Author's Note: I'm back! Yay! I know it took forever, but good things come to those who wait, right. I have to say I was surprised by the response to 'Castles in the Sand', both my own and readers' response and wonderful reviews. It started out as a one shot, turned into a few chapters, and then into a thirty something chapters. Ending 'Castles in the Sand' was both horrible and wonderful. Wonderful because I found, what I felt, was the perfect ending. Horrible because I knew I would miss Lilly, Scotty, and Alexia so much, so I decided to begin a 'Castles in the Sand' series, filling in some of the gaps from 'Castles in the Sand'. So here it is. Takes place right after chapter three of 'Castles in the Sand', pre chapter four. Also, this is the link to 'Castles in the Sand' s/6401039/1/Castles-in-the-Sand Read review and enjoy :)

Standard disclaimer always applies… I own nothing aside from Alexia and my ideas.

ONE

Five more minutes... No, ten... Fifteen? One more hour. Even better. She couldn't remember the last time she'd a full seven, even five… No she couldn't remember the last time she had more than an hour of uninterrupted sleep... A day or even a couple days without sleep, she could handle. It was practically part of the job. Getting called in at odd hours of the night and early morning for a case, stake outs... It was normal. Part of the job. What wasn't normal was the amount of time Alexia spent crying relentlessly. Such a tiny infant couldn't possibly produce this many tears. A tiny infant couldn't possibly live without sleep. It had been four days and somehow, aside from her long midday naps, Alexia hadn't slept more than a few minutes each night. She rationalized that Alexia caught up on her sleep during her midday naps though unfortunately she was not as fortunate. Try as she might, she simply could not sleep during the day. Her only hope was that at some point her body would be so overcome with exhaustion, her resistance would fail and she would finally be able to succumb to sleep. Though a slight part of her, a sliver, nearly invisible slice, found herself slightly annoyed at Alexia's continuous nighttime cries, a larger part of her was struggling not to be overcome with worry and anxiety that something might be wrong with Alexia. Fighting an internal battle with her worries and an external battle with Alexia, doing anything she could think of to soothe her, all to no avail. Just as she caved to her worries and began to search for her car keys in order to take Alexia to the nearest ER, the front doorknob jostled and the door opened. She was surprised, to say the least, to see no one other than Scotty walk in though her front door his arms loaded with overflowing bags. He unloaded the bags by the table next to her front door before promptly closing the door behind him.

"Hey", he says rather nonchalantly as he carries a couple of bags into the kitchen.

"Scotty? What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood. Just thought I'd come by to see your making out."

"The thought of calling first perhaps, never occurred to you." She remarks as she begins to bounce Alexia slightly in an effort to quiet her down. Fortunately Scotty has provided enough of a distraction and sparked an interest in Alexia that her cries have diminished slightly. Lilly breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Called at least a dozen times over the past three days. And I did knock but I guess you could hear me over the crying."

Alexia's cries quiet a bit more as she takes in the slight of Scotty walking towards them. She eyes him warily as if deciding whether or not she should trust him.

"Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. She's quieting down." Lilly murmurs as she slowly begins to decrease her bouncing and pacing.

"I take it by the sight of the two of you; this little miss has not exactly been cooperative."

"Understatement of the year. And what do you mean by the sight of the two of you? Hidden insult much, Valens?"

"I'm just saying you guys look exhausted, you a bit more than her."

"You've got that right. She absolutely refuses to sleep at night. She cries or fusses most of the night and early morning hours. I've tried everything I can think of. She dozes off for about an hour or so around six am, but by the time I manage to close my eyes she's wide awake again. I don't know what to do. Nothing seems to work. I don't' know if it's something I'm doing or not doing… I don't know what I'm doing. What if she's sick?" She says a bit panicked and exasperated, her vibrant eyes wide with worry and fear.

"Shhh... Let me." Scotty says reaching, gently taking Alexia from her arms. Alexia's cries cease for a moment as she settles into Scotty's arms. She is silent as she peers at him curiously for a moment before beginning to whimper, on the verge of tears once again.

"Hey there," Scotty mummers to her softly. "Que paso, princessa? Porque lloras? No quieres dormer?" (translation: What's wrong, princess? Why are you crying? Don't' you want to sleep?)

