Chapter 16: Two Steps Forward…

"I – we should talk," Michael said as he looked down at his feet walking through the grass. He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye, but neither spoke again until they reached the porch, Michael sliding the door open for her with a small, nervous smile.

Back up on the hill Jake pulled out his little binoculars and looked down toward the house, Laura settling Noah on her lap. "Should I push the button now, papa?"

"Not yet, I'll let you know when." Jack met his wife's frowning eyes with a wink and a grin.

"What are you two up to?"

"We're going to-" Jake's voice was cut off by Jack's hand as he shushed the boy and talked over his little voice.

"We're going to watch some fireworks, isn't that right, son?" Taking the scopes from his grandson he peered down at the house and saw his daughter and the young lawyer standing in the living room awkwardly, each with hands in their pockets. 'C'mon you two…get honest.'

…

Sydney chewed at the edge of her lip as her eyes found an interesting speck on the floor just behind where he was standing. Michael on the other hand had his eyes fixed on the smooth features of her cheeks and the line of her jaw, the dimple line on the left side poking out as she worried at her lip.

"I'm sorry," she stared, finally looking up to see him frown and tilt his head to the side.

"What for?"

She sighed and shrugged, "for just…shutting everyone out over the last couple of months. I really should have at least called to say 'thank you' for everything you did."

Michael laughed and shook his head. "And here I was going to apologize to you for not calling and seeing how you were doing. I'm sorry for disappearing when everything was said and done. My silence got longer and more awkward the more I talked myself out of calling."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why'd you talk yourself out of calling?"

It was his turn to struggle to find the words, his eyes focusing behind her on the bowl of fruit sitting in the center of the kitchen table. "I guess…I figured you wouldn't exactly be looking for anything with me - with a guy any time soon."

She smiled wide and looked down at her feet for a moment before looking back up and catching his green stare back on her. "Michael – my life was crazy; my life is crazy. Honestly, I can't imagine anyone wanting to share this mess with me." She paused a moment looking back up with guilty eyes. "I guess you weren't the only one talking yourself out of things."

Flashing a half-smirk he chuckled. "Your life doesn't scare me, Syd. Your dad all but held me down earlier and tattooed the words 'be honest' into my forehead, so I'll just say what I should have said months ago," pausing for a moment he held his hand out palm up the same as he'd done that night in the hotel. Though circumstances were opposite to that night, he still wanted to leave the ball in her court.

Her reaction was a dimpled smile as she reached her hand out to set her fingers in his palm.

"I miss you. I mean…I know we only spent a couple days a week for a few weeks together, and that time was spent with everything around you going upside down, but it didn't stop me from memorizing every moment we had together, good or bad."

"Really? All those hours spent listening to the worst parts of my life and picking me up off the floor?" She rolled her eyes as he chuckled.

"You have no idea how much I wanted to drop everything and hold you when you cried. Every time, Syd."

A blush tinted her cheeks and she looked down at their joined hands for a moment collecting her thoughts.

…

"They're holding hands, papa!" Jake's excited voice put a glare into Laura's eyes as she smacked her husband's shoulder.

"Jonathan Bristow!" He faked injury, though the smile on his face was as genuine as the one on Jake's. "You're setting up your own daughter! Our daughter!"

"Someone had to, Mrs. Bristow." Eric's voice chimed in as he borrowed the binoculars from Sydney's father. "Vaughn's been miserable for months and I'm tired of having him as a third wheel for dinner every night with my wife."

Laura threw her hands into the air, jostling Noah awake on her lap as he'd begun to drift off. He looked up at her with grumpy blue eyes, though their attention was pulled forward in the sky as the first firework streaked up and popped overhead.

"Do I push the button now, papa?"

"Go ahead, buddy."

Jake pulled the little remote from the pocket of his overalls, aiming it at the house. "Bofe?"

At his grandfather's nod he pressed both the green and the orange buttons, Jack looking through the optics once more.

…

The speakers in the living room crackled making the pair look away from one another for a moment, soft piano playing quietly all around them. A moment after the music started the fireplace to their right lit up, and Sydney rolled her eyes heavenward remembering her fathering mentioning that he'd gotten a 'remote control for the living room' a few days earlier.

Knowing he was sitting up there with what amounted to a cock-sure grin, she glared with a smirk into the darkness. Though she couldn't see the top of the hill from the vantage of the living room, she could see the silhouettes of the people sitting still juxtaposed against the flashes of the fireworks that had apparently started.

"I feel we've been set up," Michael chuckled looking back over at the blushing and grinning young woman in front of him.

"Yeah – my dad's subtle at times. This isn't one of those times."

