Author's Note: I know a lot of you wanted to see their "talk", but I can't see myself doing it justice, plus it would be fairly predictable. So I'm going to move on to writing the second part of what I originally had in mind, where Liz takes Red's hat.

"Liz, please."

Liz sat down on her couch and muted the TV, "Aram, I have things planned. I can't just drop everything and babysit for you again."

She heard Aram sigh, "Liz, Cooper warned me last time that if I ever missed a meeting again that I would be demoted back to the field office." He paused and she could hear the strain in his voice as his voice dropped to a whisper, "They bullied me incessantly over there, I can't handle going back."

Liz closed her eyes and slouched down on the couch, then rubbed a hand tiredly over her face. She was exhausted, and didn't know if she wanted to spend her precious few hours away from work babysitting little kids. It didn't sound like a good time to her. It didn't matter if she liked his nieces, they were still hard work.

When Red had come over to her house that night after Aram picked his nieces up, they'd had a very enlightening conversation, and had made a few decisions regarding their relationship. They'd both admitted that they had strong feelings for one another, but knew the FBI would never sanction any kind of relationship they chose to have, so they decided to continue what they had already been doing; which was spend all their free time with each other and continue to build their relationship in secret. It was the only solution they could come up with where they would still be allowed to work together. There were a lot of names left on the Blacklist, so they would have to make some concessions in their relationship for the foreseeable future. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be worth it in the end. After finishing their conversation, they had watched a movie, then he had kissed her tenderly and said he would be back in five or six days depending on the outcome of some business deals. She'd told him that she didn't want him to go, but he'd kissed her again, then told her he had to continue to keep up appearances and walked out the door.

Liz had been angry at first, but then realized over the next few days that she shouldn't be so hard on him. She couldn't expect him to just throw in the towel and give up on catching the rest of the Blacklisters, and she had to accept that.

"Liz? Hellooo?" Aram's voice sounded far away.

She'd been so lost in her own thoughts, that she'd forgotten that she had been talking to him. She cleared her throat, "Yeah, I'm here. Sorry about that. I was um..taking care of the dog."

"Right. So can you help me out just one more time?"

Liz sighed heavily, and with confusion in her voice said, "When did you ever miss a meeting, and why doesn't your sister find a regular babysitter that won't have to pawn her kids off on a colleague?"

"I missed one yesterday because I had the girls. My sister's working two jobs now trying to make ends meet and can't afford to pay a babysitter, and until she gets some help from some government programs her hands are tied. I volunteered to help, but I'm regretting that now. I can't lose my job." His voice was nearing panic and Liz yelled over top of him, "Aram! Calm down." She paused for a moment and said quietly, "I'll take them. I don't want to see you get fired either, but this is the last time. I mean it."

The relief in his voice was clear as he said, "Thank you so so so much. I promise we'll figure something out after this. You're a life..and job saver."

Liz waved her free hand in the air dismissively even though he couldn't see it, "Yeah, yeah. You're welcome. Do you think they would enjoy going to the zoo? I don't want to sit them in front of the TV all day."

"Yes, they love the zoo. That's a great idea!"

She sat up on the edge of the couch to pet Hudson, who was laying his head on her knee. "Good, I'm going to take them to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, it's a great place for kids...So like last week, bring them ready to go so we can leave right away."

"Sure. Thanks again Liz. I'll be there in thirty. Bye."

"See ya." Liz pushed the 'end call' button on her phone and tossed it on the couch next to her. She had planned to do some much-needed deep cleaning today. It was way past due, and she was going to have to put it off yet again. She was the type of person who actually liked to clean and organize, so she was disappointed that her plans were altered.

She heaved a sigh and stood up, then walked into her bedroom to get dressed for their trip to the zoo. She wondered what Red was doing at the moment, and couldn't stop her brain from worrying that he was 'entertaining' other women. He was charming on his worst days, and absolutely impossible to resist on his good days. Women constantly threw themselves at him everywhere he went, and while in the past he wouldn't do anything to discourage their advances, she hoped that he did so now that he knew what her feelings for him were. She wanted to have faith in him, but there were always little nagging doubts in the back of her mind. It was enough to drive her to drink.

