The pieces were easy to put together once she had finally chosen to acknowledge the thought that they belonged together. Yet she wondered how she could have been that blind.

All those years. How could she have been oblivious to their feelings for each other?

It was so, well, obvious, actually, and it probably always had been. Only that she hadn't seen it. Or maybe chosen not to see it, she wasn't sure. Things had changed between them. She had learned to be patient with him, calm, more open, more sensitive to how he worked. And though time had brought them a new intimacy and they were closer now than they ever had been before the years apart had also helped her to detach herself from him, to position herself and to control her feelings, her anger and disappointment. And maybe that step backwards had made it possible for her to see the obvious. And to name it.

Kim sighed and set out to rinse the empty baby bottle.

Of course. It explained everything. Why he always had been there, at the oddest places, the oddest moments. One phone call away, one thought, if not only one look.
She couldn't recall them talking much but she had seen them unwind in each other’s presence. Maybe that should have given her something to think about in the first place. They both weren't exactly the embodiment of "relaxed" but the presence of the other usually helped them to calm down and focus. Or the exact opposite, it caused them to explode in each others’ faces. She had always wondered were these two extremes came from. Now she understood.

It had mostly happened when one of them was about to enter a dangerous situation and the other one couldn't do anything to prevent him from going. Their rage, their aggressiveness was the only outlet for their desperation, their fear to loose the other one to their inhuman profession. And not only once had she witnessed them seek each other’s presence after one of them had returned from a difficult mission. They would sit next to each other in front of one of the screens, one debriefing the other, never quite touching each other but obviously close, remarkably close, she thought now.
And there was this inexplicable, unconditional trust. It never took more than the other man's plea to make them trust each other how impossible the situation might be. It had always startled her. Now she understood.

It really explained everything.
It explained why she had witnessed them detach when he had married, maybe even explained the whole Washington thing, including Audrey Raines, something that seemed so unlike her dad.
The connection had always been there. It seemed as if no other relationship ever had changed that.

She tried to remember when she had noticed him being around her dad on a regular basis and found she could actually recall the moment exactly. She had come to the hospital to visit him the day after his heart attack and had found both men sound asleep, one in his bed, the other one in the chair at his side, his head resting on his arms on the bed. She had stood there for a moment, surprised by his presence and then chosen to get a cup of coffee and come back later. When she had, he had been gone. But from that day on he had been there. At the hospital, later at home, too, when she came to see her dad. Her dad had never said anything about it and she had never asked but simply excepted him there as her father's best friend.

And then her dad had been gone. In the blink of an eye. Shot. Just like her mother.
Or so she had thought.
She had fallen into a hole even deeper than the one she had slid into after her mother's death but he had been there and done whatever he could to help her.
He had been the one to tell her. She remembered opening the door to find him on her doorstep, looking pretty much as he always had. And yet. His expression had told her what she didn't want to hear before he even had started speaking and her knees had given in under her and in an instant he had caught her in his arms and held her, held her while she cried like she never had cried before. From this moment on he had always been there, had become a constant in her life as he once had in her father's. He never seemed too weary to care. He held her when she cried, took her home when he had found her on her dad's grave once more, almost passed out of exhaustion and put her to sleep on his couch. She recalled him sitting there sometimes when she woke up in the middle of the night, remembered the pained expression that now and then had crossed his features when he looked at her. And when she later understood where this expression had come from she wondered how he had managed. How he had had the nerve to witness her grief and not to tell her.
And yet, he had probably saved her life by not telling her. As had her dad. They would have come for her first. Both men had known that. Had known that how much the lie might hurt her, the truth might kill her.

She hadn't been able to acknowledge the sacrifice her dad had made that day, then, she had been too shocked. The feeling of betrayal had been overwhelming. How could he have done that to her? It had almost killed her to mourn him and then he just walked back into her life. Not dead at all.
It had almost hurt as much as loosing him.
It had hurt too much to react in any other way than with withdrawal. She couldn't.
She just couldn't wrap her mind around it.
And then he had been gone. Again. And even worse, they had both been gone.
At least one of them forever.
Or so she had thought.

Kim sighed and dried her hands on the kitchen towel, then proceeded to the living room to check on her daughter.
Sometimes she still wondered how she had made it through all of this alive and sane. And happy.
Having them both back in her life definitely had helped, though. The scars were fading rapidly with both of them around, with the three of them united as a family. Two dads and a daughter. 
And maybe it was time to acknowledge that there was something else to it, something she hadn't thought of before, that they were her two dads in a way she could only have wished for.

She smiled when she saw him coming across the lawn, his steps easy, calm. She shifted her daughter in her arms and went to open the door. 
"Hi dad". She leaned in to kiss him hello.
He smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Hi Kim." Another kiss to greet his granddaughter. "Hi Lily."
Kim lifted her into his arms. She loved to see him hold her daughter.
Although he was much more relaxed now than he had been ever before, whatever tension there was left vanished when she placed Lily in his arms. Both looked as content and serene then that it never failed to cause tears to well up behind her eyes.

