Vanessa became vaguely aware of the front door opening.  She stirred on the couch, adjusting the blanket that was covering her.  Both girls had long since gone to bed.  After catching up on some work e-mails she'd fallen asleep on the couch.

Lin walked in slowly, trying his best to be quiet.  Vanessa was a saint for sticking around with his girls, especially when Elana was being so grouchy.  He and Elana had been butting heads so much lately that he welcomed a buffer between the two of them.  Lin quietly crept around the couch, finding Vanessa opening her eyes.

"Hey," he said softly, thinking she looked beautiful bleary-eyed, her dark hair splayed out over the pillow.

"Hey," she smiled at him, stretching her arms overhead.  "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight," he said.  Far too late to be walking home.  "Wanna stay over?"

"Sure," she smiled at him.  Lin helped her sit up and took her hand as they walked back to the bedroom.  As they laid down on the bed, they began kissing softly and it quickly turned more passionate.  Lin let his hand snake up the front of her shirt, but Vanessa seemed to jolt when he reached her chest.

"Sorry," she apologized.  "I'm...well let's take it slow."

"Of course," he told her, kissing the tip of her nose.  He moved his hand to her bottom instead as they became lost in kisses again.

"Can I keep my shirt on?"

"Anything, my queen," he told her, and they soon became lost in each other.

____

Mariele hummed to herself as she ate her Cheerios at the breakfast table the next morning.  The house was in their morning routine, each person getting ready for a busy day.  Her dad's bedroom door opened and she heard high heels down the hallway.  Confused, she watched as Vanessa walked into the room.

"Vanessa?" She asked, perplexed.  Vanessa offered a small, embarrassed smile.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"I stayed the night," she explained simply, going to the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee.  Lin rinsed out his own bowl of cereal at the kitchen sink, looking at Vanessa sheepishly.  How to explain this to a four year old?  They decided at little as necessary was needed.  It was another story for the twelve year old in the house.  A few moments later, Elana walked out, in her usual jeans, hoodie and Chucks.  She took one glance at Vanessa and then narrowed her eyes at her father.

"Ewww," she stated simply.

Vanessa bit her lip as Lin winked at her.

"Dad, can I get my phone back?" Elana asked her father.  Lin pulled it out his back pocket and held it out, but didn't let go.

"It stays put away during class, understood?" he asked her.  She nodded reluctantly.  She hadn't been able to look at her phone since yesterday afternoon.  It was killing her to know what was going on online.  "Straight home after school."

"Is Senora Lopez coming back?" Elana asked, wondering what had happened to their usual sitter.

"Probably not," Lin explained as he started to make the girls' sandwiches for lunch.  "Her daughter just had a baby."

"So who's gonna start watching us?" Elana asked, finding her backpack exactly where she'd plopped it the afternoon before.  "Not that I need a babysitter."

Lin looked at Vanessa.  She was fortunate to have a flexible schedule at the moment.  A lot of her work she could do from home.  She was quickly becoming very comfortable around the family.

"I am," Vanessa said, giving a small smile.

"So what, are you two dating now or something?" Elana asked, trying to decide whether to be disgusted or not.

Vanessa shrugged.  "Yeah.  I guess."

She looked between them and saw her father's face.  He looked...happy.  How was he allowed to be happy when their mother had just died?  It had only been six months and he was already moving on?

"So what, Mom just doesn't matter anymore?" She asked curtly, furrowing her brow.

"No, sweetheart," Lin said, feeling badly.  "Of course not.  I'll always love your mom."

Elana sighed, not wanting to think about it.  She wasn't sure how her dad was just able to move on so quickly, but she still missed her mother every day.  Elana pulled on her backpack and grabbed a breakfast bar from the pantry.  As quickly as she could, she was out of there.

Vanessa looked at Lin, concerned.  His top priority was his girls, as it should be.  If they weren't okay with this, they needed to pump the brakes.

"She just needs some time," Lin assured Vanessa.  The way he felt about Vanessa...it couldn't be a bad thing.  For the first time since Juliana had passed he didn't dread getting out of bed every morning.  Maybe it was fast by some standards, but Vanessa was like the sunshine his heart was reaching for.

"My friend Carla is having a barbeque this weekend," Vanessa told him.  "Do you think you and the girls would like to go?"

"Yeah, sounds great," Lin said.

"She's got four kids so the girls will have people to play with," she mentioned.

"Sounds perfect," he said.

