Katie Ashley - The Pairing

Without taking her eyes off of Pesh, Maya flashed another smile and waved her fist. The sight caused tears to sting his eyes. He blinked fast, trying to clear them. He didn’t like feeling emotionally weak in front of Megan. But he knew he was busted the moment Megan murmured, “Oh baby.”

She slid her arm around his waist, leaning up on her tiptoes to burrow her face in his neck. “Do you know how much my love for you grows because you just got teary over your daughter?”

He glanced down at her in surprise. “Really?”

“Mmm, hmm.” She gave him a brief kiss. “After Davis, all I ever wanted was for my children to have a father who loved and adored them.” She smiled. “You make that dream come true every day.”

He brought his lips to hers. His mouth worked frantically to illustrate all that he was feeling inside—the intense love that he felt would burst from him. “I love you,” he murmured against her lips.

“I love you, too.”

Just as he started to kiss her again, a loud commotion in the kitchen drew them apart. Megan rubbed his cheek tenderly before bestowing a kiss on Maya’s head. She then jerked her chin towards the kitchen, and he followed her. Patrick had just burst through the backdoor with all the kids in tow.

“We’re back!” Mason called, as he bobbed around the kitchen. Three-year-old Noah and his two-year-old sister, Caroline, made a beeline for their mother. They began chattering non-stop to Emma while their bodies shook with unspent energy.

Pesh watched with amusement as Emma’s hand came to her hip and she pointed her stirring spoon at Patrick. “You gave them ice cream, didn’t you?”

Patrick shrugged. “I’m a grandfather. Spoiling them is what I’m supposed to do.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and then you bring them home to detox on my watch.”

“Mommy, I hungwy!” Caroline protested, stomping her foot. With her auburn hair swept back in pigtails and her emerald eyes narrowing in determination, she looked just like her mother. Well, her expression was pure Aidan.

“Caroline Fitzgerald, you get one ice cream cone in you, and you start acting like you have no manners. We do not stomp our feet to get what we want.”

She appeared thoughtful for a moment before saying, “Pwease Mommy, I vewy hungwy.”

Emma grinned. “Go wash up and then have a seat at the table in the dining room.”

“Come on guys,” Mason said. At almost four-and-a-half, he was always the caretaker of his younger cousins. Noah and Caroline followed him into the half bathroom off the kitchen.

Cradling Maya in his arms, Pesh joined Emma at the stove. “Something sure smells good.”

“Thank you. It’s Megan’s favorite chicken casserole. Then there’s broccoli and cheese casserole, green beans, and some cornbread, extra crispy on the edges just like Megan loves it.” The corners of her mouth turned down in a frown. “I’m sorry it’s not Indian food.”

He grinned. “I would have been very surprised if it had been considering how much you didn’t appreciate it many years ago.”

Patrick nodded in agreement. “That’s quite a spread you’ve fixed for us.”

Emma smiled. “I was happy to do it.”

“Are you feeling all right?” Pesh asked, motioning to her expanding belly.

Emma patted her bump lovingly before responding. “I think I’ve felt the best this pregnancy out of all the others. You would think with a three and two-year-old, I would be exhausted all the time, but it’s amazing how good I’ve felt.”

Patrick gave a beaming smile. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be having yet another grandson to carry on the family name.” With a wink, he added, “Not to mention the fact he’s been given fine Irish names.”

Aidan and Emma had found out the sex of their third, and final child, the week before. They had decided on the name Connor Liam, which was a double representation of Irish names. While Emma’s best friend, Connor, was thrilled at the namesake, he also wanted them to call the baby Connor as well. In the end, it would be Liam Fitzgerald joining the rest of the crew in four and a half months.

“And is Aidan still feeling okay?” Pesh asked.

Emma opened her mouth to answer him, but Aidan chose that moment to walk in the door. “Me and my soon to be non-swimmers are just fine,” he replied, with a grin. A week before he had gone under the laser for a vasectomy. While Caroline had been a surprise, Liam had not. With Emma nearing thirty-four, they thought it best to finish out their family while they were still young. And while Emma was pregnant and there were no worries about conception, Aidan thought it was the best time to get his vasectomy and let it take effect.

“Daddy!” Caroline squealed, as she came bounding around the corner. Aidan’s grin grew wider as he took his daughter in his arms.

“Hi sweet pea.”

She kissed both of his cheeks before she started wiggling, wanting down. Noah ran to him next, and he got to hold his son a little longer as Noah told him all about his day helping out with the babies. A cry from the living room snapped Pesh’s attention away from Aidan and Emma.

Megan was bending over the Pack N Play, picking up Sara. “Aw, what’s wrong, sweetheart?” she cooed, as she took Sara into her arms. As Megan rocked her back and forth, Sara continued wailing, which caused Maya’s face to crumple up as well. “You must be hungry.”

“I’ll get their bottles,” Pesh called, over the twin’s loud cries.

“Thank you.”

As Emma worked to gather the kids, along with Patrick and Aidan, around the dining room table, Pesh got busy heating up the formula. Once he had the two bottles fixed, he grabbed them and then went to the dining room. Megan was already seated with Mason trying to entertain Sara to stop crying her crying. He passed a bottle to Megan before sitting down himself. He’d barely gotten the bottle in her mouth before Maya started sucking greedily at the formula.

As Aidan reached to start spooning some chicken casserole onto his plate, Patrick shot him a disapproving look. With a sigh, Aidan dropped the serving spoon. “You gonna say grace even though it’s not your house, Pop?”

“Why yes, I am. It’s good for all these children to learn,” he replied, motioning to Noah and Caroline who sat between their parents, and then over to Mason.

“It should be up to Pesh and Megan whether it’s said or not,” Aidan grumbled.

Pesh held up his free hand that wasn’t holding Maya. “It’s fine. Truly, I don’t mind.”

Aidan mouthed “suck up” at him before grinning. Pesh merely shook his head at Aidan’s antics. “Then let’s return thanks,” Patrick said.

With Maya still taking long pulls at her bottle, Pesh bowed his head. As Patrick recited the blessing, Pesh couldn’t help feeling so very blessed himself. Three years ago, the dining room would have been empty. Most likely, he would have been grabbing something on the way home or finishing some leftover takeout. But now, he had a beautiful, loving wife by his side—one he fell a little more in love with each and every day. Across from him, he had a son who was strong and healthy. In his arms and his wife’s, he had two daughters who he couldn’t wait to see what the future held for them. He also had the love and support of good friends and family. At the end of the day, true love in its many forms was all you could really hope for and cling to.