He had begun to walk her through every room. He wanted to watch her take in every detail. Observe every raised brow and bitten lip. And he was sure she had heard every time he cracked his knuckles and held his breath. They had always been attuned to each other. He doubted they had lost that even over their time apart.

But that didn't make it any less awkward.

And it didn't erase his restlessness. Despite wanting her to see the house and wanting her opinion and impression of it, he was dying to hear her explanation. He showed her around the main floor with the common areas and guest suite. Then he'd taken them downstairs to the walkout basement to show off the recreational areas, another guest suite and the storage area under the garage for the outdoor toys. But then Tim decided he was too nervous to take the tour upstairs.

Encouraging Castor to explore the game room, Tim led Andie back up to the living room. By then Tim's hands were shaking he was so on edge. But he wasn't some kid anymore. As much as he may be rushing himself, he wouldn't rush her. He would practice some patience and let her catch her breath. Then he would demand answers…

Damn Tim, Calm down!

"Beer?" Tim scolded himself internally. "Or water? I also have milk and some soda."

She smiled a little as she leaned against the back of the couch and he shook his head. She was laughing at him. She knew exactly how nervous and anxious he was and she was laughing.

"Water is fine. Thanks." She said, moving to the bar stools at the kitchen counter and sitting down.

He went across the kitchen and pulled down a couple glasses for them before filling them with water and setting hers in front of her.

Andie, all her usual grace and elegance, took a sip and sat the glass back down before folding her hands in her lap. She made him feel out of place, even in his own home. Which didn't make sense, because this was exactly where he wanted her. He had wanted her here, in this house, with him, for longer than he could remember. Even looking back it felt like there was a part of him back in San Antonio, lying in that bed, protecting her from prying eyes, which knew she just felt right beside him.

But things like that didn't happen. These things weren't set in stone, right? Then why did it feel like, even now, with so many unsaid words and the entire kitchen island between them, that they were just simply doing a dance that was all their own?

When had he become such a sap?

"Maybe you should have a beer." She said breaking the silence and drawing his attention back to her.

"I'm good with water." He said taking a sip of it while wishing it was beer. Not that he drank that much beer anymore. At least not compared to how much he used to. Now he'd have a beer after work or when he was working on his truck. He might have a couple with the guys once in a while. But Tim had stopped drinking so much beer when he realized that the numb feeling of drunkenness wasn't what he wanted anymore and no amount of drinking was going to give him what he did now want.

But a beer right now might take the edge off.

"I need to apologize."

She just jumped right in there. Despite his anticipation, Tim felt startled and unready suddenly. What if he didn't like what she had to say now that she was here to say it? But she'd told him she loved him.

And she had made him a promise.

"I should have called you. I should have done something to let you know what was going on. Like you said, it's been over a year…"

"One year, three months and seventeen days." He didn't know why he said that again. He could see it only made her feel worse.

She nodded solemnly. "I was afraid. Despite your letter and my brothers all reassuring me, I needed to stay as neutral as I could until I knew what was going to happen and I couldn't do that if I spoke to you. I would have heard your voice and been a complete mess."

He smiled at her. He hadn't missed that she had worn the necklace he left for her all through the trial. It had been one of the few things that had kept him going when he hadn't heard from her.

His smile faltered when he realized she wasn't wearing it now.

Her gaze followed his and she felt her chest until she must have realized what he was looking for. She smiled self-consciously. "It's in my purse, I promise. I was so nervous on the plane on the way here I pulled on it too hard and broke the chain."

So she still wore it. And she had been nervous to see him. He was glad it wasn't just him. "Is that why it took you so long? You were nervous? Is that why you haven't come until now?" He was past feeling nervous about how he felt. He needed her answers now. He needed to know what other than fear had kept her from his door. Because she had to know she didn't have anything to fear from him. He had done everything he could to show her how he felt and his intensions so if she was still held back just by fear, he didn't know what more he could do.

"There were conditions on my getting Castor back."

