"Look at her go."

Lewis grinned as he walked along behind the infant. Leslie had his fingers in a tight grip as she took wobbling steps forward. Able to tell that she was doing something good, Leslie cooed and giggled cheerfully. When her steps wavered Lewis' hands closed around hers and he slowly lowered her until she was sitting on the floor again. From her spot on the couch, Kate smiled at the sight.

"She's getting good," Lewis said and sat down carefully on the floor beside Leslie, brushing a few of her loose toys out of his way. The little girl swiveled to look at him and grinned, revealing the four teeth that had just recently grown in. "You're going to be running around in no time, aren't you, Princess?"

Leslie giggled and clapped her hands together. When Lewis laughed, Leslie extended her hands toward him expectantly. Lewis picked her up and set her in his lap and she leaned back against his chest, settling into her favorite seat. The conversation going on overhead made Lewis look upward again, although he kept a cautious eye on the little girl reclining on him.

"You are definitely going to have your hands full with her," Drew commented, laughing as he observed Lewis. It had been remarkable, in his mind, what a change had occurred in Lewis over the last year. It seemed that having the little girl in his life had really softened his crass personality and although he still behaved like his old self with his friends, when Leslie was around his was careful to behave himself and it seemed almost impossible to take the smile off his face. Lewis had certainly transformed into a father.

"Yeah, she's going to be a real whirlwind," Abi chuckled from her position on the arm of the couch beside Drew. "I hope you're both still in good shape 'cause you're going to be chasing her all over the place. Heavens knows Drew can't help you." She leaned over and patted Drew on the stomach, grinning. Drew put on a fake scowl but inside he was laughing along.

A knock on the door turned the subject away from Drew's weight but before anyone could move to open the door it opened anyway. Oswald, Jenna, and her son, Tyler, walked in and shut the door behind them. "Hey everyone," all three of them said as they came in and the greeting was echoed back at them. They filtered in and slipped into seats and Tyler sat down on the floor, his back against Oswald's legs. Oswald seemed pleased by the gesture. From the beginning Tyler had immediate grown attached to Oswald and it was clear to see that he quickly came to look at the man as his surrogate father. Five months ago this affection had become legal when Oswald and Jenna married, and Oswald legally adopted Tyler.

Tyler seemed to be bouncing up and down with excitement and there was a giddy grin on his mouth, which he was determinedly keeping tightly closed. Everyone noticed this strange expression and exchanged looks. "What's up, Ty?" Lewis asked curiously.

Tyler looked up at his parents questioningly. Jenna and Oswald shared a glance and then Oswald nodded with an enormous smile. "Yeah, go ahead and tell them," he permitted.

"They're gonna have a baby!" The answer practically exploded out of Tyler's mouth. Everyone was stunned for a moment and then they all began congratulating them at the same time. Excited by all the commotion and noise, Leslie let out a high-pitched giggle that made everyone laugh.

"Still stealing the attention, I see," Jenna said, glancing down at the infant with a slightly dazed smile.

"Always," Lewis answered, wrapping one arm around the little girl's waist. Leslie placed her hands on his arm and snuggled against him.

"Oh, Eugene called yesterday," Kate said suddenly, looking over at Oswald and Jenna.

"How is he?" Oswald asked eagerly. Eugene had finally found another stable career, a high-ranking position at a distribution business, but it unfortunately required him to travel a lot. He enjoyed it, taking the chance to see the world while he was still alive and able to get pleasure from it, but he was always happy to see everyone when he got back.

"He's good," Kate answered. "He says he's only got another week in Tokyo and then he'll be back for about a month unless something comes up. You should call him and tell him the happy news."

"We'll do that when we get home," Oswald said and Jenna nodded in agreement. After this the conversation settled into the steady rhythm of exchanging news and stories. This had become a ritual for them; every Sunday they would gather at one of their houses for dinner and simple conversation. It usually circulated between Drew's house and Jenna's house, where Oswald had moved in with them, with the occasional weekend like this one at Kate's apartment. They avoided Lewis', since he was still living above the Warsaw for the time being, although he spent so much time at Kate's that he may as well have moved in.

An hour later they all migrated into the kitchen to dish up their dinners, although the lack of space in her small kitchen meant that they all ended up back in the living room to eat. Kate's plate was set to the side as she spoon-fed mashed vegetables to Leslie. Everyone got amusement out of watching this event while they talked; Leslie would pull a disgusted face every time the spoon entered her mouth but the moment she swallowed she would open her mouth expectantly again and whine if Kate didn't immediately give her more.

Shortly after Kate had finished feeding her, Leslie curled up against her mother's chest and yawned. Within minute she was falling asleep and Kate found it hard to move at all without bumping the little girl, who moaned at being woken.

"Want me to put her to bed?" Lewis asked, noticing that Kate was having difficulties trying to eat her own dinner because every time she tried Leslie would whine.

"Would you please?" Kate asked. Lewis climbed up off the floor and took the dozing infant out of Kate's lap. He carried her carefully into Kate's bedroom, trying to move as smoothly as possible and the fact that he still limped slightly on his left leg gave him a natural rocking motion. Moving her gently, Lewis laid her down in the crib that stood in the corner of the room and draped her blanket over her. She was half-asleep, her eyelids hanging heavily over her eyes and her hands loosely curled around the hem of the cover. For a moment he just stood and watched her, smiling as he gave down at the innocent sleeping face. Finally, he turned away and had just reached the doorway when a noise stopped him.

"Da!"

Lewis froze in the doorframe, not quite sure that he had heard correctly. The cry sounded behind him again and he glanced back over his shoulder. Leslie was sitting up in her crib, watching him with her green eyes wide. Staring straight into the eyes that were so like his own, Leslie called out, "Da! No."

