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Chapter 2: I Gotta Feeling

~Matthew~

"Thank you very much!"

I came into the main room after shaving, showering, and dressing for the day, and found my wife hanging up the phone. She jumped in excitement.

I grinned as I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist from behind. I kissed the back of her beck. "What are you so happy about?" I asked with a smile against her neck.

She turned to me and grinned. "I got that two week stint on As the World Turns! That was the casting director now telling me I got the part and I start taping tomorrow!"

"Really? That's fantastic!" I picked her up and twirled her around then kissed her. "Congratulations!" I knew how much she really wanted that part. It had been a while since she had gotten an acting job, and I knew how badly she wanted to get back into acting.

She grinned, took my face between her hands and kissed me hard before squirming to get back down.

I kissed her once more, then set her back down. "Really, honey, that's great!"

She smiled, and stood up on her tip toes to kiss me again. "Thanks! Of course this means you'll have to take Aven to work more often. I could, but I don't want her to feel uncomfortable on a set she doesn't recognize with people she doesn't know. Also, since I'm new, I don't want to just bring my daughter on right away."

I nodded, my hands around her waist. "Of course! I'm sure Penn and Blake won't be complaining. They love her as if she is their own. And of course Kelly's kids will be back soon, so she might have someone to play with." I winked.

Naama smiled. "Yes, that's true. You still have to invite her over for dinner one of these nights soon."

"I will, I promise," I said. I said I would so I would, but, in a way, I really didn't want to. I don't know. It just always felt kind of weird to me to have my television wife and my real wife together. It was silly I know, but I almost felt guilty when Kelly was around my wife. Vise-versa too sometimes.

"Well, I guess I better get Aven up and feed her. I have your breakfast ready on the table. You better hurry up and eat so you won't be late for work." She kissed my cheek.

I smiled, and kissed her lips. "Thanks, honey."

She smiled, then headed into the nursery.

I went into the dining room and sat down at the table. She had bacon and scrambled eggs, as well as freshly brewed coffee, cream, an empty bowl, a spoon, milk, and a box of my favorite cereal all waiting for me.

I poured my cereal thinking how lucky I was to have such a great wife. Actually, I had two great wives. I chuckled to myself at my joke. It was probably not a good idea I told my wife that joke. I think she'd somehow fail to find the humor I found in it. Kelly, on the other hand, would find it funny I was sure.

I smiled to myself. I'd be sure to tell her when I got to work.

~Kelly~

I woke up in a good mood. Not only would I be getting my children back the next day, but also, today I had a lot of scenes with Matt. Yes, it was for sure to be a very good day.

On the way to work I stopped by Starbuck's and picked up my newest favorite drink. I got Matt one as well. It was getting cold out, so I knew that it would taste extra good, which it did.

I arrived at work, and handed Matt his drink. "I thought you could use a little pick me up in this nasty weather."

He grinned at me and took it from my hand. He sniffed it, then looked back up at me with a grin. "The new gingerbread latté?"

I nodded. "They're really good!"

He smiled, then kissed my cheek. He placed a hand over my back and gently rubbed my back. "Thanks, Kel."

"You're welcome. Anything for my husband," I joked with a wink.

He grinned. "I was thinking at home how lucky I am. Most men only have one great wife, but I get to have two!"

I laughed. "Yes, you do. Men should worship at your feet."

He laughed too. "That would be nice!" He turned in Penn's direction. "Hey, Penn! Get over here and worship at my feet!" He nodded towards where Chase and Ed were talking. "You too—both of you."

All three boys looked at him in confusion.

"Say what?" was Penn's response.

Chase's response was, "Huh?"

Ed replied with a, "What the bloody hell are you talking about?" It didn't come out as nasty as it sounds.

Matt and I burst out laughing, causing the three of them to look at us as if we were on something.

"Right," Penn said.

Ed and Chase just shook their heads and went back to their conversation.

Matt and I grinned at each other.

He placed a hand over my back again. Or had he never removed it? I wasn't sure. "Do you want to do lunch together again on our break? It's my turn to pick today."

I put a finger to my lips and tapped them as if contemplating. "Well, if it's your pick, I don't know." Of course I was just messing with him. As if I'd ever turn him down!

He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, a smile forming at the corner of his lips. "Hey, if I had to eat at your healthy junk restaurant you can eat at my kind of restaurant!"

I gasped. "Excuse me, but if I'm remembering correctly, you liked that 'healthy junk'!"

He laughed. "All right, all right, it was good. Even so, it's my turn to pick."

I slid my hands up his chest to his shoulders. "Oh all right. But no fast food!"

He smiled, and put his hands over my shoulders. "Deal."

I smiled too, resisting the urge to kiss him.

~Matthew~

"I love you," I said, kissing Kelly for the final scene of taping before our lunch break.

"Mm, not as much as I love you, my love." She kissed me back (as Lily of course), her fingers running through my hair.