Michael moved closer, his palms itching to just pull her into his arms and kiss her, his memory going back to the hotel room and relishing the feel of her mouth against his.

"So you missed me?" She jested, stepping forward.

"Well, you and the boys."

A genuine look of shock passed across her face. "Really?"

"Sydney, I missed everything about you, and that includes the boys. Just tell me what you want me to be and I'll be it."

'What do you want?' It was honestly something she asked herself a dozen times a day at least over the last few months. She'd always justified being rational and logical with her wants because she had children and their wants and needs came first. But…here was a man standing in front of her that had already factored in the boys and was curious about what she wanted after that fact.

"I want someone in my life that my boys can look up to." Michael nodded slowly and carefully. "I…I don't want to be alone anymore." She sighed speaking honestly.

"I'm not goin' anywhere, Syd."

She reached her left hand out to grasp the back of his neck pulling him down as she pressed her lips to his.

…

Jack lowered the binoculars with a satisfied smile, his gaze turning to his grandson who had turned his focus to the light display above. Laura, on the other hand, had a permanent frown marring her beautiful face. "Please don't be upset, darling."

"You set this whole thing up without even talking with me."

"Would you have planned any of it with me?"

Silence.

"Laura, she told me how she felt about him two months ago. I've been giving her time and space and advice, and she just…hasn't done anything with it."

"You didn't tell me any of that," she mumbled, her features softening.

Jack just shrugged, his chipper demeanor remaining despite the still-upset look on his wife's face. "Trust me."

Minutes passed as the show above them escalated, the parents looking up as the young pair returned with hands laden with blankets, flashlights, and even a beer as he'd requested.

"Your beer, Casanova," his daughter chided handing over the brew as he looked up at her attempting an innocent smile.

Jake couldn't hide the smile from his face either, Noah immediately demanding, grumpily, to sit in his mother's lap for the rest of the show. "Can I sit on your lap, Michael?"

"Sure buddy," he grunted as he flopped down on the freshly laid blanket, Sydney settling next to him with the little brother. Noah's blue eyes were drooping though he was trying desperately to stay focused on the light show ahead, failing a few moments later as he flopped back against his mother's chest, thumb in his mouth, as his other hand reached up and sat against her jaw. She smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead as her knee bounced against Michael's.

Michael and Sydney moved upstairs to put the kids to bed, Jake arguing as he assured in a loud voice that he wasn't sleepy.

"It's almost midnight, Jake, you're sleepy." Sydney wasn't taking no for an answer as Michael set the boy onto his bed and moved to stand against the doorway. He felt a little awkward since he didn't know what to do, and she hadn't given him any directions, but didn't want to leave. If he was going to be a part of these lives, he'd have to learn how to put the kids to bed eventually.

"But I want to stay awake," the little boy groused as he pouted atop the coverlet.

"But I want you to go to sleep," Sydney countered as she lay the sleeping two-year old on the changing table and pulled off his little jeans and shirt, the diaper coming next, all without waking him as he sucked at his thumb with a contented sigh.

"We always do what you want. I want to stay up and play with Michael!"

Vaughn couldn't help the grin that tilted the corner of his lips upward, though it disappeared when he heard the mothers knowing sigh. He'd heard that sound a thousand times from his mom when he was a kid, so he knew the length of rope that was Sydney's patience was getting shorter with each word the almost five-year old tossed out.

"We can play later, pal." Michael's voice was soothing to Sydney as she was a short moment away from snapping at her eldest, but Jake didn't seem to think the suggestion was enough.

"No! I want to play now!" His little outburst was accompanied by the fact that he'd jumped down and stomped his little foot while crossing his arms over his chest. The look on his face was pure defiance, and Michael again had to try and keep the smile from his face as he watched the little boy square off against his mother – though it was quite clear who was in charge as Sydney turn to face the child with her own arms crossed and a stern look in her brown eyes.

"Jacob Jonathan Montgomery, you had better change your attitude or you won't be doing anything this weekend."

'Oooh, the middle name.' Michael was fascinated. In all the times he'd spent at the Bristow house the boys had been literal angels, though he knew that any kid could go through a "terrible" phase. He didn't peg Jake as the defiant one, however, and while other guys may have had the urge to run screaming for the hills he found he was excited to get to learn anything new about the family that had burrowed into his heart.

Jake's eyes scowled as crystalline blue glared into light brown, Michael unsure for a moment who was going to make the first move.

"You let me stay up later on weekends, momma," he ground out, though his voice was a bit softer after the scolding at his outburst.

"It's Wednesday, and it's already later because it was a special night. It's bedtime."

He didn't reply, merely shook his head 'no'.

"Time out." Her voice was quiet though the tone left no room for argument.

