Adah stormed into the kitchen and huffed.  If you asked Sam, she looked like she was seconds away from stomping her feet and whining.

“He’s been here for the past three weeks!”  She whispered with a harsh tone.  Well, now all she needed to do was stomp her feet and this tantrum would be complete.  “Why won’t he go away?!”

Sam shrugged, peeking into the living room to see Justin holding Emma, singing softly along to a lullaby that was playing from the stereo.  “I think he wants to be around his daughter.”  She took a sip of her water and watched Adah pace the kitchen.

“Yeah, but he like, never leaves.  He’s here when I go to bed, he’s here at night, and he’s here in the morning.  I don’t think he’s been back to his house since we left the hospital.”  She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips into a pout.

“Well…” Sam contemplated being the devil’s advocate for a moment, and realized that Adah probably needed to hear some things.  “You did tell him that you weren’t going to stay at the room he set up for you at his house.  He’s been here to help with everything Emma.  He’s up at night with her so you can sleep, he changes diapers constantly, and he’s bought us groceries the past two weeks.  If you ask me, he’s been a huge help.”

Adah gave her the death stare and Sam found it pretty comical.  “You’re taking his side.”  It wasn’t a question, it was an accusation.

“There aren’t any sides here, Adah.  There’s Emma.  She needs her mother and her father.  That’s what Justin is trying to do despite the fact that you’re doing everything to can to stop that.”  She gave that a second to sink in before continuing on.  “I seem to remember you saying that you wanted Justin to be a part of Emma’s life.  Has that suddenly changed because she’s here now?  Now you want to do the single parent thing?”

“No,”  Her tone was defiant and Sam felt like she was dealing with a little kid and not her best friend.  “I just…he never leaves!” 

“That’s the weakest excuse I’ve ever heard.  Work on your material, Ads.”  Sam left the kitchen, moving into the living room to watch the movie Justin had just popped in.  She liked having Justin around, even though she still couldn’t get over the fact that a world famous super star was dancing around her living room to the Wiggles.  He was a huge help with the baby and he was a genuinely nice guy. 

Adah sat in the kitchen and steamed, thinking over what Sam had just said.  She knew she was being a brat, but she wasn’t sure how to react to all of this.  If she were totally honest with herself, she liked having Justin around, she just didn’t know how to express that.  She wanted to share all these moments with him, but she was afraid at the same time.  Sleeping with Justin was a drunken decision, but it wasn’t completely controlled by hormones and booze.  She was attracted to him and she enjoyed his company.  He made her comfortable and that scared her.  What if he decided to leave?  She knew it meant something that he was here constantly and helping as much as possible with Emma, but Adah still couldn’t get rid of those niggling fears.  She didn’t want him to leave her or Emma.

A laugh came from the other room and Adah’s thoughts were broken.  She spotted Brennan sitting next to Sam who was now holding Emma.  They were all dancing to a Wiggled DVD and she couldn’t stop the smirk that moved her lips.

Brennan had been great with this whole situation.  He was still uncomfortable around Justin, but both men had been nothing but respectful to each other.  Brennan adored Emma and he still seemed to want to be around Adah.  It took some apologizing on Adah’s part for not telling Brennan about Justin, but it was all water under the bridge now and things between them were better than ever.  She was crushing, hard, but the situation seemed so complicated that she didn’t know what to do with it all.

“Hey Ace, stop thinking so hard, you might hurt yourself.”  Brett stood in the doorway, watching his roommate carefully.

Adah stuck her tongue out at him.  “Funny.”

“What’s on your mind?”  He grabbed a kitchen chair and turned it around to sit on it, resting his arms across the back.

“Stuff.” 

“Well that clears it up.  Good talk.”  He grinned as she stuck her tongue out again.  “You’ve regressed, Ace.  Emma acts more mature than that.”

“Emma doesn’t know what mature is.  She’s just happed to by fed and dry.”  Adah didn’t know why she was being so difficult tonight.  Perhaps it was the lack of sleep and the strange situation she was in.

