"Well," Billy sighed as I hugged his chest in an attempt to cling to the sessions ebbing through me. His muscles twitched as he heaved himself to a sitting position while letting a chuckle roll through him at my stubborn refusal to release myself from him. "There's no good transition for this, so... how about we call my ex?"

We both let out laughs at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Maybe we should put clothes on," I suggested.

"It's not a video call," Billy absently pointed out as he scrolled through his cell phone.

"Really? You want a naked, post-sex phone call with your ex-wife?"

The phrase 'post-sex' caught his attention, causing his face to snap up to me. After a moment of letting his gaze focus on me, his rational side returned. "Sweetheart, naked and post-sex is my favorite way to live when you're involved."

"Aw, I'm choosing to hear that as sweet and not super creepy," I teased.

"Super creepy? You know what? I don't even want to know. Let's agree that I'm always sweet and never super creepy?"

"Agreed," I said, pulling myself from his chest and tugging on my clothes. I picked up the button-down I had worn to work, but the effort to re-button it seemed too great, so I pulled on Billy's t-shirt instead.

"Really?" Billy's eyebrow rose as he questioned my choice.

"It looks cuter on me," I challenged with a tiny dance to accent my adorable nature.

"Well, I can't argue with that logic. Do you expect me to wear your shirt into the house?"

"Yes, I'd very much enjoy watching that," I laughed.

"Mmhmm," Billy shot as he pulled on his jeans and plopped down in his desk chair.

He dialed Sarah and, as it rang, pulled me to his lap and absently smoothed my hair, tucking an errant piece behind my ear.

"Billy," Sarah answered the phone rather coolly, but Billy didn't seem to notice.

"Hey, Sarah, sorry to bother you, but I wanted to discuss this Viv and James thing." Billy leaned over me and closer to the phone but kept his arms around me. "Lily's here too, so we can all be on the same page."

"Oh," Sarah seemed slightly surprised, either from the call's point or from my inclusion. "Okay, that sounds like a fair idea."

"Viv wants to have James over tomorrow while I'm at the arena this weekend. I say no because Jackson and Lil are coming with me. What are your thoughts about her being alone with James?" Billy explained.

"Well, I'm torn, to be honest. I'm sure you are as well, given the call. I trust them, and I certainly don't want her to think I don't, but still hormones and all." It was clear that Sarah and Billy were very much aligned. "I think you're making the right decision."

"Okay, so for now, if they want to hang out at home or the Denning's, someone has to be around as well?" Billy confirmed.

"Yeah, I think that's best." Sarah's voice drifted as distraction took hold of her.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"Well, I had the talk with her, but maybe we should have a refresher," Sarah mused.

"The talk." Billy's voice went shallow at the mere thought of 'the talk.'

"Billy, she's your daughter too; you need to talk to her about sex," Sarah chided.

"Sex, talk about sex with Viv," Billy stammered as his face when even paler than it usually was.

"Billy, she's your daughter. You want her to come to you to talk about anything, right?" I added.

"Will you two stop reminding me she's my daughter? Don't you think I realize that? She is my baby. Do we really need to talk about sex with her?" Billy blurted.

"Well, would you prefer the conversation when she is pregnant, or worse?" Sarah asked.

"Or worse?" Billy's face went from white to green in an instant. "I'd rather lock her in her room for the next decade," Billy murmured.

"Honestly, Billy," Sarah complained. "Lily, can you talk some sense into him?"

"Me? If I could talk sense into him, I'd have done that twenty years ago!" Sarah and I both laughed at the idea.

"I thought we were strategizing on Viv, not ganging up on me. I already get this enough from Tim and Lil," Billy groaned.

"Do we think talking about sex with Viv concerning James is the right thing? What if it puts ideas in her head?" Billy's voice was still wavering in terror.

"We aren't putting any ideas in her head that aren't already there. We don't want her to think she has to hide anything," I offered.

"I agree with Lily. I grew up with no one to talk to about all these things, which made it very confusing and honestly tainted my entire perception of sexuality," Sarah added.

