Page 76 of The Surrogate Nanny
Jonathan
The packed restaurant was filled with idle chatter and bustling servers dancing around one another. My eyes locked on Anthony, who strutted across the restaurant in my direction.
I smiled, happy to see my friend. He looked good—healthy and still surrounded by his summer glow from his vacation. Despite his cane, he walked confidently and purposefully with a crooked smirk—the same one all the ladies swooned over in college.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he joked, sliding into the booth across from me. He picked up his menu and briefly glanced at the selections.
“I love that for you.”
“Love what?” he asked curiously.
“You’ve been a dad for less than six months, and you’re embracing the corny dad jokes. Good for you.” I wiped away an invisible tear. “I’m so proud.”
Anthony rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Always with the jokes. What are you getting? The steak? It’s been a minute.”
I nod.
Gravy’s was a nice brunch place we used to hang out at back when we were both young and single. Instead of pounding back beers and chowing down on greasy bar food, we decided to be a little classier and have Bro Brunch with mimosas, salmon, and steak. Since starting our careers and families, Bro Brunch had been placed on the back burner for far too long.
Anthony closed his menu and raised his brows. “So?”
I pushed my glasses up my nose, officially activating Lawyer Mode. “So, your company settled. Expect $6 million to be wired to you by Friday, once you sign off on the settlement.”
“Six million?”
“Did you forget about my 40% cut?”
Anthony groaned and leaned against the back of the booth. “I fucking hate lawyers.”
“Must I remind you how you never have to work a day in your life because of me?” I challenged.
“Look at the pot calling the kettle black. You can retire if you want.”
“I could, but I love my job too much,” I replied, chuckling when Anthony rolled his eyes.
“How are the kids?” he asked.
“The kids are doing well, but—”
“But?”
“We’re having…slight difficulties—growing pains since I was granted full custody after I took Eliza back to family court.”
“Difficulties?”
“Yeah. The divorce has been hard on the kids, and I think they’re misbehaving because of it. I’ve lost two vases, six plates, and a painting was knocked off the wall.”
“Oh, no. Tell me it wasn’t the Rembrandt.”
I shot him a knowing look. “It was the fucking Rembrandt.”
“You need to hire help. Get a nanny. Simone and I are looking into hiring one ourselves.”
“But Simone is your nanny.”
“I fired her during our vacation.”
“Fired her? For what?”