Oh my.

I'm so excited about this chapter.

Teeheehee.

"Mommy," Devin giggled, grabbing the cow from me. "You're not doing it right!"

"Oh, I'm not?" I asked, mock-concerned. "What am I doing wrong?"

"That goes here," Gracie said, taking the toy from her brother and putting it next to the horse. "And this…" She picked up a little pink piglet. "Goes here."

I raised my eyebrows at Fang, and he nodded slightly, showing he had the same thought. That is, how the heck could little kids think this was fun?

"Daddy, take the toy daddy," Gracie ordered, handing Fang the plastic farmer. "And Mommy, you take the toy mommy."

I looked down at the little plastic figure she had shoved into my hands. It was a woman in a long pink dress. As if I would ever wear something like that.

"Now," my daughter said, sitting back on her heels. "You have to make the toy mommy and daddy kiss. Because that's what mommies and daddies do."

"What?" I asked, my brain working hard to remember when she could have picked up on that little fact. "Mommies and daddies don't kiss, Gracie. Me and your daddy have never done that."

Okay, so, we had. More than once. And I had even enjoyed it. But she didn't need to know that.

"Angel said that's what they do, and she said you two will sometime, too," she said confidently. "Now, make the toys kiss."

Fang looked over at me and smirked. "Yeah, Mommy. Let's make the toys kiss."

I glared at him. "Pig."

"No, this is the pig," Devin said in all seriousness, holding up the little plastic one. "You kiss."

Upon my continued reluctance, Fang grabbed the farmer's wife from my hand and pressed its face against the farmer's. This only lasted a second, but in that second I was completely amused, shocked and mesmerized by the sight of Fang making dolls kiss. That was just… the last thing I ever expected to see from him.

"There," said Fang, looking up at the kids and smiling. "The mommy and daddy kissed."

"Now you do it," Gracie said, crawling a little closer to where Fang and I were sitting. "I wanna see you kiss."

"No you don't, honey," I said.

Fang nudged me, and maybe it was the look in his eye-- the one that reminded me, again, that our children were being deprived of a normal childhood and should have every slight piece we could offer them, even if that piece was seeing their parents kiss. Maybe it wasn't the look in his eye, though. Maybe it was what I had realized only a few minutes earlier-- that I did love Fang. And I did want this.

Reading my expression, knowing I was ready, Fang took my face in his hands and stared into my eyes. Then, slowly stroking my cheeks, he leaned in and kissed me.

I kissed him back.

It was a grand total of five seconds, but it felt like I had spent forever in that moment, sitting in the kitchen floor, surrounded by a plastic farm, kissing Fang. When we pulled back, we kept eye contact, Fang still cupping my face.

"There you go, Gracie," he whispered, using her name but looking at me. "That's how Mommy and Daddy kiss."

0000000000

That night, after we put the kids to bed, Fang stopped me before I could hurry to my bedroom. I had felt all awkward after the kiss and looked forward to when I could go to bed and not have to talk to him anymore, but he grabbed my wrist as I started to head off.

"Hey," he said, stepping close, to within a foot of me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said, swallowing. I was; I had kissed Fang back, I hadn't run away. I had admitted to myself I loved him. It was still a lot, though. A lot of emotions in a time of a lot of stress. And I felt like we couldn't really begin an actual relationship until I made the first move, showing my acceptance of it. (A/N: Remember, this is post-MAX but written as if they never kissed in that book.)

"How do you… you know." He stepped ever closer, and I gulped again. "Are you… okay with earlier?"

"What happened earlier?" I asked, playing dumb. Of course, this isn't a good game to play with someone who knows you inside and out-- Fang knew that I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Max," he sighed. "Why can't you talk to me about any of this?"

"You talk to me," I said, crossing my arms and throwing my weight onto one leg. "Tell me what you think I need to hear, and I'll tell you what I have to say."

"Okay…" Fang's hand loosened around my wrist and slipped into mine, our fingers lacing together like they had just last night. "I love you, Max."

My heart skipped a beat, and for a moment I was stricken, staring up at Fang. His face remained stoic as he awaited his answer, but I could tell he was expecting a rejection by the way his breathing suddenly got deeper.

That was when I decided to give him something else. I'd been enough of an idiot for enough time; I didn't want to break Fang's, or my, heart again. All the awkwardness and tension between us was my fault because of my inability to deal with my feelings.

That was going to change. Right now.

Instead of answering, I launched myself at Fang, winding my arms tightly around his neck and kissing him like he was my only source of oxygen. He grunted in surprise at the sudden weight of me pressed against him, but recovered and started kissing me back.

My hands were tangled in his shaggy hair, his around my waist. Our lips were moving together in a way that felt fast and slow and amazing at the same time. One of Fang's hands moved up my back and then caught a lock of hair in its fingers, holding it gently.

Finally, we needed air, so I pulled away, breathing hard. Fang closed his eyes, a small smile plastered on his face, and rested his forehead against mine. I smiled too and wrapped my arms around his waist, loving every second of this.

"Max?"

"Hmm?"

"Are we together now?"

I looked up to find that he had opened his eyes and was watching me carefully. After only one quick second of thought, I nodded. "I guess we are…"

"Good." Fang moved one wayward stand of hair behind my ear and then left his hand there, looking at me, waiting for something. I knew what it was, too, and I wasn't about to back away. Not now. We were together, we were well, we were ready for this. At long last, I was ready for this.

So I opened my mouth, ready to take the final step, seal this once and for all. "I l--"

Ooh, cliffy, haha. Review?