Kathleen sat her bags of cleaning supplies on the kitchen table. She had spent her last twenty dollars on them since Aaden didn't appear to have any in the house. She wanted to have the house cleaned before Aaden got home from work today.

Her body was still weak and tingling from his loving the night before. She found some country music playing on tv and turned it up as loud as it would go. She found a broom and mop in the hall closet and went to work.

888

Aaden was cussing all the way out to his truck. Stupid saw mill was going to hell in a hurry… Every damn machine in the place had decided to break down at once and now all the men were being sent home for the day while the repairs were made.

The only positive part of missing out on half a days pay was that he got to go home that much sooner to Kathleen. He pulled in the driveway and almost had a heart attack when he saw his moms car parked in front of the house. He hadn't even told his mom about Kathleen… He could only imagine what his outspoken mother was doing to his poor fiancee'

He jumped out of his truck and ran to the door. He could hear music blaring through the door. He could also hear people singing at the top of their lungs inside. He opened the door and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Kathleen was dancing with the mop while his mom was up to her elbows in soapy water at the sink and both were singing along to music at the top of their lungs. They didn't notice him so he just stood and watched them for a few minutes.

Kathleen looked beautiful.. She was barefoot and wearing a pair of gray pajama pants and a black tank top. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail and her face was make-up free.. She took his breath away. She saw him from the corner of her eye and gave a little yelp of surprise. She ran to the living room and turned off the TV catching his mom by surprise mid part through a very loud verse of the song.

"What's going on ,Kathleen, dear?" she asked and then turned and saw Aaden standing at the door.

"You young man are in a heap of trouble." Tammy said walking toward her son with a soapy finger pointed at him. He held his hands up.

"For what?" he asked as Kathleen came back into the kitchen.

"For not telling me that you had found this woman!" Tammy replied pointing at Kathleen.

"You guys have been busy." Aaden said looking around his spotless kitchen and living room.

"I was driving by here on my way to town when I saw that blazer parked in front of your house. I knew you were at work so I was afraid maybe somebody was robbing ya.. I came in and found Kathleen here down on her hands and knees scrubbing floors. Why didn't you tell your pa and I about her?"

"Hands and knees?" Aaden asked looking over at Kathleen. She shrugged… She actually enjoyed cleaning even though she wasn't always very good at it.

"It was dirty." she replied. He laughed and walked to her wrapping his arms tight around her and kissing her hair. She smelled like pine cleaner and lemons. She buried her face in his chest. He smelled like saw dust and sweat and the dust tickled her nose and made her sneeze.

"You need a shower." she said. He laughed again. This was a nice change from what he was used to when he came home from work. Usually it was just him, the couch and a couple of cold beers. He'd never had a pair of warm loving arms to come home too and he liked it.

"So did you and my mom talk about me?"

"Of course we did." Tammy replied. "You got ya a good one there, Aaden. She told me all about how you rescued her a few months ago and how she called you out of the blue and asked you to spend the weekend with her. Your father will be proud to know you knocked that Toms teeth down his throat so I guess it's up to me to tell you that wasn't the Christian thing to do." Tammy scolded but Aaden could see the smile on her face.

"She also told me that she's living here now. There is something else that she won't tell me. I've been trying to pull it out of her for hours but she refuses to say."

"Why wouldn't you want to tell my mom that you're going to be her daughter-in-law?" Aaden asked with a sly grin. Kathleen looked over at Tammy and saw her entire face light up.

"Oh that is just wonderful!" she said clapping her hands together. "It's about time you're settling down, Aaden! I can finally stop worrying about you!"

"No you won't, mama, but at least now you'll have somebody that will worry with you." Aaden replied. Tammy hugged Kathleen and Aaden tightly.

"Oh this is just great! I gotta get home and tell your daddy! Y'all come down for dinner Friday night! I'll have the whole family come over so they can meet Kathleen." Aaden and Kathleen both nodded as Tammy walked to the door.

"Well I'll let you two lovebirds have some privacy. I can't wait to call your mamaw." she said and then she was gone.

"Glad to see you two like each other." Aaden said looking down at Kathleen. Then he saw that her eyes were full of tears. She blinked them away quickly and offered him a smile but he shook his head.

"Too late. I done saw the tears. What's the matter?" he asked.

"Nothing is wrong. It just makes me sad to see how warm and kind your mother was to me when my mother and father were so mean to you."

"I didn't take it too personal, love. They seem like they're mean to everybody." he replied. She kissed him and pointed to the couch.

"Go sit down. Kick your feet up." she said. He laughed, gave her a little salute and did as she said. She grabbed him a beer from the refrigerator and sat down beside him.

"Hell yea, woman. You just keep getting better." he said as he popped it open and took a drink.

