Tempting Fate

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic!

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The bright morning sun blazed through the curtainless windows. Trixie was startled awake by the brightness in her eyes. She tried to block it out with her hands but failed. Groaning, she slowly opened her eyes. She sat up in her bed, looking around the room. Her still sleepy brain couldn't understand why she was back in her old bed, with her old furniture surrounding her, and not in her bedroom at Crabapple Farm. And then she remembered. She was at Ten Acres. The sigh of relief blew past her lips and she flopped back against her pillows.

Her alarm clock hadn't been unpacked, was still packed somewhere deep within the many boxes littering her room, so she didn't have a way of knowing the time. Guessing it was early, she threw back the covers and walked towards the door. "I wonder how Lexie liked her first night in her new room," she mumbled as she tiptoed down the hallway. She grasped the doorknob tightly and slowly opened the door. No Lexie. The bed was in tangles, had been slept in, but did not have a little girl in it.

"Hmm," Trixie muttered with a frown. Normally when Lexie woke early, she joined her mother in bed. She glanced down the stairs but couldn't hear any noise that way. It was still silent. There was only one other place she could be. She looked at the door to Jim's room and saw that it was half-opened. She hesitated but then took a fortifying breath and peered in.

Lexie was curled up on the bed with her father, her tousled curls next to his head on the pillows. She looked adorable, her yellow head nestled close to his red one. Her arm was tossed carelessly over his chest and her legs were sprawled across his on the bed. Both were still sleeping. Jim's arm had come around Lexie's waist. Trixie wondered briefly if he knew she had joined him. The sight was sweet and proved to Trixie the undeniable rightness in the two of them moving in with Jim. She gave them a tender look before closing the door with great care. An interruption wasn't needed. She walked back to her room to get changed for the day and then headed downstairs and into the kitchen. Within minutes the smell of freshly brewing coffee was permeating the air.

It wasn't too long before she heard a set of footprints hitting the floor above her and running down the hall. She could tell that Jim's feet were much slower than the hurricane that was their daughter. She laughed into her coffee mug, recalling all of the mornings when it was only her and Lexie, and headed out to the back porch. It was an amazing feeling to have the three of them together.

A few minutes later, Jim came out onto the back porch, a mug of coffee in his hands, and his hair slightly tousled from sleep. He had hastily pulled on a pair of gray gym shorts and white t-shirt and still looked a little groggy. To Trixie, he had never looked better. "Lexie doesn't want any breakfast yet. She had me put on some show. I've never seen it before. There were four kids and some kind of a red spaceship in it. They were doing a lot singing and clapping."

Too caught up in the adorable sight of a slightly rumpled Jim, it took a moment but Trixie eventually placed the show. "Little Einsteins," she supplied helpfully. "But it's not a spaceship. It's a rocket." She reached over and tapped his knee. "Don't worry, Jim. You'll know all the shows and all the characters soon enough."

He looked forward to it. It would be fun to get to know his daughter's interests and to take part in them. He held up his mug. "Thanks for the coffee. It's much better than what I usually make."

"No problem." Trixie took a sip of her own. She set the porch swing in motion and gave an absent pat to Sadie who was resting at her feet. Sadie had acclimated herself to her new home very well. "We have a good twenty minutes before Lexie will want to acknowledge us. The world stops when one of her favorite shows are on."

Jim leaned a hip against the porch railing, took a sip of the caffeine-filled brew and felt the lingering traces of sleep leave him. It had been an amazing experience to wake up with his daughter cuddled against him. If her mother had been on the other side of him, then the picture would have been complete. He watched her over the mug, noticed the easy smile on her face and the calm lines of her body. Much different than the way she looked yesterday when she had arrived at Ten Acres with the force of an impending storm. Maybe she didn't mind living at Ten Acres. He could only hope. "I never knew you to drink coffee before," he mentioned in an effort to break the comfortable silence. "I meant to ask you that the other morning at Crabapple Farm."

"I learned quick," Trixie replied easily, no hard feelings left for Jim at all. If she had to admit it, she would have said that she was more than willing to live here. Ecstatic was a more apt term. "I needed caffeine if I wanted to survive dealing with a baby and my own sleeping issues on top of that. There were many days when I seemed to go through them in a fog, especially when Lexie was teething and not sleeping through the night. The caffeine helped." She looked at her mug and then added, knowing he wouldn't appreciate the way she took her coffee, "Although I don't drink it black like you. Two spoonfuls of sugar and a good bit of milk."

