A/N: Finally got this chapter up…lol. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Five – Introductions

Tony saw the colour drain from Michelle's cheeks; replacing her rosy undertone with a washed-out pasty expression. His mother met his gaze as they were escorted towards the table, before he had time to offer any sort of reassurance. Instead he gave Michelle a small smile, hoping she picked up on the hint he was trying to lay down.

He knew his parents could be difficult. He knew his mother would be difficult. At the first mention of this "new woman" she'd interrogated Tony to his wit's end with her own personal rendition of 'twenty questions', (although in this case, it turned out to be a lot more like 'one hundred questions'). It seemed she would not be satisfied with the nature of Michelle's intentions until she had the opportunity to grill her personally.

That plan took a fatal blow when they announced their engagement. The fact that he hadn't even consulted with his parents, (the nerve!), before proposing to a girlfriend they'd never even spoken to was enough to send his mother to an early grave. Forget the fact that he was a hell of a lot closer to forty than he cared to admit; age didn't play any role in matters of the heart, even his own, it would seem.

"Don't you think you're rushing into things a little, Tony? You know how... err…absorbed...you become in these relationships. You really could use an outsider's perspective on everything ..."

"I don't need your opinion, Mom. And I really don't care if you think we're rushing into this..."

"I'm just saying you should've given it some more time; there's no harm in getting to know each other better before you get engaged. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah...I know what you mean...And that's not something you should be concerning yourself with...so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop finding a way to slip it into every conversation we have from here on in...I'm getting married; either congratulate me, or put dad on the phone..."

He probably should've mentioned his mother's reservations to Michelle; given her fair warning about how his mother might be inclined to act...but she was worried enough as it was. Besides, Michelle was smart, she'd pick up on it right away.

He'd warned his mom to be good. Insisted that she lay off his fiancé...but Margaret Almeida was still hurting more from his last relationship than he was. That was what mother's did. They hurt when you hurt, they cried when you were upset, they felt guilty when they couldn't help you or when things were out of their control…She was just being a loving, caring, parent and Tony couldn't blame her for it. He just didn't want her to judge too quickly simply because Michelle and Nina had by coincidence worked the same job.

If she gave Michelle a chance, she would love her. Tony was certain of this, and he hoped his mom would recognize a good thing when she saw one...and most importantly recognize that he loved Michelle and he was happy.

Tony rose to his feet and Michelle followed, turning around quickly to face the oncoming party.

His mother reached them first, one eye on Michelle while she gently embraced Tony. She wasn't exactly sure what she was watching the younger woman for, but she watched anyway, convinced her behaviour would reveal something before they'd even spoken a word to each other.

Michelle waited patiently for them to finish, Tony's father lagging behind by a significant enough interval for her to have nothing else to do.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Michelle." His mother spoke as she pulled away and extended her hand. "I'm Margaret."

"Nice to meet you." Michelle smiled. "I've heard so much about you."

Tony's mother smiled grimly in response, suggesting that she couldn't exactly say the same thing, and Tony felt himself getting antsy.

That's not her fault, Ma. Give her a break.

Thankfully at that moment Tony's dad arrived, pulling Tony in for a quick hug before turning to the women.

Michelle took advantage of the opportunity to look somewhere other than the pair of hard eyes fixated on her.

"John Almeida." Tony's dad extended his own hand. "How are you Michelle?"

"Fine, thanks." her stomach unclenched in consolation that John seemed like something she could handle. He wasn't scrutinizing her and Michelle was relieved. She had a feeling she could only successfully endure a night of interrogation from one Almeida at a time, especially if they were anything like their son.

John released Michelle's hand and held out the chair for his wife, eyeing her expectantly. Margaret made to sit down and the others did the same.

The waiter materialized and they ordered a bottle of wine. Michelle was tempted to down the whole thing in one fell swig just to see if it made this night any easier to process.

"How's work?" John asked, after allocating sufficient time for Michelle to have a few sips of her drink. His wife, as much as he loved her, did have a tendency to get under people's skin; especially, in this case, his future daughter-in-law's.

"Busy," Tony answered for them. "But what else is new?"

"I hope he hasn't been working you too hard Michelle..." John asked her directly.

Michelle laughed. "Not quite...Some nights I have to be dragged away from the computer..."

