Ringing in my ear was what made me stir in my sleep.

With my eyes still closed I reached my hand over to my nightstand and grabbed my phone, bringing it to my ear.

"Hello?" I yawned.

"Nessa." I heard Calum say. "It's nine."

"Hmm?"

"It's nine in the morning."

My eyes shot open at this and I looked to my left to see the clock on the side of my bed read 9:13.

"Oh my God i'm late for work!"

"Get ready, i'll see you in a bit." He began to laugh.

"Yeah." I said and then hung up before jumping out of the bed and running to the bathroom to get in the shower.

I had never rushed to get ready like this before, not even in college. It gave me a headache and as I blowed my hair dry I forced myself to breathe.

I knew Kate wouldn't be upset with me for being late, she would understand, but still I felt bad.

I finished getting ready by 9:50 and then ran to my car and sped to the corner store.

Jogging inside I could see Kate struggling behind the counter.

"I'm so sorry i'm late." I went back to help her, taking over the register.

"It's okay, you had a late night." She said.

We didn't talk much after that because we were slammed with customers.

Finally everyone left and I took a deep breath before literally laying down on the floor, whining.

"So, Calum told me you said yes." Kate smirked at me.

"Mhmm." I nodded.

"How do you feel?"

"Good."

As I laid on the floor I closed my eyes and a few
minutes later I heard the door open and recognized the voices of Calum, Luke, Ashton, and Michael.

"Did she not come in?" Calum asked Kate.

"No she did, she's dying behind the counter." Kate said and I rolled my eyes.

I saw Calum walk around the counter and he crouched down beside me.

"What is wrong with you?" He chuckled.

"I'm dying." I whined.

"Come on, i'll help you up." He reached out a hand that I took and he pulled me up.

"Introducing Calum and Nessa, the newly joined couple!" Luke yelled and everyone burst into laughter except for Ashton who became wide eyed and immediately I knew no one had told him.

"Luke." Calum said in a harsh voice and by the look on Luke's face it seemed to have dawned on him what he had done.

Ashton didn't even say anything, just turned and stalked out the door.

"Ugh." I sighed in annoyance and went to follow after him but Calum reached for my arm and pulled me back.

"No i'll talk to him this time."

"Really? Because I believe you told me the last time that this happened that you were going to be a better friend to him." I snapped back at him.

I was not happy.

"If the way you treat your friends is any indication of the way you treat your girlfriend then maybe you should rethink the idea of getting into a relationship with me because I don't put up with that crap. It's ridiculous."

I jerked my arm from his grasp and walked out of the shop, finding Ashton sitting on a bench across the street.

Sitting down next to him I felt bad for him. He was a sweet guy and I felt like ever since I had arrived in town I had been a constant distraction for him.

"Ashton, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that no one told you."

"Why does this keep happening to me?" He whispered.

I didn't know what to say.

"I mean I knew he liked you but I didn't know this would happen so soon."

"I didn't know this would happen so soon." I chuckled. "Believe me, I was more surprised than you."

"Yeah, but it obviously worked out, I mean you said yes."

"Not right away."

Ashton turned and looked at me in confusion.

"Why not?"

"A lot of reasons. I was scared, hell Im still scared. I was doubting myself, and there's stuff in my past that I haven't faced and when he asked me I felt like he wouldn't want me because of it, and there's a lot of pressure to be the girlfriend of a widower who has two kids and is also a policeman."

He nodded his head.

"So what made you say yes?"

"I moved to this town for a second chance, and he's a part of that second chance for me, and I don't want to deny myself of finding happiness."

Footsteps were heard against the concrete and I looked up to see Calum stepping up to us.

"I'll go get your lunch." I patted Ashton on the knee and stood up, walking past Calum and down the sidewalk to the corner store.

"Well I see your New York confidence has returned." Kate gave me a look.

"Yeah, well."

I helped Kate make sandwiches and could see Luke and Michael standing there awkwardly.

"Nessa?" I heard Luke's quiet voice and I looked up. "I'm sorry about this."

"It's not your fault." I gave him a small smile.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen Calum so scared than when you yelled at him." Michael laughed.

Five minutes later the door opened and Calum and Ashton walked in. They both had calm expressions and Calum walked up to me and moved his lips to my ear.

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah." I said and walked back to the store room with him.

He closed the door behind us.

"You know, we have to stop meeting like this."
He said to lighten the mood but I looked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to apologise.
"I'm sorry. I know what I did wasn't right and I really am sorry."

"Okay." I said and he furrowed his eyebrows at me.

