Pesh chuckled as he got out of the car. He went to get Mason while she started into the house. Balloons and flowers filled the foyer and living room. Over the dining room archway, there was a giant CONGRATULATIONS MASON sign.
When she got to the kitchen, she sucked in a breath at the sight of all the catering pans. “Emma Fitzgerald, what have you done?” she questioned.
At the sound of Megan’s voice, Emma jumped. Clutching her chest, she whirled around. “Okay, so maybe I found a really excellent deal on the bouncy castle. Like ridiculously cheap.”
Megan crossed her arms over her chest. “The food? I thought Mom and my aunts were cooking.”
Holding up one hand, Emma replied, “Just Williamson Brothers BBQ. Nothing fancy.”
“Anything else I need to know about? Live band or celebrity bursting out of a cake?”
Emma giggled. “Nope. That’s it.”
Megan watched Emma bustle around the kitchen, setting up the plates and cutlery. “Um, is there anything I can do? I mean, I feel pretty shitty considering this is my son’s adoption party,” Megan said, with a smile.
Pink tinged Emma’s cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
Megan threw her arms around Emma and squeezed her tight. “Don’t be sorry. You’re amazing to do all of this for us.”
Emma smiled. “You’re more than welcome. I’m so happy for you and Pesh and for Mason.”
“Thank you.”
When Megan pulled away, Emma said, “Oh, there is something you can do. Go tell Aidan we’re about to start. He went to get Caroline up from her nap.”
“Sure. I’ll be happy to.” As Megan started down the familiar hallway, she stopped outside of Aidan’s boyhood bedroom. Through the crack in the door, she could see him walking around the room, bouncing Caroline in his arms. At the sound of his singing, she had to stifle a laugh. Ankle was many things, but a singer wasn’t one of them.
“Sweet Caroline, dum, dum, dum. Good times never seemed so good,” he crooned off-key.
When Megan pushed open the door, Aidan jumped. “Um, hey,” he said, a flush entering his cheeks.
“I never really pictured you as a Neil Diamond fan,” she said, with a smile.
“Yeah, well, Sweet Caroline seems like the right thing to sing to her.” He cleared his throat. “What are you doing in here?”
“Emma wanted me to come get you.”
“Oh,” he said. In his arms, Caroline began to whimper, her little fists flailed. “Shh, it’s okay, sweet pea. Where was I?”
“I’ve been inclined,” Megan answered him.
“Right,” he said, over Caroline’s cries.
When he picked back up with the song, Megan said, “That’s really unfair to torture her like that.”
As Aidan scowled at Megan, Caroline began to quiet. Aidan’s expression then turned triumphant. “See? She likes it when I sing to her.”
“But you can’t sing,” Megan protested.
Aidan shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to her.”
Megan laughed. “She has a mother with a killer voice, yet she likes to listen to you?”
Flashing his signature cocky grin, Aidan replied, “What can I say? All women love me.”
With a roll of her eyes, Megan said, “Give me a break.”
Glancing down at Caroline, Aidan said in a sing-song voice, “Don’t you have the sweetest, handsomest, and most wonderful daddy in the whole wide world?” Caroline cooed at his question and kicked her legs. “She’s a smart girl because she knows how lucky she is.”
“You’re terrible,” Megan said, with a grin.
Aidan looked from his daughter over to Megan. “You want to hold my most perfect little princess?”
“I would love to.” She held out her arms as Aidan passed Caroline to her. Outfitted in a frilly purple dress and purple bow, Caroline looked like she could be modeling baby wear. Unlike Noah’s strawberry blond hair, hers was a deep auburn. She had also inherited her mother’s green eyes. “I have to agree that you’re a lucky girl because you look just like your mother,” Megan said.
Aidan laughed. “Yeah, she is a little mini-Emma, isn’t she?”
“She is. Boy, she’s going to give you hell when she’s a teenager,” Megan teased.
“I know. Trust me, I know.”
As Caroline smiled up at her, Megan couldn’t help sighing. “You’re a bad influence, missy. You make me want to have another baby.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Aidan asked.
“No, it’s just…”
“Just what?”
“I asked Pesh to give me a year of marriage before we start trying. I know he’s ready right now, but I just want this time with him. You know, just the two of us.”
“That’s understandable.”
“But holding her…” Megan shook her head. “You’re just bad for business, Miss Caroline.”
Aidan laughed. “Tell me about it. Whenever I hold her or Noah, I think how much I’m going to miss it when they’re not babies anymore. It nags at me enough that I think I’ll be okay if we have more.”
“No vasectomy on the horizon?”
He grinned. “No yet. Still not ruling it out though. And as far as you and more babies, you’ll know when the time is right. And if anyone is patient and understanding, it’s Pesh.”
“That’s true,” Megan murmured.
Mason appeared in the doorway then. “‘Mon, Mommy. Want ice cweam!”
Megan laughed. “Okay, let me give your little bad influence back to you,” she said, handing Caroline to Aidan. She then took Mason’s hand and started out of the bedroom.
“Daddy says I have ice cweam first.”
“Did he?” Megan said, as she planned to strangle Pesh.
“Uh huh. ‘Cause it’s my ‘doption day.”
When she met Pesh’s eye, she raised her brows. Immediately, his face flushed. “Spoiling him rotten already, aren’t you?” she questioned in a low voice.
“I couldn’t help it. It’s a special day.”
“Mmm, hmm, and when this special day turns into an all nighter because he’s hyped on sugar, you’re going to deal with him.”
Pesh grinned. “I will. I promise.”
Megan leaned up to kiss him. “You’re too sweet for your own good. You’re always going to have me playing bad cop when it comes to discipline.”
“But you love me anyway, right?” he murmured against her lips.
“So much I was almost ready to reconsider our plan about when we’re starting a family.”
His eyes bulged at her response. It took him a few moments to speak. “That means a lot that you would do that, but deep down I know how you really feel. So, I’m going to be good and patiently wait ten more months before confiscating your birth control.”
“It’s a deal,” she replied, before kissing him again.
Epilogue
As soon as he finished with his last patient, Pesh practically sprinted from the exam room. He hustled into the doctors’ lounge, trying hard to keep his head down and not call any attention to himself. He wanted to be able to get out the door without anyone calling him back for a consult or to pull a longer shift. Once he had retrieved his things, he started for the parking lot.
“Dr. Nadeen!” Kristi called.
Inwardly, he groaned. “Yes?” he questioned, as he turned around.
“You weren’t leaving, were you?” she asked.
He exhaled a defeated breath. “I was planning on it. Does someone need me to cover for them?”
Kristi winked at him. “Thought you were screwed there for a minute, didn’t you?”
A relieved laugh escaped his lips. “I did.”
She smiled. “I have something for Megan.”
“Honestly Kristi, you didn’t need to do anything else for us.”