Alexia's whimpering quiets a fraction of a bit as she studied him closely. He paces around the room murmuring to her quietly in a mix of English and Spanish. After a few minutes, her whimpering dies down and she lets out a reluctant yawn, rubbing a tiny fist across her face. Her eyelids begin to drop soon afterwards yet she fights sleep with every ounce of her tiny being, blink continuously. Before long, sleep wins the battle and her eyelids close slowly. She lets out a breath of relief as her eyes meet Scotty's. He continues to pace around the room for a few minutes to assure that Alexia was fast asleep before slowly walking over to the bassinet and lowering her into slowly. As he covers a sleeping Alexia with a thin blanket she asks, "How on earth did you do that?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I've had plenty of practice though. Nieces, nephews, younger cousins. Ma's family or friends or someone from my Dad's side of the family. There was almost always a baby in our house when I was growing up."

"I would've called you sooner if I had known you were the baby whisperer."

"Which pegs the question... Why didn't you call? I mean, I know you probably thought I wouldn't be much help, but I figured you'd at least call Kat."

"I don't know. I guess I just needed some time…" She sighs before saying, "Never mind." Her gaze flits to the various bags scattered by the front door and kitchen. "What's all this?" She asks walking over to the front door, towards the bags.

"Just some stuff I picked up at the store. I figured you'd need a few things."

"A few... Did you leave anything at the store?" She remarks teasingly as she reaches for a bag.

"It's not that much. You should've seen the size of the store. Two floors and I barely got through a handful of aisles."

Leaning the bag on top of the kitchen counter, she begins to rifle through the contents of the bag, pulling things out one by one. A purple stuffed bunny, a flannel pink blanket, a butterfly mobile, and a handful of toys. The next bag has two packs of diapers and a large pack of baby wipes. Looking over at him, she realizes he's emptied several bags on top of the counter. Several cans of formula, a couple jars of baby food, baby powder, several onesies, a handful of hair accessories, small burping cloths, a couple packs of washcloths, baby bottles, a handful of pacifiers... She looks over at him to realize he's not done yet. He's emptying out the contents of yet another bag, this one filled with groceries, which he begins to put away. Half a gallon of soy milk, a box of her favorite cereal, a handful of various fruits and vegetables, a couple of frozen meals. As he closes the refrigerator and begins to fold the paper grocery bags, he notices the glimmer in her eyes. Tears.

"Hey what's wrong?" He says worriedly, fighting the urge to rush over to her. She struggles to fight the tears away. Placing the bags on the counter, he makes his way towards her.

"Nothing. Nothing, it's stupid." She says hurriedly as he reaches her side, somehow managing to successfully blink back the flood of tears that threatened her eyes less than a minute ago. She gives him a small smile as she takes a quick swipe at her eyes with the side of her hand, wiping away the trace of any remaining tears. "I'm just tired, that's all."

He gives her a long contemplative look, as if he doesn't quite believe her yet, fortunately, doesn't push the issue.

"Thank you Scotty. I... We really appreciate it." She says softly as he lingers by her side. After a moment he reaches for her hand, gently entwining his fingers with hers, caressing her hand softly. His eyes search her face as she looks away. "Hey...," he says, as his other hand caresses the edge of her face. "We never did talk about the other night."

"There's nothing to talk about," she says, abruptly breaking free from his touch. Taking a few steps away she busies herself by beginning to empty the two remaining bags on top of the counter.

He walks over to her, noticing that she tenses up a bit at his proximity. He grips her arm gently as he says, "Hey…"

"You don't have to say anything Scotty. It happened. It was a one-time thing. It'll never happen again." She says as nonchalantly as possible, which isn't very convincing, since she can hear her own voice waver unsteadily.

"Is that what you think? It was a one-time thing?"

"Wasn't it?" She remarks accidentally looking over and meeting his gaze. Their eyes meet and she cannot make herself look away once she's caught in the trance of his warm reassuring eyes. She can feel her heart pounding as the dark pools of his eyes seemingly penetrate her soul. She longs to look away because she feels like she can't breathe yet at the same time, oddly enough, she feel completely calm.

