A/N: Happy New Year, guys! I'm hoping 2014 will bring lots of great things for all of you. As for my writing, this story has been getting special attention from me, due to the amazing response it has gotten from all of you. That being said, I would hate to neglect my other stories if there's something else you would like me to update more frequently, so if you have a particular story besides this one that you want to see an update on, let me know in your review, and I will gladly work on making that happen. If you're satisfied with most of my focus being on this story for right now, that's okay, too. Thanks for reading and for just being incredible readers in general. You all are the greatest!


Her fingers tugged greedily at his belt loops, desperate to keep him close as she kissed him back with fervent passion and need. Chris was convinced he was dreaming. There was no plausible way he was kissing Stephanie and she was kissing him back, but then her fingertips skimmed his arms, setting his skin ablaze, and he couldn't have mistaken the moment as anything except reality. He led her backward until her body was pressed against the side of her car, and when he pulled out of their kiss, he did something he had been waiting an equally long time for; he pulled her into his arms and held her.

Stephanie fell willingly into his embrace, sprinkling the side of his neck with soft kisses and laughing against his skin, which piqued Chris's interest enough to tug him away from her momentarily. He scaled back, but his arms remained circled around her waist. "What's so funny?"

Her eyes shone brightly, mouth quirking in a cheeky smile. "It's just that I love you, too, Chris. I have for a really long time now, but I never knew how to tell you, and I also didn't know whether or not you felt the same way. I wanted to talk to you about it more than a few times, because there were moments when we were extra close to each other, and I thought you were feeling it, too, but I didn't want to bring it up and get shut down."

"I was scared you were going to shut me down," Chris admitted. "You're telling me we both wanted to be together for all this time but were too scared to tell each other?"

"Sure sounds like it," she grinned, cupping his cheeks with both hands. "I'm so happy right now. I'm on cloud nine. I never thought this would happen, but I'm so glad you told me how you really felt. I don't think I ever would have had the guts to come to you first."

"I have to be with you from here on out," Chris said. "I mean it, Steph. I want to pick Graham up from daycare, and I want all three of us to spend tonight and the rest of the whole damn weekend together. We need you, and I think you need us, too."

"I do," she confirmed.

"Then let's go get Graham."

"Just a second," Stephanie laughed, running her thumbs in a forward motion over his cheeks and bringing them to a stop at the corner of his lips. "I know you're excited, and I am, too, but we have a lot to think about," she said, jumping in surprise when thunder rumbled overhead. Chris wrapped his arms around her even tighter, protectively. "This shouldn't be taken lightly. This decision, if we choose to be together, doesn't only affect us. We've got Ross, Melissa, and Graham to think about. I feel like we need to talk before we make any definite moves. We need to be on the same page with each other first, and then we can proceed with this."

"What exactly does being on the same page entail?" Chris asked, his vision zoning in on her lips. "Make your point quickly, because I can't concentrate on anything except how much I want to kiss you again."

She giggled, caressing his bottom lip with her right thumb. "There will be time for more kisses later. Why don't we do this; if we pick Graham up and bring him to a place like Chuck E. Cheese's, he can eat with us and then he'll be occupied with the games, which will give us a chance to talk. It may not be the best setting for having a serious talk, but it'll work. I'll call Ross and tell him I'm staying in for the night and going to bed early. You should do the same with Melissa so they're not calling us every five minutes and we can have some privacy."

"I will," Chris agreed, licking his lips hungrily as a new wave of lust washed over his face. "I'd do anything for you."

"And I would for you, too, so get in your car and let's go grab Grammy," she smirked, pressing her index finger to his lips when he started to lean in again. "As much as I would love to stand here and kiss you for the rest of the day, let's limit ourselves to one more kiss and save the rest for later. It's not that I don't want to bask in this moment, but we have responsibilities to take care of before we jump into this relationship full force."

