"My new boss is such a prick." Seth groaned as he straddled his boyfriend who was sitting comfortably on the bed. "He's even worse than you. Unbelievable!"

"Excuse you?" Leonardo glared.

Seth ignored him. "You smell divine, did you  take a shower without me?" He had his nose buried deep in the crook of Leonardo's neck.

"I don't mind showering twice." It came out as a throaty moan. Seth's tongue on his neck drove him insane.

"Really?"

"Seth." Leonardo breathed. His eyelids were now shut while his head was thrown back in a blissed out abandonment.

God he loved that mouth.

"Did you miss me?" Seth shifted to look deep into those dark eyes.

Leonardo roughly grabbed Seth by the hips, hauling him unimaginably closer than he already was. "You know I did, stop fishing." He said, letting their lips seek each other.

The kiss started as a gentle caress. Both taking their time to savor every aspect of it, basking in the sweet rhythm of soft biting, intertwining tongues and slow sucking. Then it became more desperate, feral and propelling both of them to the extremity of wild desire. 

Leonardo paused their kiss with a negligible nip on Seth's bottom lip. "I want you so bad right now."

"You know we can't." Seth murmured in between kisses. "At least not now, we have places to be."

"You're right. Once we start we might not be able to control ourselves and I don't want a quickie." Leonardo agreed. "But I'm definitely going to fuck you after our day out. Mentally prepare yourself for not being able to use your legs for days after I'm done with you because I won't be gentle."

"Shit. Leo, your mouth." Seth twitched inside his pants. He wondered how the man could turn him into a needy teenage boy just by his lewd words. Seth was not complaining though. He loved it.

"Go freshen up, Mia will be here anytime from now."

"Aye aye captain." Seth mocked a salute as he withdrew himself from Leonardo's lap and headed straight for the shower.

"Aw come on I was hoping you'd let me watch." Leonardo complained when Seth turned to the bathroom settings and made the whole shower glass opaque.

"Sorry but that's not happening."

"Killjoy."

Seth laughed telling his boyfriend to suck it up.

It had been almost two months since Seth was hospitalized at Sullivan Hospital. Soon after his recovery, Seth proceeded with his residency transfer to St Patrick's despite his relationship with Dr. Bravucci being somewhat stable.

The attending tried persuading him to stay but Seth had already made up his mind. Even Marianne failed convincing him to stay.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Mia called from the other end of Leonardo's penthouse which made him sprout into action before she got the chance to make a beeline for his bedroom.

"I'm coming Topolina!"

Leonardo went out to meet with his daughter whose face was shining with unadulterated glee. He quickly acknowledged Daniel, his driver who had brought Mia from her nonna's home in LA and also thanked him for his services.

"Hi Topolina," he crouched down to her level and pressed a kiss on the little girl's forehead. "Were you a good girl for your nonna?"

"Yes, I was a good girl." Mia replied enthusiastically eliciting a warm smile on her dad's face. "I ate all my veggies too." The four year old added more information emphasizing on how much of a good girl she was.

"You did?" Leonardo gasped in mock surprise. "I'm so proud of you, good girls get to go to very cool and fun places."

"I want to go to cool and fun places!" Mia threw her arms in the air excitedly. "Are we still going to Pier 39?"

"We are definitely going, and guess who's coming with us?"

Mia's face contorted into a cute thinking expression. "Umm uncle Gio and auntie Cassy?"

Leonardo shook his head making her frown. "Is it Matt?" She asked with hopeful eyes referring to a friend she had made in kindergarten. The two of them have been inseparable since and sometimes their parents would allow them to have play dates.

Leonardo finally caved seeing his daughter's little forehead scrunch. "Seth."

"Seth?!" Mia openly squealed with her eyes popped wide opened. "Seth is going with us?"

"Yeah right I am." Seth's voice sifted through bringing both father and daughter's attention all to himself. "Who is ready to have some fun?"

"Me! Me! Me!" Mia chanted merrily as she dashed to hug Seth's leg who effortlessly hoisted her in the air and making sure to catch the kid.

"Thought as much." The resident grinned at the child's ecstatic giggles.

. . .

The trio were spending time at PIER 39. Their first stop was Magowan's Infinite Mirror Maze where they played hide and seek in the arched doorways and intricately designed columns. Mia loved the changing technicolor lights which led through the psychedelic mirror maze. It was such an amazing experience for all of them.

Then the next stop was the aquarium where they enjoyed the beauty and diversity of Northern Californian aquatic life.

"Look at those big teeth." Mia held on to Seth's hand when a sleek shark swam close to the glass baring its sharp teeth.

Seth chuckled. "Don't worry Sweet pea, he won't bite."

"Oh! Oh! Daddy look, that's Squidward!" Mia pointed at an octopus.

"Squidward?" Leonardo was totally confused and his face said it all. "Who is Squidward?"

"You don't know Squidward?" Seth looked extremely shocked as if it was supposed to be common knowledge to everyone. "Squidward from Spongebob, doesn't ring a bell to you? Turquoise and cyan weirdo, Krusty Krab cashier?"

