With only a few hours of sleep under his belt, Blake wasn’t in any shape to head into the office. Unfortunately, he’d left both his laptop and some paperwork that needed to be signed in his office. He’d gotten Caroline down for a nap and Audrey laid down on his couch to try to get some sleep as well.

“What on earth are you doing here?” Lucy asked.

He’d barely made it into his office before she cornered him. “Came to get the laptop and a couple files. I’m leaving again. I promise.”

“If I get sick, I’m kicking your ass.”

“I know. But I was gone all last week and I need to get a few things done.”

“Yeah, well, kids never get sick when it’s convenient. Get on out of here and get some rest. You look like crap.”

“Thanks, Luce. I love you, too.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go on before you breathe on me or something.”

Blake threw the files he needed into his laptop bag and slung it over his shoulder. He’d almost made it to the door when he realized he’d forgotten to grab the stack of faxed bids that had come in while he was gone. He turned around, and there was Linc.

Every rational thought flew out of his mind. God, he looked good. A little sweaty and dirty, like he’d just come in from a job.

“Hey,” Linc said quietly.

Blake swallowed. “Hey.”

“You okay?”

No, he wasn’t okay. He’d come to the realization that he was a total and complete idiot once it was too late to do anything about it.

“Yeah.”

They stared at each other for a long moment.

“You look…” Linc’s voice drifted off.

“Oh, God. I look like shit. Dammit.” Blake ran his fingers through his hair and considered thumping his head into the wall. Maybe the pain would make him forget just how stupid he’d been.

“No, no. I mean, you look good. Tired. But good.”

Blake managed a small smile. “Caroline’s sick. Ear infections. I was up most of the night with her.”

“Oh, man. She going to be okay?”

“Yeah. She’ll be fine. A holy terror for a few days while she’s on all the medicine, but fine.”

Another long awkward pause.

“Well, if there’s anything I can do…”

“We’re good. Thank you, though.”

“Yeah. I’ll just…”

“Yeah. I’ve gotta grab a file and get back home.”

“Okay,” Linc said. “I’ll see you around.”

“Have a good afternoon.”

And then he was gone.

Blake did thump his head into the wall then.

Lucy came around the corner, eyes boggled out of her head. “Good God, that was awful.”

She sounded horrified. It was just as bad as Blake had thought.

“Tell me about it.”

He went back into his office and grabbed the rest of the paperwork he needed before escaping into his car.

After making a quick stop at the grocery store to get the ingredients for his macaroni and cheese, he returned home. Audrey and Caroline were curled up on the couch together.

“There’s my girl.” He walked over to the couch and pressed a kiss to the top of his daughter’s head. “How are you feeling, baby?”

Her lip poked out. “Not very good, Daddy.”

“Well, I’m going to make you some macaroni and cheese. That’ll make you feel better, right?”

She nodded before curling back up against Audrey and pulling her stuffed raccoon close.

“You okay, sis?”

“Yeah. I should probably get going. I’ve got a few things to get done before we film next week’s episodes.”

“Okay. Can you give me like fifteen minutes to get the macaroni put together?”

“Of course. I need some more Caroline snuggles.”

Blake put the water onto boil and started preheating the oven. While he waited, he got the cheese shredded and ready to go into the sauce. He was getting ready to put the noodles onto boil when his doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” he called out. He didn’t want Audrey to have to dislodge Caroline.

After grabbing a kitchen towel to wipe his hands, Blake hurried to the door. He pulled it open, half expecting the mail man to need his signature for a package or something. Instead, he found Linc standing there, awkwardly holding several grocery bags.

“Linc.”

Linc shuffled back and forth nervously. “Hey. I… uh, sorry to just stop by but… you said Caroline was sick and…”

“Linc!” The little girl in question heard her name and poked her head up over the back of the couch.

“Hey, little bit. I heard you were sick, so I came to check on you.”

“My ears are hurt. I have to take the pink medicine.”

“Well, that’s not so bad, is it?”

She shrugged.

“I brought you something. Um, if it’s okay with your dad, that is.”

“God, Blake,” Audrey said. “Invite the man in already.”

“Sorry. Come in. Of course you can come in. Please do.”

Jesus, he needed to shut up.

“Good, because I need to go,” Audrey said. “Linc, you’re on Caroline snuggle duty for a while.”

“Yay!” Caroline held out her hands to him.

Linc looked to Blake for approval.

“Yes, of course. Here, give me your bags and you can see her.”

Linc went over to the couch and settled Caroline on his lap. Once they were lost in conversation, Audrey met Blake’s eyes and gave him a look.

“I know,” he said.

“Talk to him. Tell him. Beg him to forgive you.”

“I will.”

“Good. And text me because this is fucking exciting and I can’t wait to see what happens.”

Blake pulled her in for a giant hug. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what sisters are for.”

Blake shooed her out the door, then went back to the kitchen to finish the macaroni. Once he had it in the oven, he joined Linc and Caroline on the couch. She’d settled on his lap with her raccoon and blanket wrapped in her arms. Linc had his arm around her and was leaning his cheek against her hair.

Blake looked over at Linc, and the expression on his face broke Blake’s heart all over again.

