Neena had cheated. At least that's what Lee was convinced of. Even though she had been trying to get this sleepover for the younger kids planned and executed for months now, suddenly Alice had started pushing about the idea, telling her and Tarin how much she wanted to go to the sleepover. And telling them that since they lived in the mansion, it wasn't a real sleepover if mummy and daddy were there.

Yup, Neena had definitely cheated. But as she walked down the street beside her husband, his arm over her shoulders as her heels clicked on the sidewalk, Lee wasn't worrying about that too much. Dinner had been really nice. A little more expensive than they normally splurged on, but as Neena had pointed out a couple days earlier as the final arrangements for the sleepover had been made, that's what the night was for. Though, by the look in Tarin's eyes as he sat across the table from her, eyeing her in the blue corset and black skirt she was wearing, Lee figured he would much prefer to skip to dessert, in the hotel room they had booked.

But make it to the bar they did, something that even after 11 years Lee wasn't sure how they managed it some times. To the same bar that they had been going to in New York since that very first night they had gone to the bar together, that very same night they had had their first kiss. The bouncers were all new, all younger than her now, and the bartenders were different too. Only one thing had actually stayed the same in all those years; Matt, their old, usual bartender had bought the place at some point while she and Tarin had been in Texas.

Rounding the corner to block the bar was on, Lee sighed; she hadn't thought they had spent that long at the restaurant, but it was a Saturday night. "How long do you think the wait will be?" Lee asked, glancing over at Tarin. She wasn't exactly dressed for being outside for long, after all.

11 years and the woman was still trying to kill him. Tarin wondered at the fact that nobody had ever tried to arrest his wife for attempted murder. Any man watching her walk down the street knew exactly what Tarin was thinking, and the thought that they were thinking the same thing made him almost giddy with pride at the woman he was walking next to. Could anyone say m.i.l.f.? Tarin could.

Lee was dressed impeccably, as always, and he'd tried his best to come up to snuff as well. The blue button up shirt was nearly the same color as Lee's and he'd busted out a pair of black pants for the occasion. The tie had been too much, and he'd opted to leave the shirt neck unbuttoned, so as not to choke any more than Lee's outfit made him. Talking to Neena and planting the idea of a sleepover in Alice's head had been a marvelous idea, and Tarin wouldn't forget it soon. Despite the fact that they lived in a mansion filled with what turned out to be more than willing babysitters most of the time, private moments with the beautiful woman next to him seemed way to few and far in between.

This was a special night though, between Neena, Alice, and himself, Tarin had managed to grab an entire night, including a hotel room, for himself and Lee. It was amazing, simply amazing.

They were rounding the corner now and Tarin slipped an arm around Lee's waist, pulling her even closer as they walked. The line at the bar was huge, but Tarin just grinned as Lee spoke, "Lee...when have we ever had to wait to get into this place?"

The bouncers were new, and the line was long, young, and stylish. Tarin was pretty sure he and Lee met at least two of the criteria, but standing in line and wasting time was not something Tarin was keen on when there was a hotel suite waiting for him and Lee once they were finished at the bar.

Up to the bouncer they walked, Tarin thinking they might not even need to evoke the use of the owner's name to get inside without a hassle, but it wasn't to be as the bouncer stepped in front of them and crossed his arms.

"We're here as personal guests of Matt. Radio him and ask, we've done it a thousand times."

The bouncer looked like he might ignore the request for a moment, a moment in which Tarin got really impatient, then he reached for his radio, mumbled a few words and waited for a response. It came and he stepped aside, much to Tarin's delight.

They weren't 10 ft into the bar when a familiar figure approached from the left, "Hey Matt!" Tarin said, releasing Lee to shake his old friend's hand.

"Tarin! Lee! It's been ages. You guys don't get in here nearly enough anymore." His glance left Tarin as the handshake ended and Matt turned to Lee and looked her up and down, shaking his head, "Jesus Lee...you might as well be walking in here the day after I first met you..I still can't believe you're still with this loser...when you develop some taste in men, I'll still be waiting. In the mean time, have some drinks on the house and keep your man from beating up all the men in this bar who have less restraint than I do."

Tarin rolled his eyes, but grinned broadly, "Ah Matt, I learned a long time ago that Lee can take care of herself on that front better than I could ever hope to in a million years."

Ok, so maybe Tarin had a point with his own question about the bar, and the line in front of it. As long as she had been coming to this bar with Tarin, Lee had yet to actually wait in line for more than two minutes before getting in. First because Tarin had been so well known by everyone who worked there when they had first started dating that the bouncers simply let him walk straight in, and then, more recently after they had gotten back from Texas, because of the fact that Matt owned the place and for some reason still thought they were some of his best customers. Or maybe they had some sort of strange friendship going on, stemming from the teasing and lost bets Matt had accrued as a result of her and Tarin's relationship.

