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They awoke not too much later. This time they let the passion burn hot and slow like they both wanted to do ealier but couldn’t. Afterwards, they lay in each other’s arms whispering sweet words of endless love before sleep over took them once again. They awoke throughout the night to redisover each other. Neither got much sleep and neither complained. It was still dark out when they both decided that Kid should leave. “Oh, Kid, I hate to see you go, but I’d hate for Ms. Lilian to catch you here even more”, Lou pouted. “I know. I know”, he whispered in between kisses. “Besides I’ll be back sooner than you think”, he said as he continued to place soft kisses on her face. “So, why don’t we both take the rest of the night and try to get some real sleep”, he offered. “I think you wore me out”, he said with a sly smile and a final kiss on her nose. She managed a slight grin at his words. She then rolled over to open her side table drawer to find a match for the candles she kept beside her bed. When she had lit the last one, she turned to find Kid already out of bed and getting dressed. The sight of him made her face warm and the rest of her body tingle. They had done all of there reconnecting in the dark. She was hit hard with the realization of just how perfect his body really was. Before she knew it, she was slithering to the edge of the bed and moving to stand directly in front of him. “What are you doing, Lou?”, he asked as her hands began to wander under his just put on shirt. “Well, if you have to ask”, she said seductively, “then I must not be doing it right”. “Oh, Lou…”, he moaned as his shirt once again found itself on the floor and his pants followed soon after.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Lou”, he whispered in her ear. “Sweetheart, I need to be going if I’m going to make it out of here before anyone else shows up”, he said as he gave her a slight nudge to wake her.“Oh, alright”, she mumbled sleepily. Slowly they disentangled themselves, and Kid got dressed once again. Lou wrapped herself in her sheet and walked him to the door. They shared many more passionate kisses as they made arrangements to meet later on that day. “I don’t know how I’mgoing to make it through the day”, Kid moaned as he gave in to one more kiss. “Just know that I will be thinking of you too”, she said and gave him a quick kiss on the chin. Kid left quickly before things got started up again. Lou blew out the candles and crawled back into bed. The linen still held his scent. She curled herself around the pillow he’d slept on and fell asleep with a smile. Kid hurried back to the hotel. Luckily there was no one there to see him sneaking in except for the night deskman who was soundly asleep in his chair. Well, at least getting back at this hour will save me a lot of explaining, he thought to himself as he headed up the stairs. He made his way back to his room. He sat on the edge of his bed and removed his shoes. I can’t believe how lucky we were that no one saw me leaving at this time of night, he thought with a amazed smile. Then he collapsed in bed with all of his clothes on. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. However, he was wrong. Someone did see him leave, and they were not happy about it in the least.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The sun came up a few hours later, but it was the knocking on his door got him up. “Go away!”, he shouted angrily at the door.“Oh, get up, Kid!”, Jimmy yelled back. “You’re gonna miss breakfast”, Buck chimed in. “I don’t want breakfast! I want sleep!”, he shouted and threw a pillow at the door. At that, sounds of laughter came floating from the other side of the door. “Hey, nobody told ya to stay up all hours of the night. Now get your ass up”, Jimmy yelled as he banged loudly on the door. They heard a loud thump which they figured was the Kid getting out bed. There assumption was confirmed when they heard him stomping towards the door. The door swung open violently, and they found themselves face to face with a very unhappy Kid. Jimmy could almost feel the punch land when Buck spoke up. “You know the dress shop should be opening soon. I’m pretty sure Lou would appreciate some breakfast”, he said calmly. At the mention of her name, memories of the night before flooded back,and his face lit up with a silly grin. “Well, I think you’ve got something there, Buck”, Jimmy whispered to Buck as he took in his friend’s reaction. Kid started to rub his stubbled face to help wipe away the sleep, and the silly grin. “Alright. Just give me a few minutes to wash up”, he said as he turned to go start getting ready. “We’ll wait for you downstairs”, Buck said as he and Jimmy started down the hall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kid made good time and joined them only a short while later. The three friends ate quickly and quietly. No one asked Kid about the night before. The answers were written all over his exhausted face. As they finished up, Kid placed another order that he would take to Lou. Once her food was ready and their’s was paid for, the trio headed towards the dress shop. It hardly seemed like it had all happened just the day before.As they entered the shop, Kid was the first to notice her. She was fast asleep with her head on the counter. He slowly made his way to her and softly placed the food on the counter next to her. He then moved beside her to place