"No. I want to wait until I see her again. I thought it would be a good idea to give her a little time to get used to the idea that you're back in our lives first."

Jonathan looked up sharply, but kept his voice calm. "What if she comes over before you tell her? I was planning on moving in this weekend."

"I wanted to talk to you about that. Let me talk to her first. Another week won't make much difference. She really does mean well."

"Lisa, I don't believe you!" Jonathan bit off the barrage of words threatening to erupt from his mouth, silently cursing himself for his stupidity.

Lisa recoiled at Jonathan's harsh words as memories flooded her mind.

Reaching across the table, Jonathan took Lisa's hand into his own. His voice cajoling, he asked, "Are you going to let your daughter rule your life? I know you love her and so do I, but this is our life. She doesn't live here. Would you allow her to deny us the happiness that we deserve? I know she would want you to be happy. I love you, Lisa. I thought you loved me, too."

Lisa relaxed again. She really couldn't blame Jonathan for being upset. He'd so been looking forward to moving in. "I do love you. Tell you what. I'll call her tonight and tell her. I don't want to alienate her or she'll never accept you again."

Somewhat mollified, Jonathan said, "Okay, Babe, whatever you want to do is fine with me. Are we still going to tell the boys today?"

Smiling, Lisa said, "Oh yes. I've been looking forward to that, too." She glanced at his empty plate. "Want some more?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Lisa served up a second plate of spaghetti and joined her ex-husband in waiting for Jason and Jimmy to arrive.



*  *  *

Shelby watched the cars drive by, alert for anyone she recognized. It had been a whirlwind afternoon and evening. After leaving work, they'd gone back to the apartment, dropped her car off and set out in the vehicle Kris had rented. They'd returned it to the depot Kris had rented it from, then taken a cab to a different rental car agency and, after filling out the necessary paperwork, departed in a green Ford Taurus. The two women were now sitting in the car on a side street, parked between several other cars, and had been for the previous four hours.

The time had passed quickly for Shelby. She and Kris had discussed each person with knowledge of the case and speculated on who could be leaking information. She'd listened, spellbound, as Kris recalled the events leading to Michael's withdrawal from the field, and then they'd just chatted. Well, actually, she'd done most of the talking, but Kris had contributed, too.

She'd finally gotten the operative to agree to leave at 10:30, arguing that anyone going to the drop would likely go early, while the street was well populated. She glanced at Kris, noting the tension reflected in her beautiful countenance. Shelby knew her partner was hurting - and wished she could do something to ease her pain, but she didn't know what that would be.

"Kris?"

"Hum?"

Shelby gazed at Kris. "How does it feel to know that your mother's really alive?"

The operative had asked herself that very same question. She mulled the question over in her mind, trying to figure out how to verbalize her feelings. Fearful that her brief glimpse of her mother would be her last, she had resisted fully embracing the joy of their reunion.

As the silence lengthened, Shelby wondered if she should've saved her question until after they'd rescued Kris' mother. She reached over and laid her hand on Kris' thigh, just feeling the need to touch her.

Kris covered Shelby's hand with her own, and smiled, before turning her attention back to the building they were watching. "It feels weird. I'd gotten used to her being dead. Now, I find out she's alive, but it's like talking to a stranger. I don't even know her anymore. I don't know what she does, or what she likes, or even if I'll ever see her again."

Shelby could feel the fear and confusion Kris was experiencing, and her heart tightened painfully. She reached over and linked her fingers with the operative's lending quiet support. "We'll find her in time. I know we will."

Pushing her doubts back into the dark crevices from whence they'd arisen, Kris took comfort in the staunch support of her partner and gently squeezed her hand. "Yeah, we will." And suddenly, she believed that.

"They're holding her some place on Georgia Ave. That's all Mom saw before they took her inside." Kris mused aloud, "Gotta give her a lot of credit for noticing that."

"She speaks English?"

"Not well, but she does understand it."

"Well, if she's anything like you, they're gonna have their hands full."

