Disclaimer: JE owns the characters.

A/N: This one isn't like the rest of the shorts that I've done. It came to me just before I fell asleep last night. I hope that you enjoy this. You may want to grab some tissues.

I only pulled the memory of that weekend out of it's carefully locked box when I sat in this one place. I had plenty of memories that he had dominated, but this one was precious to me. I felt the first tear slip out as I slowly took the memory out of it's ornately carved box that I had tucked in the back of my mind.

Flashback.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon on a Friday. It was a beautiful April day. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze. I was pulling away from the bonds office, where I had dropped off Lula after a successful day, when my cell phone rang. I fished it out of my pocket and answered it without looking at the caller I.D.

"Yo," I said when I put my phone to my ear.

"I need help," he said.

I knew the voice all too well. We had spent the last three months doing surveillance together. He was the only one that wasn't bothered by my constant fidgeting and my lack of being able to tolerate silence. We were comfortable with each other. He had dropped his mysterious Merry Man blank face and let me in. We were friends.

"I don't think that I can give you the kind of help that you need," I joked.

"Funny," he said dryly. "Can you please come out to my house?"

"Sure," I said as I made an illegal u-turn. "I'll be there in twenty."

"I'm out back," he said and then hung up on me.

I remembered singing along with Sarah McLachlan as I drove to the out skirts of Trenton. He had purchased the house two years ago and had never done anything with it. Until he showed it to me two months ago. Since then, he had spent every free moment restoring the 1940's house. I came to a stop on the side of the street and barely recognized the house. I was certain that I had the right house because his red, 1970 Oldsmobile 442 was sitting in the driveway.

I climbed out of the RangeMan Bronco that I had commandeered three weeks ago when my Jeep bit the dust with a bang. I slowly made my way up the new brick path that lead from the street up to the front porch. He had re-seeded the front yard and got the trees trimmed up. The house had a fresh coat of light yellow paint and white trim had been freshened up as well. It looked like he had ripped out the old porch and replaced it with a larger one. He had even added a bench swing and some flower pots.

I made my way around the side of the house and froze in my tracks when I saw him. A white tank top clung to his torso, faded jeans hung low on his narrow hips. He was tapping an empty bottle of Heineken against his right thigh as he stared at the two large oak trees that stood in his back yard. I watched as he yanked the blue handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped the back of his neck off. His skin glistened in the sun as he moved and my mouth instantly started to water. Two months of no sex was really starting to wear on me. I heard him give a grunt and shake his head.

"They're trees," I said as I started walking over to him.

"I know that," he said as he turned around to face me.

He smiled at me as he lifted his empty bottle, silently asking if I wanted one too. I nodded my head and followed him up to the house. I noted as we started walking that he had redone the back porch, as well. There were more potted plants and a out door table and chair set. He pointed at the chairs to indicate that I should sit down once we climbed the stairs. I walked over to the little seating area a flopped down while he went inside. I looked out into the back yard and admired his handy work. When he had first shown me the house, the back yard had been over run be weeds. The two oak trees had definitely seen better days. The old shed that had sat in the back corner of the yard had been torn down and replaced with a new one that looked like a smaller version of the house itself.

"What do you think?" he said as he walked out the door with two fresh beers.

"I can't even believe that I'm looking at the same yard," I said as I grinned up at him and took the beer that was offered. "The front of the house looks amazing. You should be proud of yourself."

"I am," he said as he sat in the chair next to me and laid his cowboy hat on the table.

Not many people could pull off being sexy as hell in a cowboy hat. He could. The way that he had looked at that moment, he should have been on the cover of Play Girl. He was covered in sweat and dirt. Mental head slap! I really needed to pull myself together. Raging hormones were starting to get the best of me. Having control over my feelings was not one of my better traits. It was a non existent trait most of the time.

"So," I said as I looked back out into the yard. "What do you need my help with."

"Just one thing," he said as he placed his hat back on his head and stood up.

