Katelynn frowned as she shuffled closer to him. Their knees were now touching. "That's okay. Did you think they were yours-"

He shook his head and kissed the inside of her wrist again before taking it off his face and holding it in his hands. "I urm...I had a best friend- two. Jessica and Liam. I met Liam when I was in uni and he was a few years older, already had Katy and Leah. And we instantly hit it off and the both of us hung out all the time. I looked after the kids whenever we were free and-" He sighed. "They didn't have family. Liam was an orphan and Jess had family but they disowned her when she got pregnant at seventeen. They were both young and I didn't know them at that time, obviously. I met Liam when he was about twenty something- I think twenty-one and his girls were old enough now that they didn't need twenty-four hour watch. So they were about three when I first met them. Katy was anyways. Leah had just turned one." Katelynn smiled softly when she saw the distant look in his eyes. "I became part of their family and they became part of mine. My family loved them and my mum always called him her son and they both called her mum. After a year or two, the girls started calling me Daddy and Le and Jess absolutely loved it. I told them they didn't have to but they insisted. Then five years ago, they had Tommy. They made me his godfather and one day, they went out. I was looking after the kids as usual on their date nights. And then I got a call in the middle of the night and they told me that they had both been in an accident. I got the kids with me and I drove straight there." He felt Katelynn look at him but he continued looking down at their joint hands. "The floor collapsed in the restaurant and Jess died at the scene. It was Le that made it to the hospital and he knew he wasn't going to make it so the first thing he did was call him lawyer and make a will. He told him that I should be the only one to have custody of the children because he didn't trust Jessica's family and I didn't blame him. Half of them were in prison for drugs and murder. He was only awake for a few hours before he passed away. I took the kids home that day and I've had them ever since."

Katelynn sighed as she lifted his head up. "Vicky, what you did was a good thing-"

"No. not at first. At first I took them in because I wanted a piece of them to still be alive. That's it. At first I didn't take them in because I wanted them to be my children but only for my selfish needs to keep the memory of my friends alive."

"Is that how you feel now?"

He shook his head. "I love my children. And I have them now because I want to have them and because I love them to bits." She smiled at him and he quickly looked down. "I got upset before because Leah mentioned the list. Before Jessica passed away, she wrote a list for what she wanted her children to do." Katelynn sighed and let go of his hands. She stood up and walked out the room. Vicky stared at the doorway, suddenly feeling embarrassed at letting down his shield and letting himself become vulnerable. But soon after that, Katelynn walked back in with a blanket in her hands.

The first thing Vicky wanted to go was get up and bring her back into his arms but he sat down on his hands as he watched her. As if she knew he was staring at her, she turned around and smiled.

"Come here," she whispered as she spread out the blanket on the sofa. She sat down on the sofa crossing her legs. After putting a pillow on her legs, he stuck her hand out. "Sorry about walking out, I was just feeling a bit chilly. Lie down and talk. You look knackered." Slowly, he lifted the blanket and got in, resting his head on the pillow that was on her lap. He felt her slender fingers now running through his hair.

"She made a list," he continued, "and in that list she mentioned things she wanted all three of them to do. Number one was to have fun, two was so well in school, three was get into university or knowing her, them getting into apprenticeship or something that allows them to continue their studies. Four was to get a job they love and five was to find their spouse and then live happily ever after."

"She sounds lovely," Katelynn said with a smile. Vicky turned to look up at her.

"She was. She was like my older sister that always looked out for me. She would always call me every few days to check I had food in my fridge and I was eating." The clock ticking filled in the silence as Katelynn slowly ran her hand through his hair. "Thank you, Katelynn," he whispered. "For not calling me selfish when I said why I wanted them in the first place."

"Vicky I'm not here to judge you. You did a great thing. A wonderful, wonderful thing and I don't think I'd ever met someone who has a big of a heart as you do. Maybe the intention wasn't right in the first place but that's normal. You were grieving over your friends- best friends and at the same time had to take the responsibility of three young children. So no, you weren't selfish, you were the opposite. You stopped everything and fulfilled your best friends wishes for their children. Be proud of that."

