"D-dad?"

"Phoebe? Flower? Oh my God, it's actually you. Can we meet somewhere to talk? Please?"

"I don't know." I stammer.

I hear him sigh on the other end of the phone.

"I get that. I'm really sorry for everything. I shouldn't have left. Can we stay in contact? I just want to know my daughter." I heard his voice crack and it nearly broke my heart.

"Okay. Can I uh- call you later? I'm kind of busy right now."

"Yeah! Of course. Thank you so much! I promise I'll make this all up to you."

I could practically hear his smile through the phone.

"Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Phoebe."

❀❀❀

"Baby? Are you okay? You keep zoning out?" Zameer says softly, rubbing my back.

We were currently out grocery shopping. Little Echo was sitting in the cart playing on my phone, and Zameer was right next to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine sorry. Just thinking."

"About?"

"Daddy! I have strawberry milk?" Echo asks in her cute little voice.

"We'll talk about this later," He whispers in my ear before kissing the side of my head. "Of course, baby. Which kind do you want?"

"The o-one with the cow!"

Me and Zameer both chuckle at her excitement before he kisses her forehead and puts the milk in the cart.

"Zameer?"

"Daddy?"

"Mere?"

Three deep voices all speak at the same time, making all three of us look over to the front of the aisle.

Three men were standing there with a cart full of junk, boxers, shaving cream, and a razor.

The tallest out of the three spoke.

"Aw, is this the little bee I was on the phone with?" He asks, looking at Echo.

     Umm.

"I remember you! You said I was gorgeous!" Echo exclaims, throwing her hands in the air.

Everyone chuckles at her before the three walk closer to us.

"Well isn't this a coincidence?" The only white one out of them smirked.

"Emilio, do not." Zameer says sternly.

  Ah, this must be his friends. He never mentioned them.

"So is this the student?" The shortest one spoke.

"Yes," Zameer states curtly. A hue of pink appeared on his tan skin.

Awe, he talks about me!

"Well, I'm Andrew, my beautiful lady." He says, bowing dramatically making me chuckle.

"Emilio," The second shortest says winking at me.

"I'm Riley." The tallest speaks giving me a little wave.

"I'm Phoebe, and this is my daughter, Echo," I state, giving them a sweet smile.

"Hello! Do you guys want strawberry milk too?" Echo asks innocently.

I coo at her while they just laugh.

"Sure. Which kind do you recommend, little one?" Emilio asks, crouching down to get to her height on the cart.

"The one w-with the cow! It's da best!" She giggles.

"What the lady says goes!" He says before running over to the strawberry milk.

I catch Zameer rolling his eyes, making me chuckle.

"He's a handful," Zameer whispers in my ear, making me laugh harder.

"I can tell," I whisper back.

He gives me a small smile before pecking me on the lips.

We hear gagging noises and look over to see the boys and Echo all gagging loudly at us.

"Daddy, you didn't tell me you had a kid!" Andrew exclaims, putting his hands on his hips.

A snort leaves my body before I could control it, making me slap my hands over my nose and mouth.

"Daddy? Why does he call you daddy? Are you his daddy too?" Echo asks curiously, a pout appearing on her little lips.

"No, I'm not his daddy, babygirl. He's just an idiot." Zameer chuckles, kissing her chubby cheek. Her pout replaces itself with a bright smile as Echo kisses his cheek back.

"Your beard is tickly!" She giggles.

Emilio then comes back with the strawberry milk, as well as a massive tub of mango ice cream and fruit roll-ups.

"I just had the best idea ever guys!" He exclaims, putting all of his stuff in their cart.

"What is it now, Emilio?" Riley sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Let's all have a sleepover!"

"Absolutely not."

"Yes!"

"Oh no."

"I'm fine with it!"

I was the last the speak, making Zameer look at me in astonishment.

"She means-"

"Yes! Let's ask Echo."

"Ask Echo what?" Her little voice speaks up, turning everybody's attention towards her.

"Do you wanna have a sleepover with daddy's friends?" I ask, smirking at Zameer while he's glaring at me, knowing he won't be able to say no if Echo says yes.

"Yes yes yes! I'm so excited! W-we can watch movies and eat l-lots of candy and play with my toys!" Echo rushes out, bouncing in excitement.

"The princess has decided! We're having a sleepover y'all!"

"Lord have mercy."

❀❀❀

Zameer's friends were surprisingly good with Echo.

It was currently 8:00 and they were now baking cookies.

We just ordered some food from an Asian cuisine place and it should be here in 30 minutes.

Zameer and I were laying on the couch watching some new thriller movie together. I was laying on top of him while he was rubbing my back and giving me little kisses every now and again.

Meanwhile, the four musketeers in the kitchen were in a bit of a situation.

Riley was holding Echo as he didn't trust the other two with her. She's too fragile for them and he was scared he would drop her.

"Ri-Ri?" Echo asks sweetly, looking up at his face.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"What's that smell?"

"Oh shoot!"

Emilio immediately opens the oven to see the cookies were completely black with smoke coming out of them.

"You complete idiots!" Riley whisper-yells.

"How were we supposed to know? You're the adult here!" Andrew whisper-yells back.

