Calder frowned. Was there something going on with Crazy Bitch that she hadn’t wanted to tell him.
“What issues?”
“Bitch, shut your mouth!”
“Like, she thinks nobody loves her because no one spanked her when she was little. I offered to give her a hard whack whenever she wanted.”
“You’re dead, bitch, fucking dead.” Crazy Bitch lowered her voice to a mumble when Lily and Beth gave her disapproving glares.
“She said that?” Calder smothered his laugh when Crazy Bitch turned eyes that were twitching with anger at him.
“She did. She also said you hit like a sissy. You should really buy a paddle and show her how much you love her. Let’s go, Train. Sex Piston is saving us chairs. I don’t want to miss Star’s performance. The sooner it’s done, the sooner the kiddies are going upstairs for their sleepover.”
Fat Louise shouldered her way between the bickering women. “Poor Lily and Beth. They got saddled with all the kids while we get to par-tay. They don’t know what they’ll be missing.”
Killyama rolled her eyes. “Beth and Lily have been to better parties than Stud’s birthday.”
“Want to make a bet? We can get rowdy.” Fat Louise shimmied her whole plate of food under the fondue.
“No, you’d lose.” Killyama gave Train a nudge toward where Sex Piston was sitting. “Calder, don’t forget, if it can’t kill a fly, it isn’t hard enou—” Killyama hurried away when a strawberry came hurling toward her.
“She’s still mad at you.” Fat Louise stared at Crazy Bitch sympathetically.
“What did Crazy Bitch do to make Killyama mad?” Calder asked, his shoulders shaking.
“She asked Train if his dick was better and texted him a number for a doctor who deals with fertility implants.”
Calder winced. “They do that?”
“They must. All the brothers called to see if it was a working number.”
“How did the brothers know she had texted Train about it?”
“It was a mass text.”
“Jesus.” Calder was shaking his head at his girlfriend when Star raised her hands to get Dozer to stop the 60s music Sex Piston had put on for the children to dance to.
“Daddy?” Star called out for Stud.
Calder grinned when Stud went to the middle of the room to stare down at Star. His brother towered over the girl as she stared up at him in hero worship.
The first night he had been released from rehab, he and Crazy Bitch had spent the night at Stud’s. Together, they had all told Star the truth.
The pills that Candi had fed him could have killed him; not only that, but accidents happen. He didn’t want life to take him out without her knowing the truth.
Candi was back in prison, where she would be long after Star was grown.
Crazy Bitch was right; sooner or later, she would have found out the truth. It was easier to contain the blast before it happened. Except, there had been no blast. Star had accepted it matter-of-factly. She had always been told Sex Piston wasn’t her biological mother, and she was secure enough in their love that, when she had found out that Calder was her biological father, she had just stated that most of her friends had two daddies, some of them had three. Apparently, one of her friends named Riley had three and the mother was working on four.
“Daddy, you sit here.” Star took Stud’s hand, leading him to one of the chairs that the brothers had moved.
“Papa,” Star called out.
Calder froze. She hadn’t called him that before.
Crazy Bitch gave him a hard shove in her direction.
When he got closer, her eyes twinkled up at him as she led him to the chair next to Stud’s.
Going back to the middle of the room, she turned back to face them. “Daddy, I’ve been practicing this for your birthday. Papa, the last part is just for you.”
Dozer turned the music on, and as a male voice singing “Always and Forever” filled the room, Star danced around the room in moves he had watched her diligently practice for weeks. In the middle of the song, she did big spins. When she danced near Stud, she pulled him to his feet, raising her arms for him to hold her as he danced with her in his arms. When the song ended, she kissed him on his cheek.
“Happy birthday, Daddy.”
Calder watched as Stud kissed her back with tears in his eyes. Then the music started playing again, with a female voice singing “One Moment In Time.” As the song played, he watched Star dance as if she was dancing on air.
Every breath he had ever taken had led him to this very second—watching her dance for him.
Looking around the room, he met Crazy Bitch’s eyes, seeing tears rolling down her cheeks. She had made it possible for him to be Star’s father.
When Star twirled around the room and came to a stop in front of him, she took his hand so he would stand. Raising her arms, she waited expectantly for him to pick her up.