I picked her up and carried her to the stairs.

She giggled. "Rufus, what are you doing?"

"Well, you don't believe I love you as much as I love you, so I guess I'm going to have to prove it to you. And, seeing as Jenny and Eric could be home at anytime, I think they'd much appreciate it if I did it upstairs in the privacy of our bedroom as opposed to down here," I responded.

She grinned, and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Well, in that case, who am I to complain?" We kissed, and I started carrying her up the stairs.

"And cut!" the director said.

"We never get any sex scenes," I said in mock annoyance as I gently set Kelly back down.

Kelly nodded. "I know, right? I think the older generation that watches our show would want to see more. It's not only the teens that watch the show."

I nodded as well. "And even some of the teens are into Rufus and Lily. I'm sure they'd like some sex scenes as well."

Kelly turned to Josh, our head writer. "Give us more sex scenes!"

Josh laughed. "We'll see." He kind of had that look on his face like, "Why would you guys want that?"

I don't why I did. I guess I just liked acting with Kelly, and I wanted more of a challenge for our characters. We never really got that much of a story line now that our characters were married. We needed something to spice them up a little! Sex sells anyway. That would spice them up for sure.

Kelly linked her arm into mine. She had her coat on already. "You ready to go? I'm starved."

I nodded. "Me too. Let's go." I grabbed my coat, and we took off for lunch.

"So, where are we going?" Kelly asked, still clinging onto my arm as we stepped into the chilly fall air.

I grinned. I knew she would probably have a fit, but I was really in the mood for pizza. "Lombardi's."

She unlatched her arm and stopped walking for a moment. "The pizza place?"

I nodded. "Come on, Kel. it may not be healthy, but it's not that horrible for you either. It has all four food groups if you order the right toppings." I winked at her.

She grinned and continued walking. "Well, I guess when you put it that way."

I smiled to myself. I loved getting my own way.

We arrived at the pizza place and decided on a Hawaiian pizza and two Cokes.

We sat down at our table as we waited for our pizza, and I decided to tell her about my wife's new job. "Hey, my wife got the call today that she got that two week stint I was telling you about the other day. She's going to be on As the World Turns for thirty episodes! She will tape more than one episode a day so they say she'll only have to work for two weeks."

Kelly smiled. "Well, congratulations to her! That's good. She gets a month of airtime, but doesn't have to work too much so she won't have to leave Aven for long."

I nodded. "Exactly!"

"So, I take it Aven will be coming to work with you for a couple weeks?" Kelly asked.

I nodded. "And you're getting your kids back tomorrow too, right?"

Kelly grinned and nodded. "I'm so excited!"

I grinned too. "They can all play together then so they won't be so bored on set."

Kelly put her hands together as if praying. "Yes!"

I grinned even wider. I really was lucky to have Kelly. Her kids were great too. I was indeed a lucky man.

~Kelly~

"Okay, I'm glad you chose here. This pizza is exquisite!" I said, closing my eyes as I took another bite of the delicious Hawaiian pizza we ordered.

Matt smirked. "I don't think I've ever heard pizza referred to as exquisite before."

I laughed. "Shut up! You know what I mean."

He nodded. "You mean that I was right yet again. That's not so unusual though."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "You're full of yourself."

He shrugged. "No, I'm full of pizza."

I laughed. It wasn't all that funny, but for some reason any joke Matt made was funnier because it came from him. He was good at delivering his jokes.

After we ate, we headed back to work.

"So, do you think Josh will listen and give us more sex scenes?" I asked. I had felt more bold asking Josh for them when it became apparent that Matt wouldn't mind them either. I knew he most likely just wanted more airtime for our characters, but it still felt good he wasn't too uncomfortable with the thought of sex scenes.

He shrugged. "I don't know! Hopefully he'll give us some. I'd like Rufus and Lily to get some of that longing and desire they had for each other in the first two seasons. It seems like we are kind of getting put on the back burner this season."

I nodded. "I agree. Hopefully he'll listen to us."

We got in the building, and shortly after had our scripts back in our hands as we sat down for makeup and hair touchups. It would be a wardrobe change after that.

Josh came into the room during makeup. "Hey guys, I'm gonna need you both here same time tomorrow, but the day after that, you got the day off. I'm pretty sure we'll get all the scenes we need done tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me! My children will be back, so it will give me more time with them," I said happily.

Matt nodded. "And Lord knows I could certainly use a day off!"

Josh grinned. "Remember, you have to work tomorrow and the day after the day after tomorrow." He paused. "Well, that sounds confusing!"

I laughed. "We got ya!"

Matt nodded. "We understand," he confirmed.

"Good!" Josh said, leaving the room.

"Of all days to get a day off—when my wife's working! Not that I'm complaining about a day off," Matt said once Josh was gone.

I suddenly had an idea. "Well, if you wanted to, we could take our kids to the zoo. I was going to take mine anyway. I'm sure Aven would love to see the animals."

