This was definitely one of those dreams where you were aware you were dreaming. Since it didn't involve any sort of mayhem and did involve Nora in a tight corset and equally tight pants, Miles figured he would sit back and enjoy. It had been too damn long since he had actually dreamed instead of nightmares or nothing. This was shaping up to be pretty good, he thought, as she sashayed towards him with a sexy smirk plastered to her face. He stayed where he was, standing on the sand between the crashing waves and the crackling fire, with a bottle of rum in his hands. Yep, definitely a good dream. They were... pirates? He scanned the area, saw the ship bobbing off in the distance, glanced down at his own wardrobe choice. Probably pirates.

"Captain," her low, sultry tone regained his attention- yeah, definitely pirates- and he found her pressed against him. She plucked his hat deftly from his head, dropped it to the sand with a soft thud, and then her fingers were slipping into his hair, pulling him down, and-

"Dad?"

He jerked awake at the intrusion and was disoriented for a moment, then saw Alex standing off to his side. He gave a quiet groan, ran his hand over his face, and tipped his head back.

"God, Alex." he sighed, shaking his head slightly, then added, "What?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his son recoil, and instantly felt bad. His typical gruff tone gave the impression he was irritated rather than surprised.

"I'm sorry. I didn't- that didn't come out right. I wasn't expecting you to be standing there. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm hungry." he shuffled his bare feet on the carpet, stared down at his toes.

"Hungry? It's the-" Miles trailed off as he noticed the sun beginning to come through the windows. He took a moment to look around and realized he had fallen asleep on the couch. The familiar weight of his wife against him let him know neither of them had gone anywhere in hours. The TV was still on and The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End DVD menu was replaying on a loop. Well, that explained the dream. "Alright. Alright, just give me a minute, okay? I'll get you something."

"Thanks. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." he forced himself to smile slightly, even though he was half awake and his entire body was sore, because Alex still looked uncertain of himself and regretted waking him up. Seven weeks later and Miles still felt like there were moments where they grew awkward with each other, unsure of what could possibly set the others off. "Why don't you keep yourself occupied and I'll call you when breakfast is ready."

"Can I go outside?"

"Just stay in the backyard." he didn't see why that would be a problem. He would be able to see him from the kitchen the entire time. "Take Stitch out with you."

The dog sat up lazily from the pillow in the corner at the sound of his name. The furry, dark head tilted to the side slightly, as though he was considering Miles and Alex, then pushed himself to his feet and followed the boy through the house.

Miles let his head hit the back of the couch once they were gone and shut his eyes once more. It couldn't have been more than seven in the morning. He sighed deeply, then ran his hand over Nora's back, and immediately frowned as he felt how tense she was. He lifted his head up to look at her. She was half laying, half sitting against him. One arm was thrown across his chest and her hand was tightened around his shirt, clenching the material as though her life depended on it.

"Miles,"

He knew she wasn't awake. That sleepy lilt in her voice told him as much and there was nothing going on that should have had her that upset if she was conscious. He didn't like the way she mumbled his name. It wasn't happy and loving but rather sad and needy, wanting him to fix something or help her. Obviously something was wrong. Nightmare or not, he felt terrible he wasn't able to do anything for her.

He didn't want to startle her but he wanted her awake, or at least wake long enough to let him stand up and she could go upstairs for another couple hours of sleep.

"Baby," he leaned down a little, rubbed her back gently. Slowly, he felt her relax, then she sighed and moved slightly. The top of her head hit into the side of his neck and he winced a little but leaned his head against hers. "You awake?"

"Barely." there was a thickness in her voice, like she was close to crying.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing." but her arm tightened around his chest, hugging him a little. "What time is it?"

"Early. Alex is hungry. Didn't want to knock you off the couch. Why don't you go to bed?"

"No, I'm up. I guess we didn't make it far into the movie."

"I don't remember when I fell asleep." he released her as she sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. He looked at her for a long moment, put off by the distant expression in her eyes, and reached to cup her cheek gently. She made a face and he dropped his hand. "What?"

"Nothing." she touched the same spot gently, then gave a small smile. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize."

"It's not you."

"I should hope not." he hesitated but she moved in towards him again and he skimmed his hand over her cheek. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No. Just... thinking." she shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

He frowned, staring at her, knowing somehow that she meant Bass. She smiled again, rubbing her hand over the other side of her face.

