The Good Wife: A Home For My Heart

Chapter 11: Happy Birthday, Zach.

A/N: Hey, look who's still alive! I'm sorry for the long wait, and if it's any consolation, this chapter is about twice as long as its predecessors. This chapter will also shift between both Peter, and Alicia's POV but it should be pretty evident when it does.

Exiting the elevator at their desired floor, Peter took hold of Grace's small hand and led her down the brightly lit hallway towards Alicia's apartment while she skipped happily beside him.

The last few weeks seemed to have flown by, he thought to himself. It seemed like just yesterday he and Grace had met Alicia and Zach for the first time in that park and now here they were, weeks later, arriving to young Zach's birthday party. Grace had been going on about it all week and was more than excited to have received an invitation. Zach was nearly two years older than Grace, however that didn't seem to matter to either of them as they had had several play dates since their first encounter and had quickly become good friends regardless of age difference. Though Peter would have to admit, their childrens play date's seemed to be just as much for the parents as it was for them by now. He and Alicia always had a great time together. She was so easy to talk to, and they too found themselves quickly becoming friends. Hardly a day went by anymore when they didn't talk, even if it was just a quick text message here or there to see how the others day was going. They had even managed a couple lunches in between their busy days to have together while Zach and Grace were in school. Peter was surprised at how easy and uncomplicated their friendship was. Their children got along famously and both he and Alicia thoroughly enjoyed the company they found in each other. Or, at least he certainly did, and he was quite sure she felt the same. He was just as surprised at the lack of pressure he felt when he was around her. He didn't feel the need to try and impress her or try and watch what he said around her; she just made it so easy to be himself around her and their friendship had blossomed into something he quickly found himself holding dear to him.

Next to Eli, Alicia had probably become his best friend and sometimes he still had to shake his head to grasp it all.

They arrived at the door to Alicia's apartment and Grace stood next to Peter, happily humming to herself as she swung the gift bag in her hands back and forth. She had insisted on picking out Zach's gift herself so Peter had taken her to the toy store and let her pick out whatever she wanted, even letting Grace slide his credit card through the debit terminal at the cash register when they had completed their shopping. She had also insisted in arriving at the party in full themed costume, and luckily Zach's birthday was only a week before Halloween so it wasn't difficult to find a little girl's pirate outfit. She had red and white striped leggings, black boots, a black skirt, and puffy white blouse, topped with a black pirates hat on her head and she looked downright adorable, if Peter did say so himself.

"Yarrrr! Who goes there?!" The door suddenly swung open with Zach standing on the other side holding out a plastic sword towards his guests still standing in the hallway and Grace jumped slightly at the surprise, although quickly recovered with a slight giggle when she realized it was the guest of honour greeting them.

"Happy birthday Zach!" Grace shouted excitedly, jumping up and down in the spot where she stood. "I got you a present!" she exclaimed, extending the bag towards him.

Zach's face lit up as he reached for the bag but it was quickly snatched out of his grasp as Alicia stepped up next to him at the doorway.

"Uh uh Mister, you get your gifts after dinner and cake" Alicia mentioned and Zach groaned but nodded his head in agreement nonetheless.

"Come on in" Zach had said, motioning for Grace to follow him into the apartment, which she quickly did as the two ran off towards a small gathering of other children in the middle of the living room.

"Hi" Peter greeted Alicia, taking a step over the threshold and into the apartment. Her smile widened and she gave him a nod.

"Hey" she replied easily, reaching past him to close the door behind him. Peter was dressed casually in a pair of dark blue jeans and black button down Oxford shirt untucked with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and Alicia eyed him rather curiously.

"What?" Peter asked through a small chuckle.

"Nothing" Alicia shook her head with a dismissive grin. "Perhaps you didn't get the memo that this is a Pirate's party? I don't remember any pirates in designer jeans and Calvin Klein button down's" she teased him and he smirked.

"Oh, but you haven't seen the full costume" he began with a knowing grin before reaching into this pocket and pulling out a simple black eye patch and securing the elastic band around his head and the patch over his left eye.

"Oh, okay, now you're allowed in" she smirked at him and they both let out a laugh as Peter followed her into the apartment.

Alicia had certainly gone all out; not only in the decorations of the house, but herself as well. She had an outfit near similar to what Grace was wearing, but looking a little more adult and Peter had to give his head a shake as he followed after her into the apartment and found himself staring at her a little more than usual. He couldn't deny that she was attractive, gorgeous really, but they were friends, and he wasn't supposed to be oggling his friends.

"What?" Alicia questioned as she looked back to see Peter somewhat lost in his own thoughts.