He nodded. "Observed visitation for two months, Psychoanalysis of both you and Castor and how you interact for an additional month, check ins with your case worker for another three months after that."

She looked at him questioningly. "How…"

"For one, just because you didn't call me, does not mean your brothers didn't keep me informed. Also, we made sure to follow the case as much as we could."

"We?"

"Me, Billy, Mindy, Becky… the group of us."

"Oh my god." She rested her elbows on the table and put her face in her hands. "Tell me Mindy didn't hear the judge call her out for being a stripper." Her mumbled voice was filled with dread. Tim pathetically found it adorable. Hopefully they worked this out because he was unfit for anyone else now.

"Not only did she hear it but to this day she worships the ground you walk on for how you 'didn't' defend her. That was amazing, by the way. Your whole speech about not defending us but defending yourself. I also enjoyed how you subtly maneuvered around the fact that the crime I committed and the choice I made wasn't actually the chopping of cars so much as taking the fall. That was some skill."

Andie groaned and Tim wondered if this whole conversation was going to be a back and forth of one of them feeling tortured while the other was amused.

"Andie, look, it happened, nobody took offence to it. Let's call it a win. Now should we get back to the topic at hand?" When she sighed and dropped her hands to meet his eyes, he continued. "I understand that the court had stipulations and hoops for you to jump through and I accept that maybe they took longer than expected, but all I know if that they said six months and that was two months ago. I'm not saying I'm mad you took so long, though it was no easy thing to deal with. I'm just saying I'd like to know what happened, why it did take so long and where that leaves us."

She shook her head at him and leaned forward on the counter. "When did you become the mature and level headed on in this relationship?"

"I've had a lot of time to grow."

Andie scrunched up her nose. "One day it will get to a point there that doesn't feel like the lash of a whip but today is not that day."

"I'm not trying to rub it in." Tim said. He really wasn't but it was a fact that she had been gone for a long time and she was going to have to deal with that. He was.

"I know you're not. I just feel like a jerk. I should have contacted you after or had the guys let you know and now I feel like showing up here after all this time is just opening a circus up on your front yard." Andie got up and started pacing as she spoke. "I mean, you have your house now and your business… Congratulations on that, by the way. I'm really proud of you." She had stopped to look at him when she said it but went back to her pacing as she continued. "And you've grown and matured and have your life together and then I come waltzing in like a gale wind to disrupt your order and I can't even manage to explain myself right. I know you said before that you didn't think you deserved me but maybe it's the other way around. I'm a mess and my life will always be a little messy and you just don't need that in your life.

"I mean look at this room." She motioned around them at the house. "It's so clean and organized. Do you know how little time it will take for Castor to mess this up? And break things. He's a good kid but he's had people cleaning up after him his whole life. And…"

"Andie, stop talking." Tim grabbed her as she paced past again and stopped her. She was literally just driving herself insane and it was pure rambling now. "Listen. I wouldn't have my life together if it wasn't for you and your family. If you think Castor can make a mess you should see it after Theo visits. But even if Castor does make a mess, he'll be taught to clean it up. Let him break things. I wasn't really attached to anything in this house until about twenty minutes ago."

He looked at her while that sank in and waited until she calmed down a bit. "I get that things are going to change around here, but I have been sitting around here waiting for that since I left Romania. I have accomplished things since but that's only because I want this. The three of us here. I'm investing in that dream. It may sound cliché but as long as you want that too, the rest can be worked out. If we have to video conference with your case worker every week, or if we have to spend time in Romania to keep them satisfied, that's fine. We will make it work. If we have to fill out endless stacks of paperwork until we can't use our hands anymore, I will just have to find a way to hold you without them."

She frowned at him. "You're being ridiculous now."

Smiling, he wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer. "What I'm saying is it's about time you tell me what happened. Tell me what the problem is we have to work around is, and we will come up with a plan. What I'm saying in I've waited a long time for this and I'm not letting it go. I am not letting you go. So tell me how to make the three of us fit together and I'll make it happen. Now, will you make it happen with me?"

