The well kept, lush green course sprawled out in front me as I glance through the window of this posh Country Club. This exclusive place would have had my dad salivating, trying to figure out how to join. But I'm not with my dad. Instead, I'm sitting across a table, having breakfast with Cat's father.

It hits me how far my life has expanded in these last few months by simply letting a girl stay at my apartment. Now I'm part of a family again. Her family. I get a chance to start my own family, become a husband, a father. It's all happening so fast. I would have expected to feel scared by it, but I welcome the change.

I've been alone for years. Yes, I had William, but even he had become distant after Aiden's death. I've missed this, this feeling of belonging somewhere.

"Enjoying your omelet, Alex?" Mr. Fischer asks breaking into my thoughts and I smile.

"Very much. Everything here is delicious. Especially the coffee," I tell him, finishing up and pushing my plate away. "I have to say, I'm rather eager to get out there. It's been a long time since I've played on a full private course. I may be a little rusty, so I hope I don't disappoint you."

"Are you kidding me?" Mr. Fischer let out a hardy chuckle. "For years I've wanted to bring my son to this course. Hoping we could bond somehow, but the harder I pushed, the more he pulled away. He loathes the idea and then you come along. Finally, I can proudly play a round of golf with my son and not have to feel bad because you genuinely want to be here."

My stomach does a nervous flip when he calls me son. When Cat and I marry I guess I will become his son... well son-in-law, but that technicality didn't really seem to matter to either of us at the moment since in a way we are both getting what we want.

I really want to bond with Cat's dad. I want his approval. I want him to know I plan to be the best husband for his little girl, the best father to that child she's carrying, even though I know it's not mine. I don't care. We're a family.

"Well, I'm all set if you are."

Mr. Fischer's smile broadens. "Come on. I'll rent you a set of clubs, the best this place as to offer since you're no stranger to the game."

"Okay, but only if you let me pay for breakfast."

"You son, have yourself a deal. I'll see you out front."

I can't stop grinning as I pay the bill with a generous tip and head outside to where Mr. Fischer is waiting in a golf cart. He placed both of our golf club bags in the back, I notice as I climb in next to him.

"This is going to be fun," Mr. Fischer states, rubbing his hands together with glee before turning on the engine and moving us along to the first hole.

"I figured we'd work out the Executive Course first before we try our hand at the Championship Course. You know... give you a chance to warm up. We can always come back another time."

"Sounds good to me," I tell Mr. Fischer, already excited by the thought that he's already planning another time to play before we even start our first round.

He lets me play through first. I check out the clubs in the bag. It had all the standards: drivers, putter, sand wedge, and then I'd seen the hybrid. It's been a while since I played and I knew this would be my best bet, needing to get some loft on the ball but not knowing the correct weighted driver to use, having never played this course before.

I take two practice swings and then I knew I was ready. I play the ball in the middle of my stance, keeping my weight centered. I hit the ball on the descent, focusing on finishing high with all my weight on my left leg. I set the ball sailing. It felt good.

"Nice form!" Mr. Fischer exclaims, highly impressed. "Did you say you played pro?"

I shied under his praise. "I played some tournaments, not Nationals but local, mostly to represent my father's company."

I stopped talking as Mr. Fischer took his shot. It was a nice clean drive to the green.

"Did you ever get to play pro?" I ask uncertain if I should as it may be a sore point for him, but he explained everything to me as we advanced through to the next few holes.

"I had the chance, but I chose family. Mrs. Fischer was pregnant, and I knew what turning pro would mean. She'd be left alone, the child too, and I just couldn't do it. As much as I wanted this dream, I didn't want to fail her as a husband or a father. Yet..." with a rather sad expression on his face, he says, "it looks like I may have done both anyhow." He shakes the thought from his head and shrugs. "You're up."

I chip the ball into the hole to make it in par. I thought it strange that I got along with Mr. Fischer so well when he abandoned his own son, not much unlike how my father had abandoned Aiden and I. I couldn't help but wonder if my father ever regretted his decision to let us go.

"Cat loves you, Mr. Fischer. You've done right by her. I don't know Dillion well enough to say anything on that matter, but having my father turn me away and having your acceptance, means a lot."

Mr. Fischer pats my shoulder. "Thanks, Alex. I still have a long way to go. Life is a lot like golf. It's full of hazards, obstacles, and traps you need to find your way around or through. Are you going to make mistakes along the way? Most definitely, but what sets you apart from the others is how you handle them. Each shot, takes planning, looking ahead to where you want to go, and even when we arrive at the goal, it's really just the start to the next one. You know what I mean?"

Oh, did I ever. I've made a ton of mistakes in my life, some goals I never reached, but I know if I stick to the course I will arrive at my goal, eventually.

"Yeah, Mr. Fischer. I understand exactly what you mean."

"Good. What is taking these people so long?!" he complains, looking at the players ahead of us. It has been a while, and they didn't seem to be in a hurry to move along.

Without delays, this course could take us up to four and a half hours to play. Neither of us was looking to make it longer.

"Maybe we can ask them if they'll allow us to play through."

