Being Dad
JC woke in Cameron’s bed that Sunday morning pleasantly weighed down with human warmth. Kara was draped over him as if to keep him from escaping while she slept. One small hand was tangled in his hair and her other hand was against her face, her thumb in her mouth. A very fatherly thought popped into his head: she’s going to need braces. Then there was Cam. She was curled against him, her head on his shoulder. One leg rested intimately between his and one arm reached across to hold Kara. He couldn’t move without dislodging one or both females.
This was his family.
The thought startled him.
JC had come a long way in accepting Kara. She was his child. He didn’t need blood tests that his lawyers insisted upon to claim his daughter as his own...
But when had Cam slipped into the equation? He realized that he had to be friendly with her for Kara’s sake. If he wanted to be a father to his daughter, he needed her mother’s cooperation. He didn’t need to feel anything for her. He didn’t need to care for her or comfort her. And last night, he had wanted to do both when John Peterson had made his scene. He didn’t need to want her, to feel her soft body against him and crave more. That was a newer development. When had his heart decided to love Cameron Delaney again?
Cameron’s eyes drifted open to find a pair of thoughtful male eyes on her. “Umm...hi,” she murmured.
“Morning.” JC’s mouth lowered the short distance to brush a kiss across her lips. When the gesture was not rebuffed, his mouth clung to hers briefly.
“Mmm...nice way to wake up.” She gave him a drowsy smile.
“Cam...”
“Gonna go to church with us?” Kara popped up fully awake sitting astride JC’s midriff.
He laughed.
“That is hardly a proper way to ask,” Cameron scolded.
Kara rolled her eyes. “Dad, are you going to church with us this morning?”
“I think I have a suit packed.”
The child smiled. “Most dad’s wear suits.”
“Well, since I’m a dad I guess I have to wear a suit.” He tickled her pajama-clad ribs lightly, making her giggle.
“Josh, suits aren’t required,” Cameron told him.
“It’s okay, Cam.”
“Are you Cath-o-lick?” Kara asked JC.
“Umm...no...”
“We are.” She wagged a finger at him. “No wine for you.”
“Oh, darn!”
“Actually, our wine is pretty decent.” Cameron rose from the bed and dragged her daughter off JC. “Into the shower young lady.”
“Okay!” The child skipped off to her own room.
“Sunday morning we go to mass at 11:00. You really don’t have to go, Josh. I mean I know you probably don’t usually – and I don’t want to force this on you because...”
“Cammi,” JC scolded affectionately as he rose from the bed. In all her nervous prattle, she hadn’t once looked at him. He took her chin in his hand so he could snag her gaze. “I’m cool with it.”
“Okay...”
JC had to laugh when they had all met at the doorway to leave and found they were color coordinated. Cam wore a navy blue suit with an ivory blouse. Kara wore a navy jumper with a white blouse. And he wore a navy suit with a pale blue shirt. He had the urge to sing We Are Family but he wasn’t feeling particularly sisterly!
Kara proudly assisted her father with the sit-stand-kneel of the mass. Patiently, JC allowed himself to be directed. The child may look like a Chasez, but she had the dictator style of a Delaney!
JC had planned to remain seated while the others took communion, but Kara tugged him along insistently. He watched Cam take a host and then Kara. After chewing the girl tugged on the priest’s robe and whispered loudly.
“This is my dad. He isn’t Cath-o-lick, but he needs a blessing.”
The fatherly man smiled, crossed JC and blessed him before Kara pulled him in her wake once more.
“Hey, squirt!” Riley met them outside the church and pulled on Kara’s braids.
“Where’s your grandmother?” JC asked.
“Grams goes to early mass. She doesn’t like ‘lying a bed’ of a Sunday morning,” Riley told him with a laugh.
“Can I tell Riley?” Kara pleaded with Cameron and JC. “Puleeze?”
“Tell Riley what?” Cameron asked, knowing full well what the girl meant – and knowing it was not a surprise to her cousin.
“Mom!”
“If you must.”
“Mister-Chasez’s-my-daddy,” the girl exploded.
“Whoa!” JC had to chuckle. “Wanna try that slower?”
“Mister Chasez is my daddy,” Kara announced precisely.
The older girl showed no surprise but said, “Oh really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Does that mean you aren’t going to the matinee with me today?”
“Of course not, silly.” Kara nudged her cousin playfully.
“Well, then let’s go.”
“Yeah!”
“See you at Gram’s at five!” Riley called as Kara towed her away.
“Was that for my benefit?” JC asked as he waved the two off.
“Was what for your benefit?” Cameron asked as he led her to his car.
“The matinee.”
“Sorry, Chasez. It’s a standing date. Riley gives me a little alone time on Sunday to catch my breath and do laundry. At five, we go to Gram’s for an early dinner.”
