Love Survives (Love's Suicide #2)(87)

My mom bent down to her level. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Chocate mulk.” My little bug knew exactly what she wanted, and she also used her cuteness to make sure she got it.

I watched the woman that raised me smile while tears still ran down her cheeks. “Well, okay. Let’s go see if we can find some of that.” She looked up at Kat. “Is it okay? I can change her if it helps?”

Kat handed her the diaper bag. “Sure. Thank you.”

It was nice to see my dad walk over and pull Kat into a hug. I could tell they were both so happy to see her, with or without our huge surprise. “Welcome home, Katy.”

Kat was still a mess as she clung to the man. “I miss you. I missed you so much.”

When I knew she wasn’t going to let go, I took it upon myself to remind her that we had plenty of time. “Let’s go up and get settled.”

One thing I hadn’t pegged on was my dad tearing up. I couldn’t remember ever seeing it happen. “We really missed you. Both of you.”

I shook his hand out of respect. “I’m sorry it’s been so long, Dad. We just needed time.”

By the time we reached the steps I could tell Kat was a little relieved. I took her hand in mine and smiled. “Yours or mine?”

She shrugged. “Yours?”

While she sat down on my bed, I crouched in front of her. “How are you doing?”

“They don’t hate me.”

I put my hands on her knees. “I know you’re freaking out. Close your eyes and breathe, Kat.”

She did as she was told, taking a few deep breaths.

“Is it better?”

I didn’t stand up until I knew she was okay. “We should probably put B in your room. I bet Dad even has some of those things in the attic so she won’t fall out of bed.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” She acted as if I had super powers. Didn’t she know that this was like a dream to me? I had everyone I loved in the same house. My life was damn near perfect. Nothing could take that away from me.

“Because they can’t change anything. We’re here and B’s here. It is what it is. It’s also the same reason that I came after you that first night. I couldn’t change what’s happened, but I sure as hell could change the future.”

“You told me that we’d never be together.”

I laughed and shook my head. “I said that so you’d push me away. If you were happy then I wasn’t going to ruin it for you.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I’d like to think I’m generous.”

“Not fighting for me is stupid, plain and simple.”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t have to. You came to your senses faster than I thought you would.”

One kiss turned into a heated moment. Before I could stop her, Kat’s hand was running up inside of my shirt. My desire to toss her down on the bed and have my way was leading me to forget we weren’t alone. I pulled away. “We need to go downstairs.”

She cupped me between the legs. “Are you sure?”

I had to readjust my shorts, so it wasn’t noticeable that I’d gotten turned on.

Kat teased me by licking over her lips. I pointed right at her. “Stop it. You can have your way with me later. Right now we need to go downstairs and clear the air. You’re clearly stalling.”

We shared one more kiss, a slow and passion-filled one at that. “I love you, Brooks,” She said as she opened her eyes.

“Not as much as I love you, Kat.”



Stepping into the kitchen was like being back in time, with the exception of little B, sitting on a chair with a phonebook underneath her butt. She had turkey in her hand and continued swinging her legs when we came into the room. “Grab the mayonnaise when you walk by the refrigerator, will ya?” Once we were all sitting at the table, I could tell they were waiting for answers.

All of a sudden, out of left field, Kat just started explaining how Brooklyn was my child. “She’s Brooks’ daughter. When I found out I was pregnant I had them check on the date of conception several times. I wasn’t with Branch at all the whole month of December. Brooklyn was born September 11th if you need to check on the math.”

I placed my hand on her knee to try to calm her. “Now that you know, can we talk about something else?”

It was obvious Kat realized she was a little nervous. She reiterated again. “Sorry. I know you were going to ask and I also know that Brooks and Branch have identical DNA. Anyone would want to know.”

My mom reached over the table and smiled. “Katy, we weren’t going to ask.”

“I don’t understand. You’d just believe me?” She had a point. Why wouldn’t they question the paternity? We were about to find out.

My dad cut in. “We assumed Branch told you. When he proposed to you, we told him to tell you.”

“Tell her what?” I wanted to know what the big secret was.

“Branch can’t have kids. He was born with a tumor on his testicle and they had to go in and cut out part of the tube that sends the semen into the penis. He’s sterile,” my mom explained.

Kat seemed like she’d seen a ghost. “He knew I wanted children.”