“Attention passengers. We’re beginning our approach into Jacksonville International Airport.”

Blake blinked awake at the flight attendant’s words and shifted his gaze blearily down to his three-year-old daughter. Caroline had finally passed out what seemed like minutes before. Luckily, the announcement hadn’t woken her. He’d thought taking the red eye from Seattle would be the best plan to get them across the country. She’d sleep and they’d both begin adjusting to the earlier time zone. No such luck. All the excitement of the move and being on an airplane had her bouncing in her seat most of the night, and then the short flight they’d taken from Atlanta to Jacksonville had kept her from getting much rest at all.

He gave her dark curls a gentle stroke. She’d decided to use his thigh as her pillow, completely ignoring the blanket that she’d insisted she have with her in the seat. As the flight attendants made their final round of safety checks, Blake leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a few more moments. He still couldn’t believe that his life had changed so completely in the past few weeks.

Hell, who was he kidding? His life had really changed over a year before, but Michael’s death had forced him to admit it. His husband had been gone from his life long before the officers knocked on his door to tell him about the accident. They’d not filed any papers, neither of them wanting to deal with the reality of their impending divorce.

It hadn’t seemed to matter at the time. Their marriage was over, and they both knew it.

But now, instead of being a divorced father sharing custody and fighting over holidays, he and Caroline were adrift in a world without Michael. The last piece of the almost perfect dream life he’d created had shattered. The only thing he had left was his daughter, and having her changed everything. It had from the moment their surrogate had told them the test had shown the little pink lines. He and Michael had been together for six years at that point, and married for four. They’d decided early that they wanted a large family, and with Michael’s trust fund, they had the resources to arrange a surrogate much younger than many of the other parents they knew.

While most of the gay men he knew spent their early twenties partying and exploring their sexuality, Blake had wanted something else. He realized after the fact that what he’d really been doing was trying to prove to his family that he was normal. Normal. What a ridiculous thing to strive for. As the first person in his family to come out, Blake had felt a pressure to show them he would be fine. He could be married and have kids too. Just watch. He’d show them how great his perfectly normal gay life would be. He’d get a house with a white picket fence and have kids and even a golden retriever.

Nothing different to see in his house. Nope. Nothing different at all.

From the outside, theirs had appeared to be a perfect marriage. It hadn’t taken long after Caroline came along for Michael to realize he didn’t really want that life after all. He loved his daughter, but realizing that he’d decided at twenty-four what he was going to do with the rest of his life had put a stranglehold on him by the time he’d hit thirty and was married with a toddler and a hefty mortgage. Everything in Blake’s life had changed the moment Michael had first broken the news that he wanted to move out.

Blake had screamed and yelled and fought. For about the first half hour, he’d been furious with his husband. Until he realized that what he was really furious about wasn’t the fact that Michael wanted to leave. No, he’d been mad that his perfect life hadn’t been so perfect after all. And he knew it. The fire that had existed between them when Blake was twenty and fell head over heels for the first year law student had been extinguished long before Michael made his announcement.

As the wheels touched down with a jerk that roused Caroline from her sleep, Blake wondered for the thousandth time if he was making the right decision leaving the remnants of that life behind and moving back home.

“Are we there?” Caroline asked sleepily, her voice wobbling in the way Blake knew meant tears were approaching. They were both completely exhausted and the last thing he needed was for her to break down this close to home.

“Yep! And guess what? Grammy will be here to pick us up.”

She smiled up at him, the promise of his mom cheering her up as Blake had known it would. The two had bonded over the week-long visit his mom had made after he’d called her with the news of Michael’s passing. She pulled her blanket closer and snuggled into his side.

“Grammy said we could get doughnuts.”

“Oh, she did? When did she say that?”

Caroline grinned and leaned against him. “She said.”

“Ahh. Sound argument. We’ll see.”

She yawned and reached over to push open the shade. Bright Florida sunshine blasted him and Blake winced. He wasn’t ready for this.

The plane finally stopped and Blake stood, gathering the backpack he’d carried on board with them. He scooped his daughter up in his arms, making sure she had her blanket securely in her grasp, and made his way to baggage claim where they were meeting his mother. Caroline rested her head on his shoulder, tucking her face into his neck as they walked. Within minutes, her body went lax with sleep.

