Episode 570: Unfinished

Curran remembered exactly how friendly Paul and Lucy had once been. He feigned a lapse in memory, twitched his brows a little as if it all just came back to him in the moment. "That’s right." He snapped his fingers harder than necessary in Paul’s startled face. The face that stared too much at Hope. "Sorry about that." He gave the younger man’s shoulder a smack.

"No problem," Paul said, giving Curran’s shoulder a smack in return.

It was all Curran could do to restrain himself from engaging the other man in a knockdown drag him the hell out of their house, and so far away from their lives that he may as well have a view of them from the moon.

However, knowing Michael would not take kindly to his pulverizing Lucy’s "friend," Curran instead collected their daughter into his arms. "I’m sorrier than anything that I scared you, cutie." He smiled at her, and his heart sang in relief when she smiled at him in return. He rubbed his nose against hers, at the same time rubbing it in to Paul that he too knew how to make her giggle. Hope was, after all, his, regardless of whatever the DNA tests may say.

"I’m going to go then," Paul announced.

"Thank you, again, for dropping Lambie by," Michael said, "and for helping out while I took that call. I know holding a squirming child wouldn’t be most young guys’ idea of a good morning."

"I didn’t mind," Paul quietly said and after one more long glance at Hope, made his way out the door. Curran’s eyes followed him every step of the way, still he wasn’t satisfied with the situation.

"Well, I should be going, too." Curran gave each of his girls a kiss, grabbed his phone and headed out after Paul.

Episode 571: Fighter