The bar was a little dingy and very, VERY rough around the edges and Missy had to carefully pull her high-heeled feet from the sticky floor with every step she took.

Missy, who was clutching the wriggling Emily's hand tightly in her own, stared about a little nervously.

This wasn't like any bar she had ever frequented. It was dark and currently littered with a few unsavoury –looking characters dotted here and there, most of which Missy knew she would probably cross the street to avoid.

Along the far wall stood an old and tired looking bar, lined with dusty bottles of liquor and streak-stained glasses. This really wasn't somewhere she should be bringing a two-year old.

"Bathroom is just over here," uttered Wade, close behind her, pointing to a door over to their right, emblazoned with a large pink W.

Missy glanced back at the merc over her shoulder, giving him a lingering look, before nodding.

And with that she tugged Emily over toward the door.


Ten minutes later, the pair emerged hand in hand once more.

Emily had luckily made it into the grotty bathroom stall just in time, which was a relief for both of them.

Missy had then lifted Emily up to the washbasin where the pair of them had run their hands under the faucet, the caramel-haired woman praying that Emily didn't try reading any of the filthy graffiti lining the wall just to their right.

Walking out of the bathroom a little cautiously, Missy glanced around, looking for Wade, and was barely surprised to see him leaning against the bar, talking to a bespectacled man in a Black Sabbath t-shirt who was stood on the other side.

Wade instantly shot them a wide grin, beckoning them over.

Missy knew that they should probably go…but before she knew it, the pair of them were strutting over to the mercenary and his bartender friend.

As they arrived at his side, he pushed a glass towards Missy.

"I got you both a drink," he said cheerily, his eyes grazing over her features. "A whisky and coke for you..."

He tapped the glass full of the dark mixer, before quickly bending down and sweeping the tiny Emily up into his arms with a groan.

"And for you, Chicken Little," he said as Emily gave a giggle, grasping his ear in her tiny digits, her other hand in her drool-covered mouth. "A chocolate milk."

Missy gave a bemused smile, glancing down to indeed see a little carton of chocolate milk with a large cartoon rabbit on the side, sitting on the bar.

She was about to open her mouth to question it when the bartender beside them spoke-

"Chocolate milk is Booth over there's, hangover drink of choice," he uttered, nodding over towards a big-set, guy sitting in the corner, slumped over a glass of whisky.

"Cwoclat?" asked Emily suddenly, causing Wade to beam widely.

"Yuh-huh," replied Wade, setting the tiny girl down onto a high barstool beside them, before standing behind her, making sure she didn't topple backwards. He handed her the carton of milk and undid the cap for her. "'Fraid that you're going to have to wait until you're 21 to start doing shots and hustling guys at pool."

He looked up at Missy, who gave a smirk before glancing down towards her own heart thudded inside her chest.

Emily however didn't seem interested in the milk instead making grabby hands towards a brightly-coloured beer mat on the bar, which Weasel handed to her, chuckling.

"So you must be the famous Missy and Emily, Wade's always in here talking about," said Weasel conversationally, offering her a lopsided grin.

Missy smirked, glancing up at the blonde merc beside her.

"Not all bad stuff I hope?" she said, her eyes meeting with Wade's. She could feel herself blushing under his returned gaze.

"Nah," said Wade giving an easy shrug. "Just telling my main man, Weasel here, how you were my hot and sexy-nurse when I got beat up on that job last month."

Missy rolled her eyes but she couldn't help but notice Wade shoot Weasel a warning look.

She stared at the pair curiously.

But Wade turned back to her, nonchalantly, pushing her still-full glass towards her.

"Drink up," he murmured, leaning in towards her. Missy felt her breath catch slightly as he did so.

But she merely shook her head, nudging the glass away from her.

"As much as I appreciate the gesture," she bit back teasingly. "I have a two-year old daughter I probably should be concentrating on. Sorry."

She looked down at Emily, who was currently chewing on the sticky-beer mat.

Missy pulled it from the toddler's grasp immediately.

"Ah, ah, ah," she said placing it onto the bar away from Emily.

But immediately Emily's face crumpled and she gave a sad little pout.

"Awwww," came a sudden gruff voice from behind them. "What's wrong tiny?"

Missy turned to see a large bald man with a long grey beard, stare down at Emily, cocking his head to the side.

Emily stared up at him for a moment, her little mouth falling open. The tiny girl wasn't used to having this much attention. She gave a babble, and pointed her sticky paw out towards him.

The man clutched at his heart. "She is so precious," he said looking at Missy. "Can I?" He nodded towards the little girl.

Missy glanced at Wade uncertainly. "I….um…she's not really that great with strangers…"

And true to Missy's word, Emily turned to Wade shyly, making grabby hands at him instead.

Wade grinned, lifting the toddler back up into his arms. She instantly tucked her tiny head beneath his chin.

