I hope this is still interesting to folks. Happy reading :)

It had been a few days since Jensen had seen Kate. He tried not to think about her, which seemed to prove more difficult than not, but he tried. Piper kept him busy, and work kept him tired. He didn't have much time outside of either. Dalvin had given him a what-for after Mallory's father got into his face about Jensen leading Mallory on. Jensen had pointed out that none of this was his fault and that he had been strong armed into having dinner with her, and Dalvin was left handling it because Jensen threatened to quit. Both men knew he wouldn't really, but it made Dalvin back off.

Jensen was sitting alone at the kitchen table after putting Piper to bed, the most recent postcard from Joe in his fingers. He read the words on the back once more:

See you soon.

Why was Joe coming to see him? Did it have something to do with Christmas coming and it being their anniversary of escaping prison three years ago? Jensen felt curious. He and Joe did not start off as best friends. The man had tried to kill him more than once, after all, before they teamed up against Hennessey. He was surprised that Joe had stuck around for as long as he had after their escape before leaving, but why was he coming now? And was Case gonna just show up too? He ran his fingers up and down his jaw, thinking.

After a while, he looked at the clock and then at the sliding door. Daisy was not there as usual, and he felt a bit worried. He knew Piper would be upset if something happened to her stray pet, and, if he was honest, Jensen knew he would be a bit sad too. The dog had grown on him. He wondered if she was off having her pups somewhere.

He set the postcard down and got up, stepping out into the night air and going to lean his arms on the railing.

"It's okay," Kate's voice was saying. "You can stay. You can—aw, dang it." Jensen looked over her way, and a moment later, Daisy came trotting towards him and up the steps. He felt a laugh building. So Daisy was begging from Kate too.

"You're something else," he advised, and Daisy wagged her tail happily as she pressed against him. He smiled as she licked his fingers. Then she went to stand by the door to be let in for her evening meal. He shook his head, still smiling, as he went to open the door. He leaned against the counter, listening to her crunch her kibble and sniffle and snort every so often. He tapped his fingers lightly against the counter top. Joe was coming.

He wasn't sure what to think about that.

...

It was early in the morning, and Kate couldn't sleep. She sat on the beach with her arms wrapped loosely around her legs, which were pulled up halfway to her chest. Her cigarette dangled in her mouth as she puffed on it. She really was trying to quit. She wasn't even sure why she was smoking right now. She wasn't stressed out like usual. She guessed she was just bored.

"Hey, girl," she said happily around her cigarette, catching sight of her stray dog coming up to her. "Where did you go last night, huh? You coulda stayed." She held out a hand, and the dog came to push her face against it.

"You smoke?" Jensen's voice asked, making her turn quickly to see him approaching. He was in jeans and a white tank top. She eyed his tattoos again casually, reaching to pull her cigarette out of her mouth.

"Yea," she answered.

"I did not take you for a smoker."

"No one does," Kate reasoned, putting it back in and taking a drag. He gave her a bit of an amused look. Then he reached to pat the dog's head fondly.

"I see you met Daisy," he commented.

"Daisy?" she repeated. It fit perfectly. She looked at the dog again, relieved to not have to try and come up with a name for her that fit.

"Yea. Piper named her. She got attached ever since she started coming around our place."

"She comes to your place too?" Kate asked. Of course. So that's where the dog had gone last night.

"For a night time feeding, yes," Jensen confirmed. "Sometimes she hangs around under the deck or in the front yard during the day."

"Well, I was feeding her in the morning," Kate advised. "I didn't see her at night very often, but when I did, I was trying to get her to stay and hang out with me." Was she seriously admitting she was that lonely right now? She looked away, trying not to reveal her struggle with that to him.

"She comes and goes," Jensen stated, still standing. "I expect she'll disappear to have her pups soon."

"What?" Kate asked, pulling out her cigarette again. "Pups?"

"You didn't notice?"

"I just thought she was eating well..." Kate frowned, examining Daisy properly now. She felt stupid for not seeing it.

"It's alright. Not everyone would see it."