"What are you doing home?" she asked. "I thought you worked until four?"

"Everything broke down up there today so they sent us home." Aaden said. "I talked to Craig though and he'll be here soon. He's gonna help me go get all your stuff from your apartment today since we ain't working."

"He doesn't seem to like me much." Kathleen said matter of factly. Aaden chuckled.

"He likes ya… He just has a phobia against commitment."

"I'll go change my clothes so I can help you guys get everything." she said. He shook his head.

"We can get it. Why don't you call Christy and have her come by when she gets out of work.. The two of you can start planning the wedding." he said. "I don't want to have to wait too long."

"But my stuff…."

"I'll just put it all in a box and you can sort through it later." she smiled and nodded.

"Sounds good.. I was actually going to get online and look at flower arrangements." she said. Just then they heard Craig pull up.

"Saved!" Aaden said jumping off the couch. "No offense to you, love, but I believe flower arrangements might just give me a migraine. I'd rather go do some hard labor." Kathleen stood up and kissed him lightly. He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss.

"God, you are hard to leave." he said. She smiled.

"Good than you won't make a habit out of it."

"Definitely not." he agreed.

888

The week seemed to fly by. Kathleen spent her days cooking and cleaning and spending time with Tammy who drove over every day to keep her company. She learned from Tammy that Aaden had not had a girlfriend of any kind since he'd been twenty three and the family had been becoming very concerned about him. Kathleen seemed to be the answer to everyone's prayers.

Aaden had been happy when Christy and Kathleen told him that the wedding would only take about a month to have ready. He had given Kathleen one of his credit cards to pay for everything and he just hoped that the limit on it was high enough. He knew that she had been raised with more than he could give her and he couldn't compete with that jackass ex-husband of hers money wise but by God she was going to have whatever kind of wedding she wanted and if he had to take a second job to pay for it then that's what he would do.

Craig and Christy had both been at Kathleen and Aaden's house nearly every night that week. Kathleen couldn't help but notice how close the two of them seemed to be becoming and Aaden noticed too. He was happy to see that his best friend might finally be putting his 'relationship rules' up on the shelf and thinking about settling down.

888

Friday, when Aaden pulled in from work he saw the door fly open and a blond haired boy run out. He had forgotten about Max coming over for the weekend and he couldn't stop the broad smile from spreading on his face as Max ran toward him. Aaden dropped to his knees and wrapped the boy in a tight hug.

"Hi uncle Aaden!" he said happily. Aaden looked into the boys dark eyes that were so much like his dead brothers and smiled.

"Hey kiddo.  What time did you get here?" he asked.

"A few hours ago." Max replied. "I like Kathleen. She's real nice." Aaden smiled.

"Yea she's alright. I like her too." he said. He stood up and put his hand on the boys shoulder and led him in the house. Kathleen was in the kitchen wearing an apron and covered from head to toe in flour.

"What in the world have you two been up to?" Aaden asked looking around the messy kitchen.

"I helped her make cookies. At first I told her that men don't cook." Max said matter-of-factly. Aaden nodded.

"Of course not." he said earning a smile from Kathleen.

"Right. But then Kathleen told me that only the people who help cook get to lick the bowl clean afterward."

"That can be a problem. Even the strongest man would break under that kind of pressure." Aaden said with a serious nod. Max smiled and Aaden laughed at the dough all over his mouth.

"I broke." Max said. Aaden looked over at Kathleen who was watching both of them with a smile.

"What's that?" Aaden asked walking up to her and pointing to the cookie dough on her cheek. She blushed and shrugged.

"I cooked too… I earned it." she said. Aaden stuck his lip out in a pout and looked at Max.

"I guess I'm the only one that doesn't get any cuz I didn't help with the cooking." he said. Max laughed.

"Nope it's against the rules." he agreed. Aaden shrugged and looked over at Kathleen.

"Since I can't lick the bowl clean I guess I'll just have to lick the lady clean." he said coming toward her with his tongue out. She screamed happily and ducked beneath his arm and swatted his butt with the dishtowel in her hand.

"Actually big guy you need to go get a shower and change your clothes because your mom is expecting us for dinner in an hour."

"You're nervous." he said seeing the fear in her eyes. "Why?"

"I'm just hoping your family likes me. I mean the only person I've met is your mom…" she replied. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"There's not that many of them gonna be there." Aaden said. "It'll just be us, Max, my mom and dad, my cousin Stacy and her husband and three kids and my uncle Pete. My mamaw might be there. Everyone will like you. Do you know why? Because I love you."

"I like you." Max said taking a bite out of a fresh chocolate chip cookie. Kathleen smiled and Aaden laughed.

"See? Everything will be fine." he assured her.