John laughed too. He liked Michelle's laugh, it wasn't over the top or forced and that seemed to make it all the more contagious. She was very pretty too; in a natural, low key sort of way, and there was this air about her... John couldn't quite put his finger on what it was; possibly it had to do with the perfect compilation of femininity and professionalism she seemed to exude as if it was as natural of an activity as breathing. He liked that too. He'd worked with enough career driven, up and coming women executive types to know a combination of that sort was rare to come by.

"Tony told me you retired recently." Michele ventured.

John nodded. "Just over a year ago now...Half the time I'm bored out of my mind."

"That's not true!" Margaret finally piped in. "We took that vacation a few months ago..."

"Yes dear, and it was the best two weeks I've had in a long time...but it's really not enough..." he turned back to Michelle with a subtle eye roll. "I still need to find something to keep myself entertained. I've never exactly been one to sit still..."

"Yeah my dad had the same problem when he retired...I think he's attempting to read every novel ever written."

"Ah..." John shook his head in dismay. "I've never been much of a reader...Tony takes after me..."

Michelle giggled and looked to Tony.

"Hey! I read!"

John raised an eyebrow. "I seem to remember you coming to me one night when you were about...oh...thirteen...and telling me you had a book report due the next day and you didn't understand the book."

"That doesn't mean I never read it, y' know." Tony defended pointlessly, glad to see Michelle starting to come out of her shell, but still confused as to why his mother was being so silent.

"You never read the book...I ended up skimming it and writing the whole thing after you fell asleep in my office..." he grinned at Michelle. "That was hell I tell you; trying to write the damn thing and making it sound like a thirteen-year-old had come up with it..."

Michelle laughed again and Tony was just about out of his chair to snatch his father into a bear hug for easing the tension, and apparently having had his own word with his wife about her behaviour before they'd arrived.

"So your dad lives in Washington, Michelle?" Margaret finally spoke.

Michelle nodded. "He moved there after my mom passed away. I hadn't seen him in a couple of years so..."

"Well it was good you got to visit over the holidays...I can't even remember the last time Tony came home...He always uses work as an excuse but well..." her eyes locked on the engagement ring.

It took every ounce of strength he possessed to prevent Tony from strangling Margaret right then and there. He would've actually, if he hadn't caught the stern warning look his father shot her from across the table.

"I'm sure your Christmas was a thousand times more exciting than ours..." John declared flatly. "Besides, we had the girls come and visit..."

"Maybe we'll be able to manage some time off again this year..." Michelle tried miserably, not sure what else to say.

Margaret nodded. "That would be nice."

At that moment the waiter returned and they placed their orders.

"So when did you start working at CTU?" Margaret continued to probe Michelle.

"I guess about..." she turned to Tony for confirmation. "Not quite two years ago..."

He nodded as one half of his face arched into a grin. How well he remembered that day.

"Eileen do you know what Mason's doing up there?" Tony scratched the side of his face clearly irritated. George had been adamant about him finishing the proposal for the internal systems security upgrades by 11:30; but when Tony had called up to inform him the proposal was ready, George had insisted he was busy at the moment and would come down when he was done.

"I think he's interviewing for your replacement..." Eileen glanced up at the glass walls. "He's been with this person for over an hour though, I have no idea what's taking so long..."

Tony frowned. Wondering why this particular interview seemed to be lasting forever. Mason never, ever, hired anyone on the spot; that was a well known fact. In most cases he could barely tolerate a candidate for ten minutes, even if he did end up hiring them a few days later.

"Do you know who it is?"

Eileen shook her head. "I can check to see who signed in with security though...Hang on, I'll do it now..."

Tony leaned back against the desk, arms folded, waiting to uncover the identity of this mysterious individual who had seemingly done the impossible in managing to attract George Mason's interest in a matter of minutes.

"Michelle Dessler." Eileen informed him. "Works at District now...here's her file..." Tony leaned over her shoulder. She looked puzzled as they scanned through the document.

"That guy he interviewed this morning has more experience..."

Tony nodded. "Mason thought he was a prick though..."

"And she's pretty..." Eileen commented nonchalantly as Tony's eyes zoned in on the straight faced photo of the woman.

He bit his lip to keep from commenting. She was pretty, really pretty and those ID card pictures did no one justice...

"I guess they're done." Eileen motioned to Mason's door from which he and the newly identified Michelle Dessler emerged.

