Disclaimer: Still not mine, y'all.

A/n: Thank you, thank you for reviewing! You guys are awesome! Last chapter of this one. Enjoy!

Balance

A story by Ryeloza

Lynette was in the shower when she heard the bathroom door open and shut. Instinctively, she rolled her eyes (Tom had been gone for nearly two hours), but the truth was that most of her anger had faded soon after he'd stormed out. She knew that she had pushed him too far. Tom didn't lose his temper often, and for some reason that usually made it easier to forgive him when he said something hurtful. Like being doused with cold water—a wake-up that she had gone too far herself. Truthfully, she felt worse about what she'd said to him, and maybe that was why she and Tom worked. Because she already knew that he felt terrible about what he'd said to her too.

She turned off the water, pulling open the shower curtain and wiping the water from her eyes. From where he sat, Tom glanced over at her and gave her an apologetic smile that she shyly returned. After a moment, he stood and handed her a towel.

"Thanks." She began to dry off, purposely not meeting his eyes. Tentativeness still hung in the air between them; if they didn't tread carefully they could still make everything worse. "Where'd you go?" she asked in a deceptively neutral tone.

"On a walk with my mom."

She looked over, surprised. "You were gone for two hours."

"We had a lot to talk about." Tom shrugged. Slowly, his eyes drifted down her body, and Lynette deliberately wrapped the towel around herself. They weren't going there—at least not yet. Sheepishly, he reached out a hand and she accepted his help stepping out of the tub. "I told her that she can't treat Penny differently than the boys. That we want them to grow up independent and self-sufficient."

Guilt twisted in her gut, and she nodded. She was grateful and relieved, but mostly she regretted what she'd said in the heat of the moment. It wasn't something she could just let go as if she'd never said it. "You know I didn't mean—When I said I didn't want our kids to turn out like you that's not what I meant."

"I know."

"No, Tom. Really." She put a hand on his forearm, gazing at him imploringly. "All I meant is that I want them to be better than us. Trust me, I don't want them to turn out like me either."

"Lynette—"

She frowned, frustrated by her inability to say this right. What she felt wasn't translating into words. "You have to understand," she said. "I already see so many of your best qualities in our kids. Parker has your sense of humor, and Porter gets so much of his creativity from you, and Penny has your big heart, and Preston—"

"Is exactly like you." Tom reached out, fiddling with a lock of her sopping hair. "Lynette, you don't have to explain. I know what you meant even if it came out really, really wrong."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have lost my temper. And I should have talked to you before I invited my mom here."

"That would have been nice." She couldn't quite keep the tinge of bitterness out of her voice, and Tom gave her a wry smile. Reluctantly, she added, "But I think she should stay."

"Yeah?"

"Sure." She shrugged. "At least family will forgive me when I stick my foot in my mouth."

He leaned down, kissing her firmly, but she pulled away before it could get too heated. "Thank you," he said. "I'm just a little worried about her, you know. Since my dad left, she's been really lonely."

Lynette flinched just slightly. Speaking of things she regretted saying. Allison and Rodney had been divorced for nearly five years now, but Lynette had the eerie suspicion that Allison still expected him to come to his senses and return home. She couldn't understand it; she couldn't puzzle out how after years of infidelity and betrayal, Allison still wanted him back. She wasn't even particularly sure that Allison actually missed Rodney so much as the companionship. Maybe, if nothing else, staying with them now would help her move past all of that. Lynette thought that if she could just regard it that way, perhaps she would be able to ignore their obvious differences.

It was worth a shot anyway.

Ignorant to her thoughts, Tom began to fiddle with her towel, taking advantage of her distractedness to undo the knot. By the time she realized what he was doing and tried to back away, Tom had a firm hold of her bare hips and pulled her back toward him. "Have we made up now?" he asked, dripping his head to gently kiss her neck.

"I think so."

"Good."

"But I have to finish getting ready. I'm going out tonight."

Tom's nose grazed her neck as his leg nudged its way between hers. The stark difference in their state of undress struck her as unfair—he definitely had the advantage. "Hmm?" he hummed. "Where?"

"Bar. Emma's performing tonight. The whole neighborhood's going."

"Does that include your sexy and charming husband?"

Lynette smiled. "Only if he manages to keep it in his pants."

Tom laughed, the sound reverberating into her skin and making her giggle. She wasn't going to lie; she liked make up sex as much as the next person. But there was a time and a place…

Tom kissed his way back up to her mouth and captured her lips again for a moment before he murmured, "These things always start late anyway."

"Mmm," she moaned. "Okay. Fine. You win."

"We both win."

Yes, thought Lynette. We certainly do.