Loving Kate (Acceptance #3) (3 page)

He really doesn’t get it.

“We did.” His eyes close because it’s painful for him to hear. Damn, he’s so stubborn he doesn’t see it. “She’s my best friend and she always will be… but her heart belongs to someone else. It’s probably a good thing, too, since he has her name tattooed on his back.”

His eyes open wide and he glances over to Kate who is completely engrossed in her conversation with Vanessa and Chad. They’re laughing and not paying a bit of attention to us.

“It’s true, Daniel. I let her go, but it’s not like I had a choice. She loves me… but she’s
in love
with
you
.”

“It doesn’t matter, Mike, it’s too late.”

Fuck this.
I lower my voice but my tone is clear. “It’s never too late. Yes, she hurt you, but you weren’t exclusive and she didn’t do it purposefully. The only thing that matters is she would have forgiven
you
. She’s ready to try and work things out and welcome Lucas into her heart. You’re not going to find that with many girls, and even if you did…none of them are Kate.

“Now, I don’t really want to hear what you have to say about all that. You can let it sink it for as long as you need. It’s the truth, and once you pull your head out of your ass you’ll realize I’m right.” He starts to speak but I cut him off. “I’ve got to get to work so I can do my job
and
yours, but first, are you going to let me finally hold my nephew or what?”

Daniel finishes burping Lucas and hands him over tentatively. “Watch his head,” he cautions.

I shake mine at him but heed the warning since I’ve never actually held a baby. Doing my best to control my emotions, instead of dwelling on what I missed out on with Lila Hope, I walk Lucas over to the window where I can get a better look at his face. He’s awake and his eyes are open wide. He might just be the cutest thing I’ve
ever
seen.

He’s staring at me so intensely; I never knew babies could be so alert. It makes sense—he has to learn about his new world somehow. It’s time for the two of us to have a little talk. “Hey, Lucas, I’m your Uncle Mike.” Kate is looking at us with tears in her eyes and I know exactly what she’s thinking. “So just to be clear, I’m the guy who’s going to teach you everything you need to know about girls.”

Vanessa chuckles and Daniel groans.

“When you’re old enough, I’ll be the one to sneak you your first beer, take you to your first strip club, and teach you how the alphabet applies to women and it’s got nothing to do with spelling and everything to do with your...”

“Mike!” Kate admonishes me while blushing furiously. The thought that I never got to do that to her crosses my mind but I quickly dismiss it. I laugh while Daniel shakes his head and Vanessa stifles her giggles.

“But first, we’ll do the fun stuff. I’ll be your babysitter while your mom and Chad and Dad and Kate, are off making you some brothers and sisters.” I look up to be sure they
all
caught that. Vanessa winks at me then looks between Kate and Daniel, nodding her head in total agreement. Daniel shifts his weight uncomfortably while Kate continues to blush. “I’ll teach you how to be a good catcher—none of that football crap your dad and Uncle Jake are going to try and teach you. Too many hits to the head will make you stubborn like them.”

“Look who’s calling who stubborn,” Daniel snorts out and I casually flip him the bird which elicits laughter from them all.

“I’ll teach you some more stuff, too, but let’s keep that just between us for now. No sense getting your dad worked up to the point he’ll want to leave you with Uncle Connor, instead. One gossip queen is enough in this family.”

“Hey now, I heard that!” Connor exclaims from the door. Lucas is still looking up at me with his big eyes as if he’s absorbing every single word.

“Don’t care if you heard. It’s not anything I wouldn’t say to your face.”

“Asshole,” Connors mumbles.

“You know you really should watch your language around the baby, Connor.” He looks embarrassed, and for the first time in a while, Daniel roars in laughter.

“Yeah, because you were just so kid friendly while talking about how you were going to teach him the usefulness of the alphabet.”

“That’s what Uncles are for—to teach kids all the things their parents secretly want them to know but are too chicken shit to talk to them about.”