a kiss on her cheek. Lou thought she was still dreaming. The food smelled so good, and she was so hungry. Then she felt a kiss on her cheek and knew it was Kid. She smiled and tried to reach for him. When her fingers found the cold hard countertop instead , she instantly jerked awake. Kid jumped back at her reaction while both Jimmy and Buck shared a laugh. “Long night, Lou?”, Jimmy asked with a knowing smile. She simply glared at him before Kid got her attention. “I’m sorry, Angel. I didn’t mean to scare you”, he said apologetically. “It’s alright, Kid”, she said feeling slightly embarassed. “I’m just glad it was you guys and not customers”, she said a weak laugh. “Well, I brought you some breakfast. Maybe that will help wake you up”, Kid said as he moved to place her food in front of her and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “Oh, thank you, Kid! You must have read my mind!”, she said escitedly as she began to dig in. “Well, we are going to go look around the shops again. We didn’t actually get to see what this town had to offer before”, Kid said as watched Lou devour her meal. “How about I come back later and take you to lunch?”, he asked as he moved to stand behind her and rest his chin on her head. “Oooh, Kid, that sounds wonderful”, she sighed and leaned back into his chest. “Well, it’s a date then”, he said with a smile. “I’ll be back to pick you up around 1:00”, he said and then leaned down to kiss her. “I can’t wait”, she sighed against his lips. They were interrupted by the gagging noises from across the room. “Jeez, you’d think we weren’t still in public with the way those to carry on”, Jimmy said tyring to sound annoyed. “Don’t be jealous”, Lou laughed. “Who’s jealous?”, Jimmy asked with his best fake offended face. “I’ve got Buck. Who needs you two?”, he said while he placed an arm around Buck’s shoulders. “How about lunch, my darling?”, Jimmy asked Buck in his sweetest tone. “That would be absolutely devine, my love”, Buck answered in his best impression of a woman’s voice. Then they both reached for each other and pretended to embrace. The room was soon filled with laughter as the men headed out of the store. “I’ll see you later, Lou”, Kid called as he left. “I’ll be waiting”, she called back to him as the door shut behind them.
*Chapter Ten*
Kid arrived promptly at 1:00 to take Lou to lunch. She had been anticipating his arrival since the moment he left and was ready to leave as soon as he walked through the door.“Are you ready?”, Kid asked as his hand reached for hers. “Been ready since you left”, Lou said with a smile. Lou shouted her good-bye to the shop owner, Mrs. Lilian, as they walked out of the door. The couple only had eyes for each other as they smiled and crossed the street hand in hand. The spell was broken by someone calling Lou’s name. “Well, hello there Ms. Louise”, a kindly old man called as he approached the couple. “From the look of things I trust that you are feeling much better now. This must be…”, he started before he was quickly interrupted. “This here is my good friend Kid, Dr. Kincaid”, Lou hurried to say as her face went from flushed to bright red. Kid was surprised at her reaction to this harmless looking old man. He was unsure of exactly how to react to the situation, but his southern upbringing demanded that manners come first. So, he released Lou’s hand so that he could offer it for a handshake as he properly introduced himself. “Name’s Kid. It’s nice to meet ya”, he said as he gave the older man a firm handshake. “I’m Andrew Kincaid, the town doctor”, he replied. He too was surprised at Lou’s reaction but thought it best to simply go along with her. “Ms. Louise has been a welcome addition to our town. She helped me pick out an anniversary gift for my wife”, he chattered on happily. “She has excellent taste. Isabelle loved it that dress”, he finished. Lou was looking more uncomfortable by the second, and both men noticed. Yet is was the kind doctor who decided to ease her sufferiing. “Well, I can see that you two have a previous engagement”, he said as he spared Lou a sympathetic look. He offered Kid another handshake before he parted. “It was nice to meet you, Kid”, he said sincerely. “Nice to meet you too”, Kid replied absently. His thoughts were still on Lou’s strange reaction. As the doctor started to walk away, he stopped to whisper something in Lou’s ear that had her nervously bobbing her head in agreement. At that, he was gone down the street to his office. They continued on to the restaurant and were almost there before Kid couldn’t hold it in anymore. “What was that about, Lou?”, Kid asked with a voice filled with concern. Lou winced because she thought she might have actually gotten away with her slip up. “What are you talking about, Kid?”, Lou asked in return, trying her best to appear naïve. “Don’t give me that”, he spat out as frustration started to get the better of him. He stopped in his tracks and grabbed her arm to spin her around to face him. “You know damn well what I’m talking about”, he continued as he moved to stand directly in front of her. From the tone of his voice she knew that he was not going to just let this go. “Kid, would you please just calm down. You are causing a scene”, she said in a harsh whisper. “I don’t’ give a damn about causing a scene!”, he shouted back. “I give a damn about you. I give a damn about the fact that you are obviously hiding something from me”, he said as he grabbed her