Saturday morning rolled around and Jo and Alex were spending a lazy morning together. He was sitting at the end of the couch with his feet propped up in front of him; she was lying on the couch with her head resting in his lap. A fixer upper show played on the tv. During a commercial Jo sat up and stretched, "Let's do something this afternoon."

"Sure," Alex agreed easily, "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, "Show me more of Houston. There's gotta be something fun to do."

He nodded, "Okay, after lunch we'll go to the boardwalk."

"Perfect," she clapped.

They made sandwiches and got ready to go. Jo pulled on a pair of denim cut-offs, a white t-shirt, and a pair of canvas tennis shoes. She threw her hair up in a casual ponytail. Alex couldn't help checking out her legs in her short shorts when she walked out of the bedroom. He cleared his throat, "Umm, you ready?"

Jo's eyes lit up as they approached Kemah Boardwalk. She jumped out of the car almost before Alex had it parked. She was as excited as a kid at Christmas. Alex chuckled watching her. He was drawn to her carefree nature.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, "What are we going to do first?" she asked, eyes wide as she took in all of the rides, games, restaurants, and shops.

"Whatever you want," his face broke into a grin, "we'll do whatever you want." It warmed his heart to be able to give her this day.

They started on the carousel and then rode a couple of roller coasters. Jo squealed with delight. The smile never leaving her face. They walked hand in hand taking in the sites and ducking into a gift shop here and there. Jo found a shirt with a matching onesie that she bought for April and the baby. "Do you miss Seattle?" Alex asked as they stepped back out into the Houston sunshine.

"I miss April," she nodded, "and as crazy as it sounds, I do miss the cool rainy days. I love rainy days," she confided, "But I do like it here.. with you." She tilted her head up to meet his eyes. They shared a smile and a soft kiss.

They continued down the boardwalk. Alex won Jo a teddy bear knocking down all the milk bottles with one toss of the baseball. She cheered bouncing on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and thanked him with a kiss to the aahs of the women around them.

They stopped in The Pizza Oven for dinner. They ordered a large pepperoni pizza and a couple of sodas. "You're really having fun, huh?" Alex grinned at her across the table.

She nodded enthusiastically, "I really am. You're probably not gonna believe this, but I've never done anything like this before; no amusement parks, no carnivals," she let her shoulder rise and then fall. "None of the families I was placed with took me and I never had the money for it when the carnival was in town."

It pierced Alex's heart to learn of one more simple pleasure of childhood she had been deprived of. Seeking to lighten the mood he teased, "No old boyfriends won you a teddy bear at the fair?"

"Hmmph," she snorted, "This wasn't exactly what any of my exes considered fun," she blushed looking down at the table avoiding his gaze.

So much for lightening the mood. Alex twirled the ice in his cup with his straw as an awkward silence settled over them.

"I'm sorry," Jo finally spoke up, "I shouldn't have said that… I'm not a slut.."

Alex's head shot up, "I wasn't thinking that. I would never think that about you, Jo."

"There weren't that many exes," she hurriedly explained, "and I didn't.. you know.. sleep with.. all.." she choked out blushing even deeper.

He shook his head interrupting her, "It's okay, Jo, I don't need to know. I told you, I don't care about your past." The waitress set their pizza and plates down on the table and refilled their drinks. "Thank you," Alex said quietly. They each grabbed a piece of pizza. "I mean I do care about your past," Alex corrected before starting in on his food, "I care about anything you want to share with me, and anything that hurt you breaks my heart. But I guess what I mean is, whatever is in your past isn't going to change how I feel about you now."

She met his eyes, hers moist, "Thank you, Alex. That means a lot to me." And she knew what he said was true; she knew he was sincere.

They finished their meal on a lighter note. They talked and laughed about the things they had done and saw so far that day. They left the restaurant and walked along the water's edge in the fading sunlight. The air had grown chilly and Alex noticed Jo rubbing her arms to create warmth. He had a t-shirt on under his button down shirt so he unbuttoned it, slipped it off, and wrapped it around her shoulders. She smiled up at him appreciatively. They continued their stroll arms wrapped around each other's waists. Jo slipped her hand down into Alex's back pocket and gave a squeeze. Surprised, he looked down at her, and the wide eyed innocent look she gave him caused him to laugh as he swooped his head down crushing her lips with a kiss.