Leonardo only stared at both of them blankly. "Nope." he said, earning himself even more loud theatrical gasps.

"Cut it out you two." It was at that moment Leonardo realized he was dealing with two kids instead of one.

"This is so sad, right Mia?" Seth looked down to capture the child's sparkling eyes. "Your daddy doesn't know Squidward."

"I will make you watch Spongebob don't be sad alright daddy?" Mia turned to look at her dad with so much empathy thinking the man was missing out which drew a cackle out of Seth and a snort from Leonardo.

"The last time I checked this was called an octopus not Squidward."

"Mia you know Squidward is an octopus right?" Seth asked.

"Yes and octopuses have eight legs just like spiders."

"You're right Topolina," Leonardo ruffled the kid's hair making her pout then he turned to address Seth. "I think I saw a Nat Geo documentary saying octopuses actually have six 'arms' and 'two' legs."

"I wouldn't know, I'm always stuck at the hospital with sick people ninety percent of my time." Seth groaned making Leonardo howl.

"You could've been the best hacker on the dark web of all time but you chose a white coat instead."

"Oh come on, don't remind me." Seth mumbled. "That was not my proudest moment."

"I'm just messing with you." Leonardo stole a quick peck on Seth's lips which left him a little flustered. Mia watched them with a smile on her lips but chose not to comment anything.

"You wanna know something else Topolina?" Leonardo continued from where they'd left off.

The kid quickly nodded, she was so eager to know something cool like her dad would say whenever he wanted to teach her a new technique or anything generally interesting per se.

"An octopus has three hearts, nine brains and blue blood."

"Really?" Mia's jaw instantly slackened, she was very amazed and her eyes were now stuck on the invertebrate in uttermost awe.

"Yes really kiddo."

They left the aquarium for a less crowded restaurant where they enjoyed a late lunch which included ice cream, they chatted and laughed at Mia's hilarious kindergarten stories most of the time. Their very last stop was a street magic show and a souvenir shop where Seth got Mia a stuffed purple octopus. Judging by the fond look on her face she was not leaving the stuffed animal alone anytime soon.

Since it was getting late Leonardo decided it was time to wrap up their day. They watched the shimmering halo orris-silver moon rising over the bay. It was as if everything was a perfect fit, like a happy ending in a fairytale. Finally, they had each other.

"It's beautiful." Seth muttered.

"Not as beautiful as you are." Leonardo whispered into his boyfriend's ear.

"I love you guys thank you for bringing me here."

The two men blinked, for a moment they were lost in their own little romance world completely forgetting about Mia's presence. Seth was the first one to recover from his daze.

"I love you too Mia and we are still besties forever, right?"

That little exchange was sweet it left the attending abnormally quiet.

"Matt is now my best friend too. You don't mind right Seth?"

"No. I don't mind at all, actually we can all be best friends."

"Yeeeey!" She cheered.

"Ti amerò per sempre, Topolina." Leonardo finally said drawing a full beam on Mia's face. Her Italian was strong thanks to her grandparents so she understood what her dad had just said. I'll always love you little mouse.

. . .

"Little fireball is now sleeping." Leonardo rasped as he entered his bedroom after tucking in Mia and reading her a bedtime story about Bailey the lost puppy, he frowned when he noticed Seth's demeanor. The resident seemed to be lost deep in thought. "You okay?" The attending asked as he was striping down to his briefs.

"Hey," Seth didn't hear Leonardo enter the room.

"Hey." Leonardo whispered as he approached closer to Seth on the bed.

"Thank you for today." Seth gazed at the man who was now lying right beside him with so much longing evident in his green eyes and Leonardo noticed. "It's been a while since I had a pure blast."

"I'm glad you enjoyed your day." Leonardo smiled briefly. "Earlier you said your new boss is a dick. Not that I'm any better but you know I can always take you back at Sullivan Hospital right?"

"We already talked about this, babe." Seth sighed. "I can handle myself, besides he's not a dick directly towards me but he's still a dick nonetheless. I want to spend more time with my mother, a firm support system could give her a chance to full recovery. Besides, if we have a fight I won't be able to concentrate on my job if I'm consistently bumping into you in the hallways."

"I get it." Leonardo nodded in understanding. "You should take me to your mother sometime."

"You want to meet her?" Seth sounded somewhat stunned.

"Yeah, why not? You met mine. And I want to be there for you in every way."

Seth's eyes were now glazed with emotion. Leonardo had no idea how deep that was for Seth.

"It's just that—never mind. I'll tell you when I'm going for my next visit."

"Great." Leonardo said and Seth ambushed him in a kiss that left both of them breathless. "Stay with me tonight." Leonardo pleaded in a quiet voice as they reluctantly pulled away from each other.

"That was the plan." Seth said then after a while he whispered in the dimly lit room. "Leonardo?"

"Yes, amore mio."

"Will you make love to me tonight."

Leonardo was silent for a second, passing off as someone who had just heard Greek for the very first time. Then he said. "How do you want me?"

"In every way," Seth managed to breathe. "I want all of you."