Nathan Bridger quietly opened the bedroom door in the dark.  A soft smile crossed his face as he saw Kristin asleep on the bed, her back towards him sleeping on her side.  Gingerly, he pulled his pajama bottoms off of his dresser and slipped back out into the bathroom to change.  A short time later he moved silently back into the bedroom, dropping his dirty uniform in the laundry basket and then cautiously lifting the sheet and sliding into the bed while being careful not to disturb its sleeping occupant.  He curled up behind her, gently laying his arm across her waist and closed his eyes.  He heard her sigh and then push back against him and he leaned his head over to place a tender kiss on her shoulder.  Nathan felt Kristin still and stiffen under his arm before she turned towards him silently, a glare on her face.

"Hello," he said tentatively.

"What time is it?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," Nathan said instinctively turning his head towards the bedside clock.  "A little after one, I guess."

"Nice of you to come home," she said sarcastically.

"Sorry, we had a problem with the boat."

The sarcasm didn't decrease.  "For a change."

"Sorry," he said again.

"I suppose that now you expect to make love."

Nathan frowned at the sudden change in topic.  "No.  Actually now I expect to go to sleep."

She was glaring again.  "I'm surprised.  Usually this is where things start heating up."

"Uh huh," Nathan said tentative again.  "Um, if you want to make love, that's okay with me."  The glare increased.  "Or if you don't that's okay too," he said hastily.

"No," she said positively.  "We're not making love tonight."

"Alright," he said totally confused.

"Get your hands off of me," she said sharply.

Nathan lifted the arm that he had wrapped around her waist and moved back onto his side of the bed.  "Fine," he said just as sharply back and turned over so his back was to her.  "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Nathan frowned at his bowl as he played with the cereal floating in the milk.  He'd tried to sleep but had spent the better part of the night trying to figure out what had made Kristin angry.  It had taken him until at least four in the morning before he realized that he'd never figure her out and he'd fallen into a restless sleep.

"Good morning," he said to Lucas as the young man wandered into the kitchen.

"Morning, sir," he cast an appraising glance at the older man. Alright, thought Lucas, he didn't sleep again last night.  "'Morning, Doc," he said to Kristin as she came in from the dining room.

"Good morning, Lucas," she said and then glared at Bridger.

Lucas nodded to himself.  Well, that answered why the Captain hadn't slept last night.

Bridger stood and took his bowl over to the sink and rinsed it out. He looked over at Lucas.  "I've got a meeting at 7:30 so I'm going to go in now.  You can either catch a ride with me or with Kristin."

Lucas glanced quickly over at Kristin who was still glaring at the Captain.  "Um, if it's alright, I'll head in with you.  I left a program running last night and I want to see what it did."  He smiled at the Doc.  "Is that okay with you?"

"You will eat breakfast, right?"

"Yes, ma'am.  I'll get something from the cafeteria.  I promise."

"Just make sure you let us know who you're coming home with."

"Um, neither, Tim is going to try to explain some communications theory to me tonight that I'm having a problem with for my thesis so I'm going to the library with him tonight.  He'll make sure I get home."

"Alright," Kristin said patting him on the shoulder.

Nathan came back into the kitchen with his briefcase in his hand.  "See you at lunch?" he asked Kristin.

"I've got a meeting," was her short response.

"Right," Nathan sighed.  "I'll see you tonight then."

"I bet," she said turning her head as he went to kiss her goodbye so that he was presented only with her cheek.

Nathan placed a quick kiss on her cheek and headed out of the house with Lucas behind him.  The young man caught up with him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Um, you two have a fight?" he asked cautiously.

Nathan fixed him with a 'no duh' look and then relented, smiling at him.  "Yeah, I guess so."

"You didn't get home until after one last night," Lucas said.  "How did you manage to have an argument between then and this morning?"

Nathan sighed and grinned at him.  "Creativity."  He tossed his car keys to Lucas.  "You want to drive?"

"Yeah," Lucas said excitedly.  "But that doesn't mean you can fall asleep on the way there."  Too many tickets had meant that Lucas' license had been reverted to probationary status and he needed an adult driving with him for right now.

Nathan grinned again across the top of the car.  "Trust me, Lucas... with your driving I never fall asleep."