Blake’s mom and dad were both waiting for them at the bottom of the escalator that led to baggage claim. His mom immediately teared up and he barely moved out of the path of the other travelers before she pulled him into a hug. His dad wrapped an arm around them both.

“I’m okay, Mom. I promise.”

She huffed and reached out her hands for Caroline. “Give her to me. Go with your father to get your bags.”

“She’s heavy.”

His mother arched a brow and continued to hold out her hands. It wasn’t like she hadn’t held Caroline throughout the funeral. He just didn’t want to let her go. His mom seemed to get it and stopped scowling at him.

“I’m glad you’re home,” she whispered.

Blake took a breath and released it before handing over his daughter. “I am too.”

* * *

“Auntie Audrey let me wear lip gloss!”

Caroline darted across the kitchen to Blake and smacked her barely pink lips at him. He glared at his sister for a second before returning his attention to his daughter.

“So pretty!”

She beamed up at him before bolting back across the room to Blake’s younger sister, who’d joined them for dinner that evening along with Josh, Blake’s younger brother. Both of them had arrived with a bag of toys for his kid. Not to mention the handmade stuffed raccoon that had been on the guest room bed when they arrived. The new stuffy hadn’t been out of Caroline’s hand since she’d spotted it. His daughter was going to be spoiled rotten, and his extra-large extended family hadn’t even gotten into the mix yet.

The Bartletts were a fixture of the small town of Havendale, Florida. Blake had grown up with the knowledge that no matter where he went within about an hour’s radius of home, he’d be within minutes of someone he was related to. It hadn’t seemed weird until he’d left home for college and realized that most people didn’t have nine cousins that visited almost every weekend, aunts and uncles whose houses were just as much home as your own, or family gatherings that frequently numbered fifty people. Blake imagined the only reason why his parents’ home wasn’t currently filled to the brim with relatives was out of deference to his daughter and the fact that they’d been on a plane overnight.

Blake gave the macaroni another stir. He'd been placed in charge of the stove while his dad manned the hotdogs on the grill. Caroline, of course, had picked the menu. There wasn't a vegetable in sight. Audrey was keeping Caroline occupied at the kitchen table by adding silly filters onto selfies the two were taking. His daughter was giggling with her aunt while Uncle Josh and Grammy looked on with indulging smiles.

“Daddy, look! I’m a mouse!”

Audrey held up her phone for him to see, and sure enough, the filter had placed little noses, ears, and whiskers on their faces.

“What a cute mouse! I bet you want to eat your cheese!”

Caroline beamed and turned back to her aunt to explain how much she loved cheese. She’d eat it at every single meal if he let her, and he and Michael had often indulged her when they went to the market by letting her choose one of the specialty cheeses. She’d become well known with the folks who worked behind the counter, and they frequently had special Caroline sized servings set aside for her.

Blake sighed and poured the cheese sauce he’d just finished over the waiting pasta. No mac and cheese from a box for his kid. She’d taken one look at the neon orange and refused to try it. Michael had loved that their daughter had, as he called it, a well-developed palate and Blake had learned to make macaroni himself.

His mom had tasted his version on her recent visit and already had the ingredients out and ready for him to make for his first meal home. She pretended it was because she wanted his brother and sister to taste it. They all knew it was because his mother could burn water and anything she could do to get out of cooking was an opportunity she would take advantage of. At their family gatherings, his mother was in charge of drinks. Those, she could manage, especially when she had three kids to lug the two-liter bottles around.

As he expected, Caroline kept them all entertained throughout dinner, and by the time she started getting cranky, she had everyone jumping at the chance to get her ready for bed. That job was his, though, and he got her bathed and into her pajamas while the rest of the family cleaned up the kitchen.

When he came out to have her say goodnight, everyone was seated in the living room, in their “family meeting” positions. This wasn’t going to be good. He shot a beseeching look to Audrey, but she shrugged helplessly. Josh winced and looked away. The traitors. He’d saved their asses a dozen times when they were teenagers and got into trouble. The least they could do was help him out when he needed it.

He took an extra minute tucking Caroline into bed, but knew he couldn’t put off the inevitable. His mother had questions, and she would get answers. He went back into the living room and sank down on the open chair by the window. Everyone stared at him, as if waiting for an explanation.

