Chapter Fourteen

This Magic Moment

Scotty was abruptly jerked back to reality when he heard the front door creaking open and a pair of exuberant footsteps crossing the threshold.

"Hi, Scotty, bye, Scotty," a tutu-clad blur that could only be Veronica said as she whizzed past and thundered loudly up the stairs, her arrival there punctuated by the closing of her bedroom door.

"Thought ballet was supposed to make you graceful," Scotty remarked, grinning in Kat’s direction as she tossed her keys and her purse on the kitchen table.

"Shoulda heard her before all those lessons," Kat retorted. "Like a whole herd of wildebeest."

Scotty chuckled. If this was the result of six years of ballet, he wasn’t sure he wanted to even imagine what she must have been like before.

"So what’s the rush?" he asked, nodding toward the stairs.

Kat rolled her eyes as she shrugged out of her coat. "She had to get home to…get this…text a girl from dance class."

"Text someone she just saw twenty minutes ago?" Scotty asked incredulously. "What’s the matter with, I dunno, talkin’ to ‘em when you see ‘em?"

"Apparently that’s old-school," Kat replied as she kicked off her shoes, then came into the living room in full view of Scotty and their daughter. She stared for a moment, then chuckled softly.

"What?" Scotty asked, somewhat defensively.

"She’s got a bed, y’know," Kat replied with a grin.

"Yeah, I know," Scotty agreed, glancing lovingly at his daughter. "It’s just…she…well, I didn’t…" he trailed off with a sheepish grin.

"You’re the biggest softie I know, Valens," she said affectionately, then lifted the sleeping toddler off her father’s chest and kissed her cheek.

"Say good night, Daddy," she instructed softly, and Scotty gently squeezed his daughter’s hand.

"Buenas noches, princesa," he murmured, then watched Kat slowly climb the stairs, their offspring in tow.

When they were out of sight, he hoisted himself up off the couch and headed for the kitchen to grab the Ben & Jerry’s. It had become a tradition on Friday nights, after the girls went to bed, for Kat and Scotty to dig into a pint of ice cream and snark at bad movies on TV. More often than not, it ended with them both in stitches, the gales of laughter being exactly what they needed after a long week at work…but on this night, Scotty wasn’t in the mood for some lame-ass TV movie. Instead, he found himself gravitating toward the photo albums they kept on a shelf by the fireplace.

Not surprisingly, the one he grabbed was the one that contained the first pictures of their daughter. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember who had taken them. He was pretty sure he hadn’t, since anytime he tried to photograph anything, the subjects found themselves missing heads or other key appendages, but he couldn’t think who else it might have been. Dismissing the unanswered question as quickly as it had come, Scotty started to flip through the slick plastic pages one by one, basking in the glow of the memories of that warm, cloudy June day.

"Figured you might be lookin’ at that," he heard a familiar voice say behind him after a few minutes, and he glanced up to see Kat, now clad in a simple T-shirt and a pair of stretch pants, her dark eyes twinkling with amusement. Grinning self-consciously, he scooted over on the couch to make room for her, and she grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over their laps.

"Kinda been livin’ in the past today, I guess," Scotty admitted, and Kat shot him a grin as she settled down on the couch next to him and grabbed the ice cream from his hand.

"You and me both," she replied wistfully, lifting the lid from the ice cream container and digging in while Scotty flipped back to the beginning of the album.

June 17, 2009

Scotty had no idea how long they were in that delivery room. It could have been a few minutes, a few hours, hell, maybe even a week, and he wouldn’t have noticed, or cared. The moment he climbed into that bed behind Kat, time ceased to have any meaning at all.

Doctors and nurses drifted in and out of the room from time to time, checking monitors and fluids and all kinds of things, but Scotty didn’t pay any attention to them, either. The sole target of his focus was the woman who leaned wearily against his chest during those brief respites between contractions, grateful for the simplest things…a few ice chips spooned into her mouth, a cool washcloth on her forehead, the gentle stroking of his fingertips across her cheek. For someone who’d raged at him on more than one occasion the past few months not to touch her, she sure didn’t seem to mind it now, and a fulfillment like Scotty had never known flooded his heart at the fact that he was able to do something to make her feel better.

