So here is chapter 2! Sorry for the wait. I had a nasty case of writers block, but I have dedicated this Saturday to writing and catching up on my stories. Chapter three should be up sometime soon, if we're lucky and my creativity continues to flow, maybe even later today it could appear. Let me know if there are any mistakes and thank you to those who have commented! This is for you!

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"Hey there buddy." Aidan looked up and smiled as Greg walked in and came over to the art table.

"Whatcha working on?" Greg asked. Aidan handed him a piece of paper and Greg marveled. He still couldn't believe how well he could color. It looked like something a 12 year old would be capable of. Still a child's work but well beyond his years. He looked at the picture of a guy standing next to a smaller guy. "Who are they?" Greg asked kneeling down beside him.

Aidan pointed to the bigger one then to Greg. "This one's me?" He questioned. Aidan smiled agreeing with him; then did the same with the small one. "And that's you." Aidan smiled and leaned into Greg, sucking his thumb. He hummed which was something he did to stimulate himself; Greg ruffled his hair.

Two months had passed since his day off when Aidan had run into him; and Greg found he couldn't leave the boy alone. On the days Nick worked late he would stop by and eat breakfast and sometimes lunch with Aidan, the other children, and the sisters; who had checked his background just to be sure, and had accepted him into their circle.

Greg had found that stopping by to see Aidan was almost therapeutic. Focusing on him instead of the violence from work; instead of sitting at home alone waiting for Nick to come home he busied himself making Aidan happy.

Aidan looked up at Greg and scrunched his nose up.

"I had a rough day." Greg replied, amazed at how much communication could be done with the four year old simply by reading his face and actions and not by his words; which, Greg had come to find, were funny when they did happen.

"I can't stay long today bud."

Aidan sighed disapproving.

"Sorry." Greg chuckled. "Nick and I have tonight off, and honestly, I've seen more of you than I have of him lately."

Aidan hugged Greg and it amazed him how much the little guy understood what he was saying. Sister Meredith said he had tested out of an ten year olds comprehension level. Aidan handed Greg the picture and sat back down with another piece of blank paper. Greg folded it gently and put it in his pocket, ruffling his hand through Aidans hair before heading home.

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Greg heard the front door open and shut which caused him to smile; and he listened to Nick remove his shoes and his sock padded feet come walking down the hall.

"Well Hello there darlin'." He said coming into the kitchen behind Greg. "What's on the menu?" He asked placing a kiss on Gregs cheek.

"Nothing special, just spaghetti."

"Well, it smells delicious."

"Why thank you." Greg smiled and turned around to face him. "How did it go?" He circled his arms around his waist.

"It was fine, just paperwork. I called you on the way home, you didn't pick up?"

Greg reached down and felt his pockets. "I must have left my phone in my jacket, I didn't hear it." Greg heard a popping and turned around to turn down the sauce pan. "Can you grab it for me?"

"Sure thing babe."

"I'll put this on the table, go get changed."

Nick went upstairs and threw on some sweats before returning downstairs almost forgetting Gregs phone. He went back to the coat rack and searched his jacket finding his cell and when he pulled his hand out a folded up piece of paper fell to the floor. He picked it up and unfolded it, staring at it for a moment before moving towards the kitchen.

"Would you sit down I'm starving." Greg joked and Nick sat adjacent to him at the table.

"Here's your phone, who's this from? It fell out of your pocket." He handed Greg the paper and piled his plate full.

Greg had small smile on his lips as he looked at the picture. He turned it around to face Nick. "Guess how old the artist is." He asked and Nick couldn't help but notice the almost prideful glint in his eyes.

Nick looked it over and thought of his nieces and nephews drawling abilities. "Ten," He took a guess, "maybe eleven at the most."

Gregs smile broadened. "Four." He said and set the picture down on the table before taking a bite of his food.

Nick wiped his mouth off with his napkin. "Four? You gotta be kidding me."

