Author's note: This picks up with Kevin's final line in the 12/06/2016 episode of GH and also includes references to my earlier story "Are You Going To Let Me In?" The adult content is all in Chapter 2, which you may skip if you prefer without losing the thread of what's going on.

"And there it is-that amazing generosity of spirit. Just one of the reasons I love you."

It took a moment for those last three words to sink in, partly because Laura was still thinking about Charlotte and partly because they were so unexpected. Not that she was surprised to know Kevin felt that way, necessarily-the man had thrown himself in front of a loaded gun for her-but because she hadn't expected him to say it yet. Certainly she hadn't expected him to say it while she was standing in front of him a crying mess.

But Kevin obviously meant it. She could see the love in his dark eyes as clearly as she'd heard the words. How long had it been since someone looked at her like that? Actually, Laura wasn't sure anyone had ever looked at her quite the way Kevin was now.

Laura knew she needed to speak. The little boy at the door was growing increasingly insistent, and they probably only had another minute or so before he was joined by an equally strident parent. The time to say something was now. She opened her mouth-

-and the words I love you, too stuck in her throat.

It was true. It was absolutely, incontrovertibly true. But every single time she had ever said those words she'd lived to regret it. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. And knowing that Kevin wasn't Luke or Scott or Stefan went a long way toward reassuring her...but not quite far enough, not yet.

She felt her eyes fill with tears. Kevin deserved to hear her say it back. He deserved a lot of things she was terrified of not being able to give him.

But he didn't look disappointed or angry or any of the other things she might have expected. In fact, he was smiling softly, shaking his head a little.

"This isn't a test, Laura," he said gently. "You don't have to say anything. Just promise me, please, that you'll be here when I'm done with this?" He nodded toward the door, indicating the boy outside and by extension the entire crowd of children still waiting to see Santa.

Promise me you won't run away again was what he was really saying, and Laura nodded quickly. She could give him that much, at least. "I'll be here. I promise."

"Thank you." He laid his hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Now, why don't you go check on Lulu while I open the door before this kid knocks it off the hinges, and we can talk later?"

That had been nearly three hours ago, and Laura was feeling much calmer now. She had gone to check on Lulu and found her talking to Dante about the strange connection she felt to Charlotte. The three of them had agreed that at the very least the girl was family via Nikolas and Spencer and therefore their business whether Valentin and Nina liked it or not. They would keep an eye on her as much as possible, and if any of them saw even a hint that Valentin might be mistreating her they would take action. Until that point, though, there didn't seem to be anything they could do other than exactly what Kevin had suggested-accept the situation as it was.

Dante and Lulu left to take Rocco home, and since they were apparently alright Laura simply told them that she was going to stay and wait for Kevin. Lulu seemed to sense that something had happened between the two of them, but she accepted Laura's subtle head-shake with equanimity. (Which was a sign, Laura would later realize, of how very rattled Lulu actually was.)

Then it had simply been a matter of settling in to wait for Kevin, who was turning out to be a far better Santa than he'd thought he might be, not that Laura was surprised by that. He was a good listener, patient and compassionate and naturally gentle, and kids who might have balked at talking to most strangers were happily chattering away with him while their parents looked on in varying states of amazement. Laura made a mental note to ask him whether he'd ever considered specializing in working with children.

She had seated herself on a bench in the back corner of the room, and Kevin occasionally looked up and shot her a smile, checking in with his eyes. Laura smiled back, doing her best to nonverbally reassure him that she wasn't about to bolt. She wasn't even tempted to bolt, actually. Getting to watch Kevin from afar like this for a while had been exactly what she needed to settle her nerves. Every time he coaxed a shy child to speak or made a funny face to get a frightened child to laugh, she was reminded not only that she loved him but why she loved him.

Because he was wonderful.

Kevin was so much more than just not Luke or not Scotty or not Stefan. If she had sat down and made a list of the qualities she longed for in a man she could love...well, she would've had a pretty dead-on description of Kevin. Smart and strong and funny and gentle and kind and honest and warm and...just everything. And while she wouldn't necessarily have gone so far as to add handsome or amazing in bed to her list, she certainly wasn't going to complain on either count.

