Take My Breath Away

Two more rounds in, Evelyn said, "Everything is ready except..."

Sheffield took the hint and discarded another tile. "East Wind!" He had two east-wind tiles as the pair in his hand. But, he gave one up. He didn't care, as long as Evelyn was having fun.

She smiled and showed her tiles to everyone. "Gentlemen, I have mahjong!"

Joshua and Gifford were stunned. Evelyn was new at mahjong after all. How could she win so easily? They looked at her titles and then at Sheffield's.

They quickly realized what had happened!

"Sheffield, you cheated!"

"You've gone too far, man!"

Evelyn was confused. "Is giving hints not allowed in the game?" Sheffield had told her earlier that she could tip him off about what tiles she needed.

"Of course, it's not allowed!" Joshua said, waving his hands about in frustration. He cast a burning glance at Sheffield and unwillingly handed a few of his chips to Evelyn. Sheffield sat there with a calm expression, as if he had no idea what they were talking about.

"Oh," Evelyn said, looking at Sheffield. She realized that he had cheated to help her win. No wonder the other two remained silent during the game, without giving out hints.

Sheffield chuckled. He said to Joshua and Gifford, "Why the long faces? I was just trying to make my girlfriend happy. It's just a small sum. Don't be so petty."

Gifford snorted, "The lover gets the priority, huh? We are your friends; make us happy too!"

Sheffield retorted with no trace of guilt, "Friends are important, but I'll betray you for my girlfriend any day."

"Is that so? Fine, we'll keep that in mind," Joshua said angrily.

The next round began. Now that Evelyn knew the rules, she had no intention of cheating again.

As they were drawing tiles, Joshua said, "Evelyn, let me tell you a story."

"Okay," she said.

He began to narrate. "There was once a man who loved a woman very much, but this woman got engaged to someone else. Heartbroken, the man went away for two years."

Sheffield sat up straight and eyed Joshua. 'What is this idiot up to now?'

Joshua continued, "Two years later, he came back and told his best friend that being faithful to one woman was such a stupid idea and that he would forget all abo

y daughter."

Gifford gaped and turned to look at Evelyn, who was smiling. He had never heard of her ever being pregnant. He wanted to ask Sheffield if he was sure, but didn't dare because he didn't want to get knocked out cold by him. He asked instead, "When did this happen? Why didn't I know about this till now?"

Blair was even more confused than he was. "Didn't you know, Gifford? I told you."

"No, you didn't. You and Dad knew?"

"Yes, of course." Wesley and Blair had known from the beginning.

Gifford felt like beating Sheffield to death. It seemed he was the only one in the room who didn't know that his best friend had a daughter.

But it was not the right time to settle scores with Sheffield. He tried to look gentle and waved at Gwyn. "Hi little cutie, I am..." He was stuck. Turning to Blair, he asked, "Mom, what is she supposed to call me?"

"Well, you would be her uncle."

Gifford looked back at the little girl and shook his head.

"No. Sheffield, Joshua and I had agreed that our children would be each other's godchildren. Little cutie, you can call me 'Godfather.' Can you say 'Godfather, ' little girl? Or you can just call me 'Daddy.'"

The people in the living room laughed out loud. They were amused by him.

Sheffield pretended to kick him. "Get out of here. Gwyn, call him 'Bad man'."

"B-ad... man," Gwyn obediently called.

As soon as she said that, Sheffield burst into laughter.

Gifford scowled. Sheffield was such a lousy parent.