A/N: Hey guys, I know it's been a while since I last updated. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. There was a bit of a delay with this chapter, because I took a break over Christmas but then struggled to find my motivation. I know there are a lot of people reading this fanfic and I don't want to let any of you down by leaving this fic incomplete or rushed. I know I say it every chapter but I really would like your reviews of this chapter. I need to know that there is enough interest for me to carry this on, and to motivate me.

To all those that did review, here, via PM and on Twitter I thank you all. You are the reason I am still here writing, and I hope I'm doing this story justice for all of you.

To everyone else, I know sometimes you just can't be bothered to write a review, or you'd rather say anonymous, but just a few words on what you're thinking or any ideas you may have that you'd like me to consider for this story would be greatly appreciated.

Anyway, enough from me. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

"Hey Nicky, do you want to take a nap?" I asked my son after he'd finished his cookies. He'd been playing with his Lego for over an hour with Naya and me helping him here and there. It was good to spend time together like this but I'd had enough of Lego and thought maybe I could have some alone time to talk to Naya.

"Nu-huh" my little boy said, shaking his head but not taking his eyes away from the Lego pieces in front of him on the floor.

"Well, why don't you put your Lego away for a little while? Is it not boring you yet?" I asked, intrigued by how much these little pieces could be entertaining my son.

"No! Lego isn't boring mommy! It's my favowit thing!" he said then, getting a little angry at the suggestion.

"OK, it's OK buddy." I replied, trying to soothe him.

"Hey Nicky, why don't you come lay on the sofa with me and we can watch a movie?" Naya said then.

My son seemed to contemplate this for a second, before he turned to look at Naya.

"What movie?" he asked then, and I could tell Naya had him.

"Well, my personal favorite is Peter Pan. What do you think of that?" she asked and I couldn't help but smile at the interaction between my wife and son.

"Is that the one with Hook in it?" my son asked then, as an indescribable look crossed his face.

"Yep, that's the one kiddo." Naya replied, seemingly not noticing the look on Nicky's face.

"He scares me." Nicky said then in a small voice and I just wanted to pick him up and hold him close to me, he was so cute.

"Well, why don't you come lay here with me and we can watch it together?" I heard my wife say then and the feelings that coursed through me were indescribable.

Nicky seemed to contemplate this for a second, before standing up and making his way towards Naya.

"Excuse me little man, but don't you think you should put your Lego away first?" I asked then, the responsible parent in me rearing her head.

"Oh, but mommy do I have to?" my son asked then in a whiny voice, eyes pleading.

"Yes, you do. Pick up your Lego and Naya will find the DVD for you to watch, there's a good boy." I praised.

"OK." my little boy said then, making his way back to the middle of the room to clear up his Lego.

A few minutes later, he was laying with Naya watching the movie, tucked into her arms. And within half an hour he'd fallen asleep.

"Nay." I whispered, trying to get my wife's attention. "Kitchen." I said then, before getting up and making my way into the other room.

A minute or so later, Naya followed.

"Hey, what's up?" Naya asked coming into the kitchen and sitting next to me at the table.

"You think he's OK?" I asked then, unable to keep my insecurities inside.

"What? He's doing better than OK. Did you see his face in there? He's happy. He's content." she replied, before reaching her hand across the table and taking my hand in hers.

"I dunno, I'm just worried that he's not going to like being with me. I mean, there's not a lot I can do with him in this place and it's Christmas soon. I just want him to be happy and feel loved." I rambled as Naya ran her thumb across my hand.

"Look HeMo, he's happy. For now at least. Yes, there are going to be things he wants to do that we can't right now, but we'll deal with that when it comes. For right now, he's happy, we're keeping him occupied and more importantly he feels relaxed and safe enough to be himself here and let us close to him. He just fell asleep in the other room sweetheart, if he was scared or anxious, he wouldn't have been able to do that. Don't create problems that aren't there. I'm sure we'll have enough to deal with when he wants to go somewhere and we say no." Naya said then looking me in the eyes.

"I suppose." I responded, but we both knew my heart wasn't in it.

"Look, Catherine will be back later. I'm gonna see if we can arrange for us to go out, maybe do a little Christmas shopping, maybe take Nicholas to see Santa. That should keep him happy for a while and give us a chance to get some more things for him. What do you say?"

"You think she'll allow that?" I asked, excited at the thought of going out, but anxious about the thought of it not being allowed.

"We can ask, right?" Naya said then, as a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"I love you." I said then, and leaned in to kiss my wife.

"I love you too." she said as we broke the kiss.

"Mommy, why are you two kissing like that?" a little voice asked.

I turned to see Nicky standing in the doorway, a look of confusion on his face as he took in the scene in front of him. I felt my face flush and pulled my hand away from Naya. I felt like a school girl being caught out by her parents.

"Hey little man, I thought you were asleep." I heard Naya say then.

"I was, but I woked up. What were you doing with my mommy?" Nicky asked then.

"Well ..." Naya began but I stopped her. He needed to hear this from me. I felt so guilty for pulling away from Naya and I didn't want to deny who she was to me anymore.

"Come here baby." I said to my son, turning in my chair and outstretching my arms towards him.

I pulled him up on to my lap and kissed the top of his head, before looking at Naya. She gave me a slight nod of encouragement, and I took a breath before I began explaining to my son.

"Well, Nicky. I kissed Naya because" I hesitated. I wanted to tell him, I needed to tell him, but I couldn't help the anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. "I kissed Naya because I love her." I managed to get out then.

"Like you love me mommy?" he asked then, looking up at me with those big blue eyes of his.

"Kinda baby, but a little different." I replied.

"Different how?" he asked then looking from me to Naya and back again, as he rubbed his eyes.

