1.21

Three Months Later

"So, I've been thinking," Ty said from the kitchen where he was fixing dinner. Kaylee slowly sat down in the chair. She wasn't that far along but the added weight was odd for her to handle.
"What have you been thinking about?" she asked once she got herself settled.She looked over to see a pensive look on his face as he walked over to the stove and stirred whatever was smelling so delicious. She shook her head and glanced away. He was probably worried about how many calories were in the food. Ever since he had gotten that baby book from the store he'd been concerned about her eating habits. He made sure she got the recommended daily serving of vegetables and protein. It would be sweet if she wasn't craving sweets which he rationed like a prison warden.

"I was thinking that this house really isn't big enough for us anymore. Or at least it won't be in a few months." After wiping his hands on a towel he walked into the dining area and sat down next to her.
"I was thinking that maybe we should start looking for another house. Plus," he said when he caught her startled look, "I think it would be a good idea to have our own house since you are spying on our landlady. This way if something happens, or heaven forbid you get caught, she can't just pull the rug out from under us. We'd have our own place and wouldn't have to bunk with my parents until we found something."
"I love this house Ty," Kaylee said looking around. She turned back to him when he covered her hand with his.
"So do I but..."
She sighed. "Yeah, I understand what you mean. But I don't have to like it."
"Of course you don't babe. But I just want my family safe. Or as safe as we can be in this situation," he growled.
Kaylee chewed on her lip. Ty had been furious once she had told him about the agreement she had entered into with Hunter. And he had been horrified to learn that Hunter might very well be the man that had run down her father. She hadn't told him about the threat Hunter had laid against him. She had no intention of anything ever happening to Ty because of this situation. So, for the last three months she had been spying on Hannah. Every so often she would get a phone call giving her instructions on where to go and who to give the information to. Not that she had gathered much information.

Dinner was a silent event, seeing as how they were both lost in thought. Everyone except for Gabe. He kept up an incessant chatter from his high chair. Finishing her food, she hadn't even tasted it, Kaylee stood and gathering the dishes went to the sink.
"Kaylee," Ty murmured behind her. "It'll be okay. Everything will be okay. Right now we're just trying to stay one step ahead of Hunter. My dad is using his connections to dig into Hannah's past but he can only work so fast without her taking notice. Her security is tight."
Kaylee heaved a sigh. "I know." As far as Kaylee could tell Hannah worked and went home. "I really appreciate what everyone is doing. I'm just tired Ty. Tired of moving, tired of not having control over my life. Aren't you tired of not having your life? Do you ever imagine your life without me? What it would be like without this drama?" Kaylee knew she should shut up. Why was she asking him all these questions?
He snorted. "Yeah, I think about it."
Her heart clenched and she gripped the edge of the sink to steady herself. She stared down into the sink full of bubbles as the bowl trembled in her hand. Taking a steady breath she shoved it into the water and began to scrub as if her life depended on it.
"Hey," Ty said slipping up behind her. He slipped his hands into the water to cover her hands to still them. "Sure I think about it. And I realize that my life would be dull, colorless, nearly meaningless without you. Kaylee, when are you going to learn that my heart is yours? No matter what happens nothing can make me stop loving you. Not even you! I know you still have this fear of me, of anyone, leaving you, of not loving you enough but...sometimes I think I love you too much. We'll get through this. Together. Okay?"
Spinning around she plastered herself against him, as if, he thought sadly, she was trying to crawl into him to hide away from the present. He carefully enfolded her in his arms, mindful of her stomach between them. She let out a shuddering breath then stared up at him.
"Do you have any idea how much I love you?"
He shrugged. "I sorta, kinda have an idea," he said before planting a kiss on her nose then unable to resist he pulled away and bent down.

"Hey baby, do you have any idea how much mommy loves daddy? Do you have any idea how much daddy loves mommy?" He chuckled when Gabe pointed to himself and then pointed to Kaylee's belly. "Do you have any idea how much Uncle Gabe loves you? Do you have any idea how much daddy loves you?" After speaking Ty curved his hand around her stomach and pressed a kiss there. He grinned up at Kaylee before straightening and picking up Gabe.
"I'm going to get the little guy ready for bed. Tomorrow we can start house hunting if you feel up to it." He paused. "Why don't you get ready for bed too? You look a little-" At her glare he closed his mouth and walked down the hall to the bathroom.

