It was 2:00 on Wednesday morning and Michaela was pleased that not only was she halfway through her shift, but it also so happened that Dr. Greene and Dr. Baker were both on duty as well. Usually, there was only one other doctor on duty and typically it was Dr. Greene, as Dr. Baker had both seniority and was near retirement. Needless to say, he had plenty of sick days to burn off. Since they were both there, she may get a full twenty minutes to herself to eat a quick bite and drink a cup of coffee without one of the nurses complaining about a standard job duty that they didn't want to perform.

She was thinking of Sully at that moment alone while she was having a small meal of Greek yogurt with mixed berries. Her thoughts of him made her both happy and sad.

She was happy because she and Sully made it through their first fight and now seemed closer than ever. Sully called it their first little lovers' tiff. Michaela thought it was more serious than a mere tiff, but she was pleased that they moved past the disagreement within the same day.

As Michaela was giving Brian his bath that night, Sully returned home to pick-up Hanna who had been in the care of Miss Olive. Once he returned, the two toddlers were able to occupy each other. Sully and Michaela were then able to spend their time, first, talking out their disagreement and then, second, kissing out their disagreement.

Since then, he'd called her every night at 9:00 pm to wish her a good day at work, and every morning at 7:00 am to make sure she got home okay. Then he went through his new routine of telling her to get her rest before the children came home from school.

Sully reminded her of his offer to care for her children while she was at work, but Michaela didn't want to put Dorothy out of a job. She believed that Dorothy both needed the money, and a brief respite from her husband.

What made her sad about Sully was that he had a surprise birthday party coming up that Friday, December 9th. The reverend made her aware of the party on Tuesday, giving her only three days' notice to make arrangements at work for her not to be there. That normally would be short notice, but still doable; however, it would be impossible for this coming Friday. Dr. Baker was flying out that Friday night to go to St. Louis to attend his daughter's wedding. In addition, she and Dr. Greene had already made a deal. He took the upcoming Friday night as well because he and his girlfriend were taking a weekend trip to The Estes Park Resort, and in exchange, Michaela took Tuesday, the following week, off to attend the children's Christmas Program at school. She had already accepted responsibility as the lone Doctor on duty for the upcoming Friday, and she couldn't cancel now.

How could she miss Sully's birthday party? Every day that went by, she believed herself to be more and more in love with him. Though they hadn't said the three special words to one another yet, she felt them every day.

Snowbird had invited her to a family dinner on Saturday night to celebrate his birthday. Sully's brother Daniel was coming into town. Michaela gleefully accepted.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to buy him a gift, until she was paid, but her children sweetly created handmade cards. She wasn't so worried about not having a birthday gift for him because he knew the financial difficulties that she was facing right now. She figured that she would make it up to him by giving him an extra special Christmas gift.

Gift or no gift, she knew they'd have a wonderful time celebrating together with his family, but she still felt like a cad for not attending his surprise party.

She imagined the night. Sully walks into Grace's restaurant expecting a normal dinner, and they all yell, "Surprise!" He is disgruntled, at first, for being tricked into being the center of attention. Then he looks around into the eyes of all of the people that love and care for him. He looks into everyone's eyes but hers.

"Dr. Quinn, please pick up line two," someone said through the intercom of her office.

Michaela huffed to herself and looked down at her watch. Thankful that she was able to at least get ten minutes to herself, she put her feelings of woe over Sully's party aside and picked up line two.

It was 9:10 on Wednesday night and Sully clicked end on his phone. He did his very best to get Michaela pumped up for another long night at work. Though he was always on her side and was supportive of her career, he couldn't wait for her office to reopen so she could quit her hospital job.

He got it. He understood that she had to do what she had to do to make money, but he wished that she didn't have to work such difficult hours. She'd already worked once that day, from midnight to 6:00 in the morning. Now she was having to work again, on the same day, from 10:00 to 11:59 pm.

He wished that he could tell her to quit her job and let him support her and her family until she could go back to work at her practice. Alas, he couldn't do that. It wasn't because he didn't want to. Sully believed that you sacrifice for the one you love, and he knew he loved Michaela even though he hadn't told her that yet.

