“Wait, when are you due?” Sydney asked.
“If I did the math right, most likely late January.” Kasey said.
“We can’t get married at Christmas then Cam, there will be too much going on with the baby coming. We’ll just have to wait.”
He groaned up at the ceiling before moving his attention back to Sydney. “There will never be a time in this family when someone else isn’t gonna have something going on.”
“That’s true, darlin’.” Jack spoke up, grinning when he saw Anna was still glaring at him.
Luke’s head snapped up and he turned towards the opening to the dining room, across from him, Brody did the same.
“Hey everyone.” A feminine voice rang out.
“Gracey!” Jack popped up from his seat and moved behind our chairs to get to the doorway, hugging Grace as soon as she stepped through.
“Hey Dad.” She had her arms around his waist, her face buried in his wide chest.
“Grace, honey, you didn’t tell us you’d be here today.” Anna said from where she was now standing at her seat.
She smiled brightly. “I wanted to surprise you.”
She made her way around the table, stealing the seat next to Jake. “Where’s Ben?” She scanned the table. “And Chris?”
“Ben’s working with our engineer today, Chase, who needs to finalize some stuff before tomorrow and Lucy’s got the stomach flu, so they stayed home.” Jake answered.
She wrinkled her nose. “Oh yuck, the stomach flu. My boss just had that and he had it for a week.”
She smiled at Luke and then seemed surprised when she saw me sitting next to him. “You must be Kate.” She stood and leaned over the table, holding out her hand to shake, which I did. “I’m Grace.”
“I figured that out.” She and I laughed while she sat back down. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Yeah, you too. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She looked down at Andy who was sitting quietly beside me, staring at Grace. “Are you Andy?”
He nodded and finally spoke. “You’re pretty.”
I heard some groans and felt Luke chuckle beside me, but focused on Grace when she answered him. “Thank you, Andy.” She pointed to Andy and then herself, wearing a small grin. “You and I are going to be great friends.”
Andy’s face lit up and with wide eyes. I looked at Luke who just shrugged. “Looks like our boy has his first crush.”
I waited for the panic that always follows when Luke says things like he just said. A month ago, a sentence including the words, ‘our boy’ would have shot my anxiety through the roof, but not today. Today, I felt a warm sensation instead. I leaned up and kissed him on the jaw, melting a little more at the look on his face when he looked down at me. For the first time, I recognized it because I saw when his brothers looked at the women in their lives and also every time Jack looks at Anna.
“We can go on a date.” Andy announced and all eyes snapped back to him. He was still staring at Grace who was talking to Jake and Lanie.
Grace’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Luke took my mom on a date because he likes her. She looks at him funny.”
“Andy—”
Luke tried to interrupt him but Andy pushed forward. “Luke said that when two people like each other they go on a date and have fun together.” He pointed at Bray. “We date every Tuesday and Thursday.”
Jake snorted and looked down at his plate, his shoulders shaking hard. I saw Lanie roll her lips together, but tears were in her eyes and as I scanned the table all the faces looked like they were trying not to laugh.
Grace smiled sweetly. “I think you mean a play date. Does that sound right, Andy?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Well, I would love to have a play date with you sometime.” Grace said.
He beamed. “Will you sleepover too like Luke did at our house?”
I dropped my head when the sounds of people holding in laughter became louder.
Grace feigned disappointment. “Probably not, but I’d love to come over and play.” She snapped her fingers. “I don’t have any plans today, how about I take you, Bray, Lexi, and Mia to the movies?”
“Yeah!” Andy yelled. “Then we can all date!”
“I date Wanie.” Bray announced.
“Holy shit, this is too fucking funny.” Cam was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.
“Can I go to the movies daddy?”
I turned my head to see Jax smile down at Mia who was now sitting on Kasey’s lap. He ran his hand along her cheek. “Of course you can, sweetheart.”
“Me too!” Lexi yelled from beside Brody.
“Yes, you too.” Grace winked at Lexi.
I looked up at Luke and asked quietly. “Do I explain this whole dating thing to him?”
Luke nodded and leaned in close to me. “We have to. He can’t go to school this fall and wanna date everyone.”
I giggled. “Or worse, want to date everyone on the t-ball team.”
Luke groaned. “Shit, I hadn’t thought of that.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “We’ll talk to him tonight after the movies.”
I nodded, knowing if I agreed to this I was sending him the message he was waiting for. Trust him, I thought to myself. He’s never done anything that wasn’t best for me or Andy. I took a deep breath before exhaling. “Okay Luke.”
He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and grinned. “Okay Kate.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
KATE
“We’re back!” Grace’s voice rang out through Luke’s house and I hurriedly grabbed my shorts from the counter in the bathroom. Luke leaned in and ran his lips over mine before smacking my panty-covered ass and leaving the bathroom.
I blushed thinking back to how fast we’d left his parent’s house after we helped load up all the kids in Grace’s car and watched her pull out. We’d said fast good-byes, all the time Luke tugging at my hand if I talked to someone longer than he felt necessary and again, we barely made it through the door and shut off the alarm before our clothes were off and he was inside me. After the first time in the living room, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, carrying me into the bedroom where he threw me down on the bed and proceeded to kiss every inch of skin covering my body. I returned the favor, loving the feel of him under my hands, the strength in his touch when I teased him to the point that he snapped.
