"I'll get it," Kristen called as the doorbell rang. Edward was busy putting the final touches on Rubix's birthday cake, while the toddler eagerly hung around asking questions. It seemed he'd never had a proper birthday party before, and didn't seem to fully understand what all this was about. But he understood cake and presents well enough.

When she answered the door Jim and Lee stood on the other side, a child held in Jim's arms, a young girl that looked about Rubix's age, perhaps a bit older.

"Hey guys." Ed said smiling up at them from where they stood in the doorway.

"Hey," Jim said, smiling a little in spite of himself.

"Hi there," Lee said, before looking down at Rubix. "How's the birthday boy?"

"Who's that?" Rubix asked curiously, looking over at his dad and pointing at Lee his fingers covered in drool from having his hand in his mouth prior.

"That's our friend Lee," Kristen said. "And you've already met Jim, right?"

He nodded, his fingers back in his mouth again. "Who's that?" He asked pointing at the little girl in Jim's arms who was now struggling to get down.

"We haven't met yet," Kristen said, smiling. "Jim, would you be so kind as to introduce us?"

"Why do you let them in first." Ed said with a chuckle.

"Right," Kristen said, blushing slightly. "I mean, if you insist on being sensible about it…" She backed away from the door enough to give Jim and Lee room to enter.

Jim put the little girl down and she hid behind Lee, staring at Rubix.

"Rubix this is my niece, Maggie. Maggie this is Rubix." Lee said. Rubix smiled brightly at her.

"Hi Megwie …. Wanna come play formers?" He asked.

Maggie looked up uncertainly at Jim, who gave her an encouraging nod, before she happily said "Okay!" And came out of hiding behind Lee, running off to go play with Rubix.

"Well, they certainly made friends quickly," Lee observed, her expression amused.

"Rubix, bring the toys you want upstairs, I don't want you two running up and down those narrow stairs okay? It's dangerous." Ed said taking his apron off and hanging it on the oven handle.

"Kay dada." He said looking at Maggie. "Stay heew okay?" He said before running down the stairs.

"Okay," Maggie nodded earnestly, though she peered through the trapdoor curiously, clearly interested in seeing what was down there.

Ed smile kindly at Lee and Jim. "This is Marian and Ben, guys this Jim and Lee. I used to work with them." He said as Ben stood from the table and came to shake Jim's hand. He kissed Lee's knuckles, ever the old fashioned gentleman.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Ben said before there was a loud banging on the door. They weren't expecting anyone else ….

"Hey, you wanna let me in? Or should I just take this elsewhere?" Bullock asked from the other side of the door.

Kristen went to go get the door again. "Harvey," she said as she opened it, surprised. Bullock stood there looking slightly awkward with a haphazardly-wrapped present in his hands. Kristen smiled. The brusque detective had picked up some real concern for the kid. "Come in," she said, stepping aside. "Jim and Lee just got here."

Harvey put the box down next to the table, the box making a low thud as it hit the ground. He stood up again, clearly having hurt his back but trying to play it off. "I was in the area … Jim mentioned he'd be here so …. Thought I'd pop in." He said panting from his climb up the stairs.

"That's very thoughtful of you," Kristen said, hiding a slight smirk. Somehow, she doubted he had just happened to be in the area with a massive present.

"So where's the cake?" Harvey said clapping and rubbing his hands together.

"Relax Harv …" Jim said shaking his head. The man had an odd sense of humour and no doubt he was joking …. But Jim knew it was only half a joke.

"We were actually going to eat and then let Rubix open his presents, then we'll get to the cake." Edward said as Rubix got back upstairs with as many Transformers his little arms could carry.

He put them gently on the floor and knelt down to show them all to Maggie.

Maggie clapped her hands delightedly and sat down next to Rubix, picking up one of the Transformers. "What's this one's name?" she asked.

Rubix went along naming them all and showing her how to Transform them all as the adults sat on chairs around the table, which wasn't big enough for all of them to eat but was fine to converse.

