Lucas

Fuck.

I knew I shouldn't have agreed to "talk" about marriage soon. I knew I should have just stood my ground and told Kat we would agree to it later. She fucking cornered me in the kitchen. I should have seen it coming. I just wanted her not to make waves, I would have agreed to anything at the moment so as not to cause a fucking scene in front of a four-year-old.

Last night she told me that she won't be willing to accept Jadon until she knows I'm fully committed to her. Now here I am, pinned down under her ass and Allie looks like she's in shock. This isn't how this was supposed to go.

"Oh," Allie adjusts her dress under Kat's eyes and I groan internally. "I didn't realize you were engaged," she's already questioning what I told her in the car. I didn't lie, I just let Kat believe whatever she wants for the sake of peace. I lied to her.

"Oh, we are. He just hasn't put a ring on it," Kat laughs aloud. I want to shove her off for sitting inappropriately on me in front of Jadon, but I really don't need one of her tantrums with everyone here. Literally, everyone who even matters to me is in this room. This includes Allie.

"When, uh, is the wedding?"

I try to make eye contact with my dad but his look of disbelief is directed at the floor by his feet. Jen can't quite see me, so I can't signal her either to change the conversation.

"I'm thinking next June, but I could see a winter wedding. A long honeymoon over the holidays."

Like I'm about to miss my first Christmas with Jadon. She needs to quit day drinking. "We haven't discussed it," I tell Allie. She's not looked at me once. "There aren't plans or anything."

There's nothing. I agreed to it to shut her up.

"Well, you can figure it out and let me know, I guess. I'll see if there's room in my schedule."

I want to leave. I want to get out of this. I fucking pushed for this and now I want to go. Things were great five minutes ago and now here we are.

Kat is firmly planted on top of me, and I notice she is only looking at Allie. She hasn't even looked at Jadon, and really, he hasn't looked at her.

Allie is visibly uncomfortable, and Jen is trying to distract her from the 115-pound gorilla sitting on top of me. "So Allie, you were saying earlier it's just you and your dad?"

"Yes," she smiles over at Jen. Jen isn't my mom, but dammit she's a lifesaver. She's always been awesome and she's being a superhero right now. "Just us. I have an aunt that lives a few hours away, but that's about it. Small family, but we do have a big tribe, so to speak. My dad has a lot of friends and we kind of stick close to them."

"Oh interesting, and so do you have someone in your life? A boyfriend?"

"Yes, his name is Ted and we've been friends since we were little. His sister is my best friend."

"Oh," Jen gushes and my dad looks up and curls his lip at me. I know, I look like an idiot with a possessive hyena on me. "That's so sweet, Allie. Is it serious?"

"I guess," she clears her throat and pulls at a string on the skirt of her dress. He's done her absolutely no favors if she isn't all that confident about this conversation. "I mean, he's mentioned moving in a few times, and I guess it would be the next step."

"Wait, you're moving in together?" I ask her. Kat blocks my view, but I move around until I just shove her up and off my lap. She can sit on the damn couch and I'll stand.

Allie watches Kat fall back into the spot I was in and then looks up at me. Not my face; her eyes don't meet mine. Fine. She can stare at my sternum or whatever it is that's more appealing.

"It's been brought up. Is that an issue for you?"

Yes. It is. I don't like it. "No. I mean," I cross my arms over my chest, "where does he live?"

Her brows pinch together. "In town. He's not too far from my house."

"Anyways," Kat starts in. This is a new kind of territorial behavior coming from her. What in the hell is she doing? She turns her body to face Allie completely, resting her chin in her hand. "So you're going to marry this Ted guy and then Lucas and I will be married soon. Going to be one big happy family, now, isn't it?"

God, I need to stop her. Is it legal to lock a woman out of your house if she lives here half of the time? "We are in agreement that one day we will get married," I say slowly so everyone, particularly Allie, knows. I need to make it clear I wasn't lying to her earlier.

"It's all the same," Kat dismisses me.

"Well," Allie stands up. "Where is the restroom?" she asks. Jen offers to take her and I stop that in its tracks.

"Jen, you keep playing with Jadon, I'll show Allie," I say, and lead her to the restroom in the hallway. Allie is walking slowly, looking at the pictures on the walls. She stops at a family portrait of my mom, dad, and me when I was a baby.

"Wow, your mom was beautiful," she says while staring at the picture. "You and Jadon really do have her eyes. I didn't realize it was so dominant."

