He rang the doorbell at 6:01. Jersey had been waiting anxiously, and her heart was pounding in her ears as she pulled the door open.

“Hi…” she said shyly.

“Wow,” was all he could say as he looked her up and down. “You look great.” It was far cry from her school clothes, which hid, rather than enhanced.

She blushed, smoothing the red dress over her hip. “Thanks.” He looked good too, she noticed, as she took in the sport jacket and tie. “Where are we going?” she asked as he took her arm and led her out to his car.

“There’s a nice Italian place about twenty minutes away. It’s quiet, not very well known, but the food is great. The guy who owns it is a buddy of mine.” He opened the car door for her, and she slid inside.

“What’s it called?” she asked after he lowered himself into the driver’s seat.

“Marcianno’s.”

She nodded. “Sounds good. Where’s Amy?”

“She’s at her cousin’s house. They had soccer practice after school, and I left Brooke there too. Ellie’s been a huge help the past couple years. She and her husband work from home, and they’re always willing to take the kids off my hands.”

“That’s great that you have them. I think every parent deserves a break every once in a while.”

Cage agreed. “El’s taken the girls pretty much every Friday for the past three years or so, ever since Amy started playing soccer. Gives me a chance to relax, get some work done, whatever. She’s really been great. I don’t know what I would have done without her.”

“Ellie is your sister?”

Cage laughed. “No, we’re not even technically related. My aunt married her father about five years ago.” He was interrupted by the waiter coming up to take their drink order.

The young man looked to Jersey first. “I’ll have a glass of the house Merlot, please,” she requested.

“Iced tea for me,” Cage added.

“Is it okay that I’m drinking?” Jersey asked cautiously.

He nodded. “I don’t drink, but I certainly won’t stop you from enjoying yours.”

“Is it because you have to drive?”

“No, even at home, I won’t touch alcohol. It makes me into someone that I don’t like, and does nothing but cause problems for me.”

“Are you in AA?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Tried it, but it wasn’t my thing. I was in rehab for a while after college, but I haven’t touched anything since then. Honestly, the temptation isn’t even there any more.”

“It’s admirable, that you’re able to do that,” she told him.

Cage shook his head. “Don’t say that. You don’t know anything about it.”

“Would you tell me if I asked?”

He gave her a small smile. “Maybe someday. Are you ready to order?”

“Mm yes,” she replied. “The seafood linguini sounds delicious. What are you getting?”

“Steak,” he said simply.

“Do you ever go out for seafood?” she asked curiously.

“Hardly ever. Really, what’s the point? I have my own,” Cage said in response to her question.

Jersey giggled. “That makes a lot of sense, actually. Why bother, when you get it free?”

“Honey, nothing’s free,” he laughed. “If I’m away somewhere, or a place has a really great reputation, I’ll go, but those tend to be few and far between, unfortunately.”

After their food came, and they had finished eating, Jersey reached across the table for his hand. “I know I said this already, but I can’t tell you how terrible I feel about the things I said to you last week. We really got off to a horrible start.”

“I said some pretty bad things myself,” he answered. He turned his hand so that his fingers were entwined with hers. “What do you say we forget about all that, and just start over?”

She squeezed his fingers. “I don’t think I deserve that. I still can’t believe I did that.”

“No hard feelings. Start over?”

Jersey gave him a sweet smile. “Okay. I’d like that.”

--

Cage called her the next day, just to thank her and let her know what he had had a wonderful time.

“Can we do it again?” he asked. “What days are you free this week?”

“Wednesday or Thursday would probably be best… Or the weekend.”

“Hm, I’ve got the girls here. Why don’t you come over on Thursday? I’m just going to cook, but you’re more than welcome to join us.”

“Are you sure that’s okay? Your daughters won’t mind? Amy won’t think it’s weird?”

“Nah, its fine. So will I see you then? Say, at six thirty?”

“All right,” she agreed.

He gave her a quick set of directions before saying goodbye.

Thursday night, when the doorbell rang, Cage jogged over to let Jersey in. “Hi,” he greeted her. “How are you? Come on in.”

“Good, thank you.”