"That's disgusting!" He smirked in offended outrage for all normal coffee-drinkers everywhere. Then he remembered what she had said about her own sleeping issues and his face softened. He had them too. "You mentioned you didn't sleep well during the time you were gone when I spent the night at Crabapple Farm. Why is that?"

"It's not that hard to figure out." She arched an eyebrow but when he seemed genuinely interested, she continued, "I never felt safe after...well, after. I hated feeling scared but I couldn't help it. There wasn't anything I could do about it but try to get as much protection as I could. So I went to the animal shelter and I got Sadie right away. I thought having a dog around would help. I loved the company but having Sadie didn't make me feel that much safer. Then I had an alarm system installed but even that didn't help. I eventually came to terms with the fact that I would have to deal with not having a great deal of sleep."

He could relate, although his lack of sleep wasn't because he didn't feel safe. It was because he was lost without her. Those empty years without her were the bleakest he had ever experienced. He couldn't begin to count the number of nights he had spent out in his workshop, choosing to work over laying in his bed and staring up at the ceiling, thinking about her. His green eyes watched her closely, making her wriggle from the intensity. "Have you felt safe since you've returned home?"

She attempted to avoid the question. "Last night was the first full night of sleep I've had in a long time. Even in my room at the Farm I'd still wake up every now and then, but you know that. You saw me on the porch, that very first night."

"I'm not asking about your sleep now." He didn't let her avoid it and pressed on, "Do you feel safe here?"

Her eyes met his, held for a long moment, before she answered quietly, "Yes." She was back with Jim. Of course she felt safe, secure and protected. "Of course I do."

Jim liked her answer. She didn't say it but he knew that he was part of the reason why. His fingers ran along the edge of the porch railing while he debated about bringing up a question that had been slowly eating away at him. She was in such an agreeable mood that he made a decision to go for it. "You know, Trixie, I love the albums you put together for me of Lexie," he began casually.

"That was one of the projects I would do during the nights when I couldn't sleep." Trixie relaxed against the porch swing, grateful for an easier topic. She had never liked talking about herself. "I put together a set for you and our parents. It was fun but also a little bittersweet. I never knew if I would have the chance to give them to you or not."

It was hard to miss the wistful quality to her voice. He reached over, covered her hand with his and squeezed it. "I've looked through them all. It's hard to believe how fast Lexie changed." He wished he could have been there for it all but would settle for having the two of them in the here and now.

"I was so happy when her eyes turned green," she shared with a happy glint to hers. "I was really hoping for green."

"The ultrasound pictures were interesting. I'd never seen anything like that before." He hadn't paid much attention to Di's and Mart's when they were proudly showing the pictures around, too caught up in his own black hole of despair to really notice the life that was continuing around him. He had been merely going through the motions.

"I thought it was interesting how tiny the little baby looked like, just like a little peanut." She was surprised. It didn't hurt to talk about the faraway time. Maybe it was the fact that she was talking it over with Jim. Or maybe it was the fact that he was still holding her hand. Either way, was almost cathartic to share the memories with him.

He drew a small circle on the back of her hand. "I noticed the name on the picture," he responded idly but studied her even closer than he had before.

"Name? What name?" Trixie leaned forward, confused. "I don't remember there ever being a name on one of the pictures. I didn't name Lexie until the day she was born."

He loved the way she bit her lip when she was concentrating. He would have to ask her about the day of Lexie's birth but not right now. He had something else he needed to know. "Not Lexie's name, Trixie. Your name. The name you used when you were in hiding."

A jolt of realization shot through her. Her hand went slack under his. She pulled it back, covered her mouth, in deep thought. She hadn't told anyone her false name, hadn't even thought to bring it up, and, surprisingly enough, not one single person had asked her about it. "Oh, yes, that name." She wrapped her hands around her empty mug, suddenly finding the floor very interesting, and swung her legs nervously. Had she had any lipstick on she would have chewed it off.

Although he didn't want to bring up the pain of the time when they were apart, he had to know why she had picked that particular name. Jim left his coffee on the porch and knelt down in front of her. He took her hands off her mug and put it down next to his. Then he gently held her hands within his, unconsciously offering support while he patently waited for Trixie to meet his gaze. When she finally did, he said seriously, "You were Katie Winthrop."

She felt a blush working its way across her face. "That was my name," she retorted huskily, and slid her eyes away again.

He wouldn't let her. He gently cupped her chin and brought her eyes back to his. "Tell me why, Trixie. Those are my parents names," he explained, just in case she didn't already know that. He waited for her to say something. When she didn't, he was forced to ask, "Why did you choose them for your new name?"