"Yeah, as far as I know, my mom and I were the only ones to get them until I saw Jadon."

"It's really unique," she says, "and pretty. I've always liked them. They're pretty on Jadon."

"I guess. I don't know, I figured I would get teased in school about them, but maybe being on the football team helped."

Allie chuckles at my joke. I can't help but admire the way she looks when she laughs. It's like she doesn't have a care in the world. "Your eyes are so pretty, Lucas. I don't see why anyone would tease you for them."

"Thanks. The bathroom is right down the hall to the left," I point in the direction and she nods.

"I mainly just needed to get away for a minute. It was getting a little intense having those eyes piercing through me," she looks away and I know exactly what she is talking about. "I'm pretty sure she plotted my death for any situation she finds suitable according to the weather," Allie jokes.

I don't find it funny. Katrina is a lot of things, but she isn't violent. I don't need Allie thinking that. We all need to get along for the sake of Jadon.

"Honestly, she wouldn't even be able to do it, because she'd probably be afraid to break a nail," I tell her, and she giggles. The fact that she is able to laugh about it makes me feel comfortable enough to relax.

"Hey, I was wondering," she breaks the silence, "if you wanted to do something for the holidays, we can put a calendar together. I don't like the idea of court stuff and I know we can be flexible."

"That would be amazing." Okay, so Kat didn't completely ruin everything. But I still need to clear the air. "About Kat, I--"

"Don't worry. I get it." With that, she heads back into the living room to help clean up Jadon's toys and everything. "So, where is Jadon's room going to be? We can leave all of this for when he stays here," she turns to look at me.

"Oh, sweetie," Kat gets up from the couch looking at Allie with pity. "We actually don't really have space for him here since I take up a lot of room with my things and I'll be turning the spare bedroom into a photography studio for my home shoots."

Allie looks at me for clarification. "Actually, the furniture and stuff I got him is all in the spare bedroom. I moved your photography stuff out into the garage and we can set that up later so you still have the space."

"You did what?!" the tantrum is emerging. I look over at Jadon who isn't paying attention yet. Jen and dad are trying to distract him. Good. "That is my stuff, Lucas. You can't just throw it into the garage!"

"Katrina, let's talk about this later, okay?" I try to reason with her.

"No." She stands and crosses her arms over her chest. "We'll settle this now with everyone here. That is my career and my equipment I had set up and you're not going to fuck it up because you suddenly came across your fucking slut of a one-night stand and her bastard child!"

"And, I think we're gonna go," Allie drops the toys she already picked up. "Jadon, sweetie, let's say goodbye to grandma and grandpa and thank them for all this great stuff they got you."

Jadon gets up and hugs my dad and Jen before Allie picks him up. Allie thanks my dad and Jen for everything and quickly exchanges phone numbers with Jen.

Kat is still standing in front of me, fuming, as I watch Allie gather everything. I drove her here, so I'll need to drive her home.

And fix this.

"Allie, I'll meet you in the car. Just one second, okay?" She nods and heads out without a word to Kat. I could hear it in her voice. She was trying to hold back with Kat. I can't believe Kat did this. When Allie and Jadon make it outside, my parents excuse themselves into the other bedroom to put Jadon's things in there for me.

Kat scoffs, "I can't believe you are doing this! We're getting married! How can you just make decisions like this without asking me?!"

"You know what, Kat? We're not having this now. I told you earlier that if there was something bothering you, we would talk about it later. Not when Allie and Jadon are here."

"Well, since you're trying to force all of us to get along, why can't they hear whether or not she can just come and dump her son on us whenever she feels like it?"

I hate that I need to lower my voice with my parents in one room and Allie standing just outside. "What the fuck are you even saying?! I'm the one trying to convince her, my son's mother, that I can take care of him. I'm the one that wants him here. To be part of my life. Our life. I needed this to show her that when he comes here, he isn't subject to turmoil! Now, because of you, she may never let him come over."

"You do realize everything was fine before she showed up. Why is she forcing you to acknowledge your kid after all these years, Lucas?"

"She didn't. She was trying to keep him from me after I treated her like shit, Kat! I'm the one that dumped her out of my car when I was finished with her. She's the one that stepped up and took responsibility for what I did to her. If you would just listen to anyone but the sound of your own voice, you'd know that."

"It won't matter once we have our own kids, Lucas."

"We're not even going there right now."

