"You know, the only downside to this car," Joey smiled at Pacey over the hood of the Viper, "Is that it's way too small for sex. It's a travesty."

He smirked, "We could always have sex on the car."

Her eyes flitted to the hood of the car, "Good point. But unfortunately, I'm not into voyeurism. It's bad enough that you see me naked."

He smiled, "I don't see how that is bad. That's one of my favorite things you let me do."

"Not one of my favorite things," she told him. "But you naked...I love that."

He smiled, "We can go do the naked thing now, if you want."

"Um, are you forgetting something?" She nodded pointedly to the car seat still sitting in back.

He looked at Hope, "I suppose you're right. She does present a problem in the getting naked area doesn�t she?"

"She doesn't like to share you," Joey smiled softly as she bent her head into the car and unstrapped the baby. "Right, Hope? You want Daddy all to yourself."

"Well, she has to share."

"You try explaining that to her," Joey said, smiling down at the baby.

He smiled, "I will."

Joey laughed, and closed the door. "You wanna see Daddy?"

"Dadda."

"Okay, Pace," Joey handed him the baby, "Here's your chance."

"Here's my chance? Not a lot of time to think of a speech."

Joey smiled, "She's barely seven months old, she wont understand a word of what you say."

He shook his head, "She understands more than you give her credit for. She understands Daddy. And Mommy."

"She understands Daddy." Joey corrected, "I still think you're pulling my leg with the Mommy."

He shook his head, "I've heard it a dozen times now. She's just messing with you."

"I wonder who she got that from?" Joey teased.

"Oh, she is so my daughter in that respect. Her stubbornness is from both of us."

"Before we know it, she'll have mastered the Queens English and still wont say Mama."

He smiled at Joey, "Nope, she'll surprise you with it."

"I'm having my doubts."

Pacey kissed the top of Hope's head, "Well, have Hope," he said with a wink in her direction.

She groaned, "I'd wondered when you were going to do that."

He chuckled, "I'm that predictable."

"I'm very proud of you, you lasted months longer than I'd thought." She unlocked the front door and led him inside.

He smiled at the baby in his arms, "Mommy is being mean."

"I am not mean. No wonder she wont say my name with the way you talk about me." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and soft smile.

He tilted his head and looked at her, "I usually have nothing but glowing things to say about you."

"And mean is a compliment?" She asked, amusement in her eyes.

"Key word in that sentence was 'usually'."

She grinned, "Love you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know.�

"Thank you for dinner, by the way. It was nice to go out to eat. I'd forgotten what a date was like."

He smiled, "It was no problem. You deserved it."

"And you didn't?"

He shrugged, "I guess I did."

"You more than did." She corrected, dropping her purse on the end table.

Pacey sat on the couch and propped Hope up on his lap, "You know, you're going to be walking before we know it."

"Pace, she hasn't mastered crawling yet." Joey smiled, kicking off her shoes and curling up beside him on the couch. �The closest she's gotten is her hands and knees and the rocking back and forth."

"But she's so cute bobbing back and forth. Like she's a rocket ready to take off, but doesn't quite get there yet."

"I know, it's the most adorable thing ever." Joey took Hope's hand and swung it back and forth. "You're gonna wow us, aren't you? And take off out of nowhere."

Pacey smiled at the baby, "Say 'That's right Mommy.'"

"Mama."

Joey's widened, "Oh my God. Did she just say...?"

Pacey smiled, "She said it. I told you she could say it."

"Are you sure I didn't imagine it?" she smiled down at the baby. "Say it again for me, sweetheart. Say 'Mama'."

"She said it Joey. I promise you, she said it."

She felt stupid for the tears that stung her eyes, "Come here, baby."

Pacey handed Hope to Joey and smiled at the look on her face, "Made your month, didn't it?"

"Made my life," she whispered, looking down at her daughter with a wide smile.

"Mama." Hope repeated, "Mama, Mama, Mama."

Pacey smiled, "Now you know you heard it, right?"

She giggled tearfully, "Yeah."

Pacey kissed the top of Joey's head as she rested her head on his shoulder. "She's gotten better about not growling when I kiss you."

"She does growl, doesn't she?" Joey asked with amusement.

He nodded, "Yeah. She doesn't like people invading her territory."

"He was my territory first, little one." She told her daughter, still grinning.

He smirked, "Yeah...so be nice to your Mama."

"Mama!" Hope repeated.

"See...once she starts, she'll never stop."