"You're still mad."

"I'm just annoyed that we haven't even been dating twelve hours and this happens."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Whatever, i'm over it. Let's go."

"Wait." He stopped me from opening the door. "You're working this afternoon at the station, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Let's drive there together, get a coffee on the way?"

"Yeah, sure." I said and turned to get the door but he stopped me again and leaned in for a kiss. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." I said when he pulled back.

"I'm sorry I gave you a reason to yell at me."

"I know." I patted his cheek lightly and he smiled before the two of us walked back to the main part of the store.

I checked out the guys at the counter then grabbed my bag and headed out to my car with Calum.

He took my keys from me and drove us through the Starbucks before heading over to the station.

It never failed that whether I was getting in or out of the car, Calum always opened my door for me.

I guess this was what it was like to date a southern gentleman.

When we walked in I went to my desk and Calum went to his.

I began my tasks of checking email, voicemail,
actual mail, faxes, and then cleaned up the kitchen. I then went back to my desk and began to study the binders that had the different police lingo.

10-4      I acknowledge/Affirmative/Copy
10-9      Say again
10-20   Advise to location
10-33    Emergency: all units stand by
10-27    Driver License Check   
10-28    Tag / Registration Check   
10-29    Stolen Tag/Auto Check   
10-29P    Wanted Person Check   
10-80    Foot Patrol
10-32    Breathalyzer   
10-94    Backup
10-97    Arrived on Scene
10-35    Confidential Information

Just as the numbers and letters began to swim in front of my eyes I was taken away from my
studies.

"Nessa!" Calum called me and I stood up from my seat and walked back to his office.

"Yes?" I asked him.

"What are you doing?" He spun his chair in circles.

"Studying ten codes. What are you doing?" I crossed my arms as I leaned against the door frame.

"Nothing. I'm bored. I've capped out my ticket quota for this month. Come talk to me."

"Calum I really need to learn this stuff."

"Then bring your binder in here and I'll help you."

I sighed before going to get the binder and my coffee before coming back in, sitting on the edge of his desk.

"Do you have any advil? My head is killing me?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He said and opened his drawer, handing me a bottle. I took two with my coffee and then handed my binder to Calum so he could quiz me.

"So I have girlfriend questions." Calum said between ten codes.

"I thought you were helping me learn these."

"I am, but I can do that anytime. Right now I want to talk about you."

"Okay."

"So are you the type of girl that doesn't like being touched or is that okay with you?"

"Well what do you mean by touch?"

"Seriously guys?" Luke spoke up from his desk and I laughed.

"Why are you here?" Calum turned around and asked Luke.

"Why are you here, you're done too?"

"Because she's here." Calum nodded towards me.

"Okay, you both are distracting me from work, so you should both go home and get some rest since you have the night shift tonight and I can get back to work."

"Fine." Calum sighed.

I watched as they packed up their stuff and then walked out with them.

"See you later." I kissed Calum's cheek as we got to my desk.

"See you later." Calum waved and he and Luke walked through the back.

I was finally able to study in peace. As much as I enjoyed being with Calum, I needed to learn this information for my job.

After studying for a few more minutes my desk phone rang.

"This is Nessa." I answered.

"Hey Nessa, can I see you in my office?" Captain Sutherlands' voice was recognised on the other line.

"Of course, i'll be there in a minute." I said and then hung up.

I set down my stuff and then made my way through the halls to his office.

"What can I do for you?" I asked as I walked in.

"Would you mind running to the post office and picking up some envelopes, the big yellow ones, and some stamps?"

"Sure. How many do you need?"

"120 each?" He estimated.

"Got it." I smiled.

He handed me the credit card the station used and I left to go to the post office.

When I arrived the line was practically out the door and I had found what I wanted in two minutes but had to wait in line for thirty.

When I got back I set the box of envelopes and the roll of stamps at the desk and then went back to Captain Sutherlands office.

"I got the envelopes, anything else I can do for you?" I asked him.

"I'm working on the acceptance letters for our new officers so once I get you the list tomorrow and then i'll need you to send out a letter to each one."

"Great." I smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I left his office and then went back to my desk, putting the envelopes and stamps in an empty drawer before taking my binders and my bag and heading out to my car.

It was only 5:30 and I didn't really feel like driving home so I decided to call Calum and see if I could come over early.

I dug through my bag to find my phone before calling him.

It rang four times and I was thinking he wasn't going to answer before he picked up on the last ring.

"Hey." He said, sounding like he had just woken up.

"Oh, I didn't mean to wake you up. Sorry."

