The Million Dollar Question

I didn't want to listen to Reed's conversation with Devon, I didn't think that hearing one side of the conversation would improve my mood. I didn't want to be in a bad mood. "Hey snuggle bug," I scooped Alexis up and hugged her tight. "Mommy missed you so much! Did you miss me?"

Alexis looked up at me, screwed up her face and pointed over my shoulder towards the couch. "What is it?" I turned around and sighed. "Oh you want the bunny?" We went over to the couch and sat down. When I gave her the bunny, she wrapped one arm around it and the other gripped my shirt as she snuggled against me. "Oh!" I almost cried.

Alexis and I were laughing together when Reed finally got off the phone. "Are you hungry?" He asked me as he sat down next to Alexis. I said I was and he asked me if I wanted to go out to grab something to eat.

"Sure, where do you want to go?" I asked as I poked Alexis with the bunny's ears, she found it hilarious. I waited, thinking he was thinking. "Reed?" I glanced at him and I smiled. "Look at daddy Alexis."

Alexis looked at him and then held her little finger up to her lips. I laughed, "Yes daddy's sleeping."

"I'm not sleeping," Reed mumbled while he peeked at us through one eye. "I'm resting."

"What about lunch?" I asked him. "We could stay here and make something simple." He asked me what I had in mind and I suggested soup and sandwiches.

We made lunch together because Alexis started to cry when I left her in the living room with Reed. "See, I told you mommy didn't leave," he told her when he bought her out into the kitchen with him.

"So how was the group?" I asked when we sat down together.

"It was great! There were some kids around Alexis' age, I think she made some friends." Reed leaned over and kissed her cheek, "Didn't you Princess?"

I smiled," That's good. How about you?"

He shrugged, "Most of the dads are nice. They didn't believe me at first when I told them that it was my idea to join the group."

"Why wouldn't they believe you?"

"I guess some of them were signed up by their wives or girlfriends. Some didn't seem to want to be there."

"Oh, their poor kids. I can't imaging not wanting to spent time with my daughter."

Reed nodded, "Some of them were upset that they were missing some sports game or something like that."

I frowned, "Is that more important than your daughter?"

"No," he laughed. "Apparently that's what their other halves asked them, you can't say yes to that question Amber."

I was quiet for the rest of lunch, Reed would try to get me to talk but I wasn't in the mood to. I was thinking about his comment, wondering if his 'no' was real or if he said it because he didn't think he could say 'yes'.

Not long after lunch, Alexis started getting tired. Reed put her down for a nap as I finished the rest of the dishes.

I was sitting on the couch when he came out of her room and joined me.

He sat there watching me for a while, I thought if I ignored him he would stop but he didn't. "What?" I asked, turning towards him.

"I want to know why you called Devon." He shifted on the couch, "He claimed he called to talk to me. But he doesn't have this number, so you had to have called him."

"Why does it matter?" I didn't want to talk about it, I wanted to forget that conversation even happened.

Reed turned his head, he stared at the wall. "I need to know if what I heard when we were going out was true or not."

"If the next words out of your mouth link me with Devon or anyone else during the time we were dating, I don't want to hear it. I never cheated on you once. I had no desire to be with anyone but you."

"What about now?" He asked, still looking at the wall.

"What do you mean?"

Reed looked at me, "I heard what you said to Devon about me. It raises many questions about what he said to make you say that but the only thing that I want to know is, do you still love me?"

Best Friends Are The Greatest - When They Aren't Backstabbing You

I knew that I probably shouldn't forgive her but I did. "Janie, I hate that you felt that you couldn't tell me about it, I hate that you went into my mail and deleted Reed's messages."

"I'm so sorry Amber," Janie's sobs started to subside, "I knew I shouldn't have believed Devon but...there's no excuse."

I told her I was changing my password, and if she ever did anything like that again, I would kick her ass. We talked for a little longer before she had to go.

When I hung up, I was so mad still and I needed to lash out at someone. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I was surprised to see that it was almost noon. I don't want to take this out of Reed, he's innocent in this one. Picking up the phone, I punched the number pad so hard that I swear it would cry if it was human.

He answered on the second ring, which was a good thing, I was mad enough. If I got voice mail, I probably would've flipped. We said hello and he seemed surprised to hear my voice, he started to ask what I was doing and I cut him off.