"Stop. I'm fine."

"Why won't you talk to me?"

"Hang on, you want to talk?"

"Don't be like that. You know I listen when you want me to."

"I don't want to talk."

"You've had a few pretty rough months."

"And it's best just to forget them."

"Honey, you don't forget that kind of stuff."

"If I sit and mope and think about it, I'm going to drive myself crazy."

"Pushing it away isn't going to do anything. Trust me, I know. And these nightmares aren't going to stop."

"Thanks Mr. Psychology but it wasn't a nightmare and it wasn't about my few rough months. I'm fine." she gave him a quick kiss, then stood up. "But I appreciate the concern. You can be sweet when you want to be. You want to make breakfast or should I?"

"I got it."

"Try and make it edible this time. I'm trusting you."

It was shaping up to be a nice day. The breeze was coming in off the water, the sky was clear and bright, birds were chirping, and over the high fence surrounding the yard, the sounds of the neighborhood coming to life could be heard.

Nora gave a content sigh as she leaned back into the porch swing and pushed at the deck with her toes, sending the swing into a lazy motion. She looked to her left, watching the waves crash against the sand, and was lulled into relaxation. It made it easier to forget about Bass and the Republic. The past was the past and she couldn't change it so there was no point in letting herself get all worked up.

The sound of laughter and barking made her look back to the yard and she smiled as she watched Alex play fetch with their recently acquired mutt. The scene only reiterated her mind frame. Things had sucked for a while but now they had worked themselves out. Alex and Stitch raced each other through the grass and she was ready to reach for the sketchpad at her side when her son lost his footing and tumbled down the small hill to the fence at the far side of the yard- an area that was out of her line of sight. Thoughts of broken limbs, concussions, and stitches filled her head. Her heart stopped, she jumped off the swing, and was almost at the bottom of the steps when Miles snaked an arm around her, holding her back.

"Take it easy, he's fine." he murmured, kissing the back of her head. Sure enough, Alex's dark head popped into view, unharmed and without a tear in sight, and he laughed as Stitch bounded forward and slobbered over him.

"I couldn't see him. He could have-"

"I know. He's fine. He's a boy. He's going to get scraped and broken. He'll live. He's a Matheson." he held his cup of coffee up for her to take a sip and she leaned back against him once she had. He put his chin on the top of her head and watched their son as well.

"He scares me Miles." she said softly, sighing a little. Things may have worked themselves out but she could still worry about what was happening in the present. Her statement earned her a chuckle and she rolled her eyes, smacking his arm gently. "It's not funny."

"Do I at least get to say I told you so?"

"No, you do not."

"So we can talk about Alex but not anything else?"

"Alex is what I need to focus on right now and he scares me."

"Okay." he paused, then smirked again, "You have to admit it's a little funny."

"It isn't the least bit funny."

"Don't beat yourself up. You're a great mom, okay?"

"I have never been so unsure of anything in my life."

Parenting wasn't like she had expected. She knew there would be ups and downs but she had never thought she'd be the one constantly on edge, hovering intensely over him, worried she wasn't doing it right. She told herself the reaction was normal. Technically, she was new at being a mother. Overall, she hadn't even had six months total with her son. She imagined this was how it was with a newborn, except harder. You didn't know what they needed at first. At least with Alex, she could ask him if she wasn't sure about something.

Hell, she didn't have to imagine. She remembered those few short hours she and Miles had with Alex as a newborn. They had been filled with an overwhelming amount of love, happiness, and insecurities. They had fumbled and fretted, worrying he wasn't being held right or wasn't warm or was too warm or hadn't eaten enough. But they would have gotten used to it. They would have learned what made their son tick. Now, at a time when he should have been second nature to them, they were still in the learning stages.

"Once things settle down and we get into a routine, we'll be fine." she said quietly, more for her benefit than his. All things aside, once you got down to the root of everything, they barely knew each other. Even the three months they had together earlier in the year wasn't enough. Rachel had still been in the picture and took control half the time.

"Things are fine right now." he replied. He leaned away slightly to take a drink of his coffee while rubbing his other hand along her hip gently. "He's happy Nora."

