Chapter 10: KAT

I stood in the doorway watching my eldest pat her baby brother's back while he slept and she read a book for a homework assignment. Even from the shadow of the doorway I could see the look of excitement on her face.

I'd promised to talk to her dad about letting her graduate early again this year. We'd tried the year before and I have yet to get over my disappointment, so I can only imagine how she feels, but if he denies her again I'm not sure what's going to happen. I think sometimes Colton forgets that she's his kid, with just as much attitude as he has.

I know she holds back a lot because of her love for him, but one of these days he's going to go too far and she's going to rebel. Serves him right, the dummy.

Oh boy, no sense in me getting ahead of the game. Just please let things go well this time because I'm pretty sure that the little bit of me in her won't stand for that kind of disappointment again.

I'd asked Jared for help; even my parents and his have tried to no avail. No matter what argument anyone used, Colton refused to budge. I've never seen him this adamant about not giving her something she wanted this badly. Since the girl was born he's been the one to spoil her rotten, even against my protests at times.

For someone who rants and raves at least once a week about 'my daughters' destroying his sanity he's a big ole softy where his girls are concerned, but none more so than with his Caitiebear. But it doesn't take much thinking to understand why he won't agree. The man just can't bear to let his daughter out the house.

It took me forever to get him to agree to let her have her little friend, which now that I think of it, Todd's moving away was a blessing in disguise. I'm pretty sure if the poor boy had hung around here for the past four years Colt would've found a way to scare him off by now.

Then again, I think Todd's made of tougher stuff than that. I saw his mettle the first time we met and as clichéd as it sounds, I knew back then that the boy was going to be here for the long haul. She doesn't know and neither does her dad, but I've listened in on plenty of their conversations in the beginning.

It's shameful I know, but there's no better way to learn the truth about what these kids are up to these days. All I can say is that Todd is every mother's dream for her teenage daughter and he only gets better with time.

The way he protected her, spoke to her with such reverence and respect for one so young, and more, the way he respected me, and her daddy's rules each and every time, was a sure sign of the man he was bound to become one day.

As far as I'm concerned my son in law to be has all the prerequisites needed to be a part of the family. He's well mannered, smart, comes from a good family and knows how to treat a lady. The boy was opening doors for my girl when he was fifteen, and more than once he was the one talking my child into following the rules when she wanted to revolt.

But if I'd listened to Colt and ran him off, some other undeserving girl would've snatched him up by now and broken my poor baby's heart. As I watched her I realized that she'd grown up a whole lot in the last year. She was right at the cusp of womanhood.

It's easy to miss since we see each other every day, and there's always so much going on in a house full of people, that you overlook some things. She'd grown up right in front of my eyes and I'd missed the changes.

But now with no other distractions, her face in repose, I could see that beauty that she got from me, and her father. Her eyes are wide and bright with a sparkle in them that everyone, including strangers, are always commenting on. Something else that makes her daddy nuts. As if he needs any help.

She'd begged me to let her cut her hair before school started last year, but Colton had had ten kinds of fits so we just layered the front a bit, which now that I think about it was the right way to go. It falls just perfectly along her well- pronounced cheekbones and draws the eye to her perfect features.

The girl is a damn knockout and she's not wearing so much as lip-gloss, another one of Colton's dictates. He still inspects her before she leaves the house and I don't have the heart to tell him that she could change her whole appearance once she gets to school.

I happen to know for a fact that she's never done and would never even give it a thought like so many others have done before. That's how much she fears and respects her daddy. My poor child, I gotta do something before that nut destroys what's left of her childhood.

I watched her a little while longer, before turning away as a plan began to form in my head. I can't believe I didn't think of this, it was always my go to in the past. It probably didn't occur to me to try because in a house full of kids it's damn near impossible to seduce my man these days. Nearly but not quite.

I grinned mischievously as I headed for our en suite bathroom to get prepared for the night ahead. It will be a few hours before the rest of the house settles down enough for me to put my plan in motion... I gotta remember to tell Catalina not to make one of her nightly visits to our room to give her daddy fits, snort.

I chose the bath salts, the music, got the scented candles out and tidied up the room a little before turning the light out and leaving. I was already getting excited at what was to come. It's a dirty trick but no more than he deserves for being so damn stubborn.

I found my trusty kegel eggs in the drawer where I keep them and slipped back into the bathroom to put them in before washing up and going to look for the triplets. I hadn't heard a peep out of them in a while and that might not be good with their sister on the loose.