"I don't want her to stop." Joey brushed a kiss over Hope's head, "If Dadda and Mama are the only words she says the rest of her life, I'll be happy."

Pacey raised an eyebrow, "I don't know about that. I want her to learn the sentence, 'If you touch me, my Daddy will kill you'."

"Ooh, that one does have some merit."

"Yeah. And then there's 'I have the best parents in the world'. That one could come in handy too."

"Cocky much?"

"You wouldn't want her to say that?"

"Well, maybe once or twice."

Pacey smiled, "I knew it."

"Come here," she grabbed his tie and pulled his face towards hers, giving him a sweet kiss.

His hand moved to cup her face as he deepened the kiss. Hope made a high pitch squealing noise, and Pacey pulled away from Joey and looked at the baby, "You are way too possessive for your own good."

"Why can't she have a security blanket or something?" Joey pouted, "Why does she need a security you?"

Pacey smiled, "Everyone needs a security me."

"Who'd have thought I'd be jealous of my own daughter?"

He shook his head, "You shouldn't be."

"I can't even kiss you in front of her," Joey pointed out. "Which, I wont complain about, since for so long I thought I'd never have a baby."

"Yeah, so it's actually a blessing."

"I still wish she didn't cry when we kiss."

"Well, she'll grow out of it."

"Maybe she thinks you're trying to eat me," she said conversationally.

He smiled, "Well, that's not what it looks like."

"I know she's advanced for her age, but I don't think she understands kissing as a means of expressing affection just yet."

"Oh, really? She understands it when I kiss her on the head."

"Nope," Joey shot him a grin, "She's just glad you're not trying to eat her."

He rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

Smiling, Joey tickled Hope's tummy. "Are you gonna make Mommy really happy and go to bed?"

Hope giggled and Pacey looked at Joey, "I guess that's your answer."

"Figures," Joey sighed and leaned against him. "Oh well."

"After I get Hope to sleep, I'm gonna to put her Mommy to bed too."

"You gonna sing me a lullaby too?"

Pacey smiles, "I have other ways of getting you to sleep. Tiring you out seems to be a favorite," he said taking Hope from her and stood. He smiled over at Joey, "I'm sure you can think of ways I can do that."

"I seem to remember you being the one who gets tired." She frowned teasingly at him as she stood up. "I'm not entirely sure that you were still awake when your head finally hit the pillow last night."

He smiled, "Why don't we just try that out tonight? Let me prove myself to you."

She gave him a lingering kiss until Hope began whimpering, "Hush, sweetheart." She told the baby and them smiled up at Pacey, "You've proven just about all you can prove, Pace."

He raised an eyebrow, "You think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

�Okay. We'll see."

"Go try and put her to sleep. I have a feeling it'll take you a while." She patted his ass, "I'm going to go take a bath."

He sucked air in through his teeth, "You just had to do that didn't you?" he asked as he watched her walk down the hallway.

"I wanted to give you something to think about," She called over her shoulder, a slight sway to her hips as she preceded him down the hall.

He sighed, "I didn't need to think about it while I'm trying to put our daughter to sleep."

"You're talking too much." She teased, pulling down the zipper of her dress and turning into the bathroom.

He nodded, "Okay. Go take your bath."

"Mama!" Hope shrieked.

"Yeah...Mama is gonna be the death of Daddy."

"Mama, mama, mama!"

"Yeah...I know. Mama."

Her blue eyes started to fill with tears, "Mama."

"Aw, don't cry baby."

"Dadda." She started to cry, little baby tears clinging to her lashes. "Mama."

Pacey put her on his lap to look at him as he set in the rocking chair, "What's the matter, baby? Huh?"

"Mama," she wailed, looking distrustfully up at her father.

He rubbed her head, "Did I do something wrong, baby?" He hugged her to him, "You always like going to sleep for me."

She squirmed, kicking her legs and gripping his shirt in one fist as he cries escalated in volume.

Pacey looked at the door, "Joey!"

"Pacey!" She called back, from the bathroom.

"Joey, come here."

She sighed, already halfway in the tub, bubbles gathered around her waist. Gripping the edges of the tub, she was about to stand up, but thought better of it. "Bring her in here!"

Pacey stood and walked out of the nursery and into the bathroom, "She won't stop crying."

"Is she wet?" She asked, looking at Hope's red face, and Pacey's helpless looking one.

"Mama!" She held out her hands for Joey.