After a little more grumbling she began to nod. Then, suddenly she stopped and looked up at him. "Since when have you known what a video conference is?"

Tim rolled his eyes and squeezed her tight until she was breathless from laughing. "Okay. Now let's sit down, you can explain and we will work this all out."

He sat on a stool beside her at the counter. He gave her his full attention, his face the picture of active listening open mindedness. But Andie didn't see any of it. She looked at his face, preparing to explain what had been happening in her life lately, but her mind was almost completely consumed elsewhere. Lower. Just under the surface of her skin, right above her knee, directly under his hand.

It wasn't as if he was caressing her. His hand did not move. He did not make a pass by inching his hand higher. He wasn't applying pressure as if he rested his hand there to support himself. It just laid there as if his natural state was to touch her.

Be it because they had spent so little time together before their relationship had imploded, they had never explored how to just BE together. They had been great at getting together, they just hadn't had a chance to see how comfortable they could be around each other without the pressure or the sex.

She really did want to explore that and right now they really needed to talk. So with a great deal of effort and discipline, Andie shoved all the tingly feelings down into a box and slammed the lid shut.

Regardless, she felt herself blush. He reached out and caressed her cheek, which rattled the lid on that box.

"Andie, I'm not judging you. I just want to know what's been going on and what you're looking for in the future. Because in case I haven't made that clear, I would like to be a part of that."

She smiled at this new mature Tim. And not because it was out of place. It seemed to fit him well. It wasn't just a sober maturity, but a playful, take care of business and get on with life type that seemed to come to him so naturally it was clear she had underestimated him before.

"Your silence is making me nervous."

She laughed nervously as he dropped his hand back to her knee. "I'm sorry. I'm making myself nervous too. I just don't know where to start. I mean the court case took so long and so much happened but not really much worth mentioning now that it's over. I mean our uncle is locked away. Probably for the rest of his life. It isn't going to be an overly hard way to live. I'm sure he will use any connections he has left to make life comfortable for himself. But he will never be allowed a place of power in any place he goes and all his correspondence is going to be monitored closer that some terror organizations."

"What does that mean for the company? Don't you own part of it?"

Andie nodded solemnly. Now was when they would start to bridge the complications. "Right now I own the majority share."

Tim frowned. "Is that a good thing? A bad thing? You don't seem happy about it."

Taking a deep breath, Andie tried to figure out how to explain the problems with the business. "The majority share is only forty percent. I only own the majority share because I currently control both Castor's and my shares. Theo and Damon each have twenty percent and then Aurelia's father, Uncle's business partner, holds the final twenty."

She could see the effort to understand on his face. "Aurelia's father."

"Yes."

"And I don't suppose he's forgiven her or Theo yet."

"Not really. Nor has he forgiven me for helping them run away together."

"So he's causing problems? What does that mean for you and the company?"

"Well, it means that on top of a bunch of people becoming very reluctant to work with us because of all the recent condemnation, the people leaving who were only with us due to uncle's blackmail, and the press trying to vilify all involved, I also have to deal with someone who is determined to deny anything I ask for or say simple on the principle of me being the one who is saying it."

Tim looked out towards the living room for a couple minutes. He didn't turn back to speak but kept looking out the window. "But you hold the biggest share and he could never have a majority as long as Damon and Theo support you."

"Yes but I don't what to start this off by just railroading him to get my way. Despite me not agreeing with some of his decisions and not liking how he sided with uncle on splitting up Theo and Aurelia, he isn't a bad man. He is a little distant, but still a good man. I'm sure he felt very betrayed when all of Uncle's scheming came to light. Part of his dislike for me right now, I suspect, is because I am related to the man he just found out has been going behind his back for years. He thought he was running and honest business and now he has found out my uncle was running dirty deals for years."

Still staring out the window, Tim sighed. "So if he is unwilling to work with you, how is the company supposed to recover from all these problems? Does he have any suggestions?"

"Sure. He wants me to butt out and leave him to run the business."

"And I assume there is a reason that isn't a good idea."