hands and pulled her to him. “Lou, I thought we were gonna do things differently this time. We can’t make this work if we start out by keeping things from each other”, he said softly as he began to calm down. “What are you hiding from me, Lou?”, he asked her as he moved to touch her cheek. At that, a single tear escaped and ran down her face. “Oh, Kid. I want to tell you, but this isn’t the time”, she said quietly as she her head dropped so that her gaze fell to the street. “I know that this is not what you want to hear”, she spoke more clearly and returned her gaze to meet his. “But I promise you, Kid, this isn’t like the last time. I want to tell you. I’m going to tell you. And if you want, I will tell you right now, but this is not how I want this to happen”, she continued. She slowly reached up to hold his face in her hands and pleaded with him, “Please, Kid. Let me do this right”. He couldn’t refuse her anything when she looked at him with those big brown eyes. “Fine, Lou”, he sighed. Relief rushed over her. “Oh, thank you so much, Kid”, she sighed in relief. Kid placed a firm grasp on her shoulders and started to speak. “Lou, I’m only doing this because it seems so important to ya that I do. But that doesn’t mean that I’m happy about it”, he said firmly. “I know. I know”, she said as she nodded her head rapidly. She then took his hand in hers and led him into the hotel restaurant. Their lunch still managed to be pleasant as they found other things to talk about. After they finshed eating, they began walking back to the dress shop. Suddenly, Sheriff Gregors appeared in front of them. “Well now, it looks like you found what you were looking for”, he sneered at Kid. Kid immediately moved to stand between Lou and the sheriff before responding, “Yeah, and with no thanks to you”. “As I said before, I had no way of knowing that she was the one you were looking for”, Gregors said as he looked around Kid to wink at Louise. “It’s nice to see you, Louise”, he said sweetly. “Oh, drop dead, Gregors”, she shot back at him. “Now is that any way to talk to your very good friend, Louise?”, he asked with mixture of rage and hurt on his face. That look was quickly hidden as Kid moved to once again block his view of Lou. “Well, she’s being a hell of a lot nicer than I’m gonna be if you don’t’ get out of our way”, Kid snarled. His response made Gregors step back quickly before he regained his composure. Gregors quickly plastered a big smile on his face before saying, “Well, I guess I’ll be heading on back to work. Nice talking to you, Kid”, he smirked. Then walked around to tip his hat at Lou and say, “Always a pleasure”. Then he walked away leaving an irritated Lou and a fuming Kid.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three hours later Lou was still having the same argument with Kid that she’d been having off and on since Gregors left. “Kid, you don’t have wait around here all day”, Lou said with a voice full of exasperation. “He’s not going to bother me here”, she said for what seemed like the thousandth time.“Damn right he’s not going to bother you here or anywhere else for that matter!”, Kid said excitedly. He was still more than a little upset at the encounter. At that exact moment, the door to the shop opened and in walked Jimmy and Buck. “Damn, Kid, we could here you outside”, Jimmy joked before he got a look at the Kid’s face. One look told him that something had happened. “What’s wrong”, Jimmy asked, immediately becoming concerned. “That asshole sheriff is what happened!”, Kid snapped back. “Kid, please calm down”, Lou all but begged, “I can’t have you causing a scene here”. She then moved to stand in front of him and placed a hand on his heaving chest. “What happened, Lou”, Buck asked. He knew that Kid was far too upset for him to get a straight answer out of him. “Well, the Kid and I went to lunch, and on our way back here, we ran into Sheriff Gregors. Nothing happened, really. All he did was speak to us, but the Kid got all riled up about it”, she answered. “He hasn’t calmed down since”, she sighed. “It’s not just that he spoke to us”, Kid rushed in trying to explain. “It’s the way he spoke to her-especially the way he was looking at her”, he added. “First things first. Kid you gotta calm down”, Buck said softly. “I am calm”, he growled back. “Yeah, Kid, I can see that about you”, Jimmy added. “When I walked in here I said to myself ‘Now there’s a calm looking man’ ”, he finished on a laugh. “Alright, I get your point”, Kid sighed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially Lou. She stood on her tiptoes to place a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth before going to help a customer who had just walked in. Jimmy and Buck moved to stand closer to Kid so that they could talk without everyone in the store hearing them. “So, you think this Gregors is going to cause trouble”, Jimmy asked in a hushed tone. “I can feel it, Jimmy”, Kid whispered back harshly. “He’s gonna try something, and I have to stop him”, he finished as his voice began to rise again. This caused Lou and her customer to turn and look at him. Kid gave her a sheepish grin and an apologetic look. “We won’t let anything happen to her, Kid”, Buck said as he tried to calm him down again. “Yeah, well Lou’s already talked to Mrs. Lilian. We should be on our way back home day after tomorrow”, he said wearily. “The sooner we get away from this place, the better off we’ll all be”, he finished.