"Lilly..." He says pausing as he runs his hand through his hair. She's noticed it's his tell, he runs his hand through his hair when he's frustrated or anxious. "The other night was... Amazing to say the least. Lil, I've dreamt … Of so many things but… the other night was better than anything I could have ever dreamt of, better than anything I could have imagined. You are better than anyone I could have imagined, certainly better than what I deserve. And what I really want to say to you, I can't because I don't want to rush into anything and it's too soon but I think you know what I want to say and I want you to know that this is not just a random emotion. I don't remember how or when it started, this way I feel about you. What I can say is that I want to give this... I want to give us a shot. What happens next is completely up to you but right now..." He says his voice drifting as he pauses to take a slightly unsteady breath," Right now I'm going to kiss you," he says as his hands tenderly caress her face before his lips softly overtake hers. His hands rest on her waist as she finds herself gripping the lapel of his suit as she kisses him back fiercely. Ever since that night, her lips have not stopped tingling and right now, kissing him back, she realizes, his kiss is far better than she remembers. Everything comes back in sudden flashes.

His jacket falls to the floor, followed by his dress shirt and her blouse.

Their remaining clothing, discarded over the floor carelessly.

Hands roaming

Skin to skin

Burning

Too fast

Not fast enough

Too close

Not close enough

His hands stroke her waist. She feels like she's burning. She is on fire and his hands are water, unbelievable relief. Suddenly reality breaks through and she pulls away abruptly. His eyes meet hers, her own desire reflected in his eyes. She wants nothing more than to be back in his arms, kissing him again. Yet at the same time she wants to run far, away as fast as she can and not look back. Before she can stop herself she finds herself saying "You should go."

"Lilly..."

"Scotty I'm giving you an out. Take it and run. This isn't what you want." She says quickly pulling her eyes away from the intensity of his.

His eyes smolder as he says, "Look me straight in the eyes and tell me you don't want me as much as I want you. Tell me that a few seconds ago you weren't kissing me back. Tell me that the other night in the motel meant absolutely nothing. Tell me you didn't feel anything at all, not even the slightest hint. Look me in the eyes and tell me that and... I'll walk away."

She lifts her gaze, fully prepared to meet his dare, to lie to him, but as her eyes meet his, the words disappear from her mouth. Before she knows it, her lips are on his again. She's not sure who kissed who first, but it seems like she kisses him. She doesn't really care. She loses track of the time. She doesn't know how long she and Scotty stand there, in the middle of the foyer, making out like a couple of teenagers but she knows she doesn't ever want to stop. Sometime later, when they finally come up for air, he gives her one more long lingering kiss before he says, "Let's go to bed."

"Presumptuous much, are we?" She says teasingly, trying to, unsuccessfully; contain the smile spreading across her face.

"I mean, you, we should go to sleep. It's late. As much as I would love to stay here…"He says stroking the side of her face, "We have to work tomorrow and it would look suspicious if we both showed up to work tomorrow, smiling and sleep deprived."

"I know. You're right." She says doing her best to act normal, yet she cannot stop smiling. She reaches for a nearby pillow which she sets on one end of the nearby couch.

"I can make my own bed Lil. You should go get some rest."

"What are you taking about? I'm sleeping on the couch to be near Alexia and you're going home."

"I'm sleeping on the couch to keep an eye on Alexia so you can have an uninterrupted night's sleep in your own bed."

"I..."

"There's no use arguing. I'm staying either way. Either we're both sleeping uncomfortably in the living room or I'm staying on the couch and you're going upstairs to your own bed, which, frankly, seems to make more sense to me."

She sighs brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, knowing that arguing is really no use. When Scotty gets something in his mind, nothing and no one will stop him or change his mind. All of a sudden she feels completely exhausted, as if the past week's events have finally begun to catch up with her. This time she's the one who initiates the kiss, which she intends to be a quick goodnight kiss, which if course turns out to be more than she intended. Part of her is determined to fight her exhaustion so she can stay here kissing Scotty all night. But a greater part of her is more overcome with exhaustion by the second. Finally she pulls away ever so slightly, for fear of falling asleep right there in his arms.

"I'll be upstairs if you need anything," she says softly just as she steps away and begins to head upstairs.

He smiles as he says, "On the other hand, your bed would probably be more comfortable than the couch."

"Nice try, Valens. Goodnight"

"Night Lil," he says as he watches her walk up the stairs before he sinks onto the couch trying to calm the intense pounding in his chest. She hasn't said 'no. But she also hasn't said "yes' yet. But she kissed him. There is hope. There is still hope. He lies down on the couch. The pillow smells like her hair. His dreams are filled with sweet nothings.

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