Beautifully Knight (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #5)

Schedules and Stations

-LIA-

I smiled to myself as I skimmed my eyes over the email I'd drafted to the dean of BU Law and my former professor, William O'Conner, about approving a paid internship to count for credit for Hailey and I felt a chin rest on my shoulder.

"You just couldn't resist, could you?" J's voice hummed next to my ear and I leaned back against his chest that pressed into my kitchen chair while his arms wrapped around me from my behind.

"I was just reviewing the visuals that Natalie sent over after my text about the fundraiser. She had a few minutes while Trey was sleeping so she made a couple of poster templates for me," I explained.

"But this isn't a poster template."

"I kind of might've got a little distracted, but this took me five minutes to type, tops, and I figured it's the least I can do for Hailey. My associates have all told me she's been a big help at the firm while I've been away. I don't want her to have to quit for lack of funds or because she can't find housing."

"Well, I could be wrong, but something tells me her housing situation has been resolved already," Jordan mused as Logan's voice carried in through the open doors from the backyard where he was "coaching" a baseball game for Mattie, Jamie, Rosie and several of the other neighborhood kids who were out for the summer.

In the middle of the diamond, Hailey was playing Logan's beloved position of pitcher and he made it a point to go over and physically "adjust" her stance and technique whenever he saw fit or she didn't know the rules. It was cute to watch, especially since it'd been a long time since I'd heard Logan's real laugh.

Out of all of my kids, he was my most serious—when his mind was set to something, he made a plan and there was no changing or diverting it. For a long, long time that plan was baseball, then it was grad school, then it was starting his own business and none of those things left much room for a personal life or downtime. For once, it was nice to see him taking things day by day and moment by moment. Instead of following his usual rigid schedule and daily routine, he was spontaneously making decisions to spend the night and set aside his toolbox to play in the backyard and all correlated to Hailey. I adored her as a student and I was happy for him.

"I think you're right, but don't you have a lecture to give them about living together before they're married?" I asked as I glanced at Jordan. "I seem to remember you having one for Maria and Tony."

"That was different," he shook his head. "Maria had Grace to think about and she was young, she'd never ventured out on her own so I had my concerns. Logan's ventured out. He's shared a dorm and an apartment with Simon and now he's had that penthouse of his own for a couple of years. He knows what it is to maintain a place and as much as I don't want to admit it because it makes me sound old, he's knocking on thirty, Lia. We'd gotten married, had the twins, divorced, remarried, and were expecting Natalie by the time I was his age. Hailey is a little younger than you were, but not much. They're adults who can make their own decisions. Logan's heard my reasons why I think that it's best to wait 'til you're married to live together, he doesn't need to hear them again."

"I know, I know," I nodded. "I'm just teasing you."

I took a sip from my mug of hot chocolate as a smile played on my lips and I focused my eyes back on my screen to proofread over everything once more. When I was satisfied, I hit send and checked the email off my to-do schedule for the day. Afterward, I clicked back over to Natalie's visuals for the fundraiser just as Jordan's phone rang.

Nate's name appeared on the screen and I quickly answered.

"Hey, honey."

"Ma? You're not supposed to be answering the phone. I thought I called Dad."