Ed rubbed his eyes wearily as he stumbled into the kitchen to prepare coffee. After tossing and turning for most of the night thinking about his evening with Maureen, he was utterly exhausted.

"So did you and Mom have fun last night?" Stacey's voice penetrated from the kitchen table, startling Ed to lift his head only to collide with the kitchen cupboard.

"Ow!" he exclaimed rubbing his head after turning around to look into Stacey's inquisitive eyes.

"Wow Dad. Late night?" she teased after seeing his haggard appearance.

Ed smiled weakly. Stacey had no idea that he was up till the wee hours of the morning thinking about that kiss with Maureen.

"Dad. Dad!" Stacey's voice took him out of reverie. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ed replied hoping that he sounded convincing and that she wouldn't ask too many questions pertaining to last night's events.

"Okay. So how was the fashion show?"

Ed inwardly sighed realizing that Stacey wasn't going to drop the subject. "It was fun," he replied after a few moments of deliberation.

Stacey nodded, signaling to her Dad to tell her more.

"Umm… I met a friend of your mother's… Nigel, I believe it was. Interesting fellow."

Stacey's face lit up. "Oh I love Nigel! He's so funny and he has great taste in fashion. He's always raving about Mom's!"

"Yeah I noticed that last night," Ed replied evenly.

Stacey looked at her dad confusedly. He sounded almost jealous. "Dad, you know Nigel is gay right?"

"Of course!" Ed laughed. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Right," Stacey said, giving her dad a skeptical glance. "So how did Mom look? She hates dressing up for these things."

"Your mom looked…" Ed trailed trying to think of the right word, "…breathtaking," he finished and couldn't help but reflect back to his first sight of Maureen last night.

Stacey looked at her dad closely. He had an odd expression on his face, almost like longing. Before she could question him any further, the telephone rang interrupting their conversation.

"I'll get it," Stacey replied, getting up although she wasn't sure if her dad even heard the phone ring since he was still caught up in his thoughts. Her dad sure was acting strange.

"Hello?"

"Hi sweetie! How are you today? Are you feeling better?"

"Mom! Just who we were talking about," Stacey replied happily, shaking Ed out of his thoughts. He tried to appear busy by preparing his breakfast but attuned his ear to hear every word of Stacey's conversation with her mom.

"Really?" Maureen asked nervously. "What were you and your Dad talking about?"

"Dad was just telling me that you looked, and I quote, breathtaking last night," Stacey teased. Ed was glad that his back was to Stacey so she couldn't see the blush that was creeping up his face.

"Oh."

An awkward silence ensued until Stacey asked, "Mom, are you still there?"

"Oh… umm… yeah sorry, sweetie. So how are you doing today? Are you still feeling dizzy?"

"No, I'm actually feeling pretty good."

"Great! How would you like to spend a day with your boring old Mom?"

Stacey laughed. "You're not boring Mom! Okay… not all the time," she teased. "What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking ice-skating in Rockefeller Plaza? How does that sound?"

"Oh my god, that sounds like so much fun!" Stacey replied excitedly.

"I'm glad you approve," Maureen laughed. "How about I meet you there in an hour? Is that enough time for you to get ready?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you there! Love you mom."

"Love you too, sweetie."

"Making plans with your Mom?" Ed asked, trying to not appear too interested.

"Yeah, she wants to go ice-skating at Rockefeller Plaza."

Ed smiled. "I'm not surprised. Did you know it was a tradition in her family to go ice-skating there every Christmas? When we first started dating, she insisted I tag along. Not wanting to embarrass myself, I didn't tell her that I didn't know how to skate. I figured how hard could it be? Until I fell on my face in front of her entire family." Ed chuckled at the memory.

"Is that why you never went ice-skating with us?" Stacey asked. "I always thought you were just busy with work."

Ed couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt with the mention of work. He had missed so much valuable time with his family because of it. "Well that's partially the reason. I also wasn't in the mood to embarrass myself again."

"But Dad… you have to learn sometime!" Stacey laughed. "Hey! Why don't you come with me and Mom? It'll be fun."

"I don't think that's a good idea Stacey. I'm sure your Mom wanted to spend some alone time with you." And she probably doesn't want to see me after last night, Ed thought to himself.

"Oh come on, Dad. I spend more time with Mom than with you. I'm sure she won't mind. Besides you have to make up for all the time you didn't go ice-skating with us!" Stacey knew she was laying the guilt on her dad but she really wanted him to come along.

Ed sighed. "All right. I'll go. Do you want to call your Mom to tell her that I'm going?"

"Nah, it's okay," Stacey replied. "It'll be a surprise! Mom always said you didn't like ice-skating but now I know why. I can't wait to see her face when she sees you."

As Stacey headed towards her room to get ready, Ed was still standing in the kitchen reflecting on her last words.