It wasn't long later that Maggie started crying. "I sowwy!" She said as Rubix looked up at her. "I broked it!" Rubix took it from her and looked at it, taking a moment to try to put the broken arm back on, but it was in fact broken. It was his favourite one too. He put it to the side and hugged Maggie.

"Is okay." He said letting go and offering her another Transformer.

Maggie started to cheer up again, still sniffling a little as she dried her eyes and took the other Transformer in her little hands, holding it as if it were made of glass.

Kristen smiled slightly over at Edward. "He's such a sweet kid," she said. And she was pretty sure he hadn't learned it from his mom.

"Seems genetic." Bullock said though he made it at least sound condescending.

"Harvey, be nice." Jim said elbowing him in the arm.

"I am being nice." Harvey said as Edward brought out a tray of hot dogs, already set in the buns.

"I didn't know you had it in you," Kristen said, her tone drily amused. If he really did say anything to put Edward down, though, she would have a word or two to say about it.

Dinner went by quickly, with Bullock surprisingly quiet for once, probably because he had food in his mouth, and Ben told a story about something that had happened when Ed was a teen … A humorous story that Ed pretended to find the humour in.

Soon it was time for presents, though the concept seemed to confuse Rubix more than anything. Edward pulled him into his lap and handed him the present. He looked at it confused before looking up at his dad.

"Here, you tear the paper off." He said showing him one of the folds.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because there's a present inside. For you." He said as Rubix looked down at it.

"For me?" He asked looking up at him again.

"Yes, for you … Go ahead and open it." Edward said.

"But papows pretty." Rubix said lifting the box up and looking at it.

"Tell you what," Kristen said, smiling. "If you want, we can cut the paper off carefully so it won't get messed up."

"Or you can tear it up." Ed said. "You can see what's inside. Aren't you excited to see what it is?" Edward asked, starting to feel weird and slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah." Rubix said. "I can open it?"

"Yes you can open it Rubix." Ben said, "That one's from me. Go on." Rubix looked at it again a moment before he pulled it open, though he was trying to be careful with the paper when he was done he tossed the paper onto the floor.

"A Rubik's cube!" Rubix said excitedly and showed Edward his new Rubik's cube, still brand new in the package.

"What do you say?" Edward asked.

"Thank you!" Rubix said and put it down excited to move onto the next present. All in all he got a Rubik's cube from Ben, a new Transformer from Marian, a walkie talkie from Lee, a police man's toy set with a matching robber set from Jim to play cops and robbers, and a toy sword from Maggie. They saved the heavy one for last which they made Bullock carry over since it was too heavy for Rubix to lift on his own, it was rather large, and he put it down again with another soft thud, though the noise made it seem like Bullock was over exaggerating how heavy it was.

"Nother one?" Rubix asked.

"Yep, last one kid. You'll love it …. And your father will hate it." Bullock said with a smug smile.

Kristen traded slightly uneasy looks with Edward as Rubix started eagerly, but carefully, to pull off the wrapping paper.

Once Rubix had it open he looked at the box eagerly, though he didn't know what it was. Edward sighed as he looked at Bullock.

"What?" Bullock asked. "Every kid needs Power Wheels! And look …. It's even a police bike to go with his policeman hat." He said picking up the police hat and putting on his own head though it was way too small, so really it was just resting on top of his head.

Kristen looked from the dismayed expression on Edward's face, to Rubix, to Harvey with the little police hat perched atop his head, and burst out laughing. "That's very generous of you, Harvey," she said.

"He's going to be unstoppable in that thing," Lee said, amused.

"Oh, I'm sure the furniture will stop him …. Or the trap door." Edward said looking down at Rubix who was trying to open the box. "Rubix, that's going to be an outside toy okay? You'll get hurt in here if you use it inside."

"Or break something." Rubix said, as if reminding him.

"Yes, or you'll break something." He said as Rubix moved to show Maggie how to solve the Rubik's cube.

