Chapter 2: I'm Not Daddy Material

FIVE YEARS LATER

Supermodel Amanda Marks finally spills the beans that she's preggo! We've reported for weeks that we thought she was hiding a baby bump under those baggy clothes. The other shocker, who fathered the baby. Sources say it's none other than bad boy rocker Austin King from Innominate.

"Hey, Bro," KT said as he dropped a phone into his lap, "answer your damn phone. Your dad isn't only blowing up your phone now, but he's calling mine too."

"Why the hell won't he just take a hint?"

"Beats me. Maybe you should just have that talk with him and fire him already."

Austin grimaced. He hated his dad. No hate was too nice of a word for what he felt in regard to the man. When Austin had lost on Supernova, he never would have dreamed that it was only the beginning of a career, but it was.

The night the show ended, after Dawn had been crowned the winner, he thought he'd go back to life as usual. He couldn't have been more wrong. He went on tour with the other finalist and did the press interviews that were required of him, but one night Nate, the guy the group Innominate thought of as the leader, approached him. Nate told him they had all been watching him through the season, and they thought that he was the missing piece in their group.

Austin had to pinch himself to make sure he hadn't been dreaming. The guys flew him and his dad back to L.A. so he could hang out with the band and try out some of their music. It turned out that losing that competition had been the greatest thing for him. Because he had lost, he didn't have to sign a contract with the company responsible for the show, and he was free to do what he wanted. Five years later, he was in one of the biggest bands out there, and Dawn, the winner, was just a has been who went on the Supernova finales from time to time and didn't even have two albums out.

When he made the move to L.A., his dad came with him, and when he did, he turned into a giant douchebag. He took over managing Austin, and his career, and it consumed him. It was so bad that his mom had finally put her foot down and kicked his ass to the curb. Good riddance. Now if he could just do the same.

Deciding to bite the bullet he grabbed the phone in his lap and tapped the screen to call his dad. It hadn't even rung twice when he picked up.

"Son." Austin hated when his dad called him that. "When I call, I expect you to pick up."

"Been busy."

"For a week?"

"Sure."

"We need to get on top of this situation with the Amanda Marks thing. She's been claiming her baby as yours since she told the world she was pregnant, and now that the baby's here, something needs to be done. Again, is there any chance this is your child?"

Austin shook his head. "For the millionth time, I'm not the father of that baby. It doesn't even look like me."

"How sure are you?"

"Damn Dad, you think you'd be on my side. I already called her and scheduled a paternity test, okay? Next week we're going in and all this nonsense will be put behind us."

"I pulled some strings, and I was able to get you into a lab tomorrow. All you have to do is get Amanda on board."

"No can do. Next week is fine. Amanda isn't even around until next week." Lies, all lies. The lies just rolled off his tongue these days. It was nothing to feed the old man a load of crap. Truth was Austin would love to have this all worked out by the end of the week, but the fact that it was his dad that had made it happen put the brakes on the whole thing.

"As soon as she gets back into town, I want you both in that lab."

"Whatever," Austin said before he hung up on the man.

"I thought Amanda was bringing the little rug rat over this afternoon," KT said after Austin tossed his phone onto the coffee table.

"She is."

"Dude, you've got serious issues with your old man."

"He's an asshole, and I can't stand him. He thinks because he's my manager he can control my life. I wish he'd just go away."

Austin was lost in thought when KT's phone beeped. He shot Austin a salute and headed out the door. He hated how he felt nervous. He didn't really know Amanda, but it wasn't like she was a serial killer. She was a woman he'd supposedly slept with. Looking at the time, he got up and headed for his room. He needed to grab a shower and get dressed. Amanda would be there in an hour with her son, maybe his son.

Finding out he was supposedly the father of a baby would have been easier to swallow if the woman who was having the baby had actually told him. Preferably with a little warning before the world found out. No one wants to find out that they have a child or a child on the way from their mother. His mom wanted to kill him, and Austin knew she could. She might be a small woman, but he never doubted for a second that the woman could take him down. That's why he'd promised he'd try and make an effort with Amanda even though he didn't think the baby was his.

