The only trouble with having built a house on the beach, Lena was discovering, was the fact that the sand underfoot made it all the more difficult to hulk heavy boxes from the van. Thankfully, all the big furnishings had been put in professionally, since they'd all had to be bought new anyway. The boxes were just the personal belongings of the couple who were moving in. In a few days, Jack and Jasmin's house would be complete, too, but for now, King's Cove belonged entirely to Tommy King and his girl, theirs to enjoy for a night or two in their new home.

Kicking off her sandy shoes at the door, she pushed inside and set her box down on the nearest table, turning to look out through the wide windows at the sea. A year ago, this would have been inconceivable, and yet here she was ....engaged to an amazing man, living in a brand new house built just for them, and increasingly close to coming clean to her family about that little hobby of hers. She laughed suddenly, hugging her arms about hers. She was happy.

In the meantime, Tommy was lugging a box of his own personal belongings into the house. He didn't have much to call his own, other than for some clothes, his surfboard, and his hippie van. His surfboard was by far his most prized possession, not to mention his livelihood. "Midge!" he called as arrived at the door, carting yet another box into the house. "Can you get the door?"

Startled out of her contemplation of the waves, Lena moved to do as she was asked, grinning as she opened the door for her fiance. "Are you sure you don't want any help with all that?" she asked Tommy cheerfully, watching him struggle inside with his own box of precious somethings.

"No, I'm good," he said as he stepped past her into the house to deposit the box on the floor, for now. He shoved some wayward blond curls from his face as he took a look around. "It's really starting to look like a home," he said, even though there were boxes of this and that piled up here and there. It would take a few days before they got it all organized, but it was their home - the first house he could really call home. It was like a dream come true, not only the house, but the woman who came along with it.

Closing the door behind him, Lena followed Tommy into the main room, biting her lip as she looked around with a small smile. Even with the boxes, it looked like home - their home. "It might take a little while to fill it up," she mused quietly, a teasing flicker to the smile she sent in his direction.

He turned to face her, closing the distance between them to slide his arms around her waist. "Are you talking about furniture or kids?" he asked, smiling back at her. He was in no big hurry to start a family; it would happen soon enough. For now, he was enjoying this time alone with his soon-to-be wife.

"What, you want more furniture?" she laughed, easing her own arms around his shoulders to play with the curling strands of his hair as they shared that smile. "Next stop is the shop, and we can start passing the word around the city that this is the place to surf in a few weeks." She nuzzled close, happy to plan out the realization of his dreams. And very carefully not mentioning her own quietly held and hopefully never noticed dreams. Ah, but Tommy knew very well what those dreams were and was as excited to help her fulfill them as she was to help him fulfill his. "What about your studio' I haven't forgotten about that, you know," he said dropping onto his back on the couch and pulling her down on top of him.

He always managed to either phrase that question, or do something while he was saying it, in such a way as to make her laugh before she could answer - in this case, it was yanking her off her feet to land on top of him on their brand new, deep cushioned, ludicrously comfortable couch. Lena made a mental note to thank Des for talking Piper into helping with the furniture purchases, and looked into Tommy's eyes with a faint smirk. "That's a hobby, not a living," she pointed out. "And besides, only you know about that."

"So' You have to start somewhere, Midge. Surfing started out as a hobby. How does the old saying go' Nothing ventured, nothing gained" It's your dream, and you should never give up on your dream. I forbid it!" He poked her nose as he said it just for good measure, a broad, silly grin on his boyishly-handsome face.

"You forbid it?" This made her laugh again, her teeth snapping closed very close to the finger he'd poked her nose with in the first place. "You really think that's a good way to start a marriage, Moonbeam, forbidding your wife not to do something?"

"If it means not letting you give up on your dream, then yes! You have talent, Midge. All you need is some confidence and a lucky break. Wasn't it you who told me it was your dream to paint' I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine that," he told her as he pulled his finger away from her nose just in time to escape getting bit.

"If I can do what I love and help your dreams come true in the process, is that enough of a compromise for you?" she offered hopefully. "You make the boards, I'll paint them. How's that?"