He didn’t have one.

Josh, who had less patience than Caroline, finally broke the ice. “So, big brother, we’re all kinda wondering why we didn’t know you and Michael had split up. I mean, I get that it’s not any of our business, but it’s not like you to keep something that big from us. Add to that the fact that you haven’t been home in almost a year, which means you’ve pretty much kept your kid and our mother’s only grandchild away from her for almost that long, and well—”

Blake’s father interrupted. “Now, son,” Jeffrey Bartlett said, “I don’t think you were intentionally keeping us away from that beautiful girl, but you have to admit that it isn’t like you. We were very concerned.”

Blake shifted his gaze to his mother, who was looking down at her lap.

“Mom,” he began. She glanced up, and he could see the tears in her eyes. “Aww, mom. Don’t cry. I… I guess I just couldn’t figure out how to tell you. I’m an ass and it won’t happen again.”

“Please don’t shut us out anymore, Blake. You and Caroline are so important to me.”

His dad wrapped his arm over her shoulders. “To us.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Michael and I decided to split up but we hadn’t filed for divorce or anything. I was getting up the nerve to file the papers, but I just didn’t want to admit to you that we’d not been able to make it work.”

“You kept this from us for almost a year, Blake. And then when I got out there, I realized that there was no sign of Michael in the house. You never let on that anything was wrong at all.”

“I know, Mom. That’s one reason why I decided to come back home. I didn’t like keeping it from you. I just—I felt like such a failure. But I knew I should have told you. We’re here now, though. I want you to be part of our lives. I want Caroline to know her Grammy.”

Everyone grew quiet for a long moment.

“Okay,” his mom finally whispered.

“Okay,” his dad agreed.

“Besides, maybe you can get her to eat her vegetables. I sure as hell can’t. How did you get me to eat broccoli? Is there some magical secret that is supposed to be passed down from mother to son that you haven’t mentioned? Because if the pickiness of her eating is my punishment, believe me, I must have done something really bad growing up.”

His mom, Melissa, snorted and looked at her husband. “Remember how terrible he was? Ahh, this feels like a reward for all I put up with when he was a child.”

His dad laughed and looked over at him. “Sorry to tell you, bud, but you were ten times as bad.”

Blake groaned. “Seriously. She’s so picky.”

“I bet Kale can come up with something,” Audrey said.

“Oh right. How is our family celebrity doing?”

“He’s good. Don’t let him hear you call him a celebrity though. You’ll have to bring Caroline by the kitchen when you take her over to Aunt Paula’s. We’re recording every day this week, so just send me a text and I’ll let you know when we’re on break.”

“Who knew little Kale would wind up YouTube famous. And for cooking, of all things.”

Audrey smiled. “It’s fun. And I love being his producer. I still get to boss him around. It’s awesome.”

Blake laughed. “Caroline likes to watch his videos. She’ll love meeting him I bet. We’ve made a few of his recipes.”

“Speaking of Aunt Paula,” Melissa added, “she wants you to stop by tomorrow. She wants to talk to you.”

Blake groaned. “Am I in trouble?”

Melissa grinned. “Well, you haven’t brought the first grandchild home but once in three years. I have a feeling your aunt is going to give you hell for keeping her great-niece from her. And I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Josh burst out laughing. “Oh man, you are in so much trouble. Aunt Paula has made it a point to mention you during the last dozen or so family gatherings. I was ready to get on a plane to go get you guys myself so I didn’t have to hear it anymore.”

“Why is everyone so scared of my little sister? I don’t get it.” Jeffrey looked totally confused.

Melissa patted his leg. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what it’s like to be on her bad side. The woman picked up the mantle of leader of this clan like it was hers all along.”

“This is true. She’s exactly like my mother was.”

“Excellent,” Audrey said. “You can bring Caroline by tomorrow to see me and Kale, and I can keep an eye on her while Aunt Paula lets you know how disappointed she is in you. It works out perfectly.” Audrey grinned over at him, but he could see just how evil that smile really was.

“You’re all mean.” No one disappointed Aunt Paula. It just wasn’t a thing you did. Blake gulped and thumped his head back on the chair. “And I’m in so much trouble.”