Cole stood by the vending machine on the first floor of his school, arms crossed over his chest. Noah was taking longer than he said he would, and if they didn't hurry up, Cole had a feeling they'd get in trouble for not picking their baby up in time. Neglect before the damned thing was turned on. Beside him, Naomi put her coins into the machine and pressed a plastic button. There was a soft thud at the bottom of the vending machine. She rose with a Diet Coke in her hand, a hissing pop sounding from the can. "Where is he?" she asked before audibly sipping from the can.

"I have no clue. He seriously needs to hurry up. I don't know much longer I can wait for him before I have to go up there by myself." Cole glanced at the clock and sighed. School had gotten out ten minutes ago.

"He's like a husband not showing up to the birth of his first child, man," she muttered, shaking her head. A strand of pink hair fell from her ponytail. She'd changed the color last night. Naomi now sported what she called Cotton Candy Ombre. The top was pale pink, and the color changed from pastel blue to light purple. Cole had spent all of second hour playing with her hair, braiding and running his fingers through it.

"He's a horrible dad, I already know it."

"The male equivalent of Casey Anthony."

"I think I'm gonna go get the baby on my own. Unless, I dunno, someone else wants to come with me..." Cole glanced at the girl and she sighed.

"You know how I feel about kids, Cole. I'd rather just pop out another teenager than deal with needy babies."

"Please, Naomi?"

"I'm not going to touch it," she said firmly. Cole smiled and pulled her into a one-arm hug. Naomi rolled her eyes and took a long drink from her can. "Let's go get Rosemary's baby," she muttered, walking to the nearest staircase. Cole followed her up the stairs before taking the lead. They made their way down the hall, passing by several of their peers carrying babies. One couple was already fighting about what to name it. When the two entered the classroom, Ms. Baxter had her back turned to them, moving from carrier to carrier, buckling the babies up safely.

"Hi, Ms. Baxter," Cole said. She turned around and waved him over.

"C'mon in! I was wondering if you and Noah were gonna come for your little girl," she chuckled. She looked over Naomi and smiled. "Are you the surrogate mom?" she teased. Naomi raised and eyebrow, her eyes catching Cole. He gave her a warning look.

"I'm... the Godmommy, actually," she said, forcing a grin. Ms. Baxter smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

"That's fantastic, dear. I think these two are gonna need all the help they can get." Ms. Baxter then led them to the carrier that Cole's baby sat in. Her head was turned to the side, and she wore only a diaper. Leaning in so that only Cole could hear, Naomi whispered,

"She looks hungover," in his ear. Cole snorted.

"Now, here's your baby. I've already packed an extra diaper and bottle in this little bag right here," she pointed to a diaper bag, "and all that's left for you to do is pack some clothing for her! Oh, actually, I lied!" She made her way to her desk and pulled out a strip of paper with a black plastic circle in slid on. He recognized it as the bracelet to identify that it was a parent who was taking care of the baby. "Wrist out, please," she said. Cole obeyed and stuck his wrist out. Ms. Baxter wrapped the bracelet around his wrist and snapped it into place. "There ya go! NOW all you have to do is dress the baby."

"That, I can do," Cole said with a smile.

"Fantastic! I guess that's all I need to tell you! Have fun!"

"Oh, I think he will," Naomi said, an evil grin popping up. Cole had learned to always fear that kind of smile. It looked normal to anyone else, but he knew that it was full of mischief and danger. Naomi picked up the carrier and began walking to a table full of baskets. Inside the baskets were many different outfits, separated for both sexes.

"Alright, what are we going to put Robert in?" Naomi stopped what she was doing and looked at Cole.

"Did you just call your baby Robert? It's a girl."

"She's a boy trapped in a girl's body, okay?"

"Oh. I can dig it. Let's get Robert some boy clothing then," she said, walking past the baskets filled with a variety of pink garments. Naomi placed the carrier on the lab table behind her and undid the safety belt. She pulled Robert out and carefuly placed her on the table. "She looks like a sporty girl. Or should I call her a sporty guy?"

"I... I dunno. Let's just go with guy," Cole said, digging through the basket for a pair of jogging pants. He found one and grinned. "These will look perfect on him."

