Mark pulled up to his girlfriend's house and got out to get Zoe so Maddy wouldn't have to. He got his 'little sister' out of the back seat of the rover and carried her to the door. Maddy unlocked it and they walked in to find Elisabeth and Jim on the couch watching an old movie on her plex. They turned when they heard the noise. Elisabeth smiled and laughed quietly when Maddy held up her finger to her mouth to be quiet. Jim eyed Mark holding his baby girl in his arms fast asleep, but couldn't help to smile too when he saw how tight a grip she had on Mark's shirt collar. Mark smirked when he realized why Jim was smiling.

"Do you mind if I go and tuck her in since she obviously isn't going to let go easily?" Mark asked. Jim and Elisabeth looked at each other and Jim said, "Sure just try to not wake her up because it will take a while for her to go back to sleep if she's been out for over an hour." "She's been out for almost 2 hours." Mark stated as he walked towards the girl's room.

When he walked in the room he walked over to the small bed in the corner and gently laid Zoe down. It took about 5 minutes to loosen her grip on his shirt because he really didn't want to wake her. Once his shirt was free of her little hand he pulled the covers over her and tucked her in.

He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and moved the hair out of face. She stirred a little and it startled him. "Good night Mark. I had a really fun afternoon. I love you." Zoe whispered as she turned over. "Night Zo. You definitely made my day better. I love you too sweetie." He replied and with that she was right back to sleep.

He turned to see Maddy, Jim, and Elisabeth standing in the doorway watching him. Elisabeth and Maddy had a twinkle in their eye watching the how the young man just did the impossible and got Zoe back to sleep so easily, all while having a tender and sweet moment with her. "You are really good with her." Jim told him and smiled with the look he got from Mark as Mark moved passed them to go in the hallway and closed the door behind him.

"Come on, I will walk you out," Maddy said and she took his hand and led him to the front door, "Mom we are going to sit on the hammock for a little while." Jim started to say something but Elisabeth stopped him and nodded to her daughter. Once they were outside Maddy took him to the far side of the porch to where the hammock was. He laid down first and scooted over so she could do the same.

"I can't believe your father just complimented me!" Mark said as he put one arm under Maddy's head and the other around her waist and pulled her close. "Whether he chooses to admit it or not, he does like you Mark." Maddy told him and he huffed half believing it and half thinking she was crazy. They laid there for about 15 minutes just enjoying being there with each other with no interruptions.

"Thank you so much for today babe. It was a lot of fun even if we did have to take Zoe. Happy 6 month anniversary. I love you." Maddy finally broke the silence. All Mark could do at that time was smile while he said, "Mads you are so welcome. You know I would do anything for you. And Zoe, well, same goes for her, and I loved having her there with us it made it more special," she looked up and he bent his head down to kiss her sweetly, "happy 6 month anniversary to you too sweetheart. I love you." They lay there cuddling and looking out at the stars before they knew it they were asleep.

Elisabeth and Jim fell asleep on the couch waiting for Maddy to come back in. A few hours later, about 1 a.m., Elisabeth came out to check on them. All she could do was smile at what she saw. Maddy was curled into Mark's side with her arm across his stomach. Mark had an arm around her waist and his fingers intertwined with her hand that was on his stomach with his head resting against her head. She couldn't resist the temptation to get her camera and take a picture of the scene before her.

Surprisingly Mark hadn't woke up when she did this. He usually has perfect instincts when it comes to feeling someone around him but apparently he was too tired and too at peace with where he was to be so instinctual. She couldn't wake them up, so she left them there in the hammock for the night. Jim never woke up which, in Elisabeth's opinion, was a very good thing.

The sun started to come up about 7 a.m., Maddy curled more into Mark's side at the little bit of sun that started to shine in her face. Feeling her do that Mark pulled her closer and put his face more into her hair. But that didn't last long because a few minutes later Mark felt something touch his shoulder and shake him a little. He slowly opened his eyes to find Elisabeth and Zoe looking down at him, both with a slight smile.

"Good morning Mark!" Zoe said giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Good morning to you Zo." He said softly trying to not wake Maddy.

"Good morning Mark," Elisabeth said handing him some coffee. "thank you for taking such good care of my daughters last night." He looked down at Maddy and smiled taking the coffee from Elisabeth, then to Zoe who was smiling at him and he quietly laughed.

"Good morning Elisabeth. And it was no problem, I wouldn't dream of letting anything happen to either one of them." Mark touched the end of Zoe's nose earning a laugh from her that woke Maddy up. She yawned a little as she opened her eyes. She realized she was still in the hammock with Mark, so she looked up and softly kissed his lips. "Morning babe." She said with a smile. "Morning sweetheart." He said not taking his eyes off her.

Then she glanced around and noticed that Zoe and her mom was standing there watching them. "Morning Mom..Zoe." she blushed a little as she remembered what she had just done. "Morning Mad." Her mother said giving her the coffee she brought out for her as well. "Morning Maddy!" Zoe said a bit more excited. Then Mark and Maddy got up and they all sat on the front porch talking. They all sat on the couch that was right in front of the kitchen window. Maddy leaned against her mother and had her legs across one of Mark's legs while Zoe sat on his other leg.

Almost 20 minutes later Josh walked out coffee in hand, and surprised at what he saw. "Mark what are you doing here so early dude?" he asked with his head tilted. "Long story man." He laughed and Maddy, Zoe, and Elisabeth all laughed too. Josh just looked at them all not even wanting to know what they were talking about, so he just let it go and sat down on the hammock across from them.

Jim Shannon slowly made his way to the kitchen from the living room, where he had accidently fell asleep waiting for Maddy to come back in. He walked around the counter to pour him a cup of coffe and he remembered why he had fell asleep on the couch and wondered what time she had come in last night. After he filled his cup up, he walked over to the window, like he always done to look out to the colony to see how many people were actually awake at this time in the morning.

He almost spit his coffee out when he saw his whole family sitting out on the porch talking. He took in the scene enjoying it for a moment. Josh was laid back into the hammock, his wife was at one end of the couch with his eldest daughter leaning against her for a prop with her legs across the rest of the couch, but then he realized that there was someone else on the couch. Mark. He was leaned back with Maddy's legs over one of his legs and Zoe sitting in his lap too. He rushed to the door and walked out to join the party after he noticed Maddy and Mark were in the same clothes they had on yesterday.

"Hey guys," he said as he closed the door behind him, "what's going on?" "Oh nothing we are all just talking." His wife told him. She noticed he was looking at Mark and Maddy, who had leaned up to talk to Mark and Zoe. "What time did he leave last night?" Jim whispered to his wife. She just looked at him and smiled. He decided that he didn't even want to know anymore and that this kid wasn't going anywhere, especially if Maddy, Elisabeth, and Zoe had anything to say about it.

Well there's your next chapter. Review! Hope you enjoyed it.