"Adam come play with me! Please, oh please come and play! I haven't seen you in simply ages!"

Her enthusiasm amused him and he crouched down in front of her, taking her hand and smiling.

"Ages, huh?"

"Yes! That means forever."

"You saw me last week."

"Well it feels like forever," she clarified. "Could you please come and play?"

"Doesn't your mama need help making dinner?"

"No of course not! She doesn't need help doing anything really except killing cockroaches, those give her the heebie-jeebies."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Now come with me, I have a new game to play! It's called "Bad Guys" and I need you to do silly voices. Mama's tired of it."

Adam glanced up at Lindsay who smirked with agreement that she was indeed tired of the game. He didn't let it dissuade him though, and gladly followed Levi into her messy bedroom.

"So how many tornados came through here?"

"None."

"Why is it so messy?"

"Oh, I told mama I wouldn't clean up anymore. Then she read me the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle story about that boy that didn't clean his room and he got stuck in it. And I said that will never happen and she said "we'll see," so now here we are. I can't get to my closet."

"Hmm, it must be working then."

"Not yet. And if I do get stuck in my room, well, I hided some snacks under my bed last week!"

He chuckled and sat down on her small desk chair while she buzzed around the room, picking up stuffed animals and tossing them to him.

"Okay, I got them all. We are going to play "Bad Guys." This guy right here, he's the chieftain," she said, handing him a stuffed penguin. "And today he is finding some dudes and dudettes that can be a part of his bad club of badness."

"What do they do in this bad club of badness?"

"Wrong stuff like not brushing their teeth, hiding their veggies under their napkin, playing in their room when it is after time for bed, that sort of thing. Also they sometimes destroy cities. So the chieftain has to ask all these baddies some questions about how they will be good for his bad club. Are you ready?"

"Uh, I guess so."

"Okay, here comes your first person. Wait, I am your secretary," she said, making her voice high-pitched. "My name is Sally. Here comes your first person. His name is Machismo."

"Hey Machismo, good name. Do you got what it takes to be in my club of bad guys? What's your superpower?"

"I can crush a building with my foot!"

"Excellent. I've been looking for a worthy building crusher for so long. All the other guys can only smash out windows. You can be on my team."

"Thanks sir. I will not let you down."

Levi galloped the stuffed giraffe onto her bed, then picked up the next toy, a stuffed pickle with a cape.

"My name is Super Pickle and I can fly to the moon. Can I be in your bad guy club?"

"No way! Flying to the moon is good, you have to do something bad."

"Okay. I can also swim real fast to the bottom of the ocean and unplug it! Then all the sharks will got no place to go."

"I don't know, Super Pickle. I'm not sure if there's a place for you on my team."

"I can also make food. Mostly pickles! And your club needs to eat right?"

"I'll think about it. In the meantime, make me a sandwich."

Levi giggled and they continued in this fashion for quite a while until Lindsay called them in for dinner. Adam carried Levi to the table upside down, as was her request, and settled her into her chair while she begged for chocolate milk.

"I don't think so, you had a cupcake for a snack earlier and it's too late at night for sugar."

"Well okay, but could I have hot chocolate with breakfast?"

"Yes, that would be okay. Take your vitamins honey."

Levi nodded and gulped them down obediently, then dug into her dinner with gusto.

"Well we have a field trip tomorrow," she said after a moment. "For the last day of school. My class is going roller skating. Mama took the day off so she could go with us. And she said I could have a slushy if I am good and helpful to other kids! And I am always good and helpful, so I am going to get a grape one. Are you going to get one too mama? What flavor? I bet you will get the blue one. Oh hey, mama didn't you say we could get a cat sometime?"

"I said that a long time ago. Right now however, you need to eat dinner."

"Sometimes my brain just goes so fast and it's so full of stuff that it sometimes starts leaking out!" she explained with a shrug. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright sweetie. Just remember to take some breaths between your thoughts okay?"

"Okay. Can I just say one little tiny thing first?"

"Okay, one very tiny thing."

"I like when we all have dinner together. It feels very nice and happy. And that's the little thing I want to say."

