18

18

It was 9 AM in the lobby of Downtown Hospital when I was greeted by seven men.

I held up my phone to livestream as I checked for "evidence" on each of their phones.

Two college classmates, an old friend with a family and career, a former neighbor, two gigolos, and Dashiell's personal trainer.

Faced with these results, I was already numb.

Dashiell was one hell of a woman.

If she could keep her cool through all this, what did I have to be embarrassed about?

I even relaxed enough to chat casually with my seven old acquaintances.

"How's Ms. Gerald doing these days?"

"So you're here to find a dad for the kids, huh?"

I scheduled appointments for all seven of them to provide DNA samples.

Afterwards, the eight of us took the two kids out for a meal together.

During the meal, they kept piling food onto my plate.

"Men and women, it's all the same game in the end."

"I've made my peace with it long ago. Greer, if you've got eyes for my darling, it's all good..."