The alarm woke her.

With the smack of a palm the bleating was silenced, and Nancy curled in close to Ned, her fingertips trailing over his bare chest. His knee slid up another inch, between her thighs. She had fallen asleep in her shirt and panties, but in the middle of the night he had wrestled her shirt off. The straps of her bra had slid down her arms.

He nuzzled into her neck and she felt the beginning of stubble against her skin. "Hey," he whispered.

"Hey," Nancy replied, a smile in her voice. She buried her fingers in his hair, her eyes still closed. "What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty."

"Are you serious?" Nancy pushed herself up onto her elbows, peering at the clock. "Shit."

"You okay?" Ned rubbed his hand over his face as Nancy leaned over him, groping on the floor for her shirt.

"Yeah," she replied, distracted. "I think Dad's probably awake by now, and I need to get Sam to school..."

"I'm sorry," Ned murmured. "It was late, I didn't think to ask you..."

"It's not your fault." Nancy tugged her shirt over her head and Ned groaned in disappointment, his fingers curling under the hem to stroke her skin. "Where are my pants?"

"So good-morning sex is out of the question?" Ned pouted at her, his full lower lip sticking out, and Nancy shot him a mock-withering glare.

"I don't know what kind of girls you've been dating," she said, touching her thumb to his mouth, "but... that definitely sounds like a tradition we should start. Soon."

Ned vanished into the bathroom while Nancy found her pants and coat and put them on, and she was just finishing her call for a cab when Ned joined her in his living room. His robe was hanging loose from his shoulders, his boxers so low on his waist that she could see the saddle of flesh at his sides.

"Five minutes until the cab gets here."

Ned nodded, then pulled her into his arms, pinning her against the door. His lips were inches from hers when she slipped her hand between their mouths.

"Morning breath."

"Don't really care," Ned replied, and when he kissed her Nancy closed her eyes, melting into his embrace. She bent her legs and he pressed his hips between her thighs, and when he pulled back she smiled lazily.

"At least part of you seems to think that we can have a quickie before I go."

Ned shrugged. "Three minutes might work for me, but you...?"

She cupped his cheek in her hand, then loosed her legs and stood before him again. "Longer," she replied. Then she glanced down. "Literally."

He chuckled. "Is Sam gonna be okay?"

Nancy sighed. "I think so," she said softly. "I haven't been able to sit her down and explain all this to her, but Frank..." She didn't miss the way his face tensed slightly when she said her husband's name. "It's not like he's been there that much anyway."

Ned nodded, then leaned in to her again, his lips brushing her temple. She closed her eyes. "I know things are going to be crazy for a while, so I'm not going to press you, but just... call me when you can."

Nancy slipped her fingers over his cheek, curling them at the nape of his neck. "Thanks," she whispered. "I don't know how much warning I'm going to be able to give you, so... just tell all your other girlfriends that you're going to be unavailable for a while."

Ned smiled into her skin. "I'll be sure to do that," he promised, then kissed her softly. "Go. And if you and Sam are free some night, and you wouldn't mind some company..."

She tilted her face up and kissed him again. "You'll be the first one I call," she said softly. "Love you."

"Love you."

At her father's door, Nancy took a long, deep breath, finger-combed her hair, then keyed the lock open and stepped inside. From the kitchen she could hear the clatter of dishes and the faint sound of Sam singing to herself. She shrugged her purse to the couch and poked her head around the corner, and Sam clapped when she saw her mother.

"Mommy!"

"Hey little girl," Nancy said, answering Sam's uplifted arms by sweeping her into her embrace. Sam cuddled up close to her and Nancy closed her eyes, smiling. "Did Grandpa fix you breakfast?"

Sam nodded vigorously, grinning. "Pancakes!"

Carson was standing at the sink with his sleeves rolled up, rinsing their dishes. "Good to see you this morning," he said neutrally.

Nancy flushed. "Sorry," she said, her voice low. "Lost track of time."

"Maybe you and I can have lunch today, around eleven," he continued, and his eyes didn't quite meet hers. "When do you pick Sam up?"

"Twelve," Nancy replied. "I'll meet you at eleven."

--

At ten fifty-eight Nancy looked down at her sweater. Her palms were damp with thin nervous sweat, and she scrubbed them on her pants before climbing out of the car.

Her father was already inside, pulled up to the white tablecloth with a glass of water at his right hand, and Nancy flashed a smile at the waitress who led her to him before taking her seat.

"Did Sam get to school okay?"

