Link's pov

"I wish she was always that good behaved." I glance up from the menu in my hand as Goldie mutters those words. Looking to the left I see what she means. Rosie is usually very dominating and aggressive in what she wants. But as soon as she sees Bear, she is as docile as a new born kitten.

"Don't worry love," Troy kisses her cheek lovingly. "She is just a little wilful." He winks at her, "Like someone else I know." Goldie just huffs crossing her arms pouting.

I do get what she means though, despite his bulk and large size, babies and toddlers' immediately love Bear. Whenever he walks into their sight, they are on their best behaviour. "Maybe you should change career from surveillance to day care." Bear blinks stupidly as he returns from the kiddie corner with a few uncertain children tagging along.

"Why would I do that?" Bear bounces Rosie lightly on his knees, getting giggles and a few jealous pouts in return.

"Maybe you should ask the crowd." I glance at the two toddlers still staring up at him adoringly. Bear blushes to the roots of his hair as he hands a sleepy Rosie to her mother.

"You need to go back to your parents." They cling to him as he holds out his hands to them. Squealing in delight the kids follow Bear as he guides the kids back to their slightly startled parents in the kiddie corner. I laugh slightly as I watch Bear rub the back of his neck sheepishly when he speaks to the toddlers' parents. To everyone's astonishment, the kids start crying as Bear walks back to our table, no matter what their parents do to hush them, they keep wailing.

Bear looks startled at the noise, clearly unsure what to do now others join in. Even Rosie shows solidarity and wails her little lungs out. "There, there Rosie. It's okay, everything is okay." Not even his reassuring her helps her to calm down. She hiccups once before starting again. We all look uncomfortable at one and other. "Maybe we should find another restaurant?"

Bear slips out of his chair and walks cautiously over to the child that started crying first. Under the watchful eye of the child's father, Bear slowly lowers himself to the child's height. "What's wrong little man?"

The child sniffles and hiccups as he looks up at the sound of Bear's voice. There is mucus running out of his nose down his face as he rubs a tiny fist in his eye. Whipping out a paper tissue Bear wipes his face clean. "Is there something in your eye little man?"

The child sniffles again before slowly nodding his head. Bear cups the child's face in his huge hands, tilting it back slightly. After giving the father a careful look as he seems ready to tear his hair out in frustration. "Let's have a look." Bear gently rubs his thumb along the child's left eye.

It is deathly quiet as the whole restaurant watches Bear with a held breath. The child blinks his eyes open, suddenly a lot more lively than before. "All better?" The child nods his head and beams broadly. Bear grins back as he gets up and returns to our table.

After that happened; all activity in the restaurant resumes and we order our food. The rest of our stay is uneventful, the food delicious.

"We really should do this again sometime soon! And I want to meet your Daddy!" Bear blushes as Goldie teasingly pokes him in the chest. "Seriously though, I would like to meet him. I want to know what kind of man makes my Papa Bear glow like this."

I frown playfully "Are you sure you want to meet him for that reason? Not the reason that he is one of the main owners of the Pleasure District?" She gapes in mock shock.

"It might have something to do with it. I can say that the man is a complete mystery to me. I really am curious as to what kind of man he is." She gives Bear and me a kiss on the cheek each. "Take care of yourself Papa Bear. You too Link." One last wave and they disappear around the bend in their fancy car.

When we get back, Bear is rushing around the house as he has a viewing for his apartment in an hour with a potential buyer. It has taken months to get Bear to agree to sell it. Yet, now that we are this stage, he is still nervous about letting it go. I think the thought of having nowhere else to go should things go downhill terrifies him. He is so used to running away when things go bad that it has become a habit.

"Do you want me to come with you?" I ask for the millionth time since Bear agreed to do the viewing himself. Bear looks up from buttoning his pristine white shirt. I chuckle softly as he is buttoning it crocked. "I can come with you if you want me too. You know that right?" I push his shaking hands away from his shirt and undo his work before buttoning it correctly. "It will be fine."

Bear mutters something under his breath before leaning his head against mine. I can see the uncertainty and fear swirl in his eyes. "Lauren will be there, she will take care of you." He sighs softly before he straightens tugging on his coat. "Be safe, okay?" He nods his head before calling out to Cedric and the door clicks softly as he closes it.

Groaning and a little nervous, I flop down on the couch. "What's wrong Pet?" Cedric's deep voice pulls me from my unplanned slumber. "What is it that has you this worried?" Twisting my head to look at him, I snuggle close as he sits down next to me.