*Chapter Eleven*
“Who the hell does he think he is?!?”, Gregors shouted as he stormed through the jail house door. He slamed the door shut behind him and startled his deputy into fallling backwards out of his chair.“What the…”, Deputy Redness stuttered as he tried to find his balance. “That son of a bitch just thinks he can waltz into my town and take my girl”, Gregors grumbled more to himself than to anyone else. “Who are you talking about, Boss?”, Redness asked looking completely lost. “The one they call Kid, you idiot! Who else?”, he shouted angrily. “He actually thinks that I’m going to just let him take her away from me”, he said in disbelief. “Well, I’ll show him. He’ll regret the day he tried to get in between me and what I want”, he said angrily. “What are you gonna do?”, Redness asked curiously. “Oh, you’ll find out sooner than you think”, he said in a dangerously quiet tone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rest of the afternoon went by rather uneventfully. Jimmy and Buck went to make arrangements for the transfer of Lou’s belongings. Kid remained in the dress shop with Lou for the rest of the afternoon. He and Mrs. Lilian had several private conversations before Mrs. Lilian disappeared into her sewing room. Lou had been too busy with other customers to find the time to question either of them. Finally, it was time to close shop for the day. Lou was walking Mrs. Lilian to the door when curiosity got the better of her.“You two seemed quite secretive today. Anything I should know about”, Lou asked playfully. “My, my, Louise. Patience is a virtue. You’ll find out soon enough”, she said with a wink. “By the way, I hope you know how much I have come to care for you. You are like a daughter to me. So, I feel that it is my right to give you my opinion”, she said seriously. “That man back there…well, he’s a keeper”, she said matter of factly.”I don’t know the details of your past, but I know that you two should have a beautiful future together. And if I can still say that after he just took away my best employee, then you know it must be the truth”, she concluded by giving Lou a kiss on the cheek. “You take care now”, she said as she left. Lou was almost in tears. She had really come to care for the woman, and she would miss her terribly. It was at that moment she heard her name. “Lou”, Kid called from behind her. She turned to see him standing there holding a bouquet of lilies and plain wrapped gift. This was almost too much for her. “Well, Kid. It looks like you’ve been keeping some secrets of your own”, she said on a laugh that almost came out as a sob. He gave her one of his heartstopping smiles as he moved close to her. As he handed her the flowers and the gift he couldn’t stop smiling. “Yeah, I guess I have. I just wanted to make you smile”, he said shyly. “Well, congratulations”, she said as smiled widely. “You haven’t even opened your gift yet”, he laughed. “Kid, I don’t need any gifts”, she said softly. “I just need you”. That made him smile even bigger. He took her hand and led to a chair. He took the flowers from her and laid them gently on the floor as she took a seat. “Open your gift, Lou”, he said excitedly. It was almost like Christmas Day as she tore at the wrapping paper. “Ohhhh, Kid”, she whispered. “It’s beautiful”, she squealed as she held up an emerald green velvet dress with lace trimming on the neckline and the ends of the sleeves. “Mrs. Lilian helped me pick it out”, Kid said with a grin. “Go put it on. I want to see if it looks the same as it does when I imagined it on you”, he said as he helped her to her feet. Lou returned a while later looking like a brand new woman. The dress fit her curves just right. Kid thought it caressed her body like his hands would like to. She had curled her hair and tied some of up with just a few wisps falling to frame her face. Kid thought she looked every bit like the angel she was. He was left speechless. “Well, what do you think? Does it look the way you imagined?”, Lou asked nervously. “I think that you are the most beautiful woman there has ever been…will ever be. And I must be the luckiest man in the world”, he said honestly as he moved to hand her the lilies from earlier. “I made reservations at the restaurant on the other end of town.”, he said as she took his arm and they headed out of the store. They walked to the restaurant in silence. They were both too caught in the magic of the evening. Dinner went by quickly. They talked about how wonderful things had been in the beginning for them, but they spent most of evening talking about the future. The talk of their future togther lasted until after the meal and continued as they walked back to Lou’s apartment. They entered the darkened room, and Lou went to light some candles. Once the room was illuminated, Lou turned to face him. “Kid”, Lou said “Yeah, Lou”, he answered expectantly. “Well, Kid, we’ve been talking a lot about our future”, she started. “Yeah, Lou, we have”, he filled in her silence. “Kid, I really don’t know how to tell you this”, she said nervously. “Just say it. You know you can tell me anything”, he said as he took her hand in his. “I’m not sure….”,, she mumbled. “Lou does this have to do with what happened this afternoon with the