"Austin King," his mother had scolded, "if I just found out about my grandchild from a talk show, I'll never forgive you."

"Hell Mom, you can't lead with that. You damn near gave me a heart attack. What are you talking about?"

"I'm watching Talk Live, and there's this sweet girl on here saying she's having your baby. She's really pretty. I could see why you'd want to have sex with her."

"Can we not talk about who I might or might not be having sex with?"

"I'm just saying, she'd make a good daughter-in-law."

"I'm not getting married, and who are we even talking about?"

"The mother of your baby."

"I'm not having a baby, Mom."

"This girl is on here right now talking about it. She said she's tried to cover it up for a while because she's a model or something."

Austin hadn't been with any model.

"Amanda Marks!"

"Ma, listen to me. Stop the hamster from spinning the wheel. I'm not having a baby with her. I haven't even slept with her."

"So it's not true?" she asked skeptically.

"There's not going to be any little Austin's running around anytime soon, Mom."

Austin had been hoping that maybe the whole story would die down, especially since he never acknowledged the rumors, but when Amanda kept insisting that Austin was the father, his mother made him promise to at least establish contact with her until he knew for sure. He hated the idea, but he'd do anything for his mom.

When the buzzer sounded, he took a deep breath. He was nervous about seeing her again. They weren't exactly friends, and he didn't really talk to her, but in the last few months, he'd been in contact with her. Austin blew out a quick breath and opened the door. Amanda looked amazing even standing there in jeans and a t-shirt holding a car seat. Grabbing the car seat, he saw the small smile on her lips and noticed the dark circles under her eyes. She grabbed the diaper bag at her feet and followed him in. Austin had followed stories about Amanda. They'd said that having a baby would wreck her body, and she'd never be able to work again. He had been eaten up with guilt over the idea that he might have done that to her. Looking at her now he couldn't even tell she'd had a baby, she was looking good. He'd even heard she was back working.

"Hey Austin," she said as she passed him.

"Amanda."

She walked to the sofa and pulled the baby from the carrier and turned to look at him. Austin had to sit before his legs gave out. In all the pictures he swore the little guy looked nothing like him, but now that he was looking at the baby up close, he could see the resemblance to Reagan, his brother. The world crashed around him as he realized that he could, in fact, be a dad. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but he was hoping that it wouldn't happen this way.

"Austin, I'd like you to meet Finnegan."

"Did you have to give him a name that's gonna get his ass kicked?"

Amanda gasped. "Excuse me?"

Grimacing he apologized and then said, "I was just thrown off. Sorry."

"Would you like to hold him?"

"Uh, sure." Taking the baby in his arms, he watched as the little guy took him in. He wanted to feel something for the baby in his arms, but he just couldn't, not until he knew for sure.

"I know it was a shock to find out that you were a father-"

"Shock?" he asked cutting her off. "Hell, you didn't even try and tell me ahead of time. My mom had to hear that shit from your interview. Forget about me. How do you think that made her feel?"

"I didn't know what to do. It all came out so fast, and when they started asking questions, I just blurted it out. I didn't mean to."

Calming down Austin looked back at the sleeping baby in his arms, "Honestly Amanda, I don't remember anything. I don't even remember being with you. So I guess you can see how this is something I just can't wrap my mind around."

"You were really out of it," she told him. "We had both been partying hard, and you passed out pretty much right after it happened. I grabbed a cab home. I didn't want there to be anything awkward after."

"Epic fail."

"Yeah," she said with a sigh.

After some time Austin looked over at her. "You know why I have to get this paternity test right?"

Austin hated that tears started pooling in her eyes. "Yeah, I get it."

"If this baby is mine, I'll do whatever I can to take care of both of you."

"And if it isn't?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "Then you go find another dad for Finnegan. I'm not daddy material anyway."