Lucas stuck his tongue out at him and slipped into the driver's seat.

Nathan rubbed his hand tiredly across his face as he pulled the vid-screen close and dialed his home number.  He smiled a little as Kristin's face filled the screen.  "Hi, I'm on my way home.  Do you want me to pick up dinner?"

For a moment he was sure that she'd refuse.  Probably just because it was him offering it but then she nodded.  "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't care.  Mexican... Chinese... whatever you feel like."

"How about Chinese?"

"Sounds good.  The regular?"  She nodded.  "Okey dokey, I'll be home in about 20 minutes or so."

She had plates ready on the dining room table when he arrived with the bags of food and they sat while they ate and exchanged small talk.

"So, why are you home so early tonight?" Kristin asked.

Nathan shrugged.  "Somehow I managed to keep the catastrophes at bay for a change."

"That was nice of you," she said in a less than complimentary tone.

Nathan stood and took both plates.  "I'll clean up," he said moving into the kitchen as Kristin picked up her wine glass and moved to sit on the living room sofa.  Nathan rinsed off the dishes and then brought his glass with him as he sat in one of the large recliners and watched Kristin.  She was sitting with her legs drawn up and a book on her lap.  "Do you want to talk about last night?" he asked softly.

Kristin stared at her book for just a little while longer before snapping it closed and looking up at him.  "What about it?"

"I gather that we have a problem, Kris.  I thought that maybe you might like to discuss it," he said a little frustrated.

She watched him for a little while before answering.  "Our problem centers on the fact that for the last two weeks the only time I see you at night is in bed.  Even when you're home on the weekends you're exhausted and the only interaction we seem to have is when we make love."

Nathan nodded a little.  "Seems to me that this time last month it was you who was tied up at work in the evening and I never saw you except in bed."

"That was different.  That was a conference and I had to entertain people from out of town.  You've been spending all your time messing with that damned boat."

"That's my job," Nathan said calmly.  "At least you don't have to worry about me making eyes at the boat."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Kris, I went to that party you had for the conference and I saw you and that Winston guy."

Kristin let out a frustrated sigh.  "David Winston is an old friend and I was not making 'eyes' at him."

"Okay, if you say so," Nathan said in a less than believing tone.

"And you're changing the subject," Kristin said accusingly.

"Am I?"

"Yes," she insisted.  "We were talking about you and your late hours."

"And I was saying that I'm not the only one with that problem."

"We were talking about last night... and last night that was your problem."

"I didn't have any problem last night... you did."

He could be infuriating when he got like this.  Kristin tried again.  "Nathan, my problem last night was that for the last two weeks you come in after midnight, slip into bed, wake me up and we make love."

"I don't mean to wake you up," he said calmly.

Kristin glared at him for a moment and continued in an ominous voice.  "During the last two weeks the only time we've made love is late at night when you come home."

"Uh huh," he nodded, "during the weekend you went up to visit Cynthia and unless you were looking to make love in my office during the day I don't know how we were going to make love at any other time."

"You can be such a bastard sometimes," she said disgustedly.  She leaned towards him a little.  "Do you have any idea what it feels like when the only time we make love is when you slip into bed late at night?  Do you know what it makes me feel like?"

Nathan leaned back and shrugged.  "I guess not."

Her voice was earnest and sincere.  "Nathan, I rarely see you vertical at night.  We don't get a chance to talk or have a normal relationship...."  She hesitated a little, "and with the way that we've been making love over the last two weeks... well, it kind of makes me feel like a kept woman."

"A what?" Nathan said folding his arms over his chest.

"Like the only reason you come home at night is to make love.  Not to find out how my day went, not to sit and hold me out on the porch, not to have a normal home life... I'm just a body for you to make love to when you finally manage to leave that damned boat and find your way home."

Nathan stared at the table for a moment before answering.  He had a feeling that he was going to be in trouble no matter what he did.  "Alright, let me get something straight.  Is the complaint the quality of the love-making or the timing?"

"The complaint," Kristin said with an edge, "is that the sex has become the most important part of this relationship.  We don't really do anything else... and the sex we have is your basic flash-bang, roll-in-the-hay type sex.  All you do is come home late, slide into bed, tweak my boob and expect sex.  There has to be more, Nathan."

