If anybody had asked, Jenna would not have admitted how much she liked watching Jim and Lulu sleeping next to each other.

After Dawn had brought Lulu earlier that morning—bathed, fed, and very giggly—Jenna had played with her for a while, changed her, and laid her in her carrier to nap. She and Jim hadn't spoken since he woke up, and Lulu was a nice distraction from the stubborn tension in the air.

The police officers had come to speak to Jim and Jenna had stepped outside with Lulu so they could have the room. Through the glass window in the door, she watched Jim answer their questions calmly and methodically. At one point they all turned and looked at her. She had felt her cheeks blush red under their gaze, still rocking Lulu gently in her arms.

The questions only took about twenty minutes and when they left, the officers smiled at Jenna and cooed at Lulu for a bit. Jim had spoken to her for the first time as she re-entered the room, to ask if Lulu could nap with him, and Jenna had obliged, laying her in the same spot she'd been the day before. They'd been sleeping like that for nearly two hours now. Jenna couldn't remember the last time Lulu had napped that long during the day—she usually slept in fits and starts, never more than thirty or forty-five minutes at a time.

A gentle knocking on the door frame broke Jenna's focus, and she whipped her head around, embarrassed to have been caught staring at Jim and the baby. Becky was there, dressed in a sun dress and jean jacket.

"Hi Becky! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to relieve you. You need to go home, take a break. Shower, change clothes, eat a full meal that's not from the café downstairs."

"Is it your day off? You don't need to come babysit for me!"

"Don't you tell me what to do! And look, I brought you a present," Becky held out a key ring in front of her, jangling the keys on it.

"Whose car is that?" Jenna asked.

"Cal's. He's at the diner and I have it til 5, and this is me gifting it to you. Go get yourself something nice to eat, rest for a while. I can hold down the fort."

"No! You are not spending your day off sitting here."

"I'm going to plant my ass and do my sudoku either way; you can choose to sit with me in your grimy clothes with this," she sniffed the air, "odor of yours permeating the room and your stomach growling so loud it'll wake the baby, or you can go take advantage of the break. Up to you."

Becky traversed the room and settled herself on the end of the couch furthest from Jenna, wrinkling her nose as though smelling something particularly disgusting—Jenna had to admit, she couldn't remember the last time she'd bathed, and her hair would stay in the same place even if she took the pony-tail out, it was so greasy. Becky pulled out a worn paperback sudoku book and set in with a pen, studiously ignoring Jenna.

Jenna sat there for a moment, not knowing what to do.

"Fine," she finally growled. "Give me the damn keys." She held her hand out, and Becky smiled triumphantly, dumping the keys in her hand.

"Atta girl. Seeya in a few hours."

"I'll be back in an hour."

"You better not!"

"Stop being so goddamn soft on me."

"Then take the fucking break!"

Jenna marched out in a huff, her purse tucked under her arm. Why wouldn't they just leave her alone?


It was exactly one hour and thirty seven minutes later when Jenna returned.

Becky glanced at her watch and gave Jenna a disapproving look, but didn't bring it up. After all, her hair was wet, her cheeks rosy, and she looked about five years younger than when she had left. The dress she was wearing might have contributed to that; a summery flowy piece that looked comfortable as hell.

"How's Lulu?" Jenna asked as she set her purse down.

"She's fine," Jim answered from the bed. Jenna jumped; she hadn't realized he was awake. Becky laughed at her alarm and Jenna smoothed her dress indignantly.

"You can't get mad at me for that one!" Jim chuckled, then winced. "I was sitting up when you came in, you're the one that didn't notice." Lulu was cuddled up against him at the incline in his bed, lifting her head a little and grinning at him as he spoke.

"How long has she been doing that for?" Jenna asked, pointing at her daughter.

"Doing what? Is something wrong?" Jim asked with alarm.

"No, she's holding her head up! How long has she been doing that?"

Jim and Becky glanced at each other.

"For a while now, I guess? Why?" Becky finally replied.

"She's only been holding it up for a few seconds at a time!" Jenna exclaimed. She walked over and picked Lulu up, holding her in front of her and watching her little girl hold her head up and look Jenna in the eye excitedly, giggling gleefully. She felt Jim's and Becky's eyes on her as she smiled at her little girl proudly.

"Well look at that!" Becky smiled too, watching Jenna's expression. "What a smart girl! She'll be on her feet in no time!"

Jenna laughed and swung Lulu onto her hip, bouncing and laughing with her baby. When she finally looked away from Lulu, she caught Jim staring at her, a warm smile on his face. It seemed to erase the lines that had formed in the months since she'd seen him last. He quickly diverted his glance when she looked up, turning his attention to Lulu.

