"I figured your house would be big, but my god." Keira said, stepping through the elevator door. She nearly dropped her coat onto the floor absentmindedly as she took a few steps into the foyer, amazement in her features. Norman caught it before it hit the floor, hanging it up on a coat rack as he watched Keira marvel at the banister of the stairs. He smiled, finding it strangely adorable.

"Eh, company's growing and I still had a little left in life insurance." Norman shrugged.

"I'm sure she would have loved this." Keira said, looking back over with a warm smile that squished her features together. She walked back over to Norman and grabbed some of the rolls of paper that he held under his arm. Mostly blueprints and some files. "Where should we put these?"

"There's a coffee table in the living room we can spread out on." Norman replied. "But before that, just one thing. Harry!"

Ten seconds passed before the small figure of a boy appeared at the top of the stairs. He ran down them with the appropriate amount of energy for an eight year old. Once he got to the bottom of the stairs, he stared up at the two. Other than his brown eyes and dark hair, he was an exact copy of Norman.

"Harry, I'd like you to meet Keira." Norman said. Suddenly shy, Harry turned to the woman. Keira crouched down to be eye level with him.

"It's nice to meet you." She said, holding out her hand. Harry took it and gave it a short shake.

"You're Dad's friend, right?" He asked. Keira gave a small laugh.

"Yes, if you want to call it that." She said, standing back up. Harry looked to his father almost quizzically. As if understanding, Norman nodded and Harry rushed back up the stairs and out of sight.

"He's a bit shy, especially around new people. It's been like that since Caroline passed." Norman said, looking up to where Harry had gone to.

"I get it. I won't force anything. It's hard to replace someone's mother." A short silence was held before Keira coughed. "So, living room?"

***

"The design is fine, I'm more worried about what it needs to be made of." Keira said, tapping the pencil in her hand against the blueprint. "It has to be light enough to get off the ground, but strong enough that it can carry a person and retain damage."

"Well, how many materials can do all that? We don't have a limitless supply of every metal known to man." Norman replied.

"If we had vibranium, that would solve it, but as far as we know, there's hardly any left on the planet, let alone enough to create a prototype that will eventually be mass produced. Maybe titanium?"

"Well, we also have to think about what will meld well with the electrical parts of it, plus the fuel."

"The fuel won't be a problem, I designed it to be universal and easy to replicate. The question is how much do we need for the strength required to carry someone? And what's the weight limit?"

Keira paused to let out a yawn, staring at the clock on the mantle lit up by the fire in the fireplace. 10:30 PM.

"Should we call it a night?" Norman asked her, copying her yawn.

"We can't. We have to be ready to present the entire new phase by 10 tomorrow. We can't put it off otherwise we'll never have enough time in the morning." Keira countered. She yawned again, staring at the numbers on the glider design like they were suddenly illegible.

"I'll get some coffee going. Should buy us a little more energy." Norman said, standing up off of the floor.

"Oh, could you? You're the best." Keira smiled. Norman matched it, kissing her forehead before going into the kitchen. Keira turned back to the paper, tapping the pencil eraser against it incessantly.

Possibly some sort of combination metal? And what kind of weapons should it have? And how will the person riding it be protected? Maybe it--

"Why are you still awake?" A small voice asked. Keira jumped in surprise and turned to face it. There stood Harry in his pyjamas, clutching some of his toys while staring at Keira curiously.

"Jesus, you scared me kiddo." She said. "What are you doing up?"

"Bad dream." Harry replied. Keira frowned and gestured for Harry to sit next to her. He obliged, putting his toys on the table to lay on top of the blueprint.

"We all get bad dreams sometimes. I once dreamt that I created a goo monster that ate half of New York. The important thing is that they're just that. Dreams. They can't hurt you. They're scary in the moment, but once you wake up, they hold no more power." Keira said. Harry just nodded.

"You didn't answer my question though. Why are you still up?"

"Your dad and I are working on some projects that we need to present in the morning. Let me be the first to tell you, kiddo: Pulling all-nighters doesn't end in college." Keira chuckled, remembering some of the late night study sessions she had put herself through. When Harry looked at her confused, she waved it off. "Nevermind."

"What are you working on?" The boy asked, looking at the papers.

"Some new gadgets for the military to maybe use." Keira looked at the blueprint for the glider again, suddenly fixated on the toys Harry had put on them. She smiled, understanding the familiarity. "Star Wars figures, huh?" She said. Harry nodded and grabbed one of them. "They're really remarkable movies."

She picked up the Princess Leia figure and examined it. "I was eleven when the first one came out. For the rest of that week, I pretended I was the princess. My dad made me a lightsaber out of a wrapping paper tube and I pretended I was the princess as a Jedi."

"But wasn't she just normal?" Harry asked. Keira smiled at him and plucked the plastic gun out of Leia's hand. She gently took the Luke out of Harry's grip and replaced the gun with the lightsaber that Luke held, noting that the hand molds were the same.

"Maybe in the movie. But you can do whatever you want as long as you have the imagination." She showed Harry the figure. "With imagination, anything is possible."