“I can help with laundry.” He offered as he helped her in, then walked around and got in behind the wheel.
“JC Chasez doing my dainties? I don’t think so.”
“Since when am I JC Chasez to you – and what in the hell are ‘dainties’?”
“I just mean that you don’t need to do that kind of stuff normally probably...”
“I’ve been known to do a load or two.”
Cameron looked at the houses on the block rather than look at him.
“Dainties?” he prodded and watched the faint blush rise to her face.
“That’s what Grams calls – you know.”
“Bras and panties?” Was this the Cam Delaney that had given him his first blowjob blushing like a schoolgirl?
“Yes,” she muttered.
“Cam, you’re priceless.”
She was quiet until they reached the outskirts. “Josh, I’m not her.”
“Not who?”
“I’m not the slut of building two anymore.”
“Oh, baby...” He’d heard her referred to as such. He remembered being hurt and angry on her behalf – and saddened because it seemed to be true.
“I walked away from all of that when I left Orlando.”
Left him. Left with his child growing within her.
“I don’t expect you to believe me, but I...Once we were together there was no one else.”
“I know Kara’s mine,” he assured her.
“That’s not what I meant.”
Their eyes met for a moment – his questioning, hers full of tears.
“What do you mean, Cam?”
“I–I...you changed me, Josh,” she whispered.
JC waited for more. He was ready to beg her to continue when she spoke again.
“You loved me. You treated me like I was special, like I was worth something. No other guy had done that...They say apples don’t fall far from the tree. I was just like Maureen. Looking for someone to care, believing sex was how I could find it. I swear to God if Kara...”
“Kara won’t. She has two parents who love her.”
“I never was with anyone else after you and I...after we...”
“Made love,” he supplied.
“Can you call it that? I practically raped you the first time.”
“I was more than willing to be had,” JC reminded her.
“You were so sweet and shy and so dear...”
He wondered if she was just getting things off her chest or if this was leading anywhere.
“After being treated that way I didn’t want to settle for less.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
“Josh, pull over.” She pointed to a rest stop that was no more than a dusty path and a porta-potty.
JC pulled to the far end and turned the car off. Releasing his seatbelt he turned to look at Cam. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared out the window.
“I can’t believe I am saying this...”
“We were friends first – we still can be.”
“I’d like that. You were a loyal friend.”
“Cam...” He touched her chin, urging her to face him.
“There’s been no one since you, Josh.” She dropped her eyes. “And you’re the one I’ve wanted since.” Her voice was barely audible.
But JC had heard her.
“I’ve turned my life around, made a life I could be proud of – and here I am willing to toss it all away if you’d just once...”
“Don’t, baby.” He released her seatbelt so he could hold her. He felt her tears against his neck. “Shh…sweetheart.”
“What I’m trying to say...”
“I know.” JC lowered his mouth over hers. It was a soft, tender kiss. “I feel it too.”
“It doesn’t have to mean anything...”
“I think it does.”
“Josh, you have a life away from here...”
“Cam, are you trying to talk me out of taking you home and making love to you?” he asked quietly.
Tear drenched eyes widened. “You mean?…”
“I want you too, Cammi.”
Cameron swallowed hard. She wanted this. She shouldn’t, but she did. Could she have a one-night stand, albeit daylight, with the father of her child? It was insane, but it didn’t have to be reckless.
“C-condoms?”
“I’ve got a few on me.”
JC took his time undressing in the guestroom. He wanted to give Cam plenty of time to do whatever she had to do – whatever preparation she needed. Taking the wallet from his pocket, he took three square packets out and placed them on the bedside table before he removed his suit. He was down to his sport shorts when he heard a faint rustle of fabric.
Cameron stood in the doorway, her cornflower blue eyes wide as saucers. She looked like a blushing virgin, dammit! White-eyelet cotton nightgown, her dark toffee-colored hair touchably mussed. Her sweet pink mouth an ‘o’ of surprise.
“You didn’t used to look like that,” she whispered. The boy she adored had been lanky to the point of skinny. This man was lean, muscular and – well – a man!
JC grimaced. And she didn’t use to look so innocent. “I grew up, Cammi.”
She gave him a shy smile. “I like.”
“I’m glad.” He reached out to tug on the pink satin ribbon that topped the buttons running down the bodice of her gown.
“I—I don’t’ have any sexy stuff...”
“Cotton can be extremely sexy.”
Just as he was about to kiss her, she ducked away to pull the spread and covers back on the bed.
“Here?” He figured her bed....
“I know my bed is bigger, but in case I don’t get around to laundry...”
JC moved behind her, rubbing his face in her hair. “Mmm...mint.”
