A/N: Thank you for the reviews. The meeting the family bit has turned out shorter than I expected, but I didn't want to drag things out. I am completely clueless as to what should happen next. I don't even have an idea in my mind so ideas would be welcome. A bit of nice fluff in this chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Part sixteen

After a night with hardly any sleep, Alex was up and making breakfast for her much to cheery niece. Lucy had jumped on her bed and woken her up with a loud Good morning. She was so not in the mood to be cheerful. The entire night she'd thought about Bobby, their kiss and what the wise thing to do would be. She'd tossed and turned and finally getting to sleep, she was waken up by her niece.

She heard knocking on her front door and left her kitchen to open it. She took a deep breath and felt her heart beating hard in her chest. She wasn't sure how to act around him and she knew, without a doubt, it would be Bobby on the other side of the door.

"Good morning." He said to her as she'd opened the door. He saw the dark circles under her eyes and knew she'd hardly slept.

Stepping into her apartment he looked around for Lucy. Seeing no sign of the little girl, he stepped closer to Alex. "Hi." He whispered, giving her a soft kiss on the lips, before walking into her kitchen.

He had decided to show her how it could be. They had gotten off to a bumpy start, but he would show her how good it could be. He would put everything they'd said to each other aside for a while. He was going to focus on her.

Alex was confused by his behaviour. What was he doing? Regaining some of her composure she followed him into her kitchen. There he was poring himself a cup of coffee as if it was just another day. Just as she was about to speak, her niece came running into the kitchen.

"Uncle Bobby!"

"Hey, little one." He ran his hand over Lucy's hair.

"What are we going to do today?"

"We are going to the park, then the movies and tonight I'll cook you two dinner."

"Cool." Lucy said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

Alex realized she apparently had no say in it.

"Let's have some breakfast before we go." Bobby finished preparing their breakfast.

At the park they bumped into one of Lucy's friend and the girl's parents. With Lucy off playing with her friend and knowing the parents were keeping an eye on them, Bobby took Alex for a little walk.

Alex felt on edge. Bobby kept in contact with her, sometimes his hand was on her lower back, guiding her. Other times he simply took her hand in his as if it was the most natural thing to do. She just couldn't get comfortable with him.

"It's okay to relax." He said as he took her hand in his and squeezed lightly.

"I can't." She admitted.

"Why not?" He pulled her a little closer, 'till their shoulders touched.

"You know why."

"Enlighten me." He entwined their fingers.

"I…" She closed her mouth again. She tried to find the right words. "You're confusing me."

Nearing a bench, Bobby guided them to it. Sitting down he took her other hand in his. For a brief moment he simply stared at her.

Standing between his legs, she looked back into his brown eyes. She loved the gently and open look he was giving her. "I don't know what to do with this." There was a helplessness in her voice and eyes.

"Alex," he whispered her name. Letting go of her hands, he put them on her hips. "Why do you have to do anything at all. Why can't you enjoy this?"

"Because I need to know. I wanna…"

He silenced her by putting his finger on her lips. "Look Alex, I know you're confused and I know I'm probably the cause. I also realize that in a way you're scared… of the possibilities."

He tugged on her hand to get her to sit down. When she did, he turned to her. "I know there's still a lot to talk about. I'm not dismissing that. I just feel like we're too focused on what has gone wrong and how we hurt each other. Can't we.." His hand played with her hair. "Can't we just focus on what we feel for each other and how good this feels?" Wanting to remind her how good it felt he gentle kissed her.

This time it was Alex who pulled back when he tried to deepen the kiss. "Don't do this, Bobby." Her voice though soft was serious.

"Why not?" He asked, keeping her close.

"Because you're deliberately throwing me off balance and it's not fair."

"Maybe, but you're not letting yourself see the whole picture. You're thinking about everything that went wrong and that can still go wrong. You're not being fair either by not giving us a real chance. I'm trying to show you how we can be while you let it pass you by without even acknowledging it." He was silent, giving her time to contemplate his words. "I'm not saying to forget everything. I'm asking you to… give this a fair chance. Like I told you yesterday, I'm not giving up."

Seeing her small, but affirmative nod, Bobby put his arm around her shoulder. "Come here." He whispered into her hair after pulling her against his side. And for the first time Alex let herself enjoy the moment. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, living the feel of his body against hers.

In the evening, after coming back from the movies, Bobby cooked dinner for Alex and Lucy. He cooked lasagne and it was delicious. He was a good cook, but had never shared that skill with Alex before. He promised himself to prepare a romantic dinner for her some time. For dessert there was cookie dough ice cream. At the end of the meal all were full.

It was nearing the time that Laura and David would pick Lucy up and Alex was slightly nervous. Ever since their talk in the park, she'd let herself enjoy Bobby's closeness. She was relaxed and confident around him. She enjoyed his touches and the looks he send her. He indeed was letting her see how it could be. Now she was wondering how he was going to handle meeting her brother and sister-in-law. She knew Laura would be easy, but David could get protective around her and she did not need that.

When the doorbell rang, it was Lucy who ran to the door and opened it. "Hi, mom and dad!" She greeted her parents. Laura as well as David hugged their daughter. "Come on, you gotta meet uncle Bobby." Lucy grabbed both her parents hands and dragged them to the living room.

Alex met then half way and gave both her Laura and David a kiss on the cheek. "Did you two have fun?"

"Yeah, we did." David winked at his wife. "So little sis, tell me, who's uncle Bobby?" Laura had told him about Lucy's story about her uncle Bobby, but both didn't really know who Bobby was and what his role in Alex's life was. As her big brother he felt obliged to find out and make sure Bobby would not hurt his sister.

Walking into the living room, Alex surprised Bobby and her family by standing next to her partner and grabbing his hand in hers. "This is Bobby." She smiled at him. "Bobby, meet Laura and David."

And as if Alex hadn't surprised Laura and David enough, Bobby made sure they were shocked. He kissed Alex on her head, before walking over to shake hands.

"Good to meet you, Bobby." Laura greeted Alex's new… friend with a big smile. The man was handsome and seemed gentle. She decided she liked him.

David eyed the tall man suspiciously. He didn't know what to think. He would observe and judge later. "Nice to meet you." David politely greeted Bobby. "How do you know Alex?"

"I… I work with her." Bobby felt uncomfortable with the way the other man eyed him.

"You're her partner?" The accusation wasn't lost on Bobby and Alex. "And what else are you?"

Noticing how Alex and Bobby uncomfortably looked at each other and shifted on their feet, Laura came to their rescue. Not wanting that her husband was going to ask even more uncomfortable questions, she announced it was time to go home.

TBC...