Although things were starting to get easier for Serena now that James knew she was a Samurai, there was one thing that had gotten harder: going out.

Before he knew, Serena could get out of the house regularly to go see him. Part of keeping up the secret identity was making sure others actually believed she led a normal life. If she constantly refused to go out and see James, or any guy, really, one would start to wonder what kept her so busy.

But now that James knew, Serena had less of an excuse to ditch training, and couldn't leave home during a Nighlok attack for a date. It made getting together with her boyfriend much harder than it needed to be.

She had to decline his last few proposals for a date night, so to make it up to him; she was going to stay over at his place for one night. James even invited little Terran along. He figured if he was going to date mommy, he might as well get to know her son.

At first, Serena thought it was going to be awkward dating while the baby was around. She was sure she was going to have to get up all the time to care for her son, but for the most part, Terran was quiet. And when he did start up, James never had a problem letting Serena go. In fact, he usually went with her, and currently, he was changing the little boy's diaper and playing a game of silly faces while doing so. Terran was smiling up with sheer joy and James also seemed to be having fun.

Serena was a little more in love. She rested against the back of the couch as she watched her boyfriend play with her son. He was so gentle, so loving, and the entire scene was so cute Serena wanted to hug it. Not just James or Terran, but the entire scene. She had no idea why. It was just the way she felt.

When the diaper change was done, James picked up Terran and walked him back over to the couch. Both boys sat down next to Serena.

The earth Samurai smiled brightly. She wiggled her finger in front of Terran's face as a game while she looked at James, "So, you seem to possess this crazy ability to charm not only my little sister, but my baby boy as well."

"The boy's easier," James nodded, "Your sister… I charm out of fear."

"Do you mind if I…?" Serena took her son from James' hands, "I'm going to put him down for the night. I'll be ten minutes… more or less."

James got up with her, "I can help," he took the little boy back and walked to the guest bedroom, where a play pen was already set up for little Terran for the night, "My brother's daughter was usually very fussy before bed, but there was always a trick to getting her to sleep. It should work wonders on this little guy if he ever gets fussy. Not that he would, will you Terran? You're the best little man for your mommy, aren't you?"

Serena was thankful she wasn't holding Terran because she felt her knees go weak. She took a seat on the guest bed and started looking through the diaper bag for a pair of pyjamas for her son while James worked on getting Terran to settle.

She had help before with Terran. She was a single parent, but she had never really been single. With a house full of people who were in love with her son, it was easy to get them all involved. But the way James was helping her out felt different. It was less like an uncle, who needed to be told what to do, or an aunt, who would cuddle and play with the baby far longer than needed.

James was like a partner. A real partner in parenting, and it made her fall in love with him all the more. When they got Terran in his crib, and when he was fast asleep, the two of them snuck out of the room. James tried to head to the couch, but Serena pulled him into his bedroom.

-Samurai-

The following morning, Mike woke up with someone in his arms and a smile instantly lit up his face before he could even open his eyes. Emily had finally moved back into his room. After weeks of keeping her distance, things were finally starting to get back to normal. They were starting to go back to being a regular couple. There was still no ring on her finger, but he knew he still had her and always will.

He opened his eyes and through his morning fog he saw blonde hair. He reached down and gave her a kiss, right on the top of her head.

But something didn't feel quite right about it. It didn't feel like Emily. It didn't smell like Emily. He rubbed his eyes to get rid of the morning fog. As he did, he felt a wet tongue lick his face. Alarmed, he sat up and moved away. He opened his eyes again and realised the blonde he had kissed wasn't Emily.

"Scruffy," he shoved the dog, "get out of my bed."

As he tried to wipe the drool off his face, he heard the bedroom door open. He looked over and saw Emily coming in, already dressed for training.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Emily giggled. "Sleep well?"

"Right up until I realized I was spooning the dog," Mike muttered, "How long have you been up?"

"About two hours," Emily answered as she pointed to the clock. Mike saw he had slept in and missed training. Emily smiled and took a seat on the end of the bed, "I tried to wake you, but you were like a hibernating bear. I had Scruffy keep you company."

"Yeah, thanks," Mike glared at the dog. Scruffy tilted his head to the side. He had no idea what he did wrong. Mike just chuckled and gave the dog a pat.

Emily got up, "I've got to shower. Maybe after we can get some lunch? Will that make up for spooning the dog?"

"It's a start," Mike smirked as Emily disappeared into the bathroom for her shower. Mike got up out of bed. Apparently he had skipped breakfast completely by sleeping in, but it wasn't the first time, and certainly not the last.