"Sexuality?" Billy's voice cracked and eyes hazed with a mix of fear and panic.

"Billy," I scolded. "I think we're good, Sarah."

"Okay. Lily, do you have my number in case you need to call me when Billy passes out?" She giggled.

"Adding it to my phone right now. I'll send you a quick text so you have mine. Are you coming on New Year's?"

"Yeah, I think Matt and I will make it." Her voice became more relaxed at the change of topic.

"I'm excited to meet him. What do you wear? Whenever I ask Billy, he shrugs and says it's a concert where whatever. But it's New Year's, so..."

"Yeah, Billy doesn't understand the female condition. He wears the same thing to a New Year's concert that he would to a festival in the dead of summer."

"Boys!" I agreed.

"Exactly," she concurred.

"What does that agreement even mean? That boys exist?" Billy asked as life began to return to his physical being.

Sarah let out a giggle and then continued. "I usually wear a dress, but that's more my style. I could see you pulling off more of the black jeans vibe. Viv is very envious of your style, by the way. You've always had more edge than her boring mom has worn."

I laughed. "Edge just means I can't pull off runway looks or heels!"

"What is happening?" A bit of color was now returning to Billy's face.

"So you think black jeans would be enough?" I questioned, ignoring Billy.

"Oh, for sure. It gets chilly backstage, though. I always forget that and then regret it." Sarah's last note was more of a reminder to herself than to me.

"Okay, that's super helpful. Thanks again, Sarah. I'll keep you updated on Viv and let you know if Billy passes out," I joked.

"Shall we wager?" Sarah enticed with a mischievous tone.

"I don't like this," Billy announced from behind me.

"Too bad, love," Sarah laughed from her side of the phone.

I let out my own laugh in agreement.

"Bye, Sarah," Billy griped before smashing the end button with a little too much force and leaning heavily back in the chair, causing me to slip a bit in his lap. His hands constricted around me to secure me in place.

"You're mad," I noted.

"That wasn't my favorite moment in recent memory," he acknowledged.

"I'm sorry. I'll try not to team up against you. You know you're my favorite person," I leaned into him.

"Am I?" His voice came as a sincere question, causing me to pull back to look at him.

"Billy, you know you're my favorite person? You're my number one. Nothing is real until I talk about it with you."

"I know that. I guess sometimes it feels like..." His voice dropped out. "You connect with people really easily."

"What? This from mister charisma?" I teased.

"That's just the famous Billy Collins," his voice was low, and his eyes flicked from mine like the flame of a candle fighting to stay lit.

"Billy, I've learned that there is only one Billy Collins. He is a father, a friend, a son, a brother, and a lover... You may think that people only like you because of your career, but it's not true. I don't know how to prove it to you other than say that anyone you let in, anyone you let know you, loves you. You're so sweet and caring that it can physically make my heartache."

"You don't see me with clear eyes, though."

"Really? I spent twenty years trying to run away from you, and I always ended up back on your doorstep. You haven't come to me in over fifteen years."

"I've called you to me," he pointed out as a rebuttal.

"And I came with no hesitation. I'm sorry if Sarah and I made you uncomfortable. The only reason I'd forge a friendship with her is for you and the kids. I have nothing but respect for her, but she's not like Tess. She isn't someone I'd seek a friendship with if it weren't for you."

"I get that, and rationally I want that, but you two ganging up on me and all this talk of Viv's sexuality," he shook his head back and forth at a loss.

"Too much?" I offered.

"Too much," he agreed. "And I told you, it's just a concert," he whined. "You can wear whatever you want."

"I know I can wear whatever I want, but I want to be comfortable and not feel over or underdressed."

"This from the girl currently wearing my t-shirt," Billy shot.

"Oh, honey, this is mine now," I noted.

"Lil, don't we have enough talk of sex going on? How will it look if we head into the house to have the talk with Viv, with you in my shirt and me with no shirt?"

"Better than you in my shirt and me topless," I teased.

"Please, I can't take this right now," Billy pleaded.

"Fine." I pulled the shirt off and tossed it to him. "Better?" I asked.