Gently, I pass Lucas to Vanessa but she promptly passes him to Kate. Watching Kate hold him, sweet talk him, and kiss him is almost more than I can bear. One glance at Daniel and I know he’s feeling the same way. That’s a good thing. Maybe he’ll let his love for her push through that armor he has up right now.

“So when are they springing you guys from here?” Connor asks Vanessa as he sits down in the chair next to Kate.

“Actually, that’s something we wanted to talk to you guys about,” Daniel cuts in when Vanessa hesitates.

“Lucas is healthy enough to be released tomorrow. But Vanessa’s blood pressure isn’t coming down the way the doctor would like to see, so he wants to keep her a few more days for fluids, medication, and observation.”

“But,” Vanessa interrupts, “I want Lucas at home, getting familiar with his surroundings. Not out at Daniel’s house where he’s so far away. I know he’ll eventually have to be there since we’ll share custody, but for now, I want him in his nursery. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I was wondering if you guys could maybe help Daniel out so he could stay at my place with Lucas. Just until I can come home. Chad wants to be here with me and this will be a good time for Lucas and his dad to bond.”

“Um, I can help if Daniel wants me to,” Kate says apprehensively.

Daniel nods his head yes but doesn’t speak.

“Gossip queen and I can help, too, and Jess loves babies so I don’t think it will be an issue. We’ve got you guys covered.” I bend down and give Vanessa a quick kiss on the cheek and turn to Kate. “I’ve got to get to work, are you…”

“She’s hanging out with me today. We’ve got some things to take care of so you can go, asshat.” Kate nods her okay and I slap Connor on the back of his head on the way out.

“See you guys later. Daniel, call me or text me and we’ll figure things out. Don’t worry about the office; I’ve got you covered.”

“Thanks, Mike.”

This might be just the break Kate needs to get a little bit closer to Daniel. The more time he spends with her, watching her shower Lucas in her love, the harder it will be for him to resist her. I know I wouldn’t be able to. Once I get to my truck, I send a group message to Connor, Jess, Jake, and April, letting them know we need to talk. It’s time to put a plan in action, and the first part of that plan is leaving Kate alone with Lucas as much as possible. Not that we can’t help, but I know Kate; she’ll cut back on all her non-essential obligations to help Vanessa and Daniel right now. It’s the perfect opportunity to push those two back together again.

“So let me get this straight. Now you want us to push Kate and Daniel together? Do you have multiple personalities or something? Weren’t you
just
trying to break them up? No, fuck all that, we decided she should be with you,
she’s your April
.”

April laughs at Jake’s reaction “She’s me, huh?” she asks him playfully.

“Baby, no one can
ever
be you,” he answers her with a long, lingering kiss and then continues, “But she’s
his
version of you.”

As I watch Jake and April, I notice how much passion they have, even after all this time. I’m not sure Kate and I ever had passion like that. But I never thought we were missing passion, either. That is something I need to analyze later.

“She was… but now she’s not,” Connor tells Jake smugly, cutting into my thoughts and confirming what we knew all along—he was on Daniel’s side. But none of that really matters now.

“It wasn’t my choice, it was hers. I just want her happy. Hell, I want
both
of them happy. Daniel and I agreed the decision would be Kate’s and she’s made it. But he’s a stubborn ass so we need to make him see the light.”

“I agree with Mike,” Jess says, plopping down next to Connor. “Daniel is being a jerk, so if we can push this along so we can all get back to normal, I’m game.”

“Okay… but isn’t it messed up
not
to help Daniel in his time of need?” Connor asks a valid question.

“It’s not like we’re not going to help him, and for the most part, I’m not sure how much help he’ll actually need. He’s going to be off work for a bit and I don’t imagine Vanessa is going to be in the hospital
that
long. We all kind of have a feeling for Kate’s schedule, and with finals coming up she’s going to be studying at home.”

“Yeah, and I can keep you posted because we’ve always shared a calendar so we know where the other will be,” Jess answers sweetly.