If he'd learned anything from the little lover's tiff that they had just gotten through the previous week, it was that Michaela had her pride. She'd made up her mind that she was going to make it through, until her office was able to be reopened. He just couldn't see her letting him support her in that way… unless they were married.

Perhaps he should propose?

Though marrying Michaela held a certain appeal, it was too soon. Well…sure, he'd love to go to bed with her next to him every night and wake-up with her next to him every morning. Of course, he'd love to build a family with her, be a father to her children and give his children a mother. Perhaps they could even start the baby-making process, so he can meet the little girl who's been invading his dreams. And maybe, just maybe, he could build that great big house that he keeps seeing in his dreams as well.

He needed to think of something else. The more he thought about these things, the more he wanted them. Those kinds of wants were just a little too much to unload on a woman that he'd only been officially dating for thirteen days.

"Did ya finish sayin' goodnight?" Sully heard his brother ask from the other room.

Daniel was in town. He wasn't supposed to be there until Saturday morning, so he could attend the birthday dinner that his mother was having for Sully. However, he explained to Sully that he had made plans with a woman on Thursday night, and they were attending a party or something on Friday.

Daniel had arrived in the late afternoon. He was staying with Snowbird and had dinner with her. He went to Sully's house after dinner, played with his niece and nephew until it was their bedtime, and graciously waited for Sully to finish telling his new girlfriend goodnight. Now Daniel wanted to have an adult conversation with his brother.

"Yeah," Sully said. He'd called Michaela from his bedroom and was now making his way out to the living room. He had a seat on his sectional, a few feet away from Daniel.

"So, we're both lucky at the same time," Daniel commented, "How'd ya meet yours?"

"She's a single mom and-" Sully started to say.

"You're both on the PTA?" Daniel joked, as he cut Sully off.

"Nah, not me," Sully said with a chuckle, "She would be great at that sorta thing, but, anyway, what I was gonna say is that she's a doctor and she treated a minor injury that I had, plus our kids go to the same schools."

"What's this I hear about you forcin' Zac into some hoity-toity private school?" Daniel questioned, ready to give Sully his opinion on private schools, and how they turned normal young men into pansies that can't even kill a spider.

"He wasn't gettin' a good education," Sully admitted to his brother, "At this new school, he's a little behind, but he's catchin' up. He's learnin' to focus and think about things other than how to take a test, and that's what I want for him."

"What's your new lady's name?" Daniel inquired, changing the subject back to his brother's new love. If Sully's concern was Zachary getting a good education, then he had nothing negative to say about that, "And do ya play doctor together often?"

Sully started to chuckle. He knew that Daniel was going to go there, "Her name is Michaela and we've never played doctor."

"Tell me you've had her in the sack," Daniel demanded with a laugh, "That's what ya need, Sully."

"We just started datin'," Sully said, trying to avoid this subject. He hadn't been with Michaela, in that fashion, but even if he had, he wasn't about to give Daniel the details.

"I'll take that as a no," his brother laughed.

"Why don't we talk about your new lady instead," Sully suggested, wanting to get off the subject of Michaela in the sack.

"Deerie and I met in Vegas," Daniel explained, "She lives in town, and she's great in the sack."

Sully couldn't help but laugh when his brother gave his description of his new girlfriend.

"She lives in town?" he commented, "You met a woman in Vegas that lives in Colorado Springs?"

"Yes, Sir," Daniel confirmed with a smile, "She took a trip with a few girlfriends, and they ended up watchin' me play at a club that's just off the strip. She's the forward type, so I had a feelin' I was gonna get lucky, but I just didn't expect it to go past a one-night stand."

"And that's her real name?" Sully remarked, "Deerie?"

"That's my special nickname for her," he explained.

"How long have ya been screw…um... datin'?" Sully questioned.

Daniel chuckled at his brother for almost using the word screwing, "They came down, by plane, in the beginning of October, and then she flew again, by herself, closer to Halloween. Then we met each other again in Green River, Utah. We both drove half-way that time, and now, I'm here."