"Thank you everyone." Edward said sitting back in his chair.

"I think Rubix definitely appreciates it," Kristen agreed.

Maggie intently watched Rubix twisting the brightly colored squares, as if he already knew exactly what sequence of turns would solve the puzzle. "How do you know how to do it?" she asked.

"Is easy! It's a pattern!" He said though really there was more to it than that. It was just very easy for him to figure out. He solved it and handed it to her. "You try."

"Well, it's been fun. Thanks for the food Ed. I'm going to head out. All you dorks are starting to cramp my style." Bullock said standing and tossing the hat with the rest of Rubix's toys and stretching his back.

"Well, thank you for coming by and putting up with us for a while," Kristen said with a slight smile. "I'm sure Rubix appreciates it too."

"Yeah!" Rubix said looking up at Harvey. "Thank you Howie!"

"Yeah, well," Harvey shrugged dismissively, taking the little police hat and setting it on Rubix's head, where it fit significantly better. "I was just in the neighborhood."

"Of course you were," Kristen said with a slight smirk. "With Power Wheels."

"Well, you conveniently live above a toy store." Harvey said shaking his head as if that were obvious.

"They don't sell Power Wheels there … Closest place that sells Power Wheels is 6-"

"Ed ….. Just let me leave in peace! Enjoy the present, have fun, all that jazz. I'm out." He said putting his own hat back on and waving sarcastically as he picked up a paper plate with a piece of cake on it.

"Bye Detective." Edward said slightly confused more than anything.

Kristen shook her head as Harvey abruptly showed himself out. "I've never seen anyone go so far out of his way to pretend that he doesn't care."

"It's my understanding he's pretty much always like that," Lee said, glancing over at Jim.

"Pretty much." Jim said. They sat and socialized, getting to know Ben and Marian. It was pretty late when Ed took a tired Rubix downstairs to bed and Ben and Marian went back to their apartment after kissing Rubix good night.

"I'm really glad you were both able to be here," Kristen told Jim and Lee, while Edward was downstairs tucking Rubix in. "It means the world to Edward to try to give Rubix a normal childhood."

"Of course," Lee said, looking over at Maggie, who had fallen asleep on Jim's lap, before meeting Kristen's eyes again. "He's doing a good job, you know. You both are."

Kristen blushed slightly. "Edward is… I'm just muddling along the best I can, trying not to mess things up." She wanted a normal, functional family life for Rubix too… But it wasn't as if she'd grown up with any idea of what that looked like either.

"You're both doing a good job. I'm sure he appreciates that." Lee said. "We should head out though. Maggie is staying at our place for the night, so I think it's time for bed." She said heading over to put her shoes on. When she was done Edward came back upstairs as Lee was taking Maggie for Jim so that he could put his own shoes on.

"You two heading out?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, I think it's time for us to get this kiddo to bed," Jim said, picking up Maggie as he stood up. "Thanks for having us over. Maggie seems like she had fun."

"Thank you both for coming. It's much appreciated." He said smiling at Jim, his hands in his pockets.

Once Jim and Lee had left, Kristen had a seat by the table. "I think that went well," she said.

Edward started to clean up the mess, leaving the kids toys in a pile near the trap door and started collecting the paper dishes to put in the garbage. "Yeah, I think it did too."

Kristen got up again and started helping him clean up. "Maybe we should ask if Maggie and Rubix can play again sometime. They seemed to really get along."

"Yeah, maybe set up a play date." Edward said covering the cake and putting it into the fridge, even though there wasn't much left. "It would be good for him to make a friend."

"That's a good idea," Kristen said, kissing Edward on the cheek.

Edward smiled as he turned towards her, wrapping his arms around him. "Thank you." He said quietly.

"For what?" Kristen asked, looking up at him. It wasn't as if she had really done anything.

"Everything." He said. "I know I've said it before but …. I mean it."

