A/N: I've edited and worked on the previous chapters so go and check them out to check for any changes.

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JAMIE

He was about to kiss me, David Michael Bautista, the World Heavyweight Champion, the best in the world at what he does was going to kiss me, a photographer and a single mom. That is until a drunk Paul London and Brian Kendrick interrupted for which I was both grateful for and annoyed with at the same time.

I watched as Paul lurched forward only to vomit all over Dave's extremely expensive looking shoes; Dave shook his head in disgust before leading the younger man towards a nearby garden bed. Eventually Brian gave up attempting to conquer the curb and headed over to join his friend in the garden bed. It wasn't until Dave picked the two men up and directed them into the hotel that I tore my eyes away and drove off. As I drove out of the hotel drive way I found my cell phone and connected the hands free before contacting my best friend.

"You better be ringing to tell me you've just been out with Sandman or Batista, if not I am hanging up and never going to speak to you again," Alex sleepily groaned after picking up on the 6th ring.

"Good thing that I'm ringing to tell you that I've just been out with Batista then"

"What about Sandman"

"It was a Smackdown only show" I explained and automatically heard the click of my friend hanging up on me. I shook my head slightly and let out a laugh, before beginning to count silently knowing that it wouldn't be long before my friend rang me back. Sure enough by the time I had reached 6, Johnny Cash's Folsom 'Prison Blues' rang out through the car signifying my friends return call.

"Took you long enough" I laughed,

"Please tell me you made every fan girl jealous and screwed the man senseless"

"No I didn't screw him senseless as you so put it but he did baby sit Eli and then we went out for dinner"

"And you didn't take advantage of the situation because why?" My friend berated me, knowing full well that I was above that sort of behaviour,

"For starters I haven't kissed anyone let alone screwed them senseless since before Eli was born…"

"Wait did you say that he baby sat Eli? What happened to Eli going into child care?"

"The bitch kept calling him Elijah so he chucked a shit fit and did a runner. He ran into Dave as he was leaving the shoot we'd just done and Dave offered to baby sit him. Once I'd finished I went to get Eli and found the two of them sound asleep on the couch together, they looked so gorgeous together. Anyway Dave convinced me to go out to dinner with him and he bought Eli ice cream. On the way home we were having so much fun I forgot I had to drop him off and ended up bringing him back to my place, so I took Eli up to bed and then drove Dave back to his hotel. I'm pretty sure that he was going to kiss me, that is until Paul London and Brian Kendrick interrupted" I explained giving my best friend a brief run down of the events of the evening, I knew I'd be forced to explain further when we took our sons to the zoo but that explanation would do for now.

Alex naturally jumped on the information of Dave having coming close to kissing me and the two of us over analysed that one little move the entire drive home only ending the call when I pulled into my garage and parked the car. Disconnecting my hands free and leaving it in the car I grabbed my bag and cell phone before entering my now dark house. I quietly headed upstairs and noted that the light at the end of the hall was still on which meant my mother was still awake. I paid no attention to the light and silently entered my room which was the first along the narrow hallway. I flicked my light on and was shocked to find my son sprawled out across my bed, I could have sworn that I had put him into his own bed. Sneaking out of my room and down the hall I popped my head into my parent's bedroom,

"Why is Eli in my bed?"

"He woke up about half an hour ago, said he had a bad dream so I told him that he could get into your bed and you'd move him when you got home." Needless to say I wasn't impress, my mother knew that I was trying to get my son in the habit of spending the full night in his own bed and her letting him sleep in my bed didn't help the case.

"Alright, night I love you" I sighed entering the room to give my mother a kiss, noting that my step dad was sound asleep and snoring slightly.

Returning to my room I gently picked up my son and carried him into his bedroom tucking his Bob the Builder quilt around him hoping that he would stay in his bed. Half an hour later I finally climbed into my own bed, exhausted by the events of the evening. I dreamt that Conner had returned and Dave swooped in as my knight in shining armour, by the time I woke up to my son bouncing on my bed, I was utterly confused about my feelings.

