Baby Daddy

1 - First Impression

A/N: Only the first chapter is in third perspective. Most of the book will be in Nora's PoV.

"Yes, and for the restaurant we could-" Elijah stopped talking when a sudden noise reached his ears. Was somebody crying? He looked at his friend and colleague with a raised eyebrow. Was there a baby crying? It sounded so close, he could swear it was right behind his door.

So he stood up, much to his friend's surprise and neared the door that lead him to his secretary's office. He knew she had a daughter, but never saw her. He opened the door without knocking, as usual.

"Eli, where-" His friend stopped talking as soon as they both saw the little girl sitting on his secretary's chair, balling her eyes out. Elijah looked at her in surprise, but it only took him a second before he walked over to the little redhead and crouched down to meet her eyes.

Emma, the little three year old glanced at him and blinked, before covering her eyes again, tears rolling down her red face. Elijah gulped and looked at the other door, which is used for an entrance or exit. No sight of Nora, his secretary.

"Hey, pretty girl." He tried to get her attention as she blinked again, sniffling.
"I want mommy." She whined and Elijah nodded, smiling again.
"Mommy will be back soon. You know what would make her come sooner, though?" He asked Emma, who shook her head swiftly.

"If you stop crying and show her a beautiful smile." He said and Emma bit her lip, hiccuping with a snotty nose. Elijah looked at her expectantly and her lip started to tremble again. He knew that wasn't a good sign.

"My name is Eli, what's yours?" He tried to distract her. Emma gulped and took a deep shaky breath.
"Emma." She stuttered and Elijah nodded.
"Emma is a beautiful name." He complimented her and the girl's cheeks turned red.

"Beautiful?" She hiccuped again and placed her finger between her teeth. He nodded and tickled her sides, which made her giggle.
"Look at that gorgeous smile. Isn't it, Greg?" He shot his friend a look, who was still shocked by the sight in front of him.

He has never even seen his friend around children and he's always so- well strict. If he ever would have children, Greg thought, then he'd be a strict dad. Greg didn't even think he liked kids. But what did he know?

"Greg?" Elijah tried again and Greg smiled too as he nodded at the happy little red head. She giggled even more and placed her hands in front of her mouth. Elijah felt his heart warm at that sight and somehow that little girl reminded him of his mother.

She had the same exact hair color and had his mother's grey eyes. What a beautiful young child. He could also see a few features by his secretary in this little girl. She definitely had her nose and full lips. He wondered who the father was.

"I think I'll go back to my office. We can continue our conversation tomorrow." Greg told his friend, who barely nodded. He was too busy playing with the little girl than listen to his friend.

"Do you know my mommy?" He heard the girl ask after a while.
"Yes, we are friends." He told her and the girl smiled.
"Do you have food? Mommy said she'd be back soon." She started pouting her lips and rubbed her eyes again.

"I have a plate full of cookies in my office." He smiled and Emma's eyes lit up again as she opened her arms. Elijah was surprised and made sure to tell his secretary about that. He wouldn't want this cute little girl to walk off with anybody. But for now, he scooped her up on his arms, tickled her on the way to his office and sat her down on his desk chair.

"Cookies!" She yelled and took two at a time. Elijah shook his head and watched the girl. He had no idea why he was acting so nice, since he never really cared about children. But there was something about this girl. Or maybe it was just the fact that Nora wasn't only his secretary. She knew a lot about him and he trusted her.

He couldn't say that about a lot of people and he valued her. He shook his head and looked at his watch. Where was she anyways? And why in the world was her child here? It took him quite a while to realize that this whole scenario was quite bizarre.

"Emma?" He heard a worried voice ask from the other room and quickly strode towards the door. He opened it to see a stressed out Nora looking around herself. She had a white box in her hands, which he figured had food in it. At the sight of him, Nora quickly straightened her skirt and pulled her blouse up, so she wouldn't show so much cleavage.

"Sir, I am so sorry. I had my child in here and I can't find-"
"It's fine Nora, she's in my office, eating cookies." He shrugged as Nora's eyes widened.
"You saw her? I-" She didn't know what to say. She never wanted him to see her.

"Yes and it is no big deal. She cried and I thought she'd like a cookie." He shrugged in confusion at her bothered face. Nora nodded and strode towards him. He got out of the way and watched her pick up the little girl, who looked as if she was a dear caught in headlights.

"How many times did I tell you not to eat sweets before dinner?" He heard the stressed out brunette ask her daughter. When Nora straightened her back, with Emma in her hands, the girl dropped her last piece of cookie and started crying.

"I am so sorry for the inconvenience, sir. The babysitter just dropped her off a few minutes ago and I didn't know where to bring her. My sister is on her way to pick her up." Nora explained as she came to stand in front of Elijah.

"It's fine. If you want to, you can leave. You'd finish in two hours anyway and I think this little girl needs her mommy right now." He smiled at the ginger as he tickled her sides, which made her stop crying for a second and giggle. Nora blinked at the scene and shook her head slightly.

"It is fine, really. My sister is already on her way. But thank you." She answered and Elijah nodded, placing his hands in his pockets.
"Okay. Well, I'll call you if I need you." He said and Nora nodded, before leaving his office and sighing.

That was weird, Nora thought.