Sully was somewhat relieved by Daniel's description of this new relationship. He knew Daniel and his love-them-and-leave-them lifestyle, complete with rounds of one-night stands. It sounded like he was at least giving this woman a chance.

Sully and Daniel were raised from a certain age as brothers. They were close friends, as brothers should be, and they both thought the same way about a variety of different subjects. A big exception was their individual feelings about love. They were so different about that. After losing so many people in his life, Sully longed for a family. He liked being in steady relationships, he liked the security of marriage, and he loved being a father. Daniel, on the other hand, was scared of falling in love. He was scared of opening up his heart, only to have it broken when he gets left behind.

"Was Daniel changing his mind?" Sully thought to himself. Sully had always believed that once Daniel found the right woman, he would give up his fears of being left behind. Perhaps this Deerie was the right one for him.

"I can't wait for you and Ma to meet her," Daniel said, "She's funny and she'll keep us laughin' all night."

"Alright," Sully said with a nod, "I hope you'll like Michaela."

"I'll like anyone that makes my brother happy," Daniel vowed. He thought that Sully had been through a lot, and he deserved a little happiness.

"Thank you," Sully said.

It was now Friday morning at 8:00. Michaela had wished Sully a Happy Birthday when he called her that morning. She was still upset that she wasn't able to attend his surprise party that night and decided to take a nice hot bath after she kissed her children goodbye. Then Dorothy loaded them into the car to take them all to school.

As she laid on her couch in navy blue micro-fleece pajamas with her damp hair in a long braid, determined to get some sleep, she heard her doorbell ring.

Michaela groaned. She got up, walked to the door and looked through the peephole.

"Sully," she whispered aloud. She couldn't stop the large smile from forming on her face as she opened the door to let him in, "Happy Birthday," she told him a second time when she opened the door.

"Thank you," he replied and bent down to kiss her lips, "I knew you wouldn't be gettin' your rest like you're supposed to."

Michaela smiled to herself and shut the door behind them. She glanced downward and saw that he was carrying a reusable bag from Whole Foods, "I was about to try to get some rest, but a very handsome man rang my doorbell…and brought groceries?"

"Since I knew you wouldn't be sleepin', I thought I should come by and cook us breakfast," Sully explained flirtatiously, "Then I thought I could tuck ya into bed and snuggle with ya…Ya know, so you wouldn't get too lonely."

"Oh, certainly," Michaela flirted back with a raised eyebrow and said, "Today is your birthday. I should be doing all this for you."

"It's my birthday," Sully echoed, "And you lettin' me take care of ya would make me very happy today."

"What are you making then?" she asked, deciding she would let him be happy since she still felt so guilty about her not being able to attend his party that evening.

"Since you've lived in Colorado for a few months, I thought it was about time that you tasted a good ol' fashioned Denver Omelet," Sully explained, "I'll roast you up some red potatoes, which are one of my breakfast specialties, and I'll mix some fresh berries in honey to go with it."

"That sounds lovely," Michaela said with a dreamy smile on her face.

"You need somethin' to fill your stomach other than that flavorless, god-awful oatmeal that you eat every day," he said, feigning disgust.

"My oatmeal is perfect!" Michaela protested, trying to stifle a laugh. He was teasing her now and she was trying to play along, "and I don't eat it every day, sometimes I eat yogurt."

"Yum-EE," he said with almost no emotion, "How about some real food today?"

Michaela followed him to her kitchen. He'd already learned where everything was, so she didn't have to help him find anything. Then she got excited because she remembered that she bought something for him when she went grocery shopping. It was horrible, bitter, dark roast coffee that she knew he'd like. It wasn't a coffee brand that she usually bought, and the flavor was supposedly brand new. However, when she saw the package of K-cups, she just had a feeling that Sully would like them.

"I got you something," Michaela said, getting excited.

"What's that?" Sully asked, as he was chopping up a large green pepper.

"I found this for you when I went shopping," Michaela said, showing him the box of K-cups, "Do you want to try it?"

"Sure," Sully said, touched that she thought of him. He looked at the box and was a little taken back. He didn't understand why, it was just a box of K-cups, but there was something about that particular brand of coffee and he couldn't quite put his finger on it, "I think I've seen that before."