Kat had definitely calmed down since he arrived, he noticed with a touch of contented pride. After her brief outburst, she’d taken full control, and he could sense her loneliness and fear and whatever else she was feeling receding bit by bit every time he reassured her that she wasn’t alone. But, even though his massages during contractions helped some, he could tell she was still in a lot of physical pain. Scotty would have done anything to alleviate that, anything at all, but, to his chagrin, that decision had already been made beforehand.

They’d been drafting the birth plan a few weeks before, bantering jovially while they listed their preferences, but when it came to the issue of painkillers, Kat stopped, mid-laugh, and met his eyes with a lethally certain gaze.

"No drugs," she’d insisted. "I don’t care what I say, what I do, or how much I beg. Don’t let ‘em give ‘em to me."

Scotty had blinked in surprise at her vehemence, because, quite frankly, it was beyond him. He had no firsthand knowledge of what giving birth was like, of course, but from the stories his cousins and sister-in-law had told him, an epidural was God’s gift to women, and he had no earthly idea what would possess someone to go through labor without one.

"Kat," he’d protested, against his better judgment. "I know you’ve done this before…but if they got somethin’ to take the pain away, I don’t get why you’d---"

"Scotty," she’d snapped, with flashing eyes. "I mean it. No."

His heart filling with helpless dread at what she was about to put herself through, he’d wanted to protest, wanted to fight it with everything he had, but the expression in her eyes was like nothing he’d ever seen before, and he was simply too stunned to argue. Instead, he’d shrugged, let her include that as part of the birth plan, and resorted to fervent prayers over the interim weeks that she wouldn’t actually, literally beg for the drugs…because he had no freakin’ idea how in the world he’d be able to deny her. Oh, she’d reassured him that the pain hadn’t been that bad with Veronica…but she hadn’t had back labor with Veronica, and those reassurances rang hollow now, as she grimaced her way through another contraction. Even though she was trying valiantly to hide it, Scotty had never seen her in so much pain. The contractions were stronger now, hard and fast and close together, with little respite in between, and Scotty tried as best he could, but even his careful ministrations didn’t seem to do much for her, and he suddenly felt desperate for something, anything more that could help her.

In a case of brilliant timing, the nurse had chosen that moment to come in to check Kat’s progress. "Would she like something for the pain?" she asked quietly, with a glance in their direction as she made a note in the chart.

Scotty looked down at Kat, his eyes wordlessly begging her for permission. More than anything, he wanted to say yes. More than anything in the world. This was his fault, after all. She was in agony, and it was his fault. But she’d been more insistent about that than about anything he’d ever seen from her, and as he looked down at her, she glanced up at him, the answer written unequivocally in the infinite depths of her dark eyes. Oh, she was in a lot of pain, he could see it there plain as day…but as he opened his mouth to tell the nurse to bring whatever they had, he saw, beneath the pain, beneath any hint of a fleeting, momentary desire for something to take the edge off, that iron-clad determination, and his heart began to sink. She didn’t even have to say anything, but she did anyway, just to be sure.

"Scotty," she whispered. "I said no."

After searching her eyes for another moment, he sighed with defeat and steeled himself for what was to come. If she was refusing the relief that an epidural would offer, if she was tough enough to do that, Scotty realized, then surely he was tough enough to stay behind her and watch her suffer. That was his penance, he figured. His penance for being drunk and stupid and taking advantage of his friend. As another powerful contraction gripped her, she dug her fingers into his forearms so hard he could feel the bruises forming already, but he welcomed it. If that helped her get through this, he’d take absolutely anything she cared to dish out.