Greg shook his head and swallowed. "Remember two months ago when you were called into court on our day off? Well I went to the park, over by Via Rosa street and I was getting coffee when the little boy attached himself to my leg. I ended up carrying him around with me for twenty minutes looking for his parents only to find out he lives at the orphanage on Green St. You know the big one run by the Catholic Church on the corner there?" Nick nodded yes. "So anyway Aidan, that's his name, is autistic so he can't really talk, 'cept he kept saying 'oh hi!'" Greg mimicked his voice causing Nick to laugh. "And he is super cute and brilliant when it comes to art, anyway long story short I've been going to visit him in my down time when I'm waiting for you to get home, or if I have the day off and you don't."

"So you're cheating on me with a four year old." Nick smirked at him and received a half hearted shove.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Nick spoke. "Its been a long time since we've both been home around dinner time. Well dinner time in the sense of most of the rest of the world."

Greg chuckled and Nick looked up at him. He was smiling at something as he stared down at his food and Nick knew it wasn't from what he had just said. It was his dazed look he got when he was fantasizing something up. Like when he had wanted to get a motorcycle because he would look like 'a major stud,' or when he wanted to get a dog because 'what if someone broke into their house when they weren't home.' Nick watched him push his spaghetti around his plate with his fork not really at the dinner table at all.

"So when I was finishing up paperwork,"

"Yeah." Greg said still not looking up.

"Ray came in,"

"Uh-hu."

"And he told me he was thinking of getting a sex change."

"Oh really? That's nice…wait what?" Gregs head snapped up and he furrowed his brows. "He said he what?"

Nick laughed. "Where were you?"

Greg blushed and looked back down at his plate, frustrated he'd been caught daydreaming. "Nowhere." He mumbled.

They sat quietly for a minute before Nick spoke. "We aren't ready yet hun." His voice was quiet and he focused his attention on his plate, his eyes however caught Gregs head snap towards him from the corner.

"I wasn't"

"You were thinkin' it." Nick said.

Another quiet moment passed. "Well, alright, maybe I was. But it wouldn't be a bad idea really. Think about it, I'm sure if you met him,"

"Greg it's not like he's a puppy, we can't just bring him home and potty train him."

"God Nick I know that!" He stood up taking his plate with him, not really caring to finish the rest. "Besides, you wouldn't even let me get a dog."

"You let the plant die and you wanted a dog?" Nick was sure that wasn't the right thing to say, but he let it slip out anyway. Gregs plate fell into the sink and he turned moving to go upstairs. "Babe, now hold up." Nick reached out to grab his arm and Greg shrugged it away from him.

"Never mind Nick, it was a stupid idea, you're right." He made his way past him and up the stairs and Nick could hear the door shut just a bit harder than usual.

"Smooth one Stokes, ya jackass." He said to himself.

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Greg couldn't tell if he was angry at Nick for making him seems like a child, or at himself for even entertaining the thought of starting a family. Nick was right and he knew it. Long conversations about adopting always had ended with yes they wanted kids, but if they weren't able to tell their friends that they were together, let alone married, and if they were both still working mostly night shift then they just couldn't commit to having children at home.

Greg sighed and flopped down on the bed, staring out as the sun sank down over Vegas and the night life started to pop up. After a few minutes he heard the door creak open and the bed sank where Nick sat down placing his hand on Gregs knee squeezing it slightly. "I'm sorry babe, I didn't mean to be insensitive, it's just we can't…not yet at least."

"I know." Greg sighed. "It's frustrating is all." He turned facing Nick and smiled gently up at him. "Good thing I have you, otherwise I'd probably have a wrecked bike, be missing a leg, have a half dead dog, and five kids to worry about."

"Five? I thought we said six." Nick returned the smile down to him.

Greg sat up and kissed him gently and Nick could hear his apology ring through it, he was about to pull back and say something but it was completely stripped from his mind as he found himself flat on his back, Greg straddling him, grinding their hips together slowly. Nick bit his lip and let out a low moan.

"Hey there cowboy." Greg said quietly. "Haven't seen you in a while, whats say we give that horse of yours a break?" Greg smiled evilly and Nick laughed flipping Greg over onto their bed.

He leaned close to his ear, lips ghosting across the lobe as he spoke. "I really like it when you listen to my music." He felt a shiver run through Greg and heard a soft chuckle escape his lips.

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I do realize how utterly corny putting 'Save a horse ride a cowboy' into my story was, however I enjoy it. Haha. Let me know what you think!