The next two months moved quickly for Dave and Alex. She quickly became a part of their weekly family dinners with the Tilers and Robin and Anna. When Tanya and Sam joined them as well, they ended up having to set up a table for the younger kids and spread out a bit more. Alex went to several more of Ewan's football matches.

Date night also became a weekly occurrence. If the weather was good, Dave would pick Alex up on his motorcycle. Otherwise, he'd drive the car and pick her up.

Just a few weeks in, they celebrated Alex's last shift at The Brew as she finally took on her business full time. She was gaining clients on a consistent basis and the steady income of taking on the new clients as well as maintaining her current client base was enough.

It was a Thursday night, regular family dinner night at the Tiler house, when things went a bit different.

"Tanya, I have an evening engagement photo session next Tuesday and Lucy has a sleepover. I need you to watch the kids, if you can?" Dave asked as he spooned out potatoes onto his plate.

Tanya stared at him a moment. "Tuesday? I can't. You know I have a thing."

"A thing? What thing?" Dave questioned.

"The nature photography club, Dad!" she exclaimed, upset her dad had forgotten.

His head rolled back and he groaned. "Oh, yeah." His head rolled back forward and he rubbed his temples before looking up at Anna.

Anna shook her head as she responded, "Don't look at us, Robin has a work function we have to attend."

He sighed. "I'm just going to have to reschedule."

Alex had been watching the interaction. "No you don't. I'll watch the kids."

Everybody stopped in mid bite, some with forks halfway to their mouths. Dave shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that."

"You aren't asking, I'm offering." She shrugged again. "I'll watch the kids. We'll have a good time."

Dave looked wary. He would trust Alex implicitly with his children, but he didn't want to push the responsibility of babysitting off on her. He was interrupted by Evie before he could say anything else.

"Come on, Dad! Let Alex come over! We'll have so much fun!" she begged.

Dave looked between his daughter and Alex. "It'll only be a few hours. You're sure?"

"Positive. Next Tuesday night." Alex grinned as she took another quick bite then spoke again, "I'll bring pizza for dinner, and a few other surprises. We'll have a blast, won't we guys?" She smiled towards the kids who all pumped their fists with exclamations of "Yes!"

Tuesday came and Alex rang the doorbell on the Tiler home using her elbow, as her hands were full. Paul came to the door and let her. He grinned and looked at the things she carried. "Alex, you're here! Did you bring it?"

Alex grinned and showed the pizzas she had balanced in one hand, and the bag she held in the other. "Pizza and a Nintendo Wii. Let the Mario Kart competition begin!"

Paul continued to smile. "You are going down!"

"Oh!? We'll see about that!" she shot back as they walked into the kitchen and she set the pizzas down.

Dave came hopping quickly down the stairs, zipping up his camera bag as he moved. He planted a quick peck on her cheek. "I've got to get going, the client called a few minutes ago and said they had to move up the time of their date and I've got to be in hidden place to catch the surprise proposal. Save me a few pieces and I'll eat when I get back."

Alex noticed Paul had gone back upstairs to get his siblings down for dinner, so she leaned in and quickly placed a kiss on Dave's lips. She grinned up at him, enjoying the glint in his eyes when she surprised him. It had been a few weeks into dating before they had taken the chance at a first kiss, and they continued to move slow, having only shared a few more since then. "Enjoy playing private investigator, with your sneaky photo shoot. I can't wait to hear about it afterwards."

Dave gathered the rest of the belongings he needed to take along and started to open the front door, turning first to yell up the stairs. "Kids, behave for Alex! See you in a few hours." Turning back towards the door, he winked at Alex, who had leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching him. She waved bye and he closed the door. It wasn't lost on him that his house was beginning to feel more like home when Alex was in it than when she wasn't. He allowed himself to reflected on that further as he drove towards the Botanical Gardens.

Three hours later he pulled back up to his home and parked. As he approached the front of his house, he heard shouting from inside.

"Oh no you don't! Get back here!" he heard Alex shout.

"Catch me if you can, loser!" Ewan shouted back.

A moment of panic struck through him as he quickly opened the door and stepped inside—to find his youngest son and his girlfriend standing in front of the TV bouncing up and down, each holding a racing wheel. Paul and Evie were on the couch, cheering. Paul was, of course, cheering for Ewan. Evie would never hear for cheering for anyone but Alex. He shook his head and watched from the doorway. There was so much noise an activity no one had even noticed him come in the door.

At the last minute, it seemed that Alex caught up and overtook Ewan as the race ended and she let out a shout, "Hah! Gotcha!"

She started to do a dance and Evie hopped up to join her. Doing a spin and seeing her father, she stopped. "Daddy!" The girl ran over and gave him a hug around his waist.

Both boys were groaning, Ewan especially, "I can't believe you won."