Then Linc reached out his hand. Blake took it and scooted over next to him. Linc wrapped their fingers together before turning to watch the movie again.

Yeah. He kind of felt the same way.

Blake moved even closer and laid his head down on Linc’s shoulder. Neither of them spoke for the half hour it took the macaroni to finish baking.

“You staying for dinner?” Blake asked.

“If you’ll have me.”

“Please stay.”

Linc nodded and stood with Caroline still wrapped in his arms. “Then let’s go feed the mouse.”

Blake dished her up a small bowl and stuck it in the freezer to cool down while he made her a cup of juice. Then he fixed plates for both him and Linc and sat them down at the table.

“Go on and get in your seat, Caroline.”

“Ok.” She scrambled around and climbed up into her booster seat. The promise of macaroni always had her on her best behavior.

Blake got her bowl out of the freezer and checked to make sure it had cooled down enough. It had, so he passed it to her and watched her tear into it. It was like he never fed her.

Linc grinned up at him. “Must be good.”

“It is. Go ahead and eat. Sorry I don’t have anything else to go with it.”

“This is good. Comfort food. And I’ll wait on you.”

They shared a quick smile. “Water okay to drink? I’m out of about everything.”

“I brought 7UP. I always want that when I’m sick.”

“Sure, that works. I’ll get some ice.”

Although it still felt a little awkward at moments, Blake had also found a bit of peace. He didn’t know what they were going to do, but having Linc here was exactly what he wanted. He was able to take his first real breath since he’d walked out of Linc’s house with his heart in pieces.

And then Linc took his first bite of macaroni and groaned. “This is really good.”

“Yep,” Caroline said. “It has three cheeses. Daddy makes it best.”

“He really does.”

When they finished eating, they settled back on the couch in the same positions they’d been in before. When Caroline started yawning, Blake forced himself to move.

“Okay, Mouse. It’s time for a bath and bed.”

She started to pout, but he shook his head.

“You know the rules. No snack if you don’t behave.”

With a huff, she climbed off of Linc’s lap and walked toward the bathroom. “Don’t leave, Linc,” she ordered before she went down the hall.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Of course, he was looking right at Blake when he said it.

They hurried through her bath and into pajamas before she picked out a granola bar for her snack. Once she’d eaten and had another dose of medicine, they brushed her teeth and finally got her snuggled into bed. He only read a few pages from her book before she was out cold.

After placing a quick kiss to her forehead, Blake went back into the living room and found Linc waiting for him on the couch.

“Hey,” he said.

It was like he forgot all words whenever Linc looked at him.

Then Linc smiled.

“God, I missed you.” Blake practically ran the last few steps and flung himself into Linc’s arms.

“I missed you back. And Caroline too. I thought we were done but then today, when you looked at me, I could tell you still cared about me. And dammit, Blake, I am so crazy in love with you I can’t even think about anything but you. And then you tell me Caroline is sick and I just— I had to be here. I needed to be here. What if she needed something? Goldfish crackers or 7UP or pudding or… hell, anything. So I went to the store and got it all and then came here.”

Blake leaned in and kissed him. How was he supposed to do anything else?

When he finally broke away, Linc held his cheeks in his hands. “Please tell me I’m not imagining this.”

“You aren’t. I’m in love with you right back. Thank you for showing up. I wanted you here, but I didn’t think I had the right to ask. Not after what I did.”

“You didn’t do anything. It’s— wait. I brought something to show you.”

Linc pushed away and went to the bags he’d carried in before. He pulled out a folder and brought it over to Blake.

“I checked into it and I can get my full contractor’s license. I meet the qualifications. So it won’t be a problem for me to stop working for your uncle. It’ll be rough for a bit while I get started, but—”

“Linc, no. I should be the one to quit. I can help Uncle Henry find someone to do the paperwork and help with the transition. They need you there.”

Linc shook his head. “No, they need you there. You know Henry won’t let the business be led by anyone who isn’t family. I’m sure Abe is going to get his license upgraded too, and then the two of you can run things just like David and Henry used to.”

“It’s not right for you to leave.”

“I’d rather do that than not have you. It’ll be okay, and this way, I know everything is mine, you know? I’m already booked for the licensing exam next week. It’s something I’ve been planning anyway. I just wasn’t planning on it quite this soon.”

The solution still didn’t sit right with Blake, but he was done pretending he didn’t want Linc with him.

“Okay. If you’re sure. We’ll have to talk to Uncle Henry, though. Explain it to him.”

“We will. And I’m not in a huge hurry. I’ll need time to get my business set up so we can transition me out or something. It’ll be fine.”

Blake searched Linc’s eyes and didn’t find any uncertainty in them. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“I don’t know how you did it, but I can’t seem to imagine my life without you and Caroline in it anymore. You think she’s going to handle this okay?”

“Yeah. She’ll be okay. She adores you almost as much as I do.”

“You think I can stay over tonight? I’d really like to sleep with you in my arms. I haven’t been sleeping all that much thinking about all this and wondering if I could get you back.”

“Sounds like both of us could use a good night’s sleep. I have to warn you, though. I haven’t showered yet today so before anything can happen, I need to clean up.”

“I’m happy to help. I seem to recall a promise to get you in the shower and do lots of dirty things to you.”