The rest of the week continued much the same for Jamie, aside from the flowers and invitation for dinner, Mitch had also left her a t-shirt and hat from her favorite football team, the Giants, a stuffed puppy, and a book by her favorite author. He'd obviously been milking his mother for information because despite not having spoken to him, Jamie knew that she'd discussed some of these very things with Madeline during their chats. She and Madeline would gossip like old girlfriends over a cup of coffee and the daily paper. It was a bit ironic that instead of meeting med students and going out every night, Jamie's new friends were a 58 year old grandma and her infant grandson.

Friday came all too soon for Madeline. She really was sad to be leaving her son and new grandson but she knew they would be well taken care of. Sitting down for lunch, neither woman spoke, afraid to mention Madeline's impending departure. “So are you all packed?” Jamie asked quietly, pushing her salad around on her plate.

“Yes, packed and ready to go. Mitch is coming home from work to drop me at the airport so, you'll probably have to hang around a little later tonight.” At the mention of Mitch's name, Jamie couldn't help but blush. She hadn't had a chance to speak with him at all, despite the notes and gifts he'd left. She had planned to accept his dinner offer and at the very least try and establish a cordial friendship with her employer.

When Mitch came later in the afternoon to pick Madeline up, she hugged Jamie tightly, “You take good care of my boys, ok.”

She got set to wait around a while for Mitch to get home. She fed Alex a bottle and put him down for an afternoon nap. She flipped channels briefly, taking not of all the drama-fide daytime tv shows and decided to instead pull out a book. Romance novels were her guilty pleasure, something about all that passion put into words, it made her heart beat faster and sent jolts of electricity straight to her core. The good ones had her blushing and fanning herself with the open pages to cool her flushed skin. She knew they were kind of cheesy, but at the end of the day, she liked the happy endings.

---------

Although it was nice to be home early for a change, he was exhausted and his head was killing him! He'd been working incredibly long hours since he'd started back, playing catch-up for all the time he'd missed. He hadn't spent as much time as he would've liked with Alex, and now, with his mom gone, he was going to be thrown head first into single parenting. He had no idea what he was going to do, how he was going to balance work and taking care of a baby. He wanted Alex to have all the same luxuries he had growing up. Even though both his parents worked, his mom still made time to drive him to football practice and his father would toss the pigskin with him in the backyard or take him on weekend camping trips.

He pulled fished in his coat pocket for his keys and unlocked the door. After depositing his briefcase on the kitchen countertops he tiptoed up the steps, peeking into Alex's room to see his little boy sleeping soundly. He didn't know how it was possible to love another person so much, despite only knowing them a short time. He quickly bent over the crib placing a kiss atop Alex's head of curls that so closely resembled his.

He stopped by his room to trade in his slacks, button down shirt, and tie for a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. The house was incredibly quiet, and Jamie hadn't made an appearance when he'd come in door so he went in search of her. He'd hoped that his presents had been an effective olive branch to put him safely back in her good graces, but she'd been gone every night when he got home from work so he couldn't be sure.

He checked the guest rooms upstairs, trotted down to check the deck out back, finally stopping in the den. Turning the corner, he spotted her sleeping form curled up on the couch, a small paperback book tucked neatly under her hands. She really was a beauty, model gorgeous even, but sleeping like she was, her long limbs folded together, she was too cute for words. It was still early so she could leave if she wanted and Mitch could handle Alex on his own for the rest of the day. He crept closer, nudging her gently so as not to startle her.

When the only response he got was a soft sigh, he knelt by the couch and whispered to her.

“Jamie? Jamie....Wake up.” Mitch watched her eyelashes flutter as she slowly came to. Realizing where she was, her eyes popped open and her cheeks colored. She couldn't help the sleepy moan that escaped her lips as she sat up and stretched with a feline grace.

“Mitch.... you're home.”

The breathy way she'd said his name sent all of his blood pumping south. Her voice was husky and he caught a glimpse of the smooth taught flesh of her stomach and peak of her belly button as she moved. Mitch was so close to her he could smell the scent of vanilla on her skin. It was almost intoxicating, causing his vision to blur and most definitely clouding his judgment, because he caught himself just before he lent forward and their lips met.

-------

Jamie must have still been drunk with sleep because she could have sworn that Mitch was just about to kiss her. He'd been leaning so close, obviously trying to wake her up but once their eyes had met, they'd just been frozen as if in a trance.

“I...uh I'm sorry, Alex was down for a nap, I must have fallen asleep” Jamie managed to croak out, sleep still thick in her voice.

“No...it's ok. I'm sorry to wake you. I didn't go back to work after I dropped my mom off. It's only a little after 4.”

“Oh, ok. I should go then, huh? I'm sure you want to spend some time with Alex.”

Jamie rose, standing, and stretching her tightened muscles again. She slipped her bare feet back into her flip flops and turned to leave.

“You could stay.”

Jamie turned to face Mitch her expression unreadable as she waited for Mitch to speak again.

“I did promise you dinner. I'm not much of a cook but maybe we could come up with something together?”

When she didn't answer, he begged a little. “Please? I promise to be on my best behavior.”

The more time it took Jamie to answer, the larger the pit in his stomach grew until it felt like a black hole was going to swallow him from the inside out.

“I think there's some salmon in the fridge that you're mom and I bought the other day.”

His whole face lit up when he smiled at her and Jamie couldn't help the girly giggle that escaped.

 “Come on.” she said over her shoulder as she nearly skipped to the kitchen. “But this doesn't count as the dinner you owe me if I have to help you.”

Mitch and Jamie decided to put the salmon, some summer vegetable, and corn on the grill outside. Mitch pulled out a bottle of wine someone had given him for his housewarming but he'd never drank and they sat on the deck enjoying the evening.

“So can I ask you a question?”

“Should I be nervous?” Jamie asked.

Mitch laughed, “I just want to know why you took this job. I mean don't get me wrong I love Alex with all my heart. But you're 23, you should be waiting tables somewhere or I dunno. Not here, practically raising someone else's kid. I mean you spend more time with him than I do.”

“I like it here.” Jamie said.

“Baby's are so innocent, you know? No matter how hard you're day has been they can smile up at you, and you're heart just melts. I remember when Clark and Campbell were babies, Campbell was so fussy any time Ms. Davis tried to hold him he'd cry like she's pinched him or something! But when I held him, he would just snuggle into me and giggle.”

“You miss them. Your….brothers?” Mitch said, his hand softly resting on top of hers.

“Something like that...Although, don't let Clark here you call her a boy. She's a diva through and through.”

Mitch waited for her to elaborate. He realized that while she knew a great deal about him, including some embarrassing anecdotes his mother had probably shared, Jamie hadn't been as forthcoming with information about her life. He knew that she'd moved to California from the east coast for medical school but was taking a year off, and from their brief conversation he'd gathered that she had a close knit if not small group of people she cared a great deal about. Her whole face lit up when she talked about them until a wave of sadness covered her pretty features.

A sharp cry on the baby monitor broke the moment and they both rose to get him.

“Why don't you get him. I'll get these dishes cleaned up.” Jamie said as Alex continued to wail in his room. He'd taken a long nap, almost 3 hours, so Mitch was going to have his hands full for the rest of the night.  Once the last of the dishes were loaded into the dishwasher she shouted up a quick “Goodnight!” before closing the front door behind her.