Chapter 9

The next day both Carter and Daniel were up early, they had gotten themselves dressed and after breakfast, dressing Andrea and getting her things together they were ready to head out.

The previous night after ending their call with Abigail the two decided they wanted to give her a small gift to welcome her and to reassure her that they don't mind looking after Andrea, along with that they had to get some groceries for dinner.

As they arrived at the mall, Daniel grabbed a cart and Carter took the stroller and the two headed in. They attracted quite a lot of attention, Carter was quite tall and Daniel not being much shorter caused the two to stand out quite a lot, but neither of them really paid attention to any of it as they were only focused on their shopping trip and talking about everything they needed to get.

Once they entered the shop, Carter read the list of things they needed to get and Daniel collected everything and placed it in the cart. Once they were done getting the groceries they needed, they decided to walk around a bit, trying to think what would be a good gift for Abigail.

After a bit they decided to stop by a jewelry store and browsed a bit, and eventually they found something - a necklace, it had a small jade embedded into a pendent and the two just knew that it would be the perfect gift, and although Carter wanted to pay for the gift himself Daniel rejected the offer and after a lot of discussing they decided to go 50/50 and each paid half of the necklace.

Their next stop was the florist to pick up some flowers, and then they planned on heading home.

"Hey I am just going to run to the bathroom real quick you wait here" Carter told Daniel, the other didn't have much time to respond before Carter's figure was already retreating further away from him, he just shook his head a little.

He waited patiently, he looked around just taking in the rush of people - from elders to youngsters, everyone seemed to be doing their own thing in one space it was quite interesting to see, as he looked to his left he saw a restaurant, it was filled with families and couples, or even just friends, groups of two or more scattered around the place.

He was so focused on the restaurant that when he heard a familiar voice, he was quite shocked.

"I can't just break up with him" it was familiar, too familiar, it belonged to Angela.

"Actually you can" A male voice responded, it was clear the person was quite upset, Daniel wasn't sure why but something told him he should record the conversation, so he took out his phone and hit the record button, he moved closer to the pillar and recorded it the best he could.

"Oh come on my love, without his money we can't live the life we do currently, Daddy won't give me any money if I disobeyed him, and Carter buys me whatever I want - he even gives me his card when I ask for it... He's my own personal bank account" Angela retorted, Daniel felt his anger welling up inside him, it took everything in his power to just keep calm to hear the conversation.

"So all you care for is money? My feelings don't matter at all, Angela?" The man told her, he was hurt, but who wouldn't be if you were in his situation.

"I care for the money you're correct but also my father wouldn't let me date you, Carter is a good mask for our relationship, I love you Zack" Angela tried to reason with the man, but he got up and left, it was clear that their relationship wouldn't last long.

Daniel stopped the recording and stuck his phone in his pocket, Angela was still sitting at her table and Daniel was thankful for that much, at least where he was standing it wouldn't be easy to see him, and she also wouldn't spot Carter when he returned.

Soon enough Carter returned, and he could tell something was bothering Daniel, but the man just shrugged him off whenever he asked, just saying he was a little tired. Carter didn't exactly believe him, but he knew even if he pushed for the truth, Daniel wouldn't easily tell him what was going on.

Once they got home they unpacked the car, Daniel went to change Andrea's diaper and Carter started to organise and put everything away and soon after started cleaning up, so they could start preparing dinner.

Andrea fell asleep soon after they arrived home and Daniel went to help Carter prepare dinner, Carter still couldn't help but notice that something was clearly bothering Daniel.

"Hey Dan, did something happen when I went to the bathroom?" Carter asked his friend seriously.

"No~ I'm sorry I think I am just really nervous" Daniel told Carter who nodded a little, he wasn't sure that was it, he had known Daniel long enough to know what he is like when he is nervous, it was clearly something else, but he didn't seem to want to talk about it, so he just decided to let Daniel be, hoping that he would tell him eventually.

As time went on and dinner seemed to get closer Carter felt himself get a little nervous, he wasn't sure how to act in front of Abigail, he had never met her before, but she was family to Daniel, so he wanted to make a good impression, plus he was helping to raise her daughter, so he wanted to seem reliable at the very least.

"I will go get Andy dressed to impress, and you get Abigail's gift ready" Carter said as he checked the time, Daniel nodded and headed to collect the things they bought for Abigail, and Carter headed off to Daniel's room.

Carter thought about it often, but he felt that Daniel's room seemed quite empty, he couldn't help but feel they needed to redecorate once they got a chance he also wanted to make one of the extra rooms in his house into a room for Andrea as she grows she would need a space where she could play, and she would be able to sleep in her own room.

Carter smiled when he saw Andrea was already awake, she was reaching for the toys that were hung on her mobile, he carefully picked her up, it was clear she was getting bigger, he couldn't believe she would grow so much in just a week, but he was happy to see her getting bigger, but he also felt a little sad.

He quickly got her diaper changed and dressed her in the outfit he and Daniel chose the night before - they spent around an hour going through her clothes after calling Abigail, trying to decide what would be a good outfit to wear to make a nice impression on her.

Once he was happy with how she looked, he collected her blanket and her bottle and headed to the living room, placing her in the automated rocker and then proceeded to the dining room to see if Daniel was ready for the night.

He helped with the last few touches, and then it was time to wait for Abigail to arrive. 

It only took a few minutes, but as soon as the clock struck 6 o'clock the doorbell rang, Daniel shot up from the couch, almost tripping from the sudden momentum, and then ran towards the door.

Carter couldn't help but chuckle and then got up to follow Daniel, They opened the door and there she stood, Abigail.

Carter observed her a bit, She was on the shorter side, he suspected around 150cm if it was even that much, she had long blonde hair and dark brown eyes, it was clear she put in some effort for dinner with how she dressed, he smiled a little, she didn't seem like a bad person at all, he was excited to get to know her more.