Impress Me Not: The Handyman

Chapter 41

It was probably a weird thing to ask if he needed help. Solomon could have just let him be and maybe give him a call later that night. It was shocking that he had a kid, and he was curious as to why he never told him about it before, but he could wait for those answers.

Niko just really sounded like he was in over his head. As funny as that seemed, he kind of wanted to help him. His kid was screaming and he was sounding like he just didn't know what to do.

He had babysat before. He had even watched Maya when she was little. She had snuck over to his place even before he got custody of her. Their parents were always off somewhere else, so they never paid too much attention to her. It was Solomon that really had to teach her how to take care of herself.

He was glad that he had an extra shirt in his car. One thing that he learned quickly when dealing with children is to never wear something that you aren't afraid to get stained. Children liked to cause too many messes.

Solomon drove to the address that Niko gave him. It was a cute little one, smack dab in the middle of a cozy neighborhood. Toys were strewn on the front lawn, giving Solomon all kinds of fond memories of his past. He grew up in a little house like this one once. The dark brown colors made it stand out from the usual ones that were in the neighborhood. Solomon liked it, though. It added a bit of personality to it.

He quickly changed out of his dress shirt and into a regular t-shirt that he had in the back of his car. He had on slacks for the night, but those usually didn't get ruined too easily. So, he didn't worry about it that much.

He decided to call instead of knocking, just in case the kid might have actually been asleep in the short time it took him to get there. Niko answered and then let him into the house.

And that's when he heard the screaming.

"Are you sure you want to help?" Niko asked. He looked like he had been dressed for a date at least. This must have just come up on the spot. His kept hair was now disheveled along with the stressed look in his eyes.

Solomon couldn't help but laugh a bit. He hadn't seen Niko this way, and it was honestly pretty hilarious. He looked like any new parent would. Solomon remembered when Avi had his first child. The man was a mess. It took him a while to finally get the hang of parenting. Once he did, though, he was a natural.

"How long has he been screaming like that?"

"Probably about fifteen minutes," Niko sighed. The poor boy was still clinging onto his dad. It would be cute if he wasn't bawling his eyes out. "I was kind of hoping he would tire himself out."

"What's his name?" Solomon asked over the wails.

"James," Niko said. "But everyone calls him Jay except for his mom."

"Hi, Jay," Solomon got his attention. The little boy stopped crying for a second and looked at him. Those poor puffy eyes were a beautiful blue. He looked like the spitting image of Niko.

"W-who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Solomon," he introduced himself. "I'm a friend of your dad's over here."

"You aren't gonna take him away," he sniffed. His whole face was dirty with tears. "Are you?"

"No," Solomon shook his head. "Not at all. I'm never gonna take him away from you." He looked at Niko. His blue eyes were staring at him like he was some kind of miracle worker. He just smiled and looked back down at the kid. "But why are you crying, Jay?"

"Because Daddy was gone," he sniffed again. "And then I got scared. And then there was a loud crash!" He started crying a little more.

"Oh, don't cry," Solomon got a handkerchief from one of his pockets and started wiping his face off. "Your daddy's here now. Did that noise hurt your ears?"