"Only if you promise not to give up on your dreams for me." His expression turned serious, a small frown on his face. "I mean it, Lena. This isn't just about me. It's about you, too. I want you to be happy. You're a talented artist, and I don't want that talent to go to waste."

She sighed softly, knowing that look on his face. Her smile faded as she laid her head down against his chest, needing to hide some of what was in her eyes even as she answered the question he hadn't asked. Why" "I'm scared," she said quietly. "I'd rather leave it unfulfilled than try and fail."

"Do you know how many times I had to fall off the surfboard before I became a champion?" he asked in an attempt to make a point, but he didn't want to push her or argue the matter. There were ways he could help her achieve her goals without forcing the issue. He wove his fingers through her hair, stroking gently. "You just have to believe in yourself, Midget. That's all. I believe in you."

"You love me?" he asked, with that boyish grin, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it for himself. He was glad she was happy; they'd both been sad for too long. It was about time they both had a little happiness in their lives, and it was all because of her.

"You asking or telling?" she countered playfully, pushing herself up onto her elbows to lean close, letting her lips nudge against a particular spot on his neck she had discovered after he'd shaved the beard off. "I love you," she murmured, nipping before she drew back. "I loved you before you knew me."

"You don't love that other Tommy better, do you?" he asked, fingers grazing her cheek, before sliding through her hair and down against the line of her neck. He didn't think about it too often, knowing he was the same Tommy she'd fallen in love with, even if she had come back in time to find him.

Helena's expression softened, understanding the question however unnecessary it might seem at first. "I didn't know that other Tommy," she told him softly. "I know you, and I love you more now than I thought I did when I came to find you. Sometimes I wish there was a word bigger than love, because I don't think it's enough for what I feel for you."

He smiled softly, the impish grin gone, all the love he felt for her reflected in that soft gaze. What could he possibly say to match that' It was as if she had reached into his heart and his mind and knew exactly what he was feeling, her words expressing it so much better than he could ever hope to do. "First night in our new house, Midget. We should celebrate." It sounded strange to even be saying that. Their new house. It was a new beginning of sorts, the first day of the rest of their lives, and they weren't even married yet.

She stretched, bent back over the top step and half onto the landing before relaxing once again, gazing up into his eyes with tender adoration. "Define celebrate."

He leaned over her, smiling warmly, eyes sparkling again with amusement and obvious affection. "Pizza, bottle of wine, walk on the beach, making love, not necessarily in that order," he suggested, leaning in to brush a kiss against the side of her neck. He didn't care what order they went in. They had their own house now, and they had the rest of their lives to make it a home.

"No elephants or hamsters just yet, then?" she teased impishly, her fingers combing into his hair as his lips brushed her neck. Her own lips pressed a tender kiss to his temple. "How about a bath?" she suggested softly, drawing her fingers down his back. "We got that big old tub just so we could do that, after all."

"Sounds good," he replied, making no effort to move from his lean against the stairs, enjoying the moment. "Now or later?" he asked, knowing they were both a little sweaty from the day's work, but unsure if she wanted to share a bath now or wait until after they'd eaten.

"Well, if we don't start moving from right here anytime soon, it's going to have to be later," she chuckled quietly, catching his earlobe between her teeth for a playful tug before letting her head fall back once again. "You're all kinds of distracting up close and personal, you know."

"So, let me distract you," he replied, that playful tug at his earlobe sending a shiver of pleasure up his spine. There was no one there to tell them what to do, and they had all the time in the world to do it. "How about you fill the tub and I'll get the wine?" he asked as his lips left a trail of kisses against her neck. He didn't think he was very good at being romantic, but she was slowly teaching him.

"Mmm, sounds like a plan." He didn't need to try and be romantic - Tommy's own brand of romance was just perfect for Lena. She drew him close for a long, lingering kiss, drawing back only when oxygen became an issue. "Need a map to get you to be master suite?"

He lingered in that kiss a long moment before finally breaking from her lips, mostly because they both needed to breath, not to mention the fact that the bathtub should be more comfortable than the stairs. "Nope, but if I'm not back in five minutes, send out a search party," he teased back with a final kiss before moving to his feet to thump back down the stairs. "Five minutes!" he called back.

