6 Months Later

"Look Henry, you know I don't want to be the bad guy." Kim knelt down in front of the young boy, a T-shirt held firmly in her hands. She levelled her gaze at him, her eyes a mixture of determination and weariness. "Please let me put your shirt on."

"No!" Henry yelled out, his little fists curled up by his sides in anger. "No!"

"Henry-"

"No!" He yelled once more, running off onto the landing, leaving Kim to drop her head, sighing heavily. She stood up with some effort and followed the footsteps down the stairs, the shirt now hanging limply in her hand. As she turned the corner, she found Kerry leaning heavily on her crutch, staring at the small figure huddled behind the curtain.

"Henry, come out this second." She ordered, her tone soft and even.

"No!" Was the only reply and the small body behind the curtain dropped to the floor, now sitting. "I don't like her."

"At least that solved the problem," Kim spoke from behind Kerry, startling the smaller woman. She folded her arms, her eyes now looking at the floor, trying to cover her emotions. "You know what I'll just leave you two to talk this out." She laid the shirt on the back of the sofa, making her way out of the room and towards the kitchen. Kerry watched her girlfriend walk away and knew that this must be hard on her.

"Henry Lopez-Weaver get out from behind that curtain right this second." Her voice became deeper, angrier and it wasn't long before a small head poked out of the side, his eyes wide. "Out. Now."

He stepped out, shuffling his feet as he moved towards his mother, who knelt down in front of him with great difficulty. He continued to look down, his face a mixture of sadness and anger. Kerry reached forward and lifted his chin up, forcing him to meet her eyes.

"What is going on huh?" She asked, dropping the crutch and pulling her son closer so he sat on her lap. "I thought you liked Kim."

Henry remained silent, still pouting. Kerry sighed heavily, bringing a hand up to rub her eyes. She didn't know how many more times she could keep having this conversation with the child.

"I don't like it when she picks out my shirts." Henry finally relented, turning to face his mother.

"But Kim bought it for you, remember you liked it in the store." Kerry asked, her tone light, trying to remind her son of the fun day they had all had out together.

"I don't want her to put my shirt on. You do it."

"Look Henry, you know Kim is living with us, well why can't we let her help out with our routine. It could be fun." Kerry smiled, hoping to illicit one from her son, who sat in thought for a moment, perhaps pondering the 'fun'.

"Like a game?" Henry asked, his interest evident.

"Well perhaps when you let Kim help you with things you and I usually do together, you could get treats." Bribery, Kerry chastised herself, that's what the Chief of ER at County Cook General had resorted too.

Henry considered this for a moment, jumping up all of a sudden and surprising Kerry. "I like treats." Which was as much an agreement as she was going to get from her 3 and a half year old son.

"Well that's a deal then yeah?" Kerry smiled, hugging her son close to her for a moment before giving him his first task. "Why don't you go and say sorry for upsetting Kim?"

"Ok!" He pulled himself away from Kerry, his small legs propelling him towards the kitchen. Using her crutch, she managed to pull herself up to her feet, before following her son through to the other room.

When she walked in she found Kim on the floor hugging Henry who held her tight around the neck. "I'm sorry." Henry apologised, smiling at the blonde woman who ruffled his hair playfully, standing up.

"It's fine Henry, do you want me to put your shirt on for you? Do you want to go and get it?"

"Ok." Henry left the room once more, peeking around the corners before proceeding as if hunting the elusive shirt.

Kim fixed Kerry with a steady gaze, arms across her chest once more. Kerry knew this could only mean one thing, that she had heard the pair talking in the living room, and she quickly stepped on the defensive. "I'm really trying Kim I didn't know what else to do."

"But bribery Kerry? Really? If he doesn't like me then…"

"Kim he does, he's just having a hard time adjusting. You're the first person to have come into our lives like this and he's not used to it. He's just a little jealous." Kerry stepped towards the taller woman, looking up into her blue eyes. "He's not used to having to share me with anyone."

Standing firm, her arms still crossed, Kim felt Kerry pull her head down, pecking her lips gently, her eyes searching for a reply.

Kim knew this is what she had partly expected. In her career she had gotten on with the majority of the children she had worked with from young toddlers to older teenagers. A part of her had thought that she could just step into the mother and son's lives and play the 'surrogate' mum whereas in reality, she knew it would take longer to be accepted as that.

"Well I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into. Child psychology is not that easy." Kim chided, moving away from the red head, smiling, her mood suddenly turned.

"I learnt from the best didn't I?"

"Oh no way! I'm not taking responsibility for what is about to happen." Kim laughed, raising her eyebrows as Henry appeared around the side of the door, brandishing his shirt proudly. "Hey Henry, bring it on over here then." With no reluctance this time, Henry passed over the garment and raised his arms above his head, a broad grin on his face.

Kim pulled the shirt over his head, causing a giggle from the child. "Don't you look handsome!" Kim exclaimed, patting his head as he dashed off towards Kerry, beckoning her down towards him. She leant down awkwardly and looked at her son who appeared eager to say something.

"Where's my treats?"

Kerry looked up at Kim who tried to stifle a laugh. Looking back at her son, Kerry forced a smile, "How about I get you something when we go out today?"

"Ok, I'll wait." Henry trudged off towards the living room once more, leaving Kim to look at her girlfriend with a raised eyebrow.

"I hope you can afford all this Ker." Was all she said, her lips beginning to break out into a smile.

"Ok, I get it, I shouldn't have gone with bribery." Kerry sighed, slumping heavily against the worktop but a smile now brightening up her features. "What was I thinking?"

Kim stepped closer, wrapping her arms around Kerry who rested her head on the tall woman chest. "You were thinking you wanted to make me more comfortable here and I appreciate it. I really do but he's going to have to learn to like me he's own way honey. We can't force it."

"I know," Kerry mumbled into her shoulder, repositioning herself so she could look up into the blue eyes above. "I just want us all to be happy."

"And we are," Kim shot back, brushing hair out of Kerry's face. "It'll just take some time and we've got plenty of that."

"I suppose." Kerry finally conceded, stepping away from the blonde, "Anyway I was thinking that perhaps you could lead today, you and Henry together. Decide where we go, what we do."

Thinking for a moment, Kim appraised the woman in front of her. "How about shopping-"

"Must we-"

"For toys!" Kim exclaimed, waiting for the sound of feet that were bound to arrive at the mere mention of the word, and she was not disappointed.

"Toys!" Henry wailed too, his face lit up and his body jumping excitedly as he looked from woman to woman.

"So no bribery huh…" Kerry mentioned playfully as she watched Kim pick up Henry in her arms.

"It's not bribery, he's going to outgrow his ones soon, we might as well stock up huh?" She addressed the last part to the boy who was beginning to bounce around rhythmically in her arms. "Shall we go?"

"Yes!" Henry wailed again, clapping his hands, his eyes seeking acceptance from his mum who remained quiet.

"Okay, toys it is." She smiled, kissing her son gently and then Kim, who grinned at the thought of the three of them wandering around a toy shop for the best part of a day. "Am I going to need to put more comfortable shoes on?" She asked quickly, looking down at the small heels she now wore.

"Only if you want to keep up with the big kids Ker." Kim winked, making her way towards the door. "I'll get Henry in his seat, we'll meet you by the car okay."

Kerry sighed as the two left the house, Henry chatting away to Kim who she could hear laughing. The sound made her smile but it came at a huge price. Kim, a credit card and a child. What had she done.