“What’s the matter, Adah?  You’re…”

“Stressed?”  She supplied.

“I was going to say uptight, but stressed works too.”

“Thanks.”  She was pouting again and she realized that Brett was right.  She took a deep breath and attempted to turn a little bit of her sour mood around.  “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Justin?”

Adah nodded.  “Yeah.  I mean, I should probably be happy, but he’s always around and…I just don’t know how to handle it.  I feel like I don’t have any space.”

“It’s a small apartment.  There wasn’t much space to begin with.”  Brett supplied, knowing that Adah meant something else but hoping she would start to realize the sacrifices everyone else was making, too.

“I didn’t mean space like that.  I mean that I can’t find a minute to myself.  I specifically didn’t take him up on his offer to be at his house because I didn’t want to be that close.”

Brett was sure that Adah had no idea how she sounded at the moment.  She was usually rational and level headed about things.  He was chalking it up to exhaustion and strange hormones.  “Adah, he’s the father of your baby.  He’s here because Emma is here and he wants to help out.  I give the guy a lot of credit.  He’s put his entire life on hold so he can be here for you and Emma.  And I think your space issues come from the apartment being so small, not from anything else.”

Adah was a little dumb struck.  “Brett…”  She wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“Ace, I love you and Sam loves you.  We’ll do anything we can to help you and Emma, but you have to understand that Justin is her father and he’s doing everything he can to be here for the both of you.  That’s not my place and it’s not Sam’s place.  You might want to try being a little thankful that he’s actually here, and either get used to him being here, or spend some time at his house.  There’s probably a hell of a lot more space there anyway.”

He left the room and Adah watched with her jaw on the floor.  She knew he was right and she knew she deserved to hear all of that, but she was still feeling irrational and childish, so it just hurt.  She was thankful for Justin’s help, and she knew that it was a small apartment.  She had just assumed that things would work smoothly.  She hadn’t really stopped to ask Sam or Brett what they thought of Emma being here, but she figured that they would tell her the truth.  She was right, because Brett just did.  She just didn’t expect it to hurt so much.

~*~

“You want to what??”  Trace’s voice rose about three octaves as he followed Justin through the kitchen and out to the back yard.  He couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.

“I want to buy the open apartment in Adah’s building.  It’s really crowded at her place and I don’t think Sam and Brett are going to put up with me crashing on the couch for much longer.  If I get my own place I can be close to Emma but still have somewhere to go at night.”

Trace stared at his best friend, sure that Justin had been abducted by aliens and replaced with a thoughtful, responsible drone.  “You’ve got space, Justin.  A house in Orlando, an apartment in New York, a house in L.A.  Now you want another apartment?”

Justin let out a sigh.  “You gave me shit through Adah’s entire pregnancy about stepping up and being a father.  I’m doing that now and you’re going to give me more shit?”  He gave Trace a glare.

Trace held up his hands in defense.  “I’m not giving you shit, I’m just checking to make sure that it’s really what you want.”

“Yes, it is.  I need you to contact the apartment supervisor and send over the deposit.”  He threw a tennis ball for the dogs and watched as they raced across the yard.  “Make sure you use a different name.”

“Yeah, I got it.”  Trace watched Justin, smiling to himself that his friend had finally stepped up and made some good decisions.  “Does Adah know?”

Justin shook his head.  “No.  She was put off enough that I made a room for her at the house.  I’ll tell her soon enough, I just want to have the place first.”  He threw the tennis ball again, laughing as Brennan and Buckley crashed into each other in their haste to get the green ball.  He hadn’t missed the fact that Adah’s little boyfriend had the same name as his dog.  It made him chuckle, actually, and he had to stop himself from talking to Brennan—the guy—like he was a dog.

He wouldn’t come out and claim that he was jealous, he wasn’t quite at the stage yet.  He was mostly possessive over Emma and Adah came with Emma, they were a packaged deal.  He’d admit that he was a little uncomfortable with Adah and Brennan being together, but he could get over it as long as it didn’t interfere with his time with Emma.