She was wearing a black skirt with matching blazer and a dark red blouse, and her hair was pulled back loosely. George said something, sarcastic no doubt, and she smiled. Afraid they would look in his direction and see him staring, Tony turned away quickly.

"Tony..." George called him and Tony's stomach clenched. He took his time crossing the bullpen to where the pair was waiting, biting back a goofy smile that threatened to spread across his face when Ms. Dessler locked eyes with him.

"This is Michelle Dessler." he introduced. "Michelle, this is Tony Almeida; any problems, you go to him."

Tony frowned at George slightly, while he extended his hand to Michelle. Hoping his obvious confusion would mask the jolt of...whatever...that passed through him the second her hand touched his.

"Michelle's the new IPM." George explained. "Effective immediately. Show her around, get her clearance level set up, and explain the protocols we've been working on since this morning."

Tony nodded. "Fine. I sent that proposal to your system...when did you wanna-"

George rolled his eyes and shook his head, annoyed.

"I'll look it over now...you just make sure Michelle gets taken care of..."

He was heading back up the stairs before Tony had time to respond. With Mason gone all he could do was turn to face the new employee.

"C'mon, I'll show you to your station."

She pressed her lips together a little. "Thanks."

"I'm sure you know how all of this stuff works..." he leaned over and booted up the system.

"I'll just get you set up with the clearance..."

Much too quickly for Tony's liking, that task was completed. He explained the Intel majority of the staff had been working on, and started her on creating a profile for the newest connection to a recently uncovered terrorist cell; an individual no agency had any prior knowledge on.

"No problem." Michelle began keying away frantically. Tony was reluctantly beginning to head towards the stairs when she called him back.

"Oh um...Mr. Almeida..."

Tony blushed furiously and turned around.

"Tony..." he corrected her.

This made Michelle blush.

"Right um...do you want me to see if Interpol has anything as well..."

He raised a puzzled eyebrow; that was standard procedure and he was certain anyone George decided to hire would know this.

"Yeah, just let me know when you're done." he decided against pointing out the obvious. Perhaps she was nervous...She'd seemed relaxed with Mason a few minutes before and he was clearly the more intimidating of the two; he was the CTU Director after all...Michelle didn't seem the type to get nervous, or intimidated for that matter either. Tony dismissed her blunder anyway, deciding whatever reason she had for committing it was probably justifiable.

"Sure." Michelle went crimson again and turned back towards the screen quickly.

Tony continued to observe her as he proceeded up the stairs to converse with George, intrigued in every way possible by the woman and desperately hoping this changed with time.

He was doing it again, and it had to stop before it got out of control. Less than six months ago Nina Myers had been arrested and he was already teetering on the edge of falling into another trap with a woman he worked with.

She was just pretty anyway. Lots of women at the office were pretty; that meant nothing. In a few days he'd become used to her and everything would be as it was before. By the time Tony had arrived in Mason's office he'd convinced himself that by the end of the week Michelle Dessler wouldn't be occupying his thoughts anymore than the rest of CTU.

It was later that afternoon and Tony had made his way into the break room for coffee. Today was a slow day, and slow days were the worst; they meant having nothing to do. He hadn't counted on Michelle being in there as well though...

He approached the counter.

"Hey," he reached past her for his mug. Michelle gasped and jumped and she turned to Tony a little wide-eyed.

"You uh..." she swallowed, cursing herself for being so obviously unprofessional; something she'd never had a problem with before. "You scared me..."

"Sorry..." he reached for the coffee pot and filled his mug, while Michelle added milk to her own.

"I finished that profile. It should be on your system now."

Tony snuck a quick glance at his watch, noting how quickly the task had been completed.

"Thanks."

She spun around abruptly, catching Tony off guard before he could move out of the way and landing herself in between his arms. His mouth went bone dry as a few fingers brushed against his bicep, while her other hand rested within reaching distance of his against the counter. She frowned, noticing his own tormented expression, and pulled away quickly, her eyes wide.

"Oh um..." she cleared her throat. "Sorry..."

His mouth twisted a little and he relaxed his face. "S'okay..." he stuttered, trying desperately to reestablish some of the moisture on the roof of his mouth.

The smallest semblance of a smile played across her lips as she grabbed her mug and made to turn out of the room.