God, I loved when he snapped.
It was wild and crazy all over again after that, his powerful body thrusting into mine until I screamed out my orgasm, felt his body fall over mine and closed my eyes. I woke to him kissing me softly and leading me to the bathroom for a shower, saying he figured Grace would be home soon.
He wasn’t wrong.
We were barely out of the shower and dried off, before we heard her voice. Thank goodness before he woke me he’d thought to pick up the clothes still lying in the living room.
Throwing on my shorts and t-shirt, I combed through my hair and started towards the living room, braiding it to the side quickly. I saw Andy sitting at the counter drinking from a juice box when I entered the mouth of the hallway and smiled.
“Mom!” He called out.
I wound the tie in my hair to hold the braid in place and went to him, kissing him on the top of his head. “How was the movie?”
He smiled wide. “Awesome. And guess what?” He said, but hurried on not needing an answer. “Aunt Grace bought us popcorn and M&M’s.”
Aunt Grace? I widened my eyes and smiled. “She did? Wow.”
He looked around. “Where’s Cookie?”
“He’s out in the yard, bud.” Luke said from behind me. I hadn’t even thought about Cookie. I still put him in a crate when we go out so he doesn’t chew everything in sight. Luke must’ve gotten him out after I’d fallen asleep.
He nodded, finishing his juice box and set it down on the counter. I took in his sticky hands and face and laughed. “Why don’t you go t
ake a shower and put on your jammies?”
He shrugged. “Okay Mom.”
He ran across the room and threw his arms around Grace’s waist, giving her a big hug. She leaned down and kissed him on the top of his head just like I had. He tilted his head back. “Thanks Aunt Grace.”
There it was again. Aunt Grace.
“You got it, Andy.”
He took off back down the hallway and into the bathroom. I turned to face Grace. “Was he good?”
She smiled. “He was great, actually they all were, even Bray.” She laughed. “I love that kid, but he can be a handful.”
“He’s just like Jake was.” Luke laughed along with her. “Always moving, always causing trouble.”
Grace quirked her eyebrow. “Was?”
She and Luke shared another laugh, but it seemed they were done talking about Jake and Bray, so I spoke up. “Thanks for taking Andy along with the others.”
She nodded. “He’s a great kid Kate. He was like a little helper.”
I liked hearing that, any mom would. “Thanks.”
Grace’s attention turned to Luke when he asked the question I was wondering about myself. “Aunt Grace?”
She peeked down the hall and then back at us. “I kind of wanted to talk to you about that.”
My eyebrows drew together. “What happened?”
“He heard the others call me Aunt Grace and asked if he could too.” She said.
Luke nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Yeah, I thought so too, but then he said something else that I thought you should know.”
Luke ran his hand through his hair. “Don’t tell me it was about dating.”
Grace giggled. “No, it wasn’t that, but you do need to clear that up because he thinks he’s dating everyone.”
I laughed but nodded. “We plan to tonight.”
“I wasn’t clear enough when he asked me the first time. He took me off guard and I answered, but I should’ve waited for Kate.” Luke frowned.
I laid my hand against his arm. “You did fine Luke. I can’t even tell you how many things he’s asked about that I explained one way and then had to clarify.”
He ran his finger down my cheek and smiled softly. “Thanks, baby.”
Grace cleared her throat and heat hit my cheeks. How do I always get so lost in him that I forget others are around? “Anyway, I want to tell you this before he comes back.”
“Shoot.” Luke said.
“Mia was talking about Jax and Kase and obviously calling them Mom and Dad.” Both Luke and I nodded and she continued. “Then Andy announced that Luke is his Dad.”
I took in a deep breath and heard Luke do the same. Luke rebounded before me. “What did the kids say?”
She shook her head. “Nothing really, except Bray who said that Lanie was his new Mom.”
“Did you talk to Jake and Lanie?” Luke asked.
She shook her head again. “No, I told them I’d come over after I brought Andy home. I didn’t want to talk to them with him there.”
Luke ran his hand through his hair. “Good thinking. Jake and Lanie will talk to Bray tomorrow.”
“It’s not a big deal for them though.” I spoke up, my thoughts only on how confused Andy must be and I caused that. I haven’t been explaining things to him and its obvious I should’ve been. “I mean, Lanie really is his Mom in all ways except biologically.”
I didn’t hear the words, really hear them until they were hanging in the air between us. I snapped my attention to Luke when his body went solid beside me. “Luke—”
He turned his attention to Grace. “It’s okay Grace. We’ll handle it from here. Thanks for telling us though.”
She smiled sadly. “Sure.”
She hugged Luke and came to me, pulling me in for a hug and whispering in my ear. “Good luck.”
Luke brushed past us and went to the kitchen door, opened it and went out, closing it softy behind him. I blinked slowly. “I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings.”
She put her hands on my shoulders. “Just talk to him. Luke’s the most understanding guy I know.”
