out you learn something new everyday. Today's lesson: get dressed for work after giving the baby a bath."

I laughed, shaking my head. "Speaking of Emma, where is she?" I asked, setting my bag down on one of the stools at the counter.

"She's back in my room." Ben answered. "Hey, you're still watching her today, right?" He wondered through a mouthful of donut as I headed back to his room.

"No, I told you I have a callback audition." I reminded him, as I scooped up Emma from her makeshift crib, which was just two arm chairs pushed together face to face.

"Crap. I have a shift. Danny?"

"Sorry, bro. I have to get down to the rink." Danny answered, taking another gulp of coffee.

"Okay. Tucker, then."

"Nope. It's Emasculation Saturday with Vanessa." He said, pretending to be enthusiastic. "I think we're going sham shopping."

"Speaking of shopping, you're out of anything with the word 'baby' in the name." I informed Ben after finishing Emma's diaper change. "I can go shopping after my audition."

"Thank you. But that still doesn't straighten out who's watching Emma today." Ben responded.

"Why can't you just ask your mom to watch her?"

Ben shook his head as he poured a glass of orange juice. "No no no. There will be no asking the mom anything. She already thinks I'm making a huge mistake and that I'm too irresponsible. So I'd like to get a handle on this before she hits me with a big 'I told you so.'"

"Then... get ready to be smacked, cause I think she's on her way over."

Ben choked on the orange juice he had just drank. "What?! Here? Now? Why do you think that?" Ben rambled.

"Because when I told her you decided to keep Emma, all I heard was "oh, dear lord." The phone hit the floor, tires squealing, so I kind of put two and two together." Danny summarized.

"Okay." Ben snapped his fingers. "We gotta clean up. Change the baby's diaper. No, Cassie just did that!" Ben said to himself. "A schedule!" Ben decided. "She's crazy about having a plan. "Here, Cas, you make a bottle for Emma and I'll take Emma while we figure stuff out." Ben said and I passed Emma to him, grabbing one of the bottles Ben had gotten at the grocery store from a drying rack next to the sink. "Okay, is there any way one of you can watch Emma until my shift is over?" Ben begged.