I just had to read Henry James' book The Aspern Papers for an English class, and when my professor said something about the main character having a man crush on a famous poet, and sleeping with this woman to have the guy's sloppy seconds, the cogs in my head started turning, and I thought of Kate's precarious situation…So this is my version of why she dated Todd.

Disclaimer: Yes, I know the story will be awesome, but please don't accuse me of plagiarism. I can assure you all of this is my own work.

Megan nearly ran into Kate's office, but she was in a hurry, and she needed a quick favor. "Kate" Megan said in hurried voice; her breathing was rather heavy, but then again, she'd been running all over the office. "What, what is it Megan? Calm down!" Kate stood, and walked over to Megan, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Whew! That was quite a run! And in stilettos!" Megan caught her breath for a moment, before asking Kate her favor. "Would you mind picking up Lacey from her horse-riding lesson? I really hate to ask on such short notice, but I have to meet a guy about a body in less than 30 minutes before he leaves the country today, and I won't get done until about an hour after her horse-riding lesson is over."

"Megan, it's ok. Calm down! I can pick up Lacey. It's no problem at all. Just go grab your coat or whatever you need. I want to get this case finished as badly as you do, and if that means talking with this guy to get that done, then by all means!" Kate pointed out the door, and Megan gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving. Even after she left, the spot where Megan had kissed her seemed to burn her skin.

Half an hour later, Kate arrived at the ranch where Lacey's horse-riding lessons took place, and she got out of the car while she waited for Lacey to come out of the stable. When Lacey came out, she was shocked to find Kate, and not her mother. She wondered about this for a moment.

"Hi, Lacey! I'm here to take you home." Kate said, as Lacey walked to the car. She put her backpack into the backseat and climbed in the front, and then asked the one question Kate knew she was dying to ask. "Where's my mom?" Kate smiled a weak smile, and told Lacey where her mom was. "She had to meet with a scientist we know at the last minute. He is about to leave the country for two weeks, and we needed his advice immediately for a case." Kate pulled out onto the main road, and Lacey gave her directions from there. "Oh…"Lacey sighed. She had really looked forward to being with her mother, but Kate was just as cool, if not cooler, so she didn't mind.

"Want to get some coffee? Or…hot chocolate?" Kate asked, noticing Lacey's melancholy state. Lacey's face then lit up and she nodded, so Kate made a left turn instead of a right.

They ordered their coffee, well Kate got coffee; Lacey got hot chocolate and sat down at a table by the window. "So Kate, why did you date my dad? Be honest. I know it wasn't for his looks or personality. He's a total ass." Kate almost spit out her coffee. "Lacey! What kind of question is that? And you really shouldn't use such language." Lacey just rolled her eyes and gave Kate a look like 'don't patronize me' and asked, "No really. Why did you date him? I know it wasn't money, because you make more than my mom." Once again, Kate almost spit out her coffee.

"You really want to know why, don't you?" Kate asked, smiling at Lacey. "Well, I'll tell you on the way home. Grab a lid and you can drink that in the car." Lacey nodded and said 'ok', figuring it would be best to say in the car anyway. She wouldn't want strangers prying into her personal life either.

On the way back to Megan's house, (Megan had asked Kate to take Lacey to their home) Kate told Lacey the true reason why she'd dated Todd. She began with something of an anecdote…

"Have you ever heard of the tale by Henry James called The Aspern Papers?" Kate asked Lacey, figuring she'd be just a little young to know what it was about. "No, I haven't. What's it about?" Lacey asked. She was intrigued now. "Well, it's about a man who goes to Venice and rents a few rooms in an old house. The only reason he is there though, is because a famous poet named Jeffrey Aspern had lived there, and this man had quite an obsession with this poet. Well, Mr. Aspern had supposedly left some papers and letters in that house before he died, and they were of great value. The man wanted to add them to his collection, and to do so, he'd have to get close enough to the people in the house to get a hold on the papers." Kate pulled into Lacey's neighborhood. "Well, to make a long story short, this man had such an obsession with the poet, he wanted to sleep with a young woman who lived in the house because he believed she had slept with Mr. Aspern, so by sleeping with her, it would be like sleeping with Mr. Aspern." Lacey just looked confused now as they pulled into the driveway. "Do you understand any of it?" Kate asked, wondering what was going on in that teenager's brain. Lacey replied with a short "no" as she grabbed her backpack and headed into the apartment.

As Kate shut the door to the apartment, Lacey went into the dining room to begin her homework, all while listening to Kate. "Well" began Kate once again, taking a sip of her coffee. "I have always had a slight affinity for your mother" she felt herself blushing. "And I guess subconsciously I thought dating Todd would be almost like dating…Megan. I guess you could call it sloppy seconds." She took another sip of coffee; "worst decision of my life."

