Author's Note: Thank you for all the positive response! It made me really happy and I decided to continue :)
All mistakes are mine.

CHAPTER 2

Peter returned to his office, only to find Jones and Diana waiting for him.
He tried to be discreet when he put the paper in his suit pocket but based on Jones sudden grin, the action didn't go unnoticed by the two agents.

"So you got her number, huh?"

Jones said, giving Peter a playful shove. Peter groaned in response before he sat down in his chair.
For some reason his colleagues had spent the last year or so hinting that they think he should get involved in the dating world again.
Peter was unsure if it was because they didn't think he could take care of himself or if they just thought he was miserable alone.
Sure Peter agreed that he was pretty miserable alone, that's why he got a dog.
Satchmo made his home feel less empty but he still missed having someone by his side.
Because of his job he never found the time to get into dating and just when it seemed that he actually found someone, the perfect woman for him, it turned out that she had a kid. That was just his luck.

"So when are you going out?"

Diana asked and Peter sighed, wishing his coworkers would just mind their own damn business.

"I don't know if I'm going out with her"

He simply responded and the pair actually seemed shocked by this and had to take a minute to collect themselves.

"What do you mean, boss? You would be perfect together"

Diana said and Jones nodded to show that he totally agreed with her.

"She has a kid"

Peter hoped that would get some understanding from them but he was wrong, instead they looked even more confused.

"So?"
"I don't do kids, Jones"

Diana shook her head and crossed her arms.

"Are you really going to let a kid stop you from what could be the love of your life?"

Diana said before leaving the room, Jones immediately following her.

Diana's words stuck with him the entire day and by the time he came home, it was all he could think about.
He had just met Elizabeth but he already had strong feelings for her. Maybe his strong feelings were the universe's way of telling him that he had met his soulmate?
Peter sat down at the kitchen table, eating a reheated pizza.
The food tasted weird and he found himself wondering if Elizabeth was a good chef, he couldn't even remember the last time he had a home cooked meal.
When he went to bed that night, the space next to him felt cold and empty and he felt the need to have someone beside him.
Ever since he bought the house he imagined having someone to share it with, but it never happened.
Normally it was easy to ignore the longing for someone to share his life with, he could just bury himself in his work and forget about it.
But now, now that he had met Elizabeth he couldn't see anything else but sharing this bed with her, sharing this house with her and sharing his life with her. It was as if they were just meant to be.
Should he really let a kid stand in the way of him getting that?
No matter what he did, he would get a package deal. There would be no Elizabeth without the child.
Children were messy, they were loud and they ran around, they broke things and they were annoying.
Was that a price he was willing to pay for his true love?

Peter made a beeline for the coffee, needing all the caffeine he could get. His thoughts had been keeping him up all night.

"Rough night?"

He turned around and saw Diana with a smirk on her face, as if she knew that her words would keep him up all night.
Peter grumbled in response and walked to his office.
Somehow Diana managed to smirk at him everytime he looked down at the bullpen, oh she knew exactly what she did. She got into his head and wouldn't leave.
So after spending half an hour shifting his gaze from the phone to Diana he picked the phone up and typed in the number, which he had memorized by now from all the times he had lifted the paper from his pocket and stared at it.
Peter was about to hang up when finally, she answered and her voice sounded even more lovely than he could remember.

"This is Elizabeth"
"Hi Elizabeth this is Peter"
"Oh hi"

He could hear the mix of uncertainty and hopefulness in her voice, she was probably unsure if he called for personal reasons or to talk about the case.

"I've been thinking and I do want to go out with you"
"That's great! And I still want to go out with you"

Peter smiled at her change of tone, now she just sounded happy.

"So tonight 8 o'clock?"

He suggested and he could hear the turning of pages while she checked her schedule.

"Yes I can make that work"
"Great. There's this Italian place close to your job, you know it?"
"Yes, I've heard it's great"
"It is. I'll see you there?"
"I'll see you there"

Peter put down the phone and as he looked down at the bullpen Jones and Diana were both giving him thumbs up. Peter sighed and shook his head.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When Elizabeth walked into the restaurant she took his breath away.
He had thought she was beautiful in her staff uniform but that was before he saw her in a dress.
Despite the fact that the blue dress looked cheap, it worked on her and Peter started to question if she was even human, or if she really was a goddess.
He got up and pulled out her chair for her and they started their dinner.
The conversation was light and natural and even if they had many differences, they connected.
Peter didn't think he'd ever had a conversation like that before, a conversation where you could talk for hours on end without getting bored.
Eventually they ended up talking about the little detail that almost stopped Peter from going out with her.
"So what is he like, your son?"
Peter asked after Elizabeth had finished talking about how she visited a museum with him.
Elizabeth looked a little surprised, maybe it wasn't that common for her dates to ask about her kid, especially not on the first date.
The kid's name was Neal and he was six. Elizabeth described him as a kind, intelligent and artistic kid.
"He sounds great"
Peter said, sure the kid sounded alright when she described him but all parents described their kids as little saints, while in reality the kid could be little demon.

"Is his dad still around or is it just you?"
"It's just me, his father has never been a part of it"

Peter gave her a sad smile, not even being able to imagine what she must have gone through.
He decided to not push the subject further and instead going back to the kid.

"I'd like to meet Neal one day"

That was a lie. He might have accepted that the kid was a part of this, but he wasn't ready to meet the boy yet.

"Of course, but I want to get to know you first. I hope you understand that I need to know what kind of man you are before I let you meet my son"

That was totally understandable, she had no idea who Peter was and she was protective of her son, making sure that he wasn't going to get hurt.

"I understand. So does that mean you want a second date?"

Elizabeth laughed while she tucked a curl of hair behind her ear.

"I do"