She went happily back to her dinner, humming to herself and not realizing the impact her words had on the two adults at the table. They didn't meet each other's eyes for a long while, both their minds swimming with that one word. Together. They didn't talk about the fact that they were both entertaining the idea of something more in the very backs of their minds. They didn't discuss the amount of time they'd been spending together, talking until late into the night until they were both almost falling asleep. Neither one of them wanted to mention that being more than friends, no matter how nice it seemed right now would probably not be a good idea. She wasn't entirely sure that she really even wanted more, or if she had gotten so attached to the friendship that she wasn't able to separate the feelings in her mind. He was still trying to decide if the moments of peaceful domesticity were making him think about settling down, or if it was the two people he shared those moments with.

"Thanks for the good dinner mama. Boy you guys are so quiet. Could I go watch a movie?"

"Not tonight, you need to get to bed soon."

"Okay. I will go color instead," she announced, sliding down from the table and taking her plate to the sink. "Call me if you need somethin' to talk about."

It was a long moment of silence before Adam glanced up, meeting Lindsay's eyes from across the table.

"You thinkin'?" he asked.

She gave a short nod.

"Me too."

He cleared his throat after a moment and stood up from the table, gathering the dishes.

"I'll go ahead and take care of these."

"Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's make this not weird."

"Okay. Shake it off."

She chuckled and stood up, picking up the rest of the dishes that he couldn't carry and joining him at the sink.

"So, roller skating. Are you going to wear a poodle skirt?"

"I don't know, they're so itchy."

"How long has it been since you've roller skated?"

"I believe I was eight and I am pretty sure MC Hammer was involved."

"In Montana, does MC Hammer refer to a brand name of farming tools?"

"Shut up!"

He laughed at her indignant face and they finished up the dishes quickly, then joined Levi in the other room.

"I accidentally colored on the mail," she informed them. "But just on the envelopes. Is any of that junk mail I could have please?"

"Why don't you let me look at it first."

Levi handed the stack of mail over, hovering as she watched Lindsay sort it. Even she wasn't sure why she liked mail so much, but the thought of getting a new stack was thrilling to her.

"Oh this one is for you. It must be a… birthday… card…"

Lindsay's voice trailed off as she stared at the teal envelope as if she'd never seen such a thing before. It was almost as if she was frozen sitting there, not able to answer Levi's questions about who the card was from. Adam tipped it in his direction, finding nothing abnormal about it but realizing he knew where it came from all the same.

"Mama seriously can I open it? Who is it from?"

"It's from Josh."

"It is?!" she squealed, clapping her hands in delight. "For real, my Josh-dad sended me a birthday card!"

"It's a week late," Lindsay muttered, still staring at the envelope.

"I want to read it! Please!"

Lindsay handed it over and Levi tore into it with excitement. She'd never received anything from her father before and she was itching to see what kind of card he'd picked out.

"Ooh, it's a princess card! And he wrote in it. I know what these words say. It says "Happy birthday sweetheart. I hope being six is the best time of your life. I love you and I will see you soon. Love daddy."

She frowned a little bit at the end and looked up at Lindsay, whose eyes were wide in surprise.

"He said he will see me soon. Is he coming here? Mama why didn't you tell me?"

"I… he's not… "

"What is going on?"

Silence fell over the room for one tense moment, in which Lindsay decided that there was no point in keeping her daughter in the dark any longer. They'd be in Montana in a month, they would have to see Josh, there was no way Lindsay could act like nothing was up.

"Honey, we need to talk about something."

"What's the matter?" Levi asked, climbing onto the couch, her eyebrows knitted together in concern. "I think you look upset."

"I'm not upset, not in the way you might think. It's just something I have to get used to. Levi, Josh has decided that he wants to be part of your life."

"Oh. Okay, well why are you upset?"

"Because it's going to be very hard to do that when he lives in Montana and we live here."

"Well… what are we going to do?"

"We have to have someone help us figure that out. So in a few weeks, you and I are going to go stay with grandma and grandpa for a few days and Josh and I will talk to some people who will help us decide what we can do to make all of us happy."

"You don't like Josh, do you mama?"

"I don't. But that doesn't mean you don't have to."

"So will he come here to see me?"

"I don't know yet."

"Why did he send me this card?"

"I think he's just trying to let you know that he cares about you," Lindsay guessed, nearly choking on the words.

"I'm sorry mama! I'm so sorry!"

"What are you sorry for?"

"Because I've been wishing this for a long time, and praying too and now you are so sad! I didn't want to make you sad mama! I am so sorry I will never wish anything again!"

