Disclaimer: see chapter 1

She was lost in this moment. The rest of the world could have fallen away during this time and she wouldn't have noticed. Every fiber of her being was involved in kissing him, making up for lost time.

She ran her fingers through his hair and moaned as he slipped his hand under her night shirt and made light circles on the small of her back. She was completely consumed with this kiss that she didn't feel him start to pull away from her until his hands were on her face, breaking the kiss.

"Kendall" he said breathlessly. He rested his forehead against hers and took a deep breath. "Kendall, we need to…"

"What?" she asked, running her fingers along his neck and jaw.

"Stop." She froze. That was the last word that she expected him to say, not with the way he had pulled her on to his lap, not with the way he had just been kissing her.

"Zach, what? What is it?"

"Kendall, we can just… jump into something, not after… everything and not with Lavery looming around the corner."

"He's gone" she whispered into his ear, lightly kissing him. He pushed against her shoulders and stilled her.

"For now, but he'll be back – in a few hours, the morning, tomorrow night, whenever. He's not going to stay away because you stood out in the rain tonight, screaming at him to leave. That's not Lavery's style."

"I don't care about Ryan."

"Yeah, and he may not care about you, but you do have something that he seems to care about a lot." Zach rested his hand on her stomach and looked at his hand.

She tensed up. "Zach, you said… you said that you loved me, would love me, with or without baby."

He sighed and looked back up at her. "I did."

"And that, those words, that was the most heroic thing you could have said to me."

"Kendall, please, the last thing I would ever say or do would be something that could be characterized as heroic. I think I've more than proved that."

"Don't get carried away."

"Well, I am carried away, and I love it. You're the only person in my life who didn't freak out or lecture me when the truth came I mean, everyone -- they gave me dirty looks and outrage and whispers. You didn't even ask me why I used my own egg, which makes you one amazing man."

"Kendall, stop. Stop."

"What is it? What did I do?"

"I'm nobody's hero. Not even yours."

"Yes, but you love me, so that makes you my hero."

She just smiled at you. "You love me, right? You said you always would."

He couldn't help himself; he just had to return her smile. "Yes, I do, still."

"Well, then, that makes you my hero." He just laughed and shook his head, running his hands up and down her arms. "Zach, I get carried away when it comes to you – always have, and I love it. It makes me feel free and alive."

"But that doesn't mean that we should jump right to…"

"Bed?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows at him, smiling brightly.

"Kendall, the last thing I want to do is jeopardize… anything."

"So, you don't want me?" she asked seductively, winding her arms slowly around his neck. "I didn't say that" he growled out, flexing his fingers against her hips.

"Yeah, well, a man has needs. And a man in love has big needs."

"Yes. Well, so does a woman, believe me. But when I -- I realized that I could miscarry this child, I knew that I -- that I had to carry to term. I don't know how it happened, but somehow, this baby has taken on a whole new importance."

"Well, we'll just have to blow out the candles for a while and imagine what could have been. The things I would do – "

"All right, ok, well, that's nice, great."

"I guess the point is, we have made love. Dancing, balloons, wishes, and candles. Hey, we're making love right now."

"So then no big deal, right? Whew, thank God, because I really -- I didn't want to anyway. Really, I didn't."

"Oh, you'll want to. And I know it's going to be worth waiting for."

"Madden said I was fine a few months ago. No reason I can't…" she swallowed slowly, watching his eyes darken with desire "… resume a normal life." He just stared at her. She would have sworn that he was staring into her soul.

She leaned into him, resting her cheek against his. "I was once told that a man in love has big needs" she whispered. She chuckled as she felt his fingers dig into her hip.

"That is true" he whispered back to her, placing a light kiss behind her ear.

She pulled back and looked at him, kissing him quickly. "I was also once told that it was going to be worth waiting for. Is that still true?"

Without saying a word, Zach scooped her up in his arms, kissing her passionately as he carried her through her living room toward her bedroom.

TBC…