"No it's fine." He yawned. "What did you need?"

"Well I got off work and I didn't want to go home so I was wondering if I could over to your place early. But you're sleeping so I'll just wait."

"No, you can come over, that's fine. I actually need to talk to Eli and i'd like you to be there."

"Oh, okay. Then i'm on my way. Do you need anything, a coffee or something?"

"If you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'll be there in a bit."

"Okay, see you then."

I hung up and then drove through the Starbucks to get us both something with lots of caffeine and then made my way to his house.

When I pulled up I parked in front and then carried the two coffee cups to the door, using my foot to lightly kick the door three times so I could knock.

It opened a minute later and Calum stood there with Cade in his arms.

"Hey." He smiled. "Come on in."

I stepped inside and set the coffee carrier on the kitchen table.

"You're a life saver. Thank you." Calum hugged me, and since Cade was there I kissed Cade's cheek and then took him from Calum.

"So what do you want to talk to Eli about?" I asked Calum.

"About us. He's asking questions and so I thought it would be best if we both told him what we were together."

"Okay." I nodded and he led me to the boys room where Eli was playing with some toy dinosaurs.

"Hey Eli, can you come here for a minute?" Calum asked and Eli looked up.

"Nessa!" He then stood up and ran over to hug me.

"Hey bud. Why don't you come talk to me and your Dad." I smiled as I hugged him and then the group of us walked into the living room.

I set Cade on a blanket that was on the floor and then sat down on the sofa with Calum who had Eli stand in front of us.

"So I know that you have been asking a lot of questions lately, and so Nessa and I want to explain to you what is going on." Calum began and then looked at me. "Nessa and I have been spending a lot of time together, and I have asked her to be my girlfriend, and she said yes."

Eli looked between me and Calum.

"She's your girlfriend?" Eli asked.

"Yeah. Do you know what that means?" Calum asked him.

"It means you kiss." He said and Calum and I looked at each other, laughing at Eli's answer.

"Yeah, we do." Calum chuckled as he looked back at Eli. "But it just means that we will be spending a lot more time together and she will be around here a lot more."

"Is that okay with you?" I asked Eli and he nodded at me.

"I like it when you're here." Eli said to me and I smiled at Calum before taking Eli in a hug.

"I like it when i'm here too."

When I let Eli go Calum went to hug him.

"I love you." Calum kissed Eli's head.

"I love you, Daddy."

Eli then moved to sit between us and looked up at me.

"You kiss my Daddy?" He asked and my jaw dropped in surprise.

"Eli, you don't ask questions like that." Calum shook his head.

"But I wanna know."

Eli stared up at me and I looked at Calum.

"Yes?" I answered, Calum giving me an amused look.

"I wanna see." He said and Calum rolled his eyes.

"We will not kiss in front of you because that is inappropriate." Calum placed his hands on Eli's shoulders and leaned down to speak in his ear.

I just nodded.

"Okay, I need to go get ready now." Calum said and smiled at me before standing up and heading back to his bedroom.

"Nessa, I have a question." Eli tugged on my arm.

"What?"

"Are you going to be my new Mom?"

I froze.

"Am I what?"

"Are you going to be my new Mom?"

"Hold on a minute." I stood up rapidly and power walked to Calum's room, knocking on his closed door.

"Yeah?" He called out.

"Can we talk?"

"Give me a second." He said and I waited for a moment until he opened the door. He had on his pants and a white tee shirt and I stepped inside his room, shutting the door behind me.

"You need to talk Eli some more."

"Why, what did he do?"

"He just asked me...he asked me if I was going to be his new Mom."

Calum's eyes went wide.

"I think you need to explain to him that I am just your girlfriend..."

"Yeah." Calum said and then left the room.

I stood there in his room and looked about me to see a large queen sized bed that was unmade, a night stand on each side. To my left was a large dresser that went along the wall that had picture frames and other items on it.

There was a walk-in closet with the door open and then the door to the bathroom.

I stepped closer to the hallway and heard Calum talking to Eli.

"I know you miss Mommy, and I miss her too, but she's in a better place now, and now i'm with someone else who I care about very much. That doesn't mean she is not going to be your new Mommy or that she is going to be your new Mommy one day, it just means that right now she is here and she cares for you and Cade a lot. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah." Eli said. "Do you want Nessa to be our new Mommy?"

"Eli," Calum sighed, "all I want is for you to be happy and safe, and that's what matters the most right now. So don't worry about having a new Mom, you just be my happy Eli that I love very much. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Now i'm going to go finished getting dressed."