I slid my hand into the one that he offered me and let him pull me out of the chair. He guided me down the steps and back out to where the trees stood. I honestly hadn't noticed the box that sat at the base of one of the trees. I walked over and knelt down in front of the box. I picked it up to examine it more closely. I smiled at the box when I remembered that I had told him that the two trees would be perfect to a hammock. I looked over my shoulder to show him my approving smile. He through his head back and laughed when I sat down in the grass and ripped open the box.

Fifteen minutes later I was sipping a fresh beer and swinging in the hammock while he ran upstairs to take a shower. I rolled my eyes when Shania Twain's voice started drifting out of the open windows of the house. It was really the only thing that we argued about. I hated country music with a passion, he loved it more then life. I decided to tolerate it since we were at his house. He would just have to suffer the next time he showed up at my apartment.

That is the thought that always breaks me. I hadn't know at that moment that he would never step foot in my apartment ever again. The tears were streaming down my face. I reached into my purse and pulled out his blue hanky to dry off my face. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. I had to get through the whole memory, or it would eat at me until I came back here to finish it.

I opened my eyes when the hammock stilled. He had on a fresh, white tank top and a clean pair of faded jeans on. Little droplets of water fell down the side of his face from under the cowboy hat. He reminded me of Val Kilmer in Tombstone. Blue eyes and dark brown hair that was in desperate need of a hair cut. I smiled up at him and took his out reached hand. He helped me out of the hammock and lead me into the house, keeping my hand in his. He lead me through the kitchen that he had shown me a week ago, in its finished stage, and pulled me up the back stair case. We walked down the hallway of the second floor and stopped in front of his bedroom door. He turned and smiled down at me.

"I finally finished my bedroom and I wanted to show it to you," he said just before he opened the door.

I hadn't been up to the second floor since the first time that he had brought me here. I was floored by the transformation. There was an antique, four post, oak king size bed. There were sheer, navy blue curtains that hung from the railing that ran from post to post. The same color curtains hung over the windows that were billowing in the breeze that came in the open windows. Matching antique night stands sat on either side of the bed. The walls were painted a subtle tan that matched the thin tan stripes in the navy blue comforter on the bed.

I slowly walked into the room to get the full view. A forty inch flat screen TV hung on the opposite wall of the bed. There was an antique, nine drawer, dresser that sat under the TV. A padded chest sat under the picture window that faced out into the front yard. I walked into the master bathroom and my mouth fell open. A Jacuzzi bath tub sat on the left. It was navy blue and big enough to comfortably seat two Merry Men. The gleaming, navy blue porcelain toilet was now housed in its own little room that sat in the far left corner. A shower stall, with multiple jets, stood in the far right corner. It, too, was navy blue. I lightly ran my fingers over the white, granite counter top and around the two navy blue sinks that were imbedded in the counter.

"This is amazing," I said as I turned and beamed at him.

"You like it?" he asked nervously from his spot in the doorway.

"I love it," I said as I walked over to him. "It's you, so it's perfect."

I hadn't thought about how I had phrased my words until they were already out. I felt my face burn once I thought about what my words may have implicated. I immediately averted my eyes and looked at the floor. He gently used his finger to lift my chin so that I was looking up at him. My breath hitched when I found his face inches from mine. He searched my eyes for a brief moment before his lips captured mine.

My brain didn't connect with the rest of my body, and before I knew it, I was wrapped around his rock hard body. His hands trailed their way up my body and fisted in my hair. I let out a soft moan as he pulled me deeper into the kiss. I parted my lips and felt a shock wave of pleasure as his tongue danced across my tongue. I wrapped my legs around his waist as me feet left the floor.

We broke the kiss long enough to get our shirts off once we got to the bed. He gently pushed me back and climbed on top of me. He rested his elbows on either side of my head and slowed the kissing down. I lost my breath at the tenderness that he was showing me. I reached up and cupped his face when he pulled back.

"We can stop now and walk away friends," he whispered. His voice was husky with desire and I felt him pressing into my thigh. "If we go all the way, then you'll be stuck with me forever. I won't stand by and let you go back to Ranger, or Morelli. You need to make a choice right now."

I sunk my teeth into my lower lip. I had a dream about this two weeks ago and it had been all that I was able to think about. He was the best of both worlds that I wanted. I only hesitated for a moment and then I pulled his face back down to mine. I lightly kissed his chin and along his jaw line. When I got to his ear, I whispered, "I want you."