So he did what he always did. He grabbed a shirt and a pair of pants and slipped them on. Emily's shower was going to take a couple of hours which gave him enough time to start a new level on his video game in the common room.

As he walked in, he saw Mia was sitting comfortably on the couch, and it looked like she had been there for a while. He furrowed his brow. She was watching his TV.

"Shouldn't you be showering or something? Doing your hair…?"

"I didn't train," Mia realized what Mike was getting at and chuckled, "That last Nighlok broke two of my ribs."

"Ouch," Mike took a seat on the couch, "Are you okay?"

"I was just told to take it easy," Mia nodded. She passed the remote over to Mike, "Video games, right?"

"Do you mind?"

"Just get me my book from the bookshelf," Mia said and pointed to the book she wanted. Mike happily obliged and handed her the book before he got his game started up.

-Samurai-

Serena never thought she would get this. At least, it was something she had only dreams about since learning she was pregnant.

It was a real family. Biology had nothing to do with it. In the morning, when Terran's crying woke Serena up from the best night of her life, she was surprised to find, when she opened her eyes, that James had already gotten up to get the little boy. He carried Terran in and gave Serena the privacy she needed to feed her son while he got started on breakfast. He had to be at work, but Terran woke them up early enough in the morning to give them a few hours together.

So James had taken advantage of his extra time and made waffles. When Serena and Terran walked into the kitchen, all that was left to be done was setting the table while James finished up. Serena set Terran down in his carrier and put the plates, the syrup, and the forks and knives on the table before she sat down with a meal with both Terran (James had moved his carrier onto a chair) and James.

"What?"

Serena was pulled from her thoughts by James' voice and realized she had been caught staring at him. She shook her head and smiled.

"Nothing."

"Seriously," James chuckled, "What? You've had that grin since… last night, now that I think about it."

Serena just shrugged and gestured to Terran, "You're really good with him."

"I like kids," James answered, "especially this little guy. We have fun, don't we, Terran?"

"It's just… that's really important for me," Serena said, "I mean, I said it was important you meet my sister, but screw her, Terran's really the one you have to get along with. He doesn't freak you out? Even a little bit?"

"Serena, I knew you were pregnant from day one," James laughed, "I knew your future was always going to have a kid in it. If it freaked me out, would you be here? In my home? At my kitchen table? The morning after?"

"Guys tend to freak out…"

"Losers freak out," James leaned forward and kissed her, "They're losers because they lost you."

"You don't have to kiss up," Serena smiled, "You already got me in bed."

James chuckled, "I'm serious. The pros outweigh the cons."

"There are cons?"

"Your sister freaks me out."

Serena laughed and rolled her eyes, "She's not going to break your nose, you know."

"I can't be too careful," James said. "Serena, unless you plan on staying single forever, you're going to have to meet a guy who is okay with all this. Whether it's sprung at him all at once, or piece by piece, it's not going to bother him. Why is it so hard to believe you've already found a guy like that?"

"Because you're unbelievable," Serena said with a smile and then lowered her head nervously, "I guess Mia was right about the whole fairy tale thing…"

"You can still be happy, you know," James nodded, "You made a few mistakes in the past but you're not doomed."

Suddenly, James saw the time and he jumped out of his chair, "Shit, Serena, I'm really sorry but…"

Serena saw the time as well, "Don't worry about it. Go to school. Tell Mitch I say hi."

"You thinking of coming back anytime soon?" James asked, "You solved the bullying crisis, but I don't think your work is done…"

"Once the principal accepts me back."

"I'll have a word with him," James said and he kissed Serena, "It's the least I can do after forcing you to quit."

"It's alright. I'm sure…"

"I insist," James hurried to the front door, "Don't worry about the dishes or anything. I'll do them when I get home. There's a spare key in the bowl so you can lock up when you leave and don't worry about returning it!"

In a flash, James was gone. Not the perfect way to end her perfect morning, but no family was ever perfect.

"C'mon little guy," Serena smiled and brought the carrier over to the counter, "James was nice enough to let us stay the night; the least we can do is the dishes."

Terran babbled something in return. Serena laughed.

"I don't care if he said not to worry about them. It'll take two minutes and then we'll go home and you can play with your Auntie Emy."

She did the dishes and got dressed. She gathered up her things and fixed herself up so the others wouldn't be able to guess what she had gotten up to the night before. They weren't going to want to know.

She took the spare key out from the bowl by the door and paused for a minute. James had told her she didn't need to return it, which translated to him giving her his key. A smile stretched from ear to ear as Serena closed the door and locked up.