"Well, it isn't like he doesn't know how to run a business, but creating a successful business, especially after a scandal, requires more than just knowing how to write contracts and keep firm bonds with clients." She waited for him to comment, what she really didn't know, but he was still looking out the window. She followed his gaze but saw nothing that would hold his attention. "What are you looking at?"

He turned towards her looking confused before he smiled. "Sorry. I was paying attention. I was actually listening not looking. I just wanted to make sure Castor wasn't getting into anything he wasn't supposed to. You wouldn't believe the disaster last time I left Theo down there alone."

"Theo is almost twenty."

"Yeah it fooled me too. That won't happen again."

She paused. Her first instinct was to roll her eyes. Not at Tim, but because she knew exactly how much of a mess Theo could make. And then she wanted to laugh, also because she could imagine the mess Theo could make as well as the look on Damon and Tim's faces when they saw it. There was a little bit of shame that lingered at the idea that she should have been the one listening to make sure Castor was okay. He had staff or family following him around and looking after his most of his life. But he was a good kid that knew well how to look after himself so the shame lessened.

What stuck was the feeling of awe and love that the man in front of her instinctually looked out for her family. She really needed to learn how to let him in better than her horrible attempt to tell him she loved him in the driveway.

"Tell what you need."

Confused given her thought process and that she was pretty sure she hadn't said any of it out loud, Andie frowned. "What?"

Tim smiled and leaned forward, turning them to face each other and laying both hands on her knees. "What do you need to do to make the company work? What will help you reach a balance with this man?"

She couldn't help herself. She looked down at his hands and back up at his face. He was so warm and caring. So determined to help her with all her problems. She wasn't looking for someone to solve all her problems but she was touched he wanted to. Framing his face with her hands, Andie leaned in and kissed him. She kept it soft and undemanding, but made sure to convey her appreciation of him. He accepted the kiss, kissing her back, but kept his hands on her knees. It was a self control she was sorry to say she hadn't expected of him.

Andie was beginning to realize she had been ignoring that a lot of the problems she had foreseen in their potential relationship were hang-ups of her own. Underestimating him because of her own insecurities. And now that the previous roadblocks were coming down she was seeing that what he was offering had a lot more potential than she had thought.

She pulled away but stayed closer than before, resting her hands on his and waiting for his reaction. True to his form today, it was nothing like she had expected. He didn't wink or make a pass. He didn't lean back in or try and start something.

Instead he frowned. "I think if you do that you might have some sexual harassment suits starting up. I mean I'm just saying. But who knows. Maybe he'd be into it."

It took Andie a second to click into the fact that he was talking about the company. She shook her head at him. "Anyone ever told you that you can be an ass sometimes?"

"I might have heard it a time or two." He smiled and she lamented internally on how much she missed his smile. "Listen. There is nothing I would like more than to just fall into the sea full of chemistry we have. You know me. But I'm trying to be adult and I've grown to understand that communicating might be necessary to make a relationship work. Like my relationship with your brothers. I tell them no, they do it anyway, it backfires or doesn't go according to plan, I get to tell them I told them so. It works beautifully."

"Yeah I have some experience in that area."

Tim smiled but then turned serious. "You also have experience at dealing with difficult people. So, what do you need to deal with Aurelia's father?"

That's a question Andie had been thinking about for months now. "It's like I was saying, he's good at what he does, but it takes more than that. He needs someone who can bring in new opportunities and relationships."

"Ones he doesn't have to marry off his daughter for." Tim added dryly.

Smiling, Andie continued. "As much as he doesn't want to admit it, he needs someone else to do the things he isn't as good at. But I've been going over resumes and applicants for months and can't find anyone who works. I have found loads of people who could manage the position, but not someone who could handle the job, grow the business and get along with the solid team members that are already there."

"So what are you thinking?"

"Well Damon is going to go over there and help out and I'm going to have to have to return once a month until we find someone. I'll still have to manage a lot from here. But I've spent a month trying to reason with that man and I refuse to put the rest of my life on hold. Maybe from here I can help foster some good will between Aurelia and her father and that may go some way towards making him cooperate."