She walked into her closet and stared at the rows of FBI business suits and blouses. Almost every piece of clothing she owned was for work. She really needed to update her wardrobe; especially her summer clothes. She stared in contempt at the small section in the back of her closet that held last year's summer clothes. There weren't many options, so she ended up choosing mid-thigh length teal colored shorts and a white cap-sleeve t-shirt with a v-neck that just bordered on appropriate.

She had just finished putting a white bra on, when she felt a presence behind her. She stiffened, and was about to grab her gun off of the night-stand in front of her, when Red's low voice came from behind her, "It's just me, Sweetheart."

She visibly relaxed and turned around, forgetting that she didn't have a shirt on. She smiled, suddenly happier than she'd been all week, "How did you get in?"

He quirked his mouth, "You really need to ask?"

She didn't. Red could break in anywhere he chose to with ease. He stood there and stared at her, and she couldn't help but notice how good he looked. He had a white dress shirt with blue pin-stripes on, with the sleeves rolled up, and an unbuttoned gray vest without a tie. He put his hands in his pockets as a small smile appeared on his mouth.

She took a few steps toward him, then stopped, feeling unsure about how to greet him. They had only talked for a couple of hours before he left, and she hadn't heard from him all week besides a few "Good morning" texts. She saw his eyes drift down to her chest and she suddenly remembered she didn't have her shirt on. She crossed her arms over her chest in embarrassment, then started to turn away, until Red approached her quickly and pulled her into an all-encompassing hug. She closed her eyes, then wound her arms under his vest and held him to her as tightly as possible. He ran his hands up and down her bare back, occasionally running his fingers under her bra strap. She laid her head on his shoulder and said, "I can't believe how-" She cut herself off, too embarrassed to continue.

His hands paused on their path towards the waistband of her pants and he said into her ear, "How what?"

She shook her head and leaned forward to kiss his neck, right where she had stabbed him with a pen a few years back. He hummed in approval and buried his face in her hair, leaving small kisses on her scalp. "Lizzy?"

"Nevermind, it's not-" She was cut off this time by a knock on the door.

"Shit." She mumbled and reluctantly pulled away from his embrace. She had lost all track of time. Liz looked up at him and ran her hand over where his shirt was unbuttoned at the top, "That's Aram. Will you answer it for me so I can finish getting dressed?"

He furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips, "Li-"

She started pushing him out of the room and said from behind him, "I'll explain later." Then shut the door and locked it before he could come back in demanding answers.

She listened to him walk to the door and open it, then heard the unmistakable sounds of two little girls yelling, "Ray! Ray! We're so glad you're here!."

She chuckled to herself as she pictured Aram's face when he saw who answered her door. He was probably sweating bullets and stammering all over himself by now. She quickly pulled her shirt on and fixed her hair, then slid on her sandals, and walked out to save Aram.

As she approached them, she watched Red pat Aram's shoulder, then usher him out the door. Aram waved and said over his shoulder, "Thanks again Liz" as he descended the steps and got into his car.

Red closed the door and turned to Liz. She raised an eyebrow at him, "Since when have you and Aram become so friendly?"

Red huffed an amused laugh, "Lizzy, I'm not going to give all my secrets away." Then turned towards the two little girls who were playing with Hudson in the entryway. "Are you two hooligans ready to go?"

They both smiled and stood up, and Akhita said, "We're not hooligans!" Then dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Liz smiled, "Well if you want see everything at the zoo then we need to leave now. Do you two have everything you need?"

They held up small pink bags and nodded. Liz smiled, "Good. Now go wait out on the porch while I talk to Ray for a minute. Don't go down the stairs please."

They nodded and walked out the door, then started playing a game on the porch that Liz didn't even begin to understand.

She turned to Red who was looking at her inquisitively, "The zoo?"

Liz sighed, "Aram called me all in a panic again, saying he was going to lose his job if I didn't take the girls again so he could attend a meeting. I couldn't very well tell him no, so I told him I would take them to the zoo."