"I don't know what your problem is, or was with me and frankly I don't care. But if you ever pull shit like that again, you'll be sorry."

"Whoa! Hold your horses lady," Devon chuckled. "What are you ranting about?"

"I spoke to Janie just now," I told him.

"Oh really? And what did Janie say?" He was choosing his words, I knew he knew what Janie said.

"What is your problem with me Devon?"

"I don't have a problem with you Amber," he stated. "I just don't think Reed is right for you."

It was my turn to laugh, "And who is Devon? You?"

"Well.."

"No! Never! Why on earth would you think I would consider you? If Reed and I broke up on our own, I would never ever be with you. Never!" I was yelling, I knew it but just the thought of being with Devon creeped me out.

"I'm not that bad Amber," he was getting defensive.

I rolled my eyes, "What the hell does that have to do with the fact that you tried to get him to believe I was a whore and you caused him to miss out on his daughter's life up to this point? Did you even stop to think about what you were doing? Did you once think at all?"

"Of course I thought!" He started to raise his voice. "I saw what a sad mess Reed was when you left and I couldn't believe that he let you do that to him. I was tired of hearing him moan about losing you when you know as well as I do that Reed isn't man enough to handle you; you would've dumped his ass before the baby was even born."

I couldn't believe this guy and the low opinion he had of me. I was always faithful to Reed and I never once thought he wasn't good enough for me. Most of the time, I wondered how I got so lucky to have him in my life. "You know nothing you lying son of a b****! Reed was and still is man enough to handle me, and he's fantastic at it too! Nothing you've done or ever will do, can change the fact that I'm his. So get used to it, I'm not going anywhere!"

I heard the apartment door close and I jumped.

Turning slowly, I faced Reed.

"Amberlynn, who are you talking too?" His expression was difficult to read, I didn't know how long he was standing there or what he heard.

Reed leaned over to place Alexis on the floor before they both made their way over to me. "Who's on the phone?" He asked as his hand gripped the receiver. Alexis happened to pull on his pants when he placed the phone to his ear, so he was looking at her when he said 'hello?' into the receiver.

Devon must not have said anything at first because Reed asked if anyone was there and listened for a moment before his head snapped up and he looked at me. "Devon? What the hell is going on?"

A Chat Long Over Due

I wasn't going to answer the phone at first, I didn't want to talk to anyone. But when I looked at the caller ID, I gasped and grabbed the phone.

"Janie?" I asked in disbelief.

I heard her laugh, "Yeah Amber it's me. How are you doing? Is this a bad time?"

I told her it wasn't, that I was alone because Alexis and Reed just left for the 'daddy and me' group. "I can't believe you are calling me, you have no idea how happy I am to hear from you. How are you?"

Janie told me about our friends, school and her family. She talked for a good 20 minutes non stop, it was nice to hear about everyone again. "So," she finally paused long enough to take a moment to breath.

"So what?" I asked.

"How are things going with Reed?"

"What do you mean?"

Janie sighed, "Come on Amber its me. I know how much you loved him and how badly he hurt you when you told him about Alexis."

I almost asked her why she wanted to talk about Reed but I didn't. "Things are fine, he's taken a huge interest in spending time with Alexis and that's what is important." I don't know why, but I didn't feel like telling her anything else about him.

"That's great!" She exclaimed, "I'm glad that he finally found you, he has been a little obsessed with that since you've been gone."

"Well Janie, he wanted to be a part of Alexis' life, so I don't really blame him for being obsessive in his efforts to find her."

"Yeah," Janie sounded a little different when she said that.

"Janie what's wrong? Did you call to talk to me or to find out what Reed is doing?"

"Amber, I'm sorry."

My heart jumped in my chest as she said those words, why is she sorry? She didn't...she wouldn't...but she did say she was told Alexis was pretty. Who would've told her besides Reed? "Sorry about what?" I asked, preparing myself for the worst.

She hesitated, sighed and then took a deep breath. "I've done something really stupid. I didn't mean to hurt you but I wasn't thinking straight at the time. Amber, I -"

"Wait!" I cut her off. "I don't think I want to know."

"But Amber, I think you should know that I -"

"Please Janie," my voice cracked. "I don't want to know if something happened between you and Reed." Janie was so quiet for so long that I took it as admission of guilt. "Listen, I have to go."

