A/N: Thanks for the reviews and everything, hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

"I think the babies want this."

Chris looked at the ice cream sandwiches Stephanie put into the cart. "The babies want that?"

"Yeah, I was looking at it, and they just started kicking like crazy. I think they have a link up with my brain and they're trying to tell me to get these," Stephanie told him as she spotted a frozen cherry pie. "They want that cherry pie too, I'm sure of it."

Stephanie reached for the door handle that led to the pie, but Chris intercepted her, "If you're going to have pie, I'll make it for you, it won't have so much sugar in it."

"You're going to make me a pie?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm going to make you a pie," Chris told her, "I'm telling you, I know how to cook. I used to spend a lot of time with my grandma when I was younger, and she was the best cook I ever knew. She taught me a bunch of stuff, including how to make pies."

"Maybe this whole relationship thing isn't going to be so bad after all," Stephanie sent him a small, shy smile, testing out the waters. He smiled back at her. "I can keep the ice cream sandwiches though, I mean, for the kids of course."

"Sure," Chris told her, "So besides the pie, I need to get something to actually make for dinner tonight, what do you want?"

"I don't care," Stephanie shrugged, "what do you feel like?"

"I guess I can grill some steaks. I know that fish isn't exactly your friend these days," Chris pointed towards her stomach, "they're picky. So steaks and maybe some grilled corn and mashed potatoes?"

"Can we have macaroni and cheese?" Stephanie asked. "We can even just get the box kind, but that sound so good with steak."

"Steak and macaroni and cheese?" Chris chuckled. "I'm going to guess that the steak is all you, but the mac and cheese is all them?"

"I don't know, I just like mac and cheese," Stephanie told him with a grin. Chris was starting to find that grin quite disarming. Ever since they'd admitted there might be the potential for something more earlier that day, he was really starting to warm to the idea. At the very least, he and Stephanie could try. There was nothing wrong with trying to see if there was more. If there wasn't, no harm, no foul.

"Okay, your wish is my command."

"Man, having this power over you is going straight to my head," she said, looping her arm through his as they walked down the aisle, Chris pushing the cart in front of them. "So that girl you went out with, up until the moment you had to tell her about me, were things going well?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I don't know," she confessed, "I'm just curious, I suppose. I mean, I'm not jealous or anything—"

"I never thought you were," he told her. "I don't know, I mean, she was nice, but it didn't feel right, that's all. It just felt like, I don't even know. I was just worried about you being in discomfort, that's all. She just kind of pointed it out to me."

Stephanie nodded as they reached the meat section and Chris got their steaks while Stephanie went to go grab some yogurt. She thought about their discussion earlier now that she had a moment away from Chris. She was confused about her own feelings because she'd never really given thought to her feelings for Chris. She just let them rest on the surface because it seemed safer to do so. She'd always maintained that they were friends, and she'd never let it go deeper than that.

Now she was forced to because Chris forced himself to go to that place. She was confused because she loved him, she knew that, but what was the depth of that love? She loved him as a friend, she loved him as the father of her children, but as a boyfriend, as a lover, as something that could be infinitely more than that? That's where she gave herself pause. She could feel the babies kicking around, probably jostling for more space in her abdomen. She already felt like there was no room in there for either one of them and she still had months to go.

"I know, I know," Stephanie whispered, "you're already fighting with each other, but cut it out."

She rubbed her stomach as she felt Chris's presence sidle up beside her. She would know it anywhere. "I know they have like a million different flavors, but it can't be that hard to choose a few…or all of them if that's what you want."

"No, I was just…the babies were kicking," she lied, not wanting to voice her fears, if they were fears, she wasn't even sure what she was feeling. She did want to try with Chris because they should at least examine the possibility of the two of them, but there was this wild unknown looming in front of them, and as if parenting wasn't daunting enough, they had to throw in juggling an already tenuous relationship.

"They have really gotten active lately, haven't they?" Chris made conversation as Stephanie grabbed a couple cartons of yogurt and threw them in their cart.

"Yeah, they've really decided that they want to make their presence known," Stephanie grimaced as one of them really popped her one. "I think we've got some athletes on our hands."

"Good," Chris rubbed her stomach gently as they went back to their shopping.

When they got home, Chris insisted that Stephanie stay out of the kitchen and relax. She was exhausted from the store, which was sad given how active she was before she was pregnant. When she was a singular person, and not part of this trio, she would have been working hard, not needing naps in the middle of the afternoon. She climbed the stairs slowly and went into her bedroom, flopping down on the bed and almost instantly falling asleep.

She wasn't sure how long she slept, but she felt a sudden jolt in her shoulder. She opened her eye and saw Chris poking her with an impish grin on his face. "Hey there, Sleeping Beauty, I thought you might want to get up so you can eat. Everything is pretty much done, and the pie is about to go into the oven."

"You made the pie and dinner?" she said between two big yawns. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours, I checked on you a couple times, but I didn't want to disturb you since I know the twins have two very different schedules from you."

"One likes to stay up at night, waking the other one up, it's a whole ordeal," she smiled. "They're very lucky I kind of like them."

"Until they actually come and cry their eyes out all the time," Chris laughed, making Stephanie laugh too. She sat up, but was having a hard time with her swollen belly. Chris pressed his hand to her back, helping her sit up. "I'm dreading the point where I'm going to have to carry you up these stairs."