"Huh?" Peter's gaze snapped back up to reach hers in surprise. "Uh, nothing, I was just thinking what an amazing job you did decorating this place. It looks incredible. You look great too. Very..." he paused while trying to think of an appropriate word. "Authentic" he eventually settled on.

"Well thank you" she smiled at him sincerely. "Would you like a beer?"

"Sure" Peter agreed before following her into the kitchen.

"Peter!" a voice called out to him and Peter looked through the kitchen to the open concept dining room and found Eli and Vanessa standing next to the table, each with a drink already in hand and he grinned at his best friend; glad they had been able to make it after all.

He took the offered bottle Alicia passed to him and she gestured for him to go ahead and he wandered out into the dining room, holding his hand out to Eli and giving his a firm shake.

"I see you guys made it. Vanessa," he greeted Eli's wife before leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Where's Marissa?" he questioned, looking around the room and Eli nodded towards the growing cluster of children in the living room attempting to play Twister.

"Somewhere in the dog pile of children" Eli mentioned and Peter chuckled as they watched their kids having fun.

"Alicia, thank you so much for inviting us" Vanessa mentioned politely as Alicia came to stand next to Peter.

"Oh of course, it was my pleasure" Alicia dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Zach and Marissa really seemed to hit it off in school" she mentioned and it garnered a raised eyebrow from Eli as he quickly turned his head back to the cluster of children, seeking out his little girl.

"Relax Eli" Peter chuckled, already knowing what warning bells were going off in his best friends head. "They're 7 year olds playing Twister, not teenagers sneaking off under the bleachers"

"Men and their daughters" Vanessa sighed, shaking her head slightly and eliciting a small laugh from Alicia. "You guys know you have to let them grow up at some point right?"

"Oh, Grace can grow up" Peter quickly agreed. "When she's 30" he added, mumbling the words into the neck of his beer bottle as he took a sip.

"Amen to that" Eli chimed in, raising his bottle towards Peter and clinking them together before taking a drink himself.

"Impossible" Vanessa huffed in defeat, her arms falling down at her sides before refocusing her attention on Alicia. "Your place looks great. I love what you've done with the space" she mentioned and Alicia smiled at the compliment.

"Thank you. Would you like the grand tour?" She asked and Vanessa simply nodded before handing her wine glass off to her husband to hold.

"I'll be right back, have fun" Alicia mentioned to Peter, her hand resting on his forearm for brief moment before sliding it off and leading Vanessa out to explore the rest of the apartment.

"Peter's great isn't he?" Vanessa mentioned as she followed Alicia down a hallway towards the bedrooms.

"Yeah, he is" she smiled brightly, stopping to open a door to her small office space and heading inside.

"This is my office" she mentioned, looking around the room. "It's sort of always messy in here" she admitted with a small laugh. "Fabric samples and swatches everywhere" she shrugged and Vanessa nodded as she walked around the room, her fingers absentmindedly running over different pieces of fabric that lay about the room.

"So, how long have you guys... You know" Vanessa mentioned casually, still looking around at various items throughout the room.

"Lived here?" Alicia tried to finish the thought for her. "Oh, it's almost been about 2 years now I guess. My Dad left it to Zach and I when he passed away and-"

"No," Vanessa suddenly interrupted, letting out a small chuckle at the misunderstanding. "Not how long have you and Zach lived here, I was going to ask how long you and Peter..." she let her sentence remain unfinished, offering a flippant wave of her hand and a less than subtle wink in Alicia's direction.

"Oh, Peter and I aren't..." Alicia began, caught off guard by the assumption and more than at a loss for words. "We're not... He isn't... I mean, we're friends. Just friends" she finally managed and Vanessa simply stared at her in disbelief for a long moment until her lips finally broke out into a wide smile and she let out a laugh.

"I'm sorry" she quickly apologized, bringing a hand over her mouth as she shook her head slightly. "I just thought... Well, you two have been spending a lot of time together it seems and... Well, you know" she finished with a small shrug of her shoulders and Alicia offered her a small smile of understanding.

"It's okay" she assured her. It was true, She has spent more time with Peter and Grace over the last couple weeks than pretty much anyone else in her life; Zach aside of course. And Vanessa wasn't the first person to bring it up either, her brother had been pestering her just about every time they spoke since the day he had been there when Peter called her. He has even so delicately been referring to Peter as her "not-boyfriend" ever since.

"For the record though," Vanessa began again; causing Alicia to turn back towards her just as she was about to exit the room, "you could do a lot worse" she said, offering Alicia a less than subtle wink before walking past her, out of the room and heading towards the next.

