Fate Has a Cruel Sense of Humor

Sleepovers are For Kids.

(a/n so whatever. I'm not going to keep trying to get ppl to read this story but if you like it, vote! if not stop reading but too many ppl r reading for me to not have any votes and that makes me feel sad. I don't know if I want to keep uploading this story

enjoy this story)

Apparently not, because a few minutes after I got off the phone with my mother, my door was assaulted with knocks. It startled a playing Benji and his lip quivered. I rushed to his aid, before he could cry.

"Don't cry Ben-Ben." I cooed, placating him his pacifier and nearly running to the door. I snatched it open and shouted. "What!"

"Whoa, down tiger." A familiar voice said. "I come bearing gifts." I looked down at my best friend, Lucinda, or Luce as I called her, Romano's small stature standing outside my door with many shopping bags and gave a frustrated sigh.

"Hey." I said, moving aside so she could come in. I locked the door and followed her. "Luce what are you doing here?" I ran my hand through my hair. Completely out of nowhere she dropped her bags and hugged me tight. I smiled and let myself relax into her small statue, but she didn't say a word. That saying, "Actions speak louder than words" popped into my brain and I had to agree. This was a hundred times better than a halfhearted "I'm sorry for your loss."

"We're going to have a sleep over." Luce stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I raised one eyebrow.

"At one in the afternoon?"

"Yes... do you have a problem with that?" She asked giving me her 'Do you really want to start something with me?' look. I bit my lip not to laugh at her.

"Yes, I do. Sleepovers are for kids." I retorted smartly. My hazel eyed friend rolled her eyes at me and smiled.

"Shut-it, Dalton." She joked and ran to where Benji was. "Big-Ben!" She exclaimed, making Benji giggle. I smiled grateful for the distraction Luce always was. She grabbed Benji out of his pen and came to sit next to me on the sofa.

"So." She started, dragging out the word obnoxiously. "I heard through the grapevine that you and Marc called it quits." She said and I stiffened. How in the hell could the news have traveled so fast. It only just happened a couple of hours ago. Sometimes I truly underestimated the gossiping power of the upper east side's elite.

"Yeah. He asked me to choose between him and Benji." I said with a sigh. Luce gasped.

"That bastard didn't." Her eyes were blazing.

"Yes, yes he did." I confirmed. She whipped out her phone and started pressing buttons. Normally I would be afraid, but whatever she was about to do to her cousin, well he deserved it.

"I am so telling uncle Jason." She sing-songed creepily and handing me Benji, heading for my guest bathroom. Jason was Marcus's father, and he was very fond of his little sister's only child. He favored her so much to put her as senior partner, above Marcus at his law firm. Not that she didn't deserve it. Just looking by her appearance, Luce didn't look like it, but she was a complete genius. She got a perfect score on her LSAT and graduated a three years early, at the top of her class at Yale Law.

I played with Benji and searched for some toddler shows on the TV for him to watch and I actually found myself getting into it also. I never really had time to watch TV, barely could remember the last time I used my TV for anything.

A few minutes later Luce walked out of my bathroom with a pleased smile.

"I take it things went well with Jason?" I asked, mildly curious.

"Oh you have no idea." She sent me a wicked grin. "Marcus's ass is heading up the shit creek! Uncle Jason asked me to apologize for his dumb-ass son, His words, not mine," She giggled and a gave her a look for cussing in front of Benji. "Besides that arranged marriage crap is a load of bullshit." She said fiercely, eyes blazing fire. I knew she was thinking about the time her own family tried to set her up. Needless to say that it didn't work out very well.

"Wait until Genevieve hears about this!" Luce suddenly laughed loudly. "The old buzzard is going to have a aneurysm!"

The mention of my grandmother's name made me grimace. She wasn't going to be happy about this, according to her I would be disgracing the family name by refusing such a prominent proposal. We were "elites", we didn't reject one of our own. Even if that one just so happened to be the most selfish person I'd ever met. But whatever, we were long past that time where a person could be socially ruined. This was not eighteenth century England where all people did was worry about pleasing the ton. We were living in modern times now and how could I raise Benji to fight for his beliefs if I wasn't standing up for my own.

"Let her have one. I'm never taking him back." I scoffed, giving her a snort and Luce appraised me with awed eyes.

"Being a mother is giving you a backbone." She praised. I would've choked if I had anything in my mouth.

"Mother?" I asked, completely shocked.

"You're Benji's mother now right?" She asked me, like it was the most obvious conclusion to assume. I shook my head furiously.

"I'm his guardian, not his mother. I wouldn't want to take Layla's place in Benjamin's life." I whispered, looking down at the little boy who was sitting in my arms, playing with my hair. Luce scooted towards me to wrap her petite arms around me.

"I know you don't, but Ben needs a mother and that's something only you can do right now." she ruffled my hair and I swatted at her hand. "We can worry about the father thing later." She winked and I rolled my eyes.

"I am not bringing a man into Benji's life." I said adamantly. What if Benji got attached? No, there would be no men in Benji's life or mine for that matter. I spent the last twelve months of my life on a man and look how well that turned out. I'd live out the rest of my days as a spinster. Who needed a man? Who needed love?

"We'll get on that later." Luce waved me away as she got into the TV too. Who'd believe us if we told them we were watching little Einsteins with a one year old?

After a while, I put a snoring Benji down in his playpen and cut off the television. I had to get some work done. I opted out of my phone seeing as it was still buzzing and grabbed my Ipad and logged on to my private email address, informing Angie that I no longer needed an apartment in the city and to thank her for her service while I was working in Chicago. I wanted to ask her to go with me, but she had a good life down here. Just because I was making a fresh start didn't mean I had to force her to. I would just ask one of my old colleagues to hire her.

"I'm hungry. Make me something." Luce popped up beside me, startling me beyond reason.

"Jesus!" I hissed, holding my hand to my heart. Did she want to rid the world of the last of the Dalton second generation? That thought was the equivalent of a bucked of ice water thrown on me. I was the last of the Dalton line. Oh crap. "Make it yourself." I growled.

"Come on Cassie, you know I can't cook like you." Luce whined and I rolled my eyes, sighing.

"Fine." I snapped my laptop shut and checked on Benji before heading to the kitchen and taking out all of the ingredients needed to make five cheese lasagna. Luce hovered around me grinning like a little girl.

"Are you making lasagna? I love your lasagna!" She cheered quietly as to not wake up the sleeping baby. I fought at the smile that was tugging on my lips.

"You love everything I cook." I retorted.

"That's because everything you cook is amazing." She grinned, showing off the results of three years of orthodontia and watched me while I worked.

Two hours later, I set down the dish of lasagna with tomato sauce all over me. Luce tried to help, but her helping ended up making a big mess out of everything. Cooking was something that she was the opposite of a genius at. I chuckled at the thought of her being a stay at home wife.

Her poor husband, I really felt for the future sap.