"It's Bear." I mumble to his chest, rubbing my nose along the fabric of his shirt. His scent never fails to calm me down. "I am worried that he will run away again."

"It does seem that running away is his response to when things get tough." I look up in alarm. "But, this is also a chance for him to show that he can change. Have faith in his return Pet. He might surprise us." I settle down again, trying to suppress the restless feeling in my gut.

My heart is pumping ruthlessly in my chest as the clock keeps on ticking and still no sign of Bear of Lauren for that matter. When it turned five o'clock and still no Bear I have taken up residence on the bottom stair to watch the front door. That was six hours ago.

"He wouldn't leave us like that." Cedric drops a blanket around my shoulders, although his voice is strong, I detect some worry in his tone. We are huddled together when there is a sound at the door. I check the clock, its half past twelve. An excited but hushed voice sounds from the other side and there is a rattle sound of keys being shaken.

Bear is back! He is coming home!

Silently, Cedric gets up and turns on the porch light. There is a grunt unmistakably Bear's at the sudden illumination. I get up, as the door slowly opens and Bear spills over the threshold, clearly being pushed in by Lauren. "Ah! You are still awake good!" She struts past me, and Cedric just shakes his head as he follows her to the kitchen. When we are all situated in the kitchen, I see that Lauren whipped out a few glasses and a bottle of Cedric's oldest red wine. The wine that he keeps for very special occasions. "Don't give me that look Ced, we have something to celebrate!" Lauren casually pops the cork from the bottle and starts pouring glasses. "A toast," she announces, holding up her glass. "To the profitable sell of Bear's apartment!"

A clinking sound reaches my ears, but I can only see Bear's slightly hunched form sitting at the kitchen table. Playing with the stem of him glass. "You sold it."

I can't believe it! I want to shout it from the rooftops, but Bear's anxiousness reminds me that he isn't too sure about this. "I am soo proud you!" I hug him tight to my chest, pressing my lips to his forehead. "I am happy you chose to stay here, with me and Cedric." I hug him tighter if possible. "So damn happy."

"Welcome home Bear." Cedric's voice is warm as he comes up behind me and squeezes Bear shoulder. "Welcome home."

"Home..." There is a soft sniff and Bear rubs his face against my shirt. My arms shake slightly at the longing in that one word. Bear's hands tremble as they slowly come up and grip my shirt.

"Yeah, this is your home." Cedric's arms come around us, pulling us close. "You will always have a home with us Bear. You will always have a home with us."

"What has brought that spring in your step?" Rico looks at me with a cocked eyebrow. Since Bear signed over the deeds of the apartment to the new tenant last week, I can't keep the radiant smile off my face. The grin stays on my face and Rico just shook his head. "If you are smiling like that, I don't think I want to know about it." He mutters to himself as returns back to face his monitors.

He starts to blush when Bear enters the room with a slight limp, thinking the obvious. Not knowing Bear twisted his ankle when stepping down the back porch as he was wrestling to clean the very much neglected barbecue. Not that I will tell him or anybody else differently.

Bear blinks at the awkward silence that has descended since his entrance. He glares at me accusing before shaking his head. "That's not it." He mutters, though the direct red colour on his face will make people think otherwise.

During the whole day Bear is straightening and re-straightening the flyers Cedric has left lying all around the house is heart-warming. It seems he is seriously thinking about it. This is good. He really needs to figure out if he really wants to do this. And the course Cedric picked out for him seems to fit perfectly in his current schedule. Although thanks to his dwindling, it is very close to the closing date to apply for it.

"So, are you going to apply for it?" Bear startles as I lean my chin on his shoulder. "It seems to be a good place to start." I look over the toddler day-care course flyer that Bear has on top of the substantial stack.

"I don't know...." Bear slumps forward and softly bangs his head on the table. "What if I can't do this, what if this is going to be a disaster? That is going to be a very costly mistake." Although he mutters and the words are muted by the wood of the table, I still hear every word.

"Well, if you do the course and find out during the course it is not for you that is fine. You can always quit or you can finish it and do nothing with it. That is all up to you." I press my lips to his cheek "Just sleep on it and try not to worry too much about it."

I give his arm a firm tug, making him stumble out of his chair. Bear rolls his eyes as I grin leading him to the massive bed in the middle of the room. "Now, let's go to bed." Bear does try to put up a fight, but his eyes close as soon as his head hits the pillow. Bear grunts a little as he shifts to accommodate me and wraps his arm around me as I wiggle a little closer. Smiling to myself, I can't help but think that Goldie has the right name for him. He is a big cuddly teddy bear; once you get to know him.