"At Whole Foods, perhaps? Or maybe you saw the same brand in a different flavor," Michaela said, "They were advertising it at Safeway as brand new."

"Yeah, maybe," he agreed. Sully wanted to pin-point where he'd seen that particular flavor from that particular brand before. He didn't know why it was bothering him so much to not know, it was just coffee, but he had to figure it out.

"Would you like a cup?" she offered a second time.

"Yes, please," he answered. He finished chopping up the green pepper and started on the red one. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she retrieved two coffee cups, "I hope you're plannin' on decaf. After breakfast, you're goin' straight to bed."

"I'm making decaffeinated tea for myself," she informed him. She didn't know if she should be touched that he cared or be angry because he was ordering her around. When she turned and looked at him and he winked at her, she decided that she would be touched that he cared.

Sully finished chopping the red pepper, set it to the side with the green pepper, and then started peeling an onion. Michaela approached him with his cup of coffee. When Sully saw her with the cup in hand, it hit him where he'd seen the coffee brand before. It was in one of his dreams about his future life with Michaela. This brand of K-cups was new right now, but he had a feeling that it would become a staple in their home in the future. Sully smiled at her; they were on the path to their future happiness.

"My hands are messy," Sully said and he stilled his hands. He knew the second he cut into the onion, his eyes were going to start watering, "Can ya help me try it?"

Michaela grinned and held the cup up to his lips, "Don't burn yourself," she warned.

Sully took a few sips, looked into her eyes, and said, "Delicious."

As they looked into each other's eyes, they both felt an enormous amount of tension rising from within. They wanted to kiss. They wanted to kiss until neither could feel their lips anymore because they had gone numb from kissing, but alas… Sully's phone dinged in his pocket, and the tension was broken.

Sully gave her a quick peck and then requested, "Can you help me with my phone?"

Michaela obligingly retrieved the phone from Sully's front pocket. She planned to hold his phone in front of his face so he could read his message, but his phone was passcode protected, "Do you want to wash your hands, so you can put in your code?"

"You can put in my code," Sully said, "I trust ya. It's 1989."

"For the year you were born?" Michaela asked, with a small grin on her face.

"Yes," he responded, "I needed something I could remember." Then it hit him that he knew her birthday was February 15th, but he'd never asked her what her age was.

"My passcode is 1988 for the same reason," she informed him and effectively answered his question without him having to ask outright.

"You were born in '88?" he questioned, "I didn't realize I was datin' an older woman."

"A little maturity never hurt anyone," She responded and unlocked his phone. The message was from Grace. Michaela clicked it and held the phone in front of Sully's face.

"Remember, 9:00 SHARP!" Sully read, and then he told Michaela, "Respond with 'Yes, Ma'am'," Once Michaela responded back to Grace, Sully explained as he started chopping up the fully peeled onion, "She wants me to come to her restaurant tonight for cake. I gotta feelin' she planned some kinda party, I just hope it ain't that big."

Michaela felt her heart pounding in her chest and avoided eye contact with Sully as she slipped his phone back into his pocket. She knew that Grace was in fact inviting him to his own surprise party. It was a party for her boyfriend that she wasn't able to attend.

"You, okay?" Sully asked, noticing her blinking away a few tears.

"The onions are starting to get to me," she lied, but she couldn't tell him why she was really upset.

"Me too," he replied, "I usually cut onions with sunglasses on."

"Promise you'll have a great time tonight," Michaela said, feeling guilt penetrating her being.

"If Grace doesn't go overboard, then I'll probably be able to enjoy myself with my friends," Sully informed her, "I prefer quiet dinners and get-togethers to loud, ragin' parties. Which is why I am much more excited for you to come to Ma's house tomorrow and meet my brother."

Michaela was glad to hear that he was looking forward to the event that she could attend, though that did little to assuage her guilt. She was certain if she could attend the party with him, she could help him enjoy it.

"I'm excited to meet your brother," Michaela admitted.