His mind, it seemed, had been wiped clean of potential cognizable, friendly remarks and he could only stare as she moved away from him.

"I'll just go update those logs then...let me know if you need anything else..."

As her echoing footsteps became quieter Tony's breathing returned. He wasn't quite sure what the hell that was, but it definitely wasn't good. Annoyed with his ignorance of the fact that he knew better, he grabbed his own coffee and headed back towards his station.

Let me know if you need anything else...he repeated the words to himself. God she really had no idea, did she? He needed a hell of a lot more than anyone would ever be able to give him; more than a couple thousand sessions of intense therapy would ever be able to help with. First off, he needed everyone to just leave him alone, especially about what had happened before with...her ...And he needed a reason to trust people again; women in particular, and highly doubted anyone would be able to fill the destructive void the last woman had left in her wake...And he needed someone to make him feel whole again, before he died a bitter, lonely guy with no emotional investment in anyone...And he needed to stop being tempted by the women he worked with, who, for some reason or another, seemed to be the only ones on the planet capable of driving him completely insane in the best kind of way possible...

Well...present day Tony glanced across the table at the lovely Ms. Michelle Dessler whom he was now engaged to...Three out of four wasn't too bad.

"I was working in our District office before but it was just...time for a change...I transferred to CTU a couple of months after the assassination attempts on President Palmer…just before he became President actually..."

Tony's mind began whirling as Michelle finished her sentence. He hadn't seen it coming until now, but he knew where the conversation was leading. He was trying desperately to come up with a plan to cut his mom off at the pass, before she could ask the question she'd been burning to ask since he informed her that Michelle was someone he worked with.

"So did you know that woman um..." she looked to Tony. "Nina, right?" Livid, Tony gritted his teeth. She knew damn well that was her name and was just beating around the bush for the fun of it.

Michelle, if possible, went even whiter, and her mouth opened slightly.

"No..." she managed, her voice unwavering. "Only by reputation..."

Margaret nodded. "Just horrible really...you think you know a person..."

"That's enough Maggie." John's eyes narrowed on her before Tony could spit out the profanity-filled repertoire that flew through his head.

"I was just saying how awful it must've been for everyone...I'm sure Michelle agrees with me..."

Michelle forced herself to smile, all the while wondering what in the hell she'd gotten herself into. It seemed this way every time she was introduced to someone else; she was taking the bullet for Nina. As Margaret met her eyes again Michelle had the sudden urge to run to the washroom and lock herself in a stall until everyone went away. Her body ripe with nerves, she rubbed sweaty palms against her knees, hoping the questioning would be over soon, and wondering if anything she said would make the least bit of a difference. People believed what they wanted to believe and there was no way Michelle could prove herself before the meal was over.

Tony's mind was still working rapidly as he watched Michelle beginning to lose the battle with anxiety. He had to do something; the only problem was he couldn't very well say everything he wanted to say with Michelle there without making her feel inferior. Careful not to attract any attention, he slid his hand inside his pockets and felt around for the button on the side of his cell phone.

When it rang he almost laughed aloud before flipping it open, ignoring the puzzled looks Michelle was shooting him.

"Sorry..." he grumbled, excusing himself from the table and moving to the far side of the restaurant. No one said anything the entire time he was gone, instead they glanced around, awkwardly awaiting his return. Michelle was concerned with the call. Perhaps a new threat had emerged since they'd left CTU and they were being brought in. In a lot of ways she hoped that was the case. The night wasn't exactly turning into one she'd be calling anyone to boast about…

Finally, Tony returned.

"Everything okay?" she asked, poised to jump out of her seat the second he informed her they had to leave.

To her dismay, he pulled out his chair again.

"It was Adam. He's having trouble switching the reference frame of the satellite and was trying to get a hold of you."

"But my phone didn't..."

"You must've left it in the car." he handed her his keys.

Michelle frowned. There were so many things wrong with that sentence she didn't know where to start. Firstly, Tony could've easily solved the problem himself. Secondly, she was pretty sure Adam wasn't even working the late shift... And then there was the fact that whoever it was had tried to contact her...and she knew with complete certainty her cell phone was sitting in her purse under the table... His eyes narrowed just enough for Michelle to notice and she understood his meaning.

"I'm sorry..." she turned to his parents as she rose. "This shouldn't take too long..."

"Take your time..."