I started to pulled the phone away from my ear when Janie's maniacal laughter made me stop. "You think I...?" She was laughing so hard that she couldn't even finish that sentence.

I listened to her cracking up for a good five minutes before I started to get upset. "It's not funny Janie!"

"Oh yes it is!" She cried. "Amber, Reed hasn't even looked at another woman since he met you! And trust me, plenty of women have tried to weasel their way into his arms since you left town but he's not interested in them. Devon says that Reed is bring him down with all his talk about true love and soul mates."

True love? Soul mates? "Janie if you haven't done anything with Reed, then what are you sorry for?"

"I did a terrible thing Amber, I thought at the time I was doing the right thing. I thought that you were hurting enough and didn't need to be reminded about all the pain he caused. I knew it was wrong though, I told him it was wrong but he insisted that it was for the best, that you would thank us down the road."

She was rambling, "Janie please! What are you talking about? What did you do? Who said I'd thank you?"

"Devon, he said that Reed was out of his mind and he didn't know what he wanted. Amber, Devon asked me to help him stop Reed from making a fool of himself."

I was confused, I didn't know what Devon had to do with me. "What did you do Janie?"

"I went into your email and deleted all messages from Reed." She groaned, "I didn't read them, Devon told me that Reed was sending you cruel email, calling you names and stuff like that. I didn't want you to see that, I knew he hurt you so much already. So I listed his email under spammers and then checked back to make sure that they were deleted."

I went to say something but she continued, "Then I ran into Reed a couple weeks ago. He looked so happy, probably the happiest I've seen him in a long time, so I asked him what was up. He told me that he just got back from visiting you and Alexis. He told me that this whole time he thought you were ignoring his pleas to be in both your lives but it turned out that you never got any of the emails he sent you after you left."

"I asked him what those emails were, and he told me basically what he said. I felt like such a bitch Amber. I thought I was protecting you."

"You went into my account and erased emails to me from Reed?" I couldn't believe it, I trusted her. Janie was the only one who I told everything too, and she betrayed me!

"Amber, I didn't know. Devon told me Reed was being an ass, I wanted to protect you!"

"Janie, how could you? This entire time Reed has been trying to be a part of Alexis' life and you are the reason she's missed out on knowing her daddy? I can't believe you!"

"I'm sorry Amber, I though Dev-"

I shook my head, "What is this about Devon? You broke up with him! He was fooling around and you two were fighting all the time. Why on earth would you believe anything he told you?"

Janie was crying, "Amber I'm sorry. I thought I was helping you out."

I stood there listening to her cry and I wanted to join in. She was my best friend and I missed her but could I forgive her for getting in the way of my daughter knowing her father? What's the big deal? You knew something happened with the emails, this explains it. She didn't have to tell you at all, I tried to figure it out. You and Reed talked about it and you've seen the email so you know how he felt at the time.

So is it really that big of a deal now?

Empty Nest Syndrome - She's Only Gone For Two Hours!

Reed and I gazed into each others eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Kiss him! My mind screamed as my eyes briefly left his to focus on his lips. Remembering the moments when we first met was confusing me and having him there so close to me as the fog of those memories still surrounded me wasn't a good thing. What am I thinking? I asked myself as I looked away from him, sure we had good times together but he still hurt me.

I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't even notice the smile fading from Reed's face until he sighed and I turned my attention back to him. But he wasn't looking at me anymore, he was pushing back the blankets that covered him. "What's wrong?" I asked as I watched him scoot over to the edge of the couch.

He shook his head but didn't say anything as he stood up.

Oh my God! My jaw dropped when I saw that he was only wearing his underwear; Reed is a briefs guy. I fell back against the couch and tried not to look below his waist.
He must've seen me move out of the corner of his eye because he glanced my way as he started for the bathroom. He didn't try to conceal his morning erection, he just shrugged. "It's not like it's a surprise," he mumbled as his eyes travelled down my body.

It didn't hit me until he did that, that I didn't grab my robe, I was just wearing a tank top and panties. "Reed!" I picked up a cushion, threw it at him and then covered up in the blankets.

He laughed as he disappeared around the corner. And I felt like dying, I didn't mean for him to see me like that.

I tried to get the image of him in his underwear out of my head, I tried to focus on what Alexis was doing. "Where's the bunny?"

