Thanks for your reviews on the first part. I'm glad you all enjoyed it! Here's the second and final part, just in time for Christmas. Have a good one :)

Part 2

He woke the next morning to the prodding of a tiny set of fingers. He groaned. His head was pounding and he wanted to sleep for another few hours, but otherwise he felt alright.

"Up!" Aaron yelled and broke into giggles, climbing up and onto the bed with help from Kate. "Daddy up! Chwistmas!"

The sound of Aaron calling him 'daddy' startled him awake, but Kate didn't seem to find this out of the ordinary. He'd gotten used to the idea when he lived with the two, but the thought that even after months the little boy still thought of him as his father was surprising.

"I made him wait until 7:30," she said with a wince and a knowing smile, sitting down next to him on an empty spot of the bed.

Kate seemed unsure of how to handle herself- after all, it'd been quite some time since they'd all been together like this. Jack had visited a few times, but was treated more like a guest, and both he and Kate were sure Aaron had been able to pick up on the tension between them.

"Hey buddy," Jack said, letting the little boy climb all over him, then wrapped his arms around him for a brief hug. Aaron eventually settled on his chest.

"Presents!" he shrieked, then began to bounce up and down. "Presents!" He beat his fists on Jack's chest.

He shot a look to Kate that said help! and sat up, finding out that a three year old was just as good of a cure for a hangover as anything else he'd tried.

Kate laughed and pulled the squirming child from Jack's chest. She watched him rise slowly from the bed and stretch. It wasn't hard to see that he didn't know what to do with himself. This hadn't been his home for months.

She had been mulling over her decision to bring Jack home with her last night for the past few hours, waking early in the morning, even before an excited Aaron had come to rouse her out of bed. She had watched Jack sleeping so soundly next to her and thought that there was absolutely no reason to trust that he was serious about recovering, or that she hadn't just hurt herself and Aaron even more if he decided to take off again.

But maybe it was this unyielding faith- some would call it stupidity- that kept bringing them back together. Maybe they were meant to be, but were supposed to fight like hell to get there.

Aaron tore down the hallway and the stairs, but not before each of them had yelled out a warning of "Careful!"

She pushed Jack into the bathroom jokingly, grabbing him a clean washcloth from the linen closet and a spare toothbrush.

"You look like hell," she deadpanned, leaning against the bathroom wall and meeting his irritated, yet amused glance in the mirror.

He ran the water cold and splashed his face with it, hoping that it would help him wake up. He was sure that he'd never reach the level of excitement that Aaron currently had, but figured that it was reserved for those under the age of ten anyway.

"So," Kate started, surveying his appearance. Maybe she wanted too badly to see it, but she thought some traces of the old Jack were beginning to peak through. She loved the way his hair was mussed in the morning before he took a shower, when his guard was down most, and the boyish grin she'd grown so used to waking up next to every day.

"I don't have anything for him," Jack said. "His presents are at my place."

"He'll understand," Kate offered. "Besides, he won't notice that anything's missing now that you're here."

He smiled. It was nice to hear that he was missed. "I guess I'll give them to him a little later. Let him get this excited for two days in a row."

Jack grabbed the toothpaste from the counter and squirted some on the loaned brush, ridding his mouth of last night's liquor.

"I don't want to get into this too much, Jack, because it's Christmas and all," Kate started, watching him brush his teeth, thankful that she couldn't be interrupted, "but there are certain things that I expect from you if you're going to be around here and if you want to be part of this family again."

Jack hadn't expected to be forgiven so easily, and definitely hadn't thought he would be welcomed back into Kate's home so quickly. After all he'd done…

He spit the toothpaste out and wiped his mouth, thinking back to the night before, trying to get past the haze of it all.

"I don't know exactly what I said to you last night… but I really want to turn this around," he stressed. "And I'm sick of being reminded every day how miserable I am without you, so I'll do whatever you want me to do," he said, turning around and taking a step towards her. "I want this to work."

Kate raised her eyebrows at him, surprised at the ease of his words. "You'll even get some help?"

Though he didn't look happy about it, Jack sighed and nodded, imagining wasting his money sitting on a couch and talking to a shrink, or the AA meetings Kate would make him attend. "If you think that's what I need, then yes."

She smiled, suddenly elated that they were together on Christmas and things were looking up, that maybe this time would be different. He took a step towards her and settled his hands on her hips, testing it out. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him against her, standing on her tiptoes and breathing him in.

This was what he had missed, yet had tried so desperately to forget.

She pulled back and held his face in her hands, for what at first Jack thought was going to be sympathy. He was so tired of seeing that. No one should feel bad for him when he was the one who caused it all. He did it to himself.

Instead she kissed him, and properly, tasting the mint on his breath. But everything else- his soft lips, the scratch of stubble against her skin, his smell- was so Jack. She held his lips against hers for a long while, and then released him, rubbing her hands up and down his arms.

"What was that for?" Jack asked, a blush creeping to his cheeks.

She smiled coyly at him. "For coming back."

He leaned down and kissed her this time, deepening it and surprising her, tempted to take it further than time would allow them with a crazy three year old running around the house.

"What was that for?" she asked once he'd pulled away, her breath intensified and her cheeks rosy.