"Clearly not me."

Jensen didn't comment, and Kate finished her cigarette and put it out in the sand. She tossed it into her tray after, not one to litter. She pushed her fingers through her hair and looked at him again.

"You gonna take a load off?" she asked, wondering why he wasn't sitting down to join her. Then she chastised herself for thinking that he'd even want to. Who was she to him? She was a nobody. She wanted to growl in frustration at herself. Her hormones were clearly up and running on high right now, since it was almost that fun time of the month.

"No," he replied. "I'm just doing my morning stroll before Piper wakes up."

"You leave her alone?" Kate asked. He held up a baby monitor after removing it from his back pocket.

"I don't go far," he promised. "Just some laps in front of the house."

"So you basically do a large pace," she said, getting it.

"Yea."

"Well, don't let me stop you," she indicated, gesturing with her hand. She saw him hesitate for a moment, and she knew what was coming next.

"You're welcome to join in on my pacing," he offered.

"You're just saying that cos I told you I'm lonely," she replied with a small smile. "It's all good."

"Alright then," he said, putting the baby monitor back into his back pocket. "Suit yourself." He began to walk again, and Kate watched him for a moment before getting up to chase after him. Daisy trotted after her, tongue lolling.

"Don't read into this," she warned, matching his pace after catching up to him. Daisy went a little ahead of them, sniffing the ground as she walked.

"I wouldn't dare," he promised, but when she looked at his face, he was smiling. The way her stomach fluttered from seeing it caught her off guard.

"Big Saturday planned with Piper?" she asked. She hooked her thumbs in the pockets of her shorts. She wasn't sure how Jensen was walking in jeans. It was borderline sweltering out there.

"Just the usual," he replied.

"What's 'the usual'?" she asked, and he gave her a funny look, which made her feel like she was being too nosy or intrusive. "Sorry. You don't need to answer that."

"It's okay," he advised. "I just don't normally have anyone ask me questions like that."

"You really gotta get out more," Kate rationalized, and he chuckled.

"I'm good."

They kept walking, and she figured he wasn't going to answer when he spoke.

"The usual consists of having breakfast, getting dressed, watching her favorite cartoon, going for a walk, going for a swim if the weather is good, playing whatever imagination game she's come up with, seeing Tavs, having supper, getting ready for bed, and going to sleep. Sometimes it gets altered if there's baseball or something else going on."

"Sounds busy," Kate noted, smirking a little. He laughed again.

"Yea. Toddlers are more work than a full time job," he said.

"It must be nice, though," she went on, making him look at her. "Having a routine, having something normal." Her voice sounded a bit wrangled almost by the end of her sentence, and she wasn't sure why. She guessed she just had craved normal for a long time. He gave her a look, and she realized too late what he was going to say next.

"You want to have a usual day with us, Kate?" he asked.

"Oh, no," she answered, shaking her head. "I wasn't looking for a pity invite..."

"I don't give pity invites," Jensen advised, cutting her off. "So are you in or out?"

"Um..." She wanted to say yes for reasons she didn't understand. Maybe it was because she didn't have a usual day with her family growing up. As the youngest, she watched her siblings get carted around to events or games of friends' places, and she was left behind to occupy herself. She'd earned the nicknames Loner, Bookworm, Weirdo, and sometimes Freak. Nice siblings she had.

"Budgie to Papa Eagle, I'm awake! Over," Piper's voice said through the monitor now. Jensen chuckled.

"I love that she tells me," he said, "but it might have something to do with the first time I did this and she didn't tell me, thinking she could get away with doing whatever she wanted, and I caught her up to her elbow in the cookie jar."

Kate laughed out loud, unable to help herself. She could just picture it.

"Roger that, Budgie. Papa Eagle ETA is one minute and thirty seconds, over," Jensen said back. He whistled to Daisy, who trotted to him from where she was sniffing, tail wagging.

"Have a good day," Kate said, and he turned to look at her as he walked away, but she didn't give him a chance to say anything before giving a wave and turning her back and walking towards her place. As much as she wanted it, she didn't want him to think she was after anything.

