Kate just stared at him and considered his last statement and agrees internally with it. Then she nods confirming what he just said. But there is something else on her mind. Then she excused herself to use the bathroom she rethought her close friend's statement from a day ago. And it's when she's finishing up in the restroom she looks at her watch and noticed that she had been played. Andrea had most definitely bailed out on her. She was supposed to be here when Rick and she talked but there was no sight of her anywhere. Maybe it was part of her plan just to leave her on her own and deal with it in her own way. Either way, she'll talk to her soon. She stepped out of the bathroom and back to the living room where Rick was waiting for her.

"Kate just so that there will be no misunderstandings, tomorrow we will tell Lily that I am her father correct?"

"Yes Rick but I want you to do it. You should be the one who tells her that you are her father."

"Okay, Kate. Now about us. I'm not too sure how you see us anymore. Obviously, we have a child together, one that I just found out about but I need to know if you still want me the way you did before I went missing. I love you, Kate. I have been foolish in the past not telling you that right from the start. But I hope to remedy that soon.

"Rick my feelings for you haven't changed since you've been missing. I wanted to tell you that I was in love with you but there are some things that we had no control over. You left the day before we were supposed to meet at the Italian restaurant that you love so much. I was going to tell you that I was pregnant with Lily and that I loved you with all my heart thinking that you would be my one and done. You're the one who got me to see that I had room in my heart to accept you into it."

"But then I left you by getting stranded in the Pacific."

He watched as Kate bobbed her head up and down.

"There are times I wish I never stepped foot on that plane Kate. If I didn't none of this would have happened. I would have been back here with you for the last three years. I could have watched my daughter grow up in front of my eyes. But I was going to tell you the exact same thing on the night we were supposed to have dinner together."

"Rick what's done is done. We can't change what happened between us or go back in time so let's not wonder about what-ifs in what could have been. But there is a point I would like to bring up with you right now. I do not want your daughter Alexis anywhere near Lily. I know this is going to hurt for you to hear this from me but she is a cold-hearted backstabbing bitch. She broke into my apartment twice. She planted listening devices which I conveniently relocated to a different part of the city. I know this because I had the bugs traced back to who bought them. It was a firm she was using. I don't want any contact with her if we decide to become a couple. I'm sorry to say it but if you can't guarantee me that she doesn't come anywhere near us then we might as well just forget about getting together in the first place."

He could tell that she was not giving him an ultimatum and that she was serious about keeping Lily and their family away from his oldest daughter. He was inclined to agree with her.

"Kate while I know I had a very loving relationship with my daughter before I was missing, that has all since changed since I came back. What she did was wrong and I am in agreement with you one hundred percent. She broke the law and now she has to pay the price. As of now, I have no contact with her whatsoever. She's banned from the loft, the house in the Hamptons, and any other refuge she can seek that I own. Financially all she has is the money that she earns. And she was very hesitant in what it was she was actually doing to make that money. When I asked her what she was doing, she quickly changed the subject."

"Rick, I'm not sure how you're going to take what I am going to suggest next and I am not trying to be demanding but if you think we have a shot and becoming a couple and raising our daughter together then I think that selling the loft and getting a place of our own together would be what we should think about doing."

"But Kate the loft was the first thing I bought with my first royalty check. It's a part of me."

"Rick can I totally understand but I think now it's time to get something that's more us. I love the loft don't get me wrong but I think that with Lily and me and you something smaller would be more efficient. Something we can call our own together. Your mother has moved out and Alexis has her own place so why I keep such a very large space when we don't really need it?"

"I'll think about it, Kate. But there is one more thing I'd like to talk to you about before we go any further. I am an easy-going, kind and fun-loving man. What you did hurt me last week when I came and knocked on your door when all I got from you was a "Hi". I at least expected a kiss or some sort of embrace, a hug even but I got none of that. Can you explain why? I know you told me that your mind was all over the place and you didn't think it was me standing in front of you but come on Kate there's got to be another reason why you were so cold to me."

"Rick, it's just that everything was combined into one instance. You were missing and then you were standing right in front of me, Alexis broke into my apartment, I had a baby, and I had to raise her all on my own. If it wasn't for Andrea I don't know what I would do to get through my days and nights. But just so you know every one of those days and nights I missed you with all my heart. I was just overwhelmed. I was an emotional wreck.

"Alright, Kate I guess I'd have to agree with your explanation. Because I wasn't here on the end of what you were dealing with. I was the one stuck on the island. As for Alexis, I think there might be more involved with her actions than I can deal with right now. What I mean to say is that I referred the matter to certain NYPD Detectives and they are looking into her wrongdoing. I'm not sure what will happen or what the outcome will be but I just wanted you to know that it's being dealt with. What she did was against the law even if it was to find me she should have never have done it."

"Well, Rick it's getting close to eleven pm. I'm not sure if offering you the couch is what I should be doing. I think that…"

"Kate don't sweat it. For tonight I will head back to the loft and I will get the rest I need in order to be back here by the time she is awake. I'll bring you some very good tasting pastries from an excellent bakery I know of but you need to supply the coffee."

"Thanks, Rick. On any other night, I'd let you stay here with us but we need our space me and you. And just so you know Lily likes to get up around eight. So, make sure you're here before then."

"I'll be here."

Rick just wanted to kiss Kate but thought better of it when he saw the look on her face. It was one of hesitation so he turned to move for the front door. As his hand was about to grab for the door handle, her hand yanked him by his bicep and back down to her. He was instantly met with the softest lips he'd ever felt in his life. These lips were relentless and they would not stop kissing his. He quickly wrapped his arms around her back and she wrapped hers around his neck. It has been a long time coming but it was just like being in heaven standing with her there. Her hands started to comb through his hair and he needed her closer to him. He tugged gently and she came willingly. When the need for air became a necessity, Rick looked at her swollen lips. He really wanted to go back and do it again, but he needed to leave. There would be more time for this later.

"Kate we'll pick this up again soon. I need to go before I regret my actions."

All Kate could do was watch him walk down the hallway with an impish grin on her face. They would most definitely be picking this up and sooner than he thinks…

A/N: Guest responses here.

Guest #1: Lily will be four. So she is about 3 and 3/4's.

Guest #2: Lily will be four on her next birthday.

Guest #3: All of Alexis' problems have yet been revealed...yet Tough love would be very tame for the storm that is coming her way.

Guest #4: Yor are right! Lily knew that her daddy was still alive somewhere. She had a sixth sense about this.

Guest #5: Alexis thought she could use her college fund to keep her afloat for the payments if she borrowed against the loft. But with Martha stepping in that point was moot. You never think that you will need an estate attorney. This was one of Rick's mistakes, one he won't be making in the future.

Guest #6: I do apologize. Lily will be 4 on her next birthday so I guess that will make her that much more advanced in her speech.

Guest #7: I will try to keep writing and thank you! Now for my thoughts on the transfer of the 12 million. I'm not saying that I know everything the IRS does to its taxpayers by law, but you are right about the 10,000.00. If the person deposits over 10,000.00 then they are required to report that amount as income and pay taxes on those funds. Transfers however I think are exempt because it is not a deposit it is simply a transfer between two financial institutions. But I don't know it all and you might be correct. I do know that you can only make six transfers from your savings accounts into your checking account within the same financial institution in any given month.