"Paul, your phone is ringing," Stephanie put her hand on his cheek, listening to the loud ear-piercing tone.
He felt around for his phone on the nightstand, by the time he had the phone in his hand, it had stopped ringing. He looked at the missed call, then at his alarm clock, "what the fuck? Why the hell is Shawn calling me at midnight?"
"That was Shawn?" She yawned and sat up, "are you gonna call him back or do you think he maybe called you on accident?"
"I'm not calling him right now, I'm sleeping, I don't even know why he's calling me," he grunted and put his phone back.
Just as he was drifting off to sleep, someone started pounding on the front door, "what the hell?" He threw his blankets off and turned the small nightstand lamp on, "someone's at the door?"
She was still sitting in the bed, "yeah," she pulled her shirt up and glared at him, "you don't think that's Shawn, do you?"
He opened his bedroom door and slowly tip-toed down the hallway with Stephanie close behind him, "I swear to God, if I open this door and Shawn is standing on the porch, I'm gonna punch him straight in the face," he flipped the outside light on and angrily pulled the door back.
Shawn stood on the front step holding a small child whom Paul had never seen before. The cold, ocean wind blew through their hair, which seemed to almost match, "hi Paul, Stephanie," he stared at the ground, "I'm sorry if I woke you up, I…" he shifted the little girl up on his shoulder, "we need help."
"Paul, let him inside, its too cold for her to be out there," Stephanie reached out and grabbed Shawn's jacket, pulling him into the house, "who is she Shawn?"
Once again, Shawn couldn't look them in their faces, he seemed too ashamed to speak, "well," he shook his head, "I fucked up, I made a mistake, and I'm in deep shit now," tears welled up in his eyes and he let out a small whimper, "Rebecca kicked me out, my other girlfriend kicked me out, I had nowhere else to go."
Stephanie motioned for Paul to take the little girl, "you had another girlfriend?" She put her hand on his shoulder, "come in the dining room with me, Laurie's kids are staying over here and Samantha is sleeping on the couch."
"Paul's still mad, I know, he probably doesn't want to talk to me," he sat in one of the chairs, wiping his eyes, "her name is Emily, we call her Ellie, she's my daughter."
"How old is she?" Paul slowly emerged from the darkness of the living room, "she's asleep on the loveseat in there, I don't know where you're gonna sleep though."
"Paul, her name is Ellie," Stephanie's eyes locked with his, and in just a few milliseconds, he knew what he wasn't allowed to talk about.
"She's almost three," Shawn put his head down, "can I have some tissues, or a napkin?"
Stephanie jumped up and grabbed the napkin holder from the kitchen counter, "you know we aren't judging you if you need to cry it out," she opened the refrigerator and got a bottle of water out for him, "are you hungry or anything?"
He shrugged, not wanting to look at his best friend across the table, "I feel like I'm bothering you guys, I should have just found a hotel room for us."
"Its fine Shawn," Paul bit his lip, still somewhat wanting to punch him from across the table, "I thought you and Rebecca were fine, what happened?"
"We haven't been fine for a couple years, she became so demanding of me, I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't do anything without having to explain every detail to her, she thought I was cheating before I even did."
"What about your other girlfriend? Why did she kick you and Ellie out?" Paul watched Stephanie as she went up in the cabinet for a jar of pasta sauce, "what are you doing? You don't cook."
"I do cook, I just don't cook for you," she turned her nose up at him and continued to gather ingredients, "you complain about food too much."
Shawn smiled, "Mandy kicked me out because I told her I wasn't with Rebecca anymore, when I was. Mandy treated me like I was treating Rebecca, she has another boyfriend, I know how Becky feels."
"What about Cheyenne and Cameron? Do they know why their father isn't staying at home now?"
"Becky told them, and she told me that I'm only getting to see them every other weekend. She thinks I'm not a good enough parent for them."
"Why do you have Ellie? Mandy let you just take her?" Paul stood up to see what Stephanie was frying, "are you making spaghetti?"
"Mandy made me take Ellie with me, she said she wanted nothing to do with me, and Ellie is my daughter, so, she doesn't want us anymore," Shawn got up and sighed, I'm gonna use the bathroom."
"I can't believe this," Paul whispered, "that's why Rebecca complained he was spending so much time at the office, he was with Mandy and Ellie, I mean, I knew he cheated a couple of times, but I had no idea he had a girlfriend and another daughter," he leaned over Stephanie's shoulder, "you are making spaghetti," he sniffed, "you know if your spaghetti is horrible, I'll hate you forever."
"You'll hate me forever?" She scoffed, "what's that supposed to mean?"
"Spaghetti is my favorite food, and I mean favorite. But everyone disappoints me because nobody can make it right," he put his chin on her shoulder and kissed her neck, "too bad Shawn had to show up tonight."
She let out an almost silent moan, "you were already asleep, how did he change anything?"
"Its even more awkward now, he still thinks we hate each other," his fingers slid all the way down, grabbing a handful of her bottom.
She turned around, blushing, "Paul," she put her hands in his hair, "you best friend is having trouble, don't make it worse for him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" He leaned down and kissed her, starting with her lips, moving over on her cheek, then her neck. She opened her eyes to see Shawn standing in the hallway, eyes wide, staring at them.
"What's going on here?" He put his head down, "so how long has this been going on?"
She covered her mouth with her hand, embarrassed. She looked up at Paul, who had a similar look on his face, "Shawn, we can explain," Paul exhaled, "at first, it was all for Madison, but, when you live with someone of the opposite sex, its hard not to fall for them."
"How come you didn't say anything to me?" He angrily whispered, "you could have said something, so I didn't come here and be like a third wheel."
"We aren't third-wheeling you, not that it would matter, you did it to me all the times I hung out with you, you would get your 'date' drunk so you could get them to a hotel room with you. But you made me come along so if you got caught, you could say she was with me, remember?"
Stephanie put her hand on Paul's chest, "guy, stop it, don't start this now, there are six children sleeping in this house, do not wake any of them up."
"I'm sorry Paul, I'm sorry I did that to you," he sighed, "I'm happy for you guys though."
"Who's talking in here?" Samantha came in behind Shawn, "why are you guys all up right now? And why are you making spaghetti?"
"Um," Shawn smiled, "I came to visit, and Stephanie asked if we were hungry. Are you hungry?"
"No," she crossed her arms, "you came to visit at this time of the night? Who's the little girl out on the other couch?"
"Sit down Samantha, I'll explain what's going on," Paul pointed to the table, "you're a teenager now, I think you'll understand. Shawn was married to Rebecca, but he made a mistake, he cheated on his wife, and now he has another daughter, her name is Ellie. Just remember we aren't judging Shawn for what he did."
She watched as Shawn sat in a chair across from her, his head in his hands, "so does this mean we won't see Cameron and Cheyenne anymore?"
"I think we'll still see them, but not as much," Paul nodded towards Shawn, "I have an air mattress we can set up for you, but we have to blow it up in the car, its for camping."
"Thanks for everything, thanks for letting me stay here even through all the dumb shit I did."
"You did it for me," Paul stuttered, "I mean, you would have done it for me," he and Shawn stared at each other.
"She doesn't know?" Shawn whispered just low enough for Stephanie and Samantha not to hear.
Paul shook his head and mouthed the word 'no', then put his finger in front of his lips and shushed him.
"What are you guys talking about?" Stephanie leaned over the counter with narrowed eyes, "spaghetti's done," she handed out plates and silverware, still watching Paul, who knew he was caught with another secret.