"I get it, and I agree," he nodded. She removed her finger, and Chris captured her lips with thirst, running his hands up her sides and exploring her naturally built curves. He took his cues from Stephanie, scaling back when she did several seconds later, pulling away from her lips but keeping his forehead pressed to hers. "I've waited for this for so long. This is like a dream come true, and I almost can't believe it's actually happening."

"It's definitely surreal, isn't it?" she asked, kissing his cheek and the tip of his nose. "Go to your car, and I'll follow you to Graham's daycare. I feel bad for leaving Amanda, Caylie, and Carter home alone to have dinner by themselves tonight, but we'll take them out for lunch or something tomorrow," Stephanie said, poking Chris's stomach playfully and guiding him away. "Go ahead. I'll be right behind you, stud."

"Good. Drive safely," Chris said, grabbing onto her hand. He pressed his lips squarely to her palm, and that was the last impression he left her with before jogging to his car and climbing inside. Stephanie watched him with a blinding smile until he began backing away, at which point she got into her vehicle and proceeded to follow him out of the parking garage and onto the open road.

Life was about to change in ways they could never have imagined.

"Can I go play that game?" Graham asked, pointing across the room at a basketball hoop designed for individual use. He had already eaten two slices of pepperoni pizza and started in on a third, but he pushed his plate away after only a couple bites of it, his stomach too full to continue. The place was surprisingly not packed from one end to the other, as Chris expected it to be on a Friday night, which was refreshing. There was plenty of room for Graham to play and run around, letting off all his pent-up energy from the week.

"Go ahead, bud," Chris said. "Have fun."

"Do you still have your tokens, sweetie?" Stephanie piped in, motioning Graham over with her index finger. He went to her, shoving his hand in his pockets and grinning as he pulled out the mound of tokens that Chris had exchanged several dollar bills for when they first entered the building. "Make sure you put them all back into your pocket and only take them out as you need them. That way, you won't lose any."

"I will," he said.

"Good. Kiss?" Stephanie requested, tapping her cheek with the tip of her finger. Graham kissed her cheek and ran to Chris, giving him a kiss as well before he jogged off in search of the game he wanted to play. Chris watched him stop at the basketball machine, but something else farther down the row caught his eye, and he darted to that instead. "Oh, he's just so precious. I can't even get over him," she said, sliding her hand up Chris's thigh beneath the table. "I can't seem to get over you, either."

"Do you want to?" he teased.

"No. I love crushing on you," she smiled. "You're so cute, and let me tell you, I can definitely see where Graham gets it from."

"Thanks," he laughed, fiddling with the unfinished pizza crust on his plate. "So...about us..."

"Let me just make it clear right now that I fully intend to be with you," she started. Chris peeked at her from the corner of his eye, puckering his lips and wiggling his shoulders, and she laughed, squeezing his thigh in the spot where her hand rested. "The thing about me, Chris, is that I'm really thorough in everything that I do. I might even seem a little standoffish today at times, but it's only because I don't feel right committing to you all the way until we tie all the loose ends. It's not fair for me to lead Ross on, or for you to lead Melissa on. We need to break things off with them first, and everything else will follow."

"How fast can that happen, then, because I really don't want to wait much longer," Chris said, all traces of his previous smile drowned out and replaced by a sea of apprehension. "I'm sick of waiting around, pretending like all we are is friends, when what I feel for you is so much deeper."

Stephanie sighed, slipping her arm around his back and pulling him close. Chris tilted his head against hers, melting into her body like they were joined as one. He closed his eyes, enjoying the light vibrato that rushed through him each time she spoke. He loved the sound of her voice. "I get it, Chris, even if you don't feel like I do, but we have to be responsible about this. We're not just two young kids running off together. We're adults, and you have a child who depends entirely on you. We need to do right by Graham. He's a sweetheart, and I don't want him to end up hurt."

"How would he be hurt?"

"He won't, as long as we do this the correct way," Stephanie supplied. "I'm full prepared to call Ross tomorrow and have him meet me somewhere so I can tell him that we aren't going to work out. He'll be hurt, but I want to be as gentle as possible. I'd hate to break his heart too badly."