"I know and I know we're doing the best we know how. This still doesn't feel real though. It's more like we're just playing and soon his real parents will be here to take him back. I know that sounds awful but it feels like I can't get comfortable, like I'm just waiting for the next disaster to strike."

"Alright. I know what you're saying and I know what you mean but one, we are his real parents. Neither of us are going anywhere. Two, I don't blame you for feeling that way. Things were pretty shitty there for a while. Realistically, it's only been seven weeks." he kissed her head again as a faint beep was heard from inside. "Breakfast is ready."

"I got to hand it to you."

"What?"

"I mean, I knew you'd be good at this, despite all your whining otherwise. Yet, you're the calm one and I'm the one feeling like the sky is going to fall any day."

"Maybe because I plan for the worst and it's not as bad as I expected and you expect perfection and it's not quite there yet. Baby, we're doing everything we can. He hasn't run away yet so I'm taking that as a good sign." he let her have another sip of the coffee, then drained the rest for himself, and stepped closer to the edge of the porch. He let out a sharp whistle, then called, "Alex, let's go!"

Immediately, he started to run for the deck, yelling for Stitch to follow. They ducked around Miles and Nora, barely stopping to say hi, and continued on into the house, tracking mud along the floor.

"Boys." she said softly, rolling her eyes with a sigh. Miles smirked and followed on after, making sure to stop and throw an old rag down on the new mess. Nora moved past him to the cabinets to grab plates and glasses to set the table. She gave Alex a kiss on the top of his head as she began putting out the tableware, which earned her a sweet smile.

"Morning," Charlie greeted cheerfully as she and Jason entered from the hallway.

"Hey. You guys are up early."

"Smelled the food. It looks great Nora." Jason smiled.

"Thanks but it was all Miles."

"I find your assumption to be sexist." he added, coming to the table with the pan of eggs.

"You don't strike me as the cooking type."

"I cook better than she does."

"False." Nora argued as she grabbed the orange juice off the counter and the bacon from the stove. "But I'll spare him the embarrassment. He did a good job on this."

"Thanks baby."

"Mom does cook better." Alex piped up through a mouthful of eggs.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Nora chided as Miles said, "Sure, yeah, take her side."

"It's actually not too bad." Jason commented.

"Actually edible this time." Charlie added with a smirk.

"You're both welcome."

"What are you two doing today?" Nora asked after they ate in silence for a while. The young couple exchanged a glance and Charlie scratched the side of her head.

"We were going to head north, into the bay, maybe do some fishing and walk on the boardwalk." she replied.

"Can I come?" Alex asked, head poking up with a hopeful look in his eye.

"Actually, we were going to hang around here." Nora answered. Her son looked dismayed at this while her niece smiled gratefully. "We're going to go into town, do some shopping, go to the park maybe. Get to know the area, you know. How's that sound?"

"Boring."

Miles choked on his coffee and coughed, trying to contain his laughter. Nora shot him a glare, then turned her attention back to Alex with a small smile.

"We'll see how it goes. Maybe later, once we get done with our stuff, we'll meet up with them. Today is going to be like an adventure." she paused to chew, then added, "Finish your breakfast then go get cleaned up."

She didn't miss the side glance Alex shot at Miles, or the slight nod her husband returned, as if to say go with it, don't argue with her. Alex held back a sigh and an eye roll, shoveled in the last of his eggs, and scrambled from the table.

"We can take him with us." Charlie offered.

"No. You two have done enough since everything... and besides, it'll be good for us. He looks up to you both and that's fine but he doesn't need to be attached to your hip 24/7. He's only doing this because he's shy and nervous."

"How do you know?"

"Same exact reaction and expression this one gives when he's thrust into a new, uncomfortable situation." Nora explained with a smirk. She rubbed one hand down Miles's arm as he scowled over his mug at her. "Go. Have a good time."

Charlie and Jason exchanged another look. He waggled his eyebrows a couple times and she smiled slightly, as though she was trying to fight it.

"Seriously, go. Now. Before I throw up." Miles pointed a finger towards the hallway. In an instant, they were gone, laughing down the hallway together. "I could care less about new, uncomfortable situations."

"Right." Nora leaned over to kiss him before collecting the dishes. "Keep telling yourself that babe."