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Hope you enjoy!

Belated Valentine's Day (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

"When's Daddy getting home?" DJ asked as he and Catherine sat at the small desk in his room working on thank you cards.

Catherine had taken a photo of their family from the courthouse on Valentine's Day and had them made into cards. When she'd told DJ about the idea, he was adamant they get in the mail right away. He wanted all the family and friends who had come to the adoption hearing and party to have one.

"He texted he'll be home soon," she told him.

"And he'll sign the cards, too?"

"He will," she promised. She looked toward the hallway. "Angie, we have more cards ready," she called.

"He'we I come!" she announced as she ran into the room. While DJ and Catherine had been working on the cards, Angie had been in and out of the room with the usual attention span of a two-and-a-half year old.

"Come here, you," Catherine said, scooping her up into her lap. "Here, can you put your name?" She handed Angie a colored pencil and tapped one of the cards that she and DJ had already signed.

Angie promptly scribbled on it.

"Hey, that one almost looks like an A," DJ said, smiling proudly at her.

Catherine grinned. "Almost, though not on purpose." She put another card in front of Angie. "Here's another one."

They got the toddler to "sign" a few more of the cards before she wriggled to get down and ran back into the hallway.

"Will the cards get to California before Joan and Aunt Mary and Uncle Aaron and Aunt Deb get there?" DJ asked.

Catherine smiled. "No, they got home yesterday. Remember? Daddy talked to Aunt Mary."

"Oh yeah."

They could hear toddler footfalls moving from room to room and Catherine called out, "What are you doing, baby girl?" as she had the previous times Angie had gone wandering.

"I cwean up, Mommy!" Angie called back.

" 'Clean up'?" Catherine repeated. She started to get up to check on her but DJ jumped from his seat.

"I'll check!"

Catherine smiled at his brotherly instincts and nodded. She picked up a blank envelope to address as he left the room.

A moment later DJ returned and slid back into his chair.

"What's she doing?" Catherine asked.

"Putting her clothes away," he reported, opening a new card and beginning to write a short message. " 'Thank you for coming …' " he recited aloud quietly as he wrote the words he'd put on the other cards.

Catherine's brow furrowed momentarily, then smoothed. "Mm, probably rearranging her drawers again," she said of Angie. "Can sometimes make it tough to find certain clothes, but she likes doing it and keeps her occupied for a few minutes."

DJ nodded absently, concentrating on his words.

A few minutes later they heard the front door open as Steve got home from work.

DJ's head shot up excitedly. He looked at the remaining cards in front of him. "Just two more," he said to Catherine. "I can finish them and then Daddy can sign them all."

She smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

"Hey, Cammie," they heard Steve greet the happy dog who'd met him at the top of landing behind the gate.

"We're in DJ's room," Catherine called. "Can you check on Angie?"

"Yep," he called back. Stepping into Angie's room, he chuckled as Angie barrelled into his legs, wrapping her arms around them.

"Daddy!" she squealed.

He leaned down, going to pick her up. "Hey, Angie, you–" He stopped, eyebrows furrowing. "What is that?"

Angie twirled in place, showing off the lacy red and purple bra she'd put on like a backpack.

He bark laughed, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth. "I don't think that's yours, baby girl, where'd you get that?"

She grinned toothily and pointed to the bottom drawer of her dresser. "In dere," she said.

"Really?" he asked, stepping over to the dresser and kneeling. He opened the drawer and rummaged inside for a second. Chuckling, he pulled out the matching panties, still with the tag on them. "I think you found Daddy's Valentine's present."

"P'itty," Angie said.

"Yeah, it is pretty. Nothing you're going to be wearing for a couple decades, though. Or ever." He stood up. "How 'bout we put that back where you found it? But first …" He took out his phone and quickly snapped a picture, Angie grinning away.

He swept her up under one arm and she giggled delightedly as he made their way into the master bedroom where a fancy bag laid on its side on the bed, tissue paper strewn beside it.

"That's kind of a relief," Steve said, looking down at his daughter. "I was a little worried you'd figured out how to get into Mommy's top dresser drawer." He set her down and got the bra off her, then put the lingerie back in the bag. "Let's go see what your Mommy and brother are up to, huh?"

"Dey cowor," she told him, leading the way to DJ's room.

"Color?" he asked.

