Kayla bounced Stephanie on her lap as the guest of honor sampled her first piece of chocolate cake. Everyone laughed as Jeannie smeared the chocolate all over her face and bib.
"Just wait until she gets into your makeup drawer, Kimmie," Caroline said. She gave Kayla a knowing look, as Roman, Kim and Bo all laughed.
Her family would never let her live that down, but Kayla was not going without a fight. She pointed at Bo. "If I remember correctly, it was you, baby brother, who said that's where Ma kept the 'clown makeup.'"
Bo feigned innocent. "Moi? I was always a perfect angel."
"Yeah, right." Kayla said that almost in unison with Roman and Kim. They all laughed. It had been so long since she and her siblings had all been together and happy. Since Kim's return, there had always been tension at Brady family events.
Someone put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Steve watching her. "You okay, baby?" he asked.
Kayla reached up and took his hand in hers. "Of course. I've got you and Stephanie, and my entire family's here. Nothing could make me happier."
She looked around the room. Next to Jeannie's high-chair, Kim was trying to wipe the chocolate off her daughter's face, while Shawn and Caroline looked on, laughing at the sight. She glanced across the room at Bo and Carly. Bo was in an oversized chair, with Carly seated on his lap. Bo was brushing his hands through her hair, probably not even realizing what he was doing, as they talked with Roman and Marlena, who seemed to be settling into her former life quite well.
There's just one person missing. Kayla tried not to focus on Shane's absence. He had come into the room briefly, but Shawn had immediately approached him with some not-so-subtle comments about fathers and their "obligations" to their families. Shane had started to respond with an angry defense that Kayla had seen often during their relationship, but he had looked around the room and hesitated. Instead of rising to Shawn's bait, Shane had said something to Kim and then had left the library. With a sorrowful look on her face, Kim had watched Shane leave.
As Shane had left, Steve had whispered in her ear, "First you, now Shane. Has he been like this the whole time I was gone?"
Pretty much since February, Kayla had thought, as she said quietly, "You know how Pop gets." Steve definitely knew.
With Shane gone, the party had resumed. Kayla wondered if she was the only one who had noticed Roman slip out of the library after Shane, but he had returned about 10 minutes later - alone. In the back of her mind, Kayla had thought about how Shane had left Donovan Manor after that night he had touched her cheek. Once again, it seemed, her family had made Shane unwelcome in his own home.
"Was this what Stephanie's party was like?" Steve asked, his words intruding on her thoughts.
Kayla forced a smile. "Pretty much." It was hard for her to divorce the party from what happened afterward - kissing Marcus, then kissing Shane, and then dealing with Kim's surprise return from Los Angeles. That was a hell of a night. She tried to focus on the party, though, and looked up at Steve. "You would've loved it."
"I'm sure my Little Sweetness was the belle of the ball." He emphasized that by leaning over Kayla's shoulder and planting a kiss on Stephanie's head. The baby looked up and laughed. "Papa."
Kayla grinned. "I warned you."
"I told you, Sweetness. I'll never get tired of hearing that." He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "All that time I was away, I couldn't even hope to be with you and Stephanie and our family. Even if it is for a one-year old's birthday party."
Kayla knew what he meant. Even with some of the issues they had returning to Salem, everything since that day she had arrived in England felt like some extraordinary dream. Two months ago, she was lost, confused, and the focus of family conflict. Now it felt like the world had righted itself.
"Uh oh. . . ." Steve said, very quietly.
"What?" Kayla looked around, wondering what could have caused Steve to sound so concerned, but he just laughed.
"Looks like it's time for us to 'ooh' and 'aah' over baby presents."
Kayla looked up to see a mock grimace on his face. She rolled her eyes. "You'd better get used to it. You're going to have to do it for a lot of Stephanie's birthdays."
Steve grinned widely, then leaned over and kissed her. "For Stephanie, I'll love every minute of them. Your niece on the other hand. . . ."
"You're terrible," she muttered, but he did not respond, because everyone in the room was focused on the gift-wrapped box that Caroline passed to Kim.