Hating himself for what he was about to do, yet knowing that it was the right thing, he shook his head no, and the nurse nodded and departed. He could’ve sworn Kat seemed relieved when the door closed behind her, but then another contraction hit, and Scotty sprang into action. He had work to do.

Over however many hours they’d been in that room, Scotty and Kat had developed a rhythm together. He’d keep his arms around her until she had a contraction, and then she’d lean forward and he’d bring his fists around to the small of her back and press against it, far too hard, he thought, but it was only when he was pressing with every ounce of his strength that it brought her any relief, so he kept at it. His arms had started to quiver with exertion after a while, and he knew they’d be sore for days to come, but he didn’t care. However miserable he was, she had to be ten times worse…and this was helping her. Gradually, though, he became so focused on her that he didn’t even notice the fatigue anymore. He didn’t notice or care about anything except Kat and their daughter and bringing her safely into the world.

After one particularly long, painful contraction, an exhausted Kat collapsed back against him. "I can’t do this anymore," she gasped helplessly. "That’s it. That’s all I got left. I can’t do this."

Scotty had no idea what to say to that, so he just held her close and wiped her sweat-glazed forehead with the cold washcloth again.

"Breathe, Kat. Just breathe," he soothed. "It’s almost over. You know that." Just then, a memory from their birthing classes flashed back to him, and he was suddenly elated. "Hey, remember what we learned? Remember what they said? When you get here, when you think you can’t do it anymore…that’s when it’s almost time."

Kat nodded, but he could tell from the weariness and pain etched on her face as she glanced back at him that she still didn’t believe him.

"Hey," he reminded her, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb and looking deep into her eyes. "You’re not alone. You know that. I’m right here. I ain’t goin’ nowhere."

She smiled, a weak, tremulous smile, but a genuine smile nonetheless, and then she squeezed his hand. It was an affectionate squeeze, one that spoke of love and friendship rather than pain, and that combined with her heart-meltingly beautiful smile…good Lord, he’d have done anything for that smile.

The doctor came in just then, checked Kat, and, with just a touch of giddiness in her voice, announced that it was time. Utterly amazed, Scotty watched as a strength he didn’t know Kat had suddenly took control, as though a switch had been flipped. The exhausted woman who’d claimed she couldn’t go on was gone, replaced by a steady, calm, determined woman possessed by a power he’d never seen before. If she was in pain, he had no way of knowing. She was silent, almost eerily so, her carefully controlled breathing the only sound in the room. He’d expected a room full of cheerleader-like nurses urging her to push, but there was none of that. Kat was in charge. Her body was completely in control. She had almost totally disappeared into herself, connecting on some deep, primal level with the baby. All her energy was devoted to guiding that little girl into the world, and she had no use for the enraged screaming or frustrated shrieking Scotty had been expecting… and all he could do was watch in total awe, hold her close, and marvel at the miracle he was witnessing.

After a few minutes, Dr. Bridwell smiled broadly. "Kat," she said softly, "reach down."

Scotty felt tears beginning to prick his eyes as Kat snapped out of her trance long enough to turn back and beam up at him, then was completely startled as she grabbed his hand from where it had been wrapped around her chest and brought it down with hers.

"We’re doin’ this together," she declared breathlessly, and she gently guided his hand to something small, round, and slimy, their fingers intertwining as they caressed it.

"That’s her head, Scotty," Kat announced, the joy and wonder of the moment giving her voice a beautiful richness he’d never heard, and Scotty could scarcely believe it. That was her head. His daughter’s head. After all the months of waiting, he was finally touching his daughter.

Their daughter.

"Isn’t that amazing?" Kat asked in a reverent whisper.

For a long moment, Scotty couldn’t speak. "Yeah," he finally managed thickly, as his fingers found hers, wrapped their way around them, and gave them a brief squeeze.

"We’re almost there," Dr. Bridwell said quietly. "Scotty, do you wanna come play catch?"