“I find it refreshing.”
His lips went for the side of her neck as his fingers worked at the buttons at the front of her gown.
Cameron melted against him.
“Just tell me if you want me to stop, sweetheart,” he purred against her ear.
“If you stop, I’ll murder you,” she sighed, feeling his hands slip inside her gaping bodice.
JC chuckled. “I didn’t say I wanted to stop.” He gently squeezed her breasts. “Hmm...these seem bigger.”
“Breast feeding Kara.”
The very idea of her nourishing his child at her breast sent a surge of primitive, possessive heat through him. Something so elemental the conscious mind couldn’t grasp it.
Her eyes dropped to the packets on the stand. “Th-three?”
“Baby, you’d be sore as hell. No, that’s just what I had on me.”
“Oh...okay...” They had never used protection. Josh had been so tender...and Kara had been the result.
He continued merely stroking her flesh with his fingers and nibbling her neck and ears until she was sagging against him. At her acquiescence, he pushed the gown from her shoulders and urged her to the bed. Slipping out of his shorts, he joined her.
“My born-again virgin.” JC mused as he taught her timid hands to explore once familiar territory. He took his time with slow building kisses and bone-melting caresses. Cam responded like a budding flower to sunshine – she opened to her full glory. His mouth at her breasts caused sweet little mewling sounds. His long fingers between her legs, helpless whimpers and when he lowered his mouth to her body in that most intimate of kisses, she gasped in surprise followed by soft cries of pleasure.
He reached for the protection and rose above her. “Last chance, Cammi.”
“Oh, Josh, I want you!” she whispered.
Slowly, he entered her, feeling her stretch to accommodate him. Once buried in her slick, tight heat, he held himself still.
“Oh, yes! I remember this.” Her eyes were bright and her smile womanly. “You feel so big and wonderful, so much a part of me...”
He kissed her tenderly, appreciating her sweet declaration.
“Make love to me, baby,” she said.
With that, JC began rocking into her steadily, his eyes on hers until hers drifted shut in pleasure. He was in control. He was the one giving. This had never happened in their youth. Cam had lead and he had followed. It was more than a meeting of mouths and genitalia for a hot ride. This...this was loving...
“Josh!” Cameron cried softly when her body went taut in the precursor of rapture, her eyes flying open to seek his.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he crooned soothingly as he quickened his pace. “I’ll catch you when you come down.”
“Come too!” she begged.
“Right there, baby,” he promised.
“Josh!”
He watched as she came apart in his arms. She arched into him and quaked uncontrollably.
Then he could watch no longer as his own explosion shook him. “Cammi!”
Cameron was smiling, tears of joy slipping down her cheeks. She stroked his neck and back to calm the trembling muscles. He always seemed so vulnerable after completion – drained for the moment. ‘I love you,’ she longed to whisper. She wouldn’t do that to Josh. He had a life...
JC lifted his head to find tears. “Did I hurt you?”
“No,” she answered simply. When he made to move, she said, “Not yet. Just a little longer.”
He smiled. “Aren’t I heavy?”
She shook her head. His body felt wonderful on hers, in hers. It ended soon enough...
He understood without words. He sought her mouth for gentle, clinging kisses. Not to reignite passions but in thanks.
Eventually, JC moved away to dispose of the protection. His thoughts were jumbled. Things between him and Cam had just become wonderfully complicated. Not in any of their discussions had they eluded to a relationship other than co-parenting Kara. He couldn’t see Cam uprooting her life, but his career wouldn’t let him stay. Orlando had been cruel to her...
It was slipping away already, Cameron thought sadly. She could practically hear the gears clicking away in Josh’s head. He was already regretting...she reached for her nightgown. Holding it like a shield, she sat up.
“Where’re you going?” JC demanded.
“I-umm-I thought you were done.”
He pulled her back to him. “If we’d had sex, I’d be done. But we made love.”
Clearly she didn’t see the difference.
Stroking her hair, he pressed tiny kisses on one creamy shoulder. “After you make love, you hold each other. So let go of the nightgown and put your arms around my neck.”
She obeyed.
“After you make love, you lie together quietly and feel each other breathe. Sometimes you kiss.” He led her in a long, drugging kiss. “And when you’re all relaxed and comfortable, you talk – and after that maybe you fall asleep.”
“Hmm...that’s an awful lot to remember,” Cameron commented her eyes sparking with mirth. “Sex is simpler.”
JC grinned. “But not near as nice.”