Half an hour later, knocking on her door made her go and find Piper standing there beaming up at her while Jensen stood at the bottom of the steps with his hands in his pockets and a crooked smile on his face.

Sweet mother of God that man was way too handsome for his own good.

"Hi, Auntie Kate," Piper said.

"Hi, sweetie," Kate replied, leaning her hip on the doorway and crossing her arms. "What's going on?"

"Will you spend the day with us?" Piper asked hopefully. Kate almost laughed from how adorable the request was but also felt a small twist inside. She couldn't turn down this little girl, and she knew that was Jensen's plan all along.

"Oh, I don't want to intrude," Kate said, crouching to be at Piper's level now.

"You won't be. Come on, it'll be fun," Piper cajoled. "Pleeeeaaaase?"

"Twist my arm why don't you?" Kate teased, and Piper reached to actually do it, which made Kate laugh out loud and stop her. "It's a figure of speech, baby."

"I don't know what that means," Piper advised.

"We'll let your daddy tell you about it later," Kate said, knowing it was small revenge for what he'd just done to her. Explaining wordplay to a toddler would be challenging, she figured.

"So will you?" Piper asked hopefully.

"Alright," Kate agreed. "I'm in."

"Yes!" Piper fist pumped and then ran down the steps to Jensen. "She said yes, Daddy!"

"Good," Jensen said, resting a hand on Piper's head as she hugged his leg. His eyes met Kate's, and she wasn't sure what she was seeing, but it was definitely something genuine.

...

Jensen had no idea why he asked Kate to spend the day with them. He just could sense from her that she was craving interactions with people, and what better person to be around than Piper? She always made his darkest days brighter, and he wanted to share that with Kate for some reason.

"We gotta give Aunt Kate a bird name," Piper said now as they walked back home. She was pretending to walk a wire, her feet stepping one in front of the other while her arms were outstretched as though she was balancing. Jensen had been surprised at Piper calling Kate an aunt so quickly, but he knew his daughter was quite taken with Kate already. Kate gave Jensen an amused look at Piper's comment.

"A bird name?" she asked.

"Yea, we all have one," Piper replied. "Daddy is Papa Eagle. I'm Budgie. Tavs is Falcon."

"Oh, I see," Kate said, her voice playful. Jensen couldn't help but notice he liked hearing her talk like that. "So what do you think mine should be?"

"Hmmm," Piper said, breaking her tight rope walk and walking normally again while she tapped a finger to her chin.

"How about Parrot?" Jensen suggested, earning a look from Kate, which made him smirk.

"Are you implying I talk too much?" she asked.

"I'd call you a wren if I thought that," he reasoned. He dodged her playful punch to his arm.

"I got it!" Piper exclaimed, waving her hand to get their attention. "Swan."

"Swan?" Kate repeated.

"Yea, cos you're so elegant and pretty," Piper said proudly. Jensen caught Kate's cheeks turning a bit pink as she coughed and turned her head away to try and hide it.

"Parrots are prettier than swans," Jensen reasoned, intentionally embarrassing Kate that much more.

"Swans are subtle about it," Piper argued. "They're not show offs." Jensen was pleased she remembered that conversation from a week ago about how flashy wasn't always better.

"How on Earth do you know such big words?" Kate asked, sounding impressed.

"Daddy reads the Dicksonary to me," Piper answered proudly. "But not all the words cos I'm too little."

"It's dictionary, sweetheart," Jensen corrected.

"Right." Piper nodded.

"You are a very odd man," Kate said to Jensen now, and he shrugged. Piper loved learning new words, and she'd practise them after understanding how to use them. She was a very smart child for her age; it scared him just how smart. Tavs said she was gifted, and he was starting to believe her. Piper was already reading and rapidly getting better at it. People would ask him what grade she was in when they were in public, and that started a year ago when someone overheard them talking. Jensen knew she did not get that from him. He hadn't been able to read properly until he was six, but he hadn't had parents who intentionally sat down with him and taught him either. So when Kate thought she'd given him a hard task of explaining a figure of speech to Piper, she didn't realize that it wouldn't be hard at all.