Scotty froze. That had been one of the key components of the birth plan. He’d been looking forward to the opportunity to actually deliver his child, to bring his daughter into the world, and he started to extricate himself from behind Kat, but he suddenly stopped. The baby didn’t really need him, he realized. She was in excellent hands. But, despite how relaxed Kat was, how euphoric she’d suddenly become, she still clung to his arm like it was a life preserver. As he started to move, he heard the barest of whimpers escape her, and he glanced down at her to find her large, soulful eyes filled with joy and pain and countless other things he couldn’t even describe… and with that, the decision was made.

"Nah," he replied with a smile. "I’m good right here."

Dr. Bridwell grinned proudly, then turned her attention back to Kat and the baby, and it wasn’t long at all before the only sound Kat made split the air, a kind of roar, not one of pain, but of triumph…and blending seamlessly on the heels of that, most glorious sound Scotty had ever heard: the weak, but healthy cry of a little girl…his little girl…and ocean waves of joy and love and pride and a myriad of other things he found impossible to name washed through his body as Kat collapsed back against him, caught her breath, and squeezed his hand.

After a few seconds, Dr. Bridwell placed the baby on Kat’s chest and the nurses draped a warm blanket over them both. Their daughter was wet and red and wrinkled and covered in goo…but she was the most beautiful thing Scotty had ever seen in his whole life.

"Hey, little one," Kat cooed as she stroked the baby’s cheek, her voice wavering slightly as happy tears spilled over, the pain and toil and exhaustion of the last few hours fading to nothingness. "I know you."

Scotty was dumbfounded. He knew he should be saying something, doing something, but all he could do was stare at his daughter. That tiny, wet, helpless little creature nuzzling her head under her mother’s chin and blinking in confusion at her strange new surroundings …that was his. His flesh and blood…his and Kat’s. They’d made her. Together. It was simply miraculous, and for a while, all he could do was stare.

Finally, Kat turned around, her face shining with sweat and streaked with tears, yet glowing with an ecstatic, loving contentment, the likes of which he’d never seen from anyone.

"You still in there, Scotty?" she asked lightly.

"Yeah," Scotty managed. "It’s just…" he trailed off, at a complete and total loss for words.

"Wanna say hi to your daughter?" she prompted, and Scotty beamed, her gentle query springing him into action, and he gently placed his hand on the baby’s back. She was so small that his hand almost covered the whole surface of her, he noticed, and at that, he felt a sudden surge of protectiveness welling up in his heart.

"Hey, you," he whispered, fighting tears once more. "It’s me. I’m your daddy." It sounded indescribably lame to his ears, and he almost winced, but then the little girl glanced up at him, and their eyes met for the first time. For a while, father and daughter simply stared at one another, and Scotty was stunned. He’d already thought he’d been amazed more by her birth than he could possibly be by anything else for the rest of his life, but as that tiny pair of dark brown eyes looked up at him with an expression that seamlessly mingled curiosity and familiarity, he could have sworn his heart stopped beating. He didn’t even dare to breathe, lest he disturb the moment. They were bonding…they were connecting. Even though she couldn’t understand a word he said, and even though she couldn’t say anything in response…somehow, some way, their souls were knit together forever. Hey…I know you, her gaze seemed to say.

A broad smile crossed his face as the tears blurred his vision. He thought he knew what love at first sight felt like…but this blew it out of the water.

"She’s got your eyes, Scotty," Kat murmured affectionately. "Spittin’ image."

He couldn’t say a word. All he could do was caress his daughter’s back with one hand and squeeze her mother’s shoulders with the other, all the while trying to keep from crying all over them both.

***

The next few hours passed in a blur. After a few moments of bonding, the nurses took the little girl away for the requisite tests while Scotty whipped out his phone and called everyone he could think of and Kat took a much-needed nap. Then, after the doctors and nurses returned the now-sleeping infant, checked Kat once more, and then left, visitors started to arrive. A beaming Dina Miller was the first to arrive, with Veronica in tow; Dina called the baby a precious little cupcake, while Veronica thought she looked more like E. T. A few minutes after they departed, Scotty’s mother drifted in with an enormous teddy bear and tearfully proclaimed the baby a little princesa, and the moment she left, Vera and and a refreshed-looking Jeffries arrived with hearty congratulations and an offer to go grab them anything they wanted to eat, which a delighted Kat met with a request for a cheese steak from Geno’s.

