AN: Some big goings on down there. Not quite what you all seem to want them to do, but they did that in the little ditty I posted last night. You all really like your smut, huh? They'll get there in this story too, I promise.

Hope you like.

Any recognizable characters or places are the sole property of their respective owners. No infringement is intended. This plot, however, is all mine.

RPOV

I woke with the sun the next morning. I could see the sky lightening through a gap in the curtains. From my spot though, I couldn't tell the havoc the storm had wreaked. On one shoulder I had baby Alex, still fast asleep and judging by the smile on his face and occasional tiny giggle, he was having a great dream. On my other shoulder was a starting-to-stir Stephanie. She hummed deep in her throat and planted her face in my neck. Her lips making contact with my skin with every exhalation, making me shiver despite us all being bundled up together. She shifted again and crooked her leg over my hip, her knee grazing against the morning wood I was currently trying to pretend wasn't there. The arm that was holding her against me was acutely uncomfortable, but my hand had worked its way under her shirt sometime during the night and was fully splayed against her back, there was no way in hell I was giving up the opportunity to touch her skin. Her knee rubbed against me again and I groaned out loud before I could stop myself, her eyes popped open and she froze. Unfortunately she had frozen with her knee right over my erection and her hand was resting very low on my belly. Her eyes bulged and she turned very pink. She jumped up quickly then, which was a relief and a disappointment all at once.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" She whispered, shivering in the cold air.

"No I should be apologizing. Come back over here." I lifted the blanket and shifted Alex slightly. "I'll make another fire when he wakes up. For now, come back?" She reluctantly slid back under the blanket, teeth chattering, her body shuddering. I tucked the blanket around her as best I could and pulled her closer, but she stayed stiff as a board next to me. "Steph, relax."

"I'm trying." She muttered, still shivering like crazy. I opened my sweatshirt and flattened her to my side and quickly realized what a mistake that was. Her breasts were mashed into my ribs and her face was buried in my neck again, it was doing nothing to deflate the problem in my pants. It took a few minutes, but I could feel her incrementally relaxing.

"I can't believe how cold it got in here!" She said quietly.

"I know. You warm now?"

"Yes…Carlos, I am, I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have been laying on you like that. I'm sorry if I was inappropriate."

"Steph, it's fine, really. You were sleeping, I don't think I could ever be upset waking up finding you draped over me." I said with a laugh. She blushed and bit her lip. "What time does he usually get up?"

"Right around now actually. I'm surprised that he's still asleep."

"If my office is closed today and I have power at home, would you guys want to set up there till your's comes back on?

"…I don't know." She said after a pause. "I should probably check on my parents and Anthony's mom. Make sure everyone's okay. We can stay with my parents. I don't want to put you out."

"You're kidding me right? I'm laying on your couch here. I have a spare room, it'd be no trouble. I more than owe you."

"We'll see, okay. One thing's for sure though, we need to stop with the 'I owe yous'." She looked up at me with that steely glint in her eye.

"Yes ma'am." She grinned and rolled her eyes.

"You're never going to let go of that ma'am stuff are you?"

"Probably not, no. It's too ingrained. I do it mostly to annoy you though." She laughed and gave me a jab in the belly.

"I'm still cold. I don't think I'd warm up even if I molested you again."

"Oh, I think I could warm you up, babe." I said with a lecherous brow wiggle. I was only half kidding. I could very easily imagine a million scenarios in which I could make very single inch of her warm up. Sweat, even. That last thought may have telegraphed a little too much as the smile faded from her face, her cheeks got even pinker and her pupils dilated.

I felt that crackle arc between us again and was only saved from doing something stupid by Alex starting to squirm. He lifted his head and looked me in the eye.

"Carlo!" He said with his big grin.

"Hi buddy." I stroked his little round head.

"Hi baby." Alex's head whipped towards his mom's voice.

"Mama!" He pushed up and moved closer to Steph, snuggling in.

I scooted out from under them and left them to cuddle under the blanket. "I'll make a fire in a sec, just need to go to the bathroom first." Steph nodded and held my eyes for a moment before returning her attention to the baby.

The cold air in the house helped my boner deflate a bit, but I still had to think about disgusting things for a few before I could make it soft enough to take a piss. I could hear her voice as I descended the stairs and paused in the hallway.

"No Mom, it's not like that…the roads were too icy…Mom! I'm not ready for that…we're just friends…alright I'm going to go. I don't know when I can charge my phone again…love you too. Stay safe."

Friends, there's that damn word again.

I walked in to see her with her head back, eyes closed, looking frustrated. I crossed to the fire and got to work. I was really surprised that the flames didn't bother me much. I would have thought it might trigger something, but the desire for Steph and Alex to be warm, seemed to win out.

"I wish I could take a shower." She said, plopping down next to me, Alex in her lap.

"I have a gas water heater at home, even if I don't have power I still have hot water. See, another reason you should come over there. How did your parents make out?"

"They're out too. Ant's mom as well." She sighed, staring distantly into the fire.

"Here let me hold him. Go put something warmer on." It would be a whole lot easier to stick by this friends thing if I couldn't see the outline of her braless tits in that thin shirt.

She handed him over and kissed my cheek, making my throat go dry. "Thank-you." She said.

"For what?"

"I'm not used to having another set of hands here. It's…weird."