Conner had hurt me a great deal, yes his inability to be monogamous burnt but it really was just the straw that broke the camels back. Despite our college's no drinking policy Conner liked to knock back a few drinks before dinner, a few drinks with dinner, a few after dinner and so forth, especially near the end of our relationship he spent much of his time in a drunken stupor. He'd only ever laid an angry hand on me once however his words cut deep and left me broken on more than one occasion, he had also forced me into the bedroom many times. Sadly enough our first time had been forced upon me yet I'd never told anyone, they only knew about his drinking not about anything else. They were the secrets I bore and now the thoughts of getting to know Dave petrified me.

Conner had been my first real boyfriend and despite knowing that his behaviour was wrong I believed that I loved him so I allowed him to get away with it. Looking back I suppose I was too frightened to do anything, if I reported his actions to the police how would Conner react? And if I told my parents, how would they react? Would they think less of me, especially since I wanted the relationship to continue?

I couldn't feign sleep any longer especially with the way my son was jumping on my bed; I groaned and managed to sneak a peek at the clock, 06:02 am. Eli had to be kidding; he loved his sleep and only excitement over going somewhere special would have him awake so early. Rolling over quickly I pulled my young son down into my lap,

"Eli, it is 6am we are not going to the zoo for at least another four hours. Go back to bed!"

"I'm too excited! I can't sleep"

"Fine you can sit on my bed and watch Nickelodeon" I grabbed the remote control to my TV and flicked it onto my sons favourite channel knowing that one of his favourite shoes, 'Go, Diego, Go' would have just started. Sure enough by the time the first ad break rolled around Eli was once again in the land of nod, I however wasn't as lucky.

My dreams had left me awake and feeling restless, I wondered what had caused Conner's appearance in my dreams after close to four years of him being out of my life. I supposed it must have been Dave's kindness and my attraction to him, I was probably reading too much into it but the man did ask me out and he was going to kiss me. Frustration got to me and I didn't want my fidgeting to wake my now sleeping son so I decided to head downstairs and get a coffee. My step dad was already down there eating his breakfast as he prepared for work.

"You're up early?"

"Yea Eli woke me" I sighed flicking on the coffee pot, I'd lasted 21 years without drinking any coffee yet Conner's wake up habit rubbed off on me and I was now addicted. I sat down in a companionable silence with the man who'd taken on the role of my father since I'd been 16. Once he'd finished and put his dirty plate in the dishwasher he leant down and kissed my forehead,

"Have a good day at the zoo, your mom's in the shower so she'll be down to keep you company soon" with those calming words he grabbed his suitcase and headed into the garage.

Was once again left alone with my thoughts; when Eli was first born I was petrified Conner would somehow find out and return looking for his heir yet as time moved on I relaxed. For some reason sitting in my parents kitchen I found myself shaking with fear that perhaps the man knew about his son and was just biding his time before he returned.

"You got in late last night darl" my mom's voice echoed into my thoughts,

"Yea"

"I didn't get the chance to ask how your first day went." I nearly laughed, my mom might not agree with everything that I do but she will always support me no matter what.

I watched as she began to prepare her morning cup of tea while muttering about my coffee habit before sitting down for me to tell her about my evening, I'd had three photo shoots and two meetings and she demanded every detail of each so naturally I obliged, making sure to include what had happened with Eli,

"That boy needs a father around, give him more discipline. You can only do so much" I'd heard it a million times before, my son needed a father around.

"I know. Oh yea I've decided that Eli's going to travel with me for a bit"

"I thought we'd discussed this and besides you just said he chucked a fit because of the child care worker, he's a stubborn as you are he wont go back"

"Dave's offered to baby sit him, they get along really well. We were at dinner last night and Eli started to have a temper tantrum and all it took was a couple of words from Dave and he started behaving, maybe Dave is the male role model he needs"

"Your son needs a father not some guy that gets beaten up for a living and not to travel around the world"

"He needs me as much as he needs a dad! It'll be great for him, he'll be around lots of guys and he'll see the world, you took us kids travelling when we were younger it never did us any harm"

"What about when Eli starts school?" My mom asked knowing she had lost.