“I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
“I know that, Kate and so does he.”
I nodded and walked beside her to the door, pulling it open and stepping aside so she could pass. She stopped and looked at me over her shoulder. “You make him so happy, Kate. I was worried after talking to Jake that when you found out about your house fire you’d walk away from him, but after I saw you guys together today, I’m so happy I was wrong.”
I nodded and tried to hide the fact that I had no idea what she was talking about. She smiled and moved through the door, heading across the lawn to Jake’s house where she’d parked. I closed the door quietly and looked towards the kitchen door. We needed to talk, but maybe giving him some time to himself was for the best.
Heading down the hall I decided to check on Andy who was struggling with his pajamas, mainly because he was still wet. “Did you even dry off with a towel?”
He looked up at me sheepishly. “Oops, I forgot.”
I nodded and gave him a small smile, suddenly feeling tired. Grabbing a towel, I helped him dry off and finish putting on his pajamas. We were just out in to the hallway when Cookie came flying in, running straight to Andy and jumping up, knocking him down.
“Cookie!” I scolded, but Andy only laughed while Cookie licked him all over his face.
I separated dog from boy and gave Andy a gentle push to walk down the hall the rest of the way. He rounded the corner and took off towards the couch, crawling up to sit by Luke who just turned on what looked to be baseball highlights.
Andy cozied up beside Luke, who looked down and smiled at him. My two favorite boys were sitting together. I thought back to the first three years with Kurt and realized Andy never had any of this with him. I could count on one hand how many times he even held Andy. Luke has been more of a Dad to Andy in the short time we’ve known him than Kurt was in three years. Kurt would not have signed up to coach his team, he would not have spent hours with him working on his pitching and batting, he would never have volunteered to stay with him while I worked, always wanting to be out with friends instead.
I watched him throw his arm around Andy’s shoulders and Andy cuddled in even closer to his side, their heads bent close to together, their voices low. Andy nodded when Luke pointed at something on the television screen, then low voices again.
I walked over and sat on the edge of the couch by Cookie, who’d made himself comfortable taking up half of the couch. Two heads with brown hair turned my way so I smiled at Andy and then I let my gaze find Luke’s. He smiled, but I saw hurt and my heart clenched knowing I put it there.
“Are you sad?” Andy asked and my eyes shifted to him.
My eyes widened. “Why would you ask that?”
He shrugged. “You look sad.”
I rolled my lips together. “I said something today that hurt someone’s feelings and I feel bad.”
He cocked his head. “Did you say sorry?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t had the chance to yet.”
“You should say sorry.”
I smiled. “I will honey.”
I met Luke’s gaze and opened my mouth when Andy called out to me. My eyes shifted back to him. “Yeah?”
He bit his lip. “Is it okay that I call Aunt Grace, Aunt Grace?”
My eyes flicked to Luke. “Yeah, Andy, if that’s what you want to call her.”
He shrugged. “That’s what Bray calls her and Lexi and Mia. And she said she likes it and so do I cuz now I have an aunt and stuff.”
I nodded, feeling bad he doesn’t know my sister that way and probably won’t get to know her as his aunt. “I understand that.”
He pulled Luke’s hand dangling around his shoulders to his lap and played with his fingers. He was nervous, it’s his telltale every time and he was reaching for Luke to comfort him. Glancing at Luke, I knew he realized the same.
I swallowed hard, but Andy wasn’t done. “Bray has a lot of Uncles too.”
“Yes, he does.”
His head popped up and his eyes met mine. “I like that.”
I wasn’t going to be able to swallow back the tears this time, so I took a deep breath and let them fill my eyes. “I know you do.”
“Do you think I can call them my Uncles too?”
Luke’s deep voice rang out. “They’d love that kiddo.”
He nodded and leaned back into Luke’s side, his eyes heavy and I knew then we weren’t having the date chat. I slid in behind Cookie which took some maneuvering considering he did not want to share his space and watched the baseball highlights until I heard a deep sigh. Looking over I saw Andy was fast asleep cuddled in tight against Luke.
“Should I carry him in?”
I nodded sadly, knowing only this morning he would not have asked me that, instead would’ve felt comfortable just doing. “If you don’t mind.”
He grinned, but it wasn’t the grin I’d grown accustomed to. I followed him down the hall after he’d picked up Andy and pulled back the covers so he could just lay him in. Throwing the covers over him, I leaned down and kissed his forehead, smoothing back his hair. I wasn’t surprised when I stood up and made my way out of his room that Luke was already gone. Making my way out to the living room, I noticed he was missing there as well, but so was Cookie so I could only assume they’d gone outside. Moving through the kitchen, I swung open the door and stepped out on the deck, seeing Luke leaning up against the wooden railing of his huge deck.
Walking slowly, I made my way to his side and laid my hand against his back. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded, but didn’t look at me. I tried again. “Please don’t be mad at me, Luke, it came out wrong.”
He looked down at me, but not with the look I was used to seeing. “I’m not mad at you, Kate.”
Kate (The Dimarco Series Book 5) Page 25