"I promise they won't hound you for Hamilton tickets," she added, knowing that anyone and everyone who had a connection to Lin was asking.  Lin grinned and leaned in for a kiss.  Making plans with Vanessa felt good.

____

"I'm saying, you could make a fortune," Isaac explained to Lin as they sat in their backyard that Sunday.  He'd been explaining how, by live streaming the show, ticket sales would go through the roof.

"Thanks, man, but I think we're pretty well set," Lin told him politely.  "We're actually going to tape the show this June and eventually release it on some platform."

"Then maybe people will stop hounding you for tickets," Isaac went on.  "Which, by the way, if you ever happen to have any extra..."

"Lin!" Vanessa called as she walked over with a beer.  She knew Isaac could be a bit much some times, and Lin looked like he needed saving.  "How do you like your burger cooked?"

Lin stood up gratefully.  "Medium-well, please," he answered as he walked over to Vanessa.  She looked gorgeous in a sundress, the afternoon sunlight seemingly making her sparkle.

"And the girls?" she asked. 

"Probably the same," he answered.  Carla was manning the grill, flipping burgers and hot dogs.  Mariele had made fast friends with Carla's kids.  Elana was being a typical pre-teen, glued to her phone as she lounged in a chair.  "Can I get you anything?"

"No," she smiled at him.  "Was Isaac giving you the run-around?"

Lin chuckled.  "He may have propositioned live streaming of the show."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and took a sip of beer.  "He can be a bit much."

"Nah, he's great," Lin told her.  The whole family seemed really sweet and Mariele especially was having a good time.  They'd just gotten out the sprinkler so things were about to get lit.

"Are you going in?" Lin asked Vanessa, nodding towards the sprinkler.  A couple of Carla's kids were screaming as the cold water hit them.

"No," Vanessa chuckled.  It had been years since she'd been in a bathing suit.  Anything that might show her scar was out of the question.  They both watched in amusement as Isaac grabbed one of the kids and held him right in the path of the cold water, getting himself soaked in the process.  He yelled triumphantly as his child screamed, wanting to be let down.

"Isaac, knock it off!" Carla shouted to her husband.

"I'm gonna go see if Carla needs any help," Vanessa told Lin.  She walked over to where the meat was sizzling, smelling delicious.

"Isaac is ridiculous," Vanessa remarked as they watched her husband at like the grown man child he was.  Lin had wandered over to where Mariele was standing with Alicia, acting all coy about getting wet.  They watched as Lin knelt down next to her and held her hand.  He reached out his own hand to touch the water and Mariele followed suit.  Lin was obviously a loving, patient father.

"Have you told him yet?" Carla asked her long-time friend.  She knew how self-conscious she was about her surgery and the resulting scar.  It really wasn't a big deal, but Vanessa was making a lot out of it.

"No," Vanessa admitted.  "I don't want to scare him off."

"He's perfect, you know," Carla told her.  "I mean, don't get me wrong.  He's no Isaac."

As if on cue, Isaac walked over and began to peel off his soaked t-shirt, revealing his pot belly and hairy chest.  Vanessa scrunched up her nose and she and Carla shared an amused look.

"Isaac, maybe you should put a shirt on because I don't think Vanessa will ever be satisfied by another man," Carla told him.  Isaac looked at Vanessa and realized he was being laughed at.  He owned it, flexing his biceps and beginning to do a sexy dance.

Carla giggled and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"I've got rhythm," he sang.  "I've got the moves."

"Our rhythm gets us in trouble, honey," Carla giggled.  "Go get another shirt.  Now."

The afternoon continued uneventfully and happily.  Everyone loved Lin and he seemed googly eyed over Vanessa.

That evening, Vanessa sat at her vanity in front of the mirror in her nightgown.  Lin was off performing and the eyes of the world were on him.  If they really committed to dating, would she be judged?  We she be accused of moving in too quickly after Juliana's death?  Of chasing him because he was famous?

Feeling even more self-conscious, she pulled her nightgown down slightly and looked at her ugly scar.  If Lin saw it, he'd think she was weak.  That she had too much baggage.  Things had been going well since her surgery, but that didn't mean she wouldn't run into problems down the road.  Her body was constantly trying to reject her foreign heart and it was only because of the medications she took that she was able to function.

Sighing, she covered up the scar and thought about what Carla had said earlier.  He's perfect.  How could she compare to perfect?  She wasn't, and she knew the world would judge her.  Who was she to be the partner of the extraordinary Lin-Manuel Miranda?