So I'm giving you guys two chapters today, for two reasons. I didn't get one up yesterday, and I'm sorry about that. But I also don't know if I'll time to get one up tomorrow or the day after. I'll try, but I'm going to be pretty busy this weekend, so it may not happen until next week. Sorry! Hope you guys enjoy these last couple of chapters.

MARCH 14

I pulled up to the Smoothie Shack and parked my car. I was running a little late, so I was guessing that Jonathan was probably already there.

Sure enough, he was standing just inside the door when I walked in. "Sorry I'm a little late," I apologized. "I had to drop off my little sister at her soccer practice on my way. She took forever to get all her stuff ready. Probably just to be a brat."

"Not a problem. Order whatever you want. I'll pay."

I nodded. "Thanks." I ordered a small chocolate shake and a small mango one. And I asked for an empty medium cup.

Jonathan gave me a strange look. "You like to mix them together?" he guessed.

I blushed slightly. Mom always told me that it was disgusting when I ordered it. Dad would make fun of me, too. I was the only one in my family willing to eat it. "Yeah. I like it that way."

He chuckled. "So do I." He changed the order to two medium shakes of each kind, and two empty cups.

Once we had our shakes, we sat at a booth. I shook my head as Jonathan started mixing the shakes together. "I can't believe we both like mango-chocolate shakes," I said. "I mean, I only tried it because my best friend, Adrian, thought it would be funny to dump his mango shake into my chocolate one when I wasn't looking. This was a few years ago, but I've been doing it ever since."

"I had a friend, in Florida, who dared me to do it. He thought I would be grossed out. He was pretty surprised when I actually liked it."

"Same with Adrian. He was pretty upset, actually. He'd been looking forward to watching me gag or something."

Well, there was one thing we had in common. We both liked mango-chocolate shakes.

"Jonathan, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why now? Why did you suddenly decide to get to know me now, after sixteen years?"

He sighed, handing me one of the hybrid shakes. "It's not like it's the first time I've thought about it," he admitted. "To be honest, that's one of the reasons why I left Camelot. Because I wanted to be a part of your life. Well, I'd always planned on traveling. But then there was you, and I…I was running away from the responsibility. I saw you once, you know, when you were about six months old. Mac had you at the lake, during the summer. I saw you, and I got scared. I found myself wanting to be in your life, wanting to do all the things that fathers do with their sons. And that scared the hell out of me. And then days passed without me reaching out to you or to Mac. Days turned into weeks, then months, then years. It just never seemed right."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Charlie, my fiancée. Charlotte. I met her six years ago, in Texas. She kept pushing me to at least try to reach out to you. She thought it was important."

That was a bit surprising. You'd think that most women wouldn't want their guys to be anywhere near their exes, which is a bit unavoidable when you have a kid with an ex and you spend time with the kid. "Really?"

"Well, yeah. She got especially pushy in the last few months because…Well, she's pregnant. She wanted me to connect with you. She thought that would help me to...I don't know. Connect better with this baby, too. That it would help me to be a better father. Obviously, I can't make up for all the years I missed. But I can start."

I nearly groaned.

Stupid Adrian. He just had to be right, didn't he? He was going to totally freak out when he heard. "So I'm going to get two new siblings," I grumbled. "You don't have any other kids, do you?"

He shook his head. "Just you and this little guy. Charlie is six months along. How far is your mom? I noticed that she was showing, at your play."

"She's about five months. It's a girl."

"Mine's another boy. How many siblings do you have? I saw a lot of kids with your family the other night, but I'm sure that quite a few of them were Maddison's. Harper probably has a few now, too."

"Actually, Aunt Harper only has one. She wanted more, but she had some complications with Rebecca's birth, so she and Aaron decided not to have any more after that. Anyway, I've got a sister who is almost ten, Bexley. Then there's the twins, Jaxson and Cayson, who are five. And the baby. I think Mom and Dad are going to name her Kensley or Everly. And then yours."

He looked very surprised. "Mac has five kids? She always wanted three."

I shrugged. "Well, her third turned out to be twins, and then this last one was a complete surprise."

"And she's happy? With her husband and the life she has?"

I nearly rolled my eyes. "She's so happy that it's a little sickening sometimes. You probably know how much of a non-mushy person she is. She can get kind of mushy around Dad. It's…weird. Kind of sweet, but definitely weird."

He laughed. "I bet."

"But Dad's good for her."

"Is he good for you, too?"

I studied him, looking for any kind of bitterness or resentment or anything. I didn't find any. He didn't seem upset about my stepfather. "Yeah. He's been awesome to me. We're really close, and he's never treated me like I'm not his son."

"That's good. I'm glad. I don't think that I would have been a good father for you, even if I had stuck around. I wasn't ready for that. I'm glad that your mom found someone that could be what I couldn't for you."

I nodded. I still felt a little awkward around Jonathan, but this meeting had gone way better than the last one. I was thinking that maybe I did want him in my life. I was realizing that having Jonathan in my life wasn't going to take away from what I already had. It wouldn't detract from any of the relationships that I already had.

It would add to my life.