"He'll be hurt no matter what," Chris said, lifting his head, "because you're beautiful, and he's unfortunate enough to be losing you."

"You're sweet, but I think he'll fare just fine," she said, shaking her head. "I'm overrated."

"No, you're not. You're perfect."

"Nobody's perfect. We just all do the best we can and hope that someone will love us for who we are someday," she replied. She had a poetic way with words, much in the same way Ted did. Chris could hardly wait to call him later on and deliver the good news. "I'll plan on meeting up with Ross sometime tomorrow morning, and then you can meet with Melissa in the afternoon and, that way, I'll be home to keep an eye on Graham while you're gone. Once we're out of our relationships, we can try things out together. We'll also have to sit Graham down at some point and have a talk with him so he understands what's going on. I don't want to leave him out of this."

"I don't, either," Chris agreed. Right on cue, Graham came running to them from the opposite side of the room, boasting a train of tickets connected in a single-file line.

"Look, Daddy, I won tickets!" Graham said. He plopped down in Chris's lap and handed them off to him, his tokens jiggling inside his pants pocket. "If I win more, I can get a prize."

"Good job, bud. I'm proud of you," Chris encouraged. "Keep winning all the tickets you can, and I'll take you to the front counter before we leave so you can turn them in for a toy."

"Come play a game with me, Daddy," Graham requested, tugging on his arm. "I want you to play a racing game with me. We can drive on the track, and I can drive faster than you and win. I'll get more tickets."

"Well..." Chris shot Stephanie a glance, "did we need to talk some more before I go with him?"

"You can go ahead," she said, smiling at Graham as he counted his tickets silently. "I basically said most of what I needed to tell you, and we can talk about the rest later. We'll head over to your apartment after this and grab whatever you and Graham will need, since you're spending the weekend at my house."

"Your house?" Chris raised an eyebrow. Stephanie tipped her head, an unspoken question floating in her gaze. "I thought we would spend the weekend at my place so we can have a more private setting."

"There wouldn't be anybody to watch over Freddy, though," she pointed out. "I mean, Amanda would do it if I asked her to, but I don't want to bother her with that. There's also the issue of Amanda, Caylie, and Carter. The last thing I would want is for them to feel like I'm abandoning them. Ever since you and Graham came along, I connected with you two on a deeper level, and I've given both of you a lot of extra attention. I just don't want everyone else to start feeling left out, so I think it would be best if you could spend the weekend at my place. I know you felt strongly about not wanting Graham in the house with Carter, but he's a good kid, Chris. He really is."

"We can stay at your house this weekend?" Graham asked Stephanie, patting her lap with his free hand while he bounced from one foot to the other.

"Somebody's sure got a lot of energy," she laughed, brushing his newly sheared hair down. "We'll see if you can stay with me this weekend, but that's something your daddy has to decide on. Can I come and see what game you're playing next?"

"Yeah," Graham nodded, holding his tickets up to Chris's face. "Daddy, will you hold these?"

"I sure will," Chris said. He folded the attached tickets and slid them into his pocket, grabbing onto Graham's hand and rising from his seat. Stephanie took her cues from Chris and grabbed Graham's other hand, each of them following his lead as he guided them to the game he wanted to play. Over Graham's head, Chris and Stephanie shared enchanted glances, smiling and communicating without speaking a single word.

Finding true love was a gift to be treasured.

Darkness had fallen over the town long before Chris stepped into Stephanie's house, a packed duffel bag and a filled tote bag slung over each of his shoulders, as well as Stephanie's vase of roses and teddy bear in his hands, which he deposited gently on the coffee table. He hadn't been gone for long, but it felt like an eternity when he entered Stephanie's living room for the first time since he had pulled Graham so hastily from the home. Freddy sat near the bottom of the staircase and stood right away when he spotted Graham. Albeit a tad leery, Freddy went to Graham, circling his ankle and purring his relief that he had his old pal back.

"Hi, Freddy!" Graham said, picking him up and squeezing him tightly. "I missed you lots, but now we can be together again, because I get to stay here with my daddy this weekend."