"What has she won?" Dave asked with a chuckle as he looked between Alex who had a proud smile, and his two boys who looked utterly defeated.

"You are looking at the first champion of the Tiler House Mario Kart Racing Competition." Alex grinned again.

Dave shook his head again, in humored disbelief. "Well, boys, next time I'll be participating and she'll be taken down quickly."

Alex's left eyebrow raised. "Oh, is that so? We'll see about that, Mr. Tiler."

"Okay kids, time for bed. Go get ready and I'll be up to wish you good night in a bit. I'll read to you then, Evie." Dave nodded in the direction of the upstairs.

"Daddy, can Alex read to me tonight?" Evie looked up at her father with sweet eyes.

Dave's eyes widened and he glanced at Alex, who looked as if her heart might burst. She looked back at Dave and gave a small quick nod. "Sure, sweetie, if that's what you want."

"Dad, we really like Alex." Paul said pointedly to his father as they sat talking quietly in the boys' room.

Dave was sitting at the end of Paul's bed, legs stretched out in front of him across the bed, his back and head leaning against the wall.

Dave grinned. "Even though she beat you at Mario Kart?"

"Because she beat us at Mario Kart," Ewan said from across the room where he lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling where glow-in-the-dark stars were stuck to the ceiling. "She's amazing."

Dave thought it funny that his boys were expressing similar thoughts that he was, just in their own juvenile way. "She is something, isn't she?" He smiled as he remembered the scene he had walked in on that evening.

"We just wanted you to know, Dad. We really like her. You know, in case you want to marry her or anything," Paul spoke seriously.

Dave gulped, his eyes growing wide in the dark. Thankful the boys couldn't see his face. "It's only been a few months since we met Alex, Paul."

"Is there some sort of official timeline you have to follow? How long do you have to know her for? I mean, how much more do you have to know before it's okay?" his eldest son continued to question him.

"I don't know." Dave shrugged, though the boys couldn't see him. "It's different for everyone. Have you two really been thinking this seriously about this?"

"You're happy dad. The happiest we've seen you since Mum was alive. It's not just us, Evie and Lucy think so too." it was Ewan who spoke heartfelt truth this time.

Dave wiped his eyes. Blimey, his kids were amazing. "So you're all equally in love with her, huh?"

"You love her, don't you dad? You should be sure to tell her. Girls like that stuff." Paul whispered as he started to grow drowsy.

Dave sighed quietly and looked up at the ceiling, watching the fake stars for a moment before sliding himself off the bed. "Good night boys."

"G'night Dad."

"Night."

He quietly closed the door, standing outside it and wiping his eyes again before silently moving towards Evie's room. The door was cracked open and he could hear Alex's voice from inside. He peeked in and watched as she finished up the storybook she had been reading.

"The Prince married the Princess and lived happily ever after." Alex closed the storybook and brushed Evie's hair out of her face.

"Alex, do fairytales like that really happen?" Evie whispered.

Dave watched as Alex stared down at the girl. She was smiling, but Dave could see a mix of emotions in her eyes. She glanced up towards the door and caught him watching her. She looked into his eyes, and responded to the girl as she kept her eyes on him. "You know, Evie, at one time I might have wondered. But now, I'm quite sure they do." She turned her gaze back to the young girl and smiled sweetly at her. "Good night, Evie. Sweet dreams." Dave watched as Alex leaned down and kissed the girl on the forehead, then tucked her covers up around her. He backed away from the door as she approached, slipped out and reached in to turn the light off before closing the door.

When she turned, Dave was standing there watching her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him quickly, embracing her in a tight hug. She couldn't have had any idea the conversation he had just had with his boys, but hearing her honest response to his daughter was enough to send his heart into overload. He tilted his head down and met her lips in a passionate kiss before she could argue. A few minutes later, they broke the kiss, both panting heavily. Without realizing it, he had backed her up against the wall by the stairwell. She looked up into his eyes, tears at the edge of her eyes, and he realized a few were already tracing down his own face.

Through his own rapid heartbeat and breathing, he whispered. "I love you, Alexandra Stanton."

Her eyes closed, she allowed the words to wash over her and through her a moment. "I love you, Dave Tiler."

An hour and a half later, Dave Tiler lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. His phone vibrated next to him and he reached over without looking and picked it up, moving the screen into his field of vision. A smile came across his face.

Am I dreaming?

He quickly typed back. I was just thinking the same thing. I don't think shared dreams exist. So we must both be awake.

A quick response came back. This has really happened?

He waited a moment, his finger tapping the side of his phone as he formulated his response. If you mean, have I fallen love with the most amazing American-born woman in Scotland, I believe it really is happening, yes.

How many American-born women are there in Scotland, do you think?

He grinned and rolled his eyes. You know what I meant.

Yes. :) Goodnight

Goodnight.