Red nodded, "Well you're entirely too nice. I would have told him no."

He reached forward and ran his fingers down her arm softly. She closed her eyes at the contact and stepped a little closer to him, then opened her eyes and smiled, "Do you want to come?"

He grimaced, "I'm not so sure-"

She cut him off, "It would be really helpful to have another adult around." She looked at him with pleading eyes.

Red quirked his mouth and ran his tongue over his lips, then sighed, "Very well."

She smiled, "Thank you. It'll help so much to have you there, and the girls absolutely adore you."

"Of course they do, Lizzy."

She rolled her eyes and took a step towards the door, but before she could get too far, Red caught her hand and pulled her to his chest. He leaned down and kissed her softly, then pulled back and smiled, "I've been thinking about doing that all week. I couldn't wait any longer." He eyed her legs appreciatively, "And may I say that teal is a good color on you. You're absolutely beautiful."

She smiled but didn't respond, and instead put her hand behind his neck and pulled him back down. She kissed him like she'd imagined in her mind the last six days. It was better than her imagination though, as he ran his tongue over her bottom lip, then slid it in her mouth and moved it with hers. She didn't know how long they stood there kissing, because she was enjoying the feel of his lips and tongue as he kissed her and ran his hands up her sides and over her ass.

They only stopped when they heard a "Ewwwww. Hey Akhita, look." They pulled apart quickly, and Liz took a step back so she wouldn't be tempted to go back for more. She was breathing hard, and glanced at Red to see that he was doing the same.

She cleared her throat and looked at the two little girls who were peering through the doorway, "Sorry guys, are you ready?"

They nodded and Eilina said in a whiny voice, "We've been waiting forever, are you guys done kissing now so we can go?"

Liz blushed and nodded, "We can go now. Go ahead and walk down to the car, we'll be right behind you."

They grabbed their bags and walked down the stairs quickly. Liz turned to Red and smiled at him shyly, "Sorry, I didn't mean to get carried away."

He grinned devilishly at her, "I had much more planned, but once again we were thwarted by children."

The looked in his eyes caused her to blush again for the second time in as many minutes, and said, "No more teasing. Let's go."

She grabbed her bag and walked down the stairs, and listened as Red closed the door and followed behind her.

She reached the car and helped the girls into their seat belts, then turned to Red, who was standing on the sidewalk by the car. "Do you want to drive, Red?"

He shrugged and nodded, "Sure. If you trust me to drive your car."

"Technically it's yours. So yes, I trust you."

He smiled and stepped closer to her, his chest inches from hers, "It's incredibly sexy when you say that. What your words do to me Elizabeth."

She waggled her eyebrows playfully, "I'll have to keep that in mind."

He slapped her butt softly, then walked around the car and slid into the driver's seat.

She was a little surprised at his playfulness, but figured he must have had a good week taking care of his "business".

She took a deep breath and vowed not to gross out the girls too much in the next few hours, then slid in the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt.

Red turned on the car and looked at her, "Ready?"

She nodded, "Do you know where we're going?"

"I imagine it's the Smithsonian zoo."

"Yep. It's the best one for kids their age."

He nodded and pulled away from the curb and into traffic. It felt surreal to Liz, like they were a normal family going on a trip to the zoo. She had to remind herself that that wasn't the case, but she found herself wishing for something like this sometime in the future.

Red reached over and put his hand on her upper thigh, then continued driving as he teased her with his fingers on her inner thigh.

She reached down and laced her fingers with his, enjoying the feel of his warm and slightly calloused hand, then looked out the window and watched the people walking on the sidewalk towards their destinations, not taking the time to enjoy the small things in life. She realized she needed to be better at that.

Author's Note: So this got away from me completely. I only planned on this being a 2 shot so I could get back to "The Future Mrs. Reddington" and "Hell in a Handbasket", but alas, there will be another chapter if you guys want to read it. As always..it's completely up to you. :) If I tried to fit everything into one chapter it would have been looooong. Thanks so much for all the awesome comments from the first chapter, they truly made my day. Thanks so much for reading.