"Oh-kay..." Alicia sighed to herself before giving her head a shake and eventually following after Vanessa to continue their tour.

Silently thanking whatever God would listen, the tour came to an end just a few minutes later and Alicia breathed a sigh of relief; never being so happy that her apartment was so small until now. Vanessa Gold seemed to be a very nice woman, but she was a force, that was for certain.

"And so now you've seen pretty much everything" Alicia announced; clasping her hands together in front of her as they made their way back into the open concept living area.

"It's just gorgeous!" Vanessa complimented with a genuine smile gracing her lips.

"Thank you, I-" Alicia began, and then stopped abruptly as her gaze caught the site of her brother and mother standing in the middle of the kitchen practically cornering an unsuspecting Peter.

"I'll just, be right back..." she said to Vanessa before quickly taking her leave and heading toward the kitchen.

"Mom, Owen" Alicia greeted her family nervously before giving a quick glance to Peter and mouthing the words "I'm sorry" knowing full well what the two of them were capable; especially when teamed up together. Peter simply smirked at her though as Alicia's mother remained clutched to his side with one hand wrapped around his bicep and the other gently stroking up and down his forearm.

"Alicia, Sweetie" her mother began, all too innocently as she remained unconsciously stroking Peter's arm. "We were just getting to know your new friend here" she continued, looking up towards Peter with a cheeky grin on her face.

"I see that" Alicia let out cautiously. "I um, didn't hear you guys come in"

"Well it's not like I need to knock to enter my own daughters home" her mother said, laughing the notion off with a wave of her hand before placing it back on Peter's forearm.

"Oh but how I wish you would" Alicia muttered under her breath to herself as her mother continued laughing aloud and the words went undetected by everyone but Peter who let out a small chuckle at her admission.

"So Peter just told us the most adorable story about how the two of you met" her mother continued while Owen just stood back, watching and grinning at his sisters obvious embarrassment over their mother.

"She asked how we knew each other" Peter chimed in to explain the reasoning behind sharing the story and Alicia simply nodded.

"Oh, it's just so romantic. The White Knight and the Damsel in Distress" her mother sighed, dramatically draping a hand over her heart as she looked back up towards Peter and Alicia rolled her eyes, and shook her head.

And she thought Vanessa Gold could be too much.

"Hey, would you like a drink? I could grab you another glass of wine" Peter suggested to Alicia, quickly picking up on her obvious discomfort and her eyes opened in surprise; more than grateful he was giving her an out from her crazed mother.

"Yes, thank you so much" she smiled genuinely at him now and he offered her one in return.

"Owen, Mrs. Cavanaugh, can I get you guys one as well while I'm over there?" He asked and Alicia's mother practically giggled with delight at the gesture.

"Oh such a gentleman!" she praised him, this time raising her arm up so her hand could touch the side of his face and Alicia instantly reddened with embarrassment. "And please, call me Veronica" she added before finally releasing her hold on him so he could head out to the dining room where the wine was kept.

"Owen?" He asked again as he passed by Alicia's brother who was now biting down on his lower lip to keep himself from bursting out into laughter. Not trusting himself to be able to let out an audible answer without laughing hysterically, he simply shook his head at Peter and Peter nodded in return before heading off to retrieve the wine.

The moment he stepped over the threshold from the kitchen Alicia threw her hands up in exasperation at her mother while Owen finally released the uproarious laughter he had been holding in.

"Seriously Mom?" Alicia practically hissed at her Mother.

"What?" Veronica asked innocently and Alicia huffed in annoyance.

"And you!" She turned to her brother and poked him hard in his chest.

"Oww!" Owen whined, bringing his hand up to cover where she had poked him. "What did I do?"

"Well for starters, you obviously told Mom about him" she grumbled at Owen, trying to keep her voice down so that nobody else; particularly Peter, could hear them.

"What, I'm not allowed to know anything?" Veronica chimed in and Alicia rolled her eyes at her brother. This was exactly what she was hoping to avoid.

"Mom, there's nothing to know" Alicia began to explain, placing her hand over her forehead. "Peter is a friend, his daughter and Zach go to school together and have gotten pretty close and that's all there is to it, okay?"

"But Alicia, he's so handsome" her mother argued; as if that should somehow make a difference.

"Oh God Mom, please stop" Alicia mumbled in embarrassment while Owen tried in vain to conceal his laughter at the entire situation. He too knew how overwhelming their mother could be.