"So cute," Stephanie murmured, slipping past Graham and patting his shoulder along the way. Chris shut the front door and locked it, heading straight for the stairs. Stephanie caught sight of his retreating form, asking, "Where are you going? Sneaking away from me already?"

"No," Chris laughed. "I just have to set our bags down in my room and Graham's, and I also wanted to say hi to Amanda and Caylie. Carter, too."

"I'm right behind you," Stephanie said. "I have to put my stuff down in my room, too. You coming, Grammy?"

"I wanna stay here with Freddy," Graham said, leading his kitten to the couch and grabbing the remote control.

He began flipping through channels, and Stephanie left him with a smile, topping the stairs and veering off into her bedroom. She flipped on the light switch and placed her purse on the bed, taking a seat and folding her hands in her lap. Keeping away from Chris would prove to be much easier said than done, and she drummed her fingertips against her right thigh, hearing the mingling of voices as he said hello to Amanda and Caylie down the hall, missing out on the chance to speak to Carter, since he was in the kitchen, enjoying a light dessert after the dinner Sara had prepared. Stephanie struggled against her inner conflicts, knowing what she was about to do wasn't right, but she wasn't aware of actually moving until she was already standing in the doorway of her bedroom, one hand on the door frame and the other placed seductively on her hip.

After a few minutes of casual conversation with Amanda, Chris left her bedroom, heading to his own but stopping short. He caught sight of Stephanie's mouth-watering silhouette, a vision that was enough to bring him to an abrupt halt. Chris licked his lips, flicking on his bedroom light and disappearing inside. Stephanie was disappointed, bordering on hurt, that he didn't think enough of her to take the few extra steps to get to her and see what she was waiting for, but he surprised her by appearing in the hallway a moment later, both hands empty after depositing his belongings inside his room. When he reached her, Chris mirrored her pose, placing one of his hands on the door frame and balancing another on his hip.

"What are you up to, troublemaker?" he joked, smirking.

"I...here's the thing," she began, voice creaky with nerves, "I know I said we should hold off on doing anything until — "

"It's okay," Chris interrupted.

"Huh?"

"I get it, and it's okay," he repeated, bringing a tender hand down on her hip and leading her backward, deeper into her bedroom. "We've waited for long enough."

Chris kicked the door shut with his foot.

Graham's arms were folded underneath his head, stomach facing the ceiling as he rested on the couch. His body shook with laughter each time Freddy pawed at the design on his t-shirt, in a tussle with the image printed on the face of it. Graham had settled on watching a movie he had seen a few times before with Chris, back when he and his dad still had a home in Canada to speak of. The weekend was shaping up to be a memorable one and hadn't even fully gotten underway yet.

Not only had he been awarded a pizza dinner and gotten to play games and pick out a toy for his efforts, but he was spending the weekend at Stephanie's house, which could only result in positive things. The apartment he shared with Chris was great, but it could be boring sometimes and even a tad lonely. Graham loved being surrounded by people, and seeing Amanda and Caylie again would do him a world of good. He pressed his finger into Freddy's squishy nose, laughing at the way it made his face look, when a knock came at the front door.

"Daddy!" Graham called out, watching the stairs, but there was no visible movement. Figuring his dad must not have heard him, he tried a different tactic. "Stephy!"

When she didn't come to the rescue, either, Graham slid Freddy directly onto the couch cushion and stood, taking a set of cautious steps toward the front door. He liked to ask the adults for permission before opening it, but there were times when he listened to his instincts. Stephanie had explained to him once before that nobody could enter her gate without having a special code that only a few people knew of, so whoever was knocking on the door must have been given the information. He checked the cameras trained on the doorway and, seeing that it was Ross waiting patiently on the porch, some of his anxiety eased.

First his fingertips hit the doorknob, then his palm, and before he knew it, Graham was rotating the door handle, after a brief pause to release the lock. Ross smiled down at him, rubbing his hair companionably. "Hey, nice haircut, Graham. Can I come in?"