Without another moment's hesitation, Lewis walked back to the crib. "What's the matter, Princess?"

Leslie lay back down and snuggled under the blanket, watching him out of her half-closed eyes. "Da," she murmured again. Lewis smiled and reached down to brush her cheek with his fingers. After only a few minutes, Leslie was completely asleep.

Straightening up, Lewis stepped out of the bedroom, leaving the door open so they would be able to hear when Leslie woke up. His mind was racing. Da. He shook his head, slightly overwhelmed by the whole thing. Leslie's first word had been to call him her father, and then to plead with him not to leave her until she was asleep. It made him smile and want to cry at the same time.

Clearing his head, Lewis entered the living room again and leaned up against the couch behind Kate, resting his elbows on the back of the couch and his arms on her shoulders. Kate looked up questioningly and Lewis knew why before she had to say anything.

"She woke up when I was carrying her back and wouldn't go back to sleep if she was in there by herself," Lewis explained and Kate nodded in understanding. Lewis contemplated for a moment about telling Kate that her daughter had said her first real words, but decided to keep it quiet. He was too distracted with everything that was going through his mind at the moment to worry about it anyway.

It was remarkable how much his life had changed in a year. He had gone from a futureless janitor with no real love life, per se. Shortly after he had returned to work he had been assigned to do deskwork until his ankle was completely healed, and he had done such a good job at it that he had been rewarded the position of maintenance manager. This put him on a different shift that was opposite Kate's so while she was at work he would watch Leslie, as well as increasing his pay quite a bit. It also helped that Buzz Beer had grown in popularity, so they were bringing in a much better profit from this. He and Kate had been dating smoothly for a year and a half now, with only a few small arguments that had been cleared away easily. Lewis knew without a doubt that he was madly in love with her now. And he had also fallen head-over-heels for that baby girl who thought he was her dad. Although he had been afraid of being a parent, he had grown so attached to Leslie that he was afraid of her growing up now. That little black-haired, green-eyed tornado had managed to rewrite his entire perspective on life.

"Lewis, you okay?"

Lewis glanced down to see Kate looking up at him. He smiled and bent down to kiss her. When they pulled apart he said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"You think too much sometimes," Kate said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot."

Chuckling quietly to himself, Lewis looked up to see that Oswald was watching him. As their eyes met, Oswald arched one eyebrow curiously. Lewis gave a solemn nod in response to the unspoken question. Oswald grinned and gave a nod as well before turning back to the actual conversation as if nothing had happened.

Kate pushed open the front door of the apartment and dropped her purse on the chair nearest the door, grumbling to herself about how much she hated Mondays. As she slipped out of her coat she looked around, surprised that Lewis and Leslie weren't in the living room. "Lewis?" she called out curiously. There was no answer. "Lewis?" she asked again, slightly nervous now. From her bedroom she heard Leslie give a squeal that broke down into giggles.

Confused, Kate hurried to her room and pushed the door open. Leslie was sitting in the middle of the floor on a blanket, alone, playing with something in her hands and giggling. She looked up when Kate came in and gave another squeal of excitement. "Where is Lewis?" Kate murmured to herself as she crossed the space to her daughter. She knelt down and tried to pry the object out of Leslie's hands. "What have you got here?" she asked, finally managing to get it away from the little girl.

It was a small jewelry box, the dark velvet currently slick with baby spit, and looked completely unfamiliar to Kate. "Where in the world did you get this?" Kate asked, looking down at her daughter, who was still giggling and now started clapping her hands eagerly. Curious, Kate opened the box and felt her breath catch in her chest at the sight. There was a small golden ring inside, adorned with three small diamonds. But the biggest surprise were the words that were printed on the inside of the lid, their bold black calligraphy standing out against the white cloth lining.

Marry me?

In surprise, Kate swiveled around on her knees and to her surprise saw someone else kneeling in the doorway. Resting on one knee, Lewis gave her a shy, nervous grin. For a moment Kate glanced back and forth between the ring in its box to Lewis' anxious face, at a complete loss for words. Then suddenly a bright smile split through her shock and she lunged at Lewis, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him excitedly. Behind her she could hear Leslie shouting happily and Kate was lost in the brilliant perfection of the moment.

When they finally pulled apart, Lewis smiled. "That was a yes?"

"Yes, smart ass," Kate answered, laughing and pushing his arm playfully. Lewis took the box from her hand and he carefully slipped the ring onto her finger.

Lewis signed the document and then pushed it across the table to the judge. The judge lifted it, scanned her eyes down it one last time, and then nodded.

"Well, everything looks to be in order," she said and looked up at the little group in front of her; Lewis Kiniski and Kate O'Brien, who'd been engaged for four months now and were to be wed in two months, and their nearly two-year-old daughter, Leslie. "These forms will go through the system within the week and then all of her papers will be changed from O'Brien to Kiniski. Congratulations, she is now legally your daughter."

"Thank you," Lewis said, shaking the judge's hand.

"It was my pleasure," the judge said pleasantly and glanced down at the papers again. A sudden laugh escaped her and when she looked up both parents were staring at her questioningly. "Oh, sorry, I just noticed that you and your daughter now have the same initials. LMK."

Lewis' eyes widened and then he glanced sideways at Kate, who smiled sheepishly at him. "The hidden significance?" he asked her with an eyebrow cocked. A faint blush in her cheeks, Kate nodded. Lewis laughed quietly, and leaned over to kiss her lightly. "I love you."

"I love you too," Kate said, smiling and kissing him again.

"Dad," Leslie whined. She stood up in his lap, looking up at him and crossing her arms over her chest.

Lewis laughed. "And I love you too," he said and gave her a quick kiss as well. Pacified, Leslie smiled broadly and wrapped her arms around his neck.