"Look, Daddy!" DJ said, running to him as soon as Steve appeared in the doorway. "Mommy and me signed all the thank you cards! Now just you and Angie have to sign and we can mail them!"

Steve took the card his son held up. He smiled broadly. "This looks great, buddy. Good job." He leaned down to kiss DJ on the head, then smiled at Catherine. "You, too," he teased before kissing her lightly.

"Aww, thanks," she answered in kind.

"Kiss, Daddy," Angie said, reaching for him.

He lifted her up and planted a kiss on her forehead. "There you go, baby girl, kisses all around."

"It is our belated Valentine's Day, after all," Catherine said with a smile.

DJ's eyes brightened. "Ms. Lane saved my Valentine bag, Daddy!" He ran over to his dresser where he'd put the white bag decorated with hearts for the party he'd missed at school on Friday. "Everyone in my class put a card in it. There's Paw Patrol and silly monsters and even a motorcycle one! And everyone liked my tattoo cards. Michael had his on his arm today!"

"That's awesome," Steve said, smiling at the obvious joy on DJ's face as he carefully placed the paper bag back on the dresser.

"All right, kiddos, it's getting late," Catherine said. "Time to start getting ready for bed."

"Does that go for all of us?" Steve murmured in her ear.

She smiled at him. "That depends. You didn't forget what we're celebrating tonight, did you?"

"I didn't forget," he assured her, dropping a quick kiss at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. "And I happen to know you didn't either …"

Later, after both kids had long fallen asleep, Catherine stood in their bedroom while Steve took Cammie out for the last time that night. She loosely knotted a light robe around her waist and smiled looking at the array of homemade valentines Angie, DJ, and Joan had made that were now displayed on top of her dresser.

After a few more minutes, Cammie entered the room ahead of Steve who pulled the door almost closed behind him. She glanced over and noticed he held something behind his back. Smiling, she turned again to the valentines and nodded toward them.

"You're gonna have to work pretty hard to top these, Commander."

He smiled, stepping up beside her. "That's true, but you're forgetting one key fact, Lieutenant," he said, leaning closer as she looked up at him.

"What's that?" she asked, smiling saucily.

He paused, hovering just above her lips. "I know you better than anyone." Stepping back, he pulled the box of chocolates from behind his back, presenting them to her with a knowing grin. "Happy Valentine's Day."

She chuckled, not hesitating to open the box and take out a cherry cordial. "Mmm," she said, biting into it. "Been waiting for that since Friday."

He caught the bit of syrup on her lip with his thumb and brought it to his own mouth. "You're not the only one," he said, voice dropping low. He paused, his expression shifting. "You're not disappointed we didn't do this Friday, are you?"

"Of course not," she assured him, setting the heart-shaped box down on the dresser. She turned to face him fully. "We've celebrated many belated Valentine's Days over the years."

"We have," he acknowledged.

"And I love that from this year on, Valentine's Day will always be the day our family became whole."

A smile came automatically to his face at her words even as his hands slid a familiar path around her waist. "It will. I love that, too."

"We had a house full of people," she continued, her hands traveling slowly up his chest to his shoulders. "Not to mention your gift was a special order that got delayed. I didn't get a chance to pick it up until today." She eyed him with a wry smile. "Be honest. Did you peek in the bag? I forgot I set it on the bed after we got home. The kids were hungry so I had to start dinner, then DJ wanted to work on the cards and I forgot to come back and hide it. You didn't peek, did you?"

"Not exactly …" he said, lifting one hand to finger the edge of her robe and pushing it off her shoulder to reveal a lacy red and purple strap, as expected. His smile grew to a full-on grin and he released her momentarily to pull out his phone. He opened his photos and showed her the picture of Angie.

"Oh my god," she said, bubbling with laughter. "That kid … she is something else. DJ said she was putting away clothes but I thought she was just rearranging her drawers again." She shook her head, grinning at the photo. "That's a keeper, but maybe not a picture for the wall."

"Or my wallet," he added, setting the phone down next to the candy box.

As he turned back to her, she licked her lips, tugging on the tie of her robe suggestively. "You ready to see your Valentine's gift for real?"

"Mm, been waiting for that since Friday," he quipped, echoing her words.

"The wait's over, Commander," she said, guiding his hand to fully open her robe while wrapping an arm around his neck to bring him down for a kiss. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Hope you enjoyed!

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