Tim nodded. "Well, I don't know much about it but I'm here if you need any help. If I remember correctly, I did manage to help a bit last time."

This time Andie did roll her eyes.

"So is that why you stayed so long?"

Andie looked down at their hands; his so big, tanned and grease stained, hers small, white and soft from a lack of hands-on work. They were so very different, from completely different lifestyles, and yet every time life had taken them down different paths, it had brought them back. Even this time.

"After the court case I had to prove I could be a positive role model for Castor and I also had to deal with the splitting up of our assets from my uncle. So I would spend most of the day going through my uncle's house with the police and then when castor got out of school I would go have my two hours visitation. Then I would head back to Anto's and go through all the paperwork and lists of what still had to be done.

"I continued to do that until I worked my way through those lists and the sheer enormity of things in my uncle's house. Once I got Castor back I had to rent my own house. So I would get Castor ready in the morning, take him to school and then do my running and organizing while he was at school. When he came home I would help him with his homework and make dinner then put him to bed and clean up before going to bed myself. Eventually I ended up going to the office while Castor was at school but only after I finished getting everything sorted and organized. There were a lot of things I had to put into storage with the rest of our things and a lot I had to ship here for Theo and Damon."

"Your other things?" Tim asked, drawing her attention back to his face.

It took her a moment to back track her thoughts enough to understand where he had stopped. "Yeah. When our parents died we received all their things, but when we moved in with my aunt and uncle, we sold the house and moved everything into storage. Most of it is still there. I'll need to sell most of it eventually but I would like to keep some of their stuff if I can."

"Why don't you keep all of it?" He asked.

"Because it's literally a house full of furniture. Why pay to ship it if it's just going to sit in storage here?"

"Don't store it. Use it." Tim said. He pulled his hands away and swept them around the room. "You have furniture to fill a house; here is a house to fill with furniture."

Andie felt he knee jerk reaction to pull away and put up walls begin immediately but she resisted and tried to pacify it with logic. "Tim, your house already has furniture."

"No. This is all stuff that Mindy, Angela and Aurelia picked out while I was gone. I don't care about any of it."

"Then you should pick stuff out you want. This is your house."

"Don't." He said, shaking his head and standing up. He paced away and turned to face her with his hands fisted on his hips. "Don't play that game. You know why I built this house. It wasn't just for me. The original plan was but when you came here and then left again, that changed. It evolved. Don't act like that isn't something we all know."

He was right. Everyone knew it. Hell, even the judge had known it. And warned her about it. "Tim…"

"No." He took her hand and pulled her behind him. They went through the arch to the foyer and up the beautiful wood staircase to the upper floor. Like the rest of the house, the upstairs was beautiful and simple. Simple wood trim, warm grey walls and a few pictures of the area on the walls. It was warm and welcoming but also subtle and relatable. It was Tim. He might not have picked it out but it still suited him.

He stopped them in front of a door and looked at her. "This is the only room I picked things out for."

Of course he had. He would want his own room to not only be comfortable for him but he wanted it to woo her. He would make sure each item in it was a seduction. Or was that the old Tim…

Because when the door opened, there was no doubt that she was wooed. But it wasn't at all in the way she expected.

The room was bright, with lots of natural light and grass green walls. The wall across from the door was a mural of a field. At one end it was a soccer net, the other had goal posts. Andie moved into the room a couple steps to look at it all. There was a single loft bed on the far wall that had a soccer net under it and a hoop that hung from it. Around the room there was also a dresser, desk and chair, beanbag chairs shaped like different sports balls and numerable different types of toys and sporting equipment. The closet was open but empty other than the hangers and shelving.

It was perfect and Castor would love it. But that wasn't the point. "Tim…"

"Don't tell me it won't work, Andie. I am determined to prove you wrong."