They finished the night off with a ride on the ferris wheel. Jo snuggled in under Alex's arm as the ride climbed up into the night sky. When their chair stopped at the top she gasped looking at the city lights glowing below them, "It's beautiful."

"Yeah, it is," Alex agreed. He brushed a strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail off of her face, "Almost as beautiful as you."

She turned to meet his eyes staring deeply into them; she placed her hand on the back of his neck drawing his face down and kissing him tenderly, "I've always thought it would be magical to kiss at the top of a Ferris wheel," she whispered breathlessly.

"And?" he asked, their lips mere millimeters apart.

She kissed him again, "Magical," she confirmed. Neither felt as the wheel started moving again or when it lurched to a stop when they were at the bottom. They pulled apart embarrassed when the ride attendant cleared his throat loudly.

The next morning Alex's alarm went off early. Jo reached across him to shut it off. They had both continued sleeping in Alex's bed. The space between them as they slept was growing smaller and their goodnight kisses were growing longer. "It's Sunday, why are you getting up so early?" she whined, squinting up at him as he crawled out of bed.

"Church," he said simply.

"Oh, right," she mumbled sheepishly, how could she forget? Her husband was a preacher after all, or a soon to be preacher, anyway.

"It's okay, you can go back to sleep… unless you wanna join me?"

She rolled over on her back and stretched; if she was all in this, and she was, she had to be a part of all of his life, or at least give it a fair chance. "Yeah, I'll go with you," she agreed somewhat nervously.

Jo felt sick to her stomach with anxiety as they walked through the doors of the church. It wasn't that she didn't believe in God, she wasn't sure what she believed, but she had never been to church before, and she didn't know what to expect. She loved April and Matthew; they were great people, and then there was Alex, but she had also heard how religious people could be judgmental and harsh, inflexible. But, she argued with herself, none of the religious people she knew were that way with her; Alex continuously told her how he didn't hold her past against her, and April had never shown her anything but love and acceptance.

Acceptance is what she found at Spirit and Life Community Church. Alex introduced her to his friends who all seemed delighted to meet her and were thrilled that Alex had found a woman that made him happy. She enjoyed the music and the message of the service. Pastor Webber really got her thinking.

In the fellowship hall after the service, Alex lead her to the pastor. The two men shook hands warmly. "Pastor, this is my.. girlfriend, Jo," Alex introduced blushing slightly at having not been completely honest with one of his mentors.

"Jo, so nice to meet you," the man greeted her with a big smile and shook her hand. He waved his wife over. The two couples visited until the pastor was called away.

"Well, what did you think?" Alex asked as they drove home.

Jo squeezed his hand that was joined with hers on the center console, "It was nice. I'll go back with you again." She wasn't ready to commit to anything, but she would go back.

The rest of Sunday was spent quietly in the apartment. Alex was studying and Jo was researching colleges in the Houston area. She was serious about going back and finishing school. Well she was trying to do research anyway. She kept getting distracted staring across the room at Alex.. her husband. He was so intent on what he was reading, on the notes he was taking. He had no idea she couldn't keep her eyes off of him.

She had barely known this man for a month but she was already developing such strong feelings for him. She guessed living with someone day in and day out would do that. But what exactly was she feeling? Was it really the stirrings of love? He was so strong, yet so tender with her. And compassionate, caring, thoughtful. He was everything a woman should want in a man, everything she didn't know until she had met him that she did want in a man, everything she had never had before.

She sighed… and hot. It had been a month since they had been together.. slept together, and though that night was fuzzy, she remembered the feel of his hands on her body, his lips on her body, his… she shook her head, shaking the thoughts away, fanning herself.

She got up and went to the kitchenette retrieving a bottle of water from the fridge. She pressed the cold bottle to her forehead and neck before twisting the cap off and taking a drink.

She moved behind Alex, where he sat on the couch, and wrapped her arms around him tracing her hands down his chest. Thoughts of seducing him in her mind, she kissed his neck.. but no, she didn't want to do it like this. She wanted to make love to him on his terms; she didn't want it to be something he regretted in the morning… again.

He turned his head capturing her lips with his, "Hey," he murmured low.

"You looked like you were working awfully hard. I thought you could use a break," she said rounding the couch and sitting by him.

