Epic Sins (Epic Fail #1)(72)

“Kai!” I screech and get down on my knees, arms outstretched. Giggles and drool escape his mouth, and he’s in my lap before I know it. I squeeze him tight and kiss him all over his chubby cheeks.

“What are you doing here?” I ask my aunt.

“Kai had a doctor’s appointment today, and I thought I’d stop by here before taking him home.” Her motives for bringing him are obvious, but I ignore them because I’m holding my favorite little man in my arms. I rub noses with him and he pats his hands on my face. He starts to squirm out of my arms and I place him back down on the floor and he once again takes off like a flash.

“We don’t have a child-proof house, Aunt Peggy.” I take off after him as he weaves his way through the foyer into the den. Once he’s on soft carpeting, he sits up and starts clapping. Aunt Peggy hands him some toys from her bag and he bangs them together, laughing.

“We’ll only be here for a few minutes,” she says as she brings several other bags into the kitchen. “I needed to drop off a few things.”

I sit down on the floor across the room from Kai and roll one of his balls toward him. He giggles and says, “Ba!” The ball glides toward him and he snags it, giggles and throws it up in the air. We play this game of ‘catch’ for several minutes, and he moves on, crawling through and exploring the den. I haven’t seen him since his last well-visit, which was over a month ago. He wasn’t this mobile then and it’s amazing to see him so happy and active.

“Kai, buddy, it’s time to go,” Aunt Peggy calls out. “Your Daddy’s home waiting for you.” Kai giggles and tries to scamper away while saying “Da-da!” Peggy scoops him up and I stand to walk them out. I kiss him on the cheek and brush my hand across his hair. “See you, little man.”

Aunt Peggy nods toward the kitchen. “There’s a bag for you on the counter.”

“Oh?” I ask.

She just smiles and walks out the door. “Happy Thursday.”

It hurts watching Kai leave with her, and I wish there was something more I could do. I don’t know when I’m going to see him again. I love that little boy.

There’s one canvas bag left on the counter in the kitchen, and I look at it warily. What is she up to?

I open it and see all of the ingredients needed to make pizza, and my heart tugs in my chest. Pizza Thursday. There’s a note sitting on top of the ingredients, and I recognize the handwriting immediately. Garrett.



Sam,

Can I come over tonight and help make this?





G


My head begins to spin and my chest tightens. I crumble the note and toss it into the garbage can and then put away all of the ingredients, slamming doors and drawers as I do. He can’t be serious. This is not going to happen.

I pick up my cell and hit Cassie’s speed dial. “Hey, chick,” she says, practically singing into the phone.

“I want to go out tonight,” I snap and stare at the crumbled note at the top of the garbage. “I have to go out tonight,” I state.

“What’s going on?” she asks, concern in her voice.

“Nothing. I just need a night out with my bestie. Are you in or not?”

“I’m always in. I’m on call, but let’s go out anyway. I’ll pick you up in an hour.” She hangs up, and I toss my phone onto the counter.

I have no intention of being here tonight.





Garrett

Present

Villanova, Pennsylvania

Age 27



“KAI’S SOUND ASLEEP,” PEGGY SAYS as she settles on the couch in the den. Max is away on vacation, and Peggy jumped at the chance to stay and help out. She’s actually planning to spend the night tonight, hoping I’ll be successful with our plan.

“Did you see her?” I ask. She dropped by her house earlier today with Kai so Sam could spend some time with him. It’s been a while since she’s seen him, and I know Peggy takes him as much as she can. I don’t mind this at all and wish they would do it more often. Sam was such an integral part of the first six months of his life, and it would kill me to know that Kai didn’t get to see her. I know he misses her.

“I did,” Peggy responds. “She got to see Kai crawl. As soon as I put him down on the floor, he took off right into her arms. You should have seen how happy he was to see her.” The vision of this hurts more than I expect. I want my son to be happy and to be with Sam. Hell, I want to be with her. Picturing him crawling and throwing himself into her arms drives deep into my chest. It’s what should be.

“Well?” I ask, knowing I sent a note. This was all Peggy’s idea, and I’m worried it’s going to blow up in everyone’s faces. “Did she read it?”

“Oh, I don’t know. We left before she could open the bag. I’m not sure, actually.” She smirks and lifts her Kindle onto her lap. “I’m sure she’s read it by now,” she says and begins to read.

Shit.

“I can’t just show up there if she hasn’t read my note,” I say and start pacing around the room. “I haven’t seen her in three months, Peggy. I wish you had stayed long enough for her to tell you it was okay for me to come.” This was a really bad idea, and now I’m regretting even suggesting we get together.