Laughing, Lena watched him run back down the stairs, taking her time in getting up herself and turning to the rooms. It took her a moment to remember which door led to their own bedroom and the bathroom beyond it, but once there, she wasted no time in setting the bath to fill, adding just enough essential oil to fill the room with the spicy aroma of cinnamon and ginger - more masculine scents, to avoid denting his manly pride.

He wouldn't have cared if there were rose-scented bubbles filling the tub, so long as his Helena was there with him. Besides, who was going to know besides the two of them' Unbeknownst to Lena, Tommy had bought a bottle of wine, just for the occasion - the first night in a home of their own, a home that didn't harbor any bad memories for either of them, a home that was far enough away from Maple Grove to offer privacy but close enough for a visit. A home that would be filled with love and laughter for many years to come.

He wasn't gone long - less than five minutes, in fact - before he returned, bottle of wine in one hand and two glasses in the other. He had no trouble finding the master suite, as it occupied a good portion of the upper floor, though there were several other rooms left empty to be occupied at a later date, hopefully by children.

The tub was, as she'd said, big. Big enough to easily hold the two of them without causing aches and pains when they got out again. And in this tub, there wouldn't be a repeat of the time when she'd inadvertently elbowed him in the ear, either. Lena looked up as he came into the bathroom, her eyes focusing for a moment on the bottle in his hand. "When did you sneak that in?"

She pulled him up as they kissed - she didn't want to drown him, after all - until they were sat together in the warm, spice-scented water, as close as they could get. Her fingers found a sodden hem and began to draw it upward. "I can't take you anywhere, can I?" she teased him affectionately between kisses, daring him to disagree.

"Where were you planning on taking me" We're home, Midge!" he reminded her, lifting his arms to help her with his shirt. They were literally baptizing their new home with the bathwater, but he wasn't too worried about it. He flung the wet shirt over the side of the tub before sliding his hands beneath her shirt to ease it upwards, while his lips returned her kisses.

"Well, now ...." she laughed her low laugh, raising her arms to let him strip her of her shirt in the process. "I was kinda hoping you might take me. Am I gonna be disappointed, smoochikins?"

He didn't even bat an eye at the double-entendre from his bathmate, only too happy to oblige. "Smoochikins?" he echoed with a laugh. "I wouldn't dream of disappointing you, snookums," he countered as he peeled the wet shirt up off her arms and torso and over her head.

Caught up in laughter and tender affection passed back and forth, neither one of them heard their own front door opening downstairs, completely unaware of there being anyone else in the house with them. Until an over-grown puppy pushed open the bathroom door, and jumped into the bath with them with a joyful bark, declaring to his owners that he had found the happy couple.

Taken completely off-guard by the sudden and unexpected arrival of Jack and Jasmin's over-grown puppy, Milo, Tommy burst into another fit of laughter. "Sorry, Milo, but three's a crowd!" he told the dog, who was shaking the water off and making even more of a mess than the couple had already made on their own. If Milo was there, then he knew Jack and Jasmin couldn't be far behind. He smirked over at Lena, as he ruffled the dog's wet fur. "Looks like we're gonna have to learn how to lock the door."

"Milo!" Jasmin's voice was clearly audible, but thankfully, she seemed to have stayed downstairs. The wet golden retriever lifted his head and leapt back out of the tub, pausing to shake himself damp before charging back out through the door to reacquaint himself with his owners. "Get dressed, lovebirds, we brought dinner!"

Lena stared at the now open door, her mouth open in disbelief. "I don't believe this," she sighed, rolling her eyes as she looked back at Tommy. "You need to teach them how to call first."

Tommy smirked, clearly amused, both by the unexpected interruption and Helena's reaction to it. "Why do I need to teach them?" he asked as he moved to his feet to reach for a couple of towels. "Maybe we'll just pay them back when they least expect it." Of course, this was coming from the same guy who was mostly responsible for Jack falling out a window, so it could have been seen as a little payback on Jack and Jasmin's part, but thought never crossed Tommy's mind. "Should I tell them to go away?" he asked, knowing Jack would feel bad enough for interrupting as it was.

