Lee's arrival upstairs was preceded by several shopping bags being thrown over the baby gate before he lightly hopped over the gate himself.

"Show off," Kara muttered with a roll of her eyes as she lifted Billy off of her lap and held him more securely in her arms. She got up and walked to her husband, who was bending down to pick up the bags he had brought.

"Did you get everything?" she asked as Lee straightened up.

"Yes," Lee sighed-this was a routine they went through ever since he forgot to buy juice one day. "I got everything."

"Juice?"

"Yes."

"Milk?"

"Yes, Kara."

A beat passed as Kara ran their usual shopping list through her head. A sly smile slowly spread across her face. "Wet wipes."

Lee just smirked and said, "Got them," while waving the bag he held in his left hand.

"Darn."

Lee cocked an eyebrow at his wife when she said that.

"What?" Kara gave him an annoyed look. "I can do clean and wholesome."

He decided to play the innocent in this exchange. "I didn't say anything. Do I get a kiss now?"

Kara lifted Billy up towards his father's face. "Go on, Billy. Give Daddy a kiss."

Lee leaned in got a wet spot on his chin from his son. As he moved to kiss his wife, she pulled back.

"Put the diapers away and I'll think about it."

Lee walked into the nursery with a smile on his face and a shake of his head.

When he walked back out, Kara and Billy were in front of the picture wall they had upstairs. She was murmuring something to their child that he couldn't hear. He leaned against the door frame and drank in the sight; storing it in his memory.

After a long moment, Lee walked up behind Kara and wrapped his arms around his wife and son. She automatically pressed back against him and turned her head to look at him.

"So, I thought about it," she said.

He pulled them a little closer and deeply breathed in her scent. "And?"

Kara snaked one arm up behind Lee's head while making sure that Billy was secure in the other. She pulled him down for a soft kiss and let go, immediately bringing her arm back to her son.

Lee placed another kiss on her temple before resting his chin on her shoulder. "So," he said softly. "What have you two been up to?"

She turned her head slightly towards him. "Just looking at some photos. Reliving memories."

Lee's eyes wandered to one picture that was hanging nearby. It had been taken sometime in the week after one of their biggest fights, while they were working through this latest development in their relationship. It captured the two of them in a quiet moment-sitting on a bench, her head resting on his shoulder as he looked down at their entwined hands, completely unaware of the rest of the world.

He'd found that as time passed quiet moments like those came around more often. It wasn't that they stopped fighting, but their fights became fewer and farther between.

She could still be the foul-mouthed pain in the ass while there were times when he reverted back to being a sanctimonious stick in the mud, but it seemed as if they were reaching a happy middle ground between them. Although…he doubted they would ever truly become alike like some couples.

Their relationship wasn't a perfect one. They had their fair share of differences. There was occasional friction, but they worked past it. In fact, they thrived on it and how they complemented each other.

That pretty much made things…well…perfect.

He just had to smile at that thought.

0000000000

Lee stepped out of their bathroom to see that Kara was already in bed, facing away from his side with the covers firmly wrapped around her. He considered sleeping on the couch again in order to avoid the awkwardness of sharing a bed with the woman he was currently barely on speaking terms with.

He couldn't remember why they were like this, even if the fight had only been the day before.

It had started out as a minor tiff. That much he remembered. What he couldn't recall was who said the wrong thing first.

Knowing the two of them, there was the distinct possibility that they both did at the same time.

But after a loud and heated argument that spanned the entire day, the entire house, and almost half of their glasses, Kara ended up locking herself in their bedroom. She refused to come out and let him in that morning only because they both had to go to work.

She hadn't kicked him out or run out of the house herself-he took that as a good sign-but she neither was she talking to him. In fact, she was positively icy. And that scared him more than an explosive Kara.

The couch was appearing more and more appealing with each passing second as he looked at the back of her head, but he steeled himself, remembering that all of the problem of their past came around because one or the other or both were unwilling to face the other head on.

He sat down on his side of the bed and leaned over and laid his hand on Kara's shoulder.

She shrugged it off.

Lee placed his hand on Kara's shoulder once again. "Kara…"

And, again, she tried to forcefully shrug it off. This time, however, he kept his grip firm and didn't let his hand leave her shoulder.

"Kar…"

"I'm still not talking to you, Lee."

Not much. But it was a start.

"Kara…I...I thi-…I mean…What I'm try-…" Lee dropped his chin to his chest, frustrated at his inability to form the words he wanted to say. Emotions suddenly began to roil through his body like a storm as they finally came bubbling to the surface after being kept in check all day.

"Gods, Kara. How did we get here? I mean…I don't even remember how this all started…" Lee struggled to keep his voice from breaking.

"I-…I'm sorry, Kara. For everything I said and did yesterday. I know I can be a complete jerk and I…Kara could you say something? Please?" He was begging now, and it really didn't matter, but Kara didn't move. It seemed as if they weren't going to go anywhere tonight.

He leaned down and placed a kiss on Kara's cheek. When he pulled back he saw that there were two wet spots where his eyes had been. His tears.

Lee gently wiped his tears away with his thumb. "I love you," he managed to hoarsely whisper before getting out of their bedroom as quick as he could in order to be alone with his emotions.

Much later that night, just as sleep was about to take him, Lee felt the couch cushions shift as Kara sat down. He nervously kept his eyes closed, not knowing what was going to happen next.

Then, he felt it: her slightly trembling hand gently stroking his face.

He couldn't stop his sudden intake of breath at the sensation. It reminded him so much of when she had done the same thing right after he had been shot while rescuing her. He opened his eyes as he felt her hand come to a rest cupping his cheek to see her soft face looking back at him.

He couldn't make out much in the dim light that streamed through the downstairs' windows, but he could tell that her eyes were glistening and her cheeks were wet with tears.

"What's wrong?"

Kara tried to say something, but no words could make it out of her mouth and she let out a sob instead.

Lee immediately sat up and pulled her close to him as he could, ignoring his hip's protests over his awkward position.

He held her tight as she herself let out the emotions she had been bottling up.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, slowly rocking back and forth.

Lee whispered to Kara, telling her that everything would be alright, that he was there for her, and that he loved her, as her sobs slowly quieted and her grip on his shirt loosened.

Kara slowly pulled back to look at him. "I'm sorry, too, Lee," she said. "I'm sorry for all the things I said to you yesterday. I-"

She didn't finish what she was going to say. She grabbed Lee's face and pulled him into a desperate, bruising kiss. Their tongues danced as they tightly held onto each other, letting their actions say what their words couldn't.

They finally broke apart for air and held each other until they caught their breaths.

"It's cold upstairs, Lee," Kara whispered into his ear.

Lee nodded in understanding and they both stood up. He kissed Kara deeply once more and their tongues mingled and tasted briefly before he pulled back to look into her eyes.

Wordlessly, he bent down and hooked an arm behind her knees and scooped her up.

Her arms tightened around his neck.

Their eyes never left each other's as Lee carried Kara upstairs to their bedroom.

0000000000

"Let's go downstairs," Lee said, plucking Billy out of Kara's arms. The child immediately began playing with his father's breast pocket, trying to see what was in there. "I got something special for dinner."

"Special, huh? It better not be like last time," Kara began moving for the stairs. "I was sick for a week."

"Two days," Lee retorted, following her.

"Well it felt like a week."

"Uh huh."

"Hey! I was in pain and you weren't helping."

"You didn't want me taking care of you?"

"I didn't want you hovering."

"What was I supposed to do? Get you a bell?"

"Now there's an idea…"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"You sure you don't want to rethink…"