"Oh God, don't remind me that I'm going to get bigger than I am right now," Stephanie said, patting her stomach. "I'm only at 27 weeks, and I look like I'm full-term."

"You look beautiful," he told her, leaning down a little so he could catch her eye. She smiled at him, grateful for his reassuring words even if they didn't make her feel that much better. She shook her head.

"I feel bloated, which I suppose I am," Stephanie told him, turning her head. "I don't even know why you'd want to try out anything with me when I look like I do. I'm starting to waddle like a duck, my shoes are rapidly disappearing from my sight, my pants all have elastic on them, and I have heartburn and gas almost every night."

Chris laughed and leaned over to gently kiss her lips. She was surprised he was being so bold, and it took her a second, but at the last moment she kissed him back. Before she could fully fathom what he'd done, he was pulling away and she still had her eyes closed, trying to catch her breath.

"You're still beautiful, even with all that," Chris told her, his eyes light and mischievous smirk on his face. "I don't know why you have to be so self-deprecating about your beauty, it's not like you could ever look anything less."

"Laying it on a little thick, don't you think?" Stephanie told him, simply because his compliments felt like too much. She knew she was growing and it was a part of pregnancy, but she did not look at gorgeous as Chris was trying to make her feel.

"Not at all," he told her, "come on, let's get downstairs before the food gets cold. You need help getting up?"

"I think I can manage," she said, scooting down to the edge of the bed and pushing herself up. "I'm getting better at this, getting used to my sudden status as a small planet."

Chris shook his head, "You need to realize that you're perfect."

She grabbed his hand, her own bold move now that they were somewhere between friends and something more. Chris glanced down at their hands before giving her a squeeze. "I hope you like what I made, I thought about going romantic with the whole thing, but then I was like, wait, you wanted to watch the show—"

"Is it on soon?"

"Pretty soon, yeah," Chris looked at his watch as they went downstairs.

"Let's not watch it live," Stephanie told him. "Let's let it record and we'll watch it later, when we can fast forward and stuff like that. I think I'd feel better if I could skip over parts that I didn't really want to see."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said, "besides, if we're going to try this thing between us, don't you think tonight would be a good place to start. We can talk over dinner, and maybe try to figure out what is really going on between us and what we want to do next."

"Well, I mean, I wanted to take out on an actual date," Chris rubbed the back of his neck in unease. "I was thinking of somewhere nice so you could get your hair done and maybe like a pedicure, do they allow that during pregnancy?" She nodded. "Okay, yeah, that's what I wanted, then I was going to show you off, probably tell everyone you were carrying my children, and then boast about how gorgeous they're going to be because look at us—"

"We like quiet," Stephanie told him. "We're not those people, not with each other. You're loud and boisterous with your friends, but the two of us, we've always had that quiet nature between the two of us. What better way to have a first date than right here."

"I didn't do anything special."

"You made me dinner, that's special," Stephanie told him, "you're making me a pie because I said I was craving one. That's pretty special, you are baking for me, Chris. I've never had a guy bake for me before."

"The babies wanted it, right?" he asked with a little shrug and one side of his mouth turning up in a smirk.

"Oh yes, they've really got a sweet tooth…you know if they had any teeth right now, which they don't, at least not any in their mouths," Stephanie made a face, "I don't know where I'm going with this, but this is special, and it's the two of us, and if you were going for romantic, I think it's kind of romantic for you to cook for me."

"Okay, fine, let's sit," he said, leading her into the kitchen and over to the table. He pulled her chair out for her and she graciously sat down, giving him a little, flirty twist of the shoulders. He pushed her chair in then made a mad dash out of the room as if he just remembered something. He came back a few moments later with two candlesticks from the dining room. "I have to set the mood."

Stephanie laughed, "Wow, you are going all out!"

"Only the best for my baby mama," he joked as he lit both of the candles with a lighter he brought with him from the dining room. He placed them on one side of the table before he went to the kitchen to grab their plates. He set one before Stephanie and the other in front of him before grabbing the plates of food, setting them down in front of her.

"This looks delicious," Stephanie said, taking a deep whiff of the food. "All three of our stomachs are growling."

"I hope you enjoy," Chris told her as she picked up her fork and dove right in. She started moaning, and Chris stared at her, "Stephanie, if you don't stop making those noises, I'm going to expect you to put out on the first date."

"This is so good, I don't think I've tasted mashed potatoes this good ever," Stephanie told him, wiping her mouth. "I think I could bathe in these potatoes."

"Then I'm definitely going to have to have you put out," Chris said, "or else I'll never make any ever again."

"You will not be cutting me off, I think I found my new craving food," she told him, shoveling another bite into her mouth, closing her eyes and moaning again, "what did you put in these, ambrosia?"

"It's a secret, I can't have it getting out and then other guys are trying to make you mashed potatoes. I'm going to have to compete with my kids for your attention soon enough, I don't need to start any other competitions."

"This is nice," she said out of the blue.

"What?"

"I don't know, but this, all of this," Stephanie said, "I mean, it's not different, but it is, I like it, it's a good first date."

"It is, isn't it?"

"I think so," she ducked her head, "maybe this thing is going to work after all."

"Yeah, maybe it is."