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Despite being accoutered in the same, if slightly more battered, trench coat, and having the stakes press against him as Cici clung to him, Sterling wrapped his arms around her, keeping her pressed against him. And then paused.

Was she pregnant? Her stomach felt bigger than he remembered--even if it had been months ago. He was silent as she heaped her problems upon his shoulders, listening instead of coming up with excuses; but his mind had more or less been made up when he had returned to pass their front door. He couldn't abandon them again; and that was partly why his trench coat was so battered--and why he sported a few more fresher scars.

He looked down at Cici's streaming face and gently put his hand beneath her chin, lifting her face to look at him.

"Then don't," he said simply enough. "Don't worry about getting a second job, or revamping-" he made a face at the word, "your resume. Let me... Let me take care of you, and Dawn. And the little one."

Cici just looked at him, "Huh? Take care of us? How?" She had forgotten their short little conversation about his money. She shook her head, "I don't want your money, if that's what you mean. I don't need child support. I'll take care of this myself. I'm a big girl. Besides, Dawn doesn't need to see me taking money just because I got knocked up." This caused another huge hiccough, "I can take care of myself."

"If it was just money, I would have sent you some." He looked away for a moment. "I never forgot your kindness and I probably have no right to ask you this, seeing as how I've hurt you and Dawn; but I thought perhaps I could stay." He looked back at Cici. "Stay and properly take care of you."

If he danced around the word marriage, it was only because he couldn't quite bring himself to say it. After 20 years of telling himself no, it was hard to find himself considering it. "I want to stay and help you."

"Stay?" The word was stunning. It certainly dumbfounded her. She still held onto his jacket, "Stay?" Wow, some vocabulary there, Cinnamon! She looked at him, shaking her head - even her mind was broken if she was calling herself by her full name.

She opened and closed her mouth, gaping at him, "Don't you dare say that, Sterling! Men don't stay. They just don't, and it's unfair of you to say that to me!"

"I'm not men," Sterling replied, his eyes sharp, his voice sharper. "I'm a Hunter. If I resolve to do something, I see it gets done. Let's go inside, at least. You shouldn't be arguing out here like this in your condition."

Cici glared at him, "Condition?" She reached down and swiped the keys from the ground, "You're half responsible." She shoved the key in, unlocking the door, throwing it open. She knew it was the beginning of the hormones. She couldn't help being the moods.

She tossed her keys into the bowl, "And what are you going to tell Dawn? 'So, your mom got knocked-up, and now I'm here to stay!' or maybe 'I left once, but I won't do it again!' Dawn's father used to call her all the time. He even came for her fifth birthday and always promised to stay. He never did." She paused, "My dad once told me he would love me forever. Nothing I could do would make him hate me. See how that turned out? You're not even her father, so why should you stick around?"

It wasn't about Dawn. Dawn had been hurt, but she hadn't been torn in pieces. She hadn't been completely abandoned. Cici was the one who couldn't handle it. Not again.

Sterling followed Cici into the house, dropping his crossbow just inside the front door. "So let me take responsibility!"

"You're right, I don't know the jer-man who was Dawn's father or hurt you. And if I meet him, I'll probably shoot him. But I can promise you that I'm not him."

In two strides he crossed the distance between them and drew Cici to him, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

His next words rumbled in his chest. "Cinnamon, let me stay. I'll protect you and Dawn. I won't let anyone else break your heart."

Her arms fit around him comfortably. He could feel the swell of her belly. He could feel her breath. He could feel how hot her cheeks were. She wasn't going to cry again. She'd run out of tears, "Why? You barely know me. We spent one night together. This isn't a fairy tail. People don't just fall in love."

There was truth in that, but she also knew that what she felt when he was gone wasn't just her own loneliness. It was longing. Sterling gave her sanity.

"I know enough." He said, gently rubbing her back, trying to soothe her. "You took in a stranger, fed him, let him spend the night, and then packed him a lunch. Reach into my trench coat's pocket with your right hand. You might recognize something."