So walk to the front of the line they did, and though it took a minute or so, and a radio call to confirm that they were indeed friends of Matt's, she and Tarin got into the bar rather quickly.

And were ambushed not far into it. Most definitely ambushed before they reached the bar itself to get some drinks. Still, Lee smiled at Matt in greeting. After Tarin and Matt had shaken hands, the former bartender turned to look at her, and Lee smiled and blushed slightly at not only the words he said, but also the overt way he looked her up and down. Lee knew that Matt had looked at her on any number of occasions, but he rarely did it in so obvious a manner.

"You always did know how to make a girl feel good," Lee replied with a shake of her head. At least Matt's comments certainly would have made Lee feel good if in the same breath he wasn't calling her husband a loser. But it was Matt, and the man had been surprised and unbelieving that they were together from the very start. Still, it was nice to hear him say it looked like she would have walking in the day ofter they had first met here at the bar, over 11 years earlier.

"Sorry Matt, but if I haven't dumped him by now, somehow I don't think it'll happen," Lee replied, then leaned toward the man so she could whisper (at least as much as the music in the bar allowed) in Matt's ear. "You're at the top of the list of men waiting for me if it does happen, though."

Straightening up, Lee leaned against Tarin as he assured Matt that she was better able to take care of less respectable guys on her own. "Well, like you said, we don't get out here often enough," Lee continued, her eyes moving between the two men. "So we should make the most of it, and I for one need a drink. Anyone want to join me for a jagerbomb?"

...and handle herself Lee did. Tarin couldn't help but grin when she told Matt that he was first in line. Looking at Lee and giving her a squeeze, he laughed, "And trust me Matt...if she hasn't gotten sick of me yet...and if I'm still around, your chances are minimal at best."

The former bartender had the good grace to back off at that point and Lee suggested that since they didn't get to go out often, they take advantage of the situation and get their drink on. Jagerbombs...good god.

Both Tarin and Matt had stared at Lee when she'd said it, college kids and underaged drinkers did jagerbombs, not grown men and women. Tarin was over 40 for the love of god...a Jagerbomb...really? Tradition or not, he was going to have to pass.

"I'm in." Matt said, "Me too." Tarin followed before he'd even finished, slightly chagrined with the whole situation, apparently he was doing jagerbombs.

So to the bar they went, and when Matt ordered in his own bar, service followed fast and they were all holding a jagerbomb...they came assembled now, in special plastic cups made specially for the drink. That was weird. "What?" Matt said at the look on Tarin's face, "I got tired of drunk college kids breaking my shot glasses and cutting themselves when they still tried to drink."

A roll of the eyes and Tarin was ready to go, "On the count of three then...one...two...three!" Down the hatch the golden brown liquid went and Tarin shook it out, "Yikes! I knew there was a reason we didn't do this very often anymore. What's up next?"

Tarin didn't look all that impressed at the idea of doing a jagerbomb with her. Sure, things didn't tend to go as planned when they did jagerbombs, but at the same time the nights they did jagerbombs were nights that they tended to drink more than normal, and you couldn't exactly say things went as planned when you were drunk, right?

Plus, their first jagerbomb experience was the night that they had first kissed. Jagerbombs couldn't be all bad.

But Matt was in for a jagerbomb, and immediately Tarin agreed as well even though Lee had been sure a moment earlier that he was going to pass. So up to the bar they went, and despite the crowd, they were served almost immediately. Oh the joys of drinking with the owner!

The glassed passed out, Lee picked hers up and held it ready, waiting for Tarin to count them down. And down the hatch it went! Once she was finished, Lee shuddered slightly; it was strong, it wasn't exactly the most pleasant tasting thing in the world, and yet every time she and Tarin went out to really drink, they had at least one.

"Yeah, and her name is Alice," Lee reminded Tarin of the real reason they didn't drink jagerbombs very much any more; they always seemed to drink too much those nights, which wasn't exactly a good thing when they needed to then go home to their daughter.

The Red Bull and alcohol was making its way through her body, in a similar way that it felt like having energy coursing through her, as she looked over at Tarin. As he asked what was up next. Hmm, well, too many jagerbombs, or shots for that matter, would be too much, too fast. They really didn't go out all that often any more, but they did have the whole night ahead of them still. "How about a beer, then you can take me out for a turn on the dance floor?" Lee suggested.

"And a kid." Matt said, shaking his head as the beers came and snatching his off the bar. "On that utterly unbelievable note, I'm going to go before you get me in trouble in my own bar."

Tarin grinned, "Bye Matt." he said, then took a swig of beer as the other man walked away, "I've said it before, I'm sure I'll say it a couple hundred thousand more times. Some things never change."

Looking around the bar, Tarin wondered at how the demographic had changed. On second thought, the demographic really hadn't changed at all. The bar was almost exactly the same, it was he who was different. It was a slightly startling revelation and as he thought, Tarin took another drink of beer.