"It's not a big deal," she said, blushing slightly. Sure, they had seen some rough times lately … completely insane times, even. But she didn't feel like she'd done anything remarkable. "I like being with you, remember?"

"I can't fathom why." Edward said smiling slightly before he leaned forward to kiss her.

Kristen leaned up into Edward's kiss, wrapping her arms around him. Did he really not realize how unique he was? Then again, she hadn't really told him how she felt … She hadn't been sure before. But no matter what happened, she still found herself wanting to stay, wanting to be there for him. There was only one explanation.

Edward deepened the kiss as he backed her towards the bed and gently pushing her back until she was laying back on the mattress, her head on the pillow. He allowed his hands to roam over her sides as he moved to kiss her neck.

As she felt his hands move over her, Kristen moaned softly, running her hands over Edward's back. "Edward…" she murmured.

"Hmm?" He moaned against her neck as his hand moved down to her hip, his cock slowly starting to swell in his pants as he moved between her legs.

Kristen moved against him, running her fingers through Edward's hair. "I…" she whispered. "I love you."

Edward froze when she spoke, his entire body stiffening as he thought about what she'd just said. Did he just mishear her? He pulled away from her neck, hovering over her for a moment as he looked down at her. "W-What?" He asked.

"I love you," she repeated softly, feeling her face start to redden as she looked up again. Why was she nervous about it? Edward had already made his own feelings clear some time ago. So why did she still feel this vulnerable about it. "And … I'm sorry I wasn't ready to say it before. I just wanted to be sure."

"I …" Edward found him for once, speechless. "Really?" He asked, briefly wondering if this was some kind of joke, or … Maybe she just wanted to see his reaction. He hadn't been expecting her to say it … At all, let alone now but … She'd said it … And he was terrified she didn't mean it.

"Yes," Kristen reassured him, pained at the actual uncertainty in his voice. Why else would she have said it? If she were willing to throw those words around lightly, she wouldn't have waited this long. "Really."

"I …" He paused his words caught in his throat. He felt stiff with nerves … He knew he should respond but the only response he had … He knew would potentially ruin the mood. "I've never been told that before."

"Edward…" Kristen looked up at him, a little stunned by that. Really? No one had ever… Kristen had at least heard those words a few times insincerely, which was part of why she had been so reluctant to say it before she'd really thought it through. If she was going to say it, she owed it to Edward to be sure that she meant it. But had Edward never expected for her to say it at all? That struck her as terribly sad somehow. She reached a hand up to the side of his face, and kissed him gently. "I mean it," she said firmly. "I love you. I know maybe this feels like it's coming out of nowhere, but I've been thinking it over for awhile now."

Edward couldn't even think straight. She …. She loved him? Edward felt ridiculous as he felt his eyes start to water and he did the only thing he could do. He kissed her.

Kristen's eyes closed as she returned his kiss passionately, her her arms wrapping around him, holding him close against her, trying to convey everything that she felt for him through the action, as if just holding him tight enough would make him understand how sincere she was about this.

Ed kissed his way down her neck. As scared as he was … He believed her … Or at least, he desperately wanted to believe her, so he would. "Thank you." He whispered before kissing lower down her collarbone, his hands slipping under her shirt.

A soft moan escaped her as she felt his hands move over her, and she started undoing the buttons of Edward's shirt.

His hands moved further down to the bottom of her skirt, and he lifted it up until his hands found her panties, just above her hip. He tugged at them slightly before he changed his mind. No, this wouldn't be rushed … Not tonight. He moved his hands back up and started unbuttoning her shirt, leaving kisses on her flesh as it was slowly exposed.

Kristen moved feverishly at his touch, wanting him so badly, loving what he was doing to her. She pulled at his tie, loosening it, as he kissed slowly down her body.

He got her shirt open and pulled her up so that he could remove her shirt and her bra, tossing them both onto the floor before pushing her back onto the bed and removing his tie and his sweater.

