"How many rooms are in this house?" Kerry asked as they passed another set of closed doors before continuing down the narrow hallway.

Kim shrugged. "A lot." She offered, "But ours is in the attic."

Kerry frowned slightly but continued to follow Kim until they had gone up another steep, narrow set of stairs and were standing in the entrance to the large, airy, redone attic. It was the size of small studio apartment, and was finished with a queen sized bed, a pair of dressers, and a relatively large bathroom that looked as if it had been added as an afterthought. Two of the three walls were covered in large, open windows and the east side overlooked the ocean. A faint breeze blew through, and the sheer white curtains billowed slightly.

It was perfect, Kerry thought, disagreeable stairs and all.

"Kevin and Jill would probably be up here, because they're married and all," Kim explained with a bit of mockery, "but they wanted to be closer to the kids." She shrugged and grinned, "And I'm certainly not going to argue."

Kerry noted their suitcases, which Kevin had apparently dropped off. She moved towards her own, going to put her four days' worth of clothing away, but was stopped by a yielding hand on her shoulder. "We can do that later," Kim offered, pulling her towards the bed instead.

Kim lay down on her side, pulling Kerry down next to her. "So what do you think so far?"

Kerry let out a gush of air, the burst blowing her bangs off her forehead. "They're all very nice." She offered.

Kim chuckled, "Sometimes a little too nice, I think."

Kerry smiled before thoughts of Maggie crossed her mind. "She has CP?" She asked, though she already knew the answer was yes.

Kim's smile fell a bit and she nodded, knowing instantly what Kerry was talking about. "A moderate form of spastic diplegia cerebral palsy." She rattled off as if she'd done it hundreds of times before.

Kerry nodded; she had been able to tell from the slight inward turn of her legs that the muscles were spastic. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

Kim shrugged. Truthfully, she wasn't sure why she didn't tell Kerry about Maggie's cerebral palsy. It wasn't as if the older woman wouldn't understand what the disability was, and it sure as hell wasn't as if she'd treat the nine year old as inferior. "I guess I didn't think that it mattered…"

"Did you tell them about me?" Kerry asked, her voice not implicating whether or not she believed Kim should have.

Kim nodded slowly. "Mom already knew, but you know, just so it wouldn't be the first thing they saw when they met you…" Kim trailed off, realizing the point Kerry was trying to make. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she groaned slightly. "You were surprised."

Kerry pulled Kim's hands away from her eyes and peered into the blue orbs. "My reaction scared her," she explained knowingly, "the first thing she probably thought when she saw the look on my face was that I was going to treat her for what she has, not who she is when, in fact, I was just surprised."

Kim nodded, her hand aimlessly caressing Kerry's cheek. "Should I talk to her…?" Kim asked, suddenly feeling as if Kerry was the psychiatrist in the relationship.

After considering it for a moment, Kerry shook her head. "Could I?" she asked tentatively.

Kim smiled. "Sure," she agreed softly, "just be warned: she's got the Legaspi stubbornness."

Grinning thoughtfully, Kerry accepted the challenge.

"But for now," Kim continued, "can we just relax? The Legaspi household may be calm at the moment, but I've learned from experience to never lose out on a chance to sleep; they come rarely."

Agreeing, Kerry nodded and rolled onto her other side, enabling Kim to wrap strong arms around her from behind.

Many minutes later, Kerry heard a soft, hushed "I love you" come from a suddenly drained Kim.

Kerry only moved deeper into the nook Kim's body created and shut her eyes, willing her body and mind to fall asleep.

Kim slowly awoke, blinking away the grogginess of the nap she'd taken and looking around the room that, after a few moments, she realized was in the attic of her family's house. Rolling over to face the middle of the bed, she frowned when she saw the empty spot that Kerry had previously filled.

That frown was replaced with a smirk when, once she sat up, she saw that both suitcases were unpacked and were pushed into the far corner of their large room.

Pulling herself out of bed, Kim checked her watch and cringed to find out that she'd slept away two hours and that afternoon was now turning into evening. Heading to the mirror, Kim attempted to smooth out her severely wrinkled blouse and tame her knotted hair, but gave into just exchanging the blouse for a plain, white tee shirt and pulling her curls back into a loose bun. Smoothing out her jeans, Kim exited her and Kerry's bedroom and went in search of her family, the redhead included.

"Auntie Kim, where were you?" A small voice called out to Kim as she descended the final set of stairs. Spinning around, Kim leaned down and scooped up Chloe, her five year old niece.

"I," Kim began, "was taking a nap." She said, carrying the brunette down the remaining steps, "Where were you?"

Chloe giggled and rolled her eyes. "Mommy made me take a shower 'cause I gots all salty 'n sandy." She explained. "So now I'm squeaky clean."

Kim laughed. "Have you seen Kerry?" She asked, taking her left hand and brushing a stray brown curl behind the five year olds ear.

Chloe nodded her head hastily, her hair becoming dismantled again. "She's outside with Maggie." Chloe said before dropping her voice to a quiet whisper, "She has a crutch like Maggie, Auntie! Isn't that cool?" She exclaimed in awe.

Kim smiled and set the little girl down on her own two feet. "Thanks Chlo."

Chloe smiled and went off skipping, going through the side door and out onto the field where Kim knew she'd proceed to get just as dirty as she was before.

When Kim finally got onto the back deck, which was now clear of all relatives, she stopped and held her breath, willing herself to be quiet as to not interrupt what was going on; before her, on a flat rock overlooking the water, sat Kerry and Maggie. Though she wasn't close enough to hear any words, Kim was sure something was being spoken because, after a moment, Kerry tilted her head back in laughter.

She smiled and retreated into the house, heading to the kitchen to see if there was anything she could assist with.