"Yes," he smiled politely, pulling the door open a little wider.

"I'll get the door," Ross assured him, closing it behind himself and engaging the lock. Graham had already returned to the couch with his kitten by the time Ross finished what he was doing. "It's nice to see you over here again. Are you just visiting?"

"Yep," Graham nodded.

"That's nice. I'm sure Steph is really happy to have you over," he said, looking around and frowning at how abnormally quiet all the surrounding rooms were. "Is your dad here with you, or did he just drop you off alone for a while?"

"No, he's here," Graham said. Ross spotted the vase of flowers in the center of the table, a stunning arrangement of lavender roses, and he ran his hand over the top of them, spotting a card but not wanting to intrude by reading the message enclosed. A teddy bear was tilted up against the vase, and he picked it up, running his hand over the top of the bear's head and replacing it on the table.

"These sure are some pretty flowers."

"Those are Stephy's flowers," Graham said. "She told me so."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said. On the way back from their pizza dinner, they had stopped off at the apartment, and Chris left his car in the parking lot there. They had ridden back with Stephanie in her vehicle and, after spotting the roses, Graham had become curious and asked about them. By way of his own questions, he found out Stephanie was the rightful owner of the flowers, but he hadn't thought far enough to find out who had given them to her, because he was only a kid, and kids didn't typically ask for that much information.

"Now I feel bad," Ross chuckled. "I haven't even bought her flowers that nice, and I'm her boyfriend. Oh well," he shrugged. "So, is everyone in the kitchen?"

"Um..." Graham tapped his chin, "Daddy's up there," he said, pointing to the stairs. "Stephy's up there, too."

"Oh, okay, I'll go try to find Steph. See you in a little bit," Ross said, leaving Graham with a wave and a smile.

Ross whistled the entire way up the stairs, glancing in both directions when he reached the landing. The hallway was dim, except for the evenly spaced hanging lights on the walls, and almost every bedroom door was closed. Light glowed in a straight line from beneath Stephanie's door, and Ross felt a jolt of excitement that she was still awake. He hadn't intended to interrupt her sleep and had only wanted to visit because she said she was staying in, and it wasn't like her to shut herself in on a Friday night, unless something was wrong. If that were the case, Ross wanted to be the one to cheer her up.

He raised a fist to knock but thought better of it. As her boyfriend, he felt no real need to knock or announce himself. Ross reached for the doorknob, rotating it a full turn and pushing the door open. His eyes narrowed at the pulsating mass under the bedsheets, but curiosity drove his footsteps, leading him farther into the room. The unmistakable smacking of lips on skin — and lips on lips — filled his ears, making his head heavy and his heart frantic, but it was four shoes at the end of the bed that did him in. A pair of stiletto heels had been tossed beside a pair of men's tennis shoes, and he understood without needing any more evidence; he just knew.

"Stephanie!" Ross exclaimed, though he wasn't sure why. He could have easily left the room free of detection and made life easier on himself, but he had to confront her, had to find out why she would hurt him so terribly when they had been so happy together. Or had they?

The kissing and moaning came to an abrupt stop at the sound of his voice, the covers still hiding the frozen bodies beneath it, so Ross pulled their shield away in a moment of bravery, gasping when he found Stephanie lying under Chris, still partially clothed. Her shirt was missing, as was Chris's, wrinkled and forgotten on the mattress, in a spot off to the side of them. She led Chris's arms away gently, slipping out from under him and pushing off of the bed to a standing position. "Ross, I...this wasn't supposed to happen. Not like this."

"You've been fucking this guy the whole time?" Ross asked, head shaking from left to right as he spoke, as if the motion was automatic and involuntary.

"No!" she shouted, reaching for her shirt and pulling it back over her head. Chris did the same with his own shirt, tugging it on in seconds. "I've never done anything with him, not until today, and we've only kissed."