"More sex or more of something else?" he asked flatly.

"Damn you," she said vehemently.  "Can't you talk seriously about this at all?"

"I'm trying to figure out what the problem is, Kristin," he said earnestly.

"The problem is that the only thing that apparently is of any value in this relationship to you is the sex."

"That's not true."  The calm voice was back again.  "I think that we've got a varied and extensive relationship and the sex is only one part of it but not the most important part."

"What do you think is the most important part?"

Nathan flashed a humorless grin.  "Our ability to have intelligent conversations... like this one."

"God damn it, Nathan," Kristin said angrily, standing and starting to walk away.

Nathan grabbed her arm as it went past.  "Wait a minute, Kristin... I'm sorry.  That was rude."  She stopped and turned back towards him.  "The most important part of this relationship is how we feel about each other."  He shook his head contemplatively.  "It's the love, concern and tenderness that we usually show each other when we're not driving each other crazy like we are now."

She moved back to sit on the sofa.  "Are you sure, Nathan?  Are you sure that those qualities haven't taken a back seat to making love?"

"Kristin," he said shaking his head, "making love is only one part of our bond... and it isn't even a necessary part.  If we couldn't make love to each other I don't think it would change the way we feel... we'd manage."

Kristin sat back and crossed her arms over her chest and regarded him with a doubtful look.  "You're not telling me that you think you could manage to go without sex, are you?"

"Sure I could."

"Nathan, get real.  As long as we're sharing a bed you wouldn't last a week without needing to engage in carnal pursuits."

"I'd manage," Nathan assured her.  "I'm not sure that you could."

"Don't be ridiculous.  It isn't that important to me.  I could manage without sex."

"Yeah, right," he said incredulously.

"You don't think I could?"

"No."

"Fine," she snapped, "no more sex."

Lucas stopped half through the door with a shocked look on his face. His mouth was open as he glanced at the two adults who were now looking at him.  "I don't think I want to be part of this conversation," he said nervously.  "I'm going to be out on the dock."  The young man turned quickly and fled off the porch.

Nathan shook his head and glanced at Kristin.  "Nice timing."

"I didn't know he was there," Kristin countered.

"You didn't hear him come onto the porch?"

"No, I didn't," Kristin insisted.  "Did you?"

"Yeah."

Kristin turned until she was facing him fully.  "And you didn't stop our conversation?" she asked shocked.

Nathan shrugged.  "I thought you heard him."

Kristin stood and glared at him.  "Obviously I didn't.  You don't have to worry about having sex with me because it's not going to happen."

Nathan stood too and glared right back at her.  "Fine.  It doesn't matter to me.  I already told you that, Kristin.  You're the one all hung up on sex."

"You bastard," she exclaimed as she stormed down the hallway, slamming the bedroom door.

Nathan watched her retreating back before picking up the two wine glasses and bringing them into the kitchen.  Then he slowly walked out of the house and onto the dock.  Lucas was sitting at the end of the dock with his back against one of the pilings and his knees pulled up to his chest.  Nathan sat against the next pier and looked out at the water.

"You guys alright?" Lucas asked his voice laced with concern.

"Yeah," Nathan sighed.  "We're just having one of those stupid arguments we have sometimes."

"Why do you do that?"

"I don't know, Lucas," Nathan said shrugging.  "Personality fault on both sides I suppose.  Probably has to do with both of us being a little stubborn."

"A little?" Lucas asked incredulous.

Nathan grinned.  "Well, maybe more than just a little."  He sighed again as he watched a seagull swoop down to perch on a piling at the other end of the dock.  "One of these days we'll probably figure out which one of us is more stubborn."

"Oh, I know that answer," Lucas said positively.

"Which one?"

"Both of you."  He took in the quizzical look on Nathan's face.  "It's a tie, Cap.  You're both as stubborn as the other."

Nathan chuckled and started to stand.  "You want to go get some ice cream?"

Lucas stood also.  "Sure."  He looked towards the house.  "We gonna ask the Doc?"

"No, I don't think so."  He put his arm around Lucas' shoulder.  "You're right.  You don't want to get involved in this argument and talking to me is just one of the things that she's not doing right now."

