Pacey tucked the blankets in around Allegra later that night. The little girl was thoroughly exhausted, she kept blinking her eyes to keep them open. Andie had already made her rounds saying goodnight to the children, and now it was Pacey’s turn. He’d saved Allegra for last that night. “Hey sweetie,” he murmured, his voice rumbling quietly in his throat as he sat on the corner of her bed.

“Hi Pacey.” Her small pink lips curled in a tired smile.

“Hi Mr. Teddy.” He greeted the worn teddy bear she clutched with one arm. Allegra’s smile grew. No one else talked to her teddy bear, not even Andie. “‘Legra, I wanna talk to you for a sec, k?”

She nodded; her blond hair was pulled into two pigtails courtesy of Joey earlier that evening. “Okay.”

He brushed her bangs out of her eyes, stalling for time as he tried to think of how to say what he wanted to. “Honey, Joey’s a nice woman...but she can’t be your mommy.”

The little girl nodded sadly. “I know.”

“Not because she doesn’t want you, but the people in charge won’t let unmarried women or men adopt, okay? Remember that? That’s why I can’t adopt you, Jack can’t, and Andie can’t. But that doesn’t mean none of us love you.” She nodded again; her blue eyes reflected an age so much older than her six years. “I don’t say it enough, ‘Legra. But I love you, sweetie.”

She sat up and gave him a hug, her face pressed against his shirt. “Then why are you leaving?” She sniffled.

“Because I have to. I play baseball remember? I’ll be back in a month.”

“How long’s a month?” She wondered, her brow wrinkled.

“Thirty days.”

“That’s too long.”

He smiled sadly, “I’ll be back before you know it.” He didn’t know what else to tell her. Thirty days was a long time.

“I’ll miss you,” she told him as he loosened his grip and laid her back in the bed.

“I’m gonna miss you too. And everyone else.” He tucked the blankets in around her, and bent his head to kiss her on the forehead. “Good night, ‘Legra.”

“G’night, Pacey.” He stood up and started to walk out of the girl’s bedroom, “Hey, Pacey?” He turned around to look back at her. “Do you think...maybe Joey would come say goodnight to me?”

“I’ll ask her if she’s still here, but she might have gone home already.” He told her honestly.

“Okay,” the little girl nodded and Pacey stepped out into the hall, his eyes closed as he leaned back against the door as he closed it.

Joey brought a hand to her mouth to mask a yawn and she fought to keep her eyes open. She had no idea a day at the zoo would be so draining. She rubbed at her eyes tiredly and moaned softly, if she didn’t leave soon there’s no way she’d be able to drive home. “I think I’m going to call it a night,” Joey said when she spotted Pacey.

“Do you think you could go say goodnight to Allegra?” He asked. “She seems to have taken a shining to you.”

She smiled faintly. “Um, yeah sure.”

Joey returned a few minutes later, as Pacey was pouring himself a cup of coffee. “You know, I never did get to thank you.”

She looked at him curiously. “For what?”

“For how you handled Allegra today.” He replied, “You want a cup?” He offered, holding the freshly brewed coffee up. “You were perfect with her.”

“Oh yes, please.” She nodded enthusiastically. “I’m exhausted.”

“Tiring bunch, aren’t they?” He agreed, pulling down a mug from the cupboard. “And to think, we left half of them here. Cream and sugar?”

She shook her head and tried not to yawn. “No, I’ll have it black.”

“Ahh, a true coffee lover,” He handed her the warm drink and sat down at the dining room table.

“I just really need the caffeine.” She wrapped her hands around the mug and took a tentative sip.

“I meant what I said, Joey. You handled a very delicate situation well. And there’s nothing more delicate than the heart of a child.”

“Well, I tried.” She shrugged it off taking a more assured drink from the mug.

“You didn’t have to.”

She just shrugged again and took another healthy drink from the mug. She brushed back a strand of brown hair that had escaped from her bun and curled by her cheek.

He decided to let it go. “So,” he leaned back on the back two legs of his chair. “What aspect of my life are you going to smear across the sports page tomorrow?”

Joey set her mug down. “Oh crap, I have to go like ten minutes ago.”

He smirked. “Classic diversion tactic #4.”