"I actually just finished my chapter, so…" he closed his book and notebook and set them on the floor wrapping his arm around Jo and giving her his full attention, "What did you have in mind?"

If he only knew. She shrugged, "I don't know. Movie?"

"Sounds good," he nodded, "You pick the movie and I'll pop popcorn."

They cuddled up on the couch. It wasn't exactly what Jo had wanted, but it was enough for now. It was enough for her to just be with him, in his arms, until he was ready for more.

Jo started her new job with Callie Torres on Monday. She and Alex ate breakfast together and both left the apartment at the same time. He had class and she was going to work.

Callie greeted her with a hug and a cup of coffee. "We're working on my portfolio today," she informed her new employee. "I'll be taking pictures of you. We'll start here at the studio and then go out to some other locations around the city."

The photo shoot was surprisingly fun despite Jo being nervous at first. "I don't know about this," she had argued, "I've never done anything like this before. I'm not a model."

"My clients won't be models either," Callie reasoned, "Besides, you're a natural; the camera loves you." She turned on some upbeat music, and the two women got into the shoot talking and laughing together like old friends.

They finished up at the studio, made a quick stop by Jo and Alex's apartment to get a few changes of clothes, and went out into the city. Jo was sure they were done when they returned to the apartment. She got Callie a bottle of water and went to put her things away. Callie followed her into the bedroom. She turned on some soft sultry music and started pulling lingerie from Jo's drawer.

"Umm… what are you doing?" Jo asked cautiously eyebrows scrunched low over her eyes.

"I do boudoir photo shoots, well I will anyway, and I need a sample of my work," she explained pressing the intimates into Jo's hands. "I like to work where my subjects are the most comfortable, so here we are, home sweet home."

"I'm not so sure about this," Jo hedged.

"Oh come on," Callie pleaded, "You're a sexy woman. You'll look great. The photos will be hot." Jo wasn't convinced. "You're husband will love them," the photographer tried again.

Her husband… her husband most certainly would not love them. Well he might love them, she bit back a grin at just the thought of how many shades of red he would turn if he ever saw such photos of her. What he would surely not love is her in sexy lingerie being used for anyone and everyone to see in a photographer's portfolio.

"Just let me take the pictures. They'll be classy I promise. If you don't like them I won't use them," Callie gave one last ditch effort to convince her muse.

"Okay, okay, fine," Jo agreed. What time was Alex supposed to be home?

"Okay, now just relax," Callie instructed once Jo had slipped into one of the skimpy ensembles, "Listen to the music, loosen up."

They made it through the last of the photo shoot. Jo quickly put her clothes back on and helped Callie carry her equipment to her car. "You don't need to come back to the studio today. I'm gonna work on some editing and we'll take a look at all the pictures tomorrow." The two women said goodbye.

The next day Jo arrived at the studio with coffee for her and Callie. She was impressed with the pictures her new friend showed her. "You'll of course get copies of any of them you want," Callie offered.

When they came to the boudoir photos, Jo blushed. They were sexy, she'd give Callie that, but, "You can't use those," she squeaked out apologetically. "M-my husband would not like that. Not at all."

"But what about you?" Callie asked, "Do you want me to not use them? You have your own mind, it's your body, it should be your decision," she had seen too many women bend to the will of their controlling husbands and she wasn't going to stand by and watch it happen with her new friend.

"I'm sorry, Callie, I don't."

"But for you, right? Not for your husband?" Callie studied the younger woman closely, "Jo, is your husband…"

Understanding dawned in Jo's eyes and she quickly interrupted Callie, "My husband is great," she assured her, "He is the best man I've ever met. Which is why I choose to honor him and what I know he would want and tell you that no, you can't use those pictures of me. I'm really sorry I let you waste your time. I will pay you for it though."

"No, you don't need to pay me. I told you I wouldn't use them if you didn't want me to. You tried to stop me before we got started, so it's not your fault. You don't owe me anything. I just had to make sure you were telling me no for you and not for a controlling jerk of a husband."

Jo laughed, "There couldn't be a more opposite description of my husband than that. He doesn't have a controlling or jerky bone in his body."

"Good," Callie smiled at the way Jo's eyes lit up when she talked about her husband. She wanted a love like that.