"Cap, do me a favor and try not to let this one get too intense, alright?  You two are good for each other and I'd hate to see a stupid argument blow it for you."

Nathan shook his head.  "Nah, this isn't a relationship-ender.  It's more of a butt-heads type argument.  We'll be fine.  Just give us a little time."

"Alright, sir," Lucas said doubtfully.

Over the next two weeks Lucas marveled as he watched how the two of them related to each other... if you could call it that.  He wasn't quite sure if they'd really meant what the Doc had said when he interrupted them... the bit about not having sex.  He couldn't quite imagine the two of them surviving without it.  The Captain said that this house was built like a bomb-shelter, with really thick walls, and as a result Lucas didn't often hear the two of them making love but he knew it happened.  He could tell by how they acted that they'd been 'busy' the night before and he was pretty sure that it wasn't happening now.  Sure, they were courteous, even kind and occasionally solicitous to each other but beneath it all was an undercurrent... a tenseness that permeated everything they did.

For a change, the building of the new boat had been without problems if only for a short time and Bridger had been able to get home on time most days.  He and the Doc had even been able to go out to the movies a couple of times and during the weekend they'd gone to the zoo... all three of them.  But Lucas had noticed subtle differences in how they acted.  They still held hands but they didn't walk as close to each other as they had before the fight... and their kissing was definitely different.  Lucas was used to catching them in serious tonsil-hockey, teeth-rattling kisses but it seemed like that wasn't happening anymore.  They weren't even sitting together on the sofa anymore.  Now the Doc sat on the sofa and the Captain in one of the recliners.  All of it was beginning to make Lucas nervous.

And he wasn't the only one getting nervous.  Both of the adults were feeling the strain too.  Kristin was beginning to wonder if she had over-reacted in the discussion of Nathan's late hours... or if he even really understood what the problems had been.  She wasn't at all sure.  But there was no going back now.  If he thought that she'd be the first one to break he was sorely mistaken.  True, she'd almost given in last weekend when they'd gotten back from the zoo and the two men had gone out to swim with Darwin.  The sight of Nathan in just his swimming trunks with the muscles of his shoulders rippling as he tossed the ball off the dock to the waiting dolphin had almost been too much for her to take... and then afterwards when they came back in about an hour later.  The water glistening on his chest and that 'little-boy' laugh that he got when he was enjoying himself caused old feelings to start deep inside her belly... feelings of desire and need to have him close to her again.... but she suppressed them.  She wasn't about to be the one who gave in to lust.  Let him come begging first, she thought with resolve.

Nathan wasn't immune either.  For him it had been little things. Like the movies.  He'd agreed to take her to a 'chick-flick' that she'd wanted to see.  First he took her out for dinner and then got them all settled with popcorn and drinks in the theater.  Then when it got to the sobby part of the movie he'd felt her hand grasp his and the touch of her fingers around his had almost taken his breath away.  Instantly he was overcome with the desire to hold her, to touch her like he'd done so many times... but he'd just bit down on his lip and restrained himself.  Damned if he was going to be the weak one here.

At first they'd changed the way they slept too.  Usually they were all over each other as they lay in the bed.  Kristin's leg over his, his arm over her waist, her head resting on his shoulder but instead they'd moved to their own sides of the bed.  Not touching.  Not getting close to each other...... However, that didn't work for too long.  Somehow during the night they always seemed to gravitate towards each other and by the time morning broke they were entangled again.  This was roughest on Nathan.  He was the one who woke up first in the morning and the feeling of waking with his face buried in her luxurious hair or his arm curled around her soft curves would cause an instant excitement and he'd spent pretty much the entire two weeks taking cold showers in the morning.

It was Friday night and Lucas and the boys had headed over to Orlando to go to a baseball game.  Since it was a night game they'd decided that they were just going to spend the night so Kristin and Nathan had taken advantage of the evening alone and gone out to dinner. They'd eaten at a new seafood restaurant in the old part of town that turned out to have a quaint and romantic outside veranda where you could eat.  As they enjoyed their meal under the stars and exchanged small talk Nathan had more than once reached out and just brushed Kristin's hand.  Not held it but just touched it.  Now they were sitting on the porch at home with the lights off.  Each of them occupied one of the white wicker chairs while they sat silently watching the water and sipping on their wine.  Nathan looked over at Kristin admiring the way the moonlight picked out her curves and highlighted her hair.  He watched the rise and fall of her breasts as she breathed and smiled to himself.