JC woke with Cam’s head pillowed on his chest. He smiled and stroked her silky hair, drawing a sigh from the slumbering woman. Cammi…the mother of his child. This wasn’t the Cam of their youth. It was almost as if she had been able to recapture her lost innocence when she left Orlando. Leaving Orlando had been the best thing for her, even if it had left a gaping hole in his heart. Dare he contemplate it? Was he falling in love with her for yet a third time? And what if she didn’t feel the same way? Could he survive her rejection a third time? And now he had to factor Kara into every equation in his life…
Cameron woke slowly, feeling warm, well loved and slightly sore. Josh had always been big – and her nearly ten years of celibacy had made him feel even larger. She pressed a kiss over his heart.
“You’re awake,” JC murmured unnecessarily.
She stretched a little and met his gaze. “Mmm…yes.”
Tracing her cheek her asked, “Regrets?”
“No. You?”
“None.”
“Good.”
He shifted their bodies so they lie on their sides, facing each other. “Cammi…” he whispered before he kissed her lingeringly.
She came against him, her hands in his hair as she accepted the heat and passion he wanted to re-ignite.
“Baby, can we?…”
“Oh, yes! Please, Josh…” Her legs parted readily for him as he pressed her back on the pillows. Her hands explored the shoulders and chest of the man she had loved since he was a boy. “Whatever happened to that skinny boy I adored?” she asked without expecting an answer. Running her hands over his biceps, she squeezed, testing the hardness beneath his warm flesh. “Yummy!”
JC chuckled. The delight in her eyes reminded him of Kara. But Cam made him feel things that were not fatherly. “Glad you like it.” He stroked her hips. “You made some nice additions, too.”
“Hips for ‘birthin’ babies’ as Great-grandmother Delaney would say,” she answered blithely. Then as if she realized what she had said, her eyes went wide and her cheeks flamed. “I—I—umm…” she stammered, embarrassed.
“It’s cool, Cammi. Does that mean you didn’t have a tough time with Kara?”
Despite the tremendous stress she had been under, Cameron’s pregnancy had been blessedly uneventful with a fast delivery. “I guess we farm girls know how to drop a litter.” She grinned. “Kara was a relative cakewalk compared to the horror stories I’ve heard from other mothers.”
“I doubt it was a cakewalk.”
“No, but having her was worth whatever I had gone through.”
JC kissed her softly. “I’m glad. I’m glad it wasn’t horrible for you.”
They settled to kiss and caress one another, their mouths and hands rediscovering the bodies that had once been so familiar. The shrill ring of the bedside telephone broke them apart.
“Hello?” Cameron raised the receiver to her ear.
“It’s 3:45,” Riley’s taunting voice announced. “You got time to do him again fast and get over here for dinner.”
Cameron looked at the clock. The afternoon was nearly gone! Despite the snide comment, Riley had done her a huge service by calling. “Thank you, Riley.” She rang off and pulled the sheet over her breasts.
“Cammi?” JC ran his mouth along her shoulder. The phone call had cooled her considerably.
“It’s getting late.”
That was pretty clear, he thought. She wanted to stop. “Okay…”
She turned soft eyes on him and released the sheet. Her arms went around his neck. “According to Riley, I have time to ‘do you again’ if we don’t take long.”
“Do me?” He laughed. “Okay, do me!”
“Dad!” Kara cried happily when JC and Cameron entered Marie Delaney’s house that evening. The child launched herself at him.
JC caught up his daughter, swinging her to his hip. “Heya, munchkin.”
The girl wrapped her arms around his neck and tucked her head against his shoulder. “I thought you left.”
“Not without telling you, baby girl,” he assured her softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“Promise?”
“Promise. I’d want a kiss to hold me until the next time.”
Giggling, she impishly covered his face with kisses.
“I guess we don’t have to worry about Kara’s feeling for you.”
JC glanced up to see a sliver haired woman who looked much like he suspected Cam would look in forty or so more years. This had to be Marie Delaney.
“Grams, this is my daddy,” Kara pronounced.
Looking at father and child together, the woman nodded. “Indeed.”
“Grams, this is Josh Chasez.” Cameron made the formal introductions. “Josh, Mrs. Marie Delaney.”
JC extended his hand to Cam’s grandmother. “I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about you.” He tightened his arm about Kara, almost as if she could be torn from him.
Marie accepted his hand graciously. “From your daughter, I’ve heard you are fun. From my granddaughter…”
Cameron dropped her eyes, knowing her grandmother read her all-too-clearly.
“Dad, Grams made ham and sweet potatoes and green beans and chocolate cake,” Kara rattled off the menu.
“So, let’s get to it before it gets cold,” Marie suggested.
The evening wasn’t the trial by fire JC had feared. No one quizzed him either overtly or covertly. He was simply part of the family. Afterwards, they watched some television until it drew near the time he had to leave. He said his good-byes to Marie and Riley, then returned to Cameron’s house to retrieve his suitcase and say his private goodbyes.
