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Feeling slightly sore after his morning in bed with Jackson, Steel pushed open the door to the kitchen, stopping when he saw Dakota standing at the island. “Hey…shouldn’t you be with Max? What are you doing here?”
Turning around, Dakota said, “I’m saving your brother’s life.”
Raising an eyebrow, Steel asked, “How?”
“By being here,” Dakota replied, before returning to cracking eggs into a big mixing bowl. “Mind you, not that I want to be here butyour brotherdidn’t give me much of a choice.”
Exhaling slowly, Steel asked, “What’s going on, Kota?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay.” Steel headed to the refrigerator and took out several packages of bacon. Setting them down next to the stove, he asked, “What do you want me to do?”
Looking up, Dakota snapped, “Maybe you can kill your brother for me? That would be a good start. Otherwise, my son is gonna have to grow up knowing his father killed his other parent.”
“Whoa…I meant breakfast…like, should I cook the bacon?”
When Steel’s response finally sunk in, Dakota dropped the egg in his hand into the bowl and sat down heavily on a stool. Wiping the tears on his cheek away, he murmured, “I’m sorry…it’s just…I don’t know what to…oh hell.” Getting up, he headed for the door, throwing another ‘I’m sorry’ over his shoulder.
Steel caught up to Dakota before he got to the door and gently led him back to the kitchen island. “Sit,” he ordered quietly, then sat down next to him. “Hey, Kota…please look at me.”
Wiping away several tears, it took Dakota a few moments before he raised his face, looking at Steel with watery eyes.
“Now, tell me what my stupid brother did to make you so mad.”
Choking out a chuckle, Dakota murmured, “Slate isn’t stupid.”
“He is if he upsets you,” Steel replied. “I should know because I grew up with him and he is fully capable of doing stupid things. So tell me what happened.”
Shaking his head, Dakota murmured, “He thinks I don’t know what I’m doing with Max. All he does is criticize me: I’m not supporting Max’s head right…I’m not burping him right…I’m not holding the bottle right because Max is sucking in too much air…I’m not…”
“You can stop…I got the picture,” Steel said. “My brother is doing his usual crap.”
Brushing away another tear, Dakota asked, “You mean he was always like this?”
“No…What I meant was once my brother became interested in a project…he would read everything he could get his hands on and then proceed to tell everyone whatthey were doing wrong because only he knew the right way.”
“I am not a project, nor is Maxwell James!” Dakota exclaimed angrily.
“I know that,” Steel said gently. “My brother used to drive me up the wall with his know-it-all attitude until I finally figured out why he was doing it.”
“Because he’s a jackass,” Dakota muttered.
“Well…that too, but no, it was because he was afraid he would fuck up. And trust me, my brother is scared shitless that he’s gonna fuck up with Max. That’s why he read every baby book he could get his hands on…because he didn’t want to fail you or Max.”
“He won’t…all he has to do is love our son,” Dakota murmured. “The rest will take care of itself.”
“The trouble is he loves Max too much.”
Shaking his head, Dakota said, “There is no such thing as too much love. A child needs as much as possible.”
“I agree, but my brother has the mistaken belief that how he does something…like burping his son or feeding him…is just as important as giving Max all of his love.”
“It’s not,” Dakota whispered. “Those things are necessary because a parent doesn’t want to hurt his child, but whether our son sucks in a little more air isn’t important in the long run.”
“You know that…but Slate doesn’t.”