He looked over at me since I was in the chair right next to his. "You know what? That sounds like fun! Sure, I'm up for it. We could go around eleven to get an early start, then get some lunch after."

"Sounds good to me!" I agreed.

He smiled. "Then it's a date. I'll pick you guys up at your house at eleven."

I nodded, and smiled back. "We'll be waiting."

I know he meant nothing by the word date. He just meant a date to hang out, or a play date for our kids if you would. But that didn't mean I couldn't take it the way I wanted to take it. I turned straight in my chair again, and smiled to myself. There was nothing wrong with pretending. It was kind of my job description anyway.

Yes, the day after tomorrow was going to be a fun, fun day. A fun, fun day indeed.

~Matthew~

When I got home from work, my wife was there waiting with dinner as usual. "So, how was your day today, sweetie?" She kissed me.

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her back. "Mm, it was pretty good. I went to lunch with Kelly again. It was my turn to pick where we go, so I took her to Lombardi's. At first she almost had a fit since she is big on health food. But I reminded her that, with the right toppings, a pizza can be part of all four food groups. That got her. She agreed, and we ordered the Hawaiian pizza. She loved it. She called it exquisite! She's so funny sometimes."

Naama smiled weakly. "That's nice. Whose idea was it to go out to lunch?"

"Mine, why?" I asked, heading over to the baby swing, where my daughter was happily swinging. "Hello, baby girl! How's my beautiful girl today?" She smiled, and I picked her up.

"No reason. I was just curious." Naama smiled at me and Aven, and put her arm around us. "I hope you're still hungry. I made lasagna. Sorry it's Italian, but I didn't know you'd be having Italian for lunch."

I kissed her cheek. "No need to worry; that was hours ago. And, really, I consider pizza American even though it technically is Italian. I mean, I bet Americans eat it more than Italians do."

Naama laughed. "Good point."

I put our daughter in the highchair, and then held out Naama's chair for her.

She kissed me. "Thank you, baby." She sat down, and I pushed her chair in, then sat down.

"Oh and I have a day off the day after tomorrow, so Kelly and I are going to go to the zoo with the kids. She gets her kids back tomorrow, so it was perfect timing," I added.

"Was this your idea too?" she asked, pouring our drinks for us.

I shook my head and grabbed the mashed potatoes. "Actually, this one was her idea. I agreed because I figured it wold be nice to show Aven the animals. Plus, I think she enjoys hanging with Kelly's kids. I know she's only six months, but I still think she recognizes them every time she sees them and enjoys seeing them."

Naama smiled. "I'm sure she does."

"Also, I figured there's nothing else to do," I added, handing her the mashed potatoes and picking up the lasagna.

She grabbed the potatoes and looked into my eyes. "Nothing else to do? What about stopping by and seeing me on set?"

I paused; a little taken back. "I...Well, I wasn't sure if that would be okay. I've been on Gossip Girl for years now, so they don't mind you coming to visit me. Seeing how your new to As The World Turns, and are non-permanent, I wasn't sure how they would feel about me visiting you." It was sort of true. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about stopping by to see my wife on set. But the story I was telling her wasn't a lie. I had made some pretty good points if I do say so myself.

She thought about it for a moment, then dished out some potatoes for herself, before taking the lasagna from me. "I guess you're right. But I really don't think it would be that big of a deal."

I felt bad. "I'll tell you what—call me when you're done taping, and I'll pick you up. Then you, me, and Aven can go out to eat for a change."

That got her smiling. "Sounds good!"

I smiled too, and grabbed the salad. I was in a good mood. I was really looking forward to the zoo. It should be fun, I thought. Then again, with Kelly and her kids, it always was.

~Kelly~

I finished shopping, and headed home to admire my purchases. I knew I had to make this 'date' count, so I was out to do just that. I had gone shopping right after work, and got an outfit that I hoped would get Matt's attention. It was hard to choose one that would get his attention and still be appropriate for the zoo with the kids, but I finally found the perfect outfit.

I had chosen some tight fitting Sevens jeans, a low scoop neck tank top in black, and a white turtleneck cashmere sweater overtop, which, by the way, was also tight fitting. It would show off my assets just fine. I was going to top it all off with grey wool socks and my grey boots that went to my knees and fit overtop of my jeans. I had a grey trench coat style coat with a belt as well. I would wear my hair up in a bun. I was going for the sexy, yet still classy look. I know I sound desperate, and I felt quite lame going all out for just a day at the zoo with the kids. However, it was a day at the zoo with a man that I very well might be falling in love with, so it meat a lot to me.

Besides, Naama was going to be gone for the day, I had a day off, as did Matt, and he and I were going to spend the day together. How often did I get a chance like that? Not often. So, I was determined one way or the other to find out if he wanted me too at all—even if he wanted me just the slightest bit.

I grinned to myself as I pulled out the new black lace underwear and bra I had also picked up. I guessed I'd just have to wait and see.