She had to smile at that. "That's not what I was going to say. What I was going to say was that I can't just move in with you. And not because I don't want to or I don't think it would work. I have Castor now and if I want to keep him I can't make decisions that call into question the kind of example I set. I have worked very hard to show them I can create a stable environment for Castor. I finally got the go ahead to be able to move out of the country and that comes with its own stipulations. The judge warned me that moving in with someone just out of jail would be a little questionable.

"I know that's not the case anymore. You've made amazing progress. You've done amazing. But I still have to watch what I do and how it looks and moving across the world to shack up with my boyfriend looks like a fairly drastic and unstable decision."

Tim nodded tightly before walking up the hall and through another door. She followed behind him and stopped in the doorway at the sight. The room was huge and bright and gorgeous. It was a testament to the room itself too, because the only furniture in the room was an old dresser and a mattress on the floor. He hadn't been kidding about not picking out furniture.

"I wanted to pick out the things for this room with you." He said standing in the doorway of what she assumed was a closet. He face was stoic and unreadable. "So I waited. And kept waiting."

She opened her mouth to reply but couldn't come up with anything to say. It was so clear how much he wanted them all to live here, a happy family. And she wanted it too. All insecurities aside, all worries, doubts, fears, everything. Push them all away and she could see that perfect picnic out in the back fields or Christmas morning in the living room downstairs. But she had so much in her life. So many blessings. She could wait. Maybe one day when they were ready for the next step. Maybe when some time had passed and the court wouldn't think moving in was such an irresponsible decision.

"One day, Tim."

"No." He shook his head firmly and walked up to stand in front of her. "I'm done waiting. I love you and you love me. We are surrounded by family, mine and yours, who love us and are here to help if we need anything. I've done my time and probation and now I run a successful business with my brother that is completely above board and meets all requirements asked of it. You don't need to work if you don't want to and can spend as much time with Castor as he needs."

"That's great and definitely an excellent way to present it to the court in the future, but right now is not the time to spring yet another modern lifestyle decision on them."

Andie expected Tim to be crestfallen, but instead he smiled. "Then how about a traditional one?" He looked down and Andie followed his gaze. Just as her eye took in the small box, very similar to the one he had given to Castor for her, Tim cleared his throat. "I had a plan for this, like a real plan. I've been thinking about how I wanted to do this since I got it. But I've come to understand that nothing goes according to plan for us. I actually have come to appreciate that, to be honest."

The more he spoke the more sure she was that it wasn't earrings in the box.

"I guess…" Tim slowly got down on one knee. At least it seemed very slow to Andie. Very slow and yet very fast at the same time. But that was just the panic talking. "Andie," He looked up at her. His eyes that mysterious hazel that were so many colours at once. His hair, still longer but recently cut enough to sit right above his shoulders, fell out from behind one ear, taunting her fingers. There he was, in his work boots, jeans and an old stained white t-shirt. Nothing she had ever considered but everything she had grown to want.

"Andie, I don't want to live in sin with you. I want to live forever with you." He looked down and opened the box.

She had been proposed to before. She had received rings before. All very expensive and flashy. With big diamonds and sapphires. Fancy jewels with intricate bands covered in more jewels and finely detailed gold, silver and platinum flowers and designs. All of them supposed to represent her in the eyes of the man giving it to her.

The ring in the box before her had none of those things. No jewels and flash. No intricate details and flourished designs. It also wasn't anything that would be called ostentatious, gaudy or flamboyant. It could not be considered a trinket, bobble or bling, much like Andie had felt like for most of her adult life.

The ring in the box was a simple white gold band with a beautiful piece of meteor rock in it that matched her necklace. Simple and beautiful. Small but undeniable. Exactly how he had told her he saw her. And more true to who she felt she was than any other ring she had ever been presented with.

"Andromeda Marinos, will you marry me?"

Despite his words, the question Andie was asking herself was could she marry him. She wanted to. More than anything in that moment she wanted to say yes, but could she? Tim was right. It was a traditional move. It was one thing to move to Texas to live with her boyfriend, another to move to Texas to get married to the man she loved… right?

