The Girl Next Door | Baby Daddy

2.3 | I Think

"Ben, what's going on?!" I asked, my voice full of worry as I bursted into the apartment, Ravi right behind me. The door had been wide open and I could see Ben frantic in the living room.

"Emma's not here." Ben told me, his voice hoarse.

"Ben, what are you talking about? Where are Tucker and Danny?" I questioned, closing the apartment door. Ravi followed quietly behind me since he had no real involvement in the crisis. He had met Ben before, but only briefly and down at the bar when Ben was working.

"They went out. Both of them thought the other was watching her, and I came home and-- Cassie, Emma's gone!" I pulled Ben into a hug to try to calm him down and to stop his frantic pacing back and forth across the living room. I tried to think of what to say, but frankly, I had no experience in comforting someone who had just come home to find their child missing.

"Ben, it's going to be okay." I told him, though I honestly didn't know whether or not I was lying.

"Are you looking for someone?" The door had swung open and Bonnie walked in, carrying Emma. Ben immediately pulled away when he spotted her, hurrying towards his mother. He took Emma and hugged her close against his chest.

"Oh my God, Emma!" He mumbled, kissing her head repeatedly and burying his face in her small shoulder. "I never want you out of my sight again, okay!" He said, gripping onto the pink fleece of her blanket sleepers.

"See, Ravi. I told you this was important." I said to Ravi, who was still standing quietly to the side, watching the drama of the events unfold. He could tell I had been almost as shaken up as Ben after discovering Emma was missing and embraced me. I reciprocated, burying my face in his shoulder. He was almost as tall as Danny, so I was much shorter than him, as well.

I let go of Ravi to see Bonnie giving Ben a very disappointed look. Ben swallowed and took a deep breath. "Cassie, can you take Emma for a minute?" He requested and I complied without any argument, taking the baby and hugging her just as Ben had.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" I whispered to her, kissing the thin blonde hair on the top of her head.

Bonnie shrugged, not needing a single word to express what she was thinking. The apartment was so quiet it was like it was occupied by no one but the growing tension.

"I'm ready." Ben said to his mother. "Let me have it. But just know that nothing you could say to me can be any worse than what I'm already saying to myself."

"Actually, Ben. All I wanted to say is that I'm proud of you." Bonnie said and Ben sniffled, wiping a tear from his eye. "Ben, that feeling-- that gut-wrenching, heart-stopping, 'if anything happens to my child, I think I will die' feeling-- what you just had-- that is what let's you know that you're a parent. And honey I know that you will do anything to make sure you never feel that again." Bonnie said in a grand soliloquy. Her eyes had begun to water as well, and even I had several tears rolling down my cheeks. "So congratulations." She laid her hand on Ben's shoulder, comfortingly rubbing down his arm. "Now you're a father." She told him, straightening the collar of his brown leather jacket. "And I think you're gonna be a pretty great one."

Ben let out a shaky breath, turning to face me as I cuddled Emma against my chest. "But I don't know what I'm doing, Mom. I know I told you that I had this all under control, but if tonight tells you anything, I really don't."

The door swung open yet again and Tucker and Danny bolted through the door like their lives depended on it. They flocked to me since I was holding Emma, like her hot pink footie pajamas were some sort of homing beacon. "Emma!" They called.