Kristen pulled Edward down to her, kissing him again, her hands caressing over his shoulders and down his back. Her skirt was slowly unzipped as his hand pulled it down, his fingers moved under the material before sitting back and moving to down her legs. He pulled it off and threw it onto the floor with the rest of their clothing.

Looking up at Edward, who was still more or less fully clothed, Kristen shook her head. "We have a definite imbalance here," she said, sitting up. She finished undoing the buttons on Edward's shirt and pulled it down over his shoulders, before going for his undershirt. "You always have so many clothes on," she half-scolded. "It's terribly inconvenient."

Ed smiled almost apologetically. "Sorry." He said helping her to remove his undershirt.

Once that had been tossed aside as well, Kristen's hands moved down to undo the front of Edward's pants. "It's alright," she said, smiling up at him. "It wouldn't do for you to catch a cold." And really, it was part of his bookish charm.

"A cold?" Edward asked. "Is that really what you're worried about?" He asked getting off the bed and kicking out of his pants and boxers before climbing back into bed with her.

"Not really," Kristen admitted, putting her arms around him and leaning in to kiss him.

Edward moaned into the kiss as he rubbed himself up against her before leaning down to kiss her. Already he could feel how warm and wet she was against him as his cock throbbed in anticipation.

Moving against him, feeling his enormous cock rubbing against her, Kristen moaned softly, her hands running down Edward's sides and then around to his ass, pulling him in closer against her. She leaned into his kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth.

Edward moaned before it turned into a groan as their glasses clicked together. He broke the kiss and sighed before laughing slightly. He pulled his glasses off and placed them on the bedside table.

Kristen couldn't help giggling when their glasses clicked together. It reminded her of their first kiss. It was kind of comforting to know they could still be dorks together, even after all of the insane things that had happened. She set her glasses aside too, and then lay back on the bed, pulling Edward down on top of her.

Edward looked down on her, laying on top of her, though they were so close that even with his horrid vision he could still see her perfectly. He traced his fingers down the side of her face as he pressed the underside of his cock against her. "I love you." He whispered quietly, gently and slowly rubbing himself against her.

"I love you too," Kristen whispered breathlessly, blushing at the way he looked at her. It was wonderful to say it and to hear it… but right now, she could just as easily feel it in his gentle touch, and see it in his eyes. She hoped he was getting the message from her just as clearly. Her fingertips ran lightly through Edward's hair, and her hips moved up against him in response to his slow deliberate movements.

Edward shifted slightly, angling the tip of his cock at her entrance before his eyes met hers again. "Ready?" He asked quietly.

Kristen nodded, touched by his consideration. "Yes," she murmured, wanting him more than ever.

Edward gently kissed her, his lips moving against hers as he slowly started to press the tip of his shaft inside her.

A quiet moan escaped her, muffled by the kiss, as Edward pressed inside her, and she pushed back against him, her hands running over his back, as her mouth moved against his.

He broke the kiss and looked down at where they were joined together, his hips slowly starting to rock against her, pushing himself deeper.

Moving her hips forward against him in time to his slow rocking, Kristen watched the intense expression on his face for a moment, before she started gently kissing down Edward's neck.

He moaned quietly in his throat, his chest moving against her breasts as he moved his cock inside of her. It was slow and sensual, something they hadn't really done before … Before it was always quick and lust filled passion but this …. This felt different.

Kristen continued kissing softly at Edward's neck, before lightly nipping at his ear. She moved slowly with him, intensely aware of him inside her, moreso even than if he had been thrusting into her hard. She had time to deeply feel every sensation of closeness. Every touch, every movement, seemed as much an emotional sensation as a physical one. She had never felt anything like this before. Not with Edward. Not with anyone.

Edward moaned, in both pleasure and slight frustration. Already he could feel his orgasm starting to build, and he didn't want it to end so soon. "I'm going to come soon." He said wondering if he should pull out, try to make it last longer for her.

