A quick note to thank everybody who followed this story over the last day. I was not expecting such a large response; it's great. Life's pretty straight without twisties.

It was a ritual that they had missed only twice since officially becoming exclusive. It helped her sleep, and Ryan would never admit it, but it made him feel warm and fuzzy; safe. It reminded him of home; and this was his home now. He was carving out a life for himself, they were starting a family. They sat, side by side, in bed, drinking their honey-milk.

"How was your day, baby?" Jenny asked.

"Not bad," Ryan said. "We caught the killer."

"Yeah, I saw on the news," Jenny said. "Was Ramone really the one who killed Charlie Reynolds? "

"I'm afraid so," Ryan said, sighing.

"Wow," Jenny said. "They always seemed so close on the show."

Ryan straightened in interest.
"How do you know that?"

"Because you made me watch the whole DVD box-set with you."

"Uh, hey, hey, I didn't make you watch anything. We had an agreement; we each get a list of things we can share with each other. I sat through Nebula Nine."

"When you weren't texting Rick about your shared pain."

"And that's why we implemented the 'No electronic devices except for my work pager' rule."

"Well, I remember Charlie and Ramone had chemistry."

"I thought you didn't like it."

"No, but I remember that."

"It's ok," Ryan said, his head down. "Even Charlie Reynolds didn't like it."

"Oh, Kevin," Jenny said, hugging him from behind, wrapping her arms around him as far as she could with her protruding belly between them. "It's not the show; I just saw it at the wrong time. If I had seen it when it first aired, I probably would have loved it. I was a massive fan of all the Saved by the Bells plus Malibu."

"Malibu?"

"Oh, Kevin, don't tell me you haven't seen Malibu?"

"Ok. I won't."

She laughed.
"That's going on the list."

"Fine, but remember, you're behind. You still haven't seen the hobbit."

"Yeah, I'll wait until they all come out and I'll watch them together."

"Really? It nearly killed you when you tried it with the trilogy."

"But it worked. I loved it. Smeagol's awesome."

Ryan smiled.
"Is our child going to grow up being exposed to all our crap?"

'"I grew up listening to my father's records; you were taught to crochet by your grandmother; it's the circle of life. This child is ours. Part you, part me, part who the hell knows. It's our job to raise him or her our way. Teach our kid what we know. He or she will decide what parts to hold onto and what parts to ignore at the appropriate age. "

He turned to face her.
"You're going to make an amazing Mom."

"And you're going to make an awesome Dad."

"Well, I don't know about that," he said, his hands on her stomach, "but I do know that I am going to love the hell out of this kid."

Jenny smiled, covering his fingers with her own and kissing him.

"I love you, Mr. Ryan."

"I love you, Mrs. Ryan." He planted a kiss on her belly. "And I love you, too, Pineten."

At that moment, the baby kicked.

They both gasped and smiled.

"I think Pineten's saying goodnight," Jenny said.

"Sweet dreams, little one," Ryan said, turning out the light.

Jenny was already on her side. He spooned her from behind, his hands resting lightly but protectively over her stomach as the little family drifted off to sleep together.