"Do not tell me this is your kid, Wilson?" growled the burly man, giving a laugh. "How the hell did you manage to produce something so perfect, I mean look at you!"

Wade raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks for that, Buck," uttered the merc with contempt in his voice. "But sadly this beautiful little creature here is not mine."

Wade gave a mock-growl as Emily pawed at his face, giggling.

Missy watched the pair of them, giving an inward sigh…

Had she really made the right decision, pushing Wade away like that?

Seeing the two of them together like this… her heart thudded.

But her thoughts were soon disturbed by a the sound of high heels strutting caross the room, and before she knew it, a dark-taloned hand had slipped its way over Wade's shoulder.

"Well hey there, good-looking," came the purring voice of a petite, dark-haired woman with dark-red lips and a teasing smile.

Missy gave a gulp as Wade turned and smiled at the woman. And for the first time in years she felt the bitter sting of jealousy score through her.

"Oh hey," said Wade cheerily, grinning up at her like the idiot he was.

Was there something between the pair of them? The way her hand remained on his shoulder like that…

Missy stared hard at them.

"And who is this gorgeous little thing?" uttered Vanessa, stroking Emily's soft, pink cheek with her finger. She gave a laugh as the toddler waved up at her shyly.

"This," uttered Wade carrying on clueless. "is Em-Bear. You wanna say hi to Vanessa?"

But Emily shook her head shyly, burying her face in the fluffy sheepskin collar of Wade's coat.

Missy looked on, trying to stop herself from sighing.

Wade and Vanessa would make a cute couple, there was no denying that. And, hey, who was Missy to judge, she had made her decision and now she needed to let them merc be happy and get on with his life. He could date anyone he wanted…

"And this…" said Wade suddenly, smiling widely and nodding over towards Missy herself, standing there silently. "…is her beautiful yummy-mommy, Missy."

At his words Missy couldn't help but flush red, not even noticing Vanessa shoot Wade a knowing look.

"Ahhh, Missy," said Vanessa, almost beaming from ear to ear. "It's really good to meet you."

Missy flashed her a genuine smile in return. "Likewise."

But right at this minute Missy felt like all she wanted to do was down her whisky like a shot and get out of here….

She looked at Emily.

"I think we should probably start making a move-" she uttered, but her words were drowned out by a sudden loud male voice.

"Oh my word, isn't she gorgeous?" came a loud-southern drawl as two older men ambled up to Wade, peering down at the smiling Emily, still sat happily in the merc's arms.

"Such a little sugar-dumplin" said another. "Reminds me of my grandkid."

Missy let out a silent sigh, as a crowd formed around the little girl, Wade showing her off proudly.

Maybe they could hang around for a few more minutes…


Twenty whole minutes later and Emily was currently sat up on the pool table giggling happily, as the burly, almost frightening-looking men, cooed at her, passing her pool ball after ball and allowing her to crawl across the purple felt and push the shiny balls into the pockets.

After each one dropped out of sight, she would give a tiny squeal of excitement, as the men all laughed around her.

"Wow," said Wade suddenly in Missy's ear. "I haven't seen anyone this popular with my fellow soldiers of fortune, since we had some girl come in giving out free flyers for buy-one-get-one-free facials. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't the kind of facials we were looking for, BUT our pores were minimised beautifully."

Missy smirked. She had remained at the bar, watching as Wade and his fellow bar-goers fawned over her two-year old daughter.

Another cheer rang out as Emily dropped a red ball into the pocket.

Weasel, who was collecting glasses, looked up from what he was doing, giving a grin.

"Hey, she's better at pool than you are, Buck!" he yelled, causing another raucous roar of laughter.

Missy stared over at Emily a little nervously. Emily normally didn't react well to this level of noise. But for the first time in a long time, the toddler didn't seem to care. Too busy having fun.

"So," continued Wade, coming to stand in front of her once more, leaning up against the bar. "You…uh…you have a good Christmas?"

Missy stared instantly up at him.

Neither of them had yet broached the subject of her asking him to leave on Christmas day…

"Um…." She glanced down at her high—heeled feet. "…it was ok…a-and yours?"

The guilt hit Missy like a tonne of bricks. How well could his Christmas have gone…he didn't seem to have any family nearby or any friends he was likely to have spent the day with…

But Wade gave an easy shrug, his lips twitching up into a smile. "Well I got drunk on eggnog, cried my eyes out to It's A Wonderful Life and passed out by 6pm…so, you know…the usual festive spectacular…"

He offered her a goading look, as Missy rolled her eyes, giving a chuckle.

Over at the pool table, Missy noticed Vanessa handing Emily another heavy ball.

"So, you and Vanessa…" said Missy after a moment, looking back over at Wade. "She seems lovely."

Wade's chocolate eyes met with Missy's.

"Me and-" he began, before standing up a little straighter. "Oh…no…she's just.."