"Your wine, ladies" Peter announced his presence as he returned to the kitchen with two glasses of wine in hand and Alicia eagerly reached for one; letting out a barely audible "Thank God" under her breath before taking a large swallow of the crimson liquid.

"Thank you, Peter" Veronica acknowledged as she too took her glass from his hand and he simply smiled at her in return.

"Mm, yes, thank you" Alicia said, remembering her manners as she swiped her thumb across her bottom lip to catch a droplet of wine that had escaped her mouth.

"Mom, has Zach seen you yet? I'm sure he'd love to say hi to Grandma" Alicia mentioned, hastily tugging at her Mother's elbow to lead her out of the room and as far away from Peter and the inevitable embarrassment that would follow if she left them together for much longer.

The rest of the night had gone rather perfectly; if Alicia did say so herself. The kids all had a great time and Alicia had managed to keep her prying Mother away from Peter for most of the evening; saving herself from further embarrassment as that happened to be Veronica's speciality it seemed.

Alicia also managed to put it a great deal of face time with Peter's friend Eli who could potentially be a huge client for her. By the end of the evening he had shook her hand and assured her he would be in touch early next week and Alicia was more than thrilled with how their conversations had gone. He had one of the biggest Image Consulting firms in all of Chicago and his name on her client list meant opening many doors for her that she would never have had otherwise.

The night had wound down and soon it was only Alicia, Zach, Grace and Peter left in her apartment with all the guests; her meddling mother and brother included; having gone home. Peter had insisted on staying to help clean up and although Alicia told him it wasn't necessary he wasn't hearing any of it and stayed to help regardless. She smiled at him for the gesture and eventually agreed, suggesting he start in the living room while she worked on the dining room and kitchen.

Nearly a half hour later Alicia stood at the kitchen sink, drying up the last few remaining large dishes that could not fit in the dishwasher. It had been a while since she had heard the kids, or Peter for that matter, making any noise and it was the first time of the entire day that she had felt peace and quiet. Almost as if on cue, she heard heavy footsteps coming from behind her and knew Peter had entered the kitchen.

"Kids are passed out" he mentioned as he came into the room. "Grace is on the couch and Zach out cold on the twister mat" he said with a small laugh and Alicia's lips twitched into a smile as she reached up to put a serving dish away on the top shelf of the cupboard. Standing on her tip toes, the shelf was just out of her reach as she struggled to place the dish where it belonged; stretching out as far as she could and still being about a half of an inch short, she let out of a huff of air and heard Peter chuckling behind her.

"Here," he said as she felt him step up behind her and reach over her; one hand resting on her left hip as the other took the dish from her and placed in on the shelf with ease.

"Thank you" she said, turning around to face him and suddenly becoming increasingly aware of their close proximity and the feeling of his large hand splayed across her hip that he had yet to move.

"You're welcome" he said quietly, his gaze fixed intently on her as the thumb resting on her hip slowly began brushing back and forth across the slightly exposed flesh where her blouse didn't quite reach the top of her skirt.

Alicia could feel the blush rising in her cheeks and quickly lowered her head because she wasn't sure she could keep holding his intense gaze much longer, however the moment she looked away she could feel his thumb and forefinger on her chin as he tipped her head back up to face him. Without her shoes on she was a good six to eight inches shorter than he was and suddenly felt very small standing before him, but for whatever reason, she liked it. Liked the feeling of strong hands holding her and how the simple presence of him so close made her feel safe.

"Hey," he said in a quiet tone, pulling her from her thoughts and his low voice, combined with the feeling of his hands on her skin was enough to send a shiver down her spine. Somehow in a matter of seconds their entire dynamic seemed to have shifted and she found herself desperate to know where it would lead them.

"Peter..." His name left her lips in a whisper and before she could utter another syllable his mouth came down to meet hers, soft lips brushing against hers; gentle at first, giving her a chance to react. It took her more than a moment, but then to not only his, but her own surprise, she found herself kissing him back. Her hands found their way to the back of his neck, and his left hand came down to match his right, so they now rested on both her hips. The kiss began to build momentum, going from gentle and exploratory to hot and urgent rather quickly as Alicia opened her mouth to him, not being able to hold back the small moan that escaped the back of her throat when his tongue stroked against hers.

Completely lost in the moment, Alicia had blocked out every possible thought other than savouring the feeling of how his mouth melded with hers, how his thumbs brushing against her flesh seemed to leave a scorching trail in their wake, and how she was almost certain she had never been kissed like this before. It was like he had been waiting to do this since the day they met five weeks ago and had poured every lost second from then until now into this single, life-altering kiss.