Ross laughed — a bitter, humorless laugh — even going so far as to hunch over and slap his knee. Stephanie's brow fell into a troubled frown, and she checked on Chris, who was standing beside her and struggling for the right words to explain how he could have betrayed Ross's and Stephanie's relationship, along with his own relationship with Melissa, but nothing seemed appropriate to say in that moment. He caught sight of Ross's awkward stance as he laughed uncontrollably, and Chris shrugged at Stephanie, placing his hands on his hips while he waited for whatever came next. His only concern was protecting Stephanie, no matter what Ross's reaction turned out to be.

Ross straightened without warning, eyes narrowing to slits. Ross's behavior was a little further off the deep-end than Chris would have expected, a complete juxtaposition to his usual calm demeanor, but losing Stephanie could have been enough to make anyone crazy with rage, even Chris. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that? You think I would fall for that bullcrap? I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night."

"It's the truth," Stephanie said, folding her arms and placing them protectively across her midsection. "I never wanted to hurt you, Ross, not ever. It's just that sometimes there are feelings that can't be controlled, and this was one of those cases."

"You couldn't pick up the goddamn phone and tell me you were fucking someone else?" he demanded.

"I'm not!" she said, tears gathering in her eyes against her will. "I haven't done anything with Chris except kissing, and I was planning on talking to you about this tomorrow morning. I wanted us to meet for breakfast so I could be honest with you, I swear. I'm not a bad person, Ross, and I never would have wanted it to end this way. I don't hurt people on purpose. I hate hurting people."

"Um, Steph?" Amanda's fragile voice entered the fray as she walked down the hallway, bare feet smacking lightly against the floor, adhering to the wood each time the soles of her feet made contact. "I heard a lot of voices and yelling, and I just wanted to make sure everything's okay."

"Thanks, but I'm fine, Manda," Stephanie said, but Chris recognized the tremor in her tone. She was scared. He stepped up behind Stephanie, placing his hand on her right hip for support. She slipped her hand over Chris's, and Ross's eyes darted straight to their joined hands, as he rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You can go back to bed, sweetheart. I'll be okay."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Amanda pressed. She appeared in the doorway, face partially illuminated by the flood of light in Stephanie's bedroom and, as her eyes traveled from Chris's and Stephanie's disheveled appearances to the messy bed and an angry-looking Ross at their side, the full picture began to paint itself for her. "Uh, Steph, I can call your parents or your brother if you need, like, for this situation to be diffused by an outside party."

"She doesn't need anyone else to do her dirty work, because I'm out of here," Ross said, rushing past Amanda, through the hallway, and down the stairs.

"Wait!" Stephanie called out, attempting to jog after him, but Chris caught her around the waist. "Ross, let me explain!"

"Let him go," he instructed, knowing he probably sounded selfish but not meaning to come off as such. Stephanie whimpered, and he tugged her to his body so her back rested against his front. Chris kissed her hair and rubbed her arm, wanting to chase the pain right out of her. "He's pissed, and rightfully so, but give him some time to let off steam and talk to him later. I know you want to make this right, and you should, but don't do it when he's this livid."

"I have to talk to him," she said. "I have to."

"Later, Steph. Do it on neutral ground, after everyone has a chance to calm down."

Chris spun Stephanie around in his arms and pulled her head to his chest, rubbing her back while she turned to a trembling mess in his arms. He felt guilty, was guilty, for encouraging her to give herself to him when they hadn't taken care of all the other interruptions in their lives. All Chris wanted was to make Stephanie's life even better than it had been when he met her, but, instead, he had created a mess with Ross; an inadvertent mess, but a mess, nonetheless. Graham, likely having witnessed Ross storming out of the house in a frenzy, came running up the stairs and down the hallway, flitting past Amanda and into the room.

His eyes fell on Chris, still locked in a solid embrace with Stephanie, and he wandered over to them. "Daddy, is Stephy sad?"

"A little bit, buddy," Chris responded, "so we have to take very good care of her tonight."

"When will she be better?" Graham asked, reaching up to pat Stephanie's back with his little hand.

Chris didn't have a definite answer, so he offered Graham the only thing he could in that moment: reassurance. "Soon, I hope. Very soon."