"Lindsay, don't be like that. Don't pout at me."

"I'm not pouting. What, do you think I'm three years old?"

"I didn't say that! Are you just going to twist my words? Is that what you want me to say?"

"Adam, you're not even listening to me."

"I'm trying to!"

"I have a headache and I'm going home."

"Lindsay-"

"Just let me go home, Adam."

It had been three hours and his stomach still hurt when he thought of the way she'd stomped out of the lab, her arms crossed over her chest. He wasn't sure how the discussion had turned into a fight, but he should have seen how stressed out she had been lately. That was kind of his job after all.

He unlocked her door and walked inside, knowing that she very well may not let him in if he just knocked. All was quiet, and he made his way to the bedroom, figuring a headache probably had her down for the count. She was curled up on the bed, under a blanket even though it was scorching outside. He toed his shoes off and climbed in behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"I'm still mad at you," she whispered.

"And I'm still mad at you, so we're even."

"Why are you mad at me?" she asked, turning her head just a little to look at him.

"Honey, you have to talk to me when you're overwhelmed. I never would have teased you about it if I knew."

"I didn't want to bother you," she confessed, her fingers running up and down his arm.

"Bother me? What do you think I'm here for, decoration?"

"Well you are nice to look at."

"Linds."

"There's just so much to do. And you've been working really long hours on that case and you did everything on the list I gave you already and you shouldn't have to worry about this stuff now."

"You can't just not talk to me. And we're in this together so don't try to do it alone."

"Okay. I'm sorry honey."

"I'm sorry too. I wasn't paying attention. If I had been I would have seen you melting down a long time ago. I'll pay better attention from now on."

"I'll tell you when I'm stressed."

He tucked her hair behind her ear and turned her to look in his eyes.

"Not just when you're stressed. All the time. You pickin' up what I'm layin' down?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"We're okay?"

"We're okay."

He kissed her gently and she rolled over, sliding her arm around him and pulling him closer.

"I love you."

"I love you too, babe. You wanna tell me what else I can do to help you with the wedding stuff?"

"Later. I don't want to talk about it right now. Moratorium on all things wedding for the rest of the night."

"Wanna talk about the honeymoon then?"

"Yeah! Where are you taking me?"

"I can't tell you that."

"But… please?"

"All I can tell you is that it's somewhere neither of us has been before."

"Oh, an adventure!"

"Yeah, I figured that was kind of us. And you promised to go with me."

"Yes I did. And I can't wait."

"Me neither," he said, waggling his eyebrows. She giggled.

"You're bad."

"You're beautiful."

She smiled and he traced over her lips with his finger, watching the way her hair splayed over the pillow, how her eyes caught the sunlight and reflected it back at him. She left him breathless every time their eyes met, made his heart beat faster every time she touched him. He wanted to live this moment for the rest of his life. Nothing more, nothing less.

"I got you a peace offering," he said, touching his nose to hers.

"Mmm, what's that?"

"You gotta get out of bed to see."

"But I have a headache," she said, tracing over the design on his t-shirt. Her eyes drifted up to his and she gave him a little smile.

"You're difficult, do you know that?"

"Keeps you on your toes," she replied.

He chuckled and rolled onto his back, pulling her up onto his chest and kissing her forehead.

"You know what I keep thinking about?" he asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"What?"

"That this is it. No more what ifs, no more drama, no more questions. It's you and me. Everyday, forever, I know that you're the one I'm coming home to."

"How do you do that?" she asked with a smile.

"Do what?"

"Put what you're thinking into words that make me melt into a huge puddle of goop?"

"Probably the same way you can smile at me and make the world stop."

She stretched up and kissed him, feeling his heart beating beneath her chest, the rhythm of it thundering through her as perfectly timed as a metronome. Their lips moved together while their limbs wriggled around each other finding that just right fit, that ideal comfort that they could sink into, letting the world pass them by. Whispered I Love You's slipped in between kisses and they breathed the words in, making them an indelible part of themselves.

She pulled away after a moment, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed. Her head was dizzy with him and he wanted to pull her back to him and kiss her senseless, but he didn't want to destroy this moment of pure eye talking that they were having.

"You said something about a peace offering," she said once her breathing had returned to normal. He nodded and sat up, effectively dumping her into his lap where she sat giggling.

"You're going to have to let me up if you want to see it," he reasoned, pushing her stubborn hair back behind her ear. It fell back down to where it had just been and he grimaced.

"What?"

"Remember when I told you that you were obstinate down to your very bones? I wasn't joking and I did mean it literally."

"Thanks," she replied, pecking his cheek and moving out of his lap so he could get up. Once he had stood, she jumped onto his back.

"Geez, fighting makes you flirty," he mentioned, carrying her out to the other room.

"It is my tragic flaw. Like Hamlet and procrastination."

"I hope this doesn't some day get you killed."

