"Spending the night with Brooke. Enjoy!"

Susan had actually blushed when she'd gotten the text message from her niece. The girl was too wise beyond her years for Susan's comfort sometimes. It had been a rough night in the ER and she was tired. The thought of going home to a quieter house and knowing that she had the next day off was soothing as she drove through the darkened streets. Christmas lights still blinked on some homes, including her own. She sat in the car for a moment after turning the key off and just looked up at their duplex. Scott had called it homey and happy and he was right. Sometimes though, it felt as if it were bursting at the seams…..especially since they'd gotten the dog. But Susie would be gone to college in the fall. The house would be emptier then. Lots emptier. Sadly emptier.

Susan got out and locked the car doors with her remote as she made her way to the porch. She unlocked her door. Fudge came to greet her as she came inside with his tail wagging. She dropped her bag on the couch and took off her coat. She tossed it over the back of the couch and knelt down to rub the dog's ears. He whined and nudged her hands for more. Her Kenny G Christmas disk was playing softly on the cd player and there were candles burning on the dining table. It had been cleared of Lego pieces and was set for two with plates and silver, two glasses and a small bottle of wine. A half of a cheese cake sat in the center of the table. She looked up as Scott leaned against the kitchen door watching her. She smiled.

"Did you wear that just for me?" he asked. Susan looked down at the green scrubs she was wearing and then shook her head as she stood up.

"No," she laughed. "Six year old twins decided to present me with their stomach contents during an exam. I showered and changed at the hospital." The dog nudged at her legs again.

"Fudge," Scott said firmly. The dog looked at him and then bounded over to get the rawhide bone he held in his hand. The chocolate brown lab took the bone and then settled down near the Christmas tree to chew on it. Susan moved toward him and Scott wrapped his arms around her.

"Tough shift?" he asked as he kissed the top of her head. Susan shrugged and then eyed the table again.

"Cheesecake?" she leaned toward the table and shook her head. "That's ten times worse than a peppermint mocha latte." She reached out and touched a finger to the cookie crust and brought a crumb to her tongue.

"I've got some nice, healthy strawberries to put on top of it," he said. "Have a seat and I'll be right back." He held out a chair for her and then went back to the kitchen. She leaned on the table and grinned as he set a bowl of freshly cleaned strawberries in front of her and then sat at the other chair.

"What happened to the other half?" she asked as he cut a thin slice and put it on her plate.

"I gave it to Susie to take with her to Brooke's house," he said as he cut a slice for himself. Susan spooned sliced strawberries onto her plate and then his as he opened the small bottle of wine and poured some in her glass. She picked it up to taste it.

"Oh, yeah…" she said as she held her glass out for him to fill. Scott grinned and obliged her before filling his own.

"Canadian ice wine," he said. "Its made from frozen grapes. Did you know that one frozen grape makes one drop of wine?"

"Did you know that Brooke is Brett's older sister?" Susan asked as she took a sip of the wine. Her eyes squinted in laughter as Scott stopped and stared at her.

"So I basically gave a sixteen year old the okay to spend the night at her boyfriend's house," he said as his eyes widened.

"Basically," she set her glass down on the table and then took a bite of the cheesecake. She closed her eyes as she savored the creamy cake and fruit.

"I needed this," she sighed. "Its been a long, long day." He nodded and took another sip of his wine.

"So is my sense of observation correct and you aren't wearing anything under those scrubs?" Susan chortled and grinned at him.

"Indeed," she grinned. "Everything is in a bag in the trunk of my car. They got a little soaked." Scott nodded and his eyes never left her face as he took another drink.

"Saves me some time," he shrugged. Susan grimaced and looked at him for a long moment. She suddenly jumped up from her chair and raced to the staircase. Scott took another rapid swallow of wine and raced after her, his chair flipping over to the floor. Susan laughed as he reached in the middle of the staircase and then shrieked softly as he tugged at the hem of the scrub top and caught her off guard. She raced him to the bedroom door and laughed as he whipped his shirt over his head and closed the door behind them.

She came awake slowly the next morning and shifted her bare feet very carefully in the sheets of the bed. They were snuggled close, bare skin to bare skin and her head was resting in the crook his arm. His other hand cupped one of her breasts, a thumb gently and slowly caressing the nipple.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly, her eyes still closed.

"Hoping for a little 'good morning' sex action," he whispered softly. She smiled a little and just relaxed, enjoying the warm sensations that surrounded her.

"Did you breast feed Cosmo?" he asked as his fingers slowly massaged the full flesh and then slowly dragged to the other breast.

"Um hmmm," she nodded. "So did Chuck." His fingers stopped and she laughed softly.

"He bought one of those male lactation things with tubes and straps and things to hold pumped breast milk," she sighed slowly. "It didn't last long though. He couldn't handle the sore nipples." Scott chuckled in her ear.

"Neither could my ex," he said as he nibbled on her ear lobe. "But it was okay because I got to do some of those early morning feedings. There's nothing like early morning…" She hummed softly and nodded. His hand slid slowly over the soft skin of her rib cage and caressed the not so flat tummy for a while. The tips of his fingers lightly traced the ectopic and hysterectomy scars below her navel before traveling a little lower. She took a deep breath and turned in his arms.