When Michelle had exited the restaurant Tony leaned back in his chair and sighed exasperatedly.

"What are you tryin' to do?" he asked his mother, massaging his brow while he did.

"I'm asking questions, trying to get to know Michelle before we don't see her again until the..." she placed an exaggerated emphasis on the next word. "…wedding..."

"Geeze Mom, you make it sound like we've known each other for two weeks...I know what I'm doing, so just lay off Michelle..."

"But Tony-"

"It's different with her..." he looked to his father as he made this final appeal. "Just...give her a break and you'll see..."

"Tony-"

"I don't wanna hear it…"

Margaret stared at him icily, and then to her husband in hopes he might say something in her defense. When he didn't she looked to her hands and decided that if nothing else, she would trust her son and give Michelle the benefit of the doubt for the time being. Further discussion of the matter could be reserved for another time…

Michelle leaned back against the side of the car, letting the faint breeze lick the sweat from her brow, and gearing herself up for the return to the restaurant. This couldn't possibly be going worse, and she had no idea what to do to remedy that. Tony's mother hated her for something she had no control over; surely Margaret must realize that. Everyone just...assumed she was going to wind up hurting Tony in some way or another, when all she wanted to do was the exact opposite of that. She could never intentionally hurt him; she loved him. The sheer notion of doing anything even remotely connected to what Margaret thought her capable of practically made Michelle sick. But, for some reason, his mother didn't want to believe that. She'd rather believe the worst about Michelle so she could continue to be angry for whatever reason she subconsciously wanted to be.

Hands folded across her chest defensively, Michelle returned to the restaurant, hoping that the night would at least go a little bit more quickly from there on in.

"Sorry..." she sat down again and eyed Tony carefully, mentally conditioning herself for the questions to come.

Quite on the contrary, any conversation about CTU or Nina Myers desisted after that and Michelle answered the usual run of the mill queries about wedding arrangements, her family, and the last good movie she saw.

Under the table, Tony's foot tapped hers insisting that everything was going fine; and a few minutes after that his hand reached down long enough to rub some gentle assurances into her knee.

Despite the fact that the hostility had dissipated, Michelle knew the tension was still there, if not as entirely present as it had been before. Margaret asked a lot of the inconsequential sorts of things, but it was obvious that Michelle - if not through bouts of serious interrogation - was still being analyzed very carefully.

Tony seemed to have given up though, either that or he didn't realize what his mother was doing now, and by the time the night was over everyone seemed to be on edge.

After John fought Tony for the bill and they'd all risen from their chairs, both parties made their way to the door.

"We're having dinner with Amy next Wednesday..." John declared as they proceeded outside. "You should come." He gave Michelle's hand an encouraging pat.

She smiled, despite her reservations at spending any more time with the Almeidas than she had to. The evening could not possibly have gone any worse.

"Amy's dying to meet you." John told her gently, still having not let go of her hand.

Michelle smiled meekly. "We'll try," she promised.

Tony was occupied with his mother, a stern look on his face as she kissed his cheek. All Michelle received from Margaret was a curt head nod.

"Perhaps we'll see you Wednesday then."

The entire ride home, Michelle did not say a word, and Tony did not feel the need to pressure her otherwise. Honestly, he didn't know what he could possibly say; he wasn't blind to what had transpired during the latter part of the night. His mom would have to come around in her own time; and until she was ready Michelle was just going to have to put up with it all as best she could.

"Your mom hates me." She finally stated when they made their way into the kitchen.

Tony sighed. "She doesn't hate you…she's just-"

"She just thinks I'm using you…" Michelle cut him off.

"No she doesn't-"

"Then what was all that about?

There was a distinct edge to her voice that made Tony raise an eyebrow.

"She's cautious. It won't last forever."

"She acted like I'm some criminal!" Michelle declared, a shrillness in her voice Tony had never heard before.

"It's not my fault y'know…I tried talking to her when you went out to the car."

"Well it did a lot of good, didn't it?" she snapped sarcastically.

"Taking it out on me isn't gonna change anything!" he yelled back.

"Fine." Her heels clicked her disapproval as she headed down the hall.

Tony winced when he heard the bathroom door slam shut, followed by the sound of water cascading into the tub. She had every reason to be angry. He didn't like sitting there, watching her be treated like she'd committed a felony; paying for someone else's mistakes. But really, what else could he have done?