Nor was it lost on her as she sat here watching him that Kevin had quite a following among a certain demographic of the hospital staff, namely single mothers. He seemed oblivious to the fact, but from Laura's vantage point it was clear that quite a few of the moms in scrubs were more interested in chatting with Kevin than they were in letting their kids talk to Santa. If the man really hadn't been on a date in two years-and Laura didn't doubt his word on that point-then it certainly wasn't for lack of opportunity.

Which presumably meant that whatever his wish list might have looked like, Kevin thought he'd found those things in her. That realization was both heartening and humbling. Kevin really believed all the wonderful things he'd said about her. Written about her, too, in that "book" that read like a novel-length love letter, which was easily the most extraordinary thing anyone had ever given her.

Just as Laura was pondering that, Santa's hours finally ended, and the last stragglers slowly filed out, leaving a very relieved-looking Kevin to lock the door behind them and peel himself out of the top half of his Santa suit. His hair was plastered to his head, and his undershirt clung damply to his back and chest, confirming Laura's impression that he was severely overheated. Fortunately, she had anticipated that.

She crossed to join him by the door and held out the Gatorade she'd gotten from the vending machine a few minutes ago. She'd had to guess at a flavor, but Kevin either really liked grape or was too thirsty to care, since he drained it in about three gulps.

"Thank you," he said with feeling when he came up for air.

"I'm proud of you," she answered, and meant it. Playing Santa hadn't been an entirely comfortable thing for Kevin, but he had done it without complaint, and he'd been great. "Do you need another Gatorade?"

"What I need is a shower," he said ruefully. "No wonder Santa lives at the North Pole-it's the only place he can stand to stay in that outfit."

Laura laughed and moved in to hug him, cheerfully ignoring his half-hearted attempts to fend her off.

"I'm a mess," he protested.

"Hug me anyway," she answered, and he gave in, wrapping her up and hugging her tightly.

"Are we okay?" he murmured into her hair.

"We're good," Laura said, and drew back to look up at him, studying his eyes for a long moment before softly requesting, "Say it again?"

Kevin didn't pretend not to know what she meant. "I love you," he repeated, looking her in the eye.

This time Laura was ready. "I love you, too."

His eyes widened, and she realized with a pang that he really hadn't expected her to say it back. So she reached up and pulled him down into a kiss, doing her best to convey exactly how certain she was. She didn't care that he was a sweaty mess, half in and half out of a Santa suit and tasting of grape Gatorade, and she kissed him until she was certain he didn't care either. Until he had her body pulled tight against his, and Laura was balanced on her toes to get closer still.

"Take me home," she murmured when the kiss finally broke, trusting him to understand that she didn't mean she wanted to go back to Lulu's house.

"Laura-"

"Please."

Kevin proceeded to set what had to be a new world record for fastest-change-out-of-a-Santa-suit, emerging from the nearest men's room in a dry t-shirt and jeans in less than two minutes. From there it was an interminable elevator ride down to the parking deck followed by a brief but thoroughly enjoyable makeout session in Kevin's car, which lasted until he finally disentangled himself, ordered her sternly to keep her hands to herself lest he cause an accident, and drove them back to his place without even speeding. Much.

It took all of Laura's self-control to keep from touching him. She was intensely aware of him physically, of the way his body occupied the space beside her and of his movements as he drove. It didn't help at all that Kevin's car had a manual transmission, which meant that every time he shifted gears his hand was right there a few inches from her leg. Laura had kind of a thing about watching a man drive stick anyway, and Kevin did it effortlessly, not that she really needed any more evidence that he was good with his hands.

They managed to make it all the way into his house and get the door locked behind themselves before they fell on each other, which Laura counted as a major victory. Two steps inside the door, though, he had her pressed back against the wall kissing her senseless, and she gave up on thinking actual thoughts and let herself sink into the pleasure of being lovingly seduced by a man who knew exactly what he was doing.

Author's note 2.0: Remember, Chapter 2 is the adult part. If you prefer a more daytime-TV style fade-to-black, skip ahead to Chapter 3.