"Kris," he said softly.

"Hmm??"

"I give."

She turned a quizzical face towards him.  "You give what?"

"I give in... you win."

"What do I win?"

"You win the argument about whether I can go without having sex with you."  He smiled wanly.  "I can but I don't want to."

"It seems to me that decision needs to be made by both of us," she said gently.  She almost smiled at the sudden crestfallen look on his face.

He looked at the water for just a moment before talking again in a voice so soft that she could barely hear it.  "Kris, I did understand."  He looked up at her.  "I did know what you were talking about.  It wasn't so much the quality or timing of our love-making as it was the fact that I was taking you for granted.  I had put our relationship onto auto-pilot and I wasn't expending any effort into improving or maintaining it... and that was wrong."  She nodded at him and he could see a slight sheen of tears in her eyes.  "I don't want it to be that way, Kris.  I can't promise that I can always be home for dinner or that I won't get tied up sometimes and not be able to pay as much attention to you as you'd like but I promise that I'll try.  I'll try to spend time with you and Lucas and I'll try to be the kind of lover that you want me to be."  He turned to look out at the water again and she heard him swallow hard.  "But I need you, Kris.  I need to hold you.  I need to have you with me."

Kristin watched him for a little while.  Watched his profile as he stared at the water, afraid to look over at her.   She watched as he clenched his hands nervously and watched the bobbing of his Adam's apple as he swallowed before standing and moving over next to his chair.  Tentatively he looked up at her and she slid down until she was sitting in his lap.  She heard him expel a relieved sigh and his right hand came around to caress her back while his left rested gently on her right thigh.  She brought her right hand up until she could stroke his cheek and smiled at him softly as she brought her lips down to meet his in a kiss that started softly, oh, so softly. The gentle pressure of their lips on the other's creating a tentative caress.  Each afraid that the other would change their mind until, finally sure of each other, the kiss intensified.  Intensified rapidly to a teeth-jarring, passionate adventure that left both of them gasping for air.  Kristin's hands moved unerringly to work on Nathan's shirt buttons while his desperately found the hem of her blouse and pulled it up and over her head.  Their lips traveled frantically over the other's skin.  Anointing chin, neck, ear and shoulder with urgent touches as each article of clothing was pulled off and more skin exposed.

Kristin gasped as she felt Nathan's lips close around her breast and she pulled him out of the chair and onto the floor of the porch.  Now their hands flew to each other's belts, anxiously loosening the fastenings and pushing the remaining clothes away.  She sighed in satisfaction as they joined and then he stopped.  She opened her eyes to see him looking at her with passion and love written all over his face and brought her fingers up to again stroke his cheek.

"I love you, Nathan Bridger," she whispered softly.

"I love you, Kristin.  I love you so much," he said as he brought his lips down to once again join with hers for a soft, gentle kiss and they moved in a slow gentle rhythm until they reached their peak at the same moment.  As the aftershocks of ecstasy rippled through their bodies they held each other close and Nathan heard Kristin's soft chuckle.  "What?" he asked gently nibbling on her ear.

"We don't make love for two weeks and we end up doing it on the porch floor.  Don't you find that funny?"

"Well, it probably didn't do much for that quality issue that you were complaining about," Nathan grinned.  "But I think I can do much better if you like."

She slid her hands up around his neck and gave a satisfied sigh.  "Can you?  That would be nice."

He nuzzled her neck at the point where it met her shoulder.  "You want to move this inside?"

"Ummm hmmm," she mumbled sitting up and reaching for her jeans.  "I don't win by the way."

Nathan stopped for just a moment while picking up his shirt from the floor.  "Why not?"

"Because if you hadn't made a move on me tonight I was going to make a move on you."  She smiled at him and rubbed his shoulder.  "I think it was a tie."

"Seems to me I've heard that somewhere before," he said with a grin helping her up from the floor and leading her to the bedroom.