Alex woke by degrees. Something tickled his face and he brushed it away, burying deeper beneath the covers. He rolled over and encountered something warm and not altogether soft. Opening his eyes he saw glowing red light.

Alex sat up and blinked in the early morning light. He looked to his right and smiled. He remembered now. Stevie lay under the covers, only her red hair and the top of her head showing.

She groaned and rolled over, stretching her arms above her head. She opened one eye and squinted.

"Oh, hello."

Alex leaned down and kissed her. "Morning, beautiful."

She laughed and sat up, holding the blankets to her chest. "Morning. What time is it?"

Alex turned his head and squinted at the clock. "Early."

Mmhhmm..." Stevie murmured. "Good."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down towards her.

"Oh, so this is what I get for waking you up early." Alex braced himself over Stevie and traced her face. "I was expecting growls and grumbles."

"Well, someone put me in a good mood last night. Another morning and it might have been different."

Alex laughed before leaning down to kiss her again. She murmured something under her breath and then kissed him back.

The sun had climbed well into the sky when the door to the bedroom opened.

"Mommy?"

"Shit." Stevie dove beneath the covers.

Alex peered over her shoulder and saw Kaleb making his way across the room, dragging a blanket with him.

"What's he doing here?" Alex whispered.

"He always comes into the bed with me for a bit in the morning." Stevie looked wildly around. "Where is my top?"

Alex shrugged. "I'd be more worried about my lack of clothes than yours. Does Rose join you too?"

Stevie smacked his chest. "No."

"Mommy, me up," Kaleb had reached the bed now and was straining to climb up.

Stevie sighed and reaching over the side of the bed hauled him up onto the mattress. Kaleb giggled and kissed Stevie sloppily. Then he saw Alex and sat back.

"Mommy, why Al?" Kaleb asked.

The little boy hadn't been able to pronounce Alex's full name and Alex found it rather amusing to be called 'Al'.

"Well... ummm..." Stevie looked at Alex who shrugged.

"Al, you my daddy?"

Alex choked and his eyes widened. "Ummm... maybe?"

Stevie reached up and stroked Kaleb's head. Kaleb laid down and cuddled close to her chest.

"Mommy, no clothes?" He patted her bare shoulder. "Al, no clothes?"

He reached over and pulled the blanket off of Alex's chest. With a satisfied giggled he dropped the blanket back down and wriggled off the bed. Running to the door he called out Rose's name.

"Rose, Rose, Mommy no clothes." His giggles floated back into the room.

Stevie buried her red face into her pillow while Alex laughed helplessly beside her. Trust Kaleb to have no qualms about Alex being in Stevie's bed. Stevie poked him and he muffled his laughter.

"It's not funny," she muttered. "Alex, stop laughing."

Alex rolled over and pulled her to his chest. "Is it so bad that they know what we did last night?"

Stevie sighed. "No. I just wish I could have told Rose."

"I think Rose probably knows by now. After all, Luke still keeps his clothes in my room so he would have noticed when they got back this morning that I wasn't there."

"I see. I assume what you are saying is that Luke will have told Rose?" Stevie poked his chest and he captured her hand in his.

"Yes, that is what I am saying." Alex kissed her fingers one by one and felt her relax under his touch. "Besides, I love you and you love me. What more is there to worry about?"

Stevie smiled and cuddled close. "Nothing."

He held her close and stoked her back.

"Why does Luke still keep his clothes in your room?"

Alex shrugged. "He said there's no room in Rose's room for his clothes. Apparently your daughter has a thing for clothes."

"I have no idea where that came from. Certainly not from me," Stevie muttered.

Alex had to agree. While Stevie did know what made her look good she didn't have a lot of clothes. It probably came from so many years on the rodeo circuit. There wasn't a lot of space for unnecessary things.

"Mom?" Rose called from the other side of the door. "Are you two going to get up and do something useful?"

"What do you think we're doing in here?" Alex called back.

"Nothing useful." Rose's voice was full of laughter and Alex could hear Luke snickering behind her.

"Nothing useful? I'll have you know that I'm getting you another brother or sister."

"Alex!" Stevie slapped his chest. "Stop it."

"I have one of each," Rose said. "That will do, thank you very much."

Alex laughed and rolled out of bed. "Alright, Miss Hall, if you insist. We will emerge and do something useful."

"I do insist," Rose said haughtily. "Hurry up. Kana wants breakfast."

Stevie had buried herself beneath the blankets. Alex sat on the edge of the bed and began to peel them back. He found a hand and then a very red ear.

"Stevie, I'm sorry," he whispered.

Stevie rolled to face him, lips twitching. She shook her head and tried to say something. But all that came out were peals of laughter. Alex frowned. He had thought she would be upset. This was new. Had making love once been all that was needed to bring Stevie back?

Stevie rolled onto her side, still laughing. Alex laid a hand on her shoulder and waited for her to calm down.

"Oh, boy, my daughter is more like me every day," she finally managed. "Oh, Alex, I do love you."

With a laugh Alex kissed her. "And I love you. Come on, time to get to work."

Alex stood up again and scoured the room for his clothes. He found his jeans and boxers half under the bed and his shirt flung across a chair.

Stevie dug around the blankets and came up with her bra and a tank top.

The evening light was soft and a gentle breeze cooled the heat of the day. Alex sat on the porch with Stevie. She leaned against him, holding Kana.

"Alex, are you happy?"

Alex smiled and wrapped one of her curls around his finger. "As happy as I ever wished to be. Are you happy?"

Stevie nodded. "Yes. I guess I am. For the first time in ages I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow."

"And why is that?"

She turned and smiled at him. A smile that filled his heart and made his body glow with love.

"Because," she said, "I know that tomorrow you will love me as much as you do today and did yesterday."

Alex couldn't say anything. So he just kissed her. Her words made him feel that everything was finally right in the world. He had his love and she loved him. He held her close while the sun sank beyond the horizon and another day ended.