"What does 'odd' mean, Daddy?" Piper asked.

"Strange or different," Jensen answered.

"Oh."

"I didn't mean it as a bad thing," Kate corrected, and he met her eyes and still saw the playfulness there. He smiled.

"I know," he replied.

"I don't understand," Piper said.

"I'll explain it later," he promised.

"Okay!" She bounced ahead now, zig zagging until she got to the deck stairs. She put her hand on the railing as she walked up them. Jensen gestured for Kate to go ahead of them.

"So what are we doing now?" Kate asked as they went inside.

"Watching Bugs Bunny!" Piper answered happily, going to her spot on the couch. "Come sit with me!"

"With pleasure," Kate said, going along with it. Jensen went to the kitchen to make Piper's breakfast when he looked to see his daughter all snuggled up against Kate. He could tell from Kate's expression that she loved his daughter. She sensed him looking and turned her head to catch his gaze, and he didn't move or say anything. He wasn't sure what she was trying to say with her eyes, but for once, they weren't so full of pain. It was nice to see.

"This is the only day I'm allowed to eat breakfast in the living room," Piper said importantly, looking up at Kate now. The moment was lost, and Jensen gave himself a mental shake as he put the bread in the toaster and grabbed Piper's plastic cup for juice.

He felt a pang of guilt inside towards his thoughts of what Kate's lips might feel like against his.

...

Kate had forgotten how funny Bugs was and couldn't help but laugh and snort at some of the antics. Piper's laughter was contagious, and Kate loved it. When the allotted thirty minutes was up, Piper was ready to swim. It appeared the water was Piper Friendly as the little girl called it.

"I'll meet you there," Kate promised. She looked at Jensen before heading back to her place, and she couldn't help but feel that stupid tingle inside again. She bowed her head and left, mentally chastising herself on the whole walk to her place. What was she doing? She hadn't come here to fall for someone. She shouldn't be doing this.

But Piper...the little girl was just too hard to resist, too hard not to love, and Kate really wanted to belong somewhere.

After changing, she found them chasing waves, and she paused to watch as Jensen grabbed Piper under her arms to hoist her up as a wave caught them. Piper was shrieking and laughing from the impact, and Jensen settled her on his shoulders as he walked back to dry land. His surf board was at the ready.

"Auntie Kate, you have to try; it's so much fun!" Piper called.

"What's my rule about waves?" Jensen asked, lowering her to the ground once they stopped.

"I can't play with them if they're two of me," Piper answered, holding her hand way above her head.

"And?"

"I'm not to play with them by myself no matter what the size," she added.

"Good girl."

"I call the front!" Piper called as Jensen picked up the board and carried it to the water.

"You're forgetting something!" he called after her, and she ran for her discarded lifejacket in the sand before slinging it around her arms. She snapped it slowly as she walked. Kate walked a few feet from them quietly, feeling the shock of the cold water hitting her as she stepped into the ocean. It felt colder than usual, but then again, she didn't normally swim this early in the day. Piper rode the board as Jensen rested a hand on it while pushing it beside him. Kate chuckled as Piper held her arms out in the Titanic pose.

The waves were minimal, which was nice. She tread water once they were deep enough, and before long, she was accepting the one side of the board while Jensen was holding the other. He wiped at his face with his fingers and squinted up at Piper.

"You getting in, love?" he asked her. In response, Piper frog leaped off the front of the board and landed hard in the water. She laughed and splashed, making Jensen turn his face away and grimace from getting water in his eyes.

"I can't wait until I can swim without the lifejacket," Piper said, huffing and puffing as she dog paddled around.

"You're getting there," Jensen assured her. He looked at Kate's questioning face. "We do lessons at the pool when it's too rough out here."

"That's cool," Kate replied. She rested her chin on her arms on the board, moving her legs lazily back and forth. The sun was out for now, but some clouds were on the horizon. She was doing her best to not look at Jensen's muscles.

