"I don't think this is going to work," Jeff muttered into his mug of coffee, carefully avoiding looking at Annie, especially her eyes - those big, beautiful Disney eyes that held such power over him.

"What, having toast? The expiration date was only yesterday, and the bag was sealed nice and tight like I taught you. And see? No mold in sight!" Via his peripheral vision, Jeff watched her raise two slices of wheat bread up before placing them in his toaster.

"Yeah, the toast is fine, Annie." He took a deep breath and told, or rather, demanded of himself to be a man and face her. "I was talking about us." His heart sank while he watched her smile fade as his words hit her like a truck hitting a brick wall.

"Why?" She fell into the chair next to his, her hand landing in the butter dish. He passed her a napkin and tried to ignore the spark and shiver that went through him as he made contact with her skin.

"Well, because of the age difference. It's not fair to you."

"Don't you dare decide what's fair or not fair to me, Jeff Winger!" Sweet, fragile Annie was gone and now fierce I-can-slam-your-head-into-a-table Annie sat next to him.

"Just think about it Annie. You're 19, I'm 36. What happens when I'm 70 and lying in the hospital waiting for a heart transplant?"

"Than I'll be 53 and sitting right by your side. But that's not going to happen, because there is no way in hell I'd allow your health to deteriorate to that degree." Jeff tried to think of something to say, some argument to give to her, but nothing came. Which, for a person with a law degree, was a bit deflating for the ego.

"Twenty-three." She announced this matter-of-factly after a few moments of uneasy silence.

"Excuse me?"

"My dad is twenty-three years older than my mom. This past March he celebrated his 63rd birthday, and Mom will turn 40 in October, or 39 again and again and again. The age difference isn't an issue for them now, nor was it in their past. Now I can't guarantee it'll be perfect blue skies in their future, but nothing in life is guaranteed, Jeff!"

"Twenty three years huh? Either one of your parents is really unattractive and this was their only hope to ever be married, or one of them - I'll guess your dad - is pretty rich." She smacked him on the upper arm, and again, he ignored the spark and shiver that passed through him.

"Are you calling my mom a gold digger?!"

"No, no, I'm not!"

"Don't lie, Winger, I know you were! But it's okay - she was. However, they really did fall completely 100% in love - with or without his bank account."

"Okay, fine, your parents have a successful age gap in their relationship, but I'm sure that's the exception and not the rule." He rose from the chair to retrieve the sprung bread from the toaster and placed them on a saucer plate.

"My paternal grandparents, Me-maw and Papa, were fourteen years apart. Sure, fourteen isn't big as our gap, but still! And on that one, Me-maw was the older one - pretty scandalous for that time period, and especially in my family. Oh! You'll love this one; my maternal grandparents were, believe it or not, thirty-six years apart in age! That's part of the reason no one really thought much of the fact that my mom decided to marry someone twenty-three years older than her."

Jeff dropped the saucer and Annie jumped at the clank as it made contact with the floor. "Did you just say thirty six? As in 3 and 6?"

"Yep." She smiled wide.

"Unbelievable. Just unbelievable." He muttered as he bent down to pick up his mess. That shiver and spark radiated over his body as she joined him, wrapping her small frame over his back and shoulders.

"No, Jeff, it's not unbelievable, it's love. Having faith and trusting in it. My parents, Me-maw and Papa, and Grandpa and Grandma Shauler trusted in that love and in each other. Do you trust in it, Jeff?" The logical portion of his brain pleaded for him to say no and kick her out of his place and his life as a whole. Instead he pulled himself out from her hold, gingerly took a hold of her face, and kissed her passionately.

"With all of my heart, Annie Edison. By the way, has anyone in your family married someone younger than them?"

"My Aunt Celia, my mom's younger sister, did."

"And how did that work out for her?"

"Oh they divorced three years later. Then she married Howard and they've been married for fifteen years. Before you ask, he's nineteen years older."

Jeff just laughed before kissing her again.