"...I'm sorry but my answer is no" Abby replied looking at a crestfallen Luka "I'm still not ready yet but I do love you" Luka began smiling at this point as he realised that this was true love because Abby had never said these three little words before and he knew how difficult it must have been for her. "Let's move in together" she said brightly " I can sell my place to Neela and I'm over here all the time anyway" Luka picked Abby up in his arms and twirled her around and then kissed her passionately whilst Kyle sat clapping his hands and chuckling.

Later on that day "Bab what's for dinner?" Abby asked.

"It's a surprise boo" Luka replied they had recently made up pet names for one another.

"Urghh what's that smell? Yikes, Kyle not again I only changed you half an hour ago; I've just got to go up and change him again" Abby said.

"OK" Luka said thinking good because it gave him an opportunity to call Neela and invite her around for dinner, he wanted Abby and her to sign the paperwork as soon as possible so that he and Abby were officially living together and that he could break the news at work.

Abby took so long that by the time she came back from the bathroom Neela was pressing the buzzer to get into the apartment. "Who is it?" Luka asked.

"It's me" Neela replied, Luka buzzed her in.

"What's Neela doing here?" Abby inquired.

"I invited her over for dinner I thought we may as well get the ball rolling with you selling your apartment"

"Well, it didn't take you long to get everything moving" Abby said, giving Luka a quick peck on the cheek before handing Kyle over to him so that she could open the door and give Neela a hug.

"I brought a bottle of wine with me. I hope that's OK Abby? It's just that's what you traditionally do when you are invited over to dinner but I know you don't drink so I'm sorry and we don't have to drink it if it's going to make you uncomfortable"

"Don't be silly" Abby replied.

"Hi Luka"

"Hi Neela"

"So what''s this all in aid of then?" Neela asked. "By the way the food smells delicious" Luka brought Kyle over to strap him in his high chair before bringing over the food and pouring Neela and himself a glass of wine and Abby a glass of lemonade.

"Thanks bab" Abby commented.

"So, come on then, don't keep me in suspense any longer what did you want to tell me?" Neela asked.

"Well, we've been talking about us and we've decided to move in together" Abby replied.

"That's great news I'm so happy for you guys, but I'm still not sure why you felt the need to invite me over to tell me this"

"I want to sell my apartment to you"

"Really?"

"Yeah really and I'll give you a great price" Neela got up from the table and hugged Abby and then moved over to hug Luka "Thanks this means so much to me after everything that has happened in the past couple of weeks"

"That's not the only reason I invited you over Neela" Luka said.

"It's not?" Abby said questioningly.

"No. I know it would mean a lot to me if you would be Kyle's godmother assuming that you're still OK with the baptism Abby?"

I'm fine with it Luka like we said a little water never hurt anyone" she replied taking hold of Luka's hand and kissing it.

"I'm truly touched guys, of course I'll be Kyle's godmother" Neela said wiping a tear from her eye.

"A toast to new beginnings" Luka said.

Whilst Abby and Neela were busy gossiping about what had been going on in the ER lately Luka was finishing up feeding Kyle whilst singing to him "Joy to the world, All the boys and girls. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, Joy to you and me" he happened to glance over to where Abby and Neela were and realised with horror that they weren't gossiping anymore but listening to him sing. "I'll just be taking Kyle upstairs for his bath now" he said going bright red in the face.

"You do that" Abby replied sarcastically. After her had gone upstairs Neela and Abby burst out laughing.

"It's sweet really" Neela said breaking the hysterics.

"I know, he's a great father and I really love him"

"Abby Lockhart did I just hear you use the word love?" Neela asked.

"Yeah, I said it to Luka just before suggesting I move in with him properly and it sounded really good so I'm going to start saying it more often"

"Well I better be off I'm on at 7" Neela said getting up to leave. "I am really happy for you two, new baby, living together, it won't be long until Luka proposes. Abby just smiled and never let on that Luka had done just that earlier on, it would be his and hers little secret. "Don't stay away from work too long, the guys are teasing me something chronic"

"I won't. I'll have a word with Luka tonight and see if I can't persuade him to have a word with them tomorrow"

"How are you going to do that? No forget I asked I don't want to know, bye Luka" Neela shouted.

"Bye" he replied.

"See ya soon" Abby said as Neela walked out of the door.

Abby went upstairs where Luka was settling Kyle in his cot for the night, she loved watching Luka with Kyle, he was so loving towards his son. "Where did you spring from?" Luka asked, he hadn't realised that Abby had been standing there watching him for the last five minutes.

"I did not spring" Abby replied.

"Sorry boo, didn't mean to offend you" Luka said pulling Abby in for a cuddle; even though she has refused his proposal he knew that they had come a long way in their relationship today and was very happy. "Time for bed" Luka said.

"Yep, come on then" Abby said pulling Luka towards their bedroom and pushing him onto the bed and beginning to unbutton his shirt whilst he began to take her top off, kissing passionately all the time.


