“I’m Iris’s dad,” Shane said cautiously from the doorway, holding the girl we’d been discussing. “But you probably figured that out, huh?”
He made his way into the room and sat down next to us.
“Yeah, I thought so,” Sage said calmly. “You act like her dad.”
“Well, I can’t help that,” Shane said with a small smile.
“Whatcha thinkin’, Sage?” I asked after she’d been quiet for a few minutes.
“Are you going to get married?”
“No,” I answered decisively before Shane could speak. His teeth snapped shut, and I could see the muscle in his jaw tensing.
“Can I tell Keller?”
“Uh, I guess so,” I mumbled, becoming more uncomfortable by the second.
Sage scrambled off the bed and ran for the door before turning back with a weird look on her face. “So Iris is my sister.”
“Yes,” Shane replied firmly.
“Awesome,” Sage said back, doing a little dance before running into the hallway.
“Keller’s going to have questions,” I mumbled, sitting up in bed.
“Probably.”
“What will we tell him?” I asked, fidgeting.
Shane’s eyes met mine. “That I’m Iris’s dad and you’re her mom. It’s simple, Katie. He doesn’t need any more than that.”
“He’s going to be confused,” I argued.
“I think he’ll understand far more than you give him credit for.”
We went silent as we heard the sound of multiple little feet stomping up the stairs. Sage had obviously shared the news. I braced myself for the onslaught.
Chapter 15
Shane
I pushed myself harder as I ran past the gas station a few miles from our house, and cursed under my breath as one of my earbuds fell out of my ear.
I didn’t have time to slow down as I pulled it back up. Kate was home with all the kids, and I’d hated the look she’d given me as I walked out the front door. She was exhausted—with good reason—and I knew she was dreading the fact that I had to be at work early the next morning. I’d taken as much time as I could, but duty called—at least for the next two weeks.
I had to go back in and get squared away before I could take my post-deployment leave. There was no getting around it, as much as I hated it. My commanding officer had been lenient as hell when I’d told him what was going on, but his patience only went so far.
My stomach clenched as I thought of what Kate had been through in the last week—hell, the last few months. I’d been so caught up in my own shit—how I was feeling—I’d completely neglected the only woman who had ever loved me more than my foster mother.
Christ, when Bram had slid that video of Kate across the table, I’d honestly thought I was going to pass out. I’d been so horrible to her, treating her like she didn’t matter when that was the farthest thing from the truth—and yet she’d still called for me. She’d needed me, and I’d been in San Diego, acting like a self-righteous douche. God, when I’d realized that Gunner was asking for marshmallows and not calling Kate “Mama,” I’d wanted to sink through the floor in shame, but I’d thought it too late for me to change my course.
Bram asked me how I thought I’d make that right. I couldn’t. I knew that there was no way to take back or make up for the shit I’d put her through. The agony on her face as she cried gave me nightmares.
I shook my head and turned around, working my way back toward the house. I couldn’t change the past, but hell if I didn’t want to be what Kate needed now. I wanted to make sure she was eating and getting enough rest. I wanted to take the boys outside so she could have a few moments to herself and cook breakfast so she didn’t have to get out of bed.
For the first time in my life, I wanted to take on more so that she would have less to do.
It killed me that I’d never felt like that when it came to Rachel. I’d come to the conclusion, sometime in my marriage, that because I’d been bringing home a paycheck and working outside the house, it was Rachel’s responsibility to take care of our children. It wasn’t as if I’d never helped—I had…when I had the time. But I hadn’t made it a priority, and because she’d never spoken up, I hadn’t realized how hard that must have been for her.
Or maybe it hadn’t been as hard for Rachel as it was for Kate. Rachel had three children and a best friend who’d apparently dropped everything to help when she was feeling overwhelmed. Kate had five children and no one to depend on but an asshole that she didn’t trust to help her. She watched me with suspicion every time I pitched in with the kids, and I was so ashamed that I pretended like I didn’t see it.