Over time, she noticed that he had become much more comfortable around her, judging by the way she never seemed to awake to an empty spot next to her in bed. Today though, his arms were wrapped around her, her back against his chest, and his nose in her hair. She closed her eyes and settled back against him, only to be rudely greeted by an alarm a few moments later. She let it go on for a while longer than normal, then turned it off, sighing as she tried to get up from the bed. The task was more difficult than she imagined, because his grip tightened around her every time she moved.

"Alec, I have to go to work."

He groaned. "Take it off." He said as he clutched on to her nightgown.

"What?" She whispered in a small, panicked voice.

"The day. Take the day off of work." He mumbled into her hair, pulling her flat against him.

She sighed again, considering his suggestion for a proper moment before coming to her senses. "I can't, think of what that'll look like. Certainly not professional."

He just groaned in response.

"I'll tell you what, why don't you come with me?"

"Ellll…" He whined as she managed to pull away from him.

"Come on, I'm not taking no for an answer." She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him out of bed, but he ended up getting the upper hand, quite literally, and pulled her closer to him. "Alec…"

"Just stay here for a couple more minutes." He placed her hand over his heart, then placed his hand over hers. She felt herself give into temptation, because how could she say no to this, this sincerity, and she settled back next to him.

"You get five minutes, Alec Hardy." He breathed against her hairline in response. "And then you're coming with me to work." She felt him sigh and slowly pull his face away from hers and he sat up, running a hand through his hair.

"Fine, let's go then. It doesn't seem like I've changed your mind. Might as well get this over with." He said as he pulled back the covers and swung his legs around to sit on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes.

"I honestly don't understand why you're so reluctant." She asked as she sat up next to him.

"Well, what about the kids? Or Lily?"

"I think Lily's old enough to stay by herself now, don't you? We'll leave out food and water and you can come back during lunch and-"

"Okay, fine, fine, the dog's taken care of. And the kids?"

"Tom's in school most of the day, and we can bring Fred with us; there's an on-site day care." There was a moment of silence before she spoke up again. "In fact, they've been looking for some more help, so that might-"

"No."

The sudden interruption took her by surprise, then he spoke up again. "I'm not going to be taking care of someone else's kids."

She looked at him quizzically, and he looked back at her just as confused.

"…You take care of my kids?" She watched his face as the crease in his brow dissolved and his eyes softened, then she finally got up from the bed.

"That's- that's not what I- I mean- that's…different."

"It's fine, Alec. Let's just get dressed. I'm going to be late." She gathered her clothes and went to go change before she heard him speak.

"Suit and tie?"

She smiled to herself, then turned around, sharing the smile with him. "Just suit. No tie."

He gasped in a dramatic manner. "But I don't want to be unprofessional."

She rolled her eyes at him, trying to disguise her smile as annoyance. "Just get dressed." She caught a glimpse of his grin as she turned back around.