Kara was uncharacteristically clingy. JC had fairly worn her after dinner. It was almost as if she feared he’d never returned.
“Tell you what. You go get ready for bed, then Mom and I will come up and tuck you in,” he told the child.
Reluctantly, Kara released her hold on his neck, so she could be set to her feet. “I guess.”
“Kara, I always come back, don’t I? We talk on the phone. We email. It’ll be like before – except you call me ‘Dad’,” JC reminded her.
Nodding, the child went upstairs.
“I wish I had the words to assure her,” he told Cameron.
“I know how she feels,” Cameron admitted.
He looked at her. “You, too? Sweetheart…”
She gave him a sad smile and nodded. He had been her lover. Things had changed for them.
“Drawing her against him, he asked, “What can I do to assure you, Cammi?”
“I don’t know.”
“When I call Kara, you get on the line, too,” he told her. Usually, it was just Kara he spoke to at length. Email me. IM me. Let me know how you are, tell me about your day and I’ll do the same.”
“Okay, Josh.”
Now, he had two big reasons to return more often to Draperville.
It was JC’s first visit since he had been acknowledged as Kara’s father. Cameron was relieved to see Kara did not hang on him, as she had feared. Except for having to fill him on every detail of her life since they had last seen him, she treated him like a regular dad.
“Need help?” JC asked as he came back into the kitchen after dinner. He felt like Cam was avoiding him. She had shooed them from the kitchen while she loaded the dishwasher.
“I—uh—no. I’m nearly done.”
“Well, there is something I have to do. It can’t wait any longer.”
“What?”
He crossed the room to stand before her. He took her chin in one hand and tipped her face up. “Kiss you,” he murmured just before his lips settled over hers. When she opened shyly, he took full advantage and slid his tongue against hers, tasting and teasing. Her sweet little sigh of pleasure told him what he wanted to know. “Where am I sleeping tonight?”
“I—umm—you have a choice I guess.”
“Is one of those choices naked with you?”
“I suppose so.” She seemed to find the buttons on the front of his shirt fascinating, her eyes remained downcast.
“You suppose so?”
“I—I…”
“I brought a box of condoms, Cam. You don’t have to worry.”
A pink blush stained her cheeks. “In case you wanted to—umm—wanted to be with me, I went on the pill.”
Nothing could have surprised him more. “Cammi?” He tipped her chin back up. “What are you telling me?”
“That I prefer the feel of you to condoms.”
“No, I mean are you saying we can be lovers?”
“If you want. But I’d expect monogamy, if we don’t use condoms. If you sleep with someone else—“
“If we’re lovers, there won’t be anyone else,” JC promised. “God, baby, I wouldn’t want anyone else if I can have you!”
“I’m not so much—“
“No. You’re more.“
Cameron reached up to tuck a stray curl behind his ear. Her smile was small and sweet. “You are a special man, Josh Chasez. You were a wonderful boy, but the man you’ve become is even more so.”
“Oh, Cammi…” He was melting inside.
“Aren’t you done yet?” Kara demanded from the doorway. “I want to watch the movie.”
JC decided this was like heaven. When they had joined Kara in the living room, Cam sat in the corner of the sofa and put a throw pillow in her lap, inviting him to stretch out. He had done just that. Lying on his stomach, he put his head on the pillow. She combed his hair with her fingers repeatedly until her was purring like a big cat. Then her one finger trailed around his ear. His reaction was swift. The teasing caress had him instantly hard – he was glad he wasn’t on his back, fully displayed! A strong hand kneaded the tight muscles of his neck and shoulders.
“Mmm…bliss,” he growled softly.
“You’re so tense.”
“Not anymore.”
Arousal turned into relaxation. This was the good life.
Kara turned to see her father asleep with his head in her mother’s lap. “Poor Dad. He doesn’t sleep when he’s away.”
Cameron was pleased to note the compassion in her daughter. “He probably sleeps. He just doesn’t relax.”
The girl now understood her father was a celebrity. “He doesn’t get to be just Dad.”
“That’s right.”
The child grinned. “I’ll let him be Dad as much as he wants.”
“That’s my baby!” Cameron smiled. “Why don’t you go up and get ready for bed. I’ll be up to tuck you in.”
“Okay.” Kara rose to her feet to move to the sofa. Kissing JC’s cheek, she whispered, “Night, Daddy. Sweet dreams.”
JC didn’t wake but smiled.
After reading to Kara until the child fell asleep, Cameron dressed for bed before she went down to wake Josh from his nap. It had been amazingly easy to slip away, leaving the pillow to cradle his head. She wondered what he had been doing to exhaust him so. Celebrity was a hard life – it had to be doubly so on a shy man like Josh. It was the fishbowl life she had sought to avoid for their daughter.