She handed Harry the figure and he looked at it with wide eyes. He moved back up to look at the design of the glider on the paper. He took the Luke and Leia figures and sat them on it, followed by Han and Chewbacca.

"It looks like a spaceship." He said. "Not theirs, but something an alien would ride."

"I guess it does." Keira laughed.

"Harry, what are you doing up?" Norman's voice asked from behind them. Keira and Harry both turned around to face him, two mugs with steam rolling off the top in his hand. He didn't seem angry, just... surprised.

"He just had a bit of a bad dream. It's alright now, though, right kiddo?" Keira asked. Harry nodded and grabbed his toys off the table. Norman gave a half smile before setting the cups of coffee on the table.

"I'll take him back upstairs." He said, picking Harry up with a light grunt.

"Night, Harry." Keira waved.

"Night." Harry said back as he was carried back upstairs. She smiled and grabbed the coffee cup closest to her.

Cute kid. She thought, taking a sip. She was a bit shocked to taste vanilla creamer in it. It was her favorite, but Norman always took his coffee black with a little sugar. Why did he have her favorite add in at his house already?

She shrugged and took another sip, staring at the design again. She thought about what Harry had said in regards to it looking like an alien spaceship.

"That's it. It needs a flight suit." She said. She set the mug down and grabbed one of the papers in the cream colored files near her. It had financial records on the front, but it didn't matter. She started sketching furiously.

***

Norman shut Harry's door quietly, still a bit shocked. Not that Harry had woken up, but that he had been so comfortable with Keira. Harry barely spoke that much to kids his own age, especially after his mother died.

He had seen the two talking for a bit before he actually had spoken up. It bewildered him that Harry seemed to respond to Keira after only just meeting her a few hours before that.

Norman came back into the living room to see Keira furiously doodling on the back of a paper. He glanced at it and saw what looked like a suit of some kind.

"Did Harry get you to draw aliens now?" He asked in an amused tone.

"I realized that riding on the glider would mean needing a good flight suit. Does it look too odd?" Keira replied, not looking up from the paper.

"Well, it's unconventional for one thing."

"So is the glider in the first place. I figured I'm not going to be much help on that part at this point. I'm not an engineer, I'm a chemist."

"And a sci-fi costume designer?" Norman teased.

"I can scrap it if you think it looks that ridiculous." Keira said. "Can't exactly throw the paper out, though."

"No, don't do that. You said so yourself, the glider already looks odd. May as well match it. I'll come up with some sort of plan for the metal and we can call it a night." Norman sat back down next to her as she sipped the coffee again.

"You got the creamer." She said, putting the pencil and paper down.

"Hmm?"

"My vanilla creamer. You have it in your kitchen and you gave it to me. You don't put creamer in your coffee." She said, red tinting her cheeks.

"It was the least I could do."

"You didn't have to."

"But I wanted to."

Keira smiled her squishy smile and curled up closer to Norman, the mug in her hands half empty. He put an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. He thought about Harry again when he looked at the sketch she had done, one thought suddenly crossing his mind.

I'm going to marry her.

***

That next morning, the meeting went surprisingly well. All the proposals were met with enthusiasm and prototypes for the glider were already set in motion. That afternoon, Norman gave Keira a keycard that would take her to the house from the elevator and told her she could head straight there whenever she needed to. He had to run a couple of errands, but Harry would be home.

So after making a quick stop or two herself, Keira walked into the mansion as though she had been doing so for years. To her surprise, Harry ran down the stairs, excited to see her. He hugged her legs tightly.

"Someone had a good day." She said with a laugh.

"Well, I did get an A on my multiplication tables today." Harry said proudly.

"That's great, kiddo! I was going to give this to you anyways, but now you've really earned it." She pulled out a plastic packaging containing a Darth Vader toy from the bag in her hand, passing it to Harry. He let out a wide smile. "Every hero needs a villain to fight."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" He said, clawing at the plastic to get it open. She laughed and took it back, attempting to break it open herself.

The elevator door opened with a ding, Norman stepping inside and hanging his coat up. He spotted Harry and Keira before they even noticed him. Keira opened something with a loud noise and passed a black clad toy to Harry. He thanked her profusely and ran upstairs with it.

"Buying his love now, are we? What happened to not forcing anything?" Norman laughed.

"Consider it a reward for getting an A on a math test." She shrugged.

"Really? Huh. Harry hates math."

"I don't know a soul who likes it. So what were you out doing?"

"Making a few stops. I had to get a few things delivered to the office." Norman shrugged. "By the way, your mom left a message. She wants us over for dinner next weekend."

"I mean, I don't see why not. Wait, what were you doing in my office?"

"Your fax machine needed paper, remember?"

"Ah, right, right. Well, I need to head back to my apartment. I'll see you tomorrow."

They exchanged a light kiss before Keira left with a wave. Norman let out a breath, taking out the small ring box from his pocket. Nothing too fancy, of course.

Keira's mom had been so excited to hear about Norman's plan when he called her. Once they had dinner, Norman would get her father's permission and then he would take Keira to Central Park.

Later that week, Norman called Harry downstairs and sat him down nervously. He knew what Harry's response would be, but it was still nerve-wracking.

"How would you feel about calling Keira your mom?"