Billy's eyes lingered on me as he realized I hadn't just skipped putting on my shirt; I hadn't bothered to put on my bra.

"You're so fucking hot," he stammered. "And smart," he quickly added, as if by reflex. "So hot and smart," he finished.

"Mmhmm, I can see how taken with my brain you are right now," I laughed, which didn't help matters, as Billy's gaze didn't waver. I pulled on my bra before continuing. "So, you good with the Viv talk?"

"Huh?" Billy asked, still distracted.

"What are you? Twelve?" I threw my shirt at his face to snap him back to rationality.

"Sorry, you're just so... smart," he added again.

"It doesn't make it less of an ogle if you call me smart," I shot.

"Sorry," Billy diverted his eyes. "I like that bra; red is my favorite color."

"I know. It's fine. We'd have much bigger problems if I revolted you."

"Never a problem we'll face. So, I'm back. What were you saying?" It was as though my becoming clothed rebooted his brain.

"Are you good with the Viv talk?"

"Yeah," Billy sighed heavily. "She's already mad about the James thing. I might as well rip the rest of the bandage off. One time, I was her favorite person." His shoulders rounded at the thought.

"Hey, you know that's ridiculous, right?" My tone caught Billy's full attention and drew his eyes to me. "That girl idolizes you."

"That girl has me wrapped around her little finger," Billy groaned.

"True, but you're her favorite person, and you will be until the day she dies. Trust me; I have much knowledge in this area."

Billy's eyes softened at the allusion to my dad. "Hey," his voice came softly as he popped up from his chair and swiftly made his way around his desk to me. "Are you okay with all this? I didn't think how it might...." His hand gently cupped my face as he inspected me.

"I'm fine. And for the record, my dad avoided the topic of sex with me his entire life."

"Smart man." Billy let out a heavy breath. "Who did you go to with questions?"

"Honestly, I was a bit like Sarah. I didn't have anyone to turn to who had more knowledge than I did. I'd talk to my friends about it, but none of us knew what we were talking about."

"Mmhmm, seems to be the common path," Billy agreed as his hand dropped from my cheek.

"Did you have someone to talk to?"

"A little. My dad didn't talk biology, but I think we had a sex talk."

"You think? Wouldn't you know?"

"Well, we were working on the car once, and my brother Pete was there. He was making some thinly veiled comments about some girl he was chasing. I was about thirteen and had only really heard about my pop's temper, never seen it firsthand. At some point, Pete referred to this girl as a bitch, and, man, my dad's hand smacked Pete upside the head so fast I almost didn't think it happened. He threw him right out of the garage and told him he had two choices: learn how to treat a woman or change his last name because no Collins boy was going to be a jackass on his watch."

"Okay, so your dad is my new hero," I smiled.

"So, Pete was gone as we worked in silence. I could tell it still riled him and all, so I was doing my thing, trying to stay out of his way. After a little while, he just started up with me on life mostly, treating all people with respect no matter what, even if they're disrespectful to you. And then he said something that always stuck with me. He said, someday I'll meet someone, a girl or a guy, that will suddenly be my life. And that person will be your world; you wouldn't be able to imagine anyone being disrespectful to them. Until then, treat everyone like you would want your person to be treated because they're someone's person. And all people deserve that."

"That's so sweet and explains so much." A vivid memory of young Billy trying desperately to be a gentleman when we first met flooded my thought, blocking out the man before me for a brief moment.

"Needless to say, I've been treating everyone the way I want you to be treated since I was thirteen."

"Except for that one time in Texas," I shot.

"Too soon, Lil," Billy dropped his gaze and busied his focus with tugging on his t-shirt.

"It was years ago," I argued.

"It was just last week for you, and you haven't heard my side," Billy dismissed.

"For the record, I don't need to know your side to know I am on it, but I am all ears when you want to discuss it."

"Noted." The word sliced through the air as Billy continued to evade my gaze.

"Well," I soothed. "I think you've done your dad and the Collins name proud."

"Hopefully, someone has to make up for Pete."