Laura stood at the kitchen island, repacking the diaper bag for the millionth time, trying to be sure they had everything they needed. It never failed. Whenever she thought she finally had this whole diaper bag thing down, they would be out and about and find themselves in need of an item that hadn't seemed necessary before. She was a very organized person, but she couldn't comprehend how such a tiny person could need to be followed around by a bag four times her size. She was beginning to feel like they might as well buy Quinley a Roman litter at this point. She was elbow deep in changes of tiny clothes when she felt a set of strong, defined arms embrace her. She smiled as Steve's chin landed on her shoulder and his pelvis pressed into her butt.

"Whatchya doin'?" he cooed.

Laura giggled slightly. "Packing the diaper bag so that we'll have everything we could possibly need at my parents' house," she replied, continuing to pack as he held her.

"Didn't you do that last night?" he asked, growing confused.

"Yes," she nodded, "but I forgot Dr. Bear. You know she can't go anywhere without Dr. Bear."

"I do know," he agreed. He held her silently for a moment, waiting for her to finish.

"There," she said eventually. "That should do it." She turned around and faced him. "You about ready to go?"

"No," he answered, pulling her against him again.

"What do you have left to do?" she asked, beginning to get the hint.

"You," he purred.

Laura blushed and pursed her lips. "You know the rules, you bad boy. Not until the sun goes down."

Steve pouted. "Please, sweetness. I wanna see you again."

"Hey, I don't make you take off your glasses anymore. That's progress."

"Oh, yeah, what a lot of good they do me when it's pitch black, you're wearing a tank top, and you're hiding under the covers!" he complained.

She pulled out of his arms and stepped away slightly. "You're getting laid," she said crassly. "That'd be enough for most guys."

"You oughta know by now I'm not like most guys," he said gently, pulling back as he saw he was upsetting her.

Laura appreciated his restraint. "Look, Steve, I'm trying," she said more kindly.

"I know," he admitted, stepping closer to her again. "I know you are."

"We'll get there again someday."

"Sure we will," he half-smiled.

"I'm sorry," she said eventually.

"Don't be," he pressed, grabbing her shoulders. "It's fine. We're fine."

Laura pursed her lips. "I'd like us to be better than fine."

"We're great. This is… almost everything I've ever wanted," he said with a big grin.

"Thank you for being so understanding, honey. I love that about you," she said sincerely.

He blushed slightly. "Hey, just call me Mr. Understanding," he joked softly.

"Hmm," she purred, stepping into his arms again. "I do believe that's Dr. Understanding."

Steve smiled bashfully and held her against him. "It certainly is," he agreed.

"I promise we can have sex tonight, ok? Just not right now."

"But tonight?" Steve confirmed excitedly.

"Yes," Laura smiled. "I would love to."

"Oh, you're gonna love it, baby," he swaggered confidently, pointing at her with a finger gun and trying to be cool.

Laura laughed lightly. "Go get the baby," she ordered, pushing him toward the stairs.

"You got it, toots!" he exclaimed, slapping her butt once before heading up the stairs.

She jumped and laughed as she grabbed her purse and the diaper bag and headed for the door.

———————————————————————

When they walked in through the backdoor, they were immediately bombarded with people clamoring to see the baby. Harriette made it to them first. "There's my grandbaby!" she exclaimed, taking Quinley out of her car seat.

Laura and Steve were both relieved to have a break, even if they tried not to admit it. Steve stepped closer to Laura and wrapped her in his arms, glad to feel a little intimacy with her when they were finally off parental duty.

"So how are you two holding up?" Estelle asked.

Laura pulled away from Steve and moved to her grandmother. She kissed her cheek and sat beside her. "Oh, we're fine, Grandma. How are you?"

"I feel healthy as a horse, sugar," she replied, grabbing her hand and squeezing it with all her might, which wasn't that tightly anymore. "Don't you worry about me. I'm sure I'm getting more sleep than you two."

Laura squeezed her hand back and laughed, "I'm sure you are!"

"But that's not saying much!" Steve said back, kissing her other cheek and sitting on the other side.

Suddenly, Quinley started to scream. Steve and Laura exchanged an exhausted glance. So much for taking a break. They both stood. Laura walked over to the baby, and Steve grabbed the diaper bag. At least they had gotten into a strong rhythm.

Harriette cringed as she smelled the baby's behind. "Woo! I hope you two brought diapers!" Laura went to take her, but Harriette pulled back. "Nuh-uh! I can change a diaper. You relax." She walked over to Steve as he set out a changing pad, baby wipes, and diaper cream.

"Um. Sweetums?"

"Yeah?" Laura asked as she heard concern in his voice and walked to the other side of him.

"Is it possible you forgot to pack diapers?" he asked.

"No!" she exclaimed, knocking him out of the way hard so she could dig through the bag herself. "No way! How could I forget…? Damn it!" she exclaimed, slapping her hand to her forehead.

"It's all right, mama bear!" Steve insisted, pulling her into his arms again. "Papa bear will run out and get some. Ok? I'll just be a minute."