"Me too. Though it would be an interesting case I'm sure."

He deposited her onto the counter and placed his hands palm down on either side of her legs.

"Now I want you to unwrap this very delicately. I spent a long time trying to make it look nice, and I would like to save the wrapping for another time."

She lifted and eyebrow and he handed her a plastic grocery sack, tied at the top.

"You wrapped this so well, and without the use of tape! I'm floored."

She undid the knot and pulled out the prize he had so lovingly bestowed upon her.

"The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3," she read off with a smile. "The cartoon? For real?"

"For real and for three bucks too."

"You're awesome."

"I do my best. Wanna watch a few episodes before you crash?"

"Before I crash? I really look that tired?"

"Not really, but I know you've been up for close to 18 hours, and I know you only got around three hours of sleep last night."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you called me three and half hours before you had to be up."

"And insomnia rears its tell-tale head again."

"Any particular reason why?"

"The guy it was preying on before got a Serta mattress?"

"C'mon, I'll cuddle you to sleep."

She followed him into the other room, curling up on the couch while he got the DVD ready.

"Will you make me a bowl of cereal?" she asked, putting on her best innocent face.

"Cartoon junkie," he accused, going back into the kitchen. "What kind do you want?"

"A graveyard."

"You want all four kinds mixed in one bowl?"

"Bring. It. On."

"Alright, so the quad-cereal experiment. Thoughts?"

"Good in theory, bad in execution."

"And what leads you to this hypothesis, Ms. Monroe?"

"While the Golden Grahams and the Cinnamon Toast Crunch were a perfect union of cereal bliss, the Rice Krispies and the Cheerios became soggy at very different rates. This creates a texture that, while interesting, can also be extremely off-putting if not eaten when the Krispies are still crunchy. I may have to adjust the variables and retest this theory at a later date."

"I love that you're completely serious about this."

"I am always serious about science."

He chuckled and continued to run his fingers up and down her calf while she sighed.

"Babe, is there anything else bothering you?"

"Taylor called," she said, referring to the now 16 year old that had been her little sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer program. "Her mom took off again. Left her alone for a week so far. No idea when she's coming back. Taylor's scared of staying in that apartment alone, so my mom went and got her and she's staying with them for a while, but soon her mom will be back and the whole thing will start again."

"That sucks."

"I hate Gina. Hate her. She's been doing this for years. I can't tell you how many times Taylor has stayed with me or my parents or a friend because her Gina's run off with another loser to who knows where. I just don't get it. How can a person be that selfish? Just write your kid off and go off and not even care. It doesn't make sense. And Taylor's got to live with it. Despite the fact that she's the perfect child, low maintenance, totally responsible, that's still not enough to make Gina stop. She doesn't care at all. She's never been to a parent teacher conference, never given her a birthday party or a birthday present on time even. She's never told Taylor that she loves her, and I honestly think the only reason she comes back is to keep custody of her so she can get tax breaks. It's a mess. An absolute mess and I could just kill the woman."

"I know."

"And at the same time, Taylor defends her mother to a fault. Maybe I'm not supposed to understand. Maybe I'm just supposed to be there when she needs me, even if I don't have the answers."

"Maybe."

She sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"Taylor's fine for the moment, so I'm not going to think about it right now."

"You can check on her in the morning."

"Yeah."

They lapsed into silence, her staring at the ceiling and him rubbing her feet while the Mario cartoon played in the background.

"Lindsay?" he asked, reaching over to place his hand on her stomach, stealing her attention away from the plaster ceiling.

"Yeah?"

"You're never going to be like Gina you know."

"I know."

"Whatever kids we have, they're going to be so lucky to have you as a mom. So lucky."

"They're going to be pretty lucky with you too," she noted with a smile.

"How many do you want?"

She smiled and shrugged.

"I always thought just two, but I don't know. Maybe more. You?"

"I'm still adjusting to the fact that it's even possible," he said, leaning down to kiss her exposed stomach. "Someday."

"Your beard tickles," she said with a giggle.

"Oh really? It does?"

She saw the look on his face and knew what was coming, but had no way to stop it. He crawled across her and ran his beard over her cheek. She erupted in fits of laughter and he continued to tease her as she squirmed underneath him.

"Stop!" she squealed as his lips landed on her pulse, prickling the sensitive skin on her neck. He just laughed and covered her lips with his rendering her silent.

"So how's that headache?" he asked, releasing her.

"Mostly gone. I think I've got my second wind."

"And with her eyes at half mast she says this."

"Oh hush."

He stood from the couch and pulled her up too, drawing her into a hug.

"Now walk me to the door and then go to bed."

"Yes sir," she said, giving him a half hearted salute.

He kissed her once more, then turned to leave.

"Hey babe?"

"Yeah?"

"45 days."

The smile on her face stayed there until she crawled into bed and relaxed into a gentle sleep.