The next morning Luka and Abby were laying in bed "I'm knackered" Abby said "I can't believe how much he got up last night"

"I know, thirteen times and I've got to go to work in a couple of hours" Luka said rubbing his eyes trying to wake up.

"Can't you just call in sick?" Abby asked.

"You know I can't. I've got a meeting today where they are going to decide whether or not they are going to let me take the fall for Clemente"

"Oh right, I still can't believe that Kerry is willing to let you take all the flak when Clemente was her hire and I thought she was supposed to be my friend"

"I don't want to get into it again boo. I just want to go to the meeting and get it over with. What are you going to be doing today?" he said moving his arm over to Abby for a hug.

"I thought Kyle and I could go shopping with his Daddy's credit card" Abby replied looking at Luka pleadingly.

"Women, all they do is cause trouble and spend all your hard earned cash" Luka said, to which Abby punched him.

"Hey" Luka exclaimed.

"You asked for it" Abby said with a wicked smile on her face. Luka got up and out of bed and headed off to the bathroom to have a shower.

"You coming boo?" Luka asked.

"Yeah just give us a sec" and then Kyle began to cry "Sorry bab, looks like I'm needed elsewhere" Abby said with a look of disappointment. She walked into Kyle's room and picked him up "Don't get me wrong kiddo I love you but you're never gonna let me and your Daddy spend any quality time together are you?" Kyle began gurgling "Come on then lets get you ready for the day, Mommy and you are going to go shopping today and spend all of Daddy's money" Kyle began to smile cheekily.

"I heard that" Luka said coming up behind Abby and spinning her around to face him, he was only wearing a towel, he looked so hot in that towel Abby was thinking and bit her bottom lip to stop herself from ravishing Luka in front of their son.

"How long have we been together now, you should know by now that I spend all you money I think it makes for a very healthy relationship and thank God for chip and pin"

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say I'm only now realising how lucky we were to have a son and not a daughter who would learn her Mother's secret of getting my credit card and the pin number" Luka gave Abby a quick kiss and walked into their bedroom to get dressed.


Luka came out of his and Abby's bedroom and went downstairs where Abby was feeding Kyle. "I'm off now boo" Luka said "Here's the card, don't spend all my money, Kyle you make sure Mommy doesn't spend all of Daddy's money" Luka said whilst giving Kyle a kiss and then he kissed Abby goodbye.

"Good luck bab"

"Thanks. See you both later have a great day" and with that Luka walked out of the apartment.


Later on that day Abby was pulling into a spot at the mall. "Right kiddo are you ready for shopping?" Kyle had a little spit bubble. "I'll take that spit bubble as yeah I am" Abby said whilst taking Kyle out of the car seat. "Lets see, where should we begin? Lets go to Toys R Us and see if we can't pick you up some nice new toys" and Abby headed off in the direction of the store.


Meanwhile back at the hospital the meeting to decide Luka's fate had just commenced, there was Luka, Kerry and Anspaugh in the meeting and Anspaugh began by saying why they were all here, suddenly he was cut off by Kerry.

"Before we go any further Donald I think I should admit that Luka doesn't deserve to be punished because of Clemente he was my hire and I knew there had been problems in Newark. Also Luka wanted to let him go before last month's incident, it's only fair that if anyone is to lose their job or be demoted it should be me. I'm the one to blame for this mess we're in right now"

Luka was gobsmacked by what he had just heard, was this really Kerry Weaver who has always saved her own bacon in the past even if it means that the person she shifts blame onto loses their job.

"Well I guess that concludes this meeting, Dr Kovac you may go back to work and Kerry you stay here, we need to discuss this matter further and talk about what disciplinary action needs to be taken" Anspaugh said. So Luka left the room and went to call Abby to give her the good news.


"Excuse me" Abby said to the cashier as she answered her cell phone. "Hi bab, how'd it go?"

"Kerry owned up to the whole saga of Clemente being her fault"

"She did, that's great news we should go out and celebrate tonight"

"Abby aren't you forgetting about something?"

"What?"

"Our son. We can't just decide to go out on a whim like we used to"

"Oh yeah, oops, can you ask Neela to baby-sit for us?"

"Hang on a moment she's here now so you can ask her seeing as you want to go out"

"What is it Abby?" Neela asked.

"Hi Neela. Is there any chance you can baby-sit Kyle for us tonight so I can take Luka out for a meal?"

"I don't know Abby"

"Come on Neela you're going to be Kyle's godmother soon and this is a great opportunity for the two of you to bond" Abby responded pleadingly.

"OK. What time do you want me to come round?"

"Excellent. 8:30 OK?"

