TITLE: Controlled Crash

CHAPTER: Epilogue

"Stop! What are you doing?"

"The laundry?"

"Do you even know how to sort clothes?"

Kay dropped the load of whites and blue jeans and uniform shirts on the floor in exasperation with an exaggerated sigh. Just one more thing he apparently didn't know how to do. First, it was the dishes. Was it his fault he'd never learn to load a dishwasher? Then he left his clothes on the bathroom floor for the tenth time. Apparently Marc kept count. Now, it was the laundry.

"I'm doing it again aren't I?" Marc reached for Kay and gave him a quick teasing kiss on the lips. "Let me show you. If you…"

"No, let me show you." Kay took Marc's face in his hands and kissed him hard and quick. Foreheads together, Marc leaned into that smile, letting his frustration dissipate to enjoy the slide of the other man's arms around his waist, the clean masculine scent of him and the taste of him on his lips. Fuck the laundry. Marc pushed him against the small washer and dryer with his body so they touched lips to feet. Desire heated the space between them until Kay pulled Marc's hips toward his to share the growing need. Marc grinned and returned the kiss without the usual reservation or fear. They were past that now, both healthy and committed to each other. The home they made for themselves in a spacious apartment, a safe and comfortable space. Bettina and Marc shared custody of their son, so their routine run through the woods was often accompanied with his son in a stroller.

"Marc, look." Kay turned Marc's head toward the living room. In the center of the room was his son's playpen. With his brow creased in concentration, with sure hands and a steady pull his son was suddenly standing on his own two feet for the first time. Then he looked up to see Marc and Kay grinning at him. He grinned back, laughing with delight at his accomplishment. When he let go of the sides to clap his small hands together he fell on his butt with a thump. A frown replaced the grin, and before he could release his frustration, his father scooped him up and gave him a kiss.

"Good job!" His father said, hugging his son.

Kay stepped forward and slid his arms around Marc with the child between them. While his son giggled at all the attention, Kay kissed Marc's cheek.

"Thank you for this."

Marc shook his head, "Thank you for never giving up on me."

"Then we're even," Kay responded with a grin.

"Not even close."

"Well, you could make it up to me tonight." Kay's smile turned mischievous. "I am getting a little bored with clean sheets, it's off-putting, you know? Maybe we could... in the bathroom for old time's sake?"

"If you get the laundry done without turning our underwear Polizei blue I'll grant your wish."

Kay began to sort the laundry enthusiastically. From the kitchen where he was feeding his son, Marc shouted, "I love you!"

"I love you, too Officer Borgmann," he said softly. Wondering if he'd ever felt happier in his life sorting laundry and listening to Marc's voice speaking to his son and the happy sounds of the little boy echoing through the apartment.

~das Ende~