Piper soaked Jensen's head with a big splash suddenly. "Tag, you're it!"

"What?" Kate asked, feeling confused as Jensen coughed and wiped at his face with his hand.

"Splash tag," Jensen answered logically, effectively drenching her next and making her shriek. "You're it now."

Kate's mouth gaped open in shock, but she recovered quickly enough and went after him. He ducked underwater to avoid her, so she caught a squealing Piper instead. When Jensen surfaced, Piper splashed him from behind, making him laugh and shake his head heartily. Kate couldn't believe that she was out here having fun like this. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had such simple fun. She was laughing hard as both Piper and Jensen soaked her from either side after she'd evaded them for so long. Then Piper was on Kate's back as she swam towards shore, her arms around Kate's neck. Jensen was paddling the board with his arms on his stomach. He reached to scoop Piper after a moment.

"Let's not drown Kate today," he said when Piper protested. Kate was a bit relieved, though. The girl was making it hard to stay afloat. She watched as Piper got settled on the front of the board, and they made their way back slowly.

...

Jensen was sitting in the sand with his knees pulled to his chest, watching Piper make a sandcastle with a serious look on her face. Kate was lying on her back next to him, and he had to keep stopping himself from looking at her all stretched out.

"What's your favorite day?" she asked him suddenly, and he couldn't not look at her now. Her face was turned slightly towards him, and he swallowed at the thought that came to mind:

Today.

"The day Piper was born," he answered instead.

"I should have clarified that you can't give an easy answer," Kate said with a smile.

"What if it's the truth?"

"That's fine, but it's gotta be a day that's not a significant day or event."

"Hmm, you're making this tricky," Jensen said, pretending to be stumped. Today, today, today...

"It's hard, right?" Kate agreed.

"Well what's yours?"

"I asked you first."

"I promise I won't copy your answer," he said with a laugh. She gave a small chuckle in response, but then her face grew serious as she kept looking at him. He tilted his head slightly, waiting. He could see Piper coming in his peripheral, and he hoped she would answer before his child interrupted. She bit her lip before nodding her head slowly and pursing her lips slightly, her face turned away from his now before she turned it back. He could see the answer in her eyes before she even said it out loud.

"Today," she said softly.

Something hit him hard inside, and he felt like he couldn't breathe for a moment. Then Piper was landing on her knees in between them and reaching to pull Kate up to come see her handiwork.

"Having a party without me I see," Tavs said, walking up from behind him. She set her fold out chair down next to him and flopped down into it roughly.

"Just hanging out," Jensen said almost faintly. He couldn't take his eyes off of Kate, who was covered in sand, laughing with his daughter, and gladly letting the little girl climb all over her like a jungle gym.

"Ohhh there it is," Tavs said, making him snap his head to look at her.

"There what is?" he asked.

"You like her," Tavs answered, gesturing with her head towards Kate.

"No," he said quickly. Too quickly. Tavs scoffed and smiled.

"This ain't high school," she advised. "You're allowed to admit who you have a crush on."

"I don't," Jensen said firmly. "I can promise you."

"Well, J, your eyes tell a completely different story," Tavs told him, raising a brow and giving him a smug expression before turning to face the ocean and lean back in her chair.

He had no answer for that.

...

Kate held the tube of unopened wrapping paper in her hands as though she was holding a baseball bat. Jensen was holding his in one hand in front of his face horizontally. Piper was egging them on in the background.

Kate made her move, and Jensen blocked it before making his own strike. She barely blocked it, moving so that she was on the other side of him. They sparred a moment longer before she saw her opening and rammed the end of her tube into his chest.

"Argh!" Jensen exclaimed, clutching at it and falling to his knees slowly before falling onto the floor and making very exaggerated dying noises. Piper rushed to Kate then.

"You saved me!" she exclaimed. "Thank you!"

"Anything for you, Princess," Kate replied. Piper beamed and then grew serious.