Vicky felt tears burn his eyes and before he knew it, his head was turned to her stomach with deep sobs escaping his mouth. Shocked, Katelynn stared down at him. When she was brought back to reality, she finally brought a hand down to his back, rubbing it gently. That only made him cry harder. She shuffled down so she was on her side and pulled Vicky into her chest.

"Vicky..." she mumbled into his hair. "It's okay."

"I miss them, Angel. I miss them everyday." With a sigh, she kissed the top of his head, leaving her lips there.

It was ten minutes later when Vicky started to quieten down. Through those minutes, she had whispered comforting words in his ear as she rubbed his back.

Sniffing, Vicky looked up slowly. He felt her lips graze his forehead when he finally set eyes on her. Immediately he felt his ears burn. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Katelynn shook her head with a smile. Her finger ran across his cheek and he took her hand, kissing the inside of her wrist. "It's okay, Vicky. As long as you're feeling better."

He looked back down again and wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you." He felt his eyes close and shuffled closer to Katelynn, resting his head on her chest. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Be a referee between your daughters- who really need to start liking me."

"I liked you the minute Melissa told me what you did on your seventeenth birthday." He heard her gasp and chuckled. "I bet you didn't know I knew her. Angel, the amount of nannies I had in my house, it would be hard not to meet her on more than one occasion." He then lifted his head with a smile. She saw him slowly open his eyes. "You should go to sleep. You have the weekend to prepare for with the girls."

Katelynn groaned. "Vicky, I love your kids and everything but Katy is just a pain in the backside." Suddenly, Katelynn rolled over him and ran out the room. He frowned as he slowly stood up, looking down at the sofa where they just were. "You swore at me before. That's a bad word," she sang. Although he tried his best to bite his smile away, he felt his lips curl up.

"You're never gonna let it go are you? Since that first day I made you put it in, you've been searching for any bad word I said." Gently, she put the money jar on the coffee table before taking a step towards him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her. "I feel like we've known each other for all our lives. I really don't get how you only game into my life one week ago and how badly I like you. Like, I've never felt like this with anyone before, even those that I had been together with for months. But you," he paused, kissing the tip of her red nose, "you're special."

"Well, I am an angel," she said with a smirk. "Would this count as being a mistress? Like working for someone and then-"

"No. Technically a mistress would be the one to sleep with her boss. And mistress is a word basically saying the other woman. So, no, you're not. You're my Angel."

"Metaphorically or you mean my name?"

"Why can't you be both?" Katelynn laughed as she ran a hand up his chest. She kissed the nape of his neck before tightening her arms around him. "Angel?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry. I just- I really, really like you and I mean really like you but we have to take this slow. And I mean slow." She pulled back and smiled. "I mean it. When I say slow, I mean slow. It's just that the kids-"

"Vicky, I know," she said with a small laugh. "It's okay. The kids need to like me first and we need to get along before we continue on. And plus, even after they like me, I doubt they would be happy if they find out we're together- if it ever gets to that stage. Then we would have to work our way through there. Don't worry Vicky, I understand."

He reached for her hands and brought them to his lips. "I'm sorry, Angel. I'd understand if you want to walk away now, I really would. I promise I won't make it awkward. I'm sorry I can't give you everything now. The kids always come first and no matter how much I like you, no matter how much I want to be with you, it's my kids that are at the top of the list."

Katelynn expected to feel disappointed. She expected her heart to drop and shatter into pieces when he told her she would never come first. He was warning her now, telling her in advance that he wouldn't be able to meet all her expectations. But that feeling never came. Instead, she felt a sense of comfort wash over her. She was proud that he put the kids first and that only made her fall for him faster.

"I get it. You're a dad first. I wouldn't expect anything less."