"I'm excited for that too," Sully stated, squeezing his watery eyes shut. He finished cutting up the onion and used the cutting board to help him pour all of the vegetables into a skillet and put it on the stove away from him and his eyes, "He's bringin' his new girlfriend too. We'll all meet each other at the same time."

"I hope I'll make a good impression," Michaela said truthfully.

"You will, Darlin'," Sully told her, "And if not, the only opinion about you that really matters to me is mine."

"Sully," Michaela scolded and laughed at the same time.

Sully parked his truck in front of Grace's restaurant at 8:58. He looked around and was pleased when he saw that the parking lot only had a few cars parked in front.

So far, he'd been pleased with how his birthday turned out. He took his kids to school in the morning, then he went shopping and had breakfast with Michaela. He tucked her into bed and sat with her until he was certain that she'd fallen into deep sleep. Then he returned to work, picked up his kids from school and had a nice quiet afternoon and then dinner with them. About a half an hour ago, he left them in his mother's care and drove to Grace's restaurant. He even had a chance to call Michaela, a little earlier than usual, and tried to get her pumped up to go to work.

Before he hung up with Michaela, she made him promise once again that he'd at least try to have a good time with his friends that evening. Since he promised, he supposed he should at least try to make good on it.

When Sully walked to the front door of the restaurant, he murmured to himself in a low irritated growl, "Why?" He could see through the windows that the entire restaurant was dark, but the door was unlocked, and Grace had left a little note that read, "Happy Birthday Sully, let yourself in," Sully knew exactly what was going to happen once he opened the door. He had a sneaking suspicion that Michaela knew too, because why would she have made him promise to enjoy himself so many times if she knew nothing?

Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for the inevitable and opened the door.

"SURPRISE!" A large group of people yelled as the lights came on. There was everyone he knew, standing in front. His brother, Daniel, who'd been in on it all along, Tim, Horace, Grace, Robert E., Olive, some of his workers, business associates, other people from high school, and what looked like about fifty young women that he did not know, who were eyeing him like a piece of meat.

"Where is she?" Grace scolded the reverend when he saw that Sully walked in alone, "You were supposed to invite her!"

"I did," Tim vowed, holding up his hands.

"Hey, Sully! Check out your gift from me!" Horace yelled, getting Sully's attention. When Sully looked his way, Horace pressed down on a metal knob that was attached to some kind of lever. It looked like it was from an old telegraph machine. When he did that, the lid of an old suitcase opened, and several animatronic bears appeared and were holding plastic balloons that lit up. The bears proceeded to serenade Sully with a very rockabilly sounding version of Happy Birthday.

It was just so random that Sully couldn't help but laugh, "Thanks, Horace."

"I made it myself," Horace said with a proud smile.

"It's unique," Sully said, still chuckling, but rather impressed that Horace created that contraption, "I know my daughter will love it!"

Robert E. went to the back of the restaurant and turned on some modern music and watched as it helped get people feel comfortable enough to start mingling.

"I appreciate all this, Grace," Sully said, approaching her and Tim, "But Why? And what's with all these women?"

"Your girlfriend was supposed to be invited too, but someone forgot to do his job," Grace explained, giving Tim an accusatory look.

"I told her about it!" Tim defended himself against Grace's scrutiny.

"She's workin' nights right now, Grace," Sully informed her, "There is no way she could've come to this."

"See," Tim said, crossing his arms in vindication.

"Oh," Grace said, "That's too bad."

"But, why?" Sully asked again, holding out his arms to everyone at the party.

"Well, Robert E. and I planned to throw you a party," Grace explained, "We thought you deserved one. It was Miss Olive's idea, originally, to have each guest bring a single woman who's about your age. Since you started this new relationship just before your birthday, we decided to still throw you the party and still invite all the single women in hopes that Tim and Horace might meet someone new."

"I'm seein' Myra!" Horace yelled, when he overheard his name, "Or I intend to," he quickly amended.

"Please stay and have some fun," Grace said, "And I did bake you a cake."

"Thanks, Grace," Sully said and leaned in to kiss her cheek. It was the thought that counts, and Grace was very thoughtful.

"Happy Birthday, Brother," Daniel approached Sully with a wide smile.