"Come on in. Did you have a nice weekend at Karen's and Bill's?"
He nodded. "Yeah. It was good to see them. They're saying hello. Oh, and they're asking if there's anything about the wedding they can be of help with?"
Kim smiled. "They are so sweet. But actually, everything seems to be going alright. I can call them later to say thanks."
Jack nodded and smiled. "Do that. I'm sure they would be pleased to be hearing from you."
"How are they doing?"
"They're fine. Bill's better now and the skin transplants are finally starting to heal. He looks good."
"That's great news", Kim said quietly.
Jack nodded and sighed, his eyes drifting into the distance for a moment. "It is", he said absent-mindedly, and shaking off his thoughts he turned back towards her.
"How have you been?"
"Fine. I'm still enjoying it to be home with Lily."
He smiled at her warmly. "That's great, sweetheart."
"Listen, would you like a cup of coffee?"
"I sure could use one. There was a lot of traffic and Tony fell asleep as soon as we reached the highway."
Tony, she thought. Tony. Of course Tony had accompanied him.
"So you drove all the way back alone?" She gave him her "men!" glare and he smiled at her sheepishly.
"I did wake him up when I needed a break."
While she busied herself with the coffee she tried to bring up the courage to ask what she had wanted to ask for weeks. But the opportune moment had never come. Or she had chickened out.

Jack had sat down on the kitchen bench with Lily in his arms and was rocking her softly. She'd be asleep in a moment, she always was as soon as he set out to rock her in his arms.
Kim took a deep breath and turned to face him. She placed the steaming coffee in front of him and sat down on the chair across from him. He looked up at her and a frown crept onto his face when he saw her serious expression.
"Everything okay?" he asked, concern lacing his voice.
She nodded quickly but her eyes drifted to the glass in her hand. "Yeah. It's just... about the wedding..." Her voice trailed off. Damn it.
"What is it, sweetheart?" he asked gently. "Everything okay between you and Elijah?"
She smiled. "Yes, we're fine. Really. That's not it, I just", she bit her lip. Suddenly she felt like a four year old and she was sure she would blush like mad once she had asked.
"I was wondering if there's maybe someone you'd like to bring to the wedding. As a date, I mean."
He sighed in relief and the laugh lines around his eyes deepened. "Geez, Kim, I thought something was wrong."
"Is there someone?" she asked, holding her breath.
He shook his head and smiled at her. "There isn't. But thanks for asking."
"I'm sorry, I thought, I didn't mean to..."
He interrupted her. "It's fine, Kim. Don't worry." His eyes drifted towards Lily.
"You know that she has Teri's eyes, don't you?" His voice was soft and so full of emotion and she flinched at the pain shooting through her chest.
She swallowed. "I know. Do you miss her a lot?"
His eyes moved to the window and he stared into the distance for a moment before once more searching her eyes. "I do. Some days more, some days less."
Kim nodded. "Me too."
"Maybe it sounds stupid, but sometimes I still think she might be walking in through the door any second. I can almost hear her steps."
"I know what you mean", she said, reaching out to take his hand. He took it and squeezed it gently.
They sat in silence for a moment.
"She's asleep" he finally said, looking down at Lily.
Kim reached for the baby carrier.
"It's okay. I like to hold her" he said, smiling at her.
She answered his smile. "Okay."
Lily moved in her sleep and he bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Sleep tight, sweetheart" he whispered.
Kim bit her lip then took a deep breath and said tentatively: "Dad?"
He looked up at her.
She forced herself to meet his gaze and asked: "What about Tony?"
"Well, what about him?"
"Would you like to bring him? As a date?" She was thankful that she was sitting down as it made it easier for her not to bolt from the room.
He just stared at her, dumbfounded and she could literally see him struggle to process what he had just heard.
"Gimme the carrier" he asked, momentarily too wound up to hold Lily. She did so and carefully he placed Lily into it and then turned to look at his daughter.
"How long have you known?" he asked quietly and the insecurity that shone in his eyes took her breath away..
"Ages, I think. I just didn't realize I knew. Not before we went to pick up Tony at the airport last month."
He looked at her questioningly and she elaborated. "I saw you look at him like you used to look at Mom."
He flinched and cast down his eyes. "I'm sorry."
"No, dad, don't", she hurried to say. "I was so happy when I realized what I had seen."
He looked up at her, his expression full of doubt. "You were?"
"Of course I were" Kim whispered with emphasis.
Jack swallowed and dropped his eyes to his hands again.
Kim slid of her chair and moved around the table to sit next to him. Wrapping one of her arms around his shoulders she asked quietly: "How can you even think I wouldn't be happy?"
When he turned towards her there were tears in his eyes. He hugged her tightly. "Thank you", he whispered into her hair.
"Why didn't you ever say anything?" she asked when he released her.
He sighed. "I, we, we both weren't sure if things would work out between us at all."
"And they do?"
He nodded. "They do. We're, well, happy, I guess" he said, almost shyly.
Kim beamed at him. "That's great, dad."
He looked at her, scanning her features for any trace of doubt. "And you really are...?"
"Okay with it?" she finished his sentence.
He nodded. "Yeah."
"Of course I am. Tony means so much to me. And I mean, it's nothing I need to get used to, he's always been around anyway" she said with a smirk.
He mirrored her smirk: "He has been indeed."
"So you'll bring him?" she asked, taking his hand and squeezing it affectionately.
"I'm not sure if we've come that far yet, but I'll ask him. Thank you so much, Kim."