doctor. Lou are you alright? Are you sick? Is that what you can’t tell me?”, Kid rambled on as thoughts of the worst possible scenarios raced through his mind. “No, well, I don’t know, Kid”, she cut in. “Kid, we’re going to have a baby”, she said quickly. She said it so fast that he wasn’t even sure that he heard her correctly. “Say that again, Lou”, he said as the shock set in. “I said….we’re going to have a baby, Kid”, she mumbled. “Lou, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”, he asked in disbelief. “Kid, I’m pregnant”, she said clearly. There were a few moments of tense silence before Kid erupted in shouts of laughter. He swooped her into his arms and began to spin her around in circles. He stopped almost as quickly as he started. Panic was written all over his face as he quickly but gently put her down. “Kid, are you alright”, she asked worredly. “Oh, geez, Lou. I wasn’t thinking. Did I hurt you? Maybe I shouldn’t have picked you up and spun you around like that”, he said with a voice filled with concern. “Kid, I’m sure I’m fine”, Lou said. She was completely unprepared for his reaction. He actually seemed overjoyed at the idea of being a father. The fact that he was actually scared that he may have hurt her touched her heart. She cupped his face in her hands and told him once agan, “I’m fine, Kid. I promise”. She then leaned up to place a kiss on his lips. “Lou, how do you know that you are…you know”, Kid asked as the shock and panic wore off. “Well, I’d been feeling bad since a little while before I got here. Lilian suggested that I see the doctor to make sure I didn’t have some sickness that had swept through the town right before I arrived”, she said as she led him to sit on the bed next to her. “So, I went, and he checked me out. He told me that I was a month pregnant”, she said still sounding amazed at the idea. “You can’t imagine how completely scared I was”, she said softly as the memory came flooding back. He squeezed her hand to let her know that she wasn’t alone anymore. “Anyway, I had just committed myself to doing this alone when you showed up”, she said with smirk. “Now do you understand why I didn’t want to tell you in the middle of the street in front of everybody?”, she said as she turned so that she could look at him. Kid was still trying to take it all in. He was going to be a father-someone’s dad. He felt bad that Lou had to find out alone, but he was also a little upset that she would try to raise his baby without him ever knowing about it. But, as he looked at her, staring at him with her big brown eyes filled with nervous excitement, everything disappeared except for his love for her and the love for the child he now knew was growing inside of her. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. Just as quickly he released her. “Lou!”, he gasped. “What is it”, she asked. “You were pregnant when we…you know…last night”, he said as a new wave of panic settled over him. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I was, that is unless this whole baby thing can just come and go”, Lou said on a laugh. “Be serious, Lou. Maybe I didn’t hurt you before when I picked you up, but how can you be sure that I didn’t hurt the baby when we were…you know”, Kid asked as calmly as he could maange. “I’m sure everything is fine, Kid, but if it will make you feel better, I will stop by the doctor’s tomorrow to get checked out again”, she said sweetly. “Yeah, that would make me feel a lot better”, he said sounding more like himself. “And this time, we can do it together”, he said with a smile as he pulled her to lie beside him. “Pardon me for saying, Kid, but doing it together is what got us here in the first place”, Lou said before she burst into hysterical laughter. At first Kid was not amused, but soon the humor got to him too, and he joined in her laughter. They lay there holding each other for hours before Kid got up to leave. “I’ll be back in the morning with breakfast for ya”, he said as he leaned down to place a kiss on her nose. “And I’ll have breakfast for you too, little one”, he said softly as he placed a kiss on her stomach. The gesture brought tears to her eyes. “Take care you two”, he called as he walked to the door. Before he walked out he turned to say, “Remember, daddy loves you both”. And then he was gone. Kid walked back to the hotel in a daze. He couldn’t get over how quickly things could change. One day he’s not sure he and Lou will ever see each other again. The next thing he knew, they were about to become a family. He shut the door behind him as he entered his room. He undressed for bed, the whole time thoughts of Lou and his child danced around his imagination. Would they have a girl who would be just as beautiful as her mother and the apple of his eye? Or would they have a son he could help grow into a man? He hated to leave Lou alone, especially now, but neither one of them wanted to cause any trouble for the kind old lady that had taken Lou in when she needed help. So, Kid just layed there for the longest time. He couldn’t stop thinking about how wonderful things were going to be from now on. He eventually fell asleep wearing a smile that threatened to split his face.
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