"Covered in Cheez Whiz, right, Miller?" Vera joked.

"Hell, no," she retorted, her eyes sparking like always. "You bring me that thing back with Cheez Whiz, I’m shovin’ it up your ass."

"Hey, you’re supposed to be restin’," he shot back. "And what happened to that new-mom glow?"

"Just bring me my damn cheese steak," she ordered, "or the glow you’ll see won’t have anything to do with me bein’ a new mom."

Vera’s brow furrowed in confusion. "What the hell is she she talkin’ about?" he muttered quietly to his partner, who was holding the baby and beaming proudly.

"Just go get the damn sandwich, Nick," he instructed, his eyes still locked on the infant in his arms.

As a grumbling Vera departed, Lilly and Stillman came in bearing a huge bouquet of flowers. Stillman gave Scotty a proud hug, and Jeffries reluctantly handed the baby to Lilly. Joy shining from her blue eyes, she held the little girl and talked quietly with Kat for a few moments, then passed the baby to Stillman and turned to Scotty. She grinned at him for a moment, then pulled him into a tender embrace.

"She’s beautiful, Scotty," Lilly whispered. "And Jack Peyton confessed a couple hours ago."

"Lil," Scotty said huskily, pulling away from his partner, the woman who meant the world to him…and he suddenly realized that he had absolutely no idea what to say to her, no clue how to thank her for everything she’d done for him, for Kat, for their daughter that day.

"Thanks," he finally said with a grin, the single syllable communicating more to her than the most eloquent speech he ever could’ve given.

Lilly beamed, the twinkle in her eyes reminding him of a day so long ago when the tables had been turned, and for a far less joyous reason. "Just don’t make me do it again," she teased.

***

Visiting hours soon ended, and Kat and Scotty devoured their cheese steaks and then prepared to settle in for the night with their new daughter, who’d drifted off after nursing and now slept peacefully in her mother’s arms, wrapped up in blankets so tightly Scotty that thought, in his dazed, exhausted, euphoric state, that she resembled a large, pink burrito.

"Oh, God, Scotty," Kat realized suddenly, glancing at him in wide-eyed amazement, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You haven’t even gotten to hold her yet."

Scotty frowned. Surely not. Surely that couldn’t be possible…but as he thought back over the last few hours, he realized that, holy crap, it was true.

"You’re right," he said in awe. How the hell had that happened?

Before he could even blink, Kat was handing him the tiny bundle, and he cradled her in his arms, that sense of protectiveness even stronger now as he was overwhelmed by how delicate and fragile she seemed.

"I’m kinda afraid I’m gonna break her," he admitted sheepishly as he looked up at Kat, who rewarded him with a tender smile.

"Well, if she didn’t break while she was comin’ outta me, no way in hell can you do any damage," she retorted, her eyes sparkling with amusement, and Scotty grinned in reply, then turned his attention back to the baby. One of her small, chubby arms had worked itself free from the blankets, and he caressed the tiny, perfectly-formed fingers, astonished at how, even in her sleep, she wrapped them around his index finger and gripped it tightly. He caressed the back of her small hand with his thumb, fighting tears of love and joy once more.

Just then, the nurse came in with the birth certificate, and Scotty could hear, at the very edge of his awareness, the low murmurings as the nurse and Kat discussed length and weight and all the other vital statistics. He perked up, though, when the nurse asked her final question.

"Do you two have a name picked out?" she inquired, her voice bubbling with happiness.

Kat shot Scotty a rueful grin. They’d tossed around a few names, and they’d definitely chosen a middle name. After giving Veronica her paternal grandmother’s name as a middle name, she wanted to do the same for her maternal grandmother, Marie. Scotty had beamed at that; the fact that his own mother’s middle name was Maria sealed the deal for him. So the middle name was easy.

