[AU:BR]Great With Kids

[Cade Carson]

If she was willing to leave it alone, so was he. His life was a mess and he understood that. But he wasn't going to waste time whining about it to her. Especially when her life was quite obviously going fantastically. A wife and kids. A successful business. Devyn was obviously very happy. Cade had to admit he was pretty jealous. Then she added power control to the mix and he sighed.

"Glad you're doing so well. That's fantastic." And it was. He was happy for her. It was just...when he'd thought about a ten year reunion when he was in college, he'd imagined a way rosier future for himself. Not the dead-end he so clearly was compared with people his age or younger. But again, he'd learned to take some of Devyn's advice to heart. He didn't talk nearly as much as he had once.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn didn't mean to make it seem like everything was going great and life was perfect for her, because it was not. It was just overall that things were good and that she could not really complain. Still, she had her moments where her work would stress her out, where she would doubt her ability as a mother, have occasional fights with Vera, and just fall into that darkness that often came along with the power that she had. "Thanks, there are some ups and downs but I try to look on the positive side and do whatever I can to make sure my kids grow up and not have to deal with the shiiizzz, that I had to deal with." Devyn said with a small nod. She had almost curded there but managed to save herself in the middle of it.

She looked at Cade for a moment before she moved to pick up her daughter and moved closer to Cade. Sometimes it took a kid to really bring out the best in a person, a change of sorts. It didn't work for everyone and Dev was not sure if it would even work because it was not a kid of his own but she figured it didn't hurt to try. "Want to hold my little girl, Ava?" Devyn asked as she held out her daughter who was giving Cade a weird look for a moment before she slowly put her arms up which was her way of saying she was okay with him touching her for the time being. Babies were picky like that, if people didn't know.

"If you ever want a break from the whole Dojo work, you can always come work at my bar. You might have to move and it will be a real test if you have a problem with you knows what, but the offer is there if you want it." Devyn said. If Cade worked at her place then she would be able to see him more often and talk to him. Then he could vent and maybe start to get his life together or at least realize that his life was not all that bad once he took a step back and just thought about what he needed to change in order to be happy.

[Cade Carson]

Oh so it wasn't all unicorns, rainbows and skittles. It made him feel a little guilty that that gave him a bit of a sense of relief. And then Devyn asked if he wanted to hold her little girl. He wasn't sure if the little girl even liked him, but then the little girl was friendly to him and he smiled.

"That would be awesome." He took Ava from her and was very gentle holding her.

"That's another thing I'm lacking in responsibility in. Kids. Maybe after this reunion...I don't know...maybe it wouldn't be too late to be more of a father than just a guy who pays child support." Yeah, he felt like the slime of the earth. The lowest of the low.

"I'm a loser. You don't want me working for you. Why do you think my dojo students are the only ones worried? I have no friends and I did that on purpose. I'm not bringing anyone else down this way." Cade shrugged. It was an admission he was only making because of the alcohol working its way through his system, he was sure. Either that, or he was more open because it was Devyn. She'd always had a habit of making him open up to her.

[Devyn Solway]

"Just don't drop her or Vera will kill me and I likely will maul you." Devyn said with a smile, half teasing. Yet, it was true that Vera would likely kill her and Devyn would likely maul Cade if he dropped her daughter. It should not have been that hard to hold Ava, she was still very young but she was no infant so she could rest on the side of someone’s waist and didn't have to be held under her head since she could keep her head up for the most part on her own. Devyn watched as her daughter took a moment to adjust being held by some strange man before she reached out to mess with his beard.

While Ava had been held by other men before, at home she was raised by two woman after all, so while she did have a few men in her life; like her brother and Vera's brothers and Uncle, it was still two woman that spent the most time with her. "Then you know what you should do. If the kid is still pretty young you have a chance of them accepting you as a dad without too much of a problem. Wait too long and they could never see you as a dad or father figure. That and well who knows how long until the mom moves on and what not." Devyn said as she gave a small shrug.

In the end it was Cade's choice but it was best to be in a kid’s life early on if you wanted to matter to them and Dev personally hated the guys that choose to not be a part of a kid’s life. If they were a bad guy, then yeah she understood but if they could be better and were not like a woman beater or anything and they just choose to not be committed to having a family then she wanted to remove their pillar and stones because they didn't deserve them. "I offered you the job so I'm obviously cool with it. You will remain a loser if you choose to think that way and do nothing about it to try and change yourself. Besides, I own the place. You can't bring me down unless you tried and if you tried well I would just fire you and be done with it." Devyn explained in a simple matter. That was just how it was, simple as that.

[Cade Carson]

"Wouldn't dream of dropping her. She's perfectly adorable." He did like kids. The reason he wasn't paying attention to being a dad was mostly because the party girl he'd gotten pregnant was handling it herself. Plus, again he didn't want to bring anyone down with him. But regardless of that, Devyn was right. He needed to be a dad before it was too late.

"Jason's three now I think." Yes, he had a son. Again, he felt like such a slimeball for avoiding it for so long.