Sitting on the edge of the sofa, she stroked his curls. “Josh,” she said quietly. If he didn’t wake, she put a blanket over him and let him sleep. “Joshua.”
JC shifted and opened his eyes. Seeing her at his side, he smiled sleepily. “If it’s a dream, don’t wake me.”
“I’m hardly a dream.”
“No, you’re gorgeous reality.” He glanced around. The house was dark and quiet. “Munchkin asleep?”
“She kissed you good night first.”
“I love that kid,” he confessed.
“She loves you, too.”
“I didn’t really want to be a father or, at least, I didn’t think I was ready…”
“Some times parenthood happens.”
“And you did it alone.”
“No, I had Grams.”
He lifted his hand to her cheek. He stroked her soft skin. “Beautiful Cammi…”
“Want to go upstairs? The bed is bigger and more comfortable than a sofa.”
His hand dropped to the knee left naked by her sleep shirt. He slid it beneath the hem of the shirt to caress a silken thigh. “Can I get you to get horizontal with me?”
“Wanna tango?” she asked breathlessly.
“Oh, yeah…” He sat up to kiss her hungrily. “All night,” he murmured as he trailed his lips down her throat.
“I—umm—work tomorrow.”
“Half a day. I’ll give you half a night’s sleep.”
“Oh…kay…”
“Let’s go to bed, baby.”
Cameron smiled when she saw JC and Kara pull into clinic parking lot as she began locking up on Saturday afternoon.
“Hi, Mom!” the girl called as she ran through the back door into the reception area.
“Hi, Kara. What are you doing in town?”
“We were hoping to talk you into going to lunch with us,” JC said as he came in slower than Kara.
“I’m starved. What did you have in mind?”
“Nora’s,” JC suggested.
“MacDonald’s,” Kara said.
“Two very good choices. How about Nora’s for lunch and maybe convince Dad MacDonald’s for dinner.”
“All right!” Kara crowed.
JC helped Cameron lower the shades, then they headed for her office. She shrugged out of her lab coat and released her hair from its confining clip. Shaking her head, her glorious hair fell to her shoulders.
JC could barely contain the urge to bury his hands in her toffee-colored hair and kiss her breathless.
Cameron caught his eyes, well aware of his wish. “I know, but we have an audience.”
“You want it, too?” he asked huskily as he put a guiding arm around her waist.
She didn’t pretend indifference. “Yes.”
“That makes it easier, knowing it goes both ways.”
Cameron smiled. “It always did. I was just better at hiding it.”
“Dad is getting the hang of riding,” Kara told her mother as the girl slid into a booth before JC and across from Cameron.
“I’m actually liking it,” JC admitted.
“I’m glad, Josh.”
JC reached for Cam’s hand. He wanted to be touching her, looking at her, tasting her… “What’s Saturday special?”
“The best tenderloins this side of Grams kitchen.”
“That good, eh?”
“Can I have a cheeseburger and a chocolate shake?” Kara asked.
“If that’s what my munchkin wants, that’s what she can have,” JC told her, tweaking her nose.
“Cool.”
“The tenderloin basket and coffee?” JC asked Cameron.
“Yes, but I like only catsup on my sandwich. Josh, will you and Kara order for me? I’d like to go freshen up.”
“Sure thing, sweetheart.”
“Thanks.”
Making her way to the small ladies’ room, Cameron combed her hair and then renewed the lipstick and blush she had applied that morning. She’d never be a glamour girl, but she’d do.
“This is my dad,” Kara was telling June when Cameron returned to the booth.
“Is that so?” June responded blandly.
“Yep, he’s my dad. He visits when he can. He travels a lot and—“
“Whoa, munchkin!” JC chuckled. “Let the lady take our order. Mom’s starving.”
“I want a cheeseburger with nothing on it and a chocolate milkshake,” Kara announced.
“Guess I can order my own since Kara roped you into standing here, June.” Cameron mused as she slid into the booth. “Tenderloin basket and coffee—“
“Nothing but catsup on the sandwich,” June finished for her, then looked to JC. “Sir?”
“Same as Cam, but I would like mustard as well on the sandwich.”
“Okay. Comin’ right up.” June headed to the counter.
“I don’t think she was impressed by me,” JC remarked.
“You impress me,” Cameron touched his hand. “June is the strong silent type.”
“Can I have a couple of quarters?” Kara asked. “I want to play the jukebox.”
JC reached into his pocket.
“Only one quarter, Josh,” Cameron told him.
“Mom…” Kara protested.
“Cam, I—“
“Only one quarter,” the mother was firm.
“You heard the boss.” JC handed the girl a single quarter.
