Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 26 - Father's Day

Saturday was an eventful day. They went to Erin's for lunch and ended up spending a whole afternoon at the beach again, this time with Adam and Grace to keep Luke occupied. While Nick and Grant played in the water with the kids, Cat and Erin got their tan on, lounging lazily with a fun, upbeat music playlist on repeat.

"I used to worry about him and you," Erin admitted.

"What do you mean?" Cat asked.

"Dating, with, you know, a kid involved. I knew he was going to get attached to that little guy, and I guess I was afraid of what might happen if he did and things didn't work out," she said softly, looking at her brother with Luke on his shoulders. They were both laughing. When she looked at Cat, she gave her a reassuring grin. "Don't worry. I'm not worried about it anymore. I've seen you three together enough times to know you're the real deal... but uh... and I doubt you need me to tell you this, you probably already know... but Nick feels things very deeply... I guess it's the songwriter in him... Or maybe it's the reason why he's such a good songwriter... I don't know, but he just feels with all of his heart, you know, and when things don't work out... he goes to really bad places and I just don't want to see him go there again."

Cat smiled faintly, unsure exactly what to say. She tore her gaze away from Erin and found Nick out there in the water; he had that big, goofy grin on his plastered all over his face. Adam and Luke were taking turns climbing onto his back. He was so good with them, so careful and attentive.

No, Erin definitely had no reason to worry about them. She loved that man more than anything and although she realized it was only five months ago that he truly walked into her life, she already knew she had no intention of letting him walk away.

"So we're gonna light a bonfire tonight, if you and your boys wanna come around," Erin grinned, snapping Cat out of her thoughts.

After a dinner consisting of French fries, burgers and sugary soda, Nick and Cat made their way with Luke to Erin's again, prepared to load the little guy up with even more sugar in the form of marshmallows.

"Bet you he'll be passed out before nine after the crazy day we had," Nick said in Cat's ear.

"No way, he's gonna be so hopped up on sugar, he'll still be up well after ten," Cat countered, giving Nick's arm a playful nudge. Her gaze wandered over Luke and Adam playing a serious game of soccer a far enough distance away from the fire so that all Cat could really make out were their silhouettes.

"The loser has to entertain Luke tomorrow and let the other sleep in," Nick smirked.

"You're on! I'm so gonna get to sleep in tomorrow," Cat giggled.

As luck would have it, Nick ended up winning the bet. Luke was out like a light before they even got out of the cab in front of Cat's apartment complex and he clung sleepily to Nick's neck the whole way up to the apartment.

Nonetheless, Nick was still the one that woke up bright and early the following morning when Luke started to fuss around and make noise in his room. Cat argued with him, but he just told her to go back to sleep, he was taking care of it.

Cat sighed and decided not to argue. After all, rare were the Sunday mornings where she could properly sleep in.

She figured she'd sleep for about half an hour, but when she closed her eyes and opened them back up again, it was four hours later and she could smell pancakes – blueberry pancakes, if she wasn't mistaken.

She stretched and glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It read half past ten.

"Crap," she whispered, her mind immediately going to Luke's card on top of the refrigerator.

But also: pancakes. Specifically Nick's blueberry pancakes... probably with whipped cream and a whole bunch of maple syrup...

She got up and padded across the room in nothing but Nick's t-shirt, although it was technically hers at this point since she wore it more often than he did. She found a pair of sweatpants on the ground and pulled them on, ran a brush through her hair quickly and then made her way out to find her boys.

"Morning," she smiled.

"Morning," Nick replied.

"Mama," Luke yelped excitedly, wriggling out of the chair he had pressed up against the counter so that he could watch Nick hard at work. "Can we give him my present now?" he asked in a hushed voice that most definitely carried all the way to Nick.

"What present? It's not my birthday 'til August," Nick smirked.

Luke's eyes went wide and he pointed silently at the refrigerator, knowing full well that Nick wouldn't be able to see the frantic gesture.

"Should we have breakfast, first?" Cat wondered, a sly smile on her lips.

"No, mama," Luke said, crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest and giving her a scathing, you-must-be-kidding-me look.

"I still don't get why I get a present," Nick chuckled, looking genuinely confused. Cat wondered if he had any idea today was Father's Day or if it'd completely slipped his mind. Was he just playing along?

Luke took Nick by the hand and led him to the couch in the living room. Meanwhile, Cat got the card from on top of the refrigerator – she was grateful to see all of the pieces were glued in place and none decided to fall off.

"This is very terrifying guys! I feel like I'm about to get ice water poured over my head... Cat, you're being silent, where you at, girl?" he laughed.

"I'm here, don't worry, we're not pranking you," Cat giggled. "OK Luke, you're going to give it to him facing this way, be very careful so nothing falls off," she explained.

"OK," Luke said proudly, handling the card with careful hands.

As Luke placed the card in Nick's lap, the man looked so confused. He reached for it, feeling the edges of the construction paper and scrunching up his face in concentration.

"Put your hand here," Luke said, reaching for Nick's hand and placing the tips of his fingers on the blue and silver beads that formed the Braille letter N. Nick ran his fingers over the letters and suddenly he seemed to understand. He felt the rest of the card, a slow grin forming on his lips.

"And here," Luke beamed, placing Nick's hand on the letter D.

Nick continued to read: DAD. His face went completely still, mouth slightly gaping. Cat wished she would've thought of grabbing her phone so that she could've caught his reaction on video. It was absolutely priceless.

"Dad," he breathed the word, barely audible.

"For Father's Day," Luke grinned, jumping on the couch next to Nick and flinging himself at him. Nick hugged him back, still looking rather speechless. With a bright smile, Cat joined them on the couch a few moments later, sniffing and dabbing at her eyes.

Nick kissed her long and hard.

"Hello," Luke said loudly, waving a hand in front of Nick and Cat's faces. "I'm here, remember?" he asked in a very offended voice. 

"We know you're here, buddy," Nick chuckled. 

"Why are you kissing mama? I'm the one that made the card," Luke shook his head in disbelief. 

"Because I love you both very much," Nick grinned, wrapping his arm around Luke's torso and pulling him into his lap so that he could join in the group hug. 

"Good, because I think you can be my dad now if you want," Luke grinned.