"This is from Kay and Steve," Kim said, as she looked at the card and smiled. She opened the box and pulled out the knit cap and muffler that Kayla had made for Jeannie.
"Oh, that's adorable," Caroline exclaimed.
Kim laughed and looked at Kayla. "It's good that at least one of us got the knitting gene." Kayla chuckled as she recalled a couple of Kim's disastrous attempts at knitting. Kayla started to make a joke in response, but Stephanie chose that moment to begin crying.
"Uh oh," Steve said, from behind Kayla. "Looks like Little Sweetness needs a diaper change."
Kayla rose to her feet as Stephanie continued to howl. "Maybe, but I think it's more that she's like her papa and hates not being the center of attention." She grinned at Steve, who gave her a wry smile back.
"We'll discuss that later," he said, but his tone was good-natured, and Kayla had a pretty good idea of what their "discussion" would entail. "Let me take her," he said.
"No, I've got it." She was already standing. "I'll just get her quiet. Be back in a minute."
"Okay." Steve nodded. "I actually have something to discuss with Roman."
Kayla tried not to react, even though she knew that the topic of that discussion was probably Lawrence Alamain. But there was no point in starting another argument, so she headed out the door and down the hallway to the room Kim had set up as a makeshift nursery for when the baby was downstairs. On the way, Kayla passed the playroom where the cousins were playing. She laughed as she heard Sami complain about the boys not letting her play. Funny how little things change. Poor Sami. It was hard to be the only girl in the group. Kayla remembered all the times she tried to get Roman and Bo to let her play football. Well, in a few years, Sami would have Stephanie and Jeannie to boss around, and she would be perfectly happy.
Passing the closed door to Shane's study, Kayla reached the nursery. A quick check told her that the problem was not Stephanie's diaper, but the baby continued to cry. Kayla lifted her up and tried bouncing her, hoping it would soothe her. "I can't wait until you can really talk," she said. "Then you can tell me what's wrong."
"Where's the fun in that?"
Kayla spun around to see Shane standing in the doorway.
"Sorry. . . . Guess it's my turn to apologize for startling you." He looked over at Stephanie. "Is she all right?"
"I think so. She's not sick and didn't need a change, and I know she's not hungry after all the food Simmons prepared for her and Jeannie." Kayla smiled. "That was a nice touch, by the way." She knew with a near-certainty that Shane had instructed the butler to have food for the babies.
Shane shrugged off the compliment and focused on Stephanie. "Well . . . process of elimination means she's probably teething. Either that or you're entering the 'terrible twos' a bit early." He walked over to the dressing table and fished around a little. "Here we go." He turned back and walked over with a pacifier. "Why don't you see if that works?"
Kayla tested it. Stephanie immediately stopped crying and started to suck on the pacifier. Kayla shook her head. "Okay, now I feel like an idiot."
"Don't," he said. "I learned the hard way with Andrew to always have one at the ready. It was either that or let him chew on my finger. At times, I would've sworn that boy was half-piranha."
Kayla laughed, but she saw the same sadness in Shane's eyes that she had seen earlier when he had talked about the cameo. She doubted her father's comments had helped any. "I'm sorry about what my pop said."
"Don't be. . . ." Shane sighed. "I should've expected something like that would happen."
"But it's not fair," Kayla said. "The only reason Pop was ever mad at you was because of our relationship. He shouldn't blame you for everything that happened."
"I don't know about that," Shane said ruefully. "I was the one who kept telling you that your family would get used to us in time. I guess maybe I was wrong. It still seems to be an issue even now that Steve is back and you and I . . . ." Shane's words drifted off.
"Our relationship may have ended, but you'll always be special to me, Shane," Kayla said softly. "You were there for me and Stephanie in so many ways. I'll never be able to thank you for that."
"You don't have to thank me," Shane said tenderly. "You and Stephanie brought something special to my life, even if it was only for a short time."
Kayla smiled at Shane as he looked down at Stephanie calmly sucking on the pacifier. No matter how much things had changed, Kayla knew there would always be a bond between the three of them. She only hoped that someday Steve and her family would understand.