She burst into confused tears and dropped her head to her hands, unable to sort out all the emotions that were running through her right now. She wanted to be happy but at the same time she felt so incredibly guilty over the whole situation, guilty that she'd wished for it, and guilty that she was happy. All she needed was her mama after all, why should she ever have wished for Josh too?

She felt a hand on her back and she looked up to find Adam, who reached over to wipe her tears away.

"No one is mad at you, Levi. Do you know that?"

"Maybe."

"Mama's not upset with you. Most of this is just between grown-ups. There is nothing wrong with wanting to know your father."

"Okay. You're not mad at me for real mama?"

"For real. Honey, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm afraid that Josh will want to see you all the time and then I won't get to be with you all the time. I really don't want that to happen. It makes my stomach upset to think about it. But I know it's important for you to know who he is, and to decide for yourself what he is going to be in your life. Okay?"

"I will hate him if you want me to."

"I don't want you to hate him. That would make me sad. I want you to be true to what you feel. If you really like him then that's okay with me. If you don't that's okay too. But I want you to give him a chance."

"Will I have to go live with him?"

"No."

"Okay then it can't be that bad, right?"

"Right."

"I am going to take this card in my room and think about it while I get ready for bed. Really gonna think about it."

She jumped off the couch and went into her room, shutting the door behind her.

"You okay?"

"No."

He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into him, hating all the stress this was putting on her. She was well aware of the most likely outcomes, which were not all that bad in the grand scheme of things. But there was a little niggling part of her that still entertained the worst case scenario, the one that had her putting her baby on a plane every other month to fly across the country and stay with a man that neither of them really knew. The thought had been keeping her awake at night and distracted during the day and the closer the court date got, the more anxious she became.

"Everything will be okay. I promised you when this all started that we would find a way to make it work out to be the best for Levi. Your lawyer has reassured you many times that it's going to be okay."

"I know that."

"I'm not going to tell you not to worry because I know that would be a silly suggestion."

She smiled a little and he took her hand, threading his fingers through hers because he knew it helped her to settle her mind down.

"What can I do to help?"

"I don't know. Just tell me when I'm being crazy."

"You're being crazy."

"Thank you."

They shared a small smile and he leaned down to kiss her forehead, sealing the conversation for now. She wasn't going to think about it anymore tonight, and he was going to do everything he could make sure she was distracted from the situation and could get a good night's sleep.

"I'm ready for bed and I'd like to be tucked in now," Levi said as she walked into the room. "Could you both do it?"

"Sure sweetie."

They stood up and followed her into her room, gently kicking toys out of the way while Levi deftly slipped the birthday card under her pillow.

"I said my prayers already, I just need a kiss," she reported, smiling up at them. "Or maybe two."

They both smiled and leaned down to kiss her while she giggled.

"Goodnight guys. Don't party without me."

"Don't worry, your mama isn't any fun."

"And neither is Adam. Sleep good baby. I love you."

"Love you too mama. And Adam, I love you buddy."

"I love you too kiddo. Catch ya later."

They slipped out of her bedroom and Lindsay cracked the door open before they made their way back to the couch, where they resumed the previous position in silence. His fingers grazed over her arm and she sighed softly in a kind of peaceful way that made him wonder if she'd ever actually been this still before.

"You're going to have a first-grader soon," he said after a while in a teasing sort of way.

"Nah. She's going to be a kindergartener forever because I can't stand the thought of her growing up that much. She was a baby last week, I'm certain of it."

"You ever think about having more?"

"Yeah, maybe someday but I don't want to do it alone again."

"You could if you had to."

"I know. But I don't want to. There's parts of being a single parent that I do like, but it would be better to have a partner."

"Do you regret it?"

"No. I regret the timing maybe, but nothing other than that."

He tumbled her words over in his mind for a few moments unsure if the response he wanted to make was right or not. In the end he never said anything and they sat quietly for quite a while, hands joined between them comfortably.

"Will you do me a favor?" she asked after a while, her voice soft and wavering.

"Probably. What is it?"

She breathed deeply, eyes falling to her lap and voice losing power even before she used it.

"Could you stay with me tonight?"

He was silent, hoping she would explain her request just a little bit more before he knew what he was agreeing to. Of course, he was going to agree no matter what she said because he wanted to be there for her but he wasn't sure if that was what she really needed.

