"I brought dessert," Rachel said, heading for the kitchen and setting the container of goodies down on the countertop. She laughed as she backed away, letting Tate and Dakota surge in front of her. They'd been begging to dig into the leftover party treats on the ride over. But Kayce told them they weren't allowed to eat in his truck.

"You'd think we don't feed them," Monica joked, shaking her head at the two little ravenous beasts.

Jamie handed Kayce a beer from the fridge, grabbing one for himself and the bottles of water that Monica and Rachel asked for. Rachel took the water, smiling as Jamie slung his arm around her. Dakota turned, shoving the other half of a blue frosted cupcake into her mouth. Crumbs fell from her lips as she approached.

"What's fer dinner?," she asked, wiping a smear of blue frosting from her lips and then licking her hand.

"Steaks and cheesy potatoes," Jamie informed her with a laugh. She nodded her approval of his menu. They didn't have much steak at home. Because it was expensive. And because her mom was usually tired of the kitchen by the time she got home from the bakery. A lot of times they just made pasta with jarred sauce or grilled cheese sandwiches. That's how Dakota knew these people were rich. They were always eating the kind of food she usually only got if her mom took her out to a restaurant.

"You got any baby horses around here?," Dakota asked. Jamie shook his head, trying not to laugh at how disappointed Rachel's daughter was by the lack of baby animals at his disposal.

"There's a couple four wheelers in the barn you can ride on," he offered. Dakota and Tate exchanged glances before they darted from the kitchen, thundering out the door and down the front porch steps. Monica called after them, reminding them to wear helmets. But Rachel doubted either of them was listening.

"S'alright," Kayce joked. "He's got a hard head."

While Kayce and Jamie went outside to fiddle with the grill, Monica and Rachel sat down on the barstools that pulled up on one side of the large kitchen island. There was a tray of veggies and dip laid out. It was obvious that Jamie bought it pre-made from the grocery store. But he'd taken the food out of the plastic tray it came in and dumped it onto a glass serving dish. It made Rachel smile. He was such a fancy pants. The conversation flowed easily between Rachel and Monica as it often did between mothers with kids around the same age. They were chatting about different home schooling programs when their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a car horn in the driveway.

At first, Rachel assumed that the kids were just horsing around in the driveway. But when the noise persisted, she and Monica started to exchange curious glances. Jamie came in from the outside, wiping his hands on a towel as he passed through the kitchen. Rachel hesitated for a moment before she rose from her seat and followed after him. The large porch off the front door was screened in and shaded, giving her a good viewpoint to watch the little squabble that was happening in the driveway without being seen.

Rachel sighed heavily when she saw that there was not only an unexpected female guest in Jamie's driveway but that it wasn't even the same one that showed up unannounced the last time she was here. She was begging to wonder if the reason he didn't have any horses in his stables was because he needed the extra room for all his conquests. This woman was fuller through the hips than the last one. She had auburn hair that was shining almost copper where the sun was hitting it.

"I told you we need a regular schedule," Jamie explained to the woman as she leaned into the backseat of her car, exiting with a small child in her arms. "You can't just show up out of nowhere and spring him on me like this."

The baby had the same reddish hair as his mother. But even from her limited vantage point, Rachel could see that the small boy resembled Jamie in the face. Which would make him the baby Jamie had with his former campaign manager. While Rachel wasn't impressed with the woman's sudden appearance, at least she knew who the woman was. Sort of. And she knew that Jamie had a son. So seeing him wasn't as huge a shock as it would have been if she wasn't previously aware of his existence.

"If you're too busy for your son," the woman hissed, "...then maybe you don't need to see him at all."

Jamie reached for the boy, clearly displeased with the woman's outright threat. But she turned her body, refusing to allow Jamie to take the boy from her arms. Rachel crossed her arms, trying to fight her immediate dislike for the woman. She kept Dakota away from her father. But that's because he was dangerous. This woman was clearly just being petty. Using the child as a pawn to get whatever it was that she wanted. At the moment, that appeared to be a free babysitter with no notice.