She gave him a look, and reached into the pocket. She pulled out the worn bag, looking at him, "You kept this? Why?" Her voice lowered, word by word, the last barely a whisper as emotion gripped her, "Reminds me of a Christmas story..." She held the bag tight and rested her head on his chest, breathing in his scent.

He smiled. "Because someone got me addicted to gushers. But really, it was the first time someone had packed me a lunch. It means a lot to me. And it kept me going when I thought I might be 'wolf fodder."

He sighed and relaxed against her. Her smell, he hadn't thought he would have remembered it, but it calmed him; made him tractable. "If you'd like, I can hang up my coat--it can't possibly be comfortable with those stakes in it."

She handed him back the bag, "Yeah. Do you really want to stay?" She reached up, slipping the coat off of his shoulders, "What should we tell Dawn? I think we need to talk about that. I haven't told her I'm pregnant. I only got confirmation this afternoon. I didn't want to believe it."

She rested her hands on his shoulders, looking into his eyes.

"Of course, I want to stay. Unless you want to move." He tucked the bag into his pocket again just prior to Cici's slipping it off his shoulders. He shrugged out of it the rest of the way, drawing his hands through the sleeves. "Is it such a bad thing?" he asked. "To be pregnant?"

And then he glanced at the stairs and then at the door. "I haven't seen Dawn yet, is she still at school?"

"It's not a bad thing, but how do I explain to my ten-year-old? She's been through sex-ed, but honestly, I'm not sure if she will understand. Especially since it's been just the two of us our whole lives. Besides, I've never planned on ever having another, honestly. I mean, why would I? I don't date."

She smiled some, "She's going to dinner with her friend Steven. His house is more fun for them to hang out at, because his parents have money." She laughed softly, "Not that Dawn doesn't have fun here."

Sterling shrugged and realized he was about to get a crash-course in interacting with kids and explaining to them. "Well, I'd just start off simple: You and I like each other. One thing led to another and now you--Dawn--are gonna have a brother...or sister. And Sterling is going to stay and take care of us. Forever. How does that sound?"

He raised an eyebrow at the mention of Dawn going to eat dinner at a friend's house. "Will she be staying late?" Which was to mean, would she be coming back after dark.

Cici didn't want to criticize him just yet. She was about to explain that it wasn't going to be that simple, since she would have to explain to Dawn what a one night stand was. She wasn't eager to talk about that, but Dawn knew the long and the short of baby-making.

"I was going to pop into my car real quick and pick her up right at the door and drive into our garage and then come inside from there. I never park in the garage unless I have to be out past dark." She ran her hand down his arm, "I know the rules." She looked him in the eye, "Do you want to come? It'll brighten her night."

"I'd love to come," he replied with a smile. He wondered if Dawn had gotten any taller since he'd last seen her.

"Does Steven live far from here?" He grabbed his trench coat again and then thought the better of his crossbow--leaving it behind for once. They would be in a car, after all.

"Across town. He lives with his parents and sister in this huge house." She went into the kitchen, leaving him there for a moment, "Do you want to bring your things here, or what?" She came out, holding a package of Gusher's, slipping them into his hand. She smiled at him, enjoying the moment.

"She'll be so happy to see you."

He wavered about the crossbow and then sighed. He was going to retire from being a Hunter, and he couldn't just haul it everywhere. Well, he could, but he'd get strange looks, and he figured he should start at least trying to adjust.

"I'll leave the crossbow here," he called after Cici when she vanished into the kitchen. And then when she dropped something into his hand...he had to smile. "Gushers. Thank you." He ripped it open and popped one into his mouth. Mmm.

"I hope so," he said. Wondering if Dawn would react anything like her mother.

Cici slipped her hand into his, "So, is this gunna put us into danger? I mean, as much as I want you to stay, if it puts my daughter into harm's way, I will have to murder you.

She leaned into his arms, bringing her mouth next to his, her eyes half closed.