"Alright," Kristen whispered, holding Edward tighter. She had wondered how long he would be able to keep going like this. As much as she didn't want this to end, she didn't want to let go either.

Edward tried keeping the slow pace, but the more his orgasm built the farther in he pushed, his hips moving slightly faster against her. He closed his eyes as he willed himself to calm down, to last longer. He braced his weight on one hand and lowered his other between them, his fingers rubbing against her clit.

Moaning as she felt Edward's fingers against her clit, Kristen moved against him, her desire intensifying. "God, Edward," she gasped, her hands running over his back.

Edward's breathing started to quicken the closer he got, and within a few more thrusts he paused. "I can't hold it back anymore .." He said still rubbing his fingers against her clit, his cock still inside her.

"It's … it's okay," Kristen gasped, feeling her own orgasm building as Edward kept rubbing against her clit, his cock still so hard inside her… She looked up at him, confused. Why didn't he just let himself finish? Surely he knew she'd understand. Was he waiting for her? She was completely overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness, that he was still bothering when he was so close… She blushed deeply, a whimper escaping her as his fingers worked over her. "Edward," she gasped, clinging to him, as her pleasure overtook her, her inner walls clenching around him.

Edward groaned loudly as she clenched almost painfully around him. She was already so tight, the sudden pulsing around his shaft caused him to shiver with pleasure before he came hard inside of her. He quietly moaned as he came, his hand moving away from her clit and bracing himself on the mattress as he panted against her ear.

Kristen rocked her hips up against him, letting Edward ride out his orgasm, holding him close and gasping for breath as they came together.

Once Edward calmed down he relaxed against her, laying on top of her as he kissed her just below her ear. "You're amazing."

She shook her head, running a hand through his hair affectionately as she lay there, trying to catch her breath. "No you are," she murmured, her thoughts not entirely coherent. She felt fantastic.

Edward looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "No you are!" He said in a teasing tone.

"Quit making fun of me," she protested, laughing. "It's your fault my brain's not working at full capacity right now anyway."

Edward laughed slightly as he rolled over onto his back beside her. He groaned as his cell phone started buzzing on the bedside table where he'd left it on her side. "No one's home …. Go away."

Kristen chuckled slightly, forcing herself to sit up and look over at the phone. If it was something important… Thinking she recognized the name of Ed's new lawyer, she reached over and picked it up. "Hello?" she said.

"I … Um. Hello. Can I speak to Edward Nygma please?"

Kristen glanced over at Edward, who seemed to want nothing more than to simply lay there and not be bothered. "Is it urgent?" she asked.

"Would I be calling if it wasn't?" The man asked annoyed. "I don't exactly call my clients to socialize …."

"Alright," Kristen said in a pacifying tone. In all fairness, they guy didn't even know who he was talking to. "Hang on, I'll put him on." She turned to Edward, handing him the phone. "It's your lawyer."

"Great … Just what I need, bad news." Ed said taking the phone from her. "Hello."

"Hello Mr. Nygma … I apologize for the late call … I'm calling in regards to your ex wife. I just got the news she's been released from holding, she'll be picking up her son tomorrow morning. I do however, have good news." He said as Edward sat up angrily at the news. They released her?! After those charges they were just going to allow an innocent child back into her hands?!

"We have a court date set up at the end of the month … Three weeks from now." He said giving him the date. Edward scrambled for a piece of paper and looked around for a pen.

Kristen saw Edward scrambling for writing materials while looking distressed. She quickly got up and grabbed a pen from a nearby shelf and handed it to him.

Ed thanked her for the pen and wrote down the time and date. "You'll be expected to be there an hour early. You have a pretty good case for you, but the courts tend to lean towards the mother. It would be easier if you were to site having a functional family … You have a home, a steady income, but your job is new so they may take that into consideration …. If you were to have someone, say, adopt him alongside of your custody of him … It may strengthen your case. Do you have a girlfriend or-"

"I'm not bringing her into this." Edward said, "we'll have to build a case on what we have."

