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Blaine knew from the start that a lot of questions were going to arise from Blaze's arrival in his life. And he knew that telling the truth was going to make him look a bit of a loon. So he settled for telling a half-truth - a woman he'd once slept with had given birth to a baby boy, and, with no other options, she'd named him as the father to give her son some stability in the event of her passing. His friends were rather skeptical when he told them, but they kept their mouths shut, for which Blaine was grateful. The authorities who'd placed Blaze with him would be keeping tabs on the unusual twins, and Blaine didn't want to risk his "son" being handed over to someone less willing to protect him.
Instead, he set about learning all he could about child-raising, and, day by day, he felt his efforts rewarded as Blaze began to grow and thrive under his care. Blaine soon found himself in a number of support groups for single fathers, and while he felt a little like a fraud sometimes, he still found himself grateful for all the advice he received from his thrice-daily meetings in downtown Atlanta. His boss was also very understanding, and set things up so he could work from home without worrying about arranging for childcare or a nanny.
Blaine soon found himself falling into a rhythm - get up, feed Blaze, change his diaper, play with him for an hour, set him up in his bouncy chair while dealing with emails and video calls. Then another hour was spent with lunch and more playtime, before Blaine returned to work, until knocking off around 3 or 4, and devoting the rest of the afternoon to relaxing and playing with Blaze. Then came the bath and bed routine, and once Blaze had been settled in his crib, Blaine settled himself down with a cup of coffee and a book. Occasionally the phone would ring, but for the most part, the evenings were quiet, for which Blaine was grateful. He did miss catchng up with his friends, but he knew once Blaze was old enough, that he could leave the boy with a babysitter.
Babysitting, however, was something that was not permitted, according to the authorities, who stopped in for a surprise visit several months after dropping Blaze off. "You cannot shirk your duties," the woman told him sternly. "He is your son in all but name - how can you leave him alone while partying? I did think better of you, but it seems to me like you're..."172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTTlCV0fAj
"Hold the heck up," Blaine said, putting a hand up to stop the woman in her tracks. "I don't intend to smother the boy, but I deserve a life too. And I'm sure I wouldn't be the first single father to have a night on the town here and there while his son is being cared for. I sure as heck don't plan on staying out till all hours of the morning, if that's what you're worried about, and nowhere in that contract did I see anything about not getting a babysitter here and there."
The man sighed. "Very well," he said shortly. "If you must engage the services of a babysitter, we will be the ones choosing them. You cannot have someone come in off the street - Blaze's wellbeing is paramount to us, as I'm sure you can imagine."
"As it is to me," Blaine said, standing. He didn't exactly loom, but his presence gave the man and woman some pause. "I'll do all I can to keep him safe," he said. "But ya'll don't get to come into my house and tell me ya'll be the ones to hire a babysitter who'll no doubt report back to ya'll every time I step out of the house for a quick run to the shops. I know of several reputable people who won't go running and tattling on me like we were back in high school! Ya'll need to back off, or I'm tearing that contract up."
"The contract is a legally binding document," the woman said. "If you destroy it, we'll have no choice but to..."
Again, Blaine raised his hand. "I've spoken to an attorney," he said. "Ya'll's contract is not a legally binding document, and I made sure to get a second opinion. I can render it null and void any time I wish with no consequences whatsoever, and I've got it on very good authority that I'm more than within my rights to legally adopt Blaze so ya'll can't do squat to him without my say so. So, ya'll have two choices; either let me raise my son as I see fit, or I'll take the matter to court and get ya'll barred from having anything to do with him until he's old enough to make his own informed choices as to where his DNA goes. Ya'll might've cloned him, but he's a living, breathing, human being, not some rip off of Dolly the sheep."
Dead silence reigned, before the woman finally spoke. "Very well," she said coldly. "I see you've done your homework. We shall leave the matter be, for now."
"Oh, and you might want to tell your spies to leave me alone," Blaine added. "That's stalking and harassment right there."172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsS8sJJnTP
The man and woman exchanged glances. "Very well," the woman repeated. "You seem to have outmatched us for the time being. But don't think the matter is over just yet."172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1AInsUgTF
Blaine chuckled without humour as he showed them the door. "Ya'll are sadly mistaken," he said. "There won't be a thing ya'll can do without my say so. So just try me, and see what happens when you push a father to the very edge. Ya'll might want to start running for the hills now."
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