"If only I had the mommy & daddy analogy to use" I mumbled, but Nicky picked up on it.

"Mommy, my friend Adam has a mommy and a daddy and they love each other. Is it like that?" he asked and I felt my heart melt.

"Yeah baby, it's like that." I replied, internally thanking whoever was looking over me right now.

"So, that means you live together and you sleep in the same bed." he said then, but it was more of a statement than a question, so I stayed quiet for a minute letting him think out loud.

"And you hold hands and kiss and stuff like that." he said, and again it felt like he was just thinking out loud.

"Yeah baby, that's pretty much it." I said after a small silence.

"OK then." he said like it was no big deal, shocking both me and Naya.

"Hey Naya." he said then and both our heads turned in his direction.

"Yes little guy?" Naya asked.

"Will you come watch the rest of the movie with me?" he asked then, climbing down from my lap and walking towards Naya, hand outstretched.

"I sure will kiddo." Naya replied, taking Nicky's little hand and following him into the living room. I think she was as shocked as I was at how easily Nicky had taken our little announcement.

I was sitting in the kitchen a couple of hours later, enjoying the quiet and drinking a cup of coffee when Catherine came in. I'd lost track of time being in my own daydream and now she was back I realized how late in the day it had gotten.

"Hey, you want some coffee?" I asked, looking up from my mug sat on the table in front of me.

"You got anything stronger?" Catherine asked, and straight away my easy, relaxed mood changed.

"What's going on?" I asked then, anxious.

"Where's the little guy?" Catherine asked then, looking towards the living room.

"He's sleeping on the sofa. Naya too. They flaked out watching DVD's." I replied. "So, what's going on?" I asked then getting up to make a cup of coffee for Catherine and get myself a refill.

"Just a bad day in court. I walked in there and he looks at me with this smug look on his face and I just wanna jump over tables and storm through people and rip his heart out." Catherine said then, anger laced in her voice.

"Yeah, you and me both. But i'm not sure he has a heart." I replied, placing a cup of coffee in front of Catherine where she was now sitting at the table.

"He has a team of 4 lawyers! 4! What the hell is that about?" she asked, clearly exasperated.

"Maybe none of them would take him on a one to one basis. I know I wouldn't wanna be in the same room alone with him." I said then half joking, half serious.

"Yeah, that's probably it. He probably bullied those poor bastards! I say poor bastards but they're the best money can buy, and all as dodgy as each other." Catherine spat angrily. "I don't know why I'm surprised, this prick's gonna do everything he can to get away with all this. I knew that. But just seeing him there today all smug with his attorney's that probably cost him a couple a thousand dollars an hour! Ugh!" Catherine sighed, before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Hey, we'll get him." I said then, sounding more confident than I felt.

"Yeah, I'm sure we will. I just let my anger get the better of me, I'm sorry." Catherine said then. "How was the little guy today? You all do OK together?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, he seemed to bond pretty well with Naya. And he even seemed to take the fact that we're together so well." I said then.

"Wait, you told him that?" Catherine asked then, surprised.

"We didn't have a choice, he came in as we kissed and started asking questions. He was so OK with it though, I was so proud of him. I don't think he fully grasps it yet but it's all good for now." I replied, sipping my coffee.

"Hey ladies." Naya said then, coming into the kitchen and kissing me on top of the head.

"Hey Naya." Catherine said then.

"Hey, is he still sleeping?" I asked my wife then.

"Yep, he's flat out. I'm hungry, who wants food?" Naya asked then.

"I do, but I want pizza." I said then. It'd been in the back of my head for a while but when Catherine came in, I was distracted.

"You want me to go pick up some take out for you guys?" Catherine asked then.

"Would you mind?" Naya asked.

"No, it's fine. Just let me know what you want and i'll go pick it up when I finish my coffee." she replied.

"Awesome. HeMo why don't you figure out what you want and maybe go see if you can wake Nicky and ask him what he wants. He must be hungry by now." Naya said then, and I took the hint to leave.

"OK, I'll be right back." I said then, getting up out of my chair and making my way into the living room.

"What's up?" Catherine asked then, looking at me as I took Heather's chair at the table.

"I kinda wanted to ask you for a little favor. Well, a big favor actually." I amended.

"What is it?" Catherine asked, drinking the last of her coffee and sliding the mug away from her on the table.

"I wanted to do a little bit of Christmas shopping and maybe take Nicky to see Santa. I know it's a big ask, and I know it's risky. But Heather's feeling insecure about keeping him here and him not being able to do things he wants to. And we really need to get some things for him. Besides, it's Christmas and there are presents that need to be bought and a tree that needs to be bought and decorated, am I right?" I asked, hoping that my big ask wasn't going to be turned down.

"I dunno Naya. It really is a big ask. Especially after the party. I just about managed to persuade my boss to allow that, I don't know how he's going to feel about a day trip out in to the open. Not only because it jeopardizes your safety but because we're gonna need to have more agents present and that's gonna cost money." Catherine said, before looking up at me.

"I know it's a big ask, and I know the risks involved. Especially because of who we are. But with a little bit of help, we could change our appearances a little bit, and it'll give us some time away from this place. We all could use it." I challenged, knowing that Catherine agreed.

"I'll see what I can do, but no promises Naya."

"Thanks Catherine."

"Why don't you go see what your wife and son want for dinner so I can go pick it up." Catherine said then, getting up to rinse her mug.

It hit me then that she'd referred to Nicky as my son. I'd spent the whole day with him, getting to know him, building bonds with him. And I knew he was my wife's kid. I'd just never thought of him as my son. Up until this point. It felt crazy, but good. I felt complete.