His life had changed so drastically in the past three weeks his head was still spinning.  He was completely in love with his little girl and she made the sun shine, he was sure of it.  Things with Adah were okay, but he wanted them to be friends.  He wanted to be able to spend time with her and not have Emma act as a buffer between them.  He knew that she was a little uncomfortable with the time he’d been spending at her apartment, but he couldn’t help it.  He had promised that he was going to be there to help and he meant it.  Part of him was a little upset that she wasn’t a little more thankful for the help, but he knew she was under a lot of stress and they weren’t exactly in the ideal situation.  This is why he wanted to get the apartment; he wanted to be close enough to help whenever it was needed, but still be able to leave and give Adah some space.  He also figured that he could take Emma sometimes and give Sam, Brett and Adah some space.

He never saw himself in this place, being a father and truly enjoying it.  He loved to see Emma smile.  He loved to watch her sleep.  He loved to touch her soft hair and feel her little fingers grip his own.  It was an incredible thing, having a baby, and he was enjoying himself more than he’d expected.

It was tough, but it was also a little easier than he’d expected.  He’d gotten the hang of changing and feeding pretty quickly, and he wasn’t scared to be left alone with her right now.  It was a little easier because she didn’t do more than eat, sleep, and mess her diaper.  He had a little time to play with her, but when he needed a minute to pee or grab the phone or something, he could put her in her crib and not have to worry about her climbing out.

His mother had been a great help, too, showing him how to bathe Emma and how to feed her comfortable so his arms didn’t get tired.

Justin thought he was adjusting to fatherhood really well.  He wasn’t quite sure about the rest of the relationships in his life, but he and Emma were just fine.

“Hey, I just got off the phone with the land lord of the apartment complex.  You’re all set.”  Trace appeared in the back yard again, breaking Justin from his thoughts.

“That was fast.”  He was surprised, but pleased.  He wanted to get settled.  He was a little hesitant to leave his nice, spacious house practically empty, but he knew he was doing the right thing.  Plus, he was hoping he’d be able to convince Adah to start spending some more time here.  There was a lot more room for Emma to play, and there was more room for both Justin and Adah so they could have their own space.

“Yeah.  He was happy to hear that we’d pay the first two months rent in cash, so there wasn’t too much trouble.”  Trace clapped Justin on the back.  “Congrats, Randy Woodpond.  You’ve got yourself a new apartment.”

“Randy Woodpond?  Is that some sick fucking joke?  Really?  You couldn’t come up with a better name than that?”  Justin was upset, but he still had to laugh.  Leave it to Trace.

“Hey, you didn’t tell me what name to use, you just said make sure it was a fake one.”  He smirked, pleased with himself.

“You’re an asshole.”  It was said with a smile.  Justin grabbed Trace around the neck, putting him in a headlock.  “Don’t they need to see ID or something?”

Trace broke free, giving Justin a punch in the shoulder.  “Nah, not if we’re paying cash.  They don’t care if you say you’re the President of the United States, as long as they get their money.”

“If you say so.”  He gave Trace another shove.  “Thanks, though.”

“Hey, I’m just happy you finally stepped up and took responsibility.  It was about damn time.”  Trace grinned at Justin.

“Yeah.  Well, Emma’s so damn cute, I couldn’t help myself.” 

“She is pretty adorable.  She must get it from Adah.”  This earned Trace a punch to the kidney.

“At least we know she’s my kid.  If she were yours she’d look like an alien midget with bald spot.”

“I don’t have a bald spot, you fucker!  It’s just…lighter than the rest!”  Justin couldn’t help the belly laugh that spilled from his mouth.  Trace attempted to take him down, but Justin managed to trip Trace and they both went tumbling into the grass.  The dogs joined them in a flurry of wagging tails and flapping tongues and neither man could stop laughing.

“You’re a fucker.”  Trace panted, smiling despite his irritation.  “You’re lucky I like you.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.”  Justin stood, giving Trace a hand.  “C’mon, let’s go get my baby girl.  I want to show her my new place.”