Alexis looked at me, then crawled over to the inside edge of the couch and looked down between the wall and the edge before she looked back at me.

"Did you throw the bunny over?" I asked her as I moved over to look. "Oh you did!" I laughed as I pulled the bunny up onto the couch.

Once I gave him back to her, I settled down in the warm spot that Reed had just vacated. I tried not to breath too deeply at first because the pillow and the sheets carried his scent but soon I gave into the desire. I held the sheets up to my face and I closed my eyes. All the moments that I spent in Reed's arms came rushing back to me, I could feel this warmth spreading throughout my body. I groaned as images of our time together appeared like a movie on the back of my eyelids. I swore I could almost feel his lips on mine, his hands on my skin. It felt so good and yet it made me want to cry.

I didn't hear him when he came back into the living room but I felt him. Every nerve in my body seemed to go into high alert as I felt him lift the blankets and slip in behind me. I waited, I expected him to touch me. I wanted to feel his arms around me. I waited but he didn't reach for me, he said my name but he didn't touch me. And I could feel this emptiness inside. You wanted him to move on, I told myself. You wanted him to forget about you because you are afraid. Serves you right if he's done just that.

I opened my eyes and glanced over my shoulder, he was so close yet so far away.

"I should get Alexis fed and dressed for our play group," he told me as he watched Alexis play with the bunny.

I found I couldn't say anything, I was dying so badly inside from the extreme feeling of loneliness that washed over me. I wanted to tell him not to go to the group, I wanted to ask him to spend the day with Alexis and me somewhere. But most importantly, I wanted him to kiss me and never stop.

But I didn't tell him and he lifted Alexis off the couch.

He didn't ask for my help while he got her ready to go, the only time he really said anything to me was when he mentioned he was going to have a shower.

He told me to enjoy my couple hours of 'me' time and then he disappeared with Alexis.

I didn't have anything to do. I didn't know anyone to visit.

I found myself sitting on the couch staring at the TV, without even turning it on.

I thought it was going to be the longest two hours of my life.

But then my phone rang.

It Was No Accident - Me Finding You

I met Reed about six months before we got drunk and ended up in bed together.

June 16, 2005. It was a beautiful Thursday, the skies were clear and the temperature was just right. Why do I remember it so well? You tend to remember the day you meet a guy who you blew you away by being everything you thought he wasn't. Plus, it was also Reed's 24th birthday.

I had only found out the night before that I was being pulled to some function that my father's boss was having, I didn't find out until I came down the stairs in my usual 'boring business party' clothes that the party was actually Reed's birthday party. "What kind of loser has his parent's throw him a party when he's 24?" I shrieked as I stomped my way back to my room to change into something 'young lady like', as my father called it.

At 18, I wasn't in the mood to spend the night hanging out with my parents when there were so many parties happening now that school was almost over. I cursed Reed and his parents and my parents too as I changed. Since it was pretty warm out and the party was being held in their backyard, I decided to go with something a little simple. I slipped into a light blue halter sundress with few tiny darker blue flowers throughout the material. From my closet I pulled out a pair of 3 inch black sandals and slipped them on. I knew my feet would be hurting by the time my parents let me go home but I didn't care. I pulled my hair out of the fasteners that I had it put up in and let it hang down to my shoulders, I stood staring at myself in the mirror for a while before I decided to pin a little bit back. Happy with the results, I grabbed a sweater before I left my room, just in case it got cold unexpectedly.

Once we got tot he party, my parents went off to kiss my father's boss' butt and I wandered around. I always thought that my parents had money but just wandering around outside the Johnson's house made me fell like I came from a poor family. But I didn't care about that, I didn't want to be there and the fact that their wealth was on display for all the world to see made me not like them even more.

I thought I would find at least one person I knew but as I wandered around I realized that I didn't know anyone and there didn't seem to be anyone close to my age. I felt so out of place standing there in their backyard. I was in the middle of wishing I was home when I heard laughing coming from beyond the bushes. I was almost afraid to go check it out but I figured it wouldn't be any worst than trying to look like I was having fun.

Trying not to scrape myself, I held back the bushes in my way and stepped towards the laughing. "Owww!" I cried as my hair got tangled in the low hanging branch of the chokecherry tree.

"Uh huh, looks like the parents sent a spy," one of the guys called out as the others laughed.