But the first name…they’d gone round and round with it, finally settling on a handful of names and agreeing to wait until she was born to see what suited her best. Now, however, that moment was here…and as Scotty tore his attention from his daughter to glance at Kat, he realized from the look in her eyes that they were still as clueless as they had been when they started.

"Well," Kat began, almost shyly, "I got one I really like. But…"

"But…" Scotty prompted, still utterly enchanted by the baby in his arms.

Kat shrugged. "It never made the list, ‘cause I can’t think of a good nickname for it," she admitted reluctantly.

"Well, what is it?" Scotty asked, sure that, unless the name was something absolutely hideous, he wouldn’t have it in him to deny Kat anything.

"Isabel," she said softly, almost longingly, reaching a hand up to caress her daughter’s cheek.

Scotty glanced up at Kat again. "You gotta have a nickname?" he blurted out. "’Cause I like Isabel."

Kat chuckled. "This from the grown man who still calls himself Scotty," she retorted, and he had to give her that.

"Well, what about Izzie?" he suggested, but he hated the sound of it the moment it left his lips. He glanced at Kat, seeing his own revulsion reflected in her eyes. "Yeah, never mind," he shrugged, then turned his attention back to his daughter.

As he gazed at her tiny, caramel-colored face, her sweet rosebud mouth, her miniature eyelashes, and the dark curls that just barely covered her head, the love welled up within him once more, and he was suddenly taken back to a place and a time he hadn’t thought about for years, a moonlit spring night so long ago it might as well have been another lifetime. Words echoed in his mind, carefully practiced words that had tumbled from his lips that night...achingly bittersweet words, long since buried, that suddenly took on joyous new life.

I love you. I’ve loved you from the minute I laid eyes on you. You are the most beautiful, most amazing girl I’ve ever met…and the first time I held your hand, I couldn’t believe you were mine. We’ve already come so far…and we got our whole lives ahead of us. I dunno what life’s gonna bring us, I dunno what the future holds for us…all I know is that I wanna be there with you for all of it. I wanna hold you when you cry, pick you up and spin you around in circles when you’re happy, cradle your head to my chest when you’re asleep…I wanna make you as happy as you’ve made me. I don’t got much to offer you…but my heart is yours, and has been since the moment I met you.

You’re my world. You’re my light…you’re my life…you’re my reason for gettin’ up in the mornin’. Seein’ you smile…it’s the greatest thing in the world. Elisa…bella…I love you with all my heart, and I’d like nothin’ more than for you to be mine forever.

"Bella," he murmured around the rapidly swelling lump in his throat.

"Bella," Kat echoed, and Scotty was startled to hear her speak, so lost was he in his overwhelming emotions as he gazed at his daughter.

She must have been staring at him for a while, because there was just a trace of amusement in her voice when she spoke next. "That mean somethin’ special to you?" she asked softly.

Scotty swallowed hard and glanced at Kat through tear-blurred eyes. "Yeah," he replied huskily. "It does."

"Bella," she said again, gazing at the newborn.

"Means ‘beautiful,’" Scotty supplied.

"I love it," Kat said simply, as her large dark eyes met his. "It suits her."

"Isabel Marie Miller," Scotty whispered, still in a daze as he returned to staring at his daughter, who still had her fingers wrapped tightly around his. "Bella."

The nurse must have started to write something on the birth certificate, but Scotty wasn’t paying attention…that is, until he heard Kat abruptly stop her.

"Still ain’t got it right," she corrected gently. "It’s Isabel Marie Valens-Miller."

Completely dumbfounded for at least the fourteenth time that day, Scotty stared at Kat in utter amazement as the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen crossed her face.

"You’re…you’re serious?" he blurted out. "You wanna….she’s…you’re…."