Laura nodded and pulled herself together. "Thank you, Steve," she replied.

"I'll be right back!" he yelled on his way out the door.

Laura looked to Harriette who was still cradling the screaming baby. "What do we do now?"

Estelle stood and moved over to a drawer next to the sink. She pulled out a clean dish towel and set it on the counter. "We're gonna teach you how to make a makeshift cloth diaper!" she answered. "Safety pins?" she asked, turning to Carl.

"Right!" he exclaimed, running to get them.

"Harriette," Estelle continued, "wipe that baby down. Laura, sugar, come watch this. This is a useful skill!"

———————————————————————

Steve rushed into the store as quickly as possible. He ran immediately to the childcare aisle, not wanting to leave his wonderful wife with a beautiful, screaming, adorable gremlin for too long. He knocked over several displays along the way. "Oops! Sorry!" he exclaimed as he hit one. "Sorry!" he yelled as he hit the next, knocking a cardboard man to the ground. "Excuse me, sir!" He ran into another and fell to the ground. "Ouch!" he shouted. "Sorry!" he called again as he stood and soldiered on. He finally arrived at the diapers and grabbed the biggest case they had. He made his way quickly back to the check-out, where he had to wait in a long, long line.

He quickly grew impatient. He grumbled to himself. He tapped his foot. When he finally made it to the front of the line, he was about ready to explode at the young woman in front of him who was taking so long.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. You'll have to put an item back," the cashier said.

"No," she whined, tears springing to her eyes. "I can pay you back. I just don't have the money today! Please! My baby needs formula and diapers and baby wipes and diaper cream!"

She had finally caught Steve's attention. He looked up at the baby resting on her hip. She couldn't have been more than five months old, not much older than Quinley, and Mom couldn't have even been 20, much younger than him and Laura.

"Please," she continued to beg. "Is there anything you can do?"

"Hurry it up, lady!" the guy behind Steve complained.

"I'm sorry," the cashier insisted. "It's not up to me."

"Ok," she said softly, realizing she was drawing a great deal of unwanted attention. "Then how about without the wipes?"

Steve stepped forward and set his large box of diapers on the counter. "How about you add in these, and I'll buy the lot?" he offered.

The woman turned to him in surprise. "Oh, no, I couldn't ask you to—"

"Please. I insist," he said gently, smiling sympathetically. "I know how expensive this stuff is."

The cashier added in Steve's box of diapers and began to bag the items as Steve ran his debit card through the machine.

"Thank you," the young mom said softly as Steve put his card away.

Steve grabbed the bags for her and led her away from the counter. "It's no problem. Glad I could help." They paused just inside the door. He took the half a dozen diapers she had picked out and separated them from the rest of the items. "Now, I'm gonna take this tiny pack, and you're gonna take the case, ok? I'll help you carry it all to your car."

"I can't take your diapers," she said.

"Yes, you can. I was just buying some for dinner at my in-laws'! I don't need a whole case. I overreacted. I tend to do that."

"Well, I'm taking the subway."

"I'll pay for a cab."

"I couldn't ask you to—"

"Hey," Steve said softly, "is there anyone at home? Is anyone helping you?"

She looked away in embarrassment. "No. It's just me and Hope."

Steve smiled at the baby. "It's nice to meet you, Hope." He turned back to Mom. "I can't imagine doing this without my wife. You got lucky today, after what I'm sure has been a very hard few months. You have a lot of hard days ahead of you. Let me help you today."

She pursed her lips. "I want your address," she said. "I want to pay you back when I can."

Steve shrugged. "Ok. If you insist." He took the receipt out of the bag and a pen out of his pocket. He quickly scribbled his name and address on the back of the receipt.

"Thank you," she said as he handed it back to her and she read his name, "Steve. You're my hero."

Steve blushed and looked down at his feet. "Let's go get you a cab," he said softly, placing a hand on her back.

He began to lead her toward the door when a man stormed in and pushed them both back. "EVERYBODY DOWN ON THE GROUND!" he yelled.

Steve immediately saw the gun in his hand and wanted to flee. He wanted to get back to his wife and child, but the man pointed his gun right at him.

"You two! Away from the door!"

Steve knew he'd lost his chance to escape. He, the young mom, and Hope moved further inside the store and further away from the exit. Steve and the woman joined the rest of the patrons on the floor.

The cashier held his hands up in surrender. The gunman approached him. "Everything in the register! Then the other registers! Then the safe! Now!"

The cashier nodded and began to push buttons on the register.

A few minutes later, as they were walking away from the register and toward the safe in the back, they heard sirens. "Fuck!" the gunman shouted. "Did you push a silent alarm?" he asked the nervous, teenaged cashier.

"No!" the cashier shouted, beginning to cry.

"Down on the ground! With the rest of them. This just turned into a hostage situation!"

Steve carefully and quietly slipped his phone back in his pocket, his text to Carl still sitting on the screen: "ARMED ROBBER."