"You lyin' sack of cow…" Sully started to say.

"Watch it!" Daniel warned with a laugh.

"...dung!" Sully said, careful with his choice of words.

"Just tryin' to help my brother grab the bull by the horns," Daniel explained, "Like Grace said, this was all planned out before ya started datin' Michaela."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sully said, "Are you gonna introduce me to the new lady in your life? You won't meet mine until tomorrow."

"Absolutely," Daniel said with a smile, "Deerie, come here and meet my brother!"

Sully saw the back of the woman that Daniel was involved with. She looked attractive from the back; she had a nice body that she was showing off in a tight dress with a short skirt. She had a long mane of blonde hair that had been teased into beach waves. When she turned around and faced him, his jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

"Happy Birthday, Sully!" she sang happily, "The second my sweet little stud-muffin told me your name, I just knew it had to be you."

"Deerie said that she thinks she's met ya before?" Daniel questioned.

Sully, who was still dumbfounded, couldn't find any words.

"You have to remember me," she said, "I'm Catherine Carol Shiverdeer, remember? You helped me pull my car out of the road that day?" She turned her attention to Daniel then, "Then I ran into him and his wife sometime later."

"It was that long ago?" Daniel asked. It had to have been well over a year ago, if she'd seen him with his wife.

"No," Carol said, dumbfounded, "It wasn't that long ago."

Then they both turned to Sully. Sully, who finally regained his wits, spoke up, "Sure, I remember you," How could he forget? He turned to Daniel and said, "It was just a few months ago, and I was with Michaela, not Abagail," Then he turned back to Carol and said, "Michaela's my girlfriend."

"Oh, he was with his girlfriend," Carol said to Daniel, "I think she got the wrong idea when I ran into them, the poor dear."

Sully was fairly certain that Michaela got exactly the right idea when Carol ran into them, but it didn't matter now, "It's nice to see ya again," He told Carol politely, "I hope y'all have fun."

Then Sully got himself away from Daniel and Carol as soon as possible. He made his way to the food table and thought to himself, "Tomorrow is sure gonna be a fun night."

He'd make sure to warn Michaela beforehand.

Michaela told her nurses to handle what they could and warned them not to disturb her for the next twenty minutes. She needed a break, and she was determined to get one. It was 2:00 in the morning again and she needed some time to herself.

When she reached her office, she was stunned to find her door already opened and the lights were on, "Who's in there!" She demanded sternly and pushed the door wide open.

"Just me," Sully said with an amused dimpled grin.

"Sully," she gasped. She walked quickly to him and threw her arms around his neck, "What are you doing here? How did you get in here?"

"I have my ways," Sully said, amused with the shocked expression on her face.

"Is your party over?" she asked.

"You did know about it," he concluded aloud, his small grin turning into a wide smile.

Michaela got a very sheepish look on her face and admitted that she knew about the party, "Yes, I knew, and I felt so guilty that I couldn't attend."

"Nah. Don't feel guilty," he said, shaking his head, "Since you couldn't come to the party, I brought the party to you. You told me that you usually get time in your office at 2:00, so here I am," Sully gestured to the table in Michaela's office. He had put out some party plates that were filled with some of Grace's appetizers that she'd made for Sully and two pieces of cake.

"Oh, Sully," Michaela said, "This is just wonderful, but you didn't answer my question."

"The party is over for me," Sully said with a smirk, "I stayed until about 1:00. Then I packed up what I wanted to bring to you and was on my way here."

"Did you have a good time?" she asked.

"I did," Sully said with a nod, "There sure were a lot of surprises," Sully decided to spare her the knowledge of who Daniel's girlfriend was at that moment, "When I left, most of the people there had left already. There were just a few people left dancin'."

"I'm glad you came," Michaela said, reaching out her hand to touch his chest, "I wasn't expecting you. We just saw each other…well, I guess it's already the next day. We are going to see each other again tonight."

Sully took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips, "When I'm not with ya, I'm thinkin' about ya. I just can't seem to get enough."

To be continued. Please Review =)

Did anyone else gasp when they read what year Sully and Michaela were born in this fic?