A/N: I do not own All My Children or the characters used in this story. Thank you.

Now that that's out of the way, thank you to: spunky6566, lorilann, Raerae21, SoapDoc, gidget89, scm08, Missy Jade, and Serrena. Really, you guys don't know how much your reviews mean to me. Merci!

I took a little 'creative license' with this chapter. The bed I write about and the cabin I write about in this chapter are a tad different in my story from how they appeared on the show. All I'll say is the bed is bigger in my version. And with that, I give you:

Chapter Three

Zach Slater was sorry. He was sorry he had ever gotten into the Julia mess and he was sorry about what had happened because of it. Normally he might not admit his guilt and his ability to be sorry for something he had wanted to do all along. But, as Zach drove out and away from Pine Valley and noted Kendall's unhappiness, he was sorry.

Zach had chosen the small cottage up in the woods of Pine Valley for him and Kendall to hide out in. It was the same cottage he had used to hide Julia (until she had left) and the same cottage he had dragged Di/Dixie up to when he had wanted answers all those long months ago. The cottage was a tiny bit of a thing, but him and Kendall weren't going to be staying for long. Zach was hoping after a few weeks or even days, Tad, Aidan and Di/Dixie would figure out who The Dragon was and put a stop to the plan of killing Julia, Zach and Kendall.

Zach had not an inkling of who The Dragon was, but he was sure of one thing. He knew that if The Dragon got a chance, it would be the end of Kendall and himself. He hoped The Dragon would be stopped before Kendall went into labor, but if the birth approached any close than it was already, he had other resources. No matter what, Kendall and the baby would be protected and safe until all of this was over.

In two hours time, Zach reached the cottage. Kendall hadn't said a thing the entire ride, but he had expected it. Not only was she mad at him, but also about half way through the ride, she had fallen asleep. Jamie Martin, the one who had treating Kendall (much to Zach's dismay), had informed Zach that she would be extremely tired due to the traumatic ordeal she endured that day. Zach wasn't surprised with that caution. He couldn't imagine Kendall being anything other than tired. Even though she had been showing an extremely abundant amount of energy during the past few weeks compared to her earlier months (which she had shown quite well by cleaning out her condo and his during the past two days), Zach knew Jamie was right; Kendall would and should have been tired.

He put the car in park and looked over at her. Relaxation was the perfect word to describe her. Because of pregnancy, her hair was even thicker than what it had been naturally. So even when she tied it back (which how it was at that moment), wisps of curls still escaped and framed her face. Smirking, Zach remembered her complaining about the thicker locks weeks earlier and he reached out to finger one of many escaped curls. He wrapped it around his finger and released it softly, watching it spring back into its natural state. Watching her breathe steadily for only moments more, he moved out of the car quickly and softly shut his door. He opened Kendall's car door and leaned over to unfasten her seatbelt.

"Kendall. We're here."

She didn't awaken, but mumbled something in her sleep and smiled before slumping further down in her seat. Not being one to ruin another's slumber, he gently picked her up and made his away through the snow that led to the cottage door. During the walk, he could feel Kendall move further into his arms and snuggle against his chest. What can simply be said is that he wasn't all too unhappy about it. If anything, he welcomed the contact for it was cold. Or, that was one of the ways he rationalized enjoying Kendall cuddle into his arms.

He couldn't tell what had caused it, but in a moment's time, Kendall's eyes abruptly snapped open and she was instantly awake. Confusion clouded her eyes for a moment before she heatedly spoke, "Put me down!" Zach immediately set her down. She huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm pregnant Zach, not an invalid!"

"I was just trying to do you a favor. Here, take these and go inside." Zach tossed her the cabin keys and made his way back down the walk.

"Where are you going?"

"To get the eight hundred thousand suitcases you were determined to bring along. Unlock the door, will you? It's freezing out here!"

Without another obstinate remark, he watched as she waddled to the cabin door. He on the other hand, would have to make at least four trips out to the car before being able to warm by the fire. Of course, by the time he was finished, Kendall was fast asleep in the only bed the cottage had. She was fully dressed and hadn't bothered to do anything but kick off her shoes. He quickly kicked off his own shoes and pulled back the covers on the tiny bed. Trying to be as quick as possible and not wake up Kendall at the same time, he managed to get the covers out from under her and pulled them over her body.

A bathroom was situated at the back of the cabin and he changed into his nightclothes there. Afterwards, he cleaned up the cabin a bit. He put some of the food he had brought away into various cupboards and he even put away some of his clothes into the huge armoire that was on the far side of the room. Zach then decided it was time for him to finally go to sleep. The door was bolted securely and he made his way over to the tiny bed he and his pregnant wife had to share; for even if he had opted to sleep in a chair, there were none that would be of use. He had never equipped the cabin with any comfort chairs because he had simply never had any reason to do so.