"Well, I think we should celebrate. Shall I call for some Jello?" He offered from the bed. "The green stuff is disgusting, but the red and orange isn't too bad." He pressed the call button for the nurse as he spoke, and Jenna watched as he also subtly pressed the little red button to up his pain medicine dosage. She hadn't seen him use it yet, but she guessed his chuckle earlier and the excitement in the last few minutes hadn't felt very good on his ribs.

"I'll let you two celebrate, I've got a hot date to get ready for." Becky pulled a lipstick from her enormous handbag as she spoke, followed by a compact mirror which she opened and used to apply the fuchsia shade to her lips, smacking them loudly.

"I'm guessing not with Phil?" Jenna raised an eyebrow and Becky smiled at her as she snapped the compact shut.

"With Cal. That's another thing you missed at the diner; Sue left him. For Caroline, the lady at the automotive shop off the highway. It's very amicable; he told her about us too. We're official now. With Phil's blessing. He knows. And he's happy for me."

"Oh Becky, why didn't you tell me!" Jenna squealed.

"You've been incognito for months! And now you know. So adios!" Becky swept from the room in a dramatic swagger, leaving Jenna and Jim behind.

The nurse arrived a minute later with a few Jello cups already in hand—apparently Jim was making a name for himself as the biggest Jello consumer in the ward. He dug into an orange cup while the nurse checked his vitals and surgery site. Jenna peered at the stitches while still bouncing Lulu on her hip; they were still swollen and red, but they were clean now, and beginning to yellow out around the edges. The massive black bruises had also receded, and while they were still frighteningly large, they were a much lighter shade of purple, spanned by some angry red streaks.

"Well that's not looking too bad!" she smiled at Jim and he smiled wanly back.

"It feels better too," he mumbled as the nurse held a stethoscope to his chest.

"She's not wrong," the nurse smiled at him too as she removed the stethoscope and made a note on his chart. "I'd say if you continue like this you can go home tomorrow, no doubt about it. I'm assuming the missus here will be helping with your aftercare?"

"She's not—"

"I'm not—"

Jenna and Jim both stopped, grinning nervously at the nurse and glancing awkwardly at each other.

"Well, you'll be helping?" the nurse asked Jenna.

"Yes," Jenna said, just as Jim said, "No."

Exasperated, the nurse looked between the two of them, glancing from face to face.

"I will be. Taking care of him, I mean. Or helping him. Whatever it is!"

"You mean you will be staying in the same household, 24/7, for the duration of his post-op recovery?"

"Yup," Jenna gulped. She hadn't fully anticipated that, and she didn't know what she'd do with Lulu, but she'd make it work.

"Ok. I'll be back with dinner in a few hours, why don't y'all rest up. We can go over at-home instructions after he eats so you have time to ask questions before being discharged tomorrow. Sound good?"

"Great," Jenna replied weakly.

"Good," the nurse said gruffly. She bustled out of the room, clearly fed up with the mixed signals between the two of them. Jim glared at Jenna from the bed just as Lulu started fussing, getting hungry. Jenna didn't take her eyes off Jim as she lowered the hem of her dress and adjusted Lulu to start nursing. She was impressed by how his angry eyes never left hers, never flitted down to try and catch a glimpse of her breast before Lulu latched on. He always was so honorable. It had never been just about the sex for him. Which is what made it so hard.

"I suggest we set some rules." Jenna said.

"Rules?"

"Ground rules. For me living with you."

"Jenna—"

"The first," she interrupted, "will be that you absolutely cannot protest me being there. I am going to help, and you are going to accept it, and that's that."

"I just think—"

"The second," Jenna interrupted again, "will be that we do not discuss the. . . thing that happened between us. At all. Ever. Not allowed. Ok?"

"Ok."

"Do you have any you would like to put in place?"

"If you're going to be staying with me, can you bring Lulu? Our place is only two bedrooms, but she can stay in mine if you'd like one to yourself or anything like that. I'd like to have her there." His tone was so delicate it tugged at Jenna's heart strings.

"Sure. I have a portable crib anyways, so that shouldn't be too much effort, it'll just be getting it on the bus. . ." Jenna faded out as she tried to think of the logistics of transporting Lulu's things and wondering how long she'd have to stay for.

"Jenna?"

"Sorry, what?" Jenna shook her head, distracted from her planning.

"You zoned out," Jim smiled at her.

"What is it, Jim?" she asked impatiently.

"I said you can take the pathfinder. As far as I know it's still at the bar, and my phone died so if Francine has laid any claim to it over the next few days I can play the 'I was in the hospital, I didn't get your text' card. So, you know, you can use it. To drive your stuff over."

"Oh. Ok. Thanks, I guess."

An awkward silence fell, interrupted only by the noises Lulu made as she suckled. Jenna got up and walked over to the window. There wasn't much of a view; just the parking lot and driveway out to the county road, but it was better than being forced to look at Jim.