Saibo-creator/bookcorpus_deduplicated · Datasets at Hugging Face

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`` nothing .
it 's just he does n't need to get involved with someone who is n't interested in a long-term relationship . ''
`` em , you might as well tell her , '' casey urged .
megan glanced between the two of them .
`` tell me what ? ''
`` fine , '' emma huffed resignedly .
she handed noah to casey .
`` make yourself useful by changing his diaper . ''
as casey got busy cleaning up noah , emma turned to megan .
`` when aidan and i broke up- '' `` what you meant to say is , after you left aidan when he did n't show up for noah 's gender ultrasound because he was cheating on you ? ''
casey interrupted , waving around the wet wipe in her hand .
emma closed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head .
`` yes , that 's right .
thank you so very much for bringing up that aspect of our break-up on today of all days . ''
casey gripped noah 's ankles and hoisted up his little butt to slide on the new diaper .
`` you 're welcome . ''
`` anyway , as you were saying , '' megan pressed .
`` right .
so it was when aidan and i were broken up that i met pesh .
i was with your papa fitzgerald the day of his heart attack at the vfw , and pesh was the doctor who treated him . ''
`` so ... you both struck up a friendship then ? ''
megan asked .
emma grimaced .
`` not exactly .
you see , patrick wanted to force aidan to really fight for me , and he felt the best way to do it would be for him to have some competition . ''
megan felt her eyes widening in surprise .
`` papa wanted pesh to date you ? ''
`` yeah . ''
`` did you ? ''
emma was momentarily distracted by casey blowing raspberries on noah 's stomach .
a smile spread across her face as noah kicked his legs and giggled at casey .
`` want me to get him in his dress ? ''
casey asked , as she glanced up .
`` if you do n't mind . ''
bringing her hand to her hip , megan huffed out an exasperated breath .
`` um , could you please focus for just a minute considering the bomb you just dropped on me ? ''
`` i 'm sorry .
i did n't want to tell you at all .
i mean , whatever was between us is all in the past .
neither one of us really cared for each other like we thought we did . ''
`` did you ... '' megan said .
at emma 's confused expression , she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively .
emma 's face flushed .
`` no , of course not ! ''
casey eyed emma as she took the baptism gown off the hanger .
`` you did make out with him though . ''
`` one time .
and he certainly did n't get to second base , '' emma argued .
with a wicked grin , casey added , `` pity .
wish you could inform us on what he has going on below the waist . ''
`` you 're impossible . ''
she snatched the gown away from casey and then started wrestling noah into the yards of fabric .
`` it was n't like we were in a relationship .
we did n't really even go out together .
he came to the house once to bring me dinner and check on me when i was on bed rest , and then he took me to the opera .
that was it . ''
`` was there no chemistry between you two ? ''
without responding , emma pulled noah up into a sitting position and started fastening the row of buttons down the back of the gown .
`` em ? ''
megan pressed .
she gave a heavy sigh before picking noah up .
she stared into his face before she responded .
`` we had great chemistry together .
he was an amazing kisser who got all my senses up and running in all the right ways .
besides the physical part , he is smart , kind , and intelligent-any woman 's dream . ''
she shook her head .
`` but it did n't matter because he was n't aidan .
i could never , ever love another man like i do him . ''
giving noah a kiss on the cheek , she added , `` neither one of us were really in a good place-i was trying to make sure that aidan really was the one , and after being pressured by family and friends , he was trying to date for the first time after his wife 's death . ''
megan crossed her arms over her chest .
`` i get that he does n't need to be hurt , but who is to say that having a fling is going to hurt him ?
maybe it could give him the confidence he needs to go out and find the real woman of his dreams ? ''
`` how could a man that looks like that have any self-confidence issues ? ''
`` you never know .
if he was married a long time before his wife died , he might find it hard to get back into the dating world .
especially if the last woman he cared about loved someone else . ''
emma shook her head .
`` trust me , he is n't the fling kind of guy .
he wants a wife and children . ''
although megan had a son , she was n't quite ready for marriage .
maybe in a few years but right now she just wanted to date and have fun .
she 'd willingly sacrificed so much to ensure that mason could have all of her attention since he was short a father .
after all , he was the greatest hurdle in her having a committed relationship .
she did n't want to open her son up to any hurt that might come from him getting attached to a man she dated only to have them disappear when they broke up .
`` ankle really wants to fix us up ? ''
emma nodded .
`` regardless of what happened with pesh when we were broken up , aidan does respect and admire him .
he wants pesh to be happy . ''
she gave megan a pointed look .
`` most of all , he wants that for you , too . ''
megan wrinkled her nose .
`` but i 'm really not ready for all of that yet . ''
`` then think long and hard before you agree to do anything about pesh .
he is unknowingly very persuasive , and in the moment , you might forget your resolve only to have it come back later to hurt you ... or him . ''
megan held up her hands in defeat .
`` okay , okay , i promise . ''
emma smiled .
`` nothing would make me happier than if you were to fall in love with pesh . ''
with a laugh , megan said , `` did you just hear anything that i said ?
i 'm anti-love . ''

`` nothing .

it 's just he does n't need to get involved with someone who is n't interested in a long-term relationship . ''

`` em , you might as well tell her , '' casey urged .

megan glanced between the two of them .

