Chapter 5: Bound Together

I enter the College Union with my three-month old daughter, and scan the crowd of faces.

"Kent! Over here!" I quickly focus in on Lindsay's persistent hand waving and cross to my group of friends. Patrick pulls out an empty chair, which I drop into between him and Rob Cokran. Across from us, Lindsay, Ally, Elody and Juliet are picking at their trays, Juliet scribbling something in a notebook. Patrick peers at me closely.

"How did you sleep?"

"Great. I got a full forty minutes," I deadpan. Beside me, Rob snorts into his milk carton. "And I still managed to write that paper for Justice and the Family."

"Your daughter practically is that paper, for Christ's sake!" Lindsay scoffs. "Honestly, Kent, you could make Katrina your independent study for that class, skip the lectures, and you'd still get an A!"

"Very true," Juliet concurs without looking up from her notebook. I smile at her, as Katrina begins to whimper.

"I think she wants her godmother," I smirk, and I pass Katrina over to Juliet. Lindsay looks on with a tiny bit of lingering envy. It was not an easy decision, to choose guardians for my daughter without being able to consult Sam on her wishes. I chose Juliet largely because I thought it would give the depressed girl a reason to live on. She was very broken up by Sam's death - still is, to some degree.

"I'm still the favorite aunt, right?"

"She has an embarrassment of aunts - more than she'll know what to do with!" I laugh. "Chill out, Linds - let Katrina decide on her own in time!"

Sam's death bound both of her worlds together in a way that I don't think will ever be tested or strained. The girls welcomed me and the baby with open arms; after a heart-to-heart chat, Juliet followed with a truce in hand. Rob Cokran and Patrick soon joined our little motley crew and we all enrolled at the University of Washington together for the second semester. My parents didn't approve of me wanting to be a full-time student and also a full-time dad, offering to care for the baby themselves while I was at classes, but I refused. Katrina would not know her father only as that guy who flitted in and out on the weekends and holiday breaks. I intend to be invested in all aspects of her life.

"But we all know I'm the favorite uncle, right?" Patrick cracks.

"Sure, Pat," I smirk. "You do have godfather rights."

Rob slaps a hand along his thigh and rises. "Welp, I'm gonna go get a refill. Wanna help, Juliet?"

She nods eagerly, slipping Katrina over to Ally, and I watch the two disappear to the other side of the mess hall with more than a little curiosity. I whip my head back around to Lindsay, demanding an explanation, but she has taken a special interest in her nail file, revealing nothing. Elody smiles at me sympathetically.

"Don't worry, love - I got the goods," and she grins like a feral cat. I turn to stare at Patrick in confusion, but he merely shrugs.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Fine. I'll go talk to them." I stand and fork over a bottle to Ally. "Feed her, will you?"

"No way - it's my turn!" Lindsay interrupts as Ally takes the bottle, and I leave the girls fighting over feeding duties. Skulking around a corner, I round the bend to find Juliet pushed up against one column by Rob, the two of them furiously kissing and Juliet purring like a kitten. My mouth drops open.

"Hey. What the hell is this?"

Juliet breaks away, her face beet red at having been found out.

"Lunch," Rob explains simply. I let out a bark of a laugh.

"Huh. Maybe I should have made you godfather, Cokran," I ponder with amusement. We all laugh. "Does Lindsay know?"

"Yup. Says I couldn't land anyone better," Rob reports. I try to imagine that being delivered in Lindsay's tone, and can't decide whether it is a backhanded compliment towards Juliet or a shady put-down of Rob. I choose the former.

"High praise indeed," I say dryly. I give a jerk of my head. "Come on. You can make out more later."

And we return to our little family at our own little table.