Page 60 of Cop Blocked

“Logan doesn’t have a birthday.” He grunts, and I snicker.

Piper eyes him suspiciously. “You have to have a birthday! Everyone has a birthday. Mommy’s birthday is two weeks!”

And leave it to the little tattle tale to rat me out, again.

Logan raises a brow and looks at me. “Does she now?”

“Mmmhmm! And we are having lots of cake! And ice cream. And a sleepover.”

A smirk plays at the corner of his lips. “Interesting.” Looking back at Piper, he asks, “You think Mommy will let me come to her birthday party?”

“She said only if we are on our bestest behavior!”

“Is that right? Well, I guess I’ll have to be good then, so I don’t miss it.”

“Me, too!” Piper cheers excitedly, jumping up on her chair.

It happens fast, but she slips. I gasp in horror, and her tiny little body tumbles. I immediately drop the spatula, rushing to her side, but Logan’s quicker and already got her. There’s no loud thud, just tears.

“Here, baby, Mommy’s here.” I reach out my arms only for Piper to bury her head further into Logan’s chest. “Piper, do you want Mommy to take you?”

Logan is gently rubbing her back and whispering to her. “Hey princess, it’s okay. What hurts?”

My heart squeezes in my chest. The pain of her rejection to me is lost as I watch Piper look up at him like he can fix anything.

“I bumped my arm.” she sniffles and shoves her elbow in Logan’s face.

There’s a tiny red mark, but no blood, and nothing looks broken from my vantage point.

“Can Mommy take a look at it? I think she’s the expert and can make it better.” He coaxes, locking eyes with me. There’s a mix of fear and tenderness staring back at me.

“No,” Piper says, matter of factly with a shake of her head. “Logan, make my ouchie better.”

Logan coughs and sputters for a split second. “Uhm, well. I think...I might have a bandaid. Will that fix it?”

Piper pouts. “No. Kiss it. Kisses make it better.”

I can’t help the smug look on my face while I wait for his next move. He glances at me, seemingly asking for my permission, then leans down and kisses Piper’s elbow.

“All better?”

My girl smiles widely and hugs Logan around the neck. “All better.”

As quickly as it all happened, she climbs down from Logan’s lap and goes back to coloring.

Returning to the pan of ground meat, I find that at least the protein portion of our dinner is ruined. Flicking off the burner, I swallow back tears of embarrassment. “Sh...oot. It’s a wonder I didn’t set the smoke alarm off.”

“Not the first meal that’s been burnt on that stove and sure won’t be the last.” Logan walks over and takes the pan from me and runs cold water in it. “Why don’t we order take-out instead?”

“I wanted to cook for you.” I hit him with a pout of my own.

“Babe, we have plenty of time for you to cook for me. Tonight, we can call for delivery and watch movies on the couch.”

“Fine. But only if you let me pay for it.”

Logan huffs. “Right, sure. Whatever you say.”

Forty minutes later, the three of us are sitting around Logan’s kitchen table, stuffing our faces with food from what has got to be the best wing place I’ve ever had. Piper is enjoying her nuggets and fries so much that we’ve barely heard a word from her since the food arrived.

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