"Guys shut up," a voice snapped from my left. "Here let me help you there."

I turned to eyes towards the guy who came to my rescue. The first thing I noticed about him was his hair, unlike most guys I knew, he wore his hair down to his shoulders. At first I was taken back by it but as I gazed at him longer, I found myself liking it. I didn't say anything while his fingers loosened my hair from the branch. "There you go," his eyes slid to mine and my heart skipped a beat. He tucked the strand of hair he rescued behind my ear, "You should be more careful."

He turned and picked on the beer bottle that was sitting on the post next to us before he started back to his friends. I just stood there, frozen in place, trying to calm my heartbeat down while I wondered if I should just go back to the other side of the bushes. I was in the middle of that debate when he stopped and turned back to me, "Come on berrygirl," he smiled as he held out his hand.

I followed him over to where his friends were sitting around on huge rocks, I didn't know why they were there but it was cool the way they were set out. Maybe they are supposed to be for sitting?

His friends continued their chatter with him jumping in every now and then. I wish I could remember what they were talking about but I don't. All I remember is the cold beer that he handed me when we joined the group and feeling so nervous while I sat by him and wished he would accidentally brush up against me.

"So berry girl, what's your name?" He leaned in to me, almost whispering that in my ear.

I bit back a shiver that ran through me, "Amberlynn."

"Amberlynn?" He nodded, "I like it but I also like berrygirl."

Staring up at him, I wanted to say something witty but I could only think of stupid things to say.

A smile spread across his face, "Mind if I call you Berrylynn?"

I shook my head, he could've asked to call me anything at that moment and I would've said it was ok; I liked the idea of him having a nickname for me. It made me feel special for some silly reason.

He started to say something else when an older woman came through the bushes. "There you are Reed! Your father wants you to meet some people."

The guy beside me sighed, "Yes Mother."

I turned to him, "You are Reed?" Suddenly the 'loser' comment I made at home came back to me and I blushed.

"Yes I am. And as you know it's my birthday." Reed smiled, "Care to give me a birthday kiss before I go and face certain death?" I shook my head and his friends laughed. "No?" He pouted, "Not even a little one right here?" He touched his finger to his cheek.

I laughed, "And if I do that you'll turn your head at the last minute."

"Damn it," he joked. "You got me, I would do that." Smiling, he gazed at me. "Well, I guess I should go join the party," he rolled his eyes when he said 'party'.

He turned towards his friends and started to say something when I leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Happy Birthday Reed."

Slowly he turned his head back towards me, his eyes were wide in surprise. "Sneaky," he said before he leaned in to kiss the corner of my mouth, taking me by surprise. "I'm sneaky too."

We all joined his parents party not long after that. And we remained out there for most of the night. Every now and then I would find Reed at my side, he would say something funny and walk away before I could reply. When he wasn't at my side, I found myself watching him as much as I could without being too obvious.

Later that night he came over to me, I was talking to my parents. "Excuse me Mr & Mrs Sands, I just need to speak to your daughter for a moment." He held out his hand to me and I slipped mine into his. I could see the sheer joy in my mother's eyes as Reed lead me to a spot not far from the bushes I slipped through earlier. We made small talk for a while, the whole time I was afraid that he would slip off again. When I noticed he was looking around, I asked him what was up.

"I'm waiting," he said.

"For what?"

"For..." he looked around and then moved towards the bushes. "Come on Berrylynn."

Reed held the bushes open for me and I made it through without getting caught. It was a lot darker back there than it was earlier, the only light came from the moon that was high in the clear sky. Reed led me over to the rock we sat at before, he leaned against it and took hold of both my hands, his thumbs gliding softly over my soft skin.

"What are we doing back here?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I just wanted to talk without everyone watching and wondering."

"Oh, what did you want to talk about?"

Again he shrugged, "What ever you'd like to tell me about yourself."

We started to talk about our life now, the goals we have and what we wanted for the future. I found out that Reed had a degree in business which is dad thought going to school for was a waste of money because he already had a position at his company ready for Reed. I learned that his mother wanted him to wait a while longer before going to work full time, 'she wants me to live life before it gets sucked out of me like it did my father I guess'. He told me that he had no intentions of being a trust fund baby, even though the money that his grandparents gave him access to when he turned 21 was enough to keep him entertained long after he was gone. "I want do something more than be wealthy Amber," he pulled me closer to him.

