Shane didn't make it back to his place until nearly two in the morning, and to his utter surprise and delight, Alexis was still awake. He'd been fully expecting to walk into a dark apartment with a sweet, thoughtful note telling him where to find leftovers to heat up. Instead she was wide awake and sitting on his couch with a throw blanket over her legs while she chatted with Jacqui over Skype. At the sound of him entering the apartment, she ended her call and set her computer aside.

'Hey sweetie,' she greeted him, and felt a mild panic when he just stared at her. It made Alexis wonder briefly if she hadn't overstepped by staying when he probably wanted a little bit of time to himself. The panic grew when Shane crossed the room to her with the same bewildered expression on his face.

'The take-out is in the fridge, and-'

She was cut off when he captured her mouth with his; her fingers braceleted his wrists, her eyes sank shut as she took him in. When he broke the kiss, he just held her close.

'Lex, you are the best.'

'I could tell when you called tonight you needed a little pick-me-up. I can go if you want, if you need some solo time-'

'No.' Shane looked her in the eye, shook his head firmly. 'I want you here with me tonight. I need you here with me tonight,' he admitted. 'I'm not in the mood for making love right now, I'm just on overload from the job, and-'

Now it was Alexis' turn to interrupt. 'Whatever you need, I'm here for you.'

'I want a hot shower with you.'

'You got it.'

Without another word, Alexis went into the bathroom, turned on the water for their shower. As she reached for her shirt buttons to undress, she saw him come in looking positively beat. She said nothing, just tugged him through the doorway and helped him undress; his clothes smelled lightly of formaldehyde, alcohol and salted metal, the scent his clothes always carried when he'd had to do an autopsy. Whomever he'd had to work on tonight had clearly gotten to him.

She stepped into the shower first, drew the curtain across when her lover joined her, and immediately she went for the lemon juice. It was thin as the water, but she managed to cup it in her hands and let it drizzle from the back of Shane's neck down his body, rubbed it into his skin. The tangy scent of it had her senses clearing, had her wondering if he would be doing something similar for her when she was in medical school and doing cadaver labs.

Shane breathed meditatively as he felt her soft delicate hands work into his skin, kneading the muscles there that were far tenser than he realized. The first whiff of the lemon had him breathing easy for the first time since seeing who his victim was the night, coupled with the sweet touch of his girlfriend, his love, and he was ready to break out of sheer frustration. There was nothing sexual about her massage yet felt as tender and romantic as the first time they'd made love. She was there for him with patient eyes and a few soft words that meant more than any medal or accolade the city could give him for his work.

He turned around, touched his lips to hers. 'I love you so much, Alexis,' he murmured, the water sluicing over their heads together.

'I love you so much right back, Shane.'

'I want to get away for a couple of days.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah. Think we could go to your place in the Hamptons?'

Alexis didn't even hesitate. 'Of course. Mom and I are heading up tomorrow to give Meredeth a break from her hubby, so why don't you come up on Sunday afternoon, we'll take a day or two just for us?'

'Sounds perfect.'

'There's a great seafood place up there called the Lagoon, they make the best shrimp po-boys you've ever had, and a seafood fryer, lobster rolls, you name it.'

'You keep talking like that, I might have a food-gasm,' he said in a floating, blissed-out voice, making her laugh.

'You want one for real?'

'I'm a man, Lexy, but right now, I just want to be with you.'

'Okay.'

Alexis squeezed shampoo into her hands, rubbed them through his hair so his thick black curls were sudsy and bubbly. 'Rinse that out, then you can do my back.'

'I'd rather do your front, but sure, this works too.'

Shane washed the lather out, then turned Alexis so she cuddled against his back, stroked the bar of midnight lavender soap over her skin. He'd asked her for it when he'd visited her in England, as the scent of her shirt wasn't as strong anymore, and while he never used it, the scent of it in his steaming showers made him miss her a little bit less while she was overseas. Now he got to rub her down with it, which made him feel even better, and he felt the a few stirrings in his blood at her little sighs while he moved the bar over her body.