"Why'd you decide to give him a whole backstory anyways?" she asked, grabbing an orange tanktop and a pair of shorts.

"At first I wanted to irritate Noah, but then I just ran with it. It makes sense though. We're not exactly a traditional family either, you know?"

"Oh, I know it. Two gays, a creepy bitch for a godmother, and a black dude for a godfather. He'll fit right in with the rest of us. We need to get our own reality show. Keeping Up with the Kartrashians is what we'll call it," she chuckled, folding the clothing up and placing it in the bag Ms. Baxter had handed them. Cole laughed as well. Together, they picked out five outfits for Robert.

"I'll carry him, you carry the bag," Cole said, sliding the carrier down to the crook of his arm. "Jesus, this little bitch is heavy."

"Hey!" Naomi said quickly. "Don't call him a bitch. He's just a baby." She gave him a threatening look.

"And you said you hated kids."

"Yeah, well. This one's not so bad."

"Just wait until she turns on," Cole said, already fearful of the great inevitable. He adjusted the weight once more and walked to the door, Naomi in tow. "I'll see you on Monday, Ms. Baxter!"

"See you then, Cole!" she called after them. "And it was nice meeting you, Godmommy!"

Noah ran into the two just as they were leaving for Cole's house. Cole gave him the cold shoulder and continued his stride, never missing a beat. Naomi walked with him, looking over her shoulder at Noah. "Wait, Cole," he called after them.

"Just ignore him," Cole said under his breath. "He can't bother showing up to get the kid, he doesn't get to talk to me."

"Damn. Sassy daddy," Naomi smiled. Noah cursed under his breath and jogged after them, placing his hand on Cole's shoulder.

"Look, I'm sorry, but -"

"It doesn't matter, Noah. I've got things under control."

"We've got things under control," Naomi said quickly, correcting him. Cole shot a look at her and she smiled cheerfully.

"Can you please just stop power-walking so I can explain?" Cole stopped dead in his tracks. Naomi took a few more steps before she realized he'd stopped walking.

"What do you want to say, Noah?"

"I had to help a friend out with a problem, okay? He needed my help, and I knew how to help him. We couldn't find the right book in the library because it was misplaced. That's why I was late. I wasn't ditching you or bailing out."

"He was just with another man," Naomi chimed in.

"Shut up," Noah said. Naomi scoffed and flicked her head, hair falling over her shoulder.

"Rude," she muttered.

"You still should have been there. The baby is more important than some random guy you know."

"It's not even turned on yet!"

"Yeah, that doesn't matter. He's your responsibility now. You have to pitch in."

"Look, I'm sorry," Noah sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. "I'll... I'll take care of her tonight, okay? I'll deal with him to make up for it."

"No, it's fine, I -"

"Um, no," Naomi jumped in once more. "He would love for you to take care of the baby, Noah. He and I have movies to watch tonight. Remember?" she said to Cole. Their previous plans dawned on him. This Friday was their monthly movie marathon with Paul, and he could actually attend this time.

"Oh yeah... Alright, whatever. And it's a boy. Not a her."

"Shit... We're still doing that game?"

"It's not a game, it's his life. And either you accept him or you don't see him."

"Fine! Whatever, little Robert De Niro will spend time with the cool dad tonight." Naomi smiled and shook her head. She hadn't known Robert's full name.

"Alright, let's go get some McChickens before Paul bitches about being hungry."

"Hop in my car, I'll be there soon." Cole tossed the car keys to her, and she spun on her heels, marching away swiftly. Cole turned back to face Noah, who stared at the carrier with fear on his face.

"Regretting your decision to make it up to me?" Cole asked, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a smirk.

"A little bit. I think I can handle him, though. I can always call you if I need you."

"That's true. But, um... don't need me." They both smiled. Their moment was interruped by Naomi tapping the horn in Cole's car plenty of times. He shook his head. "I better get going. Have fun with Robert," he smiled.

"I'll try to achieve the impossible," Noah responded. They both parted ways. Cole hopped into his vehicle and quickly put on his seatbelt.

"Alright," he said, glancing at Naomi, who now had her feet on the dashboard. "Now it's time to have fun."