She laughed. “Oh, she’s inside with Mason. She said she wanted to get in a few rosaries before the Christening.”

Aidan nodded as the volume in the room seemed to magnify with all his younger nieces and nephews. Needing an out to the chaos, he said, “I’ll go sit with her awhile.”

The corners of Angie’s lips quirked up. “Maybe you should stop off in the confessional first?”

“Ha, ha,” he muttered before slipping out of the room.

Standing at the doors leading into the church, he peered at the altar. He spotted Megan on one of the front benches, kneeling down on one of the risers. He strode up the aisle. When he saw that she was finished praying and merely gazing up at the giant crucifix, he knelt and crossed himself before sliding onto the bench beside her.

“Hey Hot Mama,” he said in a low voice.

She grinned at him as she slipped her rosary into her coat pocket. “Hey Ankle. Glad you could make it.”

Aidan shook his head at her old nickname for him. As the first grandchild, Megan spent a lot of time with Aidan’s parents. When she first started talking, she couldn’t say ‘Uncle Aidan’. Somehow his name got meshed into ‘Ankle’. None of his other nieces and nephews called him that—it was just one aspect of their special bond.

Aidan craned his neck to eye Mason’s sleeping form in the carrier beside Megan. “You know I wouldn’t miss this for anything in the world. I mean, it’s not every day a man as young as myself gets made his great nephew’s godfather.”

“Trust me, I’m very honored to be in your presence.” Megan eyed him up and down before shaking her head. “I’m assuming you had a wild night last night.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Hmm, from the bags under your eyes and the fact Papa called me twice this morning to see if I had heard from you.”

Aidan swept his hands to his cheeks. “Seriously? I thought I looked pretty fabulous.”

“Always so cocky.” Megan nudged his shoulder playfully. “Sure we don’t need to douse you with a little holy water?”

“Ha, very funny. Your mother was already advocating that I skip seeing you and head straight for confession.”

“I’m sure she has a point. I mean, seriously, when was the last time you were in church?”

Aidan quirked his blonde brows at her. “What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?”

Megan laughed. “Oh, man, that reminds me of our Monty Python marathons.”

Aidan grinned. “Your mom got so pissed when I let you watch that when you were like seven.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t believe you were smart enough to get most of the humor.”

“You were always such a bad influence, but I loved you anyway.”

Leaning over, Aidan kissed Megan’s cheek. “And I loved you, too, even though a lot of the time you were an aggravating little pest.” At her outrage, he winked. “We had some good times together, didn’t we?”

“Yep, we did.”

They sat in silence for a few seconds. “So how are you holding up?” He motioned to Mason. “You know, being a new mom and all?” Aidan asked.

Megan fiddled with the hem on her dress. “I’m hanging in there.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Aidan said, “Now you know it isn’t polite to lie to your favorite uncle.”

She sighed, blowing a few blonde strands out of her face. “Okay fine. Being a single mom is a lot harder than I thought it would be, even with Mom and Dad’s help. I’m stressed out all the time with trying to finish nursing school, and mentally…I’m borderline falling apart. How’s that?”

Aidan put an arm around her shoulder, drawing her close to him. “Aw, sweetheart. I hate to hear that.”

Megan shrugged. “It’s okay. Nothing you can do.”

“Still no word from the douchebag?”

Glancing down at her hands folded in her lap, Megan shook her head. “Nothing since he sent the last check after he signed with the Falcons.”

Aidan growled at the thought of the punk who had knocked-up Megan. If he could just get his hands on him…He didn’t give a shit that the jerkoff was a 6’3 offensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons. He would still make sure to rearrange his face as well as taking his testicles as a souvenir.

“I know what you’re thinking, and he’s not worth it,” Megan said.

With a wink, Aidan replied, “You let me worry about that one.”

“At least with the money he sent, I can get my own apartment. I need a little independence from Mom and Dad.”

Aidan shook his head. “You should stay home and mooch off them as long as possible.”

Megan giggled. “Thanks a lot. I would think you of all people would understand about wanting to stand on your own two feet and not have your life choices over-analyzed constantly by your family.”

“You have a point there,” Aidan mused. He could only imagine how Angie loved giving Megan daily advice about what she was doing right or wrong. Hell, she did it to him, and he wasn’t even her child. But as the oldest of his sisters, Angie had always been his second mother. And in the five years since his mother’s passing, she relished the job with new vigor.

Tightening his arm around Megan, he said, “So you’re willing to throw away rent on an apartment, but you won’t take me up on my offer?”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Ankle? There is no way in hell you would really want me to live with you.”

“Hey now, watch your mouth. We’re in church for Christ sake!” he joked.

Megan laughed. “Listen, it’s really sweet of you to offer, but trust me, you would be regretting it an hour after Mason and I moved in.”

“I would barely see you guys with the guest bedroom upstairs and my late hours. I could even move Beau out to the backyard and give you the basement.”

“Let me guess. Part of the bargain would include me doing your laundry and cooking your meals?”

Rubbing his chin, Aidan replied, “Hmm, that sounds good.”

“Of course it does to you.”

“Nothing wrong with you taking care of your favorite uncle.” When she didn’t reply, Aidan squeezed her shoulder. “Okay, I was just teasing you, and I wouldn’t expect you to do laundry and cook. Why won’t you let me help you out?”

Megan shook her head. “It’s very sweet of you to offer, and I should jump at the chance. But I need to do this on my own.”