"Right see you then. I'm passing the phone back to Luka now"

"It's all settled bab we're going out to celebrate tonight"

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise"

"All right see you at home. Enjoy the rest of your day spending my money"

"I will, love you, bye" Abby put the phone down and turned to face Kyle "Right kiddo Mommy needs to go and get a a new dress to surprise Daddy with" Kyle clapped his hands and smiled at Abby.


"Boo I'm home, where are you?"

"Upstairs, how was your day?"

"Awful, had a guy who was remanded into police custody that OD'd and had to fax paperwork over to the Court as he had a committal hearing. Police seemed to think that he OD'd to get out of the hearing, can you believe that?"

"Actually I can" Abby replied.

"Had a couple of crispy critters, a trucker drove into a school bus and we got all of them as Mercy was closed to Trauma and to top it all off it's hotter than hell in the ER because the AC isn't working again!"

"Shocker"

"I know, all I want to do is have a nice cold shower, go out for a meal and go to bed snuggled up together" Abby came away from the cupboard that she was putting clothes in and gave Luka a kiss and cuddle.

"Feel any better?" she asked.

"A little" this time she gave him a longer, deeper more passionate kiss.

"How about now?"

"Much better, thanks" and he walked over to the bathroom to go have his cold shower.


Having spent half an hour in it Luka finally ventured out of the shower and shouted down to Abby "How should I dress?"

"Smart casual" she shouted up the stairs. "Don't take too long though because I still need to get ready and need you to look after Kyle whilst I get ready.

Luka walked down the stairs in a pair of black pants and a dark blue shirt with the top button undone " Very handsome" Abby remarked.

"Why thank you" he replied.

"I'll go and get ready" Abby said running up the stairs. She went into their room and went to her secret hiding place where she had stashed a bag of goodies. She got out her new dress and put it on. She had also got some new shoes, a new necklace, bracelet,earrings and a new clutch bag. Seeing everything she had got she began to think that she may have gone a little overboard then decided that it was worth it seeing as it would be a while before Luka and her could do this again with Kyle in their lives. As she walked down the stairs she saw Luka totally engrossed in playing Kyle's new game that she had got from Toys R Us, when she reached the last step she asked " What do you think then?"

Luka turned around and eyed her up and down taking in the diamanté earrings, necklace and bracelet that appeared to be a set and then the floor length red silk dress with a plunging neckline and finally the cute red stiletto sandals that Abby was wearing. "Whoa, you look drop dead gorgeous" he remarked.

"You can pick your jaw up from the floor now" Abby laughed, she knew her man well she thought smirking. The buzzer rang "That's Neela" Abby said.

Not long after Abby and Luka were walking out the door "Surely you can tell me where we're going now otherwise I may find it a bit difficult to drive us there" Luka said taking the car alarm off.

"You don't need to drive" Abby said snatching the car keys and putting the alarm back on. "The place where we're going is just around the corner."

"What are you talking about? There are no restaurants round the corner only a little secluded grassy area that looks out onto the lake" Luka said puzzled.

"You'll see" said Abby.


It was only a few minutes before they were there. Luka saw a blanket with a few cushions surrounded by a dozen outdoor candles, red rose petals had been spread over the blanket and there was a meal of smoked salmon and roasted vegetables laid out in the middle of the blanket. "Abby did you do all of this?"

"Yeah, Kyle helped with the rose petals" she said.

Luka kissed her and said "Thank you. It's beautiful, just what I need after the day I've had, it's so romantic with the candles, moonlight and the stars"

"I'm glad you like it" Abby said.

Once they had eaten their meal Abby cleared the plates away into the hamper she had and moved the cushions so that they could lay together looking up at the stars. They weren't star gazing for long before things progressed to a more intimate nature as Luka began deeply kissing Abby and running his hand up her dress to where the zip was and slowly pulled it down whilst Abby was removing his shirt and then began to unbuckle his belt and then unzip his pants, before long they were making passionate love beneath the moonlight and stars.

"Never done that before" Abby exclaimed once they had got dressed.

"Me either" Luka said holding Abby's face and kissing her softly on the lips. "I enjoyed it though, this will be out special place from now on" he said.

"Yes" Abby replied "I s'pose we should head back, it's late and Neela will probably be wondering where we are it's been four hours"


A month later and everyone was at Kyle's baptism even Luka's father who had flown over for the occasion. The ceremony had just about finished when Abby's mom burst in shouting "Where's my beautiful grandson? There he is"

"Mom you don't need to shout"

"I'm not shouting you silly girl"

"Maggie you're embarrassing me" Abby said unhappily.

"Oh yes, you've always been embarrassed by your poor, diseased mother haven't you? So much that you don't even invite me to my grandson's baptism"

"You disapeared Maggie I didn't know where you were and this is a prime example of why you embarrass me. You can't just burst into a church and act like this.

"You can't tell me what to do you little bitch"

"Come on Maggie I think we should take you outside" Luka said and whispered to Abby "I think she's off her meds again"

"Really" Abby replied sarcastically.