Page 87 of Welcome Home, Katie Gallagher
Aiden walked in and headed straight back to Connor’s table. He always knew where to find him at this hour. “Hey, Pops. How are the pancakes today?”
Connor looked up from the bundle in his lap. “Hmm? Oh, well, little Miss Helen here is especially partial to her mama’s banana mini pancakes, aren’t you, Nellie?” Connor kissed the head of his beautiful redheaded great-grandbaby.
Aiden leaned forward and kissed his daughter, too. She was the spitting image of her mother, all curly red hair and big green eyes, but she had her daddy’s chin. No one else seemed to agree with him on that pronouncement, but he was sticking with it.
He left Nellie in the very capable hands of her great-grandfather and went in search of his wife. She was pouring batter onto the griddle while sausages and bacon sizzled to the side. Aiden grabbed a piece of bacon off the strainer, narrowly avoiding the hand smack Katie aimed at him.
“Morning, sweetheart.” He leaned in and kissed her. She smiled and went up on her toes to kiss him back.
“Good morning. Are you keeping the town safe from ruffians and ne’er-do-wells?”
He gave her a long, deep kiss. When he pulled back, he said, “Your pancakes are burning.”
She jumped, swinging back to the griddle. “Damn it! Stop distracting me. Go sit down with Connor. I’ll bring you something to eat in a minute.” She pushed him toward the doorway and out of her hair.
“Hey, Chief, leave the cook alone. We’re hungry.” General chuckling followed the shout.
Aiden flashed a devastating smile. “Sorry, folks. Pops said he wanted redheaded great-grandbabies. Plural. I was just doing my best to follow orders.”
Katie came rushing out of the kitchen to the amusement of all. She placed a plate in front of Aiden. “There. Put that in your mouth instead of talking so much.” She leaned over and kissed Nellie’s sticky cheek. “How’s my sunshine?”
“She’s bright as a new penny and sharp as a tack.” Connor handed her another pancake to smash and eventually eat. “Now, what is this talk of plural great-grandbabies?”
Katie placed a hand on her still-flat stomach. “Well, that’s something we’ve been meaning to tell you.”