Lacey laughed at this, knowing how egotistical her father could be sometimes, but she understood where Kate was coming from. "So why don't you just ask her out?" Lacey asked blatantly.

Kate just smiled at her and said, "It just doesn't work like that in the real world, Lacey". After that, Kate just watched Lacey do her homework, until she came up with a problem.

"Kate, I don't understand this science stuff. It just boggles my mind. I don't see how you and my mom do it. Can you help me?" Kate smiled at Lacey, having had the same trouble with history when she was Lacey's age. "Sure, what are you studying?" Kate asked, moving over to the side of the table Lacey was sitting. "Chemistry…" Lacey made a face at the word. "Oh, I love chemistry!" exclaimed Kate. She grabbed Lacey's textbook and began looking at the problems.

…

About an hour later, Megan came home, and looked almost like she'd been run over by a truck. She opened the door, and exclaimed, "Lacey, I'm home!" She kicked off her heels and stepped into the dining room to find Kate helping Lacey with her chemistry homework.

"See, that's why Oxygen has the negative 2 with it, because it has to gain electrons. It's like gaining weight…it's negative. Oh, hey Megan. I've just been helping Lacey with her homework." Kate said, looking up at Megan, who was watching Kate help Lacey with her homework with a smile.

Megan just shook her head and went into the kitchen, setting her stuff down. "That's perfectly fine. I know Lacey's had some trouble with chemistry for quite some time." Megan said from the other room. She looked in the pantry for something to cook for dinner, but nothing seemed very appealing. "Mom, how did you know?" Lacey asked, slightly frustrated because she thought Megan hadn't known. "Your teacher called me. Wondered why I hadn't helped since I was great doctor and all. I told her I didn't know because you hadn't told me. Glad Kate could help you though."

Megan came back in the dining room just as Lacey put her chemistry book in her backpack and went off to her room. "Kate would you like to stay for dinner?" Megan asked, removing her jacket, revealing a rather provocative top underneath. Kate swallowed hard. "Um sure, I'll stay. I don't mind, and I'm sure Lacey doesn't." "Great" said Megan, "I think I'm going to order pizza. Any particular kind?"

Kate could only think of one thing she really wanted for dinner… Can I have you? Was the only thought that ran through her mind, but she shook it off and said, "No, I'm not really picky." So Megan ordered Dominoe's pizza, and the three of them ate together and talked together. After dinner, they watched the first two Twilight movies, and then Lacey went off to bed.

"Oh I like those Twilight films, they actually are pretty good." said Kate, stretching out on the sofa; her bones creaked, but it felt good at the same time. Megan, who had been watching Kate stretch; replied, "Oh really? I'm not much of a fan, but Lacey likes them, so I watch them for her." Megan stood up and refilled her glass of wine. She offered Kate some, who was still sitting and looked at her phone. "Oh, I really can't Megan. It's getting late and I should be getting home. I do have to work in the morning…" Kate went to stand, but Megan pushed her back down on the couch and refilled her glass of wine. "You can stay the night. We can watch another movie and talk about whatever. Also, you shouldn't be driving in the state that you're in. You've had more wine than me."

Kate was just about to protest, but when Megan winked at her before sitting down, she just smiled and agreed. "Fine, I'll stay. I haven't slept on a couch in a while…" Kate's last statement was more of an out loud thought, but Megan caught it, and said, "Oh no. You don't have to sleep on the couch. You can sleep with me tonight."

At that moment, for Kate all time stopped; to her, everything was frozen. Megan had just said the 3 little words that Kate had longed for her to say for the longest time: "Sleep with me".

So, one romantic comedy later, the two women went off to bed, and before Kate could make a comment about pajamas, Megan threw her an old t-shirt and told her she could wear it to bed. The two women were tucked in a few minutes later, and with a solemn 'good-night' from Megan and a kiss on the cheek, the two women turned over so their backs were against each other.

Kate smiled just before falling asleep. Even if she didn't get to 'sleep' with Megan, she got to sleep with her, and that was close enough for her.

…

The next morning, Lacey was the first one awake, and she showered and got dressed, and just before she left to go to school, she stopped by her mom's bedroom to say good-bye. When Lacey walked in, her jaw nearly hit the floor. She saw her mother wrapped in Kate's arms as if they were spooning. Lacey just smiled, whispered a good-bye to them softly, and muttered to herself "So much for sloppy seconds" as she walked out the door.

Yeah buddy…I'll be continuing soon. Please R&R!