“Darn,” Kara grumbled.
“Kara, what do you say?”
“Thanks, Dad.”
JC rose to let Kara out of the booth. He watched as his daughter headed for the ancient jukebox as he took his seat once more. Then he looked at Cam. She had neatened herself up…For him? “You’re beautiful, Cammi.”
“You aren’t to bad yourself, Chasez.”
“Cam, I know we haven’t discussed this – and I’ll understand if you say no – but I’d really like you to say yes—“
“Josh, spit it out. A quarter is only two songs,” she suggested.
“Could we take Kara to see my folks?”
“When?”
“After lunch?” He winced, prepared for a diatribe.
“I’m a mess.”
“You’re perfect.”
“Hardly, Josh. I don’t mind going to see your parents, but I would like to shower and change. Kara could use a little cleaning up, too.”
“Then we can? This afternoon?” At her nod, he smiled broadly. “Thanks, baby. I didn’t want to say anything to Kara without talking to you first.”
“I really do appreciate that, Josh.”
He noticed Kara was headed back to the booth. “Can I tell her?”
He was so much like an excited, little boy Cameron caved. “Go ahead.”
JC lifted Kara over his lap to set her back in her seat. The child giggled at the fake groan he made. “Cancel the milkshake.”
“I am not fat,” Kara protested.
“No, you’re not. You’re my perfect munchkin.” His eyes were full of love as he stroked her hair. “What would you say to meeting my parents today?”
Kara’s eyes were wide with wonder. A dad and grandparents? “You mean I got a real set of real grandparents?”
JC nodded. “My mom and dad live in Chicago.”
“For real? They want to meet me?”
“For real – and they have been dying to meet you.” He smiled at her thrilled disbelief.
The child looked to her mother. “Does Mom get to come?”
“Yes, I’ll be there, sweetie. But we need to go home and get ready first. I, for one, need a shower.”
“Cool! I have grandparents that want to see me.”
That wounded Cameron. Her own mother had wanted nothing to do with her grandchild – and Cameron had never known who her father was. She hadn’t known Kara had felt the lost…
Flipping open his cellphone, JC placed a call to his parents. His mother answered. “Hey, Mom, it’s Josh. What plans do you and Dad have for the evening?”
Kara started bouncing, whispering loudly, “I wanna say ‘hi’!”
“How would you like to meet your granddaughter today?”
“Puuleeeze, Daddy!” Kara begged.
“Kara wants to say ‘hi’, Mom.” JC handed the phone to the excited youngster.
“Gramma! It’s Kara. Hi! I can’t wait to see you and Grampa!” the girl said in a rush.
Plucking the phone away, JC said, “As you can see, she doesn’t get her shyness from me.” He winked at Cam. “We’ll see you in a couple hours.”
“Josh?” Cameron reentered the master bedroom after seeing to Kara’s outfit for the trip. She found JC stretched out across the bed.
“Hmm?…”
She went to the closet and pulled down a box. “I—I never knew if you would ever get this or want it…” She handed him the box. “I’ve done this all along thinking maybe someday…”
JC sat up and opened the box. A photograph album. The first page held a copy of Kara’s birth certificate, proudly declaring Joshua Scott Chasez of Orlando, Florida as Kara’s birth father. There were pictures of Kara at birth, all red, wrinkly and with a wealth of Chasez hair. The album contained pictures of Kara for every year and momentous occasion, which there seemed to have been a lot of them. A snippet of baby hair. A baby tooth. A lock of hair from her first haircut. All lovingly preserved for him. He couldn’t prevent the tears. This was what he had missed of Kara’s life. Cam had tried to capture it for him. “Baby, this is…this is so fucking great…” His voice was husky with emotion.
“I know it can’t make up for the lost time—“
JC shook his head. “Don’t, Cammi. This is a wonderful thing. You knew deep inside I’d want to know my child." He rose from the bed to kiss her softly. “Thank you.”
“Quit smoochin’ and let’s get goin’!” Kara demanded from the doorway.
From the backseat of JC’s SUV, Kara could observe her parents without being chided for staring. They were different somehow from JC’s other visits. The way he looked at her, the way he always wanted to be touching her, the way he would kiss her for no reason – all that was different. Her mother readily accepted the more intimate displays of affection without embarrassment or chastisement. She often smiled at JC. It occurred to Kara that her parents were in love this time. Woowhoo!
“I have butterflies the size of condors in my stomach,” Cameron muttered as JC pulled into his parents’ driveway. She pressed her hands to her stomach. She actually believed she might throw up.
JC reached over to squeeze her hand. “It’s okay, baby. The past is the past.”