"But-"

"No." Edward said firmly before he could say anything further.

"Alright well … At least think about it. Maybe talk to her about it."

"Was there anything else?" Edward asked.

"No Mr. Nygma …. Have a good-" His voice was cut off as Edward flung his cell to the end of the bed and he flopped back on his pillow, rubbing his hands over his face with a groan.

"What is it?" Kristen asked, sitting down on the side of the bed and laying a hand on his shoulder, looking down at him in concern.

"Brittany was released tonight …. She's coming to pick up Rubix tomorrow morning." He said lowering his hands and looking up at her. And today has been going so well. "He's going to blame me you know … When I let him go back there."

Kristen's eyes widened. She shook her head. "No…" She murmured, thinking about the innocent little boy downstairs, how happy he'd been that afternoon with all of his presents … and how scared he'd looked last time Brittany had come to collect him. She seemed angry enough on a normal day. After she'd been arrested… They couldn't let Rubix go back into that environment. Not even for the smallest fraction of time. "He won't blame you," she whispered, taking Edward's hand in hers. "He may not understand what's going on, but… he knows you care about him." She felt her throat tighten at the idea of letting him go back there. "Isn't there anything we can do?" she asked.

"Legally no." He said. "We have a court date set for three weeks from now but-" Edward paused. Legally no, they couldn't do anything …. But … What if she never came to get Rubix … What if she never showed up for court.

"But?" Kristen repeated, more than a little anxiously. She couldn't exactly define it, but she had sensed something ominous in Edward's voice.

"What if she doesn't show up to court?" Ed asked looking up at her. "What if she doesn't show up here at all?"

"Edward," Kristen said in a warning voice, her expression darkening. "If you're saying what I think you are… We're not going to go there."

"Would you rather me lose custody entirely? If she doesn't show up then custody goes to me by default … If no one shows up tomorrow …. Then he can stay here." Edward said trying to reason with her. It made sense … Or it would if all signs didn't point back at him.

"And what happens when all signs point to you?" Kristen demanded. "What happens when you're the first person investigated, because no one has more motive than you do? What happens to Rubix then? Is that really what you want?" Not to mention when someone had to explain it to Rubix after Edward inevitably got arrested. She shook her head. "I'm scared for Rubix too, and I want to protect him, believe me, but … but this? This won't help him. No matter what the stakes, we're not going to just go off and kill your ex."

"Well … One could dream right?" He asked flopping back down on his pillow again. He sighed before getting up and pulling a pair of Pajama pants out of his drawer.

Kristen shook her head, and sighed as she got up and went over to the overnight bag she'd brought and pulled out pajamas as well. She felt suddenly cold for some reason. "What was your lawyer talking about earlier?" she asked. "That you didn't want to get me involved in?" There was really only one 'her' he could have been referring to who wasn't already involved.

"It was nothing." Edward lied, putting his pajamas on. "Just a dumb idea."

"What dumb idea?" Kristen said, getting dressed. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're desperate enough to discuss homicide. I'd like to know what other options there are."

"It doesn't matter. I wouldn't allow you to do it even if you said yes." He said pulling his shirt on and tucking it in.

"Then what's the harm in telling me?" Kristen countered.

Edward sighed. "He said I have a pretty good case, but little to go on …. I have a home, and a full time job but it's a new job and I have no prior job experience so they'll take that into consideration. But he said it may be easier getting custody if I were to have a functional family … If I were to have someone adopt him along side my custody. It would strengthen my side of the custody battle."

"And … you don't want me to?" Kristen said quietly, pausing what she was doing and looking over at him. It was a lot to trust someone else with, she understood that. But she wanted to help.

"I'd love for you too. But it's a very large commitment … Another fifteen years minimum …. And I don't want you to commit yourself to me because of this …. If you did commit yourself to me I would want it to be because I asked you to marry me, not because of a custody battle you got thrown into the middle of." He said honestly.