"Hurry, we have to give him the potion to save him and turn him back into my Daddy," Piper added, handing Kate an imaginary cup. Kate suppressed her laugh and went to roll Jensen onto his back before prying his mouth open with her fingers. She could feel him also trying not to laugh.

"Come on, soldier," she ordered, smacking his cheek lightly after giving him his pretend antidote.

"Come back, Daddy!" Piper called, putting her hands on his leg and giving it a shake. Jensen did a dramatic, fake gasp before sitting up and almost knocking Kate onto her arse on the floor. She landed on his lap instead, and his hands automatically grabbed her waist to stop her from toppling over.

"Yay!" Piper cried, going to hug him around his neck tightly. "Daddy's back!"

Kate barely heard him pretending to be confused and disoriented as she continued to feel his left hand on her waist. His right arm was around Piper now, and he was looking intently at her and not Kate at all, but she still felt flustered.

"I think it's time for supper, love," Jensen said to Piper now, who nodded eagerly.

"Yea. I'm hungry."

"Clean up and then wash your hands, okay?"

"Okay."

She scampered off, leaving Kate and Jensen together, and Jensen seemed to realize she was still in his lap and his hand was still on her waist. He removed it quickly and cleared his throat.

"Good game," he said, and she moved to stand up as soon as she could. He joined her a moment later.

"She is definitely creative," Kate noted. He smiled and agreed before bending to pick up their "swords." Piper was putting things in the toy bin, and Jensen playfully tapped her on the back with the wrapping paper tube on his way by. Kate felt flushed again as she thought about him. She wasn't sure how she was going to get through the next couple of hours, but Piper made it easy by asking her to read with her while Jensen cooked. He'd turned down her offer to help, so Kate gave Piper her attention.

The rest of the evening was almost a blur, and then suddenly she was saying goodnight to Piper, who was now tucked into bed.

"Thank you for spending the day with us," Piper said to her. Kate kissed her forehead softly and smoothed her hair.

"Thank you for inviting me."

"I wish you could be with us every day."

"You can visit me anytime, baby," Kate told her, and she meant it.

"Okay."

"Sleep well."

Kate left her and found Jensen starting the dishes. She noticed Daisy in the corner eating from a bowl. Without a word, she took the t-towel from its hook and started to dry the dishes.

"You don't have to," Jensen said.

"This doesn't even begin to repay you for today," Kate told him, and he gave her a surprised look.

"What do you mean?"

"The two of you gave me something really precious today, and I don't think I can ever repay you for it or express how invaluable it was. Drying these is the least I can do," she replied. He looked touched, and she gave a small smile. She had meant it. Today was officially her favorite day forever.

"You mean a lot to her," Jensen told her. "So if anyone is invaluable, it's you."

Kate swallowed, feeling like she might cry. He was still looking at her, and she wanted to know what he was thinking. Then she gave a start when Daisy pressed her wet nose into the back of her bare leg. The moment was lost, and Jensen went back to washing while Kate bent to give the dog pats.

She still wanted to know what Jensen was thinking, though.

...

Jensen was thinking there was something wrong with him. How could he be feeling things for Kate when he still loved Suzy? He worked to keep his hands from shaking and his breathing from being erratic. He'd been without Suzy for almost three and a half years. He knew she'd be telling him to not be a fool and fall in love again, but he just couldn't.

"Thank you again," Kate said once they were finished cleaning up and standing on the deck together under the stars.

"You're welcome."

There was a bit of an awkward pause, and Jensen was trying to figure out what to say when Kate moved in close. He was taken aback and thinking she was going to do the unthinkable when he felt her lips press against his cheek softly.

"You're a really good father," she said next to his ear. She patted his chest lightly and stepped away. "Goodnight, Jensen."

"Goodnight..."

She disappeared into the darkness, and Jensen rested his fingers on the spot where she'd kissed him. He was wrestling so much with the feelings. He felt like he was somehow being disloyal to his deceased wife, even though he knew that wasn't true. He felt guilty for liking how Kate's mouth against his cheek had felt. He felt so many things. Then, he felt a tear roll over his fingers, still on his cheek, a moment later.