"Okay, my turn," she said quickly. He opened his eyes and she looked at him with a smile.

"Good morning," she said. Scott grinned and kissed her forehead. She brought her hands up between them and spread her fingers against his bare chest. Susan kissed his cheeks slowly and then worked her way down the light beard stubble to his neck. His arms tightened around her as her fingers played with his nipples and then slipped lower between them to his stomach. The muscles were hard and contracted and his breaths came slow and deeper as she kissed his shoulder and traced her lips to his chest.

"So you like this early morning thing, huh?" she said.

"I love this early morning thing," he said softly. "And I really do love you." His words were swallowed as he rolled her over in the bed and braced himself over her with his hands. Susan looked up at him with wide eyes. He grinned and leaned down to kiss her.

After they had showered, she went down to the kitchen and let the dog outside. Her thoughts were spinning in her head as she cleared away the remnants from the night before and took bacon and eggs from the refrigerator. She was frying the bacon and making scrambled eggs when he made his way into the kitchen. She grinned and he kissed her before opening the refrigerator for a bottle of juice. Wordlessly he set the table and helped carry things from the kitchen.

"Did the dog get the rest of the cheesecake?" he asked as he dug into the steaming, yellow eggs.

"I'm afraid so," she frowned.

"I hope he enjoyed his dessert as much as I did mine," Scott snickered as he reached for her hand. He gave it a little squeeze and went back to his breakfast.

"This is good," he said. Susan finally set her fork down and he looked up at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She sighed heavily.

"What's going on here, Scott?" she asked finally. He looked down at her plate and then back to her face.

"We're….eating breakfast?" he said slowly.

"I don't mean here…" Susan said and then gestured to the room. "I mean here. What are we doing?"

Scott lifted a piece of bacon to his mouth and studied her seriously as he chewed.

"Are you mad at me because I said I loved you?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head. "I'm not. But I just feel like we might be moving a little too fast…..or something." Her voice trailed off and he grinned.

"This from the woman who got married after a weekend in Vegas?" he chuckled.

"And was signing divorce papers a week later," Susan said defensively. He swallowed and dropped his fork onto the table.

"Here we go," he sighed softly.

"I care about you, Scott," she said. "I really, really do but I just think you may be making plans for us that we're really not ready to make just yet."

"Plans….." His voice was flat as he looked up at the ceiling.

"I feel like we should just….slow down….or something," Susan shook her head.

"Slow down…" Scott sighed and reached for another piece of bacon. He slipped it into his mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully. He pushed his chair away form the table and stood up. He stooped and kissed her cheek.

"Good bye, Susan," he said softly.

"Scott, please don't be mad at me" she said as he crossed the room to the door.

"I'm not….mad," he said as he took his coat from the closet. Susan stood up and watched him slip his arms into his coat and then pull his car keys from the pocket.

"I don't want to hurt you," she said.

"I'm not hurt," he replied.

"Scott….." she implored quietly. He looked at her seriously and then tossed his keys up in the air and caught them in his hand again.

"My girls are coming back tomorrow," he said. "I need to go home and get ready for them." He held up a hand in a wave and then left. Susan stood very still. What had she done?

She tried calling him and he didn't answer his phone. She tried texting him and there was no response. She cleaned up their breakfast dishes and then brought the boxes for the Christmas ornaments up from the basement. She collected bulbs and put them in their boxes before starting on the other ornaments. Casey had hung the stars near the top of the tree. Susan studied the intricately folded and waxed German star that was left from her grandmother's collection before she slipped it into the small shoe box. The glitter that had once covered it was almost gone and the color in the paper faded. Then she found the one she had made in second grade and the handprint star from Cosmo's first Christmas. She put the top on the box and put it with the other ornaments in the crate. A larger shoe box was for Chuck's Star Wars collection. She found them all in one spot on the lower branches. She held the Obi Wan ornament in her hand for a long moment and smiled a little as she remembered Cosmo's delight when he showed first it to her. Was that only yesterday? She sighed and laid the ornament with the others in the cottony batting in the box they were stored in. She was just putting the box into the crate when the door opened and Susie and Cosmo came in.

"Hey," Susan grinned as she reached for another empty box.

"I was planning to help with that!" Susie exclaimed as she hung her coat in the closet and grabbed Cosmo by the back of his shirt so he'd pick his coat up off the floor.

"Oh, I know," Susan said as she reached for another ornament. "I just got an early start. You can do the lights. Cosmo, let the dog in please?" He nodded and raced for the kitchen and the back door.

"Where's Dr. Porter?" Susie asked as she moved to the tree and handed Susan an ornament. "Did he get called into work?" Susan shook her head.

"No," she said as she blinked her eyes and glanced at Susie. "I may have messed that up." Susie's mouth dropped and her hands dropped to her sides. Susan looked at her again and she smiled ruefully.

"Can I have a hug?" she asked. Susie nodded wordlessly and wrapped her arms around her aunt.