"So, how do you feel about moving little guy?" Ty asked as he carefully washed Gabe. He still marveled at how small he was. And to think the baby would be even smaller.
"Move?"
Ty nodded at Gabe's high pitched question. "Yep, move. How do you feel about that?"
Gabe frowned as he was actually giving the idea some thought. "All?"
Ty frowned. "All what buddy?"
Gabe sighed and Ty swore it sounded as if he was exasperated with him for not understanding. He peered into Gabe's eyes and Gabe stared back. Sure there was child like innocence in his eyes but it was almost as if Gabe was willing him to understand. And then it hit him.
"Of course all of us are going to move. No one's going to get left behind. Ever. Do you understand me?"
Gabe stared up at him in silence for several seconds before a grin split his serious facade. Quick as lightening Gabe raised his arms high in the air then let them fall back into the water again.
"MOVE!" he squealed loudly before starting to laugh. Ty blinked water out of his eyes and wiped bubbles off of his face before he stared sternly down at Gabe. Gabe's smile slowly disappeared. That's when Ty grabbed a handful of bubbles and placed them smack dab on Gabe's little nose. He started to laugh when Gabe looked cross eyed at the bubbles on his nose and soon his high pitched laughter joined Ty's.
Kaylee could hear them in the bathroom. Smiling she shook her head. Her smile faded when her mouth started to water. Slipping into her underwear she quickly walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Going into the fridge she shoved aside items until she saw the plate hiding back there. Ty thought he was so slick.

"Oh God," she moaned softly as the cake seemed to melt in her mouth. Chocolate flavoring burst onto her tongue and she grabbed a near by paper towel to catch any excess drool. She had taken to sneaking sweets when Ty wasn't home but today had been so hectic with work and with the added stress of trying to act as if nothing was wrong she had missed her usual snack.
She tried to go slow, to savor it but, between feeling like a druggie and worrying about Ty catching her, she devoured the cake in recorded time. She even caught the crumbs on the tip of her finger and ate those too. She was just eyeing what appeared to be a small drop of frosting on the edge of the plate when a throat was cleared beside her.

"What are you doing?"
"What?"
He sighed. "Kaylee, what are you doing?"
She racked her brain for some sort of reply but all that came out was: "Nothing."
"Okay. What were you doing?"
"Eating."
"We just finished eating. If you were still hungry I would have-" His eyes narrowed. "What were you eating?"
She shrugged. "Ya know. Food."
"Kaylee," he growled.
She widened her eyes innocently. "What?"
"What kind of food were you eating?" He held up his hand when she opened her mouth then before she could register what he was doing he bent down and kissed her. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck as his tongue slipped into her mouth. He curled his tongue around hers, just like she liked, and just as she was leaning forward to try to deepen the kiss he pulled away.
"Chocolate cake!"
He sounded appalled. Kaylee blinked to rid the sexual haze from her mind then scowled once she realize what he had just done. He hadn't kissed her because he was overcome with lust for her hot body but to find evidence. She pressed her lips together and glared at him.
"For one thing that was gross! You can't kiss me to see what I was eating! And for another-"
"You know caffeine isn't good for the baby. The doctor said-"
"I swear to God Tyrese if you quote the doc to me I will strangle you."
Ty, being the smart man he was, decided that silence was golden and held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Cut me some slack Kaylee. I'm as nervous about this as you are."
She sighed, relenting. "I know. Let's go to bed."
"Alright, let me grab this plate. I..." Ty stared down at the plate, at the same plate he had placed a piece of chocolate cake on a few days ago to have for later. "Kaylee? Kaylee? You ate my cake?!"
Kaylee smacked her lips together as she walked down the hall. "And it was delicious!"
"You are an evil, evil woman," he heard him mutter. Laughing she crawled into bed.

"Ty! The phone!" Kaylee yelled as she tried to work her way around all the boxes in the living room. It hadn't taken them long to find a place. As a matter of fact it was one of the first places they had looked at. Both of them had fallen in love with it. It had five bedrooms and a pool in the back, since they would be moving away from the beach. The deciding factor however, was that it was even closer to Damon and Fran.
"Kaylee, be careful!" Ty said as he snatched the phone off the hook. He walked over to her and helped her around the boxes before he put the phone to his ear.
Shaking her head Kaylee absently rubbed her stomach. She was pretty sure that she had felt the baby kick but all the books and the doctor said that it was probably indigestion. She snorted.
"We all know that you're the smartest baby," Kaylee whispered to her stomach. Ty turned to stare at her. He grinned when he saw what she was doing. His smile faded and he turned back around.
"What do you mean he wants us to get together today for practice? The season starts in a few weeks. I thought he said he was going to give us a break Karrick. Kaylee and I are moving today remember?"
There was a moment of silence while he listened to Karrick then he blew out a frustrated breath. "Well, I might be a little late. I'm not leaving my pregnant wife to unpack by herself."


"No, we didn't hire movers because we figured we'd have a couple of days to move everything from here to there. No, Hannah gave us her blessing to move. 'Children need room to grow', she said."
Although Ty had been cautious when they first moved her about the R'ogulians, he and Kaylee had found out that was Hannah's species name, he and Karrick had hit it off and became fast friends. Karrick had even given her a tattoo. Not on her forehead, she had drawn the line there, but on her arm. After hearing her story from Ty he had declared her a warrior. Ty had asked Kaylee if he could speak to Karrick about their situation and she had agreed. There was something about him that was soothing. It came as a surprise however, that Hannah's own people were becoming suspicious of her long life. Karrick had said that he would make inquires in circles that he could only get into.
Sighing Kaylee decided to have one last look around the house before they started putting all the boxes in the truck.

