Page 34 of The Irish Rogue

“Thank you for not using Declan as a weapon against me,” he finally replied. “I know a lot of women who would still be hurt by the fact that I didn’t call you back, and you had to endure the past year alone. You didn’t deserve my treatment of you last summer and I’m grateful that I will be allowed to be a part of his life.”

“You deserve to be in his life, Sean. And Declan deserves a good father.” She sat down in the chair and started opening the packages. “I know that also means that you will be a part of my life,” she continued, taking in a slow, deep breath before continuing. “However, we will need to work on a friendship.”

He was silent for so long, she started to wonder if he’d heard her. When she lifted her eyes from the small table, he was watching her carefully. Declan was staring at him, fascinated by this new person in his life.

“Let’s eat,” she urged, not wanting to discuss relationships with him. Not anymore. Months ago, she’d had fantasies about him coming back and falling in love with her. But not now.

Why not now? Kennedi wasn’t sure what triggered her finality of only a friendship relationship with him. But it felt…right.

“This smells delicious,” she said, opening one of the containers. “I love pasta.”

Ugh. She’d said that already. Now, she was simply trying to fill the silence.

He watched her as she cut into the lasagna, forming the perfect sized bite on her fork. But when she moaned with delight at the tangy, cheesy flavors, closing her eyes to savor the deliciousness, he finally stopped staring and opened his own package.

Kennedi suddenly wasn’t very hungry, but she managed to eat a small portion before her stomach rebelled. She flipped the container closed before he noticed how little she ate, then leaned back in the small chair, watching in amazement as he devoured his entire portion.

When he was finished, he stood up with Declan in his arms and started cleaning up the dinner containers. “What’s next on the evening’s agenda?”

She turned and looked at Declan, who was fiddling happily with his fingers.

“He needs tummy time.” And bath time, but she wasn’t going to forewarn him. “I play with Declan for about an hour. It’s mostly just to stimulate his brain. I hand him different objects to play with so that he’s using his fingers and hands.”

“That sounds interesting,” he replied, staring down at Declan. “Do you want to play with Daddy?”

There was a moment of stunned surprise on his features. Sean looked over at Kennedi. “I’m still struggling to wrap my mind around this concept,” he admitted.

Then he lowered himself to the floor and placed Declan onto the play mat. “Is this right?” he asked, sliding Declan so that he was directly under the padded arches with the toys dangling down from above.

“That’s exactly right,” she replied, curling up on the only chair in the room.

“Why don’t you have more furniture?” he asked, pulling the basket of stuffed toys closer. He didn’t look at her as he asked and Kennedi pulled her legs up, hugging them with her arms.

“I had some savings after…well,” she paused, then shook her head and just plowed forward. “I am trying to save money for emergencies,” she admitted. “I don’t need a sofa. All of my money goes into either a college fund or a savings account.”

He turned to look at her, his eyes sharpening. “You were scared of spending any money after discovering that you were pregnant,” he said, filling in the gaps.

Kennedi shrugged. “Tom and Dorothy were wonderful. They wouldn’t have let me starve. But I was…terrified. Yes.”

He pulled out another toy, examining it and she smiled at his confused expression. The toy was a giraffe-zebra-lion sort of thing. It was…odd. But the vibrant colors and varied textures were exactly what small babies liked. The colors also strengthened the muscles in their eyes and the squeaky sounds encouraged Declan to squeeze and strengthen the muscles in his hands and arms. Plus, it was cute.

He glanced over at her and she doubted he had any idea how sexy he looked, sprawled out on the floor of her family room. He was so tall, his feet were actually in the hallway.

“You don’t have to worry about money anymore,” he assured her.

“Thank you, but Declan and I are doing fine. I make a good salary and,” she pushed her hair out of her eyes, “perhaps I don’t need to be as frugal as I have been. But I was pretty freaked out when I first discovered that I was pregnant.”

“He’s an adorable little guy,” he said, placing his hand on Declan’s belly, startling their son. Their son’s blue eyes looked up, his hands frozen on the toy-creature.

She grinned. “I agree. We have good times in the evening.”

Sean lifted up another odd-looking toy. “I can see that I’m going to have to expand your definition of fun.” He turned the floppy thing towards her. “I’m sure some might consider this to be art, but no.”

Kennedi laughed, charmed by his teasing. “It’s not art, but I love spending time with Declan. Every small change in his abilities fascinates me.”

“I bet,” he replied softly, looking at their son, then over at her.

She told him more about Declan’s progress from his pediatrician’s visits and he asked her about the birth, about what it was like to be pregnant with their son. They talked and played for over an hour.

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