"No," she grumped, moving to clamber out of the tub. Raising her voice, she called out through the doorway, "Keep it warm, we're coming!" Letting her soaked skirt hit the tiles, she stuck her tongue out at Tommy. "You owe me, like, four mind-blowing orgasms for this."

"Oh, four!" he echoed with a smirk. "Do you want them all at once or should I space them out?" he asked as he slung a towel around her shoulders and pulled her close into a kiss. They were both sloshing a bit, soaked to the skin from head to toe, but he'd never felt happier in his entire life, even if they had been interrupted. He couldn't bear the thought of hurting Jack and Jasmin's feelings by telling them to go away, and he knew Lena felt the same, even if she was a little frustrated. "Should we leave the wine here for later or take it with us?"

Yes, she was frustrated, but it was hard to be angry with Jack and Jaz, much less with Milo. They were family - more than that, they were the closest friends they had. Drawing back to look up at Tommy, Lena smiled faintly. "No, let's take it down with us," she conceded. "Tell you what, though, dinner had better be pizza, or I'm sending Jack back to the city to get some."

"Wanna get them drunk?" Tommy asked with a smirk and a waggle of his brows. There was nothing funnier, in Tommy's opinion, than getting his best friend drunk - so long as they didn't decide to spend the night. "You hear that, Jack?" Tommy called from the bathroom. "That better be pizza we're smelling!"

"Are you saying my husband's farts smell like pizza now?" Jaz shouted back to them from somewhere below, resulting in Lena's laughter echoing down the stairs to where their friends waited.

Squeezing the water from her hair, Lena gave Tommy a poke. "C'mon, let's get dry and down there before they start unpacking for us."

"I didn't fart!" Jack was heard saying from somewhere downstairs and sounding slightly insulted by his wife's insinuation, but Tommy only laughed.

He tried not to pick on Jack and poke fun at him, but sometimes he just couldn't help himself. "What's the matter with letting them do a little unpacking?" he asked. As far as he was concerned, there was no big hurry, other than for the promise of a warm meal.

"Really?" Lena asked as she shed sodden bra and panties onto the tiles before heading into the bedroom. "You really want Jaz poking through all your intimate belongings" I mean ....doesn't she tease you enough already without her seeing some of the things only I've seen?"

"Like what?" he asked, following along behind her, his sodden sneakers squeaking with every step. He apparently either didn't care or didn't have the sense to strip down before leaving the bathroom, unless she told him otherwise. He was searching his memory for these intimate belongings she had mentioned, but wasn't quite sure what she meant. He was, however, admiring the view of her without the intimate belongings known as bra and panties.

"Well, if it isn't Bum Fluff," Jaz grinned, turning to give Tommy a warm hug. No matter how much she teased him, she actually quite liked Tommy King. He just needed to learn not to take offense quite so much, and he'd be almost as perfect as her Jack.

Lena chuckled at Jack's curious concern. "Oh gods no," she assured him, crouching down to finally say hello to Milo, who was completely torn between exploring the house and saying hello to everyone as often as he could, still very much a puppy, despite his increasing size. "We might be on a fast track, but we're gonna do things in the right order here."

Jack wasn't sure Tommy cared much about doing things in the right order, but he figured Lena's family might have something to say about that. Tommy snorted at Lena's comment. "Fast track" We're not the ones who couldn't wait to get married," he interjected as he awkwardly returned Jasmin's hug with the bottle and glasses still held in his hands. It was Jack and Jasmin, after all, who insisted on an impromptu and unplanned wedding on Christmas Day.

"Oh, c'mon," Jaz laughed, poking at Tommy's unprotected midriff. "Why spend a fortune on a wedding when we could do it then and there, and have the people who matter most right there with us?" She flashed her husband a tender grin as she said this, knowing full well it had been the single most impulsive decision of her life.

Lena snorted with laughter as she ruffled Milo's fur, leading the dog over to the hearth to watch as she encouraged a fire to start blazing.

