Permission to Love

Chapter Sixteen

Alexander pulls up in the driveway of their three story house and places a hand on Kathryn’s shoulder before she can make an escape. “Hey, before we enter back into the world of maturity and parenthood,” he laughs softly before smiling back at her in sincerity, “I just wanted to say thanks for being a kid with me for a few hours. I had a lot of fun tonight, Kat.”

“Me too.” She replies back honestly. “Tonight I was truly a worry free kid for the first time in my whole life.” 

“Well, how about we go inside and have some BIRFday cake with a real kid?” Alexander smiles back at Kathryn and steps out of the car. He rushes to the passenger side and helps Kathryn out before they make their way to the front door side by side. He stops at the door and turns to her with a mischievous smirk. “I might of forgot to mention one little thing about cake with Jaelyn.” 

She stares back at him in confusion but refuses to let go of her blissful feeling. “What do you mean?” 

“It’s not just Jaelyn we’re having cake with.” 

Before Kathryn can question his purposely vague hints, Alexander swings open the door only to be blasted by noise makers and “happy birthdays” from both Jaelyn and her best friend, Madeline. Kathryn’s smile only widens as she takes a step forward and wraps her oldest friend in a tight embrace. “Maddy!” 

“Happy birthday, Kit-Kat!” Madeline replies as she sways from side to side while keeping a tight hold on her friend. 

Katherine pulls away but keeps a hand on Madeline’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming over?” 

Madeline shrugs and glances over at Alexander who now has the rambunctious three year old wrapped in his arms. “You know Xander, he’s all for surprises, even if it is just little old me driving one measly hour to surprise you.” She laughs softly as Kathryn gives her one last hug from the side. 

“Are you kidding? You’re the best surprise yet.” She laughs softly at the same time a rather loud commotion is heard in the kitchen. Kathryn looks towards the kitchen in confusion but allows the two of them time to fill in the blanks. 

“Well, there’s just one more surprise tonight.” Madeline smiles and widens her arms. “I brought my boyfriend.” 

“That’s great!” Kathryn exclaims, still a little confused as to what this ones name was. She can’t be sure if it was the same one Madeline mentioned in their phone call three weeks ago or if she found someone new since then. She loves Madeline like a sister but there is none other more fickle when it comes to men. 

“His name’s Jackson.” Madeline informs with a smile, somehow reading Kathryn’s mind. “He’s a little young but-“ 

“How young?” Kathryn interrupts, her glance falling on Jaelyn for comedic purposes and Madeline’s mouth drops in response. 

“Not that young! Jeez!” She snickers and shakes her head. “He’s almost nineteen.” 

“So…he’s eighteen.” Kathryn continues with a smirk while Madeline just rolls her eyes at her friends attempt to be funny. Alexander chuckles softly but uses Jaelyn as a shield and Kathryn snickers in amusement when Madeline shoots him a glare. 

“There he is now!” Madeline exclaims before making her way over to the entrance of the kitchen where a young boy wearing dark blue jeans and a button up shirt stands. He continues dusting his hands on the sides of his jeans as Madeline draws closer. “He was just putting some finishing touches on the birthday cake.” She locks her arms with his and smiles over at him as the small family moves closer. “Jackson, this is my best friend, Kat, her husband, Xander and their precious little princess, Jaelyn.” Madeline coos and reaches to take the girl from Alexander’s arms before smothering her in dozens of kisses. “Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Jackson.” She announces with a smile after planting the last kiss on Jaelyn. 

“It’s nice to meet you.” The boy responds politely and forces a nervous smile. Kathryn immediately notices how misplaced the boy seems. He can’t stop swaying back and forth on the balls of his feet and she can only assume that nerves are the reason for his shaky voice. Despite his reserved behavior, Kathryn feels a sense of familiarity around him and even more so when his eyes fall on her; those dark chocolate orbs sending a shock straight to the deepest part of her heart. She saw those every morning she woke and every night in her dreams, they are the same eyes she worried she may never see again and the same eyes she got to see once more the day her daughter was born. 

“W-what did you say your last name was?” She chokes out as her heart beats rapidly in her chest. 

“Andrews.” 

Kathryn can feel her throat closing up and even without knowing his last name, she knows it is him. Jamie had only mentioned his brother once or twice when they were together but she knows his name was Jackson and she knows those Andrew’s eyes better than anyone. Alexander places a hand on her back in concern after noticing all the color draining from her face. “Kat, are you okay?” 

She forces herself to give a small nod even though she isn’t sure how to approach this situation without causing chaos. “Jackson Andrews.” She laughs softly and decides to allow herself time to come to term with things before letting everyone else in on her secret. “Your parents had a sense of humor.”

Jackson shrugs with a nervous smirk. “Or they were just really obsessed with U.S presidents.”

Madeline stares at her friend’s strange behavior and hands the child in her arms over to Alexander before slowly stepping back towards the entrance of the kitchen. “I think I’m going to check on that cake. Kat, do you want to help me out?”

Kathryn forces herself to break the trance from Jackson’s eyes and slowly follows Madeline into the large white kitchen.

“What’s going on?” Madeline questions in concern while standing beside the island and keeping a comforting hold on her friends shoulder.

Kathryn laughs humorlessly and runs her hand over her face in pure disbelief. “You don’t know a thing about him, do you, Mads?" 

Madeline’s eyebrows come together in confusion from her friend’s blunt question. “No, not really but I just met him a few days ago. What’s wrong?”

“He’s a slick.” It isn’t really a question, Kathryn already knows the answer but Madeline answered anyway.

“Kat, we haven’t used those labels since high school.” Madeline rolls her eyes with a small smile before crossing her arms over her chest and popping her hip like she always did when she was feeling especially presumptuous. “But, if the meanings are still the same, then, yes, he is. Why does it matter?”

Kathryn shakes her head and walks over to the other end of the counter. She grabs the cake pan, the utensils and five white plates before making her way back over to the swinging door. She find it odd that Madeline didn’t piece things together after hearing Jackson’s last name but it has been three long years to everyone else while to Kathryn it seems like just three days ago she was holding Jamie Andrews in her arms. “Just think about it, Mads, think about it real hard.” She whispers close to Madeline’s ear before exiting the kitchen and cutting a sharp corner into the dinning room where the boys and Jaelyn are already set up for dessert.

“Cake! Cake! Cake!” Jaelyn shouts in excitement while Alexander tries to help settle her into the seat.

“Mommy has to blow out the candles first.” Alexander points out with a smile before making his way to the center of the table and taking the pack of candles from Kathryn. He expects her to roll her eyes or recite some comment about how she’s turning twenty one, not three but instead her stare is vacant and she is anything but the worry free kid he walked in here with. He stares at her a moment in concern but she obviously doesn’t want to make a commotion because she gives a small smile, indicating for him to go on and light the candles. The room slowly erupts into an off key singing of “happy birthday” and Kathryn quickly blows out her candles, realizing that her wish was much different now than it was this morning.