"Is that right? I'm not even gonna ask you what you mean." Kris winked at Shelby. "But she is feisty." Turning to her partner, she smiled warmly, and it hit her again - just how lucky she was to have the analyst in her life. She glanced at her watch. "Ready to take off?"

"You gotta be kidding!"

Grinning, Kris started the car and headed for the apartment.

Shelby went through her greeting ritual with Stormy as Kris watched, amused. Seeing the mirth on her partner's face, she handed the kitten to Kris. "Your turn to say hello."

Kris rolled her eyes, but was actually quite fond of the little feline and gave her a greeting hug before placing the ragamuffin back in Shelby's arms.

Over the previous several hours, Shelby noticed that Kris' movements had become more stiff and deliberate. She set Stormy down and walked into the bathroom to get some painkiller. Returning to the living room where Kris was sitting on the couch, she handed her the tablets and a glass of water.

Kris took the pills and water from Shelby. "Thanks."

"Do you want an ice pack? That might help."

"Thanks, but I'll pass. I'm gonna take a shower instead."

A short time later, Kris entered the bedroom in her sleeping shirt. Shelby was already in bed, with the covers pulled down for Kris and Stormy was lying down by her feet.

She settled carefully into the bed, and looked pointedly at Shelby who was lying on her side facing her. "Why don't you move over this way a little?"

"I didn't want to..."

Kris placed a finger gently on Shelby's lips. "I'd feel a lot better if you were next to me."

Shelby moved over until her body was touching the taller form of her companion. "How do you feel?"

"Better than I did." Kris turned her head, gazing lovingly into warm emerald eyes. Tentatively she reached out and brushed the back of her hand over Shelby's soft cheek and watched a flush appear on the analyst's fair skin. Knowing they needed to talk about what was escalating between them, Kris whispered, "Shelby?"

"Mmmm?"

Kris struggled to maintain her composure with the small, warm body pressed against hers. "I...we really should wait." It wasn't the articulate, rational appeal to reason she'd intended, nor did her husky voice quite carry the firmness she'd wanted to convey, but she did make Shelby smile.

"I know. You're not in any shape."

"That's not exactly what I meant," she protested mildly, even as the small hand that had wrapped around her arm distracted her. Covering the warm fingers, she squeezed slightly.

"Our first time...I want it to be special. I want to give you everything I have to give. Right now, with everything that's going on..."

Shelby smiled gently and rested her head against a strong shoulder.

"Well," she teased, "I always heard you should make love before going into battle...you know, just in case."

Kris groaned, and the analyst laughed at the frustrated sound. "I'm just kidding, sweetheart." Shelby smiled as a blush crept over Kris' features, knowing her endearment had caused it. "Of course we'll wait. I want our first time to be perfect for you, too."

Blue eyes locked with green. "To be with you - it couldn't be anything but perfect."

Shelby blushed and buried her face against Kris' broad shoulder. A strong hand gently eased her back, and she raised up enough to lower her head over her partner's and meet her lips.

Long moments later, both women pulled back, eyes full of promises and bodies warmed by the contact. Settling against each other with their hands entwined, they drifted off to sleep, both dreaming of their future together.



*  *  *

Shelby noticed the answering machine light blinking when she got up that morning, and had listened to the message from her mother. It had been too early to call her back, so she'd decided to contact her from work. Dialing her mother's telephone number, she waited for the familiar voice to answer.

"Hi, Mom. You called?"

"Hi, honey. How's work going?"

Shelby raised an eyebrow. Whenever her mother asked her about work, she was up to something. "Fine."

"I wanted to talk to you about Jonathan."

Shelby could feel herself tense, even though she tried to fight it and struggled to keep her voice reasonable. "What about Jonathan?"

Lisa wished she knew an easy way to break her news, but couldn't think of one. Without preamble, she blurted out, "Jonathan's going to be moving in." The silence extended for so long, she wondered if Shelby had heard her. "Did you hear what I said?"

I heard you Mom. Loud and clear. Shelby audibly sighed. "Mom, please think about what you're doing."

"I have. He's changed, Shelby. Give him a chance, honey. For me."

Shelby shook her head, distressed. "Mom, the man is bad news. You're making a big mistake."