It took him quite a while to make the arrangements. That frustrated him, but he knew that he was asking a huge favor, so he tried to keep his temper in check. "'K thanks, I appreciate it," he said tersely and quickly hung up the phone. It slipped through his tired fingers and he pressed a hand against his blurry eyes. Oh how his head ached. Beyond exhausted, he collapsed into an armchair. Chie jumped onto his lap with a reassuring purr. He wore a soft smile as he gently stroked her long fur. She looked around the room and mewed. His smile faded. "No, no, she's not here."

Chie blinked lazily at him, it was clear that she didn't understand. There was no sense in explaining for her sake. If anything, talking about it would make it all too real. Of course it was, but he'd rather not dwell on just how close he had come to losing his two favorite girls. He let out a long sigh as he rested back against the chair and his weary eyes slid closed. He wasn't going to sleep, he reasoned with himself. He just needed a second, a moment to himself.

But when he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by darkness. It was night now; he had overslept after all. He swore angrily under his breath as he jumped to his feet and fumbled for the light switch. He flinched at its brightness for a second, quickly tossed a handful of movies into a plastic bag, and ran out the door. At least at this time of night there wasn't much traffic. He burst in through the hospital doors for the second time and raced past the startled staff and flurry of papers up to her room. He wouldn't make her wait any longer than he already had. He inwardly cursed himself for sleeping. He should have been here hours ago.

He poked his head inside her room, completely out of breath. She was fast asleep, resting fairly comfortably. She looked better with color returned to her cheeks and a secret smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. She always slept like that, as she kept her dreams to herself. It was one of many things he'd come to love about her. The monitor beeped at a soft, steady pace and her hand rested across her large stomach. He hoped the baby was sleeping peacefully as well.

He didn't wake her just yet; he hated to interrupt her sleep. He turned his attention to unloading the DVDs from the bag. One of them fell to the floor, making a terrible racket. Crap. He cringed as he heard her stir. "Oh hey, so you finally bothered to show up." Her voice croaked teasingly.

He turned around with a sheepish grin. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that."

She giggled softly and shook her head. "Don't worry 'bout it," she said faintly. She still sounded incredibly tired. She shifted in bed, trying to get comfortable.

"You shouldn't-" He cautioned as he approached her.

She cut him off with a warning glare. He wisely kept silent. She found the remote and adjusted the bed to a sitting position. She looked more satisfied. "There, that's much better."

"You should be more careful," he warned as he bent down to kiss her forehead.

She looked a little exasperated with him. "Please spare me the worrying."

He chuckled. "I'll try to cut back on it," he promised.

"I'll hold you to that," she challenged with a wink. "So what movies did you bring me?"

He turned to retrieve them from the counter and a nurse came to check in. "Oh good, you're awake now. I'll get your dinner sent in." She looked up at Kisame with wide-eyes and all color drained from her face. With his height and broad muscular figure he was an intimidating sight to behold. "And…uh…would you…" her voice trailed away fearfully.

"Yeah get him something too," Ritsuko said. Knowing her husband as she did, she doubted he'd eaten anything since he'd visited her earlier. He tended to forget to eat when in a panicky mood. She noticed the nurse's trembling hands as she set about checking her vitals. She kept looking at him nervously from the corner of her eyes. The poor thing must be scared of him. "Don't worry about him; I keep the beast on a tight leash." Ritsuko reassured her.

"You what?" He blurted out, voice rising a little bit.

The young nurse let out a cry of terror and bolted from the room. Ritsuko couldn't help but laugh. "Oh look now you did it. Now hopefully you won't scare away our dinner too."

Confused, it took him a while to realize what had happened and then he couldn't help but laugh. "Hey you can be a real monster too sometimes."

She smirked deviously at him. "Takes one to tame one."

"I suppose that's true," He grinned in turn. Oh how he loved his spitfire beauty.

Then her gaze softened as her smirk faded to a small smile. Like never before, she felt a sense of deep appreciation for him. She really couldn't ask for a better guy. With both his ferocity and his tenderness, he was truly one in a million and a perfect fit for her own conflicting personalities. He made the impossible happen and gave her something she needed more just love: security and hope for a bright future in spite of her dark past.

He blinked in surprise at her radiant smile. It wasn't a sight he saw very often. Curious, he drew closer. She reached out and tugged on his shirt, pulling him down. "I love you," she whispered softly against his lips. She felt them stretch into a pleased smile before moving in time with hers. The kiss was soft, gentle, and tender. His hand drifted down from her cheek and along the soft curve of her neck. Everything faded in that moment as he slowly drank in her scent, her taste, her trailing fingers along his broad chest…and then he lost it. He fiercely deepened the kiss with a hungry growl. When it came to her, he abandoned restraint. She didn't hold back either. Her fingers embedded in his short navy hair as her tongue moved in tempo with his. She whimpered with pleasure and the monitor increased noisily as her pulse sky-rocketed.

"Mr. Hoshigaki!" A shrill voice interrupted them.

They turned to see the same short nurse from before who wasn't afraid of him. She wagged a scolding finger at him. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Ritsuko looked at him, realizing then that he was leaning over her. Turning bright red, she buried her face into his shoulder. Oh how she wanted to die from the shame! What was she thinking? She couldn't believe she'd been stupid enough to forget where they were!

Kisame, however, wasn't ashamed at all as he looked the nurse right in the eyes. "I'm showing my wife just how much I love her."

She smiled with pride but the nurse just huffed. "Next time I suggest you stick with words instead."

"Oooo now there's an idea," he chucked mischievously and whispered something sexy in his wife's ear.

Now impossibly red, she quickly shoved him back. He just laughed at her embarrassment and sat back in a nearby chair. The nurse narrowed her eyes suspiciously and he held up his hands in surrender. "It's ok; I'll keep my hands to myself. I can't speak for her though," he winked at Ritsuko. She scowled at him as her blush simmered still.

The strict nurse tsked disapprovingly at them as she finished checking Ritsuko's vitals. The girl was submissive this time, too self-conscious to be stubborn about the procedure. Just as the nurse was wrapping up her report, dinner was delivered.

"Oh come now, don't act like you didn't enjoy it," he teased when they were alone again.

She smiled sheepishly and quickly changed the subject. "So again, what movies did you bring?"

"Oh yeah." He reached over to grab them. "I brought some of your favorites: The Avengers, X-Men, Batman Begins-"

"Ooo! Dat un!" She pointed eagerly with her fork, mouth full of food. She quickly swallowed. "Liam Neeson makes a super hot villain!"

He scowled darkly. "Don't make me break this DVD," he growled.

"Why, does that make you jealous?" She teased.

"No, I'm selfish," he said as he inserted it into the player. "I'm not gonna share you with some celebrity."

"Well you don't worry about it because he wouldn't be interested in the likes of me." She said as she took another bite. "No, my dear, I fear that you're stuck with me." She let out a villain-like mwhahahaha just for fun.

He laughed in turn. "Good because I wouldn't settle for less." He said as he sat down to eat.

A/N: Sorry guys about the super long wait. (I hope that its been worth the wait) I'm gonna try to wrap up this story up soon. Thanks for all the comments and favorites!