“So what exactly do you want us to do, Mike? I’m not exactly comfortable keeping this from Daniel. He’s my best friend.” April looks apprehensive as she flicks her nails “
But
if it helps them in the long run and it’s not too devious, I guess I’m in.”

“No, I’m not trying to be too devious. But say Daniel has to be somewhere at nine am so you’re going to watch Lucas for a few hours, but Kate doesn’t have class until ten am. We just tell Daniel you can’t get there until about nine fifteen. That will still give Kate plenty of time to get to class but she’ll have to have that interaction with Daniel.”

They all nod their heads in agreement “In all seriousness, this is still hard for me, too, but I’m
trying
here. And I
am
happy for them, but I’m not going to sit back and watch him throw away the best woman to ever come into his life.”

Jess comes up behind me, throws her arms over my shoulders, and kisses me on the cheek. “That’s why you’re my best friend and just part of the reason why I’ve missed you so very much. You’re the only other person in the world aside from me who I know will put Kate’s feelings above their own.”

“Hey, that’s not fair, Jess. I do that, too, and so does Daniel. He’s just hurting right now.” Connor’s right, we all protect Kate, not because she’s weak but because she’s been through so much. Such a good person shouldn’t be sad all the time.

“Maybe so…” She lets her sentence trail off and Connor continues to pout.

“All that matters is that we’re all in agreement to help our friends do what they can’t do for themselves right now.” Suddenly, I’m exhausted. It was a long day at work and the past forty-eight hours have been exhausting. I’m supposed to meet Misty for coffee in a half hour, too.

“I’ll talk to Daniel tonight or tomorrow and see what he needs help with and then I’ll let you guys know. I’ve got to go meet Misty, but thanks for coming over and agreeing to help.”

Jake and Jessica both look equally surprised and April gives me a knowing look. She liked Misty when she met her back then, but it’s Connor who speaks up, as usual.

“You’re going on a date already? Look, Mike, you’re not going to hurt her or fall back into your old patterns now that Kate isn’t an option, are you?”

It’s frustrating that he doesn’t ever seem to have any faith in me, but I guess I can understand why. “We’re meeting for coffee as friends. I need to apologize to her for what I did to her. I’m not going to make any attempt at getting into her pants. I just need to make amends and I’d like to get to know her again…that’s all.”

“Alright, well don’t screw it up this time. She was good for you. You didn’t see it back then, but maybe you’ll be able to see it now. Damn, dude, you must have a magical fucking dick because I’ve never seen girls forgive
anyone
for being an asshole the way they forgive you.”

“I’m pretty sure it was called a fantastic fucking cock recently,” April pipes up, giggling, and Jess gives her a high five.

“I think Connor has an un-natural obsession with Mike’s dick,” Jake says, laughing. “First, he’s a motherfucking pussy master and now he has a magical fucking dick. But I guess you’d need a magical dick to be a pussy master? Fuck if I know. I’m just glad I got the brains in the family.”

“They call you the pussy master?” Jess spits out, half laughing and half appalled, but I just laugh it off.

“It’s a Connor thing, mostly, and since he’s your boyfriend he can explain it to you. I’ve got to go meet Misty. See you guys later.”

As I walk away, I can still hear Connor. “Seriously, Jess, a motherfucking pussy master. The things girls let him do without him even trying is unreal.”

“Stop, Connor. That’s like me talking to you about the gumdrop situation. Let’s just not go there.” As the gate closes behind me, all I hear is the lot of them cracking up. I can’t imagine my life without them.

Fifteen minutes later and I’m nervous as fuck sitting in a booth at Kickin’ Java, waiting for Misty. I’ve never been nervous around girls, only around Kate. I’m not ready to analyze what that actually means; I’m just hoping she’ll still want to stay friends once we’re done talking.

Every time the door opens, I look up from my table in the corner to see if it’s her. When she finally does come through the door she looks amazing.