"It's not like that Christina," Jamie countered. "...I'm in the middle of making dinner. I would just appreciate it if you called first."

"I did call!," she countered.

Jamie let out a heavy sigh. He supposed that was true. She did call. But she called him in the middle of the night and didn't leave a message. He didn't return her call because he didn't think she was calling about their son. When Christina called him late at night it was only ever for one thing. And that was something he was no longer interested in. That's why she was mad. And she was using the excuse that she needed him to watch their son as a reason to show up and start trouble with him. Jamie was over Christina's constant drama. If he wasn't so afraid of the scandal a trial would bring onto his family, he would have already filed for custody in family court.

"Do you want me to watch him or not?," Jamie finally asked, holding his hands out to take the boy. Rachel cringed as she watched the woman shove the child forcefully into Jamie's arms. She supposed she ought to be surprised by what the woman said next. But she really wasn't.

"I need some money for diapers," the woman demanded. Jamie jostled the baby in his arms as he pulled out his wallet and handed the woman a small stack of cash. He didn't count it first and Rachel guessed he was at the point where he'd pay anything to just get the woman out of his driveway and away from him.

"When are you coming back to get him," Jamie asked as the woman snatched the cash from his outstretched hand. She ignored his question, sliding behind the wheel of her car and slamming the door shut. Not wanting to add to the already tense situation, Rachel waited until the woman pulled away before she headed down off the porch.

"Friend of yours?," she teased. He groaned, stuffing his wallet back into his pants before he shifted the small boy into a more comfortable position in his arms. "Expecting anyone else?," Rachel asked, her tone light and playful.

"I sure the fuck hope not," Jamie groused, not laughing until Rachel burst into laughter beside him. When she got herself back under control, she leaned in and pressed a kiss onto the side of his mouth. Then she reached for the baby. Jamie handed the boy over, smiling a little when Rachel took him and held him with a practiced hand. Even if he didn't already know, it would have been obvious that she had a child of her own.

"It's been a long time since I held a baby this small," she said with a smile, rubbing her hand over the boy's back before she smoothed his windblown hair away from his face. The boy started to slide down slightly and Rachel boosted him back up with a smile. "He's a little chunker."

Jamie smiled back, wrapping his arm around them both as they headed back inside the house. He chuckled as Monica moved in, joining Rachel to fawn over his son. Rachel handed the baby off to the other woman. And Jamie saw a flicker of emotion pass across Monica's face as she held the little one protectively in her arms, hugging him against her. Kayce moved in right away, wrapping his arm around his wife.

"Where'd this baby come from?," he asked. He heard some honking in the driveway. But he thought it was the UPS guy or something. He wasn't expecting his brother to return with a baby in tow. Jamie glanced down, shuffling his feet and trying to think up the best way to explain the situation to his younger brother. The longer he went without telling his family about his son, the more impossible explaining the situation was starting to feel.

"His mom dropped him off," Rachel said, hoping she could keep the situation from turning awkward. It was obvious that Monica and Kayce had never seen the child before She looked to Jamie, hoping he might step in and offer his brother some explanation. When it became clear that he wasn't, she added, "...he's Jamie's son."

Kayce cast a surprised look at his brother. Then he looked back at the baby, suddenly noticing the obvious similarity in their facial features. Instead of the shock and disappointment Jamie expected from his family, Kayce's face was lit with obvious excitement.

"You've got a kid?," he exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me?" Kayce moved away from Monica and the baby to whack at his brother's back. "What the heck man? Why am I just finding this out now?" Jamie scrubbed his face with his hand.

"I didn't want dad to find out," Jamie admitted. "You know how he gets."

Kayce nodded. He was raised by the same hard ass single father that raised them all. For whatever unknown reason, the man was always harder on Jamie than he was on the rest of them. Which always struck Kayce as odd, since Jamie was the one that worked the hardest to win the man's approval. Kayce gave his brother one more friendly pat on the back before he offered him up a piece of advice that their oldest brother gave him years ago.

"Ya gotta stop worryin' so much about what dad thinks."