"What do you want to be Reed?"

He gazed down into my eyes, "I want to be happy. I just have to figure out how to make that happen."

We stayed hidden behind the bushes for the remainder of the night. It wasn't until we heard his mother calling from the other side that we even remembered that there was a party for him going on.

Just before we walked out from our hiding spot, he stopped me. "Thank you for coming tonight Amber, I don't think it would've been as much fun without you here." He leaned down to kiss my cheek and I turned my head, my lips brushed against his. He drew back a little and gazed down at me, I smiled up at him and closed the distance between us.

****

If I say that first kiss was magical, would you believe me?

Back in the present, I had my eyes closed and my fingers against my lips as I remembered being so wrapped up in his kiss that I didn't even hear his mother when she came through the bushes. I smiled, I knew Reed was going to be a big part of my life that night. I just didn't know how big an impact he would make on it.

"What are you smiling about?" Reed's sleep deepened voice pulled me out of my dreamlike state. I could feel myself blushing as I opened my eyes and saw the same look in his eyes now as the first moment we kissed.

"Thinking about your 24th birthday," I knew there was no point in pretending I wasn't thinking about him, he seemed to know it.

A smile spread across his face, "That was the best birthday ever Berrylynn."

Do You Know What Happens When You Sleep?

I couldn't believe how well I slept Friday night, I woke up around 7 feeling so ready to start my day.

Crawling out my bed, I didn't bother to slip on my robe because I didn't think that Reed would even be awake yet. And I was right. When I pulled the door opened to listen for movement, all I heard was soft snoring coming from that way. He's out like a light, I found myself laughing.

Slipping down the hall, I still couldn't believe how well it went between Chris and Reed the night before. I was expecting there to be tension but they seemed to forget that I was in the room some of the time. I didn't mind that at all, I wanted the two of them to get along.

It's so much easier to explore my relationship with Chris if there isn't awkwardness between the two of them, I thought as I splashed water on my face.

As I left the bathroom I started to think about what I would do that day. Well, Reed said the play group was from 10 until noon, so that gives me two hours to do something on my own. I sighed, but what? I have never had that much time to myself to do anything. Too bad Chris is working, otherwise I'd go see if he wanted some company.

On my way back to my room, I heard something that I wasn't expecting. Stopping in my tracks to listen, I only had to wait a moment before I heard the sound again. "Da da da da da," I laughed as Alexis' small voice carried through her door. "Da da da da da." She wasn't saying it all that loud, in fact it seemed like she was just saying it normally. I admit I was curious to what she was doing.

Tip toeing to her door, I carefully turned the knob and opened the door slightly. "Da da da da da." Alexis was sitting up in her crib with the bunny that Reed gave me for Easter, her eyes were focused on the picture of Reed and me which still sat on the stand by the crib. "Da da da da da," she said again as she played with the bunny's ears.

I chuckled, I didn't think it was all that loud but Alexis turned towards the door and kind of tilted her head as if to see who was there. "Da da da da da," it sounded more like a question this time as she knelt up and held her hands out towards the door.

Pushing the door open, I smiled at her. "Hey snuggle bug."

Her arms dropped a little, it seemed like she was disappointed to see me, "Da da da da da."

I walked into her room and picked up her and the bunny. "You want to see daddy?" I asked, even though I didn't have too. "I'll bring you out to see him but you have to be quiet, daddy's sleeping still."

"Da da," she looked towards the door.

"Shhh," I held my finger up to my mouth, "Daddy's sleeping." Alexis gave me a half grin but she didn't say anything.

When we walked out into the living room and she saw Reed on the couch her face lit up. "DA DA!" She held out her arms as she tried to get down. Reed shifted on the couch but he never woke up.

"Shh," I held up my finger again and this time she did it too. "That's right Alexis, we have to be quiet."

I walked over to the couch and stopped. "See daddy's sleeping?" I looked down at Reed for the longest time. When did he remove his shirt? I wondered, I know he was wearing it when I went to bed. And that thought was soon followed by, I wonder what else he's not wearing? A quick glance towards his bags told me that he also removed his pants after I went to bed. Is he naked under there? My eyes went wide at that thought, and I could feel the heat rising within. Oh Lord what if he is naked? I bit my lip, should I check it out? For Alexis' sake that is, I wouldn't want her to see him naked. I glanced at Alexis, only I should see daddy that way.

