"Give me it!" Faith screamed. "NO! MINE!" Natalie yelled as she ran all over the house with Faith's favorite toy. Lily threw herself on the couch, having long since given up on trying to referee them. She had a throbbing headache that continued to get worse along with an achiness all over her body. Of course, now was the perfect time to get the flu, she thought to herself. With Holden, Luke, and Emma all out of town visiting Iva, she was left alone with two very rambunctious little girls. But, in a way she was glad Holden was temporarily gone. It amazed her that they once could tell what the other was thinking and now it was awkward just to be in the same room with him. Before he left, however, he informed her that he filed for divorce. That was a long time coming, she decided, but it still hurt. There was a moment after Julia's death where he wanted to move back in. Everything in her was saying yes, just forget everything and start over. But she couldn't do that. It would be for the wrong reasons and they had their three children to consider.

Keith drove his car up to Lily's driveway and then picked up the lilies he had chosen for Lily. Maybe a little cheezy, he thought, but he just couldn't resist. He had been looking forward to this day for the past week. "Are you asking me on a date?" he remembered Lily asking him when he asked her to have dinner at Al's one night with him. "A date," Keith shook his head. "That's such a strong word. This would just be a mutual gathering of two good friends. Call it a celebration of starting over." Les Sweeney had been convicted of murdering his sister and he could finally get on with his life. JJ wanted to live with Jack and Carly and they were good to him, so he agreed. He decided to make his residence in Oakdale permanent, to be close to him. To go to his soccer games and school functions, to hopefully be a familiar face in the life of a boy who had not been allowed to be a kid yet. But, then again, maybe JJ wasn't the only reason he wanted to stay. Maybe a certain brunette had intrigued him enough for him to want to get to know her. Of course, that certain brunette had plenty of baggage and a soon-to-be ex-husband to boot, but now that he was in town permanently, he could take it slow.

As he walked up the driveway and toward Lily's front door, Keith was smiling so wide he was afraid Lily would think he was an idiot. However, his face fell as soon as Lily answered the door. She looked pale and tired, like she hadn't slept in weeks. She obviously had forgotten all about their plans to go out. "Hey," was all he could think of to say when he saw her. "Keith," Lily said as though she was shocked he was on her doorstep. Then she remembered, "Oh, my God, I completely forgot. I'm so sorry." Keith tried to hide his disappointment as he walked through the door and into the house. Lily noticed he was hiding something behind his back and tried to turn to get a good look at it just as he brought a beautiful bouquet of flowers to her view. "I saw these on the way here, and... well, they reminded me of you. Tears came to Lily's eyes as she took the flowers and she brought a hand to her mouth. "Hey, what's the matter?" Keith asked, noticing she looked upset. "I just can't believe I forgot about this. I mean you show up with these beautiful flowers and I'm just a mess," she cried looking down at herself and trying to smooth her wrinkled clothing. Keith looked into her eyes and noticed something else was bothering her, something bigger. "What happened?" he asked. "Holden filed for divorce." she said before she started sobbing. Keith just pulled her into his arms and let her cry while he stroked her hair and told her everything would be alright.

Touching her for the first time since he arrived, Keith realized she felt unusually hot. "Oh my God, you're sick, aren't you?" he asked feeling her forehead with his hand and then letting it slide down her face. "You're burning up." Lily shook her head, "I'm fine. I'm just tired that's all." "No, you're not fine. You look like you're about to keel over. You should be in bed.", he told her, idoly stroking her arm. "Its kind of hard to go to bed when you have two little kids running around." she told Keith as she turned around to look at them playing in the living room. "They've been so hyper all day. Its like they know whats going on." She stood with her back to him for a few seconds until he saw her sway and quickly moved up to keep her from falling. "Ok, I'm taking you to bed," Keith insisted still holding onto her and leading her toward the stairs. "Wait, I have to put the kids to bed." "I'll do that." Keith said and Lily looked at him like he just told her he was taking a trip to the moon. "You?" she asked. "Yeah, I learned a few things from taking care of JJ." Lily wanted to argue, but she was just too tired. On their way upstairs, she leaned on him a little more than she really needed to. She liked the feel of Keith's arms around her, how she fit against his body.

Once Lily was resting in bed, Keith went downstairs to put the kids to bed. Alright, Morrisey, he thought to himself. Two little kids. How hard can this be? He stood and watched them for a minute, seeing two miniature versions of Lily. He wondered what Lily might have been at that age, but his thoughts were interrupted by Faith saying, "I know you. You're JJ's uncle." Keith smiled, "That's right, I'm Keith." "Where's my mom?" Faith asked. "She's not feeling very well. That's why I need two to do me a favor. You see, you mom needs to rest so I was hoping we could go upstairs quietly and get you ready for bed." "Ok," Faith said, bringing Natalie over to where Keith was standing. "Mommy usually reads us a story before we go to sleep." "A story, huh. I think I can handle that."

When the girls were asleep, Keith snuck back up to Lily's bedroom. "That's the quietest its been all day. How did you do that," Lily said, amazed. "It was easy. Just a couple of stories and they were out like a light." Lily smiled, "Thanks." Before Keith could say anything more, Lily sat up in bed holding onto her head and groaning. "I have the worst headache." she said. Keith hesitated at first but sat down on the bed beside her and rubbed her temples with his fingers. After a few seconds, Lily seemed to relax. "Better?" Lily nodded and layed back down. Keith walked away for a minute and returned with a glass of water and some asprin for her to take.

"So," Lily said after a few minutes, "You can negotiate with two very obstinant little girls and nurse me back to health, any other talents I should know about?" "Well, I make a mean pizza" Keith said. "Really?" Lily said with the same enthusiasm he had seen in her two daughters just a few minutes before. "No," he admitted with a chuckle and Lily laughed. "But I'm very good at ordering them." It was a simple joke, but that didn't keep Lily from laughing until her sides hurt. She hadn't laughed like that in quite a while.

After a few minutes, the mood turned serious again, "Thanks for all of this." Lily said to Keith. Keith pushed a stray lock of Lily's hair behind her ear and said "you're welcome." "You know, you can go. I'll be ok." "Are you kidding," Keith said. "I'm not going to leave you here with the flu and two little kids. I'll sleep on the couch if you want but I'm not going anywhere. You helped me find Julia's killer. Consider this returning the favor." Lily was touched and wasn't sure what to say. "I'll let you get some sleep." Keith said and started to walk out until Lily stopped him. "Wait." she said. "I'd like it if you'd stay." she continued as she patted the bed beside her. Keith walked over and got comfortable on the bed and Lily layed her head on his chest. Keith was hesitant to admit to himself how right this felt but slowly became more comfortable and put his arms around Lily. He didn't know what the future had in store for them, but so far he liked where this was going and he had a feeling she did too.

THE END