'Dammit, baby, now you've got me stirred up,' she murmured.

'I can help you with that.'

'I thought you weren't in the mood?'

'No, but you've been awesome with me this week with my insane overtime schedule that the least I can do is give some back to you.'

'Okay.' Alexis had no idea what he was up to, but she liked where he was going.

Shane took her hands in his, closed them over the shower bar mounted on the tile, then touched his lips to hers, began to move down to her neck. 'Trust me, you'll need to hang on for this.'

When he arrived at work the next morning, Shane was a little surprised to see Esposito there, talking on his phone and for a moment, Shane didn't see a hard-line NYPD homicide detective but a man, a father, talking to his little girl.

'I know, honey, Mami's sleepy a lot but it's hard work growing two babies at the same time. Yes, you'll see RJ and Katie soon. No, Artie's staying with me at home, we have to finish Mami's surprise. Can you give Mami a kiss for me? That's my girl. Alright, I'll go catch some baddies. Love you too, princess.'

He hung up, saw Shane coming down the hall in his scrubs. 'Tessi's getting rather impatient with her mother since Meredeth's had to be on bedrest lately.'

'Can't be easy to try and explain that to a two and a half year old.'

'We just keep reminding her it takes a lot of energy to make sure the babies stay inside until Hallowe'en.'

'So are you here hiding out for a break or did you need an update on some tests?'

'Pearlmutter had a finalized autopsy report on a different case, and he mentioned you'd be in soon so I took a breather here. I love my family but Meredeth is so stressed and scared.' Esposito sighed, dragged his palm over the flat of his shaved head. 'I don't know how much longer she can take the bedrest without losing her mind completely.'

'It'll work out. You love each other and you've got some of the best communication I've ever seen in a relationship, you'll get through it.'

'Thanks bro.' Wanting to switch gears so he himself wouldn't go crazy worrying about his pregnant wife, Esposito followed the pathologist into his workroom. The smells weren't as bad today since there was no fresh body waiting to be dealt with on the table. 'So, anything new on the van Houston case?'

'Not much I didn't have for you last night. You got a finalized report last night since Pearlmutter had me put her under the knife before she was even cold, and the test results I've got this morning confirm what I found last night. She was a cocaine abuser and a functioning alcoholic with a failing liver and a nasal cavity that looked like ground beef, and using high amounts of barbiturates to keep herself from looking like the strung-out junkie she was.'

'And the SART kit?'

'Showed rough sex but no pregnancy or STDs. Stomach contents showed whole wheat bread, salad and some kind of chocolate bar, along with white wine and a whiskey chaser. How would she eat?'

'Huh?'

Shane took two bottles of water from his stash, passed one to his friend. 'All that alcohol and drug use would do some serious damage to your appetite. How would you ever find the desire or the ability to feed yourself?'

'She didn't feed herself, though, she'd always be out on the town with her gal pals. Makes you wonder why she had a top of the line Jenn-Air kitchen suite that would make my wife cry like our two year old in joy. Anything else?'

'I have no idea if it's relevant but Amber van Houston was also showing signs of brain damage not related to substance abuse.'

'Okay, thanks man. Hey, next week, why don't you and Alexis come over for dinner? I know Meredeth is always excited to see people that aren't our daughter twenty-four seven.'

'I'll have to check my schedule. Alexis flies back to England on the seventh,' he started, and Esposito made an understanding noise.

'Oh I get it, trust me.'

'And I haven't told her yet, but I've booked a couple days vacation in November to go surprise her with a trip to Paris before she comes back to the States.'

The detective grinned widely. 'You're going to fly over and surprise her? That's true love right there,' he said in a happy tone, knowing his friend's fear of flying was outdone only by Meredeth's fear of spiders. Esposito opened his mouth to ask Shane if he was planning to propose to Alexis when his cell jingle-jangled at him, and he nodded briskly. 'Warrant went through on the owner of the sperm found in van Houston. Thanks for the ear, bro.'

'Any time, you know where to find me.'

R&R&Enjoy