"Alice." he said, with a slow but broad grin, leaning down to Lee's ear so she could hear him over the loud buzz of the crowd, "When I really sit and think about it, I'm probably as incredulous as Matt is. In a different way though."

It was funny how some of the most startling revelations of their relationship had happened at, or after time spent in this bar.

Tarin stepped back and looked around again, the men weren't gawking at Lee as they had at one point, but Tarin had a feeling that the wedding ring on her left hand helped matters a bit. It had done wonders for his jealousy problem to put that ring on Lee's finger. They still looked, sometimes for a little too long, but instead of challenge when Tarin met their eyes, it was bitter defeat or maybe disbelief, but those things, Tarin could deal with.

Tarin realized he'd withdrawn a bit and looked at Lee, smiling again. "I'm sorry, I guess this is the parents' curse. Talking about the kids even though the whole point of the night out on the town is to get away for a night."

That being said, Tarin finished off the beer and set it back on the bar with a satisfying clink. 3 swigs, still impressive. Reaching out, he grabbed Lee's hand and pulled her so they were close, touching. "How about that dance? Otherwise, I'm going to completely forget we're supposed to be old doddering parents and start thinking about what you're wearing again...then our night out on the town is going to turn into a quick jog to the hotel room."

"Yes, and a kid," Lee said, rolling her eyes at Matt. How many times over the years had he said something like that about the fact that she and Tarin had a kid, and how many times had she had to confirm it for him? Yes, based on how Tarin had been when Matt would have first met him, it was a really hard thing to believe, but that had also been years ago. Things changed, didn't they?

Grabbing her own beer off the bar and taking a sip as Matt walked away, Lee turned and smiled at Tarin, their eyes almost level thanks to her shoes. He was gazing out at the bar, but a moment later turned to look at her with a smile. And he was leaning in to speak in her ear.

"To be honest, I can't really blame you there," Lee replied, turning her head to give Tarin a quick kiss on the cheek before he moved back to look around the bar once more. Alice was a miracle, after all, something Lee never thought she would ever have. And to top it all off, she had even managed to change Rupert after they had asked him to be her god father.

Glancing over at Tarin as she drank, Lee saw his eyes moving around, settling here and there every so often. Following his gaze, Lee saw that he was staring at other men, men who had been looking in their direction. Shaking her head slightly, Lee rolled her eyes at Tarin. At least he wasn't getting jealous any more, not that he had ever had any reason to get jealous when they had been anywhere.

But then Tarin was setting his empty bottle back on the bar as he turned to look at her, and Lee blinked. She didn't think they were on that much of a mission to be out drinking for him to finish a beer that quickly. Before she was able to say anything about it, though, Tarin was grabbing her empty hand and pulling her against him. A smile springing to her face, Lee looked across the couple inches separating them now as he asked her for that dance.

"And what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Lee asked, her smile growing even wider as she wrapped an arm around Tarin's neck, pressing herself closer against Tarin. Pressing her lips against Tarin's as she finished speaking, Lee let them linger there for a moment before pulling back. "Just let me finish my beer first, hon."

She couldn't blame him, she couldn't blame him one bit for the way he could hardly believe where they'd ended up after all the years. It really was an amazing thing. Not the stuff of reality, the stuff of dreams, romanticisms, fairy tales and comic books. People didn't meet, fall in love, and start a life the way Tarin and Lee had, it just didn't work that way. Only it did.

Tarin decided he was getting philosophical in his old age, that was until Lee agreed to dance. Then the didn't decide anything other than the fact that he wasn't too old to recognize what was standing in front of him. Tarin was sure of one other thing though, after all these years Lee knew exactly what she was doing.

They were in public, but that hadn't really ever mattered, and Tarin kissed Lee back eagerly when her lips pressed against his. She wanted to finish her beer. "Nuh uh..." he said, one hand firmly pulling the bottle from her grasp and setting it down on the table, the other arm wrapping around her waist to pull her even closer if possible. It was his turn to kiss now, and once his hand was free of the beer it tangled in Lee's hair.

Physical restraint had never been Tarin's strong suit, but then again, Lee knew that too. "Now...about that dance?" he said against her lips.

Lee knew that she was teasing Tarin with how she had pressed against him, how she had wrapped her arm around his neck, how she was looking at him, how she had kissed him. She knew what kind of effect that sort of thing had on him. She'd had that effect on him almost since the day they'd met, though at the time she hadn't realized it.

Still, her original intent had been to simply tease him then pull back to finish her beer as payback for him pulling her so close in the first place.

That wasn't to be, though, as Tarin pulled her beer from her hand, wrapping his arm around her to pull her even closer for another kiss.

Lee's heart was pounding in her chest, and she had all but forgotten there was anyone else around them when she felt Tarin's hand closing in her hair.

