A/N: If only we could have seen more cute/romantic/happy Jate in "Something Nice Back Home", because you know they had some good times :) A possibility of what happened the night before Jack woke up to his secretary calling...
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It had been a long day.
Aaron had a nightmare last night, couldn't fall back asleep, so they'd been up hours after Jack planned on getting to bed. Early morning, since he had a complicated surgery that could take until evening to successfully finish, and then on top of that he'd had to perform an emergency procedure just after the scheduled one. Both patients had lived, which he would certainly declare a victory, and a job well done – for today, at least. Then a stop by his mother's house, to fulfill a promise he'd made to look over some of his dad's old papers she was trying to get rid of. She'd kept him longer than he'd planned, asking about Kate, and Aaron, urging him to visit more.
Relief flooded Jack as he stepped through the door of the Los Angeles home he'd moved into over a year ago. All he wanted was to kick back and relax for a bit after the stress of the day.
He rummaged through the refrigerator, found some leftovers. He was eating straight out of the container when Kate appeared in the doorway, already dressed for bed in her usual attire – one of his shirts.
"Hey," she greeted with a smile, leaning against the doorframe. "Home late."
"Two surgeries," he explained, unable to help grinning at the sight of her. Sometimes he still couldn't believe they were finally together, after so much. "And my mom's house. Is he already asleep?"
"Just put him down half an hour ago," Kate answered. "He wanted to stay up and wait, but I told him you'd read to him tomorrow night, to make up for tonight."
"How was your day?" he asked, setting the food down and stepping towards her.
She walked into his arms, kissed his neck with easy familiarity. "Good. It was so nice out, we spent all afternoon in the park."
Jack leaned back with his arms still around her so he could meet her gaze. "I wish I could've gone with you guys," he said wistfully. "Work has been so crazy lately…"
"We understand," she soothed, "though I did miss you this morning."
"This morning?" Jack questioned, eyebrows raised.
Kate's smile turned coy. "It's been so long since we've gotten to sleep in…" she baited.
He loved this side of her. He loved every side of her, loved the past year and a half they'd spent together building a family, a life, things he had never thought were possible with her before. "My consultation isn't until late tomorrow morning," he said, pulling her closer. "I'm all yours for the next twelve hours."
"Hmm," she responded, biting her lip in that way that got him every time. "That sounds like just the right amount of time."
Keeping his eyes on hers, Jack began unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing, the blue one he'd planned to throw away but that she'd insisted on keeping for herself.
She leaned forward so her lips brushed his ear. "Why don't we go to bed?" she suggested, breathy and teasing. If that alone wasn't enough to make Jack want her more than usual, then the sight of her in peach panties and an oversized unbuttoned shirt put him over the edge.
He hardly realized she'd begun backing away from him, leading him towards the stairs by his tie. She was grinning, and he knew he was too. Sometimes, in moments like these, Jack forgot about everything else that had happened, the things that had led them here.
As unrealistic as it was that all of it could be erased, he liked to think he could try, for her. For them.
She found his lips as they tripped up the stairs, trying not to laugh too loudly and wake the baby. By the time they'd hit the bed those panties were lost on the floor.
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