Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 43 - Coming Together

CHAPTER 43

CAT

Cat didn't have a clue.

When Amanda invited her over to her house the following weekend, she figured it'd be a small thing with just her two best friends and their significant others and the kids. They might crack a few beers and watch a movie, maybe even play a couple games once Luke and Jeremy were asleep, but regardless she assumed it'd be a pretty low-key evening.

Little did she know, Amanda and Hannah had other ideas, and they managed to rope Nick into their scheme without her even realizing.

The chorus of "Surprise!" and "Happy birthday!" that erupted when she opened the front door to Amanda's house and let herself inside was enough to make her stumble back a little into the arm Nick had wrapped around her waist.

Luke immediately ran to Amanda and her three-month old son.

"Oh, wow... You guys!" Cat giggled with her hands over her mouth.

The house was absolutely buzzing with people. Matt, Amanda, Hannah and Josh were standing together in the middle of the living room, surrounded by Sara, Derek, Kassie, both of Nick's sisters and all of their kids. A few moms and dads from Luke's preschool were there with their kids too. There were other friends from some of Cat's classes that she hardly knew, but she still appreciated them coming.

It was crazy!

She started making the rounds, accepting hugs and thanking everybody for coming. She tried to chat with every guest for a few minutes, so by the time she was finally free to grab a plate and get some food, it was at least half an hour later.

She could see Luke from here, playing dress-up with Adam and Ryleigh, a little brown-haired girl from their class. They were so cute that Cat just had to take out her phone and fill up her camera roll a little more. Erin was keeping an eye on them, along with Ryleigh's mom, so she felt better about going back to socializing. She gave the two other moms a little wave and went to see Amanda and Hannah.

"Where did the guys go?" she asked her best friends a little breathlessly, now looking around for Nick, Matt and Josh.

"Downstairs in the rec room, I think," Amanda replied, but before Cat could say anything, she was grabbing her left hand. "You need to tell us how he did it!" she gushed excitedly and beckoned Hannah to take a better look at the engagement ring too.

Cat was all smiles as she recounted the events of the night Nick proposed to her. Although she saved some of the more intimate parts for herself, she still went into pretty elaborate detail. She talked about where he took her for dinner, the cover band they listened to in the smoky little college bar, leading all the way up to the moment they were standing in the dark living room. "...and he just, you know, kind of asked me," she concluded.

She was also excited to tell them about what happened the next afternoon, after they brought Luke home from his sleepover with Adam. "Nick got him one of these dog tag necklaces, you know the kind you wear in the military? Anyway, I'll have to show you, because it's so adorable," she started to explain.

Luke was so excited to come home and play with his toys, so it took them a few minutes to get him settled enough to sit down on the couch and open the present. She couldn't stop smiling as he tore through the navy blue tissue paper and took the box from the bag. She couldn't stop looking at Nick either, and the goofy expression on his face.

"I don't know how much Luke understood," Cat admitted sheepishly. As far as the little boy was concerned, Nick was already his dad and had been for months. The legal consequences of adoption didn't exactly matter to a three year-old, did they? "Maybe if he'd been a little older, but it was still really cute."