Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 26 - Father's Day

She just hoped she hadn't messed up any of the dots. Some of the letters could get pretty complicated, especially the N. The letter I also turned out a lot similar to the C, but she supposed it was a job well done regardless, and Nick would probably at least be able to tell that it was his name.

"Do you think there's enough room there to write the word Dad in Braille too?" Luke asked thoughtfully, inspecting his handy work.

"You want to write the word Dad?" Cat asked, trying to keep her voice level despite the bubbling excitement causing her stomach to do somersaults.

"Yeah, because Nick is kind of my dad... even if he's not my real dad," Luke explained in such a matter-of-fact tone that Cat knew he'd put a lot of thought into this. "Nick does all of the things real dads are supposed to do and he loves me like a real dad so maybe he could be my dad... do you think he'd want to be my dad? Adam said he'd like it if I was his cousin because he doesn't like to only have girl cousins."

Cat remained very still and kept her expression steady, but in reality all she wanted to do was get up and dance around the living room like a crazy person. She was just so excited!

"I think he'd love to be your dad," Cat smiled.

"Do you think he'll love my card?" Luke asked.

"Of course he will," Cat smiled.

Nick walked into the apartment a few hours after Cat and Luke were finished cleaning up. Luke was adamant to hide the card in a very secret hiding spot, so Cat put it on top of the refrigerator. It'd have plenty of time to dry – she only hoped now nothing would come loose and fall off before they had time to show him on Sunday.

"It's like a sauna up in this place! You don't have any AC?" Nick exclaimed, dropping his gym bag onto the ground and undoing Duke's harness so that the dog stampeded right into Cat's legs. He dropped to the floor at her feet and exposed his underside, demanding a good belly rub.

Cat crouched down and gave the dog some attention, a big smile on her face. "Hey baby boy, how've you been? Did you enjoy your workout? Yeah," she cooed.

"I hope you're talking to the dog in that voice and not me," Nick laughed.

Cat stood back up and greeted Nick in the middle of the living room with a short kiss. His muscle shirt was clinging to his skin and there were beads of sweat trickling down his forehead underneath the bill of his Chicago Bulls cap.

"The landlord needs to get on this AC situation pronto, we're dying over here," Cat sighed. "By the looks of you, it's pretty hot out there too," she added, watching him make a straight line for the refrigerator to grab some water.

"I also made a pitcher of lemonade earlier before Luke dragged me into a little art project, if you want some of that," Cat told him.

"Ah, an art project for what?" Nick asked.

"Just arts and crafts, something to pass the time that didn't require running around and getting heat stroke," Cat said dismissively, hoping her voice wasn't too revealing. She had a tendency to be pretty terrible at lying. "So how was your workout? Did you end up going to the pool?" she added, deciding a change of topic was in order.

"Oh yeah, I'll be feeling it tomorrow," Nick laughed.

She wished she could have the resolve he had to go to the gym a couple times a week, but she much preferred lounging around and doing little productive with her spare time – which she already didn't have a whole lot of to begin with.