"That's not for a couple of years yet, who knows where we'll be then…" I began, mom knew that once I'd made up my mind I couldn't be swayed but the conversation got ended as my son appeared at the doorway holding his favourite stuffed elephant in one hand and rubbing his eyes with the other.

"Mommy I'm thirsty," he announced climbing onto my lap and snuggling into my chest, one glance at my own mom had her standing up and getting my son's sipper cup out of the fridge and putting it in the microwave to warm it up slightly, each morning I made sure there was a cup of milk in the fridge for my son. Once he'd had his drink I took him upstairs and got him dressed in what he called his 'Croc hunt' outfit, which consisted of a button up Khaki shirt and Khaki shorts with 'work' boots, it was an outfit that my friend in Australia had sent him from Australia Zoo and was modelled after the young boy's Idol the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, I'd received word earlier in the week that the man had passed away yet I couldn't bear to break the news to my son.

Just before 9 am, my mom had left for work and Eli and I were having breakfast when there was a knock on the front door before my best friend Alex and her son entered,

"You're early, this must be a world first" I remarked ensuring to tease my friend about her usual habit.

"Yea, Eli told Jimmy that you had promised him cheese on toast today and of course I don't have the 'correct' ingredients to make it for him," the ingredients she was talking about was the Australian spread Vegemite, something that many American's, including Alex, couldn't stand, yet I'd managed to change the tastes of her son, who would now eat it every time he was over our place. My step father ordered it from an Australian store somewhere every few months, so that we always had a supply. I smiled and cut up the freshly made pieces that I'd just taken out of the oven as my friend poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down beside her son.

"Here you going Jimmy, just how you like it, no crust" I smiled placing a plate in front of the boy before placing an identical one in front of Eli.

"Jimmy I do not understand how you can eat that"

"It's yummy," the 4 year old shrugged before taking a bite,

"Hey its good for him, it's got Vitamin B in it."

"Doesn't change the fact it tastes horrible, so you going to tell me about last night?"

"I made a new friend!" Eli announced and began talking about what had happened last night. I just gave Alex a look promising that I'd tell her while we were at the zoo.

"Watch the boys for a minute? I need to go finish getting ready."

Just under an hour later we were entering the zoo with two very excited boys, and while we didn't generally agree with child leashes we knew that we would lose the boys if we didn't use them. While we followed the boys around she asked questions about hat had happened the night before while I listening to her bitch about what Jimmy's father, Bryan, had done this time. The two were no longer together but shared custody of their son, Bryan was meant to take the boy every Monday and return him on Tuesdays, but he usually came up with some excuse or another. We went to the Elephants and then the Lions followed by the Tigers and other big cats next we went to the Primate area before heading for the Zoo restaurant for lunch.

At the restaurant the young waitress who came to take our orders gave us a look of absolute disgust; I wasn't surprised after all many people had issues with child leashes.

"What can I get for you?"

"Can I please get the fish and chips kids' meal for Eli and just the Caesar salad for myself thanks"

"And what drinks?"

"Do you have a can of the caffeine free coke?" I asked moments after my son made his request for coke,

"Yes"

"Can I please get that and just an empty kids' meal cup please? And a water for myself thank you"

"What you think you're trying to be healthy or something, think you're so much better than everyone else? Why not just get him a coke," the waitress muttered under her breath as she took Alex and Jimmy's orders.

"Excuse me are you this boys mother?"

"No are you?"

"Yes! And I'll decide what he drinks or not, there is a reason he isn't getting a normal coke so don't think you can decide what is right for my child. Now we've placed our orders, go fill them and I suggest you get one of your co-workers to deliver our meals." I was quite proud of myself, I hated confrontation but I hated people getting all high and mighty about my child even more. Alex just rolled her eyes and laughed before pulling out colouring-in equipment for our boys. The two of us worked well together and treated our children as though they were our own.

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A/N: I'm not that happy with this chapter and didn't get to write everything I wanted too but I will do that in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

R.I.P Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin… September 8 2006 is International Khaki Day, wear Khaki! Make people aware of Steve Irwin's conservation efforts and raise money to keep his funds open!

Thank you to EVERYONE who reads and an even bigger thank you to those who review.