She gave him a tremulous smile. “Oh, Josh, did I mess up so badly? I—“
“There they are!” Kara cried when she saw Roy and Karen Chasez step out of the house. Releasing her seatbelt, she dove from the car. “Hi! I’m Kara!” she called as she raced to the older couple.
JC slid from the drivers seat and went around to open the door for Cam. His arm was around her waist when he approached his parents.
Kara was already chattering away, filling her new grandparents in on her entire life.
JC smiled fondly at his daughter. “Like I say, it’s too bad Kara is so shy,” he teased.
“Daaad!” Kara rolled her eyes.
“Why don’t we all go in and get acquainted, “Karen suggested.
Kara had a new favorite place – her grandfather’s lap. Roy Chasez was a sturdy, warm presence to the girl who’d had very few male role models in her life. He gave the best bear hugs that practically swallowed her. He teased her in much the way her father did.
Her small grandmother was a departure from the taller, fine-boned Delaney women, but she gave wonderful hugs and seemed to think her new granddaughter was bright, clever and lovely. Kara could handle that!
JC and Cameron basically sat back and let the trio get acquainted. Once in a while, JC would comment or tease – or Cameron would prompt Kara on her manners. But mostly, he sat with his arm about her, brushing a kiss to her temple or whispering an observation.
Checking his watch, JC was well aware it was getting to be dinnertime for his parents; he could smell the aroma of chicken wafting from the kitchen. “Well, looks like we should go.”
“No!” Kara whined.
“Mom and Dad need to eat – and I have a trip to the Golden Arches to make.”
“You three are welcome to stay,” Karen offered. “I made plenty.”
“Well, I don’t know. Kara is pretty keen on her fries…”
“Dad!” Kara put her hands on her hips and pouted.
JC looked to the quiet Cameron. “What do you say, Cammi?”
She gave him a shy smile. “Whatever you decide, Josh.”
“Sooo…Kara, if we don’t go to MacDonald’s, you won’t bust me later?” JC asked.
“No! I promise, I won’t. Puleeze, Dad.”
“I guess, we’re staying for dinner.”
After dinner, Cameron offered to help Karen in the kitchen. It gave the two women a chance to talk.
“Thank you for allowing Josh to bring Kara,” Karen said. “She’s a beautiful child.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Chasez. I think she’s pretty special myself.”
“Will we be allowed to see her?”
Cameron was surprised by the question. “Of course! You are her grandparents – the only ones she has.”
“That’s very generous of you, Cam.”
“The only reason Josh hasn’t brought her before is that we hadn’t told her that he was her father yet. That was taken out of our hands his last visit. This is the first time he has been able to get away since she has found out.”
“We’d like to be part of Kara’s life.”
Cameron smiled. “I’m glad. I’m sure that’s what Kara wants, too. Since you live so close, I think it’s good for her.”
Karen beamed. “I’m glad you feel that way.”
“But I don’t want to go,” Kara complained as JC announced it was time to go home. He lifted the drowsy child from his father’s lap and set her to her feet.
“Dad is not your bed.”
“But I’m not tired.”
“Riight.”
“Say goodnight to your grandparents, Kara,” Cameron prompted.
Kara kissed Roy’s cheek. “Night, Grampa. Thanks for being my grampa.”
“Goodnight, Kara. Thank you for being my granddaughter,” Roy replied huskily.
Kara hugged and kissed Karen. “G’bye, Gramma. Thank you for wanting me.”
“Oh, Kara, darling, we want you very much. You come back to see us soon.”
“Okay.” The tired child leaned against her father.
JC picked her up. “Night, Mom, Dad. I think this one is about done in.”
The four adults went to the door. JC kissed his mother’s cheek and Cameron shook hands with the Chasezes.
“You all come back soon,” Roy told them.
They were halfway to Draperville when JC lifted the silent Cam’s hand to his lips, capturing her attention. “Tired, baby?”
She gave him a drowsy smile, then looked to the sleeping child in the backseat. “Mmm…but a good tired.”
“You made my folks ecstatic.”
“I didn’t do anything. They are Kara’s grandparents.”
“I wouldn’t have pushed the issue.” Not yet anyway. He and Cam were just beginning to work through their relationship. He wouldn’t have wanted to cause any rifts.
“You didn’t. Kara adores them. It’s good for her to know them.”
Cam believed deeply in family ties. He should have suspected she wouldn’t have any problem with Kara knowing his parents. He nibbled at her fingers. “If you’re too tired to make love, I’ll understand.”
She reached over to squeeze his thigh. “You leave tomorrow, Josh. I have to make sure no one else tempts you.”
“Believe me, Cammi, no one else will,” JC promised. He wouldn’t desire anyone who wasn’t Cam. Too bad it was too early to discuss marriage.