Mrs. Robert couldn’t hide her joy upon hearing Josh’s offer. “Would that be all right? Then, well, the bathroom lights… and the bathroom sink, if I may. The water won’t go down well…”

“Of course. I’ll be right back with the tools.”

Josh went back to his home with the boy in one arm so that the boy wouldn’t cry. When he returned with the tools in his other hand, Mrs. Robert was preparing to bake cookies.

‘Shoot. With how things are now, there’s going to be no end to this,’ he thought to himself, but he had no excuse to refuse.

In the end, what started as fixing the bathroom lights ended with him tweaking with the living room chair. Pete, who was watching Josh work, had fallen asleep at some point out of boredom.

*

*

When he finally got home with the boy in his arms, it was already almost dinnertime. Mrs. Robert had offered them to stay over for dinner, but Josh politely refused because it really seemed like there could never be an end to it. Instead, he was given a generous amount of freshly baked cookies to bring home. 

He noticed Pete, who had just opened his eyes, reaching for the cookies just in time to quickly take them away from his sight. “Nope, dinner first.”

Pete pitifully chased the drifting cookies with his eyes. Josh felt his resolve grow softer. Pete looked up at Josh with a sad expression. 

“Ugh…” In merely three seconds, Josh let out a defeated groan. ‘He may be my own kid, but how can he be so cute and loveable?’ he wondered.

He clutched onto his chest and handed Pete a cookie, which Pete accepted while bouncing on his bottom. Drool was pooling in Pete’s mouth, and Josh wiped away an overflowing droplet from his lips with his thumb before hurriedly preparing for dinner.

‘I wonder when Mark will get back to me,’ wondered Josh. Even as he was feeding Pete, all he could think about was whether he would be able to take out a loan, how much savings he had left, and if there were any other places where he could borrow money from. Thanks to this, he was unable to stop Pete from dropping his spoon twice and had to take out new ones for him.

It was just as they were finishing dinner, which spanned an entire two hours, that the doorbell rang.

“Hey, sorry ‘bout the late visit.” Mark marched past Josh and into the house as soon as the door opened.

Josh followed after him, his heart racing. Mark had visited much sooner than he had expected. Pete, who was sitting in the kids’ highchair and dipping his cookies in a cup of milk for dessert, became wide-eyed at the sight of Mark who had waltzed in.

Josh quickly approached the boy and kissed his head so that he wouldn’t be shocked. “Look, Pete, Mr. Mark is here. Why don’t you say hello?”

“Hewwo…” Pete greeted hesitantly in baby talk.

“Yes,” Mark murmured and ruffled the boy’s head before changing the subject. “Let me talk to you for a bit, yeah?”

As Mark directed himself toward the living room like he was used to it, Josh asked behind his back, “How about dinner?”

“Already ate. You haven’t eaten yet?”

“Well, it’s not a big deal.” Josh had planned to have late dinner while the boy ate his cookies, but talking to Mark came first. It was none other than his boss who had visited, and at a late hour at that. Especially with what had happened during the day, Josh couldn’t help but be nervous. Josh hid his nervousness and encouraged Pete to eat alone before following after Mark.

“Hahh…” Even after sitting down on the sofa, Mark didn’t broach the reason for his visit right away. Josh intentionally sat a little further away from Mark as he waited for him to begin. The waiting time felt like forever, but he couldn’t bring himself to rush Mark.

Josh continued to wait silently, glancing occasionally toward Pete. After a fair bit of time, Mark finally began resolutely.

“About work…” The boss sighed once again before continuing, “there is one thing. Well, the compensation is decent and the conditions aren’t bad. If anything, they’re very good. You could get the entire amount of the money you need, and pre-paid at that. The client said that they could give that much for the down payment just fine, and the remaining payment would be given upon completion of the work. Since the payment will be divided, that’s another good thing. There’s nothing to complain about, really. The terms are great, but… the client is who we have a problem with.”

Who could it possibly be for him to beat around the bush so much? Josh stayed patient and merely glared at Mark’s lips. After what felt like a sickeningly long time, Mark slowly opened his mouth. When he finally put the name out on the table, Josh understood why he had hesitated so much.

“Chase C. Miller. You remember him too, don’t you?”

The moment Josh heard his name, he forgot to breathe. Chase C. Miller. How could he ever forget that name?

The chilling purple eyes that looked down upon him, the natural blond hair that glistened under the sun, the flamboyant beauty of his well-defined face features, and the slim, long, elegant body that had seized his heart. The number one hottest actor in Hollywood ever since his debut, the man who had not failed to be crowned the number 1 s*xiest man for multiple years now—Chase C. Miller.

The Extreme Alpha who had imprinted Josh.

The man who had impregnated him with Pete.

‘What kind of bullsh*t…’ Josh cursed in his head as he sat on his bed, clenching his hair. He had been like this for the past few hours since he tucked Pete into bed. No matter how much time had passed, however, his thoughts kept trailing back to the same conversation.