Tommy had clambered into a pair of worn out blue jeans and a slightly ragged t-shirt with a faded Grateful Dead logo, his feet bare and his hair an unruly blond mess, as opposed to Jack, who looked almost preppy in his khakis and button-down shirt, clean-shaven and hair perfectly combed. "My point exactly!" Tommy replied with a grin, though their situation was different. He wanted Lena to have the wedding of her dreams, surrounded by her family and friends, and he was willing to wait a few months for it.

"Yeah, well, you weren't proposed to in front of the entire family," Lena pointed out with a warm chuckle. "We can't elope like that, or several people will enjoy strangling us for it." Humphrey and Miranda, to name but two.

Jaz chuckled again, shaking her hair out. "So I take it the house is exactly what you wished for?" she asked curiously. "Guys, this place is huge!"

"The first place I've ever lived in that I can really call my own," Tommy remarked before correcting himself. "Our own," he added, not forgetting Helena. "We were just about to celebrate," he continued as he held up the bottle of wine to prove his point.

"This place is big enough for half a dozen kids!" Jack said in agreement with his wife, as Tommy poured.

"Baker's dozen," Lena grinned impishly as she passed Tommy by, stealing the bottle of wine out of his hand on her way to the kitchen, where she hoped she'd be able to find another couple of glasses. "Yours isn't as big, sorry."

Jaz laughed as she bumped Jack's shoulder playfully. "I think we might hold out for just two on our end, if we ever get there," she mused. "Right now we're having too much fun having sex on every surface and wall we own, and in a few days, we'll have to start all over again!"

"A baker's dozen. Isn't that thirteen?" Tommy asked, letting Lena take the bottle to the kitchen, confident she'd find two more glasses, since he'd given up looking. He laughed as Jaz teased Jack, the other man's face flushing with embarrassment. "It's okay, Jack. You're married now. You're allowed to have sex with your wife."

"Yeah, but some things should stay private!" Jack replied, eying his cheeky wife as she bumped his shoulder.

"Oh, says the man who accidentally let Milo off the lease the second we got in here, just in case they were naked and needed advance warning that we'd arrived?" Jaz laughed, hugging Jack warmly about the waist. One thing you could say for her was that she teased everyone equally, but only if she liked them.

From the kitchen, Lena's laughter was clearly audible as she absorbed what was going on out there above the clink of glasses and plates.

"It's not my fault they don't have a door bell!" Jack pointed out. Or maybe he'd just been too busy with Milo to notice. Either way, the other couple had gotten a little prior notice of their arrival without being caught in an compromising position. "You might want to lock the door next time," Jack added.

"You might want to call ahead," countered Tommy, playfully.

"Besides, it's not like we don't all know that men from the 1970's have the healthiest sex drives in the universe," Jaz added with a shrug, slipping into the kitchen to help Lena bring wine and pizza back out for them all to share.

Helena was still chuckling as they came back into view. "We'll get you back one of these days," she promised the other couple. "Get comfortable, it's easy to do in here!"

"How about we hang a Do Not Disturb sign next time?" Tommy suggested further.

"How about you just lock the damned door like normal people?" Jack suggested again, before arching a brow at his wife's remark and a questioning glance to Tommy. "We do?" he asked, thinking she was perfectly serious.

"Doesn't hurt to let them think that, Jacky-boy," Tommy replied with a chuckle as he play-punched his best friend's arm. Milo followed Jasmin into the kitchen to nose about, hoping for a treat, while Tommy started moving boxes around to make room for the other couple to make themselves comfortable. "Is that pizza I smell?" he asked inquisitively, his stomach growling at the smell of it.

"Sleeping in what, Toots?" Jaz snickered. "Or don't I want to know?"

Lena threw a pizza crust at her. "In me, obviously, Jasmin," she stuck her tongue out at her cousin. "Happens to be a perfect fit, once he's all squeezed in."

Tommy laughed again at the friendly banter between the two cousins, who seemed about as close as him and Jack, though they weren't related by blood. "Nice and cozy," Tommy agreed.

Jack gawked at the three of them, though he was mostly used to this by now. "I can't believe you two," he muttered mostly to himself, glancing over to see Milo munching on the pizza crust Lena had tossed at his wife.

