Released (Caged #3)(87)

“Hey,” I said as I stared down at the simple stone that read Katie Took on it. “I…um…”

I cleared my throat.

“I guess I’m talking to myself here,” I said. “I just wanted you to know we had the baby, and we named her Katie. She’s Baby Katie, though—not Krazy Katie. I don’t think she’s crazy anyway.”

Chuckling a little, I crouched down in front of the stone.

“I’m crazy about her,” I admitted. “She’s just…f*cking amazing. I don’t know how else to describe her. Tria is awesome with her, too, though she had a tough time getting her out. She ended up having to have a C-section. It’s not what she wanted, but…well…it’s what we had to do, ya know?”

I sniffed a couple times. The cold wind was making my nose run. I glanced over my shoulder at the car and saw Tria staring out the window at me.

“Well, I have to get Tria to dinner,” I said. “It’s the first time we’ve been out since Baby Katie was born. I just wanted to stop by and give you something.”

I placed the framed picture at the top of the gravestone.

“I found it when I was cleaning out your place and thought you might like it. Thanks for grabbing the bookshelf and my boots. It kinda sucked when I thought those were gone.”

I stood back up and looked down at the picture of Krazy Katie’s mother.

“Anyway, I’ll see you later, I guess.” I felt like a total fool and looked around to make sure there weren’t any other fools out there looking at me. I didn’t see anyone else standing in the cold, so I backed away a couple of steps before turning to go back to the car.

“Well?” Tria said after I had cleaned off my shoes and climbed back into the warmth of the Rolls.

“Well what?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Tria said. “How did it go?”

“Okay, I guess. I put the picture there, so mission accomplished.”

Damon started off down the street, and I felt Tria’s fingers wrap around mine. When I looked down, she gave them a little squeeze with her warm fingers.

“You’re a good guy, Liam,” she said softly. “Did you know that?”

Shrugging, I gave her a half smile.

“You made me that way,” I told her.

“No,” she contradicted, “you were already like that.”

“Nah.”

“Yes, you were,” she said.

She leaned over close and placed her palm against the side of my face. I turned and quickly kissed the edge of her hand.

“From the very first time we met,” she said, “you were my hero.”

*****

Sunday dinner.

Baby Katie was almost two months old, but we finally made it to one of Michael’s family dinners. It had gone well—much better than I had expected. Though I wouldn’t say we were all on the friendliest of terms, I was reconnecting with Mom and at least being civil to Dad.

Still, sitting down with everyone around the table at dinner was bizarre. Not that anything horrible happened, but it was awkward and uncomfortable. Amanda said almost nothing though she and Tria were getting along for the most part. Amanda seemed to have accepted that I was back in the family, and Tria was around to stay.

She loved Baby Katie, of course. Everyone did. She even tried to get up and tend to her when Baby Katie started crying right about the time dessert was being served.

“I got her,” I said quickly. I needed the excuse to take a break from the group.

I gathered her up, grabbed her purple blanket off the back of the pumpkin seat in the hallway, and went to the den to see if I could get her to nap. There were thick, dark red curtains in there, and they did a nice job of blocking out the afternoon light. Once I pulled them closed, I settled down in an overstuffed chair with Baby Katie on top of me.

She settled down almost immediately.

I nuzzled the top of her head and sniffed the soft, downy hair around her crown as I pulled the blanket up around her shoulders. I touched the top of her head, being careful over the soft spot there, and down across her cheek as I sniffed again. She smelled fantastic.

I didn’t know what it was about her, but she always smelled great. Well, except when her diaper needed to be changed, but even that wasn’t nearly as bad as I had always been led to believe. Supposedly it was going to get worse when she started eating other foods, but changing diapers wasn’t the big deal everyone made it out to be.

I said that to my mom, and she just smiled and shook her head.

As much as Baby Katie liked the boob, I didn’t see the real food happening for a while. Tria went through so much cracked and achy nipple pain in the beginning, but now it was completely effortless for both of them. Baby Katie would latch on and go to town, and Tria would hardly notice except that she had to flip her shirt up to do it.

Baby Katie yawned a big, toothless yawn, and then rested her head against the center of my chest. Next to Tria’s tits, it was her favorite place to be. She blinked her big, brown eyes a few times before closing completely.

With one arm wrapped underneath her butt, and the other one around her back, I settled against the back of the chair and closed my eyes as well. It was good to get some rest, even though I knew it wasn’t going to last very long. Baby Katie was comfortable, warm, and content on my chest, and I was thrilled to have her there.