"Weird?"

"Yeah, one of my parents was always here after he was born, but I kicked them out after a few weeks. I wanted to get into a routine with him. I've done every single thing for him since then. They watch him when I'm at work and everything, but he's my responsibility. It's odd to be able to go change without bringing him with me. Watching you get him to sleep last night…I felt a tad neglectful. I was just so tired. Thank-you for that." She stood and went upstairs. I was struck again with the realization of the monumental task she had been left with. Raising a child alone has to be incredibly difficult, add to that that she was grieving. She was far and away the strongest person I knew.

I was pulled from my thoughts by a loud knock at the door. I looked at the ceiling, wondering if Steph would want me to answer it. I was just getting up when she sailed down the stairs and opened the door. I took a step back and adjusted my grip on Alex. The man standing there was either Anthony's twin, or he'd found a way to come back to life.

"Joe!" She exclaimed and hugged him.

"Unca Joe." Alex yelled, wiggliing to get down. The man's eyes searched him out, the smile sliding off his face when he saw me standing there.

"Oh! Joe this is my friend Carlos, he served with Anthony. Carlos this is Joe, Anthony's brother." I set Alex down and crossed the room to shake his hand. He looked very unhappy to find me there at 7:00 in the morning. Joe's gaze flicking from Steph to me and back, before finally trying to crush my hand in his. Letting go only to pick up his nephew. His jacket gapped obviously when he placed Alex on his hip displaying his sidearm and shield on his belt. Positive that his posturing was for my benefit I smiled and turned away, busying myself with my phone.

As if some cop could scare me. This man had no idea what I'd faced in the past.

"I guess you two are doing okay, huh?" He said pointedly to Steph.

"Yep, we're fine. We've got the fire. Do you have the scoop on how long it'll take for the power company to get everything running?" She said, not taking the bait.

He huffed, "They're already working on this street. Should be up and running by the end of the day. I was going to offer my house to you and Alex, but my power is out too." On the surface, his words were innocent, but the undercurrent was there. He had a thing for his sister-in-law and was beyond pissed that I was there.

"Come into the kitchen with me. I'll make some tea." She said with an edge. Sure enough when I looked over at her, she looked like she was barely holding back from slapping him. "Carlos can you keep Alex in here where it's warm?"

"Sure." I said, not bothering to hold back my grin. I'd been on the receiving end of the glare he was getting right now and didn't envy him one bit.

I plucked Alex out of his hands and sat down with him by his toy box. I kept my eyes on the baby, but I definitely had both ears pointed towards the kitchen. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could make out some of what she was saying.

"That's none of your damn business Joe!" Her tone outraged. He muttered something in response.

"How dare you!" She hissed. My cheeks were hurting I was grinning so smugly.

You tell that douche, Steph.

The rest of their words were too low to make out and I was feeling like an asshole for trying to listen in. I concentrated on distracting the curious boy from the fire. I looked over when I heard the front door shut and was glad that for once I wasn't the one getting the door slammed on me. She just stood there for a moment, staring out the door.

"Everything okay?" I said quietly. She turned and smiled at me.

"Yep." She shrugged. "Just Joe being Joe. I'm just going to get Alex some clothes and a fresh diaper. I'll be right back." She stomped up the stairs muttering to herself. Alex looked at me, eyes wide for a second.

"I don't know buddy. You better be careful around your mom when you get older. She's a little scary sometimes." I tickled his belly and he gave me that giggle, and returned his attention to the book he had shoved in his mouth.

"I'm going to go scrape off my car, while you get him changed, okay?" I asked when she returned.

"Sure, let me know what the road looks like. Oh, there's a scraper on the porch. I learned the hard way that it's not possible to remove ice from your car when the scraper's locked in the trunk!" She said as she wrestled Alex out of his sleeper.

I laughed and stepped outside into blinding sunshine. It was bouncing off every surface, making the world look like it was coated in glass. It was actually quite beautiful. I snapped a picture with my phone and stepped carefully to the driveway. It had to have been at least half an hour by the time I made it back inside the house. I followed my nose into the kitchen, where she had a delicious looking breakfast set out.

"I cleaned off your car as well. The sun's really melting things out there quickly, so if you need to go out, you probably can soon."

"Thanks, you didn't have to do that. Do you have to go to work?"

"Nope."

"Me neither." She said with a small smile. "Did you want to spend the day here? Alex told me he's enjoying your company."

"Yeah, I think I can do that." And that's exactly what we did. We talked and talked all day. I don't think I've ever spoken so much to one person before. We talked about inconsequential shit and deep things, about her being pregnant alone, her delivery, her anger. We touched on some things that I'd talked to the doctor about the night before. It was like she could sense when my mood was about to spiral down and she would touch me or change the subject quickly, easing my impending anxiety quickly.

I wasn't until I was on my way home later that evening that I realized how much I was already feeling for her.

Yes, she was beautiful, but she was also strong and fierce and caring and incredibly kind. I know I should feel guilty that I was falling for Anthony's wife, but truth be told, that had probably started over two years ago when he first showed me her picture. I also knew that she felt something too, there had been too many charged moments between us for her not to.

Now how do I go about doing something about it?

If I didn't love my husband so much, I would run away with the lieutenant. I really would!

Let me know what you thought please?

Love,

EA xoxo