Everlasting (Unrestrained 6)

Chapter 13

KATE

Drake and I woke early in the morning to the sound of Sophie babbling happily between us. She had squirmed out of her covers and was playing with her feet, chewing on her pacifier and muttering baby talk. I turned over and faced her, smiling when she saw me and her little face lit up.

"Hi, baby," I said softly, not wanting to wake up Drake. "Ready to meet the day?"

I managed to creep out of the bed with Sophie in my arms. As I did, Drake woke up and pulled the pillow off his head.

"You two early birds awake already?"

I craned my neck to see the clock radio. It was just after seven o'clock. Sophie's usual time to get up and start our day.

"You sleep in. We can have lunch together."

"Sounds good," Drake said when I bent down with Sophie to give him a kiss. He kissed me and then kissed Sophie on both cheeks.

I left Drake in bed and took Sophie into her bedroom for a diaper change, and then we went to the living room, where she went right into her playpen so I could have a quick pee. When I returned, she was playing happily so I fixed us both breakfast, and then put her in her high chair.

It was while I was cutting up some fruit for Sophie that my cell rang. I checked the number and saw that it was Brenda. She must be calling about Liam.

"Hello," I said, glad to hear from her. "How are you?"

"We're fine," Brenda said. "We thought that it might be nice for Drake and Liam to get together during his five days off. Drake texted me to let me know he'd be off so I'm calling to see if he wants to take Liam this afternoon for a few hours."

"Oh," I said and frowned. "I know Drake would love to spend time with Liam, but I don't know if he can today. I don't know whether he told you, but he recently found out that his mother is very sick, and he's been spending every spare moment up at the hospital visiting her."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that," Brenda said. "His mother? If I remember correctly, he hasn't seen her for years. Am I right?"

"Yes," I said and sat at the island counter to have my breakfast and feed Sophie. "Drake's half-brother contacted me and let me know about their mother. He found out he has three half-brothers and a half-sister. He's met a couple of them and has seen his mother as well."

"You tell Drake it can be another day. I'm sure I can entertain Liam for a day or two, but it would be really nice for them to get together soon since Liam's looking forward to it."

"I'll tell Drake you called and as soon as he's up, he'll call and you two can talk."

"Sounds good," Brenda said in reply.

We said our goodbyes and I ended the call, sighing at the prospect of yet another fight for Drake. He had so much going on right now that I felt it was a good thing he quit his

position at the hospital.

Now, maybe he could focus on his mother and Liam.

Sophie and I ate our breakfasts and took our daily walk down the beach, and when we returned, Drake was up and in the shower. I made a pot of coffee and sat in front of the flat screen so I could watch some news while Sophie played on the floor with her toys. When Drake was finished with his shower, he emerged from the back room dressed in a pair of shorts, his chest bare, his hair still wet.

He bent down and kissed me warmly. "Mrs. Morgan," he said and stroked my cheek. "I am eager to spend the entire night with you tonight."

"Me as well," I said and smiled up at him.

He went over to Sophie and picked her up. "And I'm looking forward to spending most of the day with you, Miss Sophia." He kissed her on her cheeks and sat down beside me with Sophie on his lap. "Maybe your mom can go to her studio and do some painting."

He glanced over at me expectantly.

"I'm okay," I said, not wanting to tie up the day at all with my trip to the studio. That was the lowest priority on my to-do list. "Do you want me to get you a cup of coffee?" I went to the kitchen to refill mine.

"Please," Drake said. "And bring me one of those croissants."

"Coming right up."