It was nearly an impossible feat to get into the bed without disturbing Kendall. He cursed himself for not putting a huge bed in the cabin instead of the stupid, gigantic armoire. Attempting to take up as little room as possible, he slid in between the sheets. He shifted himself so he was as far as he could be without falling off the bed, but even still, his bare back touched Kendall's clothed one. As soon as he was settled and silence flooded the room, he realized that although Kendall looked like she was sleeping, she wasn't.

Ignoring the urge to turn over on his other side and face Kendall, he remained the way he was and asked, "Can't sleep?"

Kendall sighed and gave into the urge to roll over and face Zach. When she rolled over to face him, she was disappointed to find his back staring back at her. Not that his back wasn't a very nice back. Heck, Kendall thought, it was a very nice back indeed. It was such a nice back; she almost inched closer to smooth her hands over it. She refrained, of course, and stayed where she was. Though she was exhausted, she still couldn't fall asleep. The baby was being very active, but she couldn't even use that as an excuse because she knew that wasn't the reason she couldn't fall asleep. In fact, for once she was happy that the baby was being extremely active. She sighed shakily and then, for once since after the hospital, answered without anger. "I usually conk out as soon as my head hits the pillow, but I don't know…" Instinctively, she moved closer to him, unintentionally seeking more than warmth. Or maybe warmth was all that she was looking for. Heat that only Zach, her husband, could share with her.

Zach could sense her voice very close to his back. He ignored his body's want to shiver and instead turned on his other side. It was too late for him to realize it was a mistake on his part, for he would never be able to keep on his cool façade while he was inches away from her face. He had to keep on reminding himself that even though they were sharing a bed, and inches apart from another and even though he wanted to hold her and never let go, she was pregnant and even though she wasn't acting like it, she was angry as hell. Maybe though, she would be nice. Not that he didn't expect her to be mad about the events earlier in the day, of course, but maybe for right now, they could be nice to one another minus the usual sarcasm that intruded on in their conversations. Zach of course, was ignoring the fact that this could be considered highly intimate.

"Maybe if you change out of your clothes and into your pajamas, it'll help?" he suggested.

"Is that the nice way of kicking me out of your bed?" she asked grumpily. When he didn't answer, but gave her a knowing look, she rolled back the covers and slowly got up out of the tiny bed. Not looking back, she said, "I better not come back and find you hogging the bed. I like my personal spac—"

"I wouldn't dream of hogging this bed, but can I help if the bed is so damn tiny?" He knew she hated when he interrupted her, but Zach still did it anyway.

"You should've bought a bigger one! Like that stupid armoire over in the corner." The slamming of the bathroom door finished their conversation. Zach, trying to keep his promise, stayed on his side and tried to resist sleep.

In the bathroom, Kendall changed rather quickly into her pajamas. When Zach had taken her to her battered and beaten condo, Kendall had just grabbed whatever had been in reach. She had grabbed a lot of what had been in reach, but that was beside the point. While the pajamas she had grabbed still fit her now that she was seven months pregnant, they were a little… tiny. The bright blue tank top stretched well enough, but her belly still peeked out. She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable in them. Oh sure, they were comfortable when no one else was around, but Zach was around and she couldn't help but not want to bare her large, pregnant belly in front of him. Sighing, Kendall figured she and Zach would just have to deal with it. She washed her face with some water from the tap and grabbed a towel from a nearby shelf to dry her face, before opening the bathroom door and making her way to the tiny bed yet again.

Noticing Zach was facing her side of the bed, Kendall opted to walk to her suitcases (all five of them… not too many for a pregnant woman whose home was in shambles), and dropped off her clothes. Figuring there was nothing else to do, she pulled back the covers of the bed once more and climbed in.

Sleepily, Zach mumbled, "Everything better now?"

"It's fine," she said. "Goodnight." And it was fine. Yes, Kendall was still very much shaken up about her crazy day, but (even though she wouldn't admit it) having Zach that close to her made her feel very secure.

"'Night," Zach muttered. And though he was nearly sleeping already, he moved closer to Kendall and wrapped his arms around her, placing his hands on her pregnant belly. Inhaling her scent briefly, he placed his head somewhere near the crook of her neck. Shortly later, in the morning perhaps, he would blame the action on his sleepy state of mind, but when he didn't feel Kendall move away or make any sound of protest, he fully drifted off to sleep in an instant.

As for Kendall, the feeling of finally having his arms around her felt like a dream. In fact, she only allowed it because she thought she might've been dreaming. But, when she thought of it shortly later, in the morning perhaps, she wouldn't deny feeling the safest she had ever felt in her life.