Chapter Twenty-Seven

He seemed to be asleep, but she barely lay down next to him with her back in his direction when his arms were already around her, pulling her into a hug.

"Finally, it's been almost a day since the last time I hold you like this," he placed a kiss on her cheek.

"A day I'd like to erase from my memory, well not every part of course," she added, turning her head to the side to smile at him.

"Is Nat all right?"

"I think so, he seems to be sleeping peacefully, Sarah was up early, so I decided to try and sleep a little before the day starts."

"Have you checked your phone?"

"Yep, looks like I have an effective team, they let Tim go, no reason to worry anymore," she had only two voicemails from Chris, one of them mentioning some complications and telling her to call him back, while the other reassured her that the client was free again, "No one is irreplaceable, not even me," she sighed. Of course she was happy the case was solved so quickly on their part, but she couldn't help feeling left out.

"You are irreplaceable to me, to the kids, you have no reason to feel bitter about anything. Not to mention that they wouldn't have been able to get him off without you."

She had been there from the start, making sure everyone did his or her job, not to mentioned she had been the one doing the handholding as well and Kate had needed that just like Tim who had always looked up to Diane. Still she had let them down in a way and they might never forget it.

"Probably, but you're right, there's no use thinking about what ifs. I just want to sleep a little before I start the week, that should help."

"It will. I don't want to disturb you, I'll just go and check on Nat, talk to Sarah, I'll wake you in an hour," he gave another kiss on her cheek and started pulling back his arms from around her, but she stopped him, placing her hand on his.

"Please don't go," she begged him and he obeyed her without hesitation, pulling her close to him again.

"All right, I guess I'll stay here to guard your dreams."

"Thank you."

She wanted to kiss him, to show him how much she appreciated his presence, but before she had the chance to act upon this urge, her eyes quickly fell close and the next minute she was already asleep.

o-o-o

She arrived in the office a little later than usual, since Will had let her sleep a little longer than she'd planned, but she couldn't have stayed angry with him for that. She'd made sure Nat had been all right and thankfully Sarah had offered to stay with him during the day otherwise she should have asked her aunt to look after the kid which might have caused some trouble, since Nat still wasn't on the best terms with the elder lady.

She wasn't sure she would find Chris in the office already, since his last voicemail had only been a few hours old, but he was already there and the lack of sleep didn't really show on him.

"I was pleased to hear everything went well last night," she leaned against the doorframe of his office, she didn't intend to stay long, just wanted to check in with him and thank him for taking care of everything in her absence.

"Yes, Kate was really grateful."

Hearing her friend's first name from his mouth like that was something Diane wasn't prepared for, she had just introduced them to each other a few hours ago, but she did her best to hide her reaction.

"I will call her later, I just wanted to say thank you."

"No problem," he shrugged," It's my job."

"I know, but still…"

"And how is your son?"

"Much better."

"I have to admit that I admire you for running a firm on your own, with two kids waiting for you at home, it must be hard to find the balance."

She could swear he emphasized on the words 'on your own' and it suddenly hit her why she'd been feeling a little insecure about having left him in charge, because he actually enjoyed being in charge a little too much.

"Sometimes it is, but I'm working on it," she had no intention of talking about her difficulties with him, she was his boss after all, it was none of his business.

"You know if you need any help, I'm here."

"I know, thank you."

Chris wasn't the only good lawyer at her firm, but he was definitely one she'd trusted because of their common history, however she started to doubt that it was wise to fully trust him on the first place. He might have been loyal to her, but he was probably seeking his own interest all the same and who knew when the latter might overcome the former. She decided to keep an eye on him from then on and make sure not to give too much power in his hands, because he might turn that against her one day.