Jake crumpled – literally. Michael watched as his face fell, eyes filled with tears, and his arms uncrossed before he clasped his hands together as if praying, his tiny watery voice broke Vaughn's heart. "No, mommy, no! Please, no!"

"Time out." She pointed a finger to the chair that the older man just noticed was sitting opposite of the beds and faced to look out the window, though it was black night outside and nothing was visible.

The boy hung his head as tears spilled down his cheeks in big fat drops, and he dejectedly turned and walked toward the time-out chair. He stopped a few feet from the wooden seat and looked back at his mother.

"Do I…hafta go the whole time?" Breaking is heart just a little more, Michael felt his chest tighten at the strangled little voice.

"Have you gotten any younger since the last time out?"

"No," he moaned following with a sob.

"You know the rules. One minute for every year . You're in for four and a half minutes. I'll come back upstairs when time is up to tuck you in, okay?" Vaughn didn't know how she did it – her voice was soft and soothing and yet had that perfect motherly sternness that told everyone listening she was serious and couldn't be swayed.

She waited until the toddler was seated, his little hands covering his face as he cried, before picking up Noah and laying him in the crib. Covering him with the light blanket she turned to look at Michael with exasperation reflected in her eyes before walking past him and pulling the door half closed.

"I don't know how you do it, Syd. My heart literally broke in half." She laughed as they moved down the hallway, his hand resting against the small of her back.

"I want to say you'll get used to it, but I think it's a mom thing. My father crumbles every time and Jake gets out of time out after fifteen seconds."

Heading down the steps they spotting Laura and Emily in the kitchen with cups of tea as Bill, Eric and Jack sat in the living room by the fireplace with brandy in their glasses.

"The boys go down, sweetheart?" Laura was still nervous and couldn't help the momma-bear instinct as Michael set a hand to her daughter's shoulder before they separated to join their respective sexes.

"Of course not, Jake threw a fit. He's in time-out and I have-", pausing a moment to check her watch, "three minutes before I can go tuck him in."

Emily nodded knowingly as Sydney moved to the sink and began washing the dishes. She was elbow deep in soapy bubbles when her watch beeped. Looking around for something for her hands, Laura realized that all the towels had been used up.

Vaughn poked his head into the kitchen. "Want me to check on Jake, Syd?" She could hear the concern in his voice as well as the nervousness, but she figured that this would be an easy test for him.

"If you don't mind; I'll be up in a minute."

"I'll go grab some towels, honey." Laura rose following behind the young lawyer as he turned at the end of the hall into the boy's room while she stopped at the linen closet in the hallway. Two voices came from the open door, one high and the other low.

"Jake? Your mom said I could get you out of time-out, buddy."

The little boy was sitting still in the seat, his shoulders low and his head hung. He didn't respond to Michael's voice so the man moved farther into the room grabbing one of the small chairs at the play table and sidling up next to the child.

"You ready to get to bed, pal?"

Turning watery blue eyes up to Vaughn, "do you hate me, Michael?"

"What?! Of course not, Jake! Why would you think that?" He was shocked and it showed on his face while he set a comforting hand over the boy's back.

The troubled boy looked back at his feet rather than answer for a moment, and his whispered words made a bubble of sadness move into Michael's chest. "I'm a bad kid…you probably don't like bad kids."

"Buddy – just because you went to time-out doesn't make you a bad kid. You're the best kid I know."

"My daddy called me a bad kid."

Michael froze at the quiet words and found himself for a moment at a loss. Reaching down he cupped Jake's chin and made him look into his eyes. "You are not a bad kid."

"But my daddy-"

"No, Jake. Your daddy was wrong. You're a good boy."

"I didn't listened to my mommy."

Michael nodded and moved his hand to rub large circles over the boy's back. "You know…when I was your age I didn't listen very well to my mom either."

"Really?"

"Yep. I spent so much time in the time-out chair that I wore out the pad on the seat. Do you think I'm a bad guy?"

Jake vehemently shook his head. "You never hurt my mommy or my brother - you...you're a good guy."

"But I went to time-out a lot…so shouldn't I be a bad guy?"

He saw the wheels turning in the boy's head and sent him a comforting smile. "Going to time-out doesn't make you a bad kid, it just gives you a chance to learn from your mistake. Are you going to listen to your mom better next time?"

His eyes filled with tears as he nodded vigorously before throwing his arms around Michael's neck. Lifting him up with a chuckle he stood and dropped him with a thump onto the fluffy bed.