"Umm...I can always move my struggling dojo. I think I might take you up on your offer." It wasn't like he'd be leaving anything behind. And...well he had considered Vera a friend. Kinda. And Devyn was probably the best friend he'd ever had.

[Devyn Solway]

"Heh, thanks. I think she got most of her features from her mom so she should be a real heart stopped when she is older. Not that I'm going to let her date until she is like thirty years old." Devyn admitted, but the latter was up in the air. Deep down she didn't want her daughter dating until she was like forty, but she knew how kids were so she knew that was not going to happen. That didn't mean she was just going to let it be easy for anyone that tried to pursue any of her kids. Good things all of them still had a while to go and none of them were going to be 'going out' out with anyone until at least high school.

Ava played with Cade's hair a little as she started to babble at him, speaking and looking at him in a way as if he was supposed to know what in the world she was saying with that baby gibberish. Devyn could not help but to chuckle as she watched it, pleased that her daughter was behaving with her former friend and possible friend once more. "Ah, then you still have time for him to accept you in his life if the mom is willing to give you a chance. Maybe one of these days we can have a play date with your Jason and my Landon and Ava." Devyn suggested.

She was always up for her kids getting out there and experiencing the world, even if she was very guarded and super protective over most situations that involved her kids. Devyn nodded her head at the words that were soon leaving Cade's mouth. "You could. Your call again. You could even close it down temporarily if moving it does not work. Where my work is lined with restaurants and night clubs so it’s not idea location to set up a dojo but does not have to be in that neighborhood." Devyn added with a slight nod. Ava was then starting to squirm to face Devyn and hold her arms out as she said 'mom'; basically.

[Cade Carson]

"Restaurants and nightclubs, depending on the neighbourhood, can be potentially dangerous areas. Most of my customers were people wanting to learn to defend themselves." He smiled as Ava played with his hair and made noises at him.

"I'm sure she'll be as tough as you though. Taking no crap from anyone." He laughed. It was amazing the feelings a kid could bring out in you.

"Play-dates sound like a plan. In fact, if I remember right Jason and his mum don't live too far from where I heard you moved." Cade shrugged. They may have drifted apart, but he'd still looked her up once in a while.

[Devyn Solway]

"This is true. I meant it more of like I don't know if you will be able to get a dojo setup right in that area, but you might. There was this nice building up for rent a block or so away from where my bar is so that might work." Devyn said. At the end of the say it was all still Cade's choice because he was a grown man. Older then her even, so she was not going to try and make him do anything and just give him suggestions and offers. That felt like the right thing to do and what she would do for someone that she would still considered a friend. No doubt Vera would care too much, so long as Cade was not putting moves on Dev or anything like that.

"Oh, you can bet. Which I'm also worried about because we all know that I was not the most well behaved teenager." Devyn said with a chuckle as she reached out to take Ava back when her daughter started to reach out for her. She had enough of meeting and being held by someone new and wanted her mom back again. She was a very friendly little girl but only for so long due to not being a huge fan of well anyone outside her family. Landon had been the same when he was younger but now he had a habit of running off to meet people. Devyn let her baby girl play with her hair as she held her close while still talking to Cade.

"Look, it’s like it’s all set up just perfect for you to be able to do the right thing and have some fun with it all." Devyn pointed out with a small chuckle. Yeah, there was no way that her and Vera lived here for very long after they were both done with college and any other matters they had to handle with the school. With that out of the way, Dev didn't really know what else to say but it should have come as no surprise that Dev was still not the kind of person who could talk and stand around for too long. "Anything else you wanted to talk about before I go catch up with my wife?" Devyn asked. She was here with her wife and son after all, so could not stay away from them for too long.

[Cade Carson]

"I think I will take you up on that offer. It isn't like my current situation has much hold on my life. Could probably use a kickstart in purpose." Then she mentioned catching up to Vera and he shook his head.

"No I'm good. Go ahead. I guess I'll see you around. And bye Ava." He smiled goofily and waved at the little girl. What? She was really cute.

[Devyn Solway]

"Alright, my number is still the same as it has been since we first met so just give me a call when you are one hundred percent certain." Devyn said with a small smile. She was not going to rush or push him into doing anything because it was his choice. It was Cade's life, he was older then her, and it was time for him to make the right decisions in his life. "I'm sure you will make the right call." Devyn added as she gave a small nod. "Alright, see you Cade." Devyn said as she gave him a wave. Ava even waved bye to Cade but she could not say the word. She even giggled a little at the face he made before she and her mom headed off to meet up with her mommy and big brother.

[Cade Carson]

Cade nodded and watched them walk away with a sigh. Same number, huh? That wouldn't be a problem. He'd never deleted it from his phone. He took his phone from his pocket and phoned.

"Hey Stella. It's me, Cade. There are a lot of things I need to apologize for. Hopefully you don't just delete my message because I want to get to know you and Jason. I've gotten a wake-up call. Give me a call when you get this, okay? Please." There was a touch of pleading in his voice. He was going to fix this.

END