“Here, let me take your jacket.” Obediently, she slipped out of it, looking curiously around as he stowed it away in the hall closet.

She stepped closer to one particular picture.

“Is that their mother? She was beautiful…”

“Amy looks just like her, doesn’t she?” Cage said proudly. “You’ll meet my little one soon. She’s the spittin’ image of Bethany too.” Amy and Beth did have the same eyes, and their hair was the same color, only Amy’s was straighter than Beth’s had been. Brooke had beautiful wavy hair, but her eyes were hazel, like her father’s. “Come in the kitchen, I’ve got dinner cooking.” He reached for her hand and led her through the house.

“Where’s Amy?”

“Taking a shower. She had soccer practice this afternoon. She should be down any minute now,” he told her as he turned back to the chicken.

“Does she play a lot of soccer?”

“They practice five days a week, and have games on Sundays. Monday’s her only day off. When I first saw the schedule, I thought it was too much, but she loves it. As long as it doesn’t affect her school work, she can play all she wants.”

He had just finished his sentence when they heard the water shut off.

“Anything I can do?” Jersey offered.

“Nah, I got it. It’ll be ready in about twenty minutes. Help yourself to a drink, if you’d like,” he said, gesturing towards the fridge.

A few minutes later, Amy came into the kitchen, her hair wet and loose. Brooke followed close behind her, giggling to herself.

Cage smiled at his girls.

“What are you laughing at, silly girl?” he asked, hoisting her up into the air.

“Amy got me wet!” Brooke squealed, and Cage laughed. She was such a happy child. He hugged her before shooing her inside to where the television was still playing one of her movies.

“Daddy, can you braid my hair?” Amy asked.

“Angel, I’m cooking right now. Can I do it later?”

Jersey interrupted, saying, “Come here, Amy, I’ll braid your hair. You have a comb?”

Amy handed it to her happily, and Jersey stood, directing Amy to sit in the chair.

“You want one braid or two braids, sweetie?”

“Two, please.”

Jersey began to French braid the little girl’s silky hair, and Amy gasped in excitement. “Daddy can’t braid like that! You’ll have to show him how.”

The two adults laughed, Cage murmuring that he didn’t know if his fingers could move like that.

Around eight o’clock, Cage noticed Brooke beginning to nod off in her chair. With a smile, he stood and picked her up. She rested her head on his shoulder with a tired yawn.

“I’ll be right back,” he said to Jersey. “Ames, you want to start getting ready for bed too?”

She nodded. “G’night Miss Jamison.”

“Night Amy. I’ll see you in school tomorrow.”

Amy followed after her father, disappearing into her bedroom while Cage put Brooke to bed.

She was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow and Cage kissed her forehead before heading down the hall to Amy’s bedroom.

He knocked lightly.

“Come in,” she called.

“Hi, angel. Ready for bed?”

“Can I read for a little bit?”

“Sure. Till eight thirty, okay? Then it’s lights off.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

He waited until she found a book, and then tucked her covers in around her.

“Daddy, what’s Miss Jamison doing here?” she asked quietly. Her eyes were big and teary, and Cage’s heart ached.

“We’re just having dinner, angel. That’s all. We had some grown-up things to talk about.”

“Oh.”

“And you’re a good girl for not saying anything in front of her. It would have been rude.”

She gave him a tiny smile.

“Night, angel,” he murmured, brushing his lips against the top of her head. He turned the overhead light off, but turned her lamp on for her. “Don’t stay up late.”

“Night. Love you, Daddy.”

“Love you too.”

He left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

Downstairs, he found Jersey cleaning up the kitchen.

“Jers, leave that. I’ll do it later.”

She smiled and shook her head. “I’m almost done. If you can put the food away? I wasn’t sure where to find Tupperware.”

“Sure. Thanks.” She was standing at the sink, and he leaned over her, reaching into one of the cabinets. His arm brushed against hers, and she shivered.

He grinned, moving towards the table to put the leftovers in various containers.

A few minutes later, they were finishing up. Jersey was still at the sink, and he was leaning against the counter beside her.

“Jersey,” he murmured. She turned her head to look at him curiously.