"I'm so tired of being alone," she admitted tearfully, still not meeting his eyes. "I just can't be by myself anymore. I can't lay in the dark and worry and wonder and I know you already do so much for us but I really need you because you're the only one who… I just need you."

"Want me to tell you a really boring story so you fall asleep just to escape from it?"

"That would be great."

"Okay, let's go."

He took her hand to help her up from the couch and they made sure the door was locked and the lights were off before they went into her bedroom. She hesitated at the door for a moment, but only a short moment before she walked boldly to the bed and tossed the covers back.

"I'm going to change, I'll be right back."

She grabbed some sweats and stole away to the bathroom, taking a moment to compose herself. She hadn't meant to ask him to stay over, it had just sort of slipped out and while she was a little perplexed at her subconscious, she wasn't going to spend time figuring out how to go back on it. She did want him there and she may even have needed him there and the realization that she was opening herself up a little bit made her feel quite good about herself.

She changed quickly and went back to the bedroom, finding Adam sitting on her bed, thumbing through the book of trivia that had been sitting on her nightstand.

"I've found your secret," he said with a grin. "Do you sleep with it under your pillow? Learn by osmosis?"

"I've probably forgotten more than I've ever read," she answered with a shrug, sitting down next to him. "But don't lose my bookmark anyway."

"Yes ma'am."

She slid under the covers and he followed suit, his shoes dropping to the floor. She yawned and tugged a pillow under her head, rolling onto her side while he started to read bits of trivia aloud. She didn't really pay attention to what she was saying as much as she was paying attention to how it felt to not be alone. There had been times when she was younger that she'd dreamed of something like this, some kind of closeness and safety. And then life had happened and she began to rely solely on herself for everything she needed. But these last few months had made it clear that no matter how self-sufficient she was, emotionally, she needed someone else. And there was nothing wrong with that.

"Hey. You okay?"

"Hmm?"

"I just read a fact about a platypus and you didn't even laugh. That's your favorite animal."

"Deep in thought."

"About what?" he asked, closing the book and turning to face her.

"Life, man."

"What about life?"

"Just things. I don't know."

"C'mon," he encouraged, brushing her hair back from her face. "Tell me."

"I don't know, I was just musing about growing up and at which point do you become an adult and if you actually ever are one."

"That was the most terrible sentence I have ever heard."

"Well… you asked."

He smiled as she yawned, reaching over to turn the lamp off and settling down next to him.

"Thanks for staying."

"Anytime."

He rolled slightly towards her and slid his arm around her waist, noticing how her entire body seemed to freeze, even her breathing changed. After a moment he moved a little, wondering if she was physically uncomfortable or if she was rethinking the whole "stay with me" request. She moved with him, staying close but not relaxing against him and he realized suddenly what the problem was.

"You're not used to this."

"What?"

"Letting your guard down."

"I don't do it much but it doesn't mean I can't."

"You can't."

"I can too!" she argued, sitting up a little to look down at him. "I asked you to stay didn't I?"

"That's not what I mean. You can't relax."

"Yes I… well, I try to… I mean…"

"You can't even talk to me about it."

"No, it's just… you're right. I'm not used to this. I've never had someone just be with me like this and I just don't… I don't really know…"

He laughed a little and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead.

"Look you wanted me to stay for a reason, right?"

"You make me feel better. And I get lonely when you leave."

"So maybe you're depending on me a little?"

"A little."

"Well that's step one."

"What's step two then?"

"Step two is you relaxing and going to sleep."

"Okay."

He gave her a few moments to adjust and get comfortable then took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Linds, being friends includes trusting each other."

"I do trust you."

"Not entirely. And that's okay, it takes time. Just don't stop trying, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm going to stick around for a while, you know that right? You can't scare me away."

"Thank you. I have never really had someone that was… well someone like you."

He smiled at the words, knowing how close they were tiptoeing to other discussions that neither one of them was ready for.

"Go to sleep, Linds. The problems will still be there in the morning."

"Was that supposed to be encouraging?"

"No, just honest."

"Okay."

She closed her eyes and sighed deeply and while she shut her mind down for the night, his was whirring at top speed. How long could they dance around this? How long could he pretend that every time he saw her his heart didn't beat just a little faster? How many times would she fall asleep beside him before she felt it too, before she was ready? And as much as he could coach her in the finer arts of opening herself up, when would he start to listen to what he was saying? When would he put a little trust in her?