She would have liked to look away from his direct gaze. It was fanciful but she imagined that he was able to look right through her and into her very soul. "I wanted Katie for your mom but you already know that," she explained haltingly and nervously wiped her hands on her knees. "It seemed like a good choice. I thought if I had to have a new name there wasn't a more perfect choice for me."

"And Winthrop? Why did you decide on that one for your last name?" he prodded gently when she stopped.

She took a deep breath. He wanted it all. He deserved it all, after everything that fickle fate had put them through. The words came out on a rush. "I wanted Frayne but they wouldn't let me use that as my last name." She saw the way the green brightened even more in his eyes. "So I went with my next-best choice. Winthrop. But that wasn't for your father, not really, or at least, not for the way you are thinking. It was for you, from your name. It was the only thing I could do to still be with you, in some little way."

To him, it was more than a 'little way'. He was touched and amazed by the sweetness of her decision. He captured her smaller hands within his and pulled her to her feet. When they were standing together, with barely an inch of space between them, and hands clasped together, he leaned forward and spoke quietly with a reverence that thrilled her, "Thank you." His hands slowly traveled up her arms, sending small arrows of awareness through her, before finally settling firmly at her waist.

She could feel it in the air surrounding them. The spark of electricity, the promise of something more than just fond looks, and the beginnings of the passion that they shared for each other. The pressure of his hands around her waist was welcomed. The way his intense green eyes seared into her was returned. Biting her lip, she took a step forward, with only the tiniest amount of space allowed between them. Her arms slowly traveled up his chest before stopping at his broad shoulders. She felt the muscles ripple under her touch and mentally prepared herself for the fall. "You're welcome," she whispered back hoarsely.

He brought his lips down to hers, hardly daring to believe that he was finally going to kiss her, really kiss her. It had been so damn long. The absence only made it sweeter, more precious, and more passionate. He fought valiantly to keep his desire in check as he slowly pressed his mouth against hers, wanting to be gentle. The kiss was tender to the extreme, just as he intended it to be, a kiss that he hoped would tell her the depths of his feelings for her in a way that words could never do. It began as a slow, lazy meeting of untainted passion, one that was filled with the hint of something fiercer and hotter bubbling just below the surface, and was a kiss as it was meant to be in its purest form.

Trixie met him, soft kiss to soft kiss, a little slowly and hesitatingly at first but with renewed vigor once she really believed she was kissing him and it wasn't one of her many dreams. She could feel the passion that was brewing between the two of them and could almost touch it as if it was a tangible thing. It didn't take long before she wanted more than the gentleness he was showing her. Her hands fisted on the material of his shirt. Standing on the very tip of her toes, she brought her mouth as close to his as she could possibly get, her mouth slanting across his as she fearlessly called for more.

Groaning at her unexpected response, he tried to regain some control of the kiss, to keep it soft and gentle and show her how much he cherished her. And he was successful. For about three seconds. But he wasn't strong enough to deny the woman in his arms anything. His restraint snapped on a loud groan. Passion, pure, fiery and free, couldn't be contained and was unleashed with the power of an unstoppable storm. His hands gripped her hips, molding her to his body, lips never leaving hers, as their tongues met, danced and dueled.

It took a minute for him to place the rapid rap-a-tap sounds coming their way. Eyes cloudy with passion, he regretfully lifted his mouth from hers. "I think our twenty minutes are up," he whispered into her ear, sending fresh shivers coursing through her. His breathing was labored as if he had just finished a five-mile run.

A small moan of disappointment was ripped from her. Her mind was blinded by desire but she heard the footsteps. Laying her head on his chest, she nodded, breathing deeply, and worked hard to regain some semblance of control. She felt his arms steal their way around her and could feel his heart beating swiftly. She imagined hers was racing on the same pace. "Our girl is like a regular clock," she managed to get out past the fading passion still clogging her throat.

Lexie burst through the screen door and barreled her way to her parents, oblivious to their preoccupation. Both of them reached down to give her the hugs she was demanding, welcoming smiles on their faces. "Good morning, Mommy!" she yelled out happily. "I watched Little Einsteins."

Trixie cleared her throat before answering, "I know." She looked back at Jim, who still had his hands on her waist. Her lips turned up at the corners. He looked more rumpled now than he had when he had came downstairs. To her, he looked delicious. "Ready for breakfast?"

He was ready for something else but supposed he would have to settle for breakfast. He made sure to keep his hand on Trixie's hip. Touching her seemed to be a necessity, as important to him as the air he needed to breathe. Their first morning in the house couldn't have been more successful, as far as he was concerned. "Let's go in, girls."