I heard Calum's footsteps coming back down the hall and I stepped back as he walked in.

"Okay." Calum sighed.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah. I think he's just curious like every other little kid."

"Alright."

Calum walked to the closet and walked in before coming out with his blue button down and began to button it up.

"Nessa, there's no pressure on you." Calum said to me.

"There's a lot of pressure on me." I looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm the first woman you've been with since your wife died, that's not easy."

"I don't want you to feel like there's pressure on you."

"Well there's not much you can do."

He reached the top button to fix it and then walked over to me.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." I gave him a half smile.

"Is that why you freaked out last night?" He asked as he took me into a hug.

"There were a lot of reasons I freaked out." I placed the side of my face against his chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"We can talk about it later. You need to get ready."

"Well I have a few minutes to talk to you." He said in a much quieter voice.

"What we need to talk about will take more than a few minutes, so let's just leave this be for now and if you want we can discuss it when you get back."

"Okay." He said then let me go.

I looked at him one last time before walking out of the room and back to the living room.

"Nessa, let's watch The Jungle Book tonight!"

"Okay, go find the movie and we can watch it."
I smiled at him.

I sat down on the floor with Cade and he stood up and walked to me.

"Hi! Hi!" I grinned as he came up and reached out to take his hands. I laughed as he leaned forward.

"Nwessa." He said and I gasped.

"Good job! That's my name!"

"Nwessa." He smiled again.

"Good job, Cade." I then picked him up and laid down on my back, holding Cade up.

He laughed joyfully as I lifted him up and down and moments later I heard Calum's laughter and looked up to see him standing there watching us.

"He said my name." I told Calum.

"He did?"

"Yeah. Watch." I said and then looked back at Cade. "What's my name?"

"Nwessa!" He laughed and Calum and I joined in.

"Aw, good job bubba!" Calum came over and put his hand on Cade's back. "What's her name?"

"Nwessa."

"Yay!" I laughed and Calum lifted up Cade and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, i'm about to go so tell me bye." Calum said and I stood up as he kissed Cade again and then set him down so he could hug Eli.

"Be good. I love you." Calum kissed his head and I then walked with him to the door.

"See you later." I smiled at him as I put my thumbs in my back pockets.

"See you later." He smiled back at me as he picked up his coffee. He leaned forward and had his face next to mine before looking to see Eli watching. "Come outside."

He opened the door and we stepped outside for a moment and Calum leaned in and kissed me.

"Be safe." I whispered.

"I will. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay." I smiled and stretched up on my tip toes to kiss him again and he let out a happy laugh before I went back inside and closed the door and locked it.

I walked back over to the living room where Eli was on the couch sticking his head over the cushion, waiting for me.

"Did you and my Daddy kiss?" He asked.

"Eli," I laughed in embarrassment, "Its none of your business."

"But I wanna know." He whined.

"Eli." I walked up and placed both of my hands on his cheeks. "Stop asking."

He poked out his bottom lip.

"Now help me pick out dinner."

"Okay." He said and got off the sofa, walking with me to the kitchen where we began to look through the pantry and refrigerator.

"Your Daddy needs to get some more groceries." I said and after a few minutes and decided to order a pizza instead.

We watched a little bit of The Jungle book while we waited for the pizza to arrive, and once it did I got the two boys at the table so they could eat.

I had a couple slices myself and then put the rest in the fridge for Calum to have later.

Then we went back to watch the rest of the movie.

Cade was sitting next to me, babbling about the bear on the television while Eli sat in my lap.

"Nessa, how do you kiss?" He looked up and asked me.

"How do you kiss?" I laughed. "Who do you need to know how to kiss?"

"My girlfriend."

"You have a girlfriend?" I asked him, playing along.

"Yeah." He nodded, a big smile on his face.

"What's her name."

"Her name is Nessa too."

"Really? What does she look like?"

"She has brown hair." He said and I smiled as he looked at my hair.

"And what color eyes does she have?"

"Green." He said after looking at my eyes.

"What's her favorite color?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Purple."

"That's her favorite color too."

I laughed and then hugged him.

"I think your pulling my leg." I smiled.

"No!" Eli laughed as I tickled his side.

Not long after this I got both Eli and Cade in the bath, the two of them playing with the bath toys, and then I got them dried off and in their pajamas.

Eli went to get himself a glass of water as I rocked Cade in the rocking chair and then put him down in his crib.

After that I went over to Eli who was sitting in his bed waiting for me.

He laid down so I could pull the blanket over him and tuck it in around his sides.