"It's ok," said Missy giving him a smile and blushing slightly. She raised her hands, speaking over him hurriedly. "There's no need to explain, really-"

"No, it's just there's-"

"No, it's fine-"

"No, I mean that there's-"

"Really, its' cool-"

Suddenly Wade grabbed both of Missy's hands in his own.

"Fuck, will you shut up…." he said loudly. Luckily everyone was to engrossed in what Emily was doing to pay any attention. Wade gave a frown. "Geez….can you let a guy finish?"

Missy scowled back.

"Excuse me?" she said a little bemused, but she did not remove her hands from his.

"God…you can be so fucking frustrating sometimes," he said shaking his head, but his eyes never leaving hers.

"Me?!" snapped Missy, interlacing her fingers with his. "I'm frustrating?!"

"YES!" growled Wade incredulously. "And annoying too!"

Missy let her mouth drop open as he took a step closer to her.

"Me? Annoying?!" she said glaring at him. "Have you even looked in the mirror Wade Wilson?"

Wade nodded. "Yep, and all I'm met with is, is a stunningly handsome, Sears catalogue-esq model, with Ryan Reynold's style good-looks."

Missy narrowed her eyes at him.

God, right now, she just wanted to punch him in that smug face of his…..or maybe just kiss him…that could work too…

The pair of them were staring at each other hard, their chest rising and falling, body's subconsciously turned into one another's…

They were barely a few inches away…all it would take was for the merc to lean in towards her…

Her heart thudded in her chest….

Oh god, she wanted him so badly, right now.…

But suddenly her daydream was broken as there came a sudden loud 'Awwwww' that filled the entire room.

She tore her eyes away, staring over to the pool table where Emily was giving a huge yawn, her little eyes blinking tiredly.

Missy gave a soft sigh and a smile.

"I think it's time to go home young lady, don't you?" she said moving swiftly over to where Emily was sat and scooping her up into her arms.

The toddler immediately rested her head against Missy's shoulder. The excitement had really tired her out.

"You wanna say goodbye to everyone?" whispered Missy, stroking the little girl's cheek with her finger.

Emily lifted her head a little and looked around sleepily.

"Bai bai," she said, giving the tiniest wave from her paw.

The small crowd immediately melted at this.

Missy smiled as her daughter settled herself once more, snuggling into her coat.

The sooner they could get home, Missy could give Emily something small to eat and get her into bed, the better.

But as she turned, she found Wade at her side, grinning down at her, his hands shoved into the pockets of his sheepskin coat.

"What?" he asked, as she stared up at him, a smirk across her features. "Well, you didn't expect me to let you walk home on your own did you? After all, I am your friendly neighbourhood, well…..neighbour."

Missy let out a chuckle, following him out of the bar and out into the cold night.


Twenty minutes later and after a mostly silent amble home, Missy and Wade found themselves in their shared hallway.

Emily was now sound asleep in Missy's arms, curled up and content.

Missy grasped in her purse for her keys with her free hand, as Wade stared on at the pair of them.

"So," said Missy conversationally. "You gonna head back down to the bar. I kinda feel bad that we disturbed your night…"

"Naaaah," said Wade shooting her a smile. "I spend waaaaay too much time in there as it is…and besides I like spending time with my ladies from across the hallway."

Missy smiled back.

"Your ladies?" she said,raising an eyebrow towards him.

"Yep," he said cheerily. "Even if they did let me down on their promise of tequila shots and karaoke."

Missy gave a laugh, tucking a strand of long, caramel hair behind her ear.

"Maybe another time…" she said gently.

Wade grinned. "You realise I'll hold you to that…" he said shooting her a look.

A moment passed between them…a silence of sorts…but it was comfortable….needed…

Wade glanced down at the sleeping Emily in Missy's arms, as she gave a little snuffle.

Taking a step towards the pair of them, he brushed back the soft, short brown hair from Emily's face.

"Night Baby-bear," he uttered, as he leant in, pressing a tiny kiss to the toddler's pink little cheek, before pulling back.

For a second or two, Wade's face was just an inch from Missy's own.

Missy could feel his warm breath on the curve of her neck and she remembered how he felt, pressed up close to her, his strong arms holding her tight…

But she shook herself, blushing slightly…and in the blink of an eye the moment had passed.

Wade took a step back and Missy looked up at him once more, her green eyes meeting with his brown ones.

"Night Wade," she uttered softly.

But the merc merely grinned back, not saying a word, just watching, as Missy pushed open her front door, and headed inside.

He waited until she had gently shoved the door closed behind her with a snap, before running a hand over his face and giving a sigh.

"Goodnight Mama-Bear…"


Thank you so much to Legolas Girl 31, jeffhardyluvsme, petiteyoyo, Momochan77, dancindonna, jonstar1034, Nipps04, Smaug the golden, Inspector Me, BellaFantasia, AngiMK, Carlypso and tallon2692 for leaving a comment on the last chapter.

What did you think about this one? Would love to hear what you think? Was it ok?

Please review