Yes, she had definitely, never been kissed like this before.

As the need for oxygen overwhelmed them, they pulled apart only for a fraction of a second before Peter's mouth had come crashing down to the side of her throat, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down to her collarbone as Alicia's hands found themselves lost in the hair at the back of his head. Bringing his mouth back up to meet hers, their heavy kissing continued and Alicia let out a muffled yelp of surprise when Peter suddenly pulled her up by the hips to sit on the kitchen counter and stepped between her legs, never breaking the heated kiss. It wasn't until she felt Peter's very evident need for her press against the inside of her thigh that she found herself instantly crashing back to reality; suddenly very aware of everything that was happening and her brain attempting to process far too much information all at once.

Instinctively, her hands came down to his chest and she gently pushed him back, causing their kiss to end abruptly and he rested his forehead against hers; panting heavily and his eyes still closed.

"Alicia," he breathed out, trying desperately to get his ragged breathing under control. "I'm sorry, I-" he couldn't figure out how to finish his sentence, so he didn't and she frowned.

"No, don't be. I'm sorry" she insisted. "I just... I'm not..." she had so many thought processes running through her head that she couldn't settle on just one of them to say out loud. She let out a sigh at her own indignation and he let out a small puff of laughter, finally opening his eyes to look at her.

"I know" he nodded gently against her. "It's okay" he assured her before bringing his head up just enough to press a soft kiss to her forehead and she closed her eyes at the warm feeling that rushed over her. Wrapping his arms around her back, he gently pulled her off of the counter top and Alicia brought her head forward to lay on his chest, allowing him to keep his arms wrapped around her as he gently rubbed her back. She could feel his heart hammering in his chest and knew hers was nearly keeping pace as well as they both slowly began to come down from the high the heated kiss had ignited within them.

The last thing she had wanted to do was stop kissing him. In fact, she would have liked to do a lot more than kiss him, if she were being honest. It had been longer than she'd care to admit since a man showed her that kind of attention and the fact that the man happened to be Peter, someone she had found herself coming to care very much for, made it all the more pleasurable. However, thoughts of her son and their family had suddenly began raising warning lights within her mind. She knew Peter wouldn't be a casual date or two, he had already meant so much more to her which in itself frightened her. Accepting Peter into her life as more than a friend meant Zach accepting him as well; not to mention Peter had a family of his own to consider. She suddenly felt suffocated and that she had no other option than to push him away, as much as it had pained her to do so. There could never be anything simple or casual about their relationship if they decided to take it to another level, she was quite certain they both knew and understood that and it wasn't a decision either of them should be making under such heated circumstances. They should talk. Would talk. But not tonight.

They remained in the warm embrace for several minutes; neither speaking a word but just revelling in the feeling of holding one another for what very well may be the first and last time.

"I should go" Peter's low voice finally broke the silence and Alicia could do little more than nod against his chest. She felt his lips press a kiss to her hair before his arms released her and he took a small step back from her.

"We OK?" he asked genuinely, his gaze holding hers and she managed a small smile.

"Yeah" she let out with a long breath and he nodded gently.

"Good. I'll uh, gather up Grace's things" he said to her before turning away and heading into the main room of the house to pack up Grace's backpack and grab her jacket from the the back of an arm chair.

Gently without waking her, Peter managed to slip Grace's jacket and shoes on her from where she lay asleep on the sofa before picking her up so she lay against his chest with her head resting on his shoulder. He walked over to the front door with Alicia following behind them to show them out. When he reached the door Peter turned back to Alicia, gently shifting Grace to his other side so he could give a proper goodbye. Leaning down toward her, Peter placed a lingering kiss to her cheek before pulling back slightly to offer her a small smile.

"Good night, Alicia" he spoke quietly, trying not to wake his sleeping daughter.

"Good night Peter" she whispered in return, reaching a hand out to brush over his arm. "We'll talk soon, okay?" she asked and he nodded before turning back around, opening the door and letting himself out. Alicia watched as he walked down the hallway of the apartment building toward the elevator with Grace still sleeping soundly against his shoulder and once the elevator doors closed them out of view she let herself fall back against the door frame, a heavy sigh escaping her lips as she watched the numbered lights above the elevator descend.

What a party.

A/N: Thanks for reading my latest chapter, and again I'm sorry for having to make you all wait so long! Leave me a review if you're so inclined, it does tend to give my writing muse the proper kick in the pants it needs to keep me focused! And for the cherry on top of your sundae, for those who have not seen it, here is my latest A/P video wwwDOTyoutubeDOTcom/watch?v=fMhDLXofaoI