If that didn't make it any better in the court's eyes, could she do it? What if the choice she was making right now was Tim or Castor? Would she be able to live with any decision she made in that situation. Because she loved Tim. She loved him so much it made the idea of choosing Castor over him distasteful. Of course she would choose Castor. He needed her. But she needed Tim. And now wasn't that the clearest answer she had ever given herself.

"Yes." She said her voice barely audible. Clearing her throat, Andie nodded as she felt tears well in her eyes. "Yes. I'll marry you."

A huge grin split Tim's face and he stood quickly, picking her up and spinning her around. When he sat her back down he pulled the ring out and slid it onto her finger. And it felt perfect.

"Can I ask about the pause?"

She looked up from their hands to his face. "What?"

He sighed despite still smiling. "I am more than happy you said yes and I might just be asking for trouble, but you paused before answering. A long pause. I wasn't completely sure you would say yes so I didn't really expect you to answer right away. I guess I just wanted to know what it came down to at the end. What doubts you still might have about us."

Andie couldn't stop herself from smiling. Giving in to temptation, she reached up and tucked the escaped hair behind his ear and ran her fingers down his jaw. The pause was me realizing I didn't have any doubts about us anymore."

"None?" He said with a little disbelief.

"None. I asked myself if I could live with my decision if choosing you meant losing Castor. But I realized that wasn't a choice. I need both of you in my life. You both make me happy and I will just have to find a way to show that to anyone who does doubt us."

Tim kissed her, hard, passionately, before pulling away and smiling. "Who should we tell first?" He asked, laughing.

She smiled thinking of all the people they had to tell and then slowly as realization dawned, she saw the glee seep into Tim's features. The both swore as the raced back down the hall towards the stairs.

"We are going to make horrible parents." Tim said as they ran.

Despite his words, when they made it to the bottom and saw Castor sitting at the kitchen island drinking one of their glasses of water, they both burst out laughing.

"Horrible parents." Andie agreed. "We can't even keep the kid hydrated."

Castor got a very adorable disgruntled look on his face. "I can get a glass of water for myself if I want. These were just here."

Andie smiled and went to sit on the stool beside Castor. Tim came around and stood on the other side of him. Castor put his glass down on the counter, very suspicious of them.

"We need to talk to you about something, Castor."

He narrowed his eyes and looked between the two of them. "Okay."

"Tim and I have had a talk and we've made some plans. Those plans mean that we're going to be staying. Here. In Tim's house."

Again Castor looked back and forth between them. "Okay."

Maybe she wasn't explaining this right. Maybe she needed. To start with how much she loved him and how she loved Tim and…

"Castor," Tim said, drawing the boy's attention. "Andie and I are going to get married and we are all going to live here as a family together. You have your own room and Andie and I will share a room. Maybe we'll get a dog. Would you be okay with that?"

"Really?" Andie said. "Bribery?"

Tim shrugged and turned back to Castor. "So? Would you be okay if you and Andie moved in here?"

Castor turned to Andie with upset written across his face. "Were we not going to live here? I made a profile for myself on the Playstation."

Tim burst out laughing and Andie rolled her eyes. "Well it doesn't matter now. So I take it you are fine living here?"

"Yes." Castor said before taking another sip of water.

Tim settled down and ruffled Castor's hair. "What do you say we go outside and start teaching you some American football?"

Castor sighed and put his glass back down. "It's about time. I'll meet you outside." And with that he was off the stool and out the door.

Tim, in all his casual arrogance, smiled. "I think he's coming around to the idea. Maybe we should ask him again after he sees his room."

"Oh shut up and go outside, you jerk. We have to at least pretend we're decent parents."

Tim smiled and leaned in to kiss her. "You love me."

"Shh, don't let that get out. What will people think?" She replied, teasing.

Tim thrust a fist in the air. "Finally, you're ashamed of me. It's about time. I told you it would happen."

"Oh get out." She laughed as he ran out the door. Now the fun part began; telling everyone and making sure none of it imploded.

It's all about timing…

A/N: Epilogue to come...