Mary was momentarily stunned, "You want Michael to live with us?"

He sat back and sighed, "Yes, I do. Don't you?"

"Well, Honey, I love Michael but I don't think you've thought this through." She told him

"He's my son, what's to think about?" He got up and walked over to the window looking out at the darkness, "And I have thought about it a great deal."

"For what, a couple of hours?" She asked

He turned to face her, "No, since we got married." He told her, "Besides we didn't exactly think through kid number four."

"Well, no…and I just realized I sounded exactly like my mother when I said that." She laughed a little

"Yeah and I'm not sorry about the baby, are you?" He asked

"No, of course not." She told him

"And I won't be sorry about trying to get custody of Michael either." He said emphatically

The words he said just a moment before began to sink in, "What do you mean you've thought about it since we got married?"

"I've thought about Michael coming to living with us since I knew we were getting married. I think he'll be better off with us." He explained

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" She asked

"Well, I was going to but then we found out about the baby and I wasn't sure how you would feel about Michael living with us too."

She got up and went over to him, "Honey, I would love for Michael to live here but you know Donna will never agree to it. You had to fight tooth and nail to get her to agree to an extra night during the week." She pointed out, "Do you really want go to court?"

He crossed his arms across his chest and looked down, "It that's what it takes." He told her, "Michael is the only reason my marriage wasn't a total waste."

"Honey, if we get custody of him then she'll be the on hundreds of miles away from him. How is that any different?"

"Because he'll be here and he won't have to be uprooted. I don't want him to go through that."

She knew there was more behind this, "Kids are pretty resilient, you know." She said, "Mine adjusted just fine when we moved."

"Yeah well you didn't leave behind an ex who was hardly going to see his kid anymore." The minute he said it he knew it was a mistake

She looked down, "No, I didn't." She said, "My kids will never see their father again." She turned away and started to walk out of the room

"Mary…" he called after her but she kept walking, "Damn." He said to the empty room. Man you may just win the award for the most insensitive jerk, how could you be so stupid? He thought mentally beating himself up

He walked down the hall to the bedroom and she had already changed clothes and was in bed lying on her side. She was wearing one of his t shirts, something he found incredibly sexy especially with her little baby bump protruding underneath. He sat on the end of the bed and began unbuttoning his shirt then stood up and took off his pants. He got into bed, moving close to her he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mary, I'm sorry." He said, "I never should have said something like that."

She turned on her other side facing him, "I know you are, Honey." She caressed his cheek, "But you've got to let go of this guilt you feel not being with Michael full time. You're a wonderful father."

"Yeah a wonderful father who just yelled at his kid for no reason." He sat up against the pillows

Mary sat up next to him, "Well, you apologized and made it right. Being a wonderful father doesn't mean you don't make mistakes."

"I just want him to know how much I love him."

Mary took his hand in both of hers, "Sweetie, he does know." She assured him, "But I'm behind you whatever you want to do."

He smiled looking in her eyes, "I don't know how I got so lucky." He ran his hand over her abdomen, "I have a terrific son, great step kids, a baby on the way and a sweet, beautiful wife who is not only a shirt thief but looks sexier in them than I do."

Mary turned on her mock southern accent again, "My, my, Mr. Rivers, you do know how to flatter a girl."

"That's not all I know how to do. I'm pretty good at kissing too and I'm about to give you one." He leaned in and kissed her long and deep

"Hmmm, you don't have to announce it, you know." She said as their lips parted

"No, my mama always taught me to be polite and tell a lady when I'm about to give her a kiss." He did his own best southern drawl

"Remind me to thank your mama."

SUNDAY NIGHT

Andy drove Michael back to Donna's all the while working up the courage to talk to her about everything. The ache in his heart almost overrode the knot in his stomach. It was never easy to take him back to her but tonight was especially hard. He couldn't imagine not being there for his son on a consistent basis and having to be a long distance parent. He knew Mary was right about one thing, he had to stop feeling guilty. But it was the hardest thing in the world to know someone else was reading him stories and tucking him in most nights. He had come to terms that his marriage was to Donna had been a mistake. They had been completely wrong for each other. She was reserved, quiet and rather uptight. He, in part because of his Italian heritage, was outgoing and very relaxed. It had mostly been a physical thing and they jumped into marriage much too quickly. It might seem that he and Mary had also but he and Mary from the start could really talk. He felt like in the first month of dating her he knew her better than he knew Donna after being married four years. So getting married after six months didn't seem strange. He pulled into the driveway and he and Michael got out of the car.

Donna had heard the car pull in and stood in the front door, "Hi, Darling." She kissed Michael on the cheek, "Did you have a nice time?"

"Uh huh." Michael said

"Well, good, now go on inside. I need to talk to your dad." She said

Michael gave Andy a hug, "Bye, Daddy."

Andy held him close a little longer than usual, "Goodbye, Michael."

Michael went into the house and Donna closed the door and there they stood on the front porch, "I wanted to talk to you about the move, Andy. You ran out of here so fast on Friday I didn't get a chance."

"You want to take my son halfway across the country, what's there to talk about?" He had plenty to say

"Andy, I know you're upset but Jeff needs this job. He's been looking for six months." She told him

"And there aren't any jobs here?" He asked

"If there were we wouldn't be moving." She told him

"So what am I supposed to do?" He asked, 'When am I supposed to see my son?"

"I thought we could work something out. Maybe time in the summers?" She suggested

"That's it?" He asked, "You think that's enough? I can't be a long distance parent, Donna. I just can't live that way."

"Well, what do you plan to do? Move Mary and her children to Seattle?" She asked

He exhaled heavily, "No, I want Michael to live with us."

She narrowed her eyes, "You what?"

"You heard me." He said

"You seriously expect me to let someone else be a de facto mother to my son and just leave him here?" She said with incredulity in her voice

"The last time I checked he's my son too and Jeff would be a de facto father." Andy pointed out, "I think he'd be better off staying here instead of being uprooted."

"Well, if you think I'll just let this happen, you're crazy." She said, "You want him? You'll have to take me to court."

TBC