Hell's Kitchen

Felicia texted Noah and asked if he could come over now and before she could set the phone down she read, "Be right there!"

Charity giggled when her mother ran upstairs to brush her hair and touch up her makeup as though the house was on fire.

"I...just want to look nice. That's all," after she asked her daughter why she was laughing.

"You always look pretty, Mom," she assured her.

"You are so sweet!" Felicia told her hoping that was true.

If the way Noah reacted was any indication, it might just be.

"Every time I see you I'm taken aback by how beautiful you are," he said when she let him in.

Charity heard and giggled again. "See? I told you so!"

"What did she tell you?" Noah asked.

"Oh, nothing," she told him as they stood there wondering whether or not it was okay to kiss.

"My mom wants you to kiss her," Charity said as she walked toward the door. "It's okay. I want you to kiss her, too."

"Oh, well, we can't argue with that, can we?" Noah said.

"I don't think it would be wise," Felicia replied as he put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her softly.

"See? You are pretty!" Charity said as though the kiss proved it.

Before they could even sit down, Charity asked if they could play a game. Before he mom could say 'no' Noah said that sounded like a great idea, and since it was a Friday, they ended up playing Monopoly until 10pm.

"Okay, Miss Money Bags," her mom said after she wiped both of the adults out. "Time for bed. An hour past time for bed."

"Okay!" she said cheerfully, surprising her mom.

She also surprised Noah when she walked over and hugged him.

"I'm glad you're my mom's new boyfriend," she said after letting go.

About to die of embarrassment and correct her daughter by telling her he wasn't actually her boyfriend yet, Noah said, "I am, too. I like your mom very much."

Charity skipped away leaving Felicia sitting there next to Noah.

"So are we? Boyfriend and girlfriend?" she asked.

"I hope so. I'd like that very much."

"You're sure about that?"

"Uh-huh. Very sure," he told her.

"Then you wait right here. I'll go tuck in the big winner and be right back."

It was nearly two in the morning when they finished discussing everything they could think of to discuss about the restaurant, and since that was the time they normally got off work, neither of them was all that tired.

"Would you maybe like to stay a while longer?" Felicia asked as she snuggled up close.

"If I stay, I'll want a repeat of this afternoon, and since Charity's here..."

"My bedroom is downstairs and she sleeps like the d..."

Felicia stopped and said, "Noah. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to imply that..."

He smiled and said, "It's okay. And if...it's okay...then I'd love to stay a little longer."

It was four in the morning when he got up to leave.

"I'm glad you stayed," Felicia told him as he held her.

"I just wish I didn't have to leave."

"Me, either," she said, her head buried in the crook of his neck.

"Felicia?" he asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"Is this...are we...moving too fast?"

She looked up at him and said, "No. Not for me. Is that how you feel?"

"Not at all," he said as he looked right into her beautiful eyes. "Not even close."

"Well, maybe we could discuss finding some way so you don't have to leave one of these times."

"I'd like that. Very much," he told her before kissing her goodbye.

She walked him to the door, and when he kissed her again he said, "Good night...honey."

Felicia smiled happily and said, "Goodnight...sweetheart."

Noah very much wanted to say, "I love you," but didn't. What he didn't know was that Felicia wanted to hear him say it more than anything else in the whole world.

Both of them were very tired when their shift started, but it was that wonderful kind of tired only two lovers could appreciate. They'd agreed not to keep their relationship a secret, but they also agreed to only show affection in private. So when Felicia found Noah in the break room when she got to work, she was thrilled when he closed the door and kissed her and told her again how beautiful she looked.

But the biggest change came when the entire evening passed without a single outburst from The Chef. He not only stopped yelling, he was patient and more concerned that Noah get it right than with berating him for making a mistake.

He'd sat the entire staff down and explained what was going on before the first customers arrived, less the new 'office romance', and assured everyone that they would still have a job regardless of who ended up buying the restaurant. There were sighs of relief and nervous congratulations to The 'new' Chef who'd smiled and been polite to everyone. That it lasted the entire night was a welcome bonus.

That it continued for as long as Daryl was there became the new normal even as Noah explored various financial options. Making it possible was his mother having left the house to him, a house she'd owned outright for the last five years. A house in a highly overvalued Seattle real estate market that was worth (or rather appraised at) a whopping $1.2 million dollars.

The equity in the home was well above the amount Noah needed to buy his uncle out, and still have a significant amount of money leftover. By the time the house was ready to be sold, he and Felicia were living together in her home, freeing up Noah's monthly expenses for the modest place he'd been living at in a city where apartments were rented for 80% above the national average.

He'd told Felicia he loved her for the first time the day he moved in, and she'd said it back to him immediately. Then, when just three days later, Charity also told him she loved him, Noah's eyes welled up with tears, but for a very different reason than when his mother had ended her life. That had been the saddest day of his life, but hearing this sweet, young girl tell him she loved him was by far the best.

In terms of timing, things couldn't have been better. It had taken them a little over three months to get the house completely ready, and in that same amount of time Daryl told his nephew he was confidant he could run the kitchen by himself. Felicia had also been in training to be the new GM, and Daryl turned those reins over to her the same day he gave the kitchen to Noah.

The three of them went to closing together on the house then moved across the hall to transfer the business from 'The Chef' to Noah who had no interest in that title.

Daryl handed him the keys, hugged him, then wished him luck.

"I'll still be around if you need me," he assured his nephew.

He then gave Felicia a hug and told her she was more than ready, too.

"Thank you for everything, Chef," she said.

"Daryl, okay? No more 'chef' stuff for me. I had a good run, but it's your turn now."

Noah took his beautiful girlfriend's hand and promised his uncle they'd take good care of the restaurant, and they did just that.

With the help of a local marketer who helped them increase their business, the restaurant had never done so well. So well, in fact, that just four months after Noah took it over, he asked the most beautiful woman he'd ever known to marry him in the place they'd first met.

"Yes, yes of course I'll marry you," she said without hesitation. "How could I not when I love you so much?"

Noah kissed her and held her close and said, "This is where it all began."

Felicia pulled back, looked around, and said, "Yes, it is. Right here in...Hell's Kitchen."

She smiled at her handsome, young fiancé who said, "A lot has changed, huh?"

Felicia looked at the beautiful diamond ring on her hand and said, "Yes. Yes, it has."

Charity was thrilled beyond words to be her mom's 'co-Maid of Honor' along with her nana. And Daryl was honored to come back from a long stint somewhere in northern Alaska to be his nephew's best man.

Just when Felicia was beginning to think life couldn't get any better, she learned she was pregnant, and when Noah and Charity were both overjoyed with the news, she realized life had just gotten even better—again.