I gasped, did I just think that???

Alexis was wiggling in my arms, she wanted to get down with her daddy. I gently placed her on the couch and as soon as I removed my hands, she went to grab for Reed's hair. "No Alexis," I frantically whispered as I grabbed her hand. "Daddy is sleeping."

Her little face started to take the form of the crying face, "Oh snuggle bug!" I sat down on the couch and pulled her into my arms. "Mommy didn't mean to snap Alexis," I looked down at her, her little lip trembled as she pointed to Reed. "Ok, but remember shhh."

When she got down this time, she crawled over to him and laid down next to him. Reed was on his stomach with his arms under his pillow, facing the wall. I watched as Alexis turned on her side to face him, she reached out and touched his shoulder with her hand. "Da da?" Her voice was so soft that if I didn't know she spoke, I wouldn't have heard it.

I'm not really sure how it happened but not long after this, I ended up lying down with the two of them.

Alexis closed her eyes and hugged the bunny close, her hand was still on Reed's shoulder but she was on her back again.

I watched her for a while but soon my gaze rested on Reed. The back of his head, his shoulders, then blankets that rested at his waist.

And that's when I found myself taking a walk down memory lane.

Wow! Aren't We Civilized?

I don't know how long I clung to him as I bawled my eyes out. Time seemed to slow down, nothing else mattered now that he was here safe and sound.

Reed rubbed my back and softly told me how he got stuck behind the other accident. "It was horrible Amber. I swear there must have been about 6 cops cars on the scene, along with three ambulances and a couple firetrucks." I stopped him before he went into too much detail, I told him I saw it on the news and started thinking all sorts of bad things when he didn't show up here.

"Trust me, I would've liked to have been here with you and Alexis. I tried to call you a couple times but there wasn't a signal for my phone." He pulled his cell out of his pocket, "And then the stupid thing died!"

I laughed through my tears as I glanced at the phone, "I'm just happy you are safe." I kissed his cheek and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tight. "I had to..." My voice trailed off as my eyes slid over Chris, who was standing just behind Reed. "Hey!" I smiled at him and went to move away from Reed.

"What?" Reed turned to see what I was looking at. "Oh hello Chris."

Chris frowned as he looked back and forth between us. He didn't say anything at first but then he nodded at Reed and put down his lunchbox to pull out his keys. "Is everything ok Amber?" His voice was filled with concern as he stared down at me.

I nodded and brushed away the remaining tears on my cheeks. "Reed was late getting here and there was this accident. I couldn't get hold of him and I started to freak." I turned to glance at Reed who was watching me with this amused expression on his face. "But he's here now, so I can stop freaking. OH NO!" I turned towards my apartment. "I called your mother, she's still on the phone!"

Reed put his hand out to stop me. "I'll go talk to her, let her know I"m ok." He glanced at Chris and then looked back at me. "Take your time," he whispered as he disappeared into my apartment and closed the door.

"Ok, so.." I turned back to Chris and watched him as he played with his keys.

"So..." he repeated as he glanced up at me. "I should probably go get a shower and go to bed." He stretched and yawned at the same time. "Today was rough."

"Yeah," I sighed as my eyes ran over his body. Everything was covered in mud, his face, his clothes. Even his hair had mud in it. He looked so tired and worn out that I wondered if he would even make it to the shower, or to bed. Bed, I groaned mentally. Why am I thinking about him in bed. I shook my head and turned my gaze back up to his face; he was smiling.

"Care to tell me what that smile is for?" He asked.

My eyes went wide and I blushed, "No!"

He chuckled, "If I wasn't so dirty, I'd kiss you right now."

"Oh yeah?" I stepped in closer to him and grabbed hold of his open jacket. "When has that ever stopped you before?" I stretched up on my tippy toes and he leaned down to give me a quick kiss. "Mmmm! Gravel," I joked as he pulled away.

Chris laughed, "Well I did say I need to shower." He kissed me again, "And maybe get something to eat too. I haven't had anything since about noon."

"No!" I said a little louder than I meant too. He gave me a funny look. "I meant, no as in 'come over to my apartment. I have an oven full of ribs and baked potatoes and a pot of rice'. If you are hungry enough to trust my cooking that is."