Kat rolls her eyes and moves to say something, but I can't deal with this right now with Allie and Jadon waiting for me outside. "I'm taking them home. You can be here if you want, but when I get back, I'm setting up Jadon's things in his bedroom."

I turn and storm out before she can say anything. At this point, I don't care if she's here when I get back home. I'm just embarrassed that my four-year-old behaves better than my adult girlfriend.

Outside, Allie is holding Jadon by the hand, pointing to some birds in a nest in one of the trees outside. I have no doubt she heard the yelling from outside and moved as far away as possible from the house.

"Allie, I am so sorry. I had no idea she was going to say that."

"Lucas, can you please just take us home?" I feel a huge pit in my stomach at the sound of her voice. I didn't even say anything to Kat about the fact she called Allie a slut and Jadon a bastard. I'll be sure to add that to the list of things to bring up in our next discussion.

If she's going to act this way, I'm done. Allie and Jadon are part of my life and I don't have room for this bullshit.

Without another word, Allie turns and puts Jadon in his car seat. I tried to get in and buckle him, but Allie just shooed me away.

Fuck. It feels like I'm starting over with her now.

The ride back to her house is quiet and awkward as hell. Allie let Jadon play on his tablet she pulled from her purse while she stared at her phone, out the window, and down at her phone again. The entire time.

I couldn't think of anything I wanted to say to her in front of Jadon, so I just paid attention to the road, occasionally checking on Jadon.

By the time we make it back to their house, Jadon is passed out. Allie went to grab him, but I got in and picked him up instead. She huffed but didn't say anything and just walked up to the front door, messing with the lock until it finally opened. While I went to Jadon's room to put him on his bed, Allie went to the kitchen.

Tom mentioned going to a friend's, so I know he isn't here and it's just us. Since I rarely get time with just Allie, I'm going to take advantage of this while Jadon is asleep.

"Allie, look. I'm really sorry that Kat--"

"Don't, Lucas. Do not make excuses for her. Do not apologize for the way she acts." She won't even look at me. She just studies whatever is happening outside the window over the sink.

"Allie, I really want to make this right. I want to have you guys in my life and be part of Jadon's. I know this is fucked up, but please, don't listen to what she said about you guys."

"Lucas," she turns around fast. Her heels are off, which is the first thing I've noticed. The second, though, is the smudging under her eyes. Great. She was crying. Fuck, I feel like shit.

"I know you knew that the way she...the way she threw a tantrum like some two-year-old was a possibility. The way you allowed her to just ignore Jadon like that." She stops to wipe the couple of tears from her eyes.

"Lucas, I don't care what she says about me. I don't even care if she likes Jadon, but I'm not going to stand by and let her talk about my son like that in front of him. He doesn't need to see that. He doesn't need to see the two of you fighting and making up and whatever else you do. Her little act of possession, sitting on your lap with her legs open and her boobs pressed up against her collar bone, is not something I want him to be exposed to."

I stay quiet while she paces the kitchen. She starts pulling her hair up into a bun on her head. She does this when she's tired and when she's a little stressed. I need to figure out how to keep Kat at bay until Allie is comfortable trying this again.

Maybe I'll just buy her the damn ring and get it over with. Then she'll shut up about it. It's not like we have to get married right away. I can push it off for a few years.

"Lucas, we have lived our lives just fine without you, and I'm not saying that you should go. I know how good you've been to him and how you're trying. I am grown enough to recognize that. It's just..." she's struggling to find the words.

"It's Kat. I know. I'm going to fix this," I walk up to her and grab her hands in mine. "I promise, I'm going to fix this. Okay?"

Her hands are so soft. How does she do that? Her eyes finally meet mine, really meet mine, for the first time since Kat appeared. She's guarded, sure, she has to be. But damn, her vulnerability is right under the surface. I'm seeing it right now.

Why can't Kat just be half the woman Allie is? Allie takes everything that's given to her, and fucking handles it. Katrina can't do anything without calling her parents or me to fix things for her.

Then it hits me.

Allie is the catch. Allie is the end game. She's the trophy.

She's what I need to work for.

Kat walks around looking like a trophy, but Allie is the prize. Allie laid back in my car while I took from her, and she made a son. Allie lost her chance at going to medical school but is starting her own business. Allie has been thrown one issue after another and makes life better for herself.

Kat destroys things. She breaks whatever she has, and blames people for her problems. Kat's not going to change, and I can see why. She sees Allie for what she is. Competition.

Allie is...

Allie is it.