Ty found her out on the balcony staring out at the water. Gabe was on her hip and he seemed as lost in thought as his sister. "Kaylee, we'll still be close to the ocean. Heck, the ocean is still almost in our backyard. Besides mom and dad-"
"It's not that Ty. This is the place where I found out a I had a little brother. This is were we found out we were pregnant. The place were we had our wedding. This is the place-"

"Were we started our dreams. Now we can finish them somewhere else."
Kaylee turned toward him. "How do you always know the right thing to say?"
He shrugged. "Call it a gift."
"It really is. I'm going to miss this place. Even though there was a lot of drama here there were also good times."
"Don't worry babe. With our life it won't take long for us to have drama at the new place as well as good times."
Kaylee laughed then handed him Gabe. "You're such a smart ass. Here, go play with Gabe for a bit. I'll be out to help you with the boxes in a minute. I just want to..."
Brushing a hand over her hair he placed a kiss on her forehead in understanding before turning to go.
"MOVE!" Gabe exclaimed.
She heard Ty laugh. "That's right Gabe. Today's the day!"


She took one last look around the house before she walked out the door with Gabe on her hip, Ty had tried to take him but he seemed fearful that she was going to stay behind and she could understand why, and Buster on her heels. She made her way down the stairs, she could sense Ty staring intently at her from the truck, wanting to help her down the stairs. Shaking her head she looked back at the house. Buster was sitting on the steps with his head cocked to the side.
"Come on boy. You have a new home now."
He yipped, he really hadn't grown that much over the last few months, and then trotted down the stairs to stand at her side.
"Well, are you ready Buster?"
He barked and headed toward the truck. With a laugh Kaylee followed after him. Ty got out of the truck to get Gabe and put him in his car seat and then turning he helped her in. They both stared at the house through the windshield once he got back in.
"Does this seem familiar to you?" he asked teasingly.
Kaylee looked across Gabe's head and dodged Buster who was trying to lick her face. "Yeah, but a little less than a year ago we were staring at our future. Right now, we're heading into it."
"Now who knows exactly what to say?" With a wink he started the truck and pulled out of the driveway. Neither one of them looked back.




136 Tranquility Dr

Kaylee stood on the sidewalk in front of their new house and watched as Gabe and Ty walked toward the front door. She had to bit her lip to keep from laughing. It looked as if Gabe had been studying Ty's walk. To her amazement it was a near flawless impersonation. She leaned her head back to stare up at the house. She had to admit it was lovely. She would never had imagined, all those years ago, that she would end up in a house like this. Ty hadn't objected to the cost, in fact he had been surprised that it didn't cost more. Kaylee hadn't objected because she knew Ty would have just looked at her in surprise. She still wasn't quite used to having such money at her disposal even though she had Ty had a joint bank account. It still boggled the mind.
"Are you coming babe?" Ty yelled from the porch.
She looked down at Buster, who seemed to be standing sentiantal beside her. He took a step forward then looked back at her. Testing, she stood still and to her amazement Buster came back and sat by her side. Only when she started to move did he move as well.
"Did you train him to do that?"
"Nah, Buster is just a smart dog. He knows how important you are to everyone."
Grinning she gave him a quick kiss, patted Buster on the head, then Gabe as well when he walked unsteadily over before they started to unpack the few boxes they had brought over with them.

"I have to go."
Kaylee laugh. "I know."
"I shouldn't be gone that long. My parents should be by later to check on you. I'll have my cell and-"
"Ty," she said with a laugh. "Are you forgetting that Hunter has his men watching over me as well? I'll be fine."
He scowled. "I don't trust them."
"I do."
His frown deepened. "Why?"
"Because they know if something happens to me Hunter will kill them. Now, go!"
Sighing he gave her a hug then lingered over the kiss before brushing her hair away from her face. Cupping her face he stared down at her.
"You remember our wedding song?"
She smiled softly. "How could I forget? You picked it out."
He nodded. "You have control of my heart Kaylee. Just...be careful okay?"
"I will. Go."

He backed the truck to her and rolled down the window. "I'll call you when I get there. I don't know how long I'll be gone but-"
"Ty, stop worrying about it. Everything will be fine."
"It better be otherwise I'll track Hunter down and tear what's left of his heart out with my bare hands," he snarled. He took a calming breath. "I love you."
"I love you too. Be careful driving. I'll talk to you in a few hours."
He nodded then rolling up the window drove away. Kaylee gnawed on her lip as she thought about what she had planned for tonight. She hadn't really planned it. It was a spur of the moment thing that had popped into her head once she realized that Ty was going to be gone. She only hoped that everything worked out. Turning around she walked into the house.