"Really?" Lena grinned again, winking in Jack's direction. "Modesty from the man who went skinny dipping with us on his last night in California" Also, might I add, the same day I first met him," she added for Jasmin's benefit.

Jack's wife looked at him with a chuckle, brows raised curiously. "And you blush every time I suggest skinny dipping," she pointed out. "Should I be concerned about that?"

"I was drunk!" Jack pointed out, blushing not for the first or likely the last time that night. "And it was dark."

"You have to give him that," Tommy interjected scarfing down his second slice of pizza. "We were pretty drunk, and he thought we were leaving him behind."

"No, we were drinking and ....high," Lena glanced at Jaz, who sensibly chose not to comment on her younger cousin's drug use, "because we'd just told him we were bringing him with us. He mooned a whole town as a farewell gesture!"

"Well, if we were drunk and high, how do you expect me to remember it?" Tommy pointed out again with a chuckle. The last night in Half Moon Bay was a little fuzzy in his mind, but what he remembered was a good memory.

"I did not!" Jack exclaimed, fighting the rising blush. "Did I?" he asked, unsure himself. He hadn't told Jasmin the details of that night, mostly because they were a little fuzzy in his mind, too, and he wondered what she'd think to know they'd gotten high together.

"Yup," Lena informed Jack with a wide grin. "Showed off that lily-white *ss and then waddled off to scream like a girl when you hit the sea." She smiled, very fond of Jack anyway. Her teasing wasn't meant to offend or upset.

Jaz chuckled, tucking her arm around her husband's waist. "I think you and I should recreate this at some point," she suggested playfully. "And you'll definitely get lucky this time."

"It was cold," Jack explained further, a little embarrassed, but unable to hold back a smile at the memory of it. He and Lena had bonded that night, and it was her who'd talked him into coming along.

Before he could respond to his wife's suggestion, the free-spirited Tommy piped up. "Why not recreate it together" When the weather gets warmer maybe."

"Oh, would this be before or after you teach my little sister and my big brother how to surf?" Lena challenged Tommy with a small laugh, sliding down off the arm of the chair to curl into his lap comfortably. "Because I'm going to need advance warning of that. I want to take pictures."

Jaz looked up from her fond nuzzling against Jack. "Wait ....Dru wants to learn how to surf" She'll break like a twig the first time a wave hits her!"

Tommy licked some pizza sauce from his fingertips before sliding his arms around Lena's waist. "Good question," he said, with a smirk that answered nothing and kissed Lena's cheek. "She has a boyfriend now, you know. Sorry, Jack," he continued, with another grin toward Jack who had been the object of Dru's affection since his arrival, but seemed to have been replaced by someone closer to her own age.

"Dru's a lot more resilient than she seems," Jack remarked. Though he wasn't sure why, he seemed quite sure of that fact, especially considering everything she'd been through. It was no big secret that he was rather fond of Lena's baby sister and thought of them both almost like the sisters he'd never had.

"Yes, she is," Lena agreed with a nod. Like Jack, she'd seen a side of the little princess not many people were privileged to be shown. "But it's good that she's found someone closer to her own age she can hang out with. Josh is a good guy."

Jaz glanced back and forth between her husband and her cousin. "Ever get the feeling something's going on that you don't know about, Toots?" she asked Tommy with a faint grin.

"All the damned time," Tommy replied with a good-natured smirk. He was far too happy-go-lucky to worry too much about the intrigues and gossip surrounding any of the Granger clan, including himself. He'd never cared much for that sort of thing, letting people think whatever they wanted.

Jack finished off his slice of pizza, smiling as Tommy was the one on the receiving end of the teasing for once.

"You're damned all the time, Toots?" Jaz twisted his words with a fresh grin. "Lena, you need to get this boy laid before he starts developing a complex."

Helena laughed, making a vaguely rude gesture in her cousin's direction. "I was trying to do that when you guys dropped in!"

Tommy practically echoed Lena, laughing. "We were working on it when you two interrupted!" The two of them looked like they could pick it back up anytime with Lena lounging comfortably in her fiance's lap.

Teasing or not, the comments only made Jack blush further and mutter quietly to Jasmine, "Maybe we should go."