"Get your pajamas, I'll help you get ready for bed." Sitting on the edge of the bed Michael watched as the boy moved over to his night stand and pulled out a book on dinosaurs, returning and handing it over. The man noticed how worn it was and knew it must have been Jake's favorite. He flipped through the first few pages with a grin as Jake grabbed his pajamas and went into the bathroom.

In the hallway Laura mentally scolded herself for acting so overprotective. Grabbing towels from the linen closet she made her way back down and switched with Sydney to finish the dishes.

Having brushed his teeth, climbed into pajamas, and washed his face, Jake moved back into the room with the Spiderman footie jammies shuffling against the thick carpet. The almost five-year old climbed into the bed, tugged the comforter down, and snuggled in. Vaughn moved to the headboard and stretched his legs out, feet crossing at the end, and began reading the story to the yawning child.

Sydney climbed the steps hearing the low voice read the words "the Jurassic Period," a smile gracing her lips as she stepped quietly into the doorway and leaned against the frame. She tried hard to separate the past from the present, but that book had been Jake's favorite bedtime story for two years and Rick had delighted in reading it to him each and every night the same way Michael was at that very moment.

Jake had been feeling left out in the first week after Noah was born and managed to use Bambi eyes to get his daddy to read it four or five times in a row. Each night that week she'd had to intervene or her husband would have likely read it 1,000 times after being struck in the heart with, "pweeze daddy".

"Syd?" She was startled out of her memory as Michael waved his hand in front of her face.

"Hey...sorry - I was a mile away." She peered past his shoulder to see Jake sound asleep against his pillow with the blankets tucked in around his waist and legs. "Thanks for helping tonight."

Michael blushed and looked down for a moment. "I thought it would be a whole hell of a lot harder to get him to sleep."

"Well, it's midnight - four hours past his bedtime," she grinned.

"Oh, so you're saying I'm not as good as you at reading about dinosaurs?"

She laughed shook her head. "You'll just have to try harder next time I guess."

They stood awkwardly for a moment as neither really knew the next move to make, Michael finally just holding his hand out and letting her take it and step into his frame. She settled her cheek against his chest and her hands around his waist as his wrapped around her shoulders. Her hair tickled his nose and he breathed in the floral scent while closing his eyes.

"What are you doing Friday?" His question was a whisper but he felt her smile against the cotton of his button-up shirt. She pulled back as her hands slid down to his sides.

"I don't really have a life, Michael," her dimples out in full as she sent him a genuine smile.

He rolled his eyes with a smirk, "then you can't say no to a date."

She nodded slowly and he released a pent up breath he hadn't realized he's been holding. "Friday. Want to have the boys along?"

Sydney peered back into the room as her eyes fell on Noah snoring with his thumb wedged in his mouth and Jake zonked out on his pillow with a leg already dangling off the edge of the bed. "I think...I think maybe just you and me," she suggested looking back into his green eyes, "unless you...you would rather -"

"No...no - that's great." He stepped away slightly as his hands went down her arms until just their fingertips were touching. "I should probably head out - grab Eric before tells all of my most embarrassing moments to your parents."

Spending the better part of the next hour with her mom cleaning the patio and kitchen, Jack snoring from the living room where he passed out on the couch, Sydney wiped at the counters as fatigue set i., The back of her hand stifled a yawn when she caught her mother leaning against the opposite counter staring at her.

"What?"

"I think that Michael is...good for you."

Realizing it couldn't have been easy for Laura to admit Sydney mirrored her mother's stance with a grin. "I'm proud of you, mom."

The elder Bristow rolled her eyes with a crooked grin and looked away. Sydney continued, "no really - I...I know that I've given you and dad plenty of reasons to be protective and I honestly didn't expect your reaction to be anything less."

"He's a good boy."

Sydney laughed as they tossed the towels onto the counter. "So - Friday night he asked me out on a date. Can you and dad babysit?"

Her mother moved to the fridge and looked at the calendar for a moment. "Sure. Your dad has that fundraiser, but I'm just helping the committee set up the silent auction. I can go do that, shmooze a bit with the wives, then head home before the dinner starts."

"If you guys have plan we could make it a different day-" Sydney started, Laura waving her off.

"Please don't make me sit and listen to another lecture and announcements for some psychology symposium opening dinner. You'll be doing me a favor if you stick with Friday, sweetheart."

They shared a laugh as the daughter moved upstairs to check on the boys before heading to bed, Laura standing for a moment watching Jack pretend to sleep. "Working on your eavesdropping, darling?"

Cracking a smile and an eye he couldn't help but shrug. "I'm proud of you too."

Tossing her hands in the air she turned and left him in the dark living room as his laughter followed her up the stairs.

…

A/N: I've had an idea for the next chapter for forever - but I rode the struggle bus on how to get there. To those that are still reading, thanks!