`` tell me what ? ''

`` fine , '' emma huffed resignedly .

she handed noah to casey .

`` make yourself useful by changing his diaper . ''

as casey got busy cleaning up noah , emma turned to megan .

`` when aidan and i broke up- '' `` what you meant to say is , after you left aidan when he did n't show up for noah 's gender ultrasound because he was cheating on you ? ''

casey interrupted , waving around the wet wipe in her hand .

emma closed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head .

`` yes , that 's right .

thank you so very much for bringing up that aspect of our break-up on today of all days . ''

casey gripped noah 's ankles and hoisted up his little butt to slide on the new diaper .

`` you 're welcome . ''

`` anyway , as you were saying , '' megan pressed .

`` right .

so it was when aidan and i were broken up that i met pesh .

i was with your papa fitzgerald the day of his heart attack at the vfw , and pesh was the doctor who treated him . ''

`` so ... you both struck up a friendship then ? ''

megan asked .

emma grimaced .

`` not exactly .

you see , patrick wanted to force aidan to really fight for me , and he felt the best way to do it would be for him to have some competition . ''

megan felt her eyes widening in surprise .

`` papa wanted pesh to date you ? ''

`` yeah . ''

`` did you ? ''

emma was momentarily distracted by casey blowing raspberries on noah 's stomach .

a smile spread across her face as noah kicked his legs and giggled at casey .

`` want me to get him in his dress ? ''

casey asked , as she glanced up .

`` if you do n't mind . ''

bringing her hand to her hip , megan huffed out an exasperated breath .

`` um , could you please focus for just a minute considering the bomb you just dropped on me ? ''

`` i 'm sorry .

i did n't want to tell you at all .

i mean , whatever was between us is all in the past .

neither one of us really cared for each other like we thought we did . ''

`` did you ... '' megan said .

at emma 's confused expression , she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively .

emma 's face flushed .

`` no , of course not ! ''

casey eyed emma as she took the baptism gown off the hanger .

`` you did make out with him though . ''

`` one time .

and he certainly did n't get to second base , '' emma argued .

with a wicked grin , casey added , `` pity .

wish you could inform us on what he has going on below the waist . ''

`` you 're impossible . ''

she snatched the gown away from casey and then started wrestling noah into the yards of fabric .

`` it was n't like we were in a relationship .

we did n't really even go out together .

he came to the house once to bring me dinner and check on me when i was on bed rest , and then he took me to the opera .

that was it . ''

`` was there no chemistry between you two ? ''

without responding , emma pulled noah up into a sitting position and started fastening the row of buttons down the back of the gown .

`` em ? ''

megan pressed .

she gave a heavy sigh before picking noah up .

she stared into his face before she responded .

`` we had great chemistry together .

he was an amazing kisser who got all my senses up and running in all the right ways .

besides the physical part , he is smart , kind , and intelligent-any woman 's dream . ''

she shook her head .

`` but it did n't matter because he was n't aidan .

i could never , ever love another man like i do him . ''

giving noah a kiss on the cheek , she added , `` neither one of us were really in a good place-i was trying to make sure that aidan really was the one , and after being pressured by family and friends , he was trying to date for the first time after his wife 's death . ''

megan crossed her arms over her chest .

`` i get that he does n't need to be hurt , but who is to say that having a fling is going to hurt him ?

maybe it could give him the confidence he needs to go out and find the real woman of his dreams ? ''

`` how could a man that looks like that have any self-confidence issues ? ''

`` you never know .

if he was married a long time before his wife died , he might find it hard to get back into the dating world .

especially if the last woman he cared about loved someone else . ''

emma shook her head .

`` trust me , he is n't the fling kind of guy .

he wants a wife and children . ''

although megan had a son , she was n't quite ready for marriage .

maybe in a few years but right now she just wanted to date and have fun .

she 'd willingly sacrificed so much to ensure that mason could have all of her attention since he was short a father .

after all , he was the greatest hurdle in her having a committed relationship .

she did n't want to open her son up to any hurt that might come from him getting attached to a man she dated only to have them disappear when they broke up .

`` ankle really wants to fix us up ? ''

emma nodded .

`` regardless of what happened with pesh when we were broken up , aidan does respect and admire him .

he wants pesh to be happy . ''

she gave megan a pointed look .

`` most of all , he wants that for you , too . ''

megan wrinkled her nose .

`` but i 'm really not ready for all of that yet . ''

`` then think long and hard before you agree to do anything about pesh .

he is unknowingly very persuasive , and in the moment , you might forget your resolve only to have it come back later to hurt you ... or him . ''

megan held up her hands in defeat .

`` okay , okay , i promise . ''

emma smiled .

`` nothing would make me happier than if you were to fall in love with pesh . ''

with a laugh , megan said , `` did you just hear anything that i said ?

i 'm anti-love . ''