Nancy nodded. "Yes," she replied, draping her napkin over her lap. "I'm really sorry about this morning. Thanks for getting her dressed and making her breakfast..."

Carson nodded once, shortly, sliding his fingertip down the gleaming handle of his knife. "This is just between us, and I'm speaking as your father, not your lawyer."

Nancy nodded and took a slow quiet breath. "I understand."

Carson was still silent for another moment before he continued. "You were gone this morning."

Nancy hung her head. "Yes."

"Have you been seeing someone?"

Nancy tried rationalizing it silently for half a minute before answering, "Yes."

Carson's lips tightened so slightly that only Nancy caught it. "Does Frank know?"

Nancy shook her head. "Frank doesn't know."

"But you left Frank for this other man."

The waitress approached them, temporarily saving Nancy from answering. "Have you two decided yet?"

Once they ordered, and the waitress and their menus were gone, Nancy took a long sip of her ice water. "I left Frank for a lot of reasons," she said. "If, hypothetically, you're thinking of alienation of affection..."

Carson shook his head. "Are you saying that's a possibility?"

"I..." Nancy ran her hands through her hair and sighed. "I left Frank because I wasn't happy, because I wanted a husband who would be there for me, a father who would be there for Sam, and for all Frank's good intentions, he isn't that man."

Carson looked down at his water glass. "So you found someone who would."

Nancy kept her gaze on her father's face until he glanced back up again. "I know how this must look to you."

"I'm just..." She watched him mentally weigh what he was about to say. "Disappointed. I knew that you and Frank were having problems, but being unhappy in your marriage doesn't mean you should have..."

"Ned," she said, her voice low but clear and strong. "I was with Ned last night."

Carson's eyes went wide, and he stared at her, his face paling slightly. "I'll be damned."

Nancy looked down at her lap and scrubbed her damp palms again on the cloth napkin. "I kept running into him, I realized I still had feelings for him, he realized he still had feelings for me." She sighed. "I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't go home to Frank, when Ned... when I knew we had a chance, again. And I understand that you're disappointed in me, and I'm not saying it's right, but no matter what, no matter whether things between Ned and me work out or not, I can't go back to Frank and raise Sam in that house, just pacing, restless, feeling like some caged animal. I want Sam to see what it's like, to have a mother who doesn't cry herself to sleep at night and get through the day on the promise of another dose of antidepressants or the prospect of seeing her old boyfriend again. That is the only, the only thing that has made me able to get through this."

Carson searched his daughter's eyes. "How long has this been going on," he asked faintly.

"The anti-depressants? Just after Sam was born."

"The... other..." Carson made a vague gesture. "You and Ned..."

"Since about six months ago," Nancy confessed. "The reunion. And it... Dad, it hasn't been some long torrid affair. Ned never meant for this, for things to get this far, and neither did I, but..."

"Would you have left Frank, if this hadn't happened?"

Nancy picked up her fork and held it lightly between her fingers, watching the light play on the metal. "I don't know," she whispered.

Carson shook his head. "You're in love with him."

"I never stopped loving him."

Carson laced his fingers together and rested his hands on the table in front of him. "You need to be careful, Nancy."

She nodded, then jerked her gaze up to his. "What?"

"You need to be careful," he repeated. "Once Frank realizes what he's lost, he might do anything to get you back. Including have you followed."

It was Nancy's turn to stare at her father, but slowly the color returned to her face. "Y--yeah," she managed. "And I want primary custody of Sam..."

"Has Sam met Ned?"

"She met him just after she turned two. So, yeah. They know each other."

"And... you said, since six months ago...?"

Nancy shook her head. "We haven't done anything in front of Sam."

Carson nodded. "I'm not saying that I want you to lie to him, but if he doesn't contest the proceedings, you two could be divorced in a matter of months. Just... don't give him a reason, okay?"

Nancy nodded, exhaling explosively. "I'll be careful. We'll be careful."

Carson looked up, to see a waiter bringing their meals. "I think I've made myself clear. We're not going to talk about this again, until it's all over. Okay?"

Nancy reached over and brushed her fingers over her father's. "Okay," she said. "Thank you."

Carson smiled, quick as a flash, and shook his head. "I always thought Ned was going to end up my son in law," he murmured. "Guess I wasn't entirely off, after all."

Nancy's face flushed red, and she was bent over, coughing, choked with incredulous laughter, her eyes streaming with tears, when the waiter placed her plate in front of her. "Is the young lady all right?" he asked in concern, delivering Carson's plate.

"I think she'll be fine," Carson replied, smiling up at the waiter. "Now."