He hesitated for a moment, "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to interrupt your evening with Reed."

"You wouldn't be interrupting, it's not like we had anything planned. He was supposed to be here around supper time, so I cooked. But he was late and then," I sighed. "You don't have to if you don't want. I just figured that it would sa-" My words were cut off my Chris' lips.

"I would love to come over for supper," he told me. "But I need to shower first." He picked up his lunchbox and unlocked his door. "Give me around ten minutes?" When I nodded, he disappeared into his apartment.

Reed was just hanging up the phone when I walked in. "Mother says that you might be coming home when my grandmother comes to visit?"

I nodded, "I told her that we would talk about it though."

"Really?" He grinned. "Oh Amber you have no idea how much it would mean to me to be able to introduce Alexis to my grandmother."

"I think I do know, you've always been really close to her and she was always really nice to me. That's why I think it would be good for Alexis to meet her."

Reed hugged me, "Thank you Amber!"

When Reed released me I went into the kitchen to grab the plates and silverware to set the table. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Well," I said as I sorted out the place settings. "I cooked supper because I thought you would be hungry when you got here. It should be ok still." I glanced at him. "I invited Chris over."

He nodded and headed into the kitchen, "So what did you make?" When I told him, he came running back into the living room. "Are you serious?" I told him I was and he disappeared back in to the kitchen and I heard the oven door open. "Oh dear God, yes!"

Chris knocked on the door at that moment and slowly pushed it open. Reed looked around the corner at him, "Come here." He waved Chris in. "Did she tell you want she made?"

Chris glanced at me, "Yes she did."

"Isn't Amber the best?" Reed asked before telling Chris to help him bring the food to the table.

I sat down and watched the two of them drool over the food as they brought everything to the table. "Oh lord!" I laughed when they sat down and dug in. "You'd think the two of you have never seen food before!"

Supper went a lot better than I thought it would with the two of them. Not once was there ever an awkward moment; if you didn't know any better you'd think they were friends long before I ever knew either of them. And that was a relief.

They pretty much cleaned up on all the food, both of them were groaning about being stuffed. But the moment I went to clear the table, they both jumped up and pushed me out of the way. While it was nice to get away from doing the dishes, I kind of felt left out as the talked and joked around in the kitchen.

It was almost midnight by the time Reed decided to head for the hotel. He checked in on Alexis before he went and told me he would be back as early as he could tomorrow. "The 'daddy and me' group is tomorrow," he told me as I walked him to the door.

Once Reed was gone, I flipped off the lights in the kitchen and the living room, leaving only the hall light on. "Is that my 'get out' sign?" Chris asked as he relaxed on my couch.

I lowered myself on the couch next to him and put his arm around my shoulder. "No," I said, turning to him. "I just don't need all those lights on."

"Mmmm," Chris turned his head, his eyes were closed but he managed to kiss my forehead.

"You are very tired, aren't you?"

"Mmhmm," his arm tightened around me. "Very tired."

His breathing changed and I knew he had fallen asleep but I wasn't about to wake him to tell him to go home. Instead I relaxed against him, my head was on his chest. As I listened to the steady beat of his heart, I felt my eyes getting tired until I finally closed them.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

We both jumped. He seemed a little disoriented and I barely managed to pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"They lost my reservation!"

"What? How did they do that?"

Reed sighed, "I don't know but it's not there! And that's not the worst part, they don't have a room for tonight! They are calling around to see if some other place has a room."

"Reed," I sighed. "Just come back here." Chris looked up at me when I said that.

"No Amber I'll find a room. I just wanted to let you know so you don't wonder if you call here for me."

I shook my head, "Reed it's just past midnight. Just come back to the apartment and you can crash on the couch."

"But Amber I-"

"I'm not asking you Reed!" I snapped, "I'm telling you to come back here now!" I growled and slammed the receiver down. "Men!"

I sunk back into the couch and turned to Chris. "What?"

He gave me a sleepy grin and shrugged, "I'm not saying anything." He wrapped his arms around me and held me, "I don't want you upset with me too."

I just smiled, I didn't know what else to do. I sat there with this silly smile on my face and I hugged him.

That's how we were when Reed came back in and dropped his bag by the couch. He said 'thank you' as he collapsed into the matching love seat.