A/N: slight M-rating

Alan was up in the library reviewing the latest draft of Ellie's new article. He didn't think he was much help to her, not anymore, but it was sweet of her to ask. They talked through her ideas, he gave his opinion and asked questions, she incorporated a lot of it into her drafts, and he served as a proofreader more than anything else at that stage. But he had a few notes that he left in redline comments for her.

After his talk with Ethan in the vineyard, Alan needed a little time by himself. Ellie had gone out to do some errands, leaving the kids to themselves before they all had dinner together, so Alan came up here.

He had just gotten to the conclusion section when he heard the garage door open. Ellie was home. Alan smiled to himself and finished the last part, writing up a few overall comments once he got to the end.

By the time he saved the document, Ellie had made her way upstairs. "There you are," she greeted cheerfully.

Alan took off his glasses and closed the laptop. "Hi, honey," he answered with a grin.

She must have caught on to his mood, because she giggled slightly and sauntered over to him. He pushed the rolling desk chair out to give her some space and she perched on his lap. "Mmm, I love you in your glasses," she said, picking them up off the desk and putting them back on him.

"Stop that," he chided, taking the glasses back off.

"Am I too heavy for you?" she asked, suddenly worried.

Alan rolled his eyes. "No, honey, I might be getting old, but you're still a twig." He wrapped his arms tighter around her with one hand resting on her hip and the other on her thigh as she perched on him. "Now, you just sit right there for a little while."

Ellie giggled again. God, he loved that sound. "So how was your day, babe?"

"Good. Ethan walked the vineyard with me," he told her.

"And you talked?"

He nodded. "We are going to pretend like last night never happened, and we are going to move forward, yes."

She scoffed at him for some typical male behavior but didn't press the issue. He'd tell her later about the fuller extent of their conversation. Or maybe he'd just keep that between Ethan and himself.

Alan added, "And then he went to hang out with Hailey in their room and I came up here and did the notes on your draft."

Ellie's eyes flashed with eagerness, and Alan knew she wanted to read over his comments right away and get back to work, but she held herself back. "I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow."

"I guess you do." Alan gave her a pat on her ass. "But we gotta get dinner started if the four of us are going to eat before midnight."

She got off him and allowed him to stand, but she blocked his way from the desk. "Hang on, before we go down…"

He couldn't quite read the expression on her face, and his confusion must have been apparent because she chuckled at him.

Ellie turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself close to him. "I promised my son he wouldn't catch us in common spaces anymore. Though I did tell him I wouldn't agree to not kiss my fiancé whenever I want to."

Alan felt a tingle go through him at the sound of her voice all low and seductive like that. He hummed and let his hands wander up and down her back. "So kiss me, if you want to."

She didn't need asking twice. Ellie leaned in and pressed her lips to his, insistent but not too aggressive. Alan let her take the lead. Her mouth moved. She sucked his bottom lip between hers and nibbled on it lightly. It drove him crazy when she did that. Alan groaned and deepened the kiss. His tongue entered her mouth and slid against her tongue. Not to be outdone ever, Ellie's tongue was suddenly inside his mouth. As more of a reflex than anything else, Alan grabbed her ass and pressed her against the beginnings of his erection. He knew they couldn't go further than this, not right now, but it was a taste of things to come.

And speaking of taste…

Ellie pulled back, breathing heavily. "What was that?"

It wasn't until that moment that Alan realized he'd been speaking against her lips. "I love the taste of your tongue," he told her. Because that's what he'd been thinking.

Her pretty blue eyes were dark with mischief. "You like my tongue?" she teased.

"I like all of you. But yeah, I like your tongue," he growled. Alan caught her lips again in another fiery kiss.

But Ellie had her own ideas in mind. She escaped him and got down on her knees. She didn't need a dishtowel or anything, being a lot younger than Alan. And there was a plush rug where they were standing.

She started undoing his jeans, and he tried to stop her. "Ellie, we can't…"

"Shh," she scolded, reaching inside his fly and squeezing his cock. He hissed at the feeling.

As with most things, Alan was powerless against Ellie doing what she wanted to do. And God bless her that this was what she wanted to do right now. She pulled his jeans and boxers down to his ankles and stroked him with one hand, cupping his balls with the other. Alan had to grab the desk next to him to keep from going weak at the knees.

She took him in her mouth and sucked hard, making Alan's vision go black at the edges. She then traced up and down his cock with her tongue and pressed a gentle kiss to the head. "How do you like my tongue now?" she asked, looking up at him. He'd never seen anything so sexy.

But Ellie didn't give him a chance to answer. She was done teasing him, it seemed. Ellie proceeded to give him one of the best blowjobs of his life. It was all he could do to keep crying out when he came in her mouth and she practically sucked him dry.

When she was done, she stood up, rinsed her mouth using the half-empty glass of water he'd abandoned on the desk, and waited for him to recover.

Alan stumbled a little as he pulled up his pants, still dazed from what had just happened. He somehow regained the power of speech and said, "I don't know how I ended up sweaty and exhausted without even moving."

She just laughed. "Go take a shower. Don't slip and fall." She went over and pressed a single kiss to his cheek, right on the line of his beard. "I love you. I'll go start dinner."

And with a last little teasing giggle, she left the room to go downstairs.

It didn't take him long to toss his clothes in the hamper and rinse himself off and get dressed again. Alan finally made his way down, but he didn't hear any sounds from the kitchen. He found Ellie standing outside the guest room, her arms folded and a look of concentration on her face.

"Ellie, what—"

She looked up and pressed her finger to her lips to shush him. When he fell quiet, she beckoned him to come over. And that's when he realized what was going on. The door wasn't completely closed. And Ethan and Hailey's voices were clear as day.

"So you don't want to get an abortion?" Ethan asked. Alan felt his stomach drop.

Hailey's voice responded, "No, I couldn't do it. I thought about it a lot. I'm Pro-Choice, you know that. But…I don't know, it's like the Baptists got to me, I guess. I just could never do that. And I know that's why we came to California but—"

Ethan interrupted her. "That's not why. We came here so my mom and Alan could help us, so we could figure this out without the pressure of your parents or anything. And being in California makes that an option, but that's not the only option. So…what do you want to do?"

"I don't want the baby," Hailey answered bluntly. "I want to go back to school and I want to have my life back. I might have to take fall semester off, or maybe I can take classes online here, and then I'll go home for the holidays and back to school in January."

There was a long silence. Alan and Ellie looked at each other, both probably thinking the same thing, that they were going to be spending the next seven months with a pregnant twenty-year-old.

But then Ethan spoke. "Can I keep it?"

Alan's heart skipped a beat. Ellie looked like she was about to faint or be sick or maybe both. But they both just stared at each other.