"Edward…" Kristen stared back at him. This was all so complicated. "I realize it's a commitment." And a more sudden one than she'd ever intended. Between her past mistakes and his, it had seemed best to try to take things as slowly and cautiously as they could. "But … I don't feel like I've been thrown in the middle of this. I care about Rubix, and I want to get him out of there and into a home where he's safe. And if there's some way I can help, I don't want to just sit back and do nothing."

"And what happens if you leave me … Maybe you don't want to now but a year? Two? Five? What then? You fall in love with this kid and suddenly I'm back in a custody battle?" He asked. "Especially with this path I'm going down … You'd probably win if I was ever caught." He said, knowing that addiction, that compulsion was still in him.

Kristen shook her head. "I wouldn't do that to you, or to Rubix. You've had nothing but Rubix's best interests at heart this whole time. I can't see you ever hurting him … and that's the only circumstance where I would consider putting him through that." She wouldn't pretend that the possibility didn't exist at all, or that Edward's dark side didn't scare her. "I love you, and … I want to believe that we can make this relationship work indefinitely." Though she had to admit, her track record wasn't promising. She looked him steadily in the eyes. "But … Even if things fell apart between us, you could never make me angry enough to tear a child's family apart for no reason. I think … even in the worst case scenario, we could talk about it like adults and do what's best for Rubix."

"It's still a very serious commitment and not something I want you jumping into. It's three weeks until the trial date, at least think it through before you agree … Maybe talk to Lee, get an outside opinion or something." He said with a shrug.

"Alright," Kristen said quietly. That was good advice. She had to question how deeply she was getting involved. She could always count on Lee to be the voice of reason. "But … How do you feel about this?"

Edward sighed and remained silent for a moment before he spoke. "I'm scared to be honest. I want to trust you but I've heard things like that in the past and they never end well … We've only been dating for a few months and the first few months are generally when it's great …. We're in that period of normality … If that's what you want to call it …. But I can't help fear that things are going to turn ugly as my past relationships have … And Rubix is going to be stuck in the middle of it no matter what I do."

"I understand," Kristen said quietly. She glanced down at the floor. "If … If it makes you feel any better, I don't just care about Rubix because of you. I mean … That's part of it, but … He deserves to grow up with a functional family that loves and protects him." Even if Kristen didn't exactly know what a functional family really looked like. "And that's not going to change, just because things start to go bad between us."

Ed sighed again and took her hand in his. "We're going to make this work then. And I still think you should talk to Lee before you decide." He said.

"Right," Kristen agreed. She looked up at him. "I'm not trying to make a decision this important lightly," she promised. "I just… I want to help," she said quietly.

"I know … Just … Think about it before you decide." He said standing up from the bed. "I'm going to bring him upstairs, let him sleep with us tonight." He said flipping the blanket down to check the sheet to see if they had made any kind of a mess, luckily they hadn't.

"Okay," Kristen agreed, understanding. "It's … It's going to be alright," she said gently. "You have a job, and she has a recent arrest record now. You'll get custody." But if she could help his chances at all, she had to consider it. It was bad enough letting Rubix go back to an abusive home for even a couple of weeks … She couldn't risk letting Edward lose him permanently.

Edward came upstairs a few moments later with a very sleepy Rubix on his shoulder. He put him down in the middle of the bed and he squirmed around looking up at Ed tiredly.

"Mama coming to get me amorrow?" He asked tiredly.

"Yes." He said quietly as Rubix rolled over tiredly.

"I think I'd like if Kisten was my mommy asted." He said in a tired matter of fact tone, before he drifted back to sleep.

Kristen looked down at Rubix sadly. When he put it like that, it sounded so simple. Why couldn't she be? But it was also a really daunting idea. She didn't know how to be a mom. And the only example she'd grown up with was what not to do. "Yeah," she said quietly, not loud enough to wake him. She didn't want to get his hopes up until she had decided for sure. "That would be nice."