She bit the inside of her cheek why did he have to be so infuriating. “Whatever. I have to go.”

“Okay,” He stood up to walk her out. “I’ll see you at the airport tomorrow morning, I imagine.”

“Yeah, unfortunately.”

“G’night, Potter.” He said wryly, holding the door open for her.

“It’s a little too late for that,” she muttered heading out the door. She still had a million things to do, write the damn article for tomorrow, make sure she had everything packed, make sure she could get Jen to come in and water the plants. She resisted the urge to stomp her feet and whine apathetically, she was so damn tired too.

~*~

Joey yawned and settled back in her seat after adjusting her seatbelt. She had barely managed to get everything done that morning because she had been too tired to set her alarm clock, so she had to take a quick shower throw on some clothes, brush her teeth while sending the e-mail to Kyle with her article as an attachment. She tried to scan it for errors before when she was eating her bagel but she didn’t have the time. She managed to leave a message on Jen’s machine as she pulled her hair into a haphazard bun and grabbed her already packed bag in hopes that she had forgotten nothing. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and mentally went over everything she had supposedly packed as she shut her eyes.

“How are you this morning?” Pacey asked, taking the seat beside her. One of his teammates had been assigned that particular seat, but he’d managed to make a trade.

She couldn’t muster the energy to tell him to get lost so she sighed. “Tired.”

“Not enough sleep?” He wondered.

“Some of us actually have real jobs and we have to work,” she said unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

He rolled his eyes, having adjusted himself to her attitude by now. “Well, you should be able to get a few hours on the way down to the Sunshine State.”

She adjusted her seat with narrowed eyes. “See that’s what I was planning on doing until someone sat down and decided to talk to me even after I said I was tired.”

“Me-ow. I’ll leave you alone then.” He smiled warmly at the flight attendant that passed them.

“I could’ve sworn I specifically asked for separate seating.”

“Go to sleep, Potter. Talk to me again when you aren’t grumpy.”

Joey grumbled something about inconsiderate baseball players before she just gave into her fatigue.

From across the aisle, Jordan Keely held out his hand to the new star of the Boston Red Sox. “Jordan Keely,” he introduced himself. “I’m the- “

“Catcher,” Pacey interrupted, taking the slightly older man’s hand, “Yeah, I know. I’m-”

“Pacey Witter. Our new star.”

Pacey rolled his eyes. “I hate being referred to as such. I’m just a baseball player.”

“That’s a refreshing attitude.” Jordan said, somewhat doubtfully. He glanced over at Joey, “Girlfriend?”

He snorted, “Hardly.” He glanced over at Joey who was fast asleep beside him, the plane’s complementary pillow behind her head and a blanket across her lap. Damn, she was beautiful.

“Then...?” Jordan interrupted his thoughts.

“Oh, she’s a reporter for the Globe.” He answered, “They’re trailing me, and the team, through spring training. It’s apparently supposed to be of human interest.”

Joey raised her head groggily and glared at Pacey. “Dear Lord, do you ever shut up?!”

He groaned, “Jordan, welcome to our reporter.”

“Do you not see me trying to sleep here? Because you know, I thought it was kind of obvious.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be quiet.” He turned back to Jordan and made a point to whisper. “I hate to say it, but when she’s at her best, it isn’t much better than this.”

Joey took her pillow and threw it at his head.

“And she’s violent too.” He took the pillow and tucked it behind his head.

Joey sat up angrily no longer able to sleep. “Oh believe me, you haven’t seen violent.”

He chuckled, content for the moment just to have riled her up. Just because she couldn’t sleep was no reason for her to be rude. “Joey, you should know you aren’t making a very good first impression over here, or should I say, Jen?”

“Why can’t you just do me a favor and go away?!”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re mid-flight, in a packed 747.”

“Then just be quiet.” She yanked her pillow away and settled back down to sleep.

“See what’d I tell ya, man?” He murmured to Jordan.

Jordan eyed Joey in amusement before settling back in his seat. “Reminds me of when my wife was pregnant of our first born, she was so tired all the time. Threatened to kill me if I breathed too hard.” He chuckled softly.

“Hmmm,” Pacey eyed Joey speculatively, through the corner of his eye. Naw, she couldn’t be pregnant. “So, you have a wife?”