"Of course," she replied, stroking her daughter’s soft curls as she gazed up at him almost shyly. "She’s yours, too, Scotty. And you’ve been here. Start to finish. Just like you said you would be. Couldn’ta done it without you."

Scotty felt the tears pooling in his eyes once more, and he simply couldn’t fight them any longer. Hastily, he gave his daughter, the daughter who now shared his name, back to her mother and turned away from them both just as the tears overflowed and started to trace hot paths down his cheeks. He quickly brushed them away, but apparently he wasn’t quick enough, because he heard a gentle chuckle from the bed next to him.

"Hey, I’m supposed to be the one with wonky hormones," Kat chided affectionately, and Scotty had to grin despite everything.

"Sorry," he muttered, settling into the chair beside the bed and gazing at both of them in wonder. "I just…"

"It’s okay, Scotty," Kat assured him, and through his tears, he could see that hers, too, were about to spill over. "It’s…kind of a big day."

"Yeah," he croaked in agreement around the lump in his throat. He was startled when Kat put her arm around him and pulled him close, and that pure, simple gesture proving to be his undoing. He wrapped his arms around both Kat and Bella and finally allowed the flood of emotions to wash over him. When it ended a few minutes later, he didn’t move, he just stayed in that perfect, silent embrace, wanting to preserve the moment forever.

Kat finally broke the silence. "Thank you, Scotty," she whispered earnestly, and he raised his head from her shoulder and looked up into her tear-filled eyes, unable to say anything, at least for the moment.

"You were here," she explained, pulling him closer to her. "You said you’d be here, and here you are. Scotty…you got no idea how much that means to me." Her eyes, once again, spoke volumes, and all he could do was smile.

"I should be thankin’ you," he replied hoarsely. "This is the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me."

He had no idea how it happened, who started it, or why, but the next thing he knew, his hand had found its way to the back of her neck, and his lips were on hers in a tender kiss, one that, quite frankly, lasted far longer than he’d originally intended. The euphoria and the love they felt for their daughter was overflowing; it was everywhere, all around them, and a kiss, it seemed, was the only way to adequately express it. It was, after all, the way the whole damn thing had started.

Was it a good idea? Scotty wondered, as his lips dared to press against hers just a little more earnestly. He hadn’t a clue. But, good idea or not…it felt strangely right.

***

"Helluva day," Kat remarked softly, suddenly aware that Scotty, somewhere along the line, had wrapped his arm around her. It wasn’t something he did often, but she was forced to admit that it always felt great when he did. Just the warmth, the security, the closeness…it was wonderful.

"Yeah," Scotty replied, absently tracing circles on her shoulder with his fingertips as he closed the album with his other hand. "Pretty amazin’."

"Can’t believe one drunken night led to all that," she mused, glancing up at him.

Scotty turned to face her as he blindly placed the photo album on the coffee table. "Kinda glad you bailed on that blind date," he said with a grin.

She smiled back at him. "Yeah," she agreed quietly, suddenly aware of the fact that he was drawing closer by the second, and even more aware of the fact that she wasn’t pulling away. In fact, she was doing the opposite. "Me, too," she whispered.

His hand was in her hair then, his thumb softly brushing her cheek, and she closed her eyes in bliss. She knew where this was going, and she knew she should be stopping it…but it felt so damn good that she couldn’t, for the life of her, remember why.

She felt him pulling her closer, close enough that she could smell the lingering spicy scent of his aftershave, could feel the heat radiating from his skin and the soft tickle of his breath across her lips. His other arm was tightening around her, and her hand wandered its way up his bicep and over the curve of his shoulder, resting on the back of his neck…

"Kat…" Scotty began, his voice sounding strange and faraway even though his lips were practically touching hers, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. "I…I…"

"Mmmmm?" she encouraged, and she felt him tremble slightly.

"I, uh…think I hear Bella," he blurted out, then, before she knew what was happening, he was gone, his footsteps thundering up the stairs, leaving a sudden rush of cold, lonely air in his wake.