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when casey snorted , emma shot her a death glare . |
`` nothing . |
it 's just he does n't need to get involved with someone who is n't interested in a long-term relationship . '' |
`` em , you might as well tell her , '' casey urged . |
megan glanced between the two of them . |
`` tell me what ? '' |
`` fine , '' emma huffed resignedly . |
she handed noah to casey . |
`` make yourself useful by changing his diaper . '' |
as casey got busy cleaning up noah , emma turned to megan . |
`` when aidan and i broke up- '' `` what you meant to say is , after you left aidan when he did n't show up for noah 's gender ultrasound because he was cheating on you ? '' |
casey interrupted , waving around the wet wipe in her hand . |
emma closed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head . |
`` yes , that 's right . |
thank you so very much for bringing up that aspect of our break-up on today of all days . '' |
casey gripped noah 's ankles and hoisted up his little butt to slide on the new diaper . |
`` you 're welcome . '' |
`` anyway , as you were saying , '' megan pressed . |
`` right . |
so it was when aidan and i were broken up that i met pesh . |
i was with your papa fitzgerald the day of his heart attack at the vfw , and pesh was the doctor who treated him . '' |
`` so ... you both struck up a friendship then ? '' |
megan asked . |
emma grimaced . |
`` not exactly . |
you see , patrick wanted to force aidan to really fight for me , and he felt the best way to do it would be for him to have some competition . '' |
megan felt her eyes widening in surprise . |
`` papa wanted pesh to date you ? '' |
`` yeah . '' |
`` did you ? '' |
emma was momentarily distracted by casey blowing raspberries on noah 's stomach . |
a smile spread across her face as noah kicked his legs and giggled at casey . |
`` want me to get him in his dress ? '' |
casey asked , as she glanced up . |
`` if you do n't mind . '' |
bringing her hand to her hip , megan huffed out an exasperated breath . |
`` um , could you please focus for just a minute considering the bomb you just dropped on me ? '' |
`` i 'm sorry . |
i did n't want to tell you at all . |
i mean , whatever was between us is all in the past . |
neither one of us really cared for each other like we thought we did . '' |
`` did you ... '' megan said . |
at emma 's confused expression , she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively . |
emma 's face flushed . |
`` no , of course not ! '' |
casey eyed emma as she took the baptism gown off the hanger . |
`` you did make out with him though . '' |
`` one time . |
and he certainly did n't get to second base , '' emma argued . |
with a wicked grin , casey added , `` pity . |
wish you could inform us on what he has going on below the waist . '' |
emma rolled her eyes . |
`` you 're impossible . '' |
she snatched the gown away from casey and then started wrestling noah into the yards of fabric . |
`` it was n't like we were in a relationship . |
we did n't really even go out together . |
he came to the house once to bring me dinner and check on me when i was on bed rest , and then he took me to the opera . |
that was it . '' |
`` was there no chemistry between you two ? '' |
megan asked . |
without responding , emma pulled noah up into a sitting position and started fastening the row of buttons down the back of the gown . |
`` em ? '' |
megan pressed . |
she gave a heavy sigh before picking noah up . |
she stared into his face before she responded . |
`` we had great chemistry together . |
he was an amazing kisser who got all my senses up and running in all the right ways . |
besides the physical part , he is smart , kind , and intelligent-any woman 's dream . '' |
she shook her head . |
`` but it did n't matter because he was n't aidan . |
i could never , ever love another man like i do him . '' |
giving noah a kiss on the cheek , she added , `` neither one of us were really in a good place-i was trying to make sure that aidan really was the one , and after being pressured by family and friends , he was trying to date for the first time after his wife 's death . '' |
megan crossed her arms over her chest . |
`` i get that he does n't need to be hurt , but who is to say that having a fling is going to hurt him ? |
maybe it could give him the confidence he needs to go out and find the real woman of his dreams ? '' |
casey snorted . |
`` how could a man that looks like that have any self-confidence issues ? '' |
megan shrugged . |
`` you never know . |
if he was married a long time before his wife died , he might find it hard to get back into the dating world . |
especially if the last woman he cared about loved someone else . '' |
emma shook her head . |
`` trust me , he is n't the fling kind of guy . |
he wants a wife and children . '' |
although megan had a son , she was n't quite ready for marriage . |
maybe in a few years but right now she just wanted to date and have fun . |
she 'd willingly sacrificed so much to ensure that mason could have all of her attention since he was short a father . |
after all , he was the greatest hurdle in her having a committed relationship . |
she did n't want to open her son up to any hurt that might come from him getting attached to a man she dated only to have them disappear when they broke up . |
`` ankle really wants to fix us up ? '' |
megan questioned . |
emma nodded . |
`` regardless of what happened with pesh when we were broken up , aidan does respect and admire him . |
he wants pesh to be happy . '' |
she gave megan a pointed look . |
`` most of all , he wants that for you , too . '' |
megan wrinkled her nose . |
`` but i 'm really not ready for all of that yet . '' |
`` then think long and hard before you agree to do anything about pesh . |
he is unknowingly very persuasive , and in the moment , you might forget your resolve only to have it come back later to hurt you ... or him . '' |