My words broke his control. He pinned my arms above my head and assaulted my mouth. Within seconds we were naked and he was placing open mouth kisses along my inner thigh. I whimpered as he lightly nipped at me. My body shattered when he slowly slid a finger inside me. An orgasm ripped through my body and left me shaking and breathless as he slowly fingered me.

I felt his warm breath on my hip as I floated back down to earth. He was slowly, softly stroking my lips. I whimpered when he shifted and his finger disappeared. His name was ripped from my throat when his tongue started caressing me. A second earth shattering orgasm flooded my body as he licked ever centimeter of my core.

I moaned when I tasted myself on his lips and tongue. He kissed his way across my jaw and down my neck. My breath got caught in my throat when he traced circles around my left nipple and tweaked my right nipple with his callused fingers. I felt the tip of his erection brush against me.

"Please," I whispered.

He groaned into my neck as he slowly slid inside me. I thought that he was going to rip me apart because I was still tight from the last orgasm. He stilled himself once he had buried himself to the hilt. He brought his lips back to mine as he slowly started moving. We caressed each other as we climbed higher and higher. He gasped my name as he exploded inside me. The feeling of his release sent me flying over the edge and I was swept away by another orgasm.

We clung to each other as we drifted down from heaven. I ran my hands through his thick hair as he rested his head on my chest. We stayed there and watched as the sun set and the stars started glittering in the night sky outside the window.

I will remember everything about that day for the rest of my life. He had given me a glimpse of what life could have been like. He had given me everything in the two days that we had shared in his house.

That first night had been one hundred and ninety-four days ago. He was killed during an apprehension one hundred and ninety-one days ago. I had told him and Tank that my spidey-sences were going off and I thought that going after this guy was a bad idea. They had both assured me that they had checked and re-checked all of their intel on their FTA. They had a fool proof plan and I was just worrying too much.

That night, I had sat in the control room with Hal and listened to everything go very wrong. I heard the gun fire over the radio. I saw spots in my eyes as I heard the explosion and his GPS tracker fell off the grid. I remember screaming as my heart broke into a million peices and then I passed out.

Tank had told me later that he had been using one of the Broncos as cover and their FTA had shot at the gas tank. The rest of the guys had gotten lucky and walked out of there with minor bullet wounds.

I took the white rose out of my lap and placed it in the grass at the base of his head stone. I ran my fingers across the lettering as I rubbed circles across my swollen abdomen. I weakly smiled when his child kicked my hand.

"I just wanted to come see you," I said quietly as I got on my knees. "I've decided that I'm going to name him after you."

My throat closed up as grief flooded through me. It was so unfair that he would never get to see what we had created together during that one perfect weekend. Hal had come to the doctor's appointment with me and said that he would have been so happy to hear that he was having a son.

"Steph?"

I looked over at Bobby and gave him a watery smile. I took his out reached hand and let him pull me up off the ground. I slipped my arm around his waist as we looked down at the grave. Bobby squeezed my shoulders and kissed my hair. The guys had rallied around me when I found out that I was pregnant. They were a gift from God, just like the child that I'm carrying.

"I miss him," I whispered.

"I miss him, too, Steph," Bobby whispered back. "Are you ready to go?"

"Give me one more second."

"Sure, Steph," Bobby said as he released me and made his way back to the Bronco.

I pulled the hanky out and wiped my face to dry away the tears. I slowly locked the memories back in the box that sat in the back of my mind. I wouldn't think about it until I came back here. He wouldn't want me to dwell on what might have been. I had done that for three weeks after he was killed. It took me going to a therapist to get control over my emotions.

I eased back down in front of his head stone and traced my fingers over the lettering one more time. I dropped my hand and slowly stood up.

"Til we meat again, My Love," I whispered.

I turned around and started walking back to the Bronco. Bobby held the door open for me and helped me get in. He smiled as he rubbed my belly and then lightly closed the door. I looked over at the grave as Bobby walked around the front of the Bronco.

I placed my hand on the window and whispered, "I love you, Vince."