He dipped his head down and kissed her gently. His hand came up and gently stroked her cheek as his tongue slipped into her mouth. She let out a moan of soft surprise, and he smiled, moving a little closer and holding her a little tighter. With one hand, he reached out blindly and shut the water off.

She fell against him, her mouth open for his kiss. He took advantage of that fact, his tongue exploring the depths and running over her teeth. Tentatively, hers reached out of her mouth, and met his.

Jersey moaned, her arms creeping up around his neck. Her knees felt like jello, and she leaned more heavily into his embrace.

Breathing hard, he finally broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers.

“I’ve wanted to do that since the minute I walked into your classroom,” he admitted.

“I thought you were just angry. I said some things I shouldn’t have.”

“Yeah, but you looked gorgeous as you were accusing me of abusing my daughter.”

Her cheeks flushed in a very endearing way, and Cage found himself pressing a kiss to each of them.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” He shifted, until his back was against the counter and she was standing the circle of his arms.

“I don’t want to upset you or anything…”

“C’mon, just say it. I don’t bite, I promise,” he said with a disarming grin.

“When we first met, you mentioned, that you had lost Bethany for five years, and just when you’d found her, she died. What…what really happened? You said it was your fault…”

Cage sighed heavily. “I don’t really know how to say this.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I guess it’s none of my business.”

He shook his head. “I want you to know. I just don’t want to scare you away… You deserve to know. It might change how you feel about me…but I promise you, I’m different now.”

“Was it something you did?”

He nodded, stroking her hair absently. “I was twenty-two when we met. We met at a frat party, so I assumed she was twenty or so, as well. I…I had a drug problem, and I drank. A lot. But I still liked her, and pretty soon we started dating. The first time I hit her was the last…but I really hurt her. I was out of my mind…and when I woke up, she was gone. That was the night Amy was conceived. I’ve been clean and sober ever since that night. She came back when her grandfather died, almost six years later. And it was barely a year before she died. It was a car accident. I never raised a hand to her again. I never would, to anyone.”

“Oh.” She was silent, processing what he had said.

“Does it scare you?” he asked hesitantly, fearing what her answer would be.

She paused before shaking her head. “It was a long time ago. You were young and stupid, and you overcame the problem. You’re a good father, Cage, a good man. I trust you.”

He smiled, and gave her a soft kiss. “I’m glad,” was all he said.

He tugged at her hand, leading her into the family room.

“I should probably go,” she protested. “It’s late, and I have to work tomorrow.”

Cage sighed. “I do too, actually. When can I see you again?”

“I’m free this weekend…”

“This weekend it is then. I’ll call you,” he said as he walked her towards the door.

She smiled. “Okay.”

At her car door, he gave her a gentle kiss. “Thanks for coming. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Sleep tight.”

He waved as she drove off, and then headed back into the house.

Upstairs, he glanced at Amy’s door, glad to see the crack under it was dark and she had obviously gone to sleep at a decent hour.

Brooke, however, was a different story. Cage put his head up against the door and could easily hear her.

“One sheep…two sheep…red sheep, blue sheep…four sheep…five sheep…uh oh, that’s one not a sheep…seven sheep…eight sheep…”

He bit back a laugh before pushing the door open. Brooke was sitting on the floor at the foot of her bed, but she quickly scrambled up when she saw him. Back in bed, she gave him an angelic smile.

“Can’t sleep, Princess?”

She shook her head. “The sheep keep jumping.”

“Silly sheep. How about I read you a story, and maybe they’ll get tired and go to sleep?”

“Okay,” she yawned.

Ten minutes later, Brooke fell asleep, just as Cage finished the story he was reading to her. “Night, Princess,” he murmured before quietly slipping out of the room.

--

A: I'm terrible, I know. I apologize (again) for keeping you all waiting, but this is a crazy time of year! I'm back in school, taking some grad classes, working 6 day weeks, and am still completely broke, because of application fees for doctorate programs! So I am very sorry, but thank you all for reviewing and urging me to hurry up! It really does help to see how much you guys are enjoying this!

Thanks,

Ashley