How long they had been kissing by the time Tarin finally pulled back, Lee wasn't sure. Her one hand was closed in his hair, her other was gripping his shoulder, and her breathing was quick and shallow, though.

"What dance?" Lee asked in response to Tarin's question. Yes, even after all these years, she was still more than capable of completely forgetting everything around her when she was in Tarin's arms.

No dancing! Hotel! They had a hotel room, ready and waiting for them. It wasn't that far away from the bar, they could probably even walk faster than the time it would take to wait for a cab.

Lee was there, they were kissing, they weren't worrying about anything else, and Tarin was good to go. Lee didn't even remember about the dancing...the dancing.

Tarin took a deep breath to steel himself towards what he was about to do and took a conscious step backwards, away from Lee. "Dancing. A night out on the town. You deserve it, I deserve it. We're going to do this right. Neena's got Alice, and we don't have to check out of the hotel until noon tomorrow."

That said, Tarin smiled, and grabbing his wive's hand, he pulled her towards the dance floor. A live band was playing and the song was slow enough that they could easily slip in unnoticed and start swaying to the music.

Tarin pulled her close, keeping his hands, and his lips in places conducive to staying on the dance floor, and smiled at her. "See Lee, a night out can be good."

They were kissing, Lee was clinging to Tarin, and then suddenly she felt his lips leaving hers, his arms slipping away from her. For the first second after the kiss ended, Lee was upset at Tarin for pulling away.

And then the music filtered through to her brain, she realized there was a crowd of people all around them, and Lee's face flushed a bright red. She was almost 35, Tarin was over 40, and here they were, making out in public like a couple of teenagers. Again. If they hadn't gotten over that by this point in their lives, somehow Lee didn't think they ever would. That didn't help the blush disappear any quicker, though.

"Do this right, or how we always do it?" Lee asked as she felt Tarin's hand grabbing hers, a much more innocent action than previous, and let him pull her out onto the dance floor.

It certainly didn't take much time at all for them to reach the dance floor, though Lee's heart was still beating faster than normal thanks to that kiss. Letting Tarin spin her around slightly, Lee rested one hand on his shoulder as they started moving to the music.

Lee didn't answer Tarin at first about his comment regarding a night out being a good thing. Of course it was, but really, what about Alice? They couldn't just leave her, and they couldn't expect people to just jump up and be willing to babysit any time they felt like going out. Plus, what if something happened?

After about a minute, though, Lee couldn't help but smile at Tarin. He was right, she couldn't exactly deny that, not without him knowing that she was lying. "We really don't dance enough any more," she told him simply.

"Our way is the right way. We've made it this far, haven't we?" Tarin said as he pulled Lee out onto the dance floor and they started to move to the music. It was wonderful being this close to her and Tarin never ceased to be amazed at how it was between them.

She didn't even try to hide it anymore. Lee was having a wonderful time, just like he was. The music was slow, playing an old country song that seemed to be echoing the same sentiments. Tarin smiled at the irony of the situation and moved into the two step. The only real dance he knew, the one he'd taught Lee so many years ago.

"I didn't know that this place was a country bar..." he said, accent manifesting itself slightly, even after all these years in New York.

Lee pointed out the fact that they didn't dance enough anymore, "We don't...not at all." Tarin responded with a slow smile, "Especially like this..." As if on que the song ended, the DJ blending it into another, faster dance tune. "It figures..." Tarin said in a slight grumble, "I don't even know what the kids are calling dance these days..." Nonetheless, he picked up the pace of his movements, discreetly edging himself and Lee towards the outskirts of the dance floor where they'd be less likely to be seen.

Tarin was right. Despite how unconventional they were, or maybe because of that, they had made it to where they were: married, with a kid, having been happy together for over 11 years.

It really didn't take long for them to get into the rhythm of dancing...a two-step? Lee shared Tarin's confusion about the fact that country was being played in this bar, but still grinned when she heard his question. "If that's all it takes for you to talk like that," Lee said as she and Tarin moved around the floor, doing so much more naturally and gracefully than some of the other, younger couples also trying to dance to the song. "I'll talk Matt into playing more country."

If for nothing else, their years in Texas had been good for hearing Tarin's accent. Despite how he was normally able to talk without it while he was in New York, how it only occasionally slipped out here, when they had been down there it seemed like he couldn't speak without it. Even with the worry and stress she had been under because of Haywire, that fact alone had made Lee smile in the first month they had been there.

But the music had changed, changed to something that not only was Lee not familiar with, but also something that she wasn't sure she could dance to. And that was even with her being much more comfortable dancing than she had once been.

Then Tarin commented about the new song, and Lee couldn't stop her laugh from trickling out. "Thanks hon," Lee then said, rolling her eyes. "Just because everyone else in here is younger than us, you don't have to go and call us old, you know."