"No. She wants you. All she can say is Mama."

"For once," Joey smiled faintly. "Okay, so give her to me."

Pacey looked at Joey, "You�re in the bathtub."

She nodded, "I'm aware. Take off her diaper and she'll have a bath with me."

Pacey removed Hope's diaper as he closed the lid of the toilet. He handed Hope to Joey and the baby splashed water, "She loves her baths."

Joey settled Hope on her lap and wiped at the tear stains on her face, "Much better, huh, baby?" She quickly became enthralled by the bubbles.

"See...she doesn't love me more than you."

"This only proves that she wasn't ready for bed, is all." Joey replied, smiling at the baby and moving bubbles across the water for her to play with.

"Oh please, her Mama, Mama, Mama doesn't say much of anything."

A smile curved the corner of her mouth, "Okay, so maybe she loves me just as much."

Pacey smiled, "Yeah."

Joey frowned a little, "You don't think the water's too hot for her?"

Pacey shook his head, "No. She seems to be enjoying it."

Hope slapped her hand down on a pile of bubbles and giggled. "What do you say Hope, think there's room for Daddy in here?"

Pacey shook his head, "No. That takes it a little too far. I'll just sit here."

She smiled at him, "I love you, ya know."

"I do, and I love you too."

She tucked her hair behind her ear, one hand holding Hope above water as the baby played. "Well, since we're both in such a good mood, I figure I might as well take the opportunity to ruin it."

"Okay."

"I talked to a lawyer today."

"About what?"

�Getting a divorce."

"Okay..." he said looking at her.

"It's going to take a while to get the papers written up, and we'll need to discuss joint custody and all that." She finally looked up to meet his eyes, "But I think you deserved to know that I'm starting the process."

He lowered his head, "We...won't be living together anymore, will we?"

"I thought that would be best..." she said unsurely.

He sighed, "I like living with you."

"We kinda just jumped into this head first, Pace." She swallowed, "And it's been, for the most part, amazing...and I just, I feel like it all happened so fast. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Why? I mean, let's try to be happy, okay?"

"I am happy with you," she insisted. "I just...I want to do this right."

He sighed and shook his head, "Fine."

"I think we should go slow," she said softly, sighing as Hope quieted, leaning her head on Joey's damp shoulder and listened to her parents talk. "I want to be sure this is genuine, and not just a product of forced proximity."

He nodded, "Okay. You're right, we should go slow." She looked sadly down at the water, the bubbles were starting to dissolve. "Look...Joey...I told you before, I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to be with you. Even if that means getting this...divorce."

"I don't...I don't know what to do, Pacey. I really don't."

"Well, what do you want, Joey?"

She caressed Hope's back as she sucked her thumb. "Something I'm too scared to actually have."

"What? Just tell me what you want."

"I want you.. To be with you, and Hope and maybe...another child."

He smirked, "Another child? Well, that sounds great."

�I'm just not ready..."

"Not ready for what?" he asked moving to sit beside the tub on the floor.

"Not ready to...close all those other doors."

"What other doors?"

She sighed, knowing she wasn't making sense. Not even to herself. "I want to be sure I'm doing the right thing."

"What does your heart tell you Joey?"

"I can't trust my heart."

"Why not?"

"Because it's led me astray too many times to count."

"Do you trust me?"

"With my life and Hope's."

"Well, that's good. Are you afraid that I'll do to you what Samuel did?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Do you think I would leave you because you can't have my children?" he asked a little shocked at her answer.

"No, I know that...that you wouldn't do that. At least not now. But..." her voice broke, "Who can say what will happen in the future?"

"Joey..." he sighed, "I get that you're scared. But I could never do that to you. Besides," he rubbed Hope's head, "I love Hope like she was my own. Everything I have and will ever have is hers."

She bit her lip, "All the words in the world aren't going to stop me from being scared...I'm sorry I can't give you better."

Pacey nodded, "Yeah, I know. And I told you I'll do what it takes to be with you."

She started to cry softly, "Why? Why do you put yourself through this. I'm not worth it."

"Because I love you. I just I want to be with you."

"I think she's ready for bed," Joey said softly.

Pacey reached for a towel and held it out for Hope and took her into his arms. He wrapped her up snugly and stood, "Want to put her to sleep? Or do you want me to?"

"Go ahead," she said quietly. "I need to wash my hair."

He nodded sadly and left the room, "Okay." Joey groaned to herself, and sank into the water helplessly.