Michelle leaned her temple against the tiled wall, fighting back the tears stinging the corners of her eyes. Her track record when it came to amicable relationships with other women wasn't exactly stellar...Alicia was probably the one and only exception. And now, Tony's mother, her future mother-in-law, was no different than any of the others. It hurt her worse than she'd anticipated; possibly because a small part of her had been hoping for some sort of motherly figure that could fill the void left by her own. Someone who, as childish as it sounded, might help her organize some of the finer details of the wedding just for the fun of it, or even just someone who would enjoy a nice, long chat every now and then… Michelle, for the first time in her life, had really cared whether or not she was liked, enough so that it almost made her want to change whatever it was she had to about herself to make Margaret Almeida like her, even love her, if she could.

The water beat down on the back of her neck and Michelle sniffled underneath the continual stream. Desperately praying Tony wouldn't walk past the bathroom and hear anything of the sort, and fairly confident her ploy of taking a shower would ensure otherwise. More than likely, he wouldn't want to be anywhere near her right now. She'd yelled at him for absolutely no reason; simply because she wanted to yell, and he just happened to be the closest thing.

That upset her too. If there was anything she didn't need right now it was Tony angry with her, and if he was mad it was because of her. She'd screwed up…extensively, and that made her feel even worse.

Fifteen minutes later the shower was still going strong and Tony didn't even want to think about how upset Michelle must be. Resided to being ignored when she finally did come out, he headed to the bedroom for his pillow, and then back to the den, preparing a makeshift bed on the couch. There was no way Michelle would want to sleep anywhere in his vicinity, so he chose a night of news reports and sports updates that he really wouldn't be listening to, whilst he decided how best to make it up to her.

When Michelle emerged from the shower she saw the lights in the kitchen and hallway turned off. Assuming Tony, tired from a hectic day at CTU combined with the dinner fiasco, had gone to sleep; she secured her towel and headed into the bedroom. Her heart sunk when she noticed his absent pillow and the small throw missing from the foot of the bed. So he was angry at her, she'd expected as much. And Tony – being Tony – would of course make the executive decision to sleep on the couch. She wasn't about to stop him. He obviously didn't want to share a bed with her tonight and she deserved it…

An hour later Michelle still wasn't asleep. She felt guilty. Of all the nights to want to be right, this was not one of them. Tony hadn't even done anything. He'd done everything he could really…she didn't mean to take it out on him…And she'd acted horribly. Tony was doing everything he could in a situation that was more or less entirely out of his control.

With a sigh, she rolled out of bed, convinced there was no way she'd be getting to sleep without making it up to him. She owed him an apology, a big one…

The TV was still on, but Tony had conked out, his head resting awkwardly on his folded pillow. The blanket barely covered his chest and his neck was craned uncomfortably in an attempt to squish his entire body onto the too-short couch. His bare legs dangled over the side and he stirred.

"Tony…" she whispered softly, stroking his face and kneeling down beside him.

His lids fluttered.

"Tony…" she tried again, running the back of her hand across his cheek.

His eyes opened and she smiled, head leaning to one side.

"Hey…" he rolled over.

"Hey…listen um…"

"I'm sorry."

This caught Michelle off guard.

"Why?"

"I shouldn't have let that get so out of hand…"

She shook her head. "You didn't do anything wrong, I was just frustrated and I didn't have anyone to blame…"

He brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry sweetheart…" she kissed him gently.

He bit his lip and pulled her onto the couch, delighting in the fact that she laughed quietly when he did. The anxiety she had been feeling over the night seemed to have eased significantly in the last few minutes.

"My dad loved you…"

"Yeah, I've never seemed to have a problem with dads…" she told him sadly, her cheeks burning as she readjusted her weight.

Tony, finally understanding what had been so upsetting for her, wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

"I guess I kind of hoped that…" she flushed. "It's silly."

"Give it some time Michelle, she'll come around…"

She nodded, dabbing her eyes on the back of her sleeve.

A hand pulled their heads together.

"Trust me okay…"

"Yeah…" she pressed her lips against his cheek before climbing off the couch and offering a hand.

"C'mon honey."

She "ugh-ed" excessively as she pulled him off the couch and he laughed; leaning his chin against her shoulder with a yawn as they headed to bed…

Somehow, everything would work out…eventually.