"Goodnight, Eli."

"Night, Nessa." He smiled up at me and I leaned in to kiss his cheek before getting up and leaving their room.

I cleaned up the kitchen and living room before making myself a coffee and then taking the blanket off the back of the couch and covering up as I took out my binders to study.

I had four more hours until Calum came back, so I might as well use the time to memorise these ten codes and the officers in the department.

After an hour and a half of smashing information into my brain, I took a thirty minute break to check on Eli and Cade, get some more coffee and check my phone.

I then hit the books again. I hadn't studied like this since college.

But studying did help pass the time, because at 2:15 the front door opened and I looked back to see Calum walk in.

"I was half expecting you to be asleep." He smiled as he closed the door.

"I stayed up just for you." I said flirtatiously and he laughed.

"Let me go put my belt up and i'll be back." He said and walked down the hall, looking in the boys room before continuing to his.

After a few moments he came back and sat down next to me on the couch as I moved my books.

"How was duty tonight?" I asked him.

"Good. How were the boys?"

"They did good, but Eli informed me that he has a girlfriend." I said and Calum raised his eyebrows, an amused smile on his face.

"He does?"

"Yes. He said her name was also Nessa. She had brown hair and green eyes, and her favourite colour was purple."

He laughed at this.

"He was hilarious tonight." I giggled.

"He's something." Calum shook his head. "So do you want to talk about everything?"

"I guess, yeah." I said and he looked at me like he was waiting for me to start talking. "What do you want me to say?"

"Tell me why you freaked out so badly and told me no when you wanted to say yes."

I smiled awkwardly and folded my hands in my lap.

"I moved here for a second chance, and i've been working on trying to let go of my past and try and live in the moment, but it's been more difficult than I thought it would be. So when you asked me to be your girlfriend I just panicked, because I thought you wouldn't want me because of my past, and so I told you no. But I had to realise that I've been given a second chance and I should use it."

"You could've told me that." He said and I looked up at him. "I would've understood."

"I guess I was just scared."

He nodded.

"Well, I guess since you said yes it doesn't really matter anymore, but if you do ever feel that way again i'd like for you to tell me."

"I'll try." I smiled.

"So you never answered my question earlier." He changed the topic of our conversation.

"What was your question?"

"Remember when I was asking you girlfriend questions...?"

"Calum its two in the morning, you're going to have to remind me." I laughed.

"I asked you if you were the type of girl that was okay with being touched or if you didn't like that."

"Yes, and then I asked you what you meant by touch and then Luke told us to shut up so technically you never answered my question." I said and he shook his head as he smiled.

"By touch I meant hand holding and hugging, general touches here and there when we are in public."

"That's okay with me." I said. "Is that okay with you?"

He nodded. "Meredith didn't like showing affection in public, so I just wanted to ask you."

"Oh, well I like it a lot. It's like a conversation without words. Like if you hold my hand it tells me that you want me to know you're there, or like if you put your arm around my shoulders it tells me you want to be close to me."

He smiled before moving a bit closer to me.

"And when we're in private?"

I leaned up to place a hand on his chest and placed my lips at his ear.

"When we're in private anything goes."

I felt his body still beneath my hand for a second before he turned his head to the side so he could connect our lips.

As he kissed me I leaned back, causing him to follow, and after a few minutes he reached behind me to shove my binders onto the floor so I could lay on my back.

He moved up and allowed himself to be over me which I loved. I then felt his hand move and land on my thigh, his thumb moving back and forth over the fabric of my leggings.

I let out a whine for more and felt him smirk before he broke the kiss to speak.

"Stay the night."

"Okay, its way too soon for that."

"I know you're right, but I don't care." He kissed me several more times.

I let him kiss me until I couldn't breathe and then pushed up on his chest with my hands, Calum sitting back.

"You should bring Cade and Eli over to my place tomorrow and I can make dinner." I said as we looked at each other.

"Okay." He said and I smiled, reaching up a hand for him to hold.

"I should go home now, I have to be at work at eight."

"Are you good to drive home?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

He helped me up and picked up my binders as I stretched.

I took my books from him and then grabbed my bag, walking around the sofa to the front door.

"See you tomorrow." I smiled.

"See you then." He leaned in for one more kiss which I didn't complain about and I then waved before leaving.

As I got in my car to drive home I saw him watching from the window and realized that this was real.

And I hoped it would last.

--

Will it last?

Only time (and more chapters) will tell ;)

What do you think is in store for Calum and Nessa, and will getting together so quickly be a mistake or something great?

More to come!

Much love xx-M