"Don't thank me for that," he responded, wrapping his arms around her and closing his eyes. This wasn't exactly like he had dreamt about, but he wasn't willing to ruin a family. And just having her in his arms, that was good enough for now.

It was only a few weeks later when Will was released from the hospital. For the most part, his injuries had healed enough for him to move around on his own. His memory, however, was still foggy. He tried though. He honestly tried to remember Johanna. It nearly killed him to know his daughter had so many memories of him, but he had none of her.

Will was still working through physical therapy. He had an appointment four days a week for an hour each day. He hated it at first. But then his elderly therapist threw in the towel. When he retired, the office hired a replacement who they told him had "a few years of training under her belt" and would "challenge you enough to get you back to one hundred percent."

Did she ever. She was hot. That's the only word he could use to describe her. Young, blonde, killer body. Damn, she was definitely a sight for sore eyes. Will caught himself staring daily, and every time he regretted it. He had a wife. Granted, he didn't remember a thing about her, but he was still married. And she wasn't bad looking herself; she just was too tightly wound sometimes.

He had been going to this new therapist for five weeks now. He was getting better every visit, and he owed it all to Jackie. She really was amazing. His mind started running away with thoughts of Jackie in a bikini, or better yet, nothing at all, when a shrill voice snapped him from his daydream.

"Daddy!" Johanna whined again, "You need to leave if you're going to make it on time today."

Will looked at the clock, and sure enough he had twenty minutes to get to his appointment. "Thanks Joey. You want to come with me?"

Johanna shook her head. "Momma said we could go pick out a movie for tonight."

"Oooh. Make it a good one, alright?" he told her with a wink.

"Will do, Padre."

Will grinned, slowly leaning down to kiss the top of Johanna's head. He was getting better, but things still pulled if he moved to fast. "See ya, kid. Kate?" he called.

Kate came running out of their bedroom in sweats and a sports bra. "You heading?"

Will nodded as Kate moved closer to him. "See you in a few hours?" she asked.

"Of course," he responded. "Where else would I go?" he leaned down to capture her lips in a quick kiss. "I'll see you guys in a few. Love you."

"Love you, Daddy," Johanna said as the door closed quietly.

(…)

"Alexis? Are we still having a Star Wars marathon tonight?" Rick called to his daughter. He was standing at the stove cooking dinner, and Alexis had disappeared up the stairs to her bedroom a few minutes ago.

"Gimme one minute, Dad. I'll be down in a sec!"

Thirty seconds later, Alexis came bounding down the steps in a pair of gym shorts and a hoodie. She slid across the floor, collapsing into one of the seats at the counter. "To answer your question, yes we are. I'm beyond annoyed with my friends right now. I don't think I could spend an entire night with any of them."

"Why? What happened?"

Alexis shook her head before starting. "They try to make everything a competition between us. If I get a good grade on something, it's because I had the easy version of the test. Or they try to make me feel stupid by talking to me like I'm in Kindergarten. It's not my fault things just come easy to me. And I don't rub it in their faces if I do better than them. But if they do better than me, I never hear the end of it. Can't they just accept their grades and get over it?"

"Sounds to me like they're jealous, Pumpkin."

"You think? Why should they be jealous of me? I mean Paige is absolutely gorgeous, and she's the best dancer I've ever seen. And Rach, well she's got almost every guy running after her."

"Because you have it all. You're beautiful, you're brilliant, you can dance, and you have an absolutely wonderful personality. They should be jealous they don't have what you do. And, honestly, you have a pretty cool dad, too," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

It worked. Alexis tried to hide the smile, but failed miserably. "Yeah, my dad is pretty great." She smiled up at him. Blue eyes shining with love for her father. "But I think his daughter is even better."

"Ah, I've taught you well, young grasshopper. You ready to eat?"

Alexis nodded, hopping off her stool to grab plates out of the cupboard. As she passed her father, she bumped his hip with hers. "I love you, Dad."

"Love you too, Pumpkin," he said kissing her hair, "More than you'll ever know."

After the table was clear, the duo raced to the living room. Rick jumped over the back of the couch, landing with a thud. Alexis laughed at his clumsiness. "Graceful, Dad. You should've been a ballroom dancer."

"Hey, I would've been a damn good dancer."

"Sure," Alexis said with a roll of her eyes. After a few minutes of the first Star Wars played, Alexis spoke up. "Hey Dad?" Rick looked over at her from the opposite side of the couch. "Have you talked to Kate lately? I kinda miss Johanna."

"Her husband was only released a couple weeks ago. She's been busy trying to keep everything under control and won't accept the help I offered. I'd love to have Johanna over for a day, but Kate is just so stubborn."

"How's he doing, anyway?"

"Will? From what she's said, he's getting better every day. Still not ready to go back to work, but good enough to be moving around and doing light exercise."

"What about his memory?"

Rick sighed. He had hoped that she wouldn't bring it up. It hurt too much to think that he could so easily never remember a single thing about his daughter. "That's not doing so well. Kate says he still doesn't remember a thing, though he tries to act like everything is normal for Johanna's sake."

"That must be so hard for her," Alexis mused. "I can't even imagine if you couldn't remember me. It'd be absolutely devastating."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Then, Alexis spoke.

"I hope they all are okay."

"Me too, Pumpkin. Me too."

(…)

Will was just finishing his hamstring curls when Jackie walked back into the room.

"How're we doing in here?" she asked.

"Good. Almost done with these."

"And the pain?"

"Little bit less again. Good sign, right?"

Jackie smiled, "Definitely. We gotta get you back up and running soon." A comfortable silence fell between the two as Will finished up the set he was working on. "Any big plans for 4th of July weekend?"

"Not this year, no." He debated on telling her what Kate had told him earlier in the day. About he usually took his family up to the mountains, but he decided against it. She didn't need to know about them. "The accident kinda screwed up any plans I could've made." He laughed a laugh with little humor. "How about you?"

"No. Still waiting for this really attractive man to ask me out. But he's kind of jacked up from an accident a couple months back. So I suppose I should be patient."

Will paused, and mentally sorted out her words. Did she mean what he thought she meant? Yes. No. She couldn't mean that, right? No, she definitely could. He was married though. With a child. He couldn't do it. Hell, screw it. "Do you want to have plans?"

Jackie turned to face him. "Are you asking me out?" she asked with a shy smile.

"Are you saying yes?"

Jackie's smile grew. "I would love too."

Will grinned. "Great. Tomorrow's Saturday, right?" At Jackie's nod, he continued. "Are you busy tomorrow evening?"

"No. I'm free for the weekend."

"I'll see you tomorrow at six then. Wear something casual."

"Sounds like a date," she threw over her shoulder as she walked away. A smile danced on her lips, and Will struggled to keep the grin off his face. Score one for the boys back home.

A/N: So… Thoughts?