Jack leaned his forehead against hers and laced their hands together between them, more sure than ever that they were doing the right thing, that this time he wouldn't throw it all away.

"For bringing me back."

Their moment was interrupted by a loud crash below them. Kate sighed and rolled her eyes, and they made their way downstairs to see what the destruction had amounted to. She wanted to be mad when they found Aaron downstairs having already unwrapped a few of his gifts, but figured they'd kept him waiting so long that she should've expected it.

She saw him playing with the fire truck she'd picked out for him.

"Does he like trucks now?" Jack asked, watching the child run the truck all over the rug in the living room, wanting to cover his ears when he ran off the rug and onto the hardwood floor, the sound echoing through the room and encouraging his pounding headache.

"He likes anything that has an engine," Kate said with another roll of her eyes, grabbing the bottle of ibuprofen from the kitchen cabinet and handing a few to Jack.

Jack accepted the glass of water and swallowed the pills. "Well he won't be growing out of that anytime soon," he laughed.

"He's all boy, that's for sure," Kate agreed, sometimes wishing she had a little girl of her own just so she could buy girly toys and decorate a room in pink.

Satisfied that Aaron was busy and entertained with his new truck and wouldn't request to open any more gifts for another few minutes, Kate made breakfast and brewed coffee, immersed in how settled she felt now that Jack was back, even if there was a lot to talk about and a lot to rehash.

She laughed when Jack practically inhaled his breakfast and proceeded to raid the fridge; all of the alcohol he'd consumed the night before had left him with a stomach begging for food.

"Oh God," he groaned when he finished, but moved quickly on his feet and snatched her by the waist, pulling her to him and eliciting a yelp of surprise. He buried his head in her neck playfully, pressing a lingering kiss there and tickling her with his scratchy stubble.

She giggled as he continued to rub his face against her neck and collarbone, as his hand sneaked underneath the hem of her shirt and inched slightly upward, tickling the skin there, and Jack relished in the fact of how carefree she was in the moment, how her face lit up and her smile stretched wide. He could still make her happy.

"I love you," he breathed into her, pecking her on the lips and hugging her to him again. He had to make up for lost time, if that was even possible.

"I know," she whispered, trying to hold in her laughter. "I love you too."

They heard the unmistakable sound of paper tearing and yelled at Aaron to wait for them. He looked up with a guilty grin when they entered the room; Kate would've been mad if he hadn't managed to make it look so adorable.

"Which one do you want to open next?" Jack asked him, lowering himself to the floor where he could reach the presents tucked neatly beneath the tree.

Aaron pointed to a box wrapped in sparkling green paper and tied with a big red bow. Jack picked it up and read the label.

To Aaron

From Daddy

The little boy couldn't have noticed who it was from at the rate he tore the paper apart, and because he couldn't read, but Jack glanced at Kate, who had joined them on the floor.

"Cool!" Aaron exclaimed as he revealed a box of legos with a picture depicting an island with a large volcano perched on it, palm trees included. The lego people were dressed in as tattered of clothing as the plastic allowed.

Besides the fact that the gift was full of incredible irony, Jack was touched. Kate hadn't been actively seeking to make Aaron forget him as she had every right to do. If anything, she'd encouraged his presence in their lives even when he wasn't even there to deserve it.

The legos were soon dumped across the floor, and Jack could picture himself finding one of the sharp little pieces by stepping on it.

"That's from your daddy," she told Aaron, setting her hand on top of Jack's and meeting his eyes. "What do you say?" Kate warned him.

Aaron tore his attention away from his new toys for long enough to say "tanks daddy," then resumed play.

Soon they'd finished watching Aaron open his gifts, and after a few hours he'd exhausted himself enough to fall asleep face down on the carpet, still clutching a recently acquired matchbox car in his tiny fist.

"He's changed a lot," Jack said, sad that he'd missed some formative months in the child's life. He could see a personality peaking through, his vocabulary expanding, and somehow he'd missed most of the road there.

The fact that Jack regretted the decisions he'd made wasn't news to Kate, but she wouldn't allow him to wallow in his guilt so much that he would miss out on new opportunities.

"He has," she agreed, then changing her tone to more serious, "you have too."

"I hope so."

It was natural, at least Kate thought, for him to have some doubts. Addiction was often a long and tough battle, but she was certain Jack knew the consequences, and that his life was much better when it included her and Aaron. Her life, without question, was better with him in it.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything for you," he said seriously, opening his arms when she crawled toward him on the couch and settled against his front, resting her head on his chest. "I didn't think you'd take it, to be honest," he laughed quietly.

"I don't need anything more," she said sweetly, turning slightly to look up at him. "You're enough."

"But I don't have anything for you either," she admitted. "So it's fair." She turned in his arms and laid her chin on the center of his chest, wrapping her arms behind him.

Despite her claim, in the past few months hardly anything had been fair for her. There was nothing he could say to tell her how thankful he was for a second chance when he'd screwed up so badly the first time.

"That's okay," he assured her, leaning forward to brush the stray hair from her cheek, kissing her softly. He motioned to the sleeping Aaron on the floor near the tree. "The two of you are plenty."