"The End". Alex closed the book and turned to Andrew. "Whew! Now that was a great book, wasn't it?"
Andrew grinned. "Yep!"
"But I've gotta tell ya, I was getting a little worried there toward the end. What if the tax deference hadn't gone through? Thank God it did, right Andrew?"
Alex glanced at Lauren, who shrugged.
"Andrew? Andrew?"
Alex smiled when he realized that Andrew had fallen asleep. Carefully he climbed off the bed, doing his best not to wake his little brother as he kissed his blonde
hair. "Goodnight."
He was still smiling as he removed Andrew's small tennis shoes and covered him with a blanket.
Lauren stood, watching them in amusement. "I'd better go." She whispered.
"Yeah." Alex followed her downstairs to the kitchen, grateful when he found it empty. He took Lauren's hand and led her over to the kitchen island, where he
pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. As expected (or hoped, really) she drew back seconds later and laughed.
"Wow! What did I do to deserve that?"
He smiled at the way she gently swayed, unsteady on her feet. After all this time, his kisses still made her dizzy. The Alex Keaton touch was successful yet again.
Perhaps he should patent it.
Lauren's gentle hand on his cheek brought him back to the present. "Alex, I asked you a question."
"Oh yeah? What was it?"
She shoved him playfully. "Alex!"
"What? No really! What was it?"
"I asked you what I did to deserve that kiss. You've never kissed me like that before."
"Sure I have! Lots of times!"
"Na uh." She shook her head. "Not like that. What gives?"
"You were really great with Andrew up there."
"He's a great kid."
"Yeah, he is."
"Well, I really should be going, but I'll see you this weekend, okay?"
Alex nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, actually-."
"What is it?" Lauren whirled to face him.
"I-I can't this weekend."
Dreaded silence fell between them. "Why not? I thought we said we were going out this weekend. And there's that great movie playing at the Marquis."
"We were. I mean, I was, but-."
"But what?"
He racked his brain to find just the right words. But he knew that no matter what he said, he'd just end up hurting her. After all, she was right. They had planned
to spend the weekend together. But in those moments they'd spent with Andrew in his room, Alex realized that something else was more important.
"I just can't."
"Alex, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying I can't go."
"Why not?"
"I sort of… made other plans." Okay, so technically he hadn't made the plans yet, but he was going to do it as soon as possible. So it wasn't really a lie, was it?"
"Really? Who is she?"
He was taken aback by her question. "What do you mean, who is she?"
"Who is she, Alex?"
Lauren's voice was louder now and he looked around nervously, praying that no one had heard her outburst. It wasn't like her at all.
"Lauren how could you possibly think that there's another girl?"
"Well?"
"Besides, its' not a girl at all! It's-it's a guy!"
Her eyes widened. "What?"
It took him a second and then he shuddered. "Oh God, not that kind of guy! I meant-."
"I know what you meant, Alex! There's only one kind! The male kind!"
"I know that!" Alex scoffed. "But you don't-."
"No, I don't understand, Alex! I thought that you loved me!"
"I do love you, Lauren! How can you even-."
"So who is this man?"
"Well, actually it's not a man. It's a kid."
She recoiled and moved away from him. "Ew!"
"Oh for God's sake, Lauren, it's Andrew, all right?"
She stared at him in confusion. "Andrew?"
"Yeah, you know, my brother, Andrew?"
"Yeah…"
"I promised him that I'd take him to a coin show here in town and I forgot about it. He was hurt because it meant a lot to him, so I have to make amends, all
right? But I promise that the next weekend, I'm all yours, okay? Unless you have a heavy date or something."
She grinned and kissed him. "I think I can cancel."
"Good. I swear I'll call you the minute we get back."
"You'd better."
A few kisses later, Alex waved goodbye to Lauren and suddenly found himself alone in the kitchen. But he wasn't alone for long.