"We're all the adults here you donut!"

"Hey hey hey, let's not get all feisty now. I'm sure there's a-" Emilio was interrupted by a small whine.

They all turn their attention to the sweet girl in Riley's arms.

"Hey, what's wrong, little bee?" Riley coos, hoisting her up further on his hip and gently bouncing her.

"We no eat cookies anymore!" Echo's tiny voice cries all, tears filling her eyes.

"Shh, none of that, baby. We still have ice cream! We can put the fruit roll-ups on top and save them for after dinner. How does that sound, hm?" He reassures her in a gentle tone, making her quietly nod her head and wipe her eyes.

He kisses her forehead before glaring at the two morons before him.

"Andrew, get the ice cream out of the freezer. Emilio, get 6 jars out of the cabinet."

"Sir yes sir!" Andrew chants, putting his hand up to his forehead making Riley roll his eyes.

While the other two do their thing, Riley and Echo grab the fruit roll-ups from the upper cabinet. The cabinet door swings into Riley's forehead making Echo giggle.

He immediately looks down at the baby in his arm and smirks at her.

"You think this is funny, hm?"

She just giggles again and nods her head.

"I'll show you what's funny!" He immediately starts ticking her small sides and stomach, making her burst into a fit of laughter.

"S-Stop! Milo! Drew! Help!" She squeals, trying her best to pull away from Riley.

Emilio and Andrew look over at them to see the commotion and start chuckling. Emilio takes out his phone and snaps a picture before running over to them.

"I'll save you, little princess!" He grabs Echo and starts running around the kitchen. Riley chuckles and chases after them, making Andrew follow.

Little did they know, Phoebe and Zameer were watching from the living room. Zameer slightly chuckled while Phoebe was all warm inside.

It warmed Phoebe's heart greatly to see Echo so happy.

The four of them in the kitchen truly looked ridiculous.

The three grown men were all wearing aprons that were covered in powder, peanut butter, sugar, and God knows what else.

Echo was wearing a tiny little apron with not nearly as much stuff on it, but she had some flour on her chubby cheek.

The doorbell rang, making Phoebe lift her body off of mine.

Disappointed, I sit up with her sitting on my lap. I kiss her cheek before gently removing her from my body and standing up.

I stretch a little before walking over to the door.

"Order from Sue's Asian Cuisine?" The woman speaks as I open the door.

I nod, slightly annoyed as I strictly requested them to drop it off at the door.

She hands me the bag and stands there expectantly.

"Did you need something?" I ask, full-on glaring at this point.

"Oh! Um, I'm sorry. I just thought you'd give a tip." She says with a slight attitude.

"I did. It was $100. I paid on the app?"

She then rolls her eyes but covers it up as an eyelash falling in her eye.

"Yeah I saw that, but I drove 30 minutes away. I think I deserve a bigger tip." She states, her voice pitch going higher as she openly rolls her eyes at me.

I immediately shut the door and walk back inside the apartment.

"What took so long? I thought they were gonna drop it off." My sweet girl says walking up to me.

So tiny.

"Just some weirdo. Is everyone cleaned up?" I ask as I kiss her forehead before walking into the living room and set the bags on the small table.

"Yep! We were all waiting for you." She smiles at me, sitting on the floor next to Emilio.

Echo immediately jumps from Riley's lap and hugs my legs.

Everybody chuckles at her cuteness.

"Babygirl, I gotta sit down." I laugh at her.

A little pout forms on her lips and she goes to sit on her mom's lap.

I spread out the food and sit next to my girl and baby.

Echo's face immediately lights up at the sight of her food, making us laugh again.

We all say grace before digging in.

Emilio moans after taking his first bite.

"They put their whole behind in this."

Phoebe snorts before slapping her hand over her face and covering it up with a glare.

"Don't say that in front of Echo!" She scolds.

"My bad." He says, putting his arms up in a surrender motion.

She giggles slightly, making me smile at her.

"Whipped." Andrew coughs before shoving his food in his mouth.

I just roll my eyes, knowing it's true.

"Y-you guys are my besties now!" Echo speaks up throwing her arms in the air with a bright smile.

They chuckle at her before agreeing.

"Fine with me. I always wanted a princess bestie anyways." Andrew winks at her, making her giggle before taking some of her moms' pho.

We finish eating soon after and we all have our ice cream with the fruit roll-up.

Everyone seemed to go into a food coma while we were watching the movie, "Encanto."

I decided to take Phoebe and Echo to their bed.

They were already in their pajamas so I didn't need to wake them up to change. I tucked them both in the bed before getting in it myself, wrapping one arm around Echo who was in the middle of us, and one around Phoebe.

I whisper out an, "I love you both." and kiss their foreheads before letting darkness consume me.

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Hello guys! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. It's been what, two months? I'm so sorry. There was just a lot going on and I was so stressed out but I'm a lot better now and hopefully, I can start updating more regularly. Not every day regularly but like once or twice a week. Thank you guys so much for 250k! Like I genuinely didn't think this was going to get as many reads as it has and I'm just so happy and blessed. I thank God for everyone who's been commenting and voting on every single one of the chapters! Don't forget to vote and comment. I love you guys so much! <3