Mr. Fisher shrugs. "Can't hurt, I guess."

We get to the next hole and get out of our cart to ask if we can play through, but I stop dead in my tracks. I hear Mr. Fischer let out a swear. I knew instantly what brought it on. I even added a few of my own swear words within my internal dialogue.

"Should have known it was you, Marcus, cluttering up the place! Why don't you just move along already?" Mr. Fischer commands as he storms up to another man similar to his age. However, standing off to the side was the last person I wished to see. Liam.

"I pay my dues. We locked in our time, Fischer so you'll just have to wait," the man declares with a sneer.

"Dad, why don't we just move along," Liam suggests. 

I had to admit it surprised me that Liam was taking the high road for once.

"No, Son. We have every right to be here. I will not step aside to let HIM just walk on by like he let his daughter do to you."

"That's not exactly..." Liam starts to say but Mr. Fischer concludes with, "Oh, so it alright for your son to knock up my little girl and take no responsibility, for it?"

Marcus' face changes, the sheer shock of Mr. Fischer's words causes him to take a step back. "Knocked up! My son would never abandon his responsibilities. It was your daughter that was sleeping around. Shacking up with a complete stranger. She should be ashamed of herself."

Mr. Fischer was about to advance on him, but I held him in check from doing any physical damage, although I wished I could inflict some myself. "Cat never cheated on Liam. Can Liam say the same?" I challenge.

I knew instantly I should have stayed out of this because all of sudden Liam's face changes. No long filled with embarrassment and shame, Liam looks ready to attack and now he's found his target.

"Yes, I can! I never slept with another girl the entire time I was with her. I loved Cat too much to disrespect her like that."

"But not enough to keep from fondling and locking lips with every frat girl that threw herself at you, though, right?" I threw back at him, knowing his track record, having heard stories from Olivia's boyfriend Doug that made me insane.

"Don't go there, Bragin! You've got no room to talk."

"He's got every right!" Mr. Fischer leaps to my defense. "He's Cat's fiancé and you better believe he's a better man than you."

Liam's eyes widen, stunned momentarily by this information he must not have known until now. But how? How could he not already know about Cat and I? Why would she not tell him, or how was it not mentioned to her friends? I thought back to the beach to Doug and Olivia's reaction to the mention of Liam's name and a sick feeling starts in the pit of my stomach.

Liam's eyes lock with mine, and a slow menacing grin spreads across his lips. The feeling breeds panic, brings bile to my throat. 

"Better than me, huh?" Liam turns to Mr. Fischer. "So, you prefer a STRIPPER over me to raise your grandchild, marrying your daughter?"

Oh God, no!!! My brain screams aloud.

"Stripper?! What the hell are you talking about, Liam?!" Mr. Fischer demands to know.

"Stripper?!" Liam's Dad looks me up and down with disgust. "Has your daughter really sunk that low?"

"Alex?" Mr. Fischer is looking for an explanation I'm not sure I can give.

"When that child is born, I'm demanding a paternity test. IF it is Liam's, I'll be damned, before I will allow that harlot of a daughter of yours to raise it along with her stripper boyfriend," Liam's father proclaimed.

"Alex?!" Mr. Fischer is now demanding answers from me, which I just can't give.

"Mr. Fischer, I was a pole dancer. Not a stripper."

"At a strip club," Liam points out and pulls up a picture he has on his phone and flashes it at Mr. Fischer who suddenly looks... ill.

"I don't have that job anymore. I quit!" I inform them all, but mostly Liam who was getting under my skin. He knew I didn't work there anymore. He let Cat delete the photo but obviously just got it back from Jenny so he'd have it in his arsenal, just in case.

Mr. Fischer turns to me with that same look of utter disappointment I'd seen on my father's face when he learned about Aiden being gay. He looked right through me. There was no way to salvage this situation. What's worse is now Liam and his father are gunning for Cat and the baby.

Mr. Fischer gets into Marcus' face. "You go after my daughter and that baby and I swear to you Marcus, I will ruin you. You and I have been friends for many years, your secrets have secrets. So I'd think again, before tossing around slanderous remarks about my daughter."

Marcus paled slightly at Mr. Fischer's words. It would seem it was no veiled threat.

Security showed up. Our argument had drawn the attention of the people who wished to play through behind us. As a result, we were all asked to leave, but not before Liam's father and Mr. Fischer were told such behavior was unbecoming of Club Members and that their privileges are being revoked for one month.

Then they escorted us off the fairway in the security guard's golf cart so they can turn in their memberships.

Could things get any worse?

They left Liam and me to follow. Liam shoulders me as he walks passed to his golf cart. "I warned you and Cat. Mr. Fischer may have something to hold over my Dad but not me. There is no way you're raising my baby."

"You're baby? The one you've been telling everyone isn't yours? The one you wanted to abort?"

Liam's smirk was downright foreboding. "We both know it's mine. I'm going to enjoy taking everything from you, Bragin, just like you did to me. Kiss it all goodbye because, in a blink of an eye, it's all going to disappear."

Oh, yeah! Things just got a whole lot worse.