Do you really live like this, Gavin, running off to other countries on impulse, crashing cars, punching moose, climbing dinosaurs... making love to whatever woman who happens to catch your eye... or are you just trying to impress me?"

"Just happens with you, really."

He smirked. Well, at least 3 out of the 5 were unique to her.

"Get this thing loose and I'll find something to put it in."

It would take her a little while to cut through the metal wiring that was attaching the skeleton to the table. Gavin, not wanting to take a stroll down the streets of Philadelphia with a dinosaur under his arm, decided that some sort of box or bag was a necessity. As he walked away with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, he could feel Bella's eyes on him. God, that woman was insatiable. Not at all what he'd expected when he'd heard about Tara's business meeting with the mafia princess. No, he planned on having as much fun as possible with Isabella Luciano. When she eventually dropped him for whatever board meeting she had to go to or whatever it was people like her did... golf? Who the fuck knew? Well, when that happened, at least he'd have shown her how to have a good time- and had a couple good times himself, along the way. 

As he walked aimlessly, he remembered how she looked in that tight pair of slacks, bending over with that knife of hers. It had been a couple hours since the car... where the hell was he supposed to fuck her this time? They'd already hit the top of a building, a hotel room, a riverside, and a taxi. Getting a hotel again seemed so boring on the one hand... but, on the other, it was a hell of a lot more comfortable on an actual bed. 

Daydreaming about the things he'd do to Isabella, Gavin was rarely caught unaware as he turned the corner and came face to face with a security guard, who seemed equally startled to see Gavin. The man reached for his nightstick; Gavin simply leaped.

Gavin's right hand struck the man's chin in a leaping blow shortly before his right knee followed up with a man to the man's midsection. Gavin's momentum carried him forward as the man landed on his back with Gavin on top of him. The security guard seemingly had the wind knocked out of him, and Gavin took that opportunity to drag him over to a radiator and handcuff him. 

A few minutes later, Gavin, making some noise to alert her so as not to surprise her, returned to Isabella holding the largest bag from the gift store. She'd almost finished sawing through the metal, and she was again leaning forward to get a good angle on it. Gavin appeared behind her, rough hands grabbing her hips as his body pushed into her gently... but he quickly pulled away.

"Can't get distracted," he quipped, "security guard knows we're here. He's currently... indisposed... but he'll eventually get someone's attention. This bag's pretty big, though. Should fit well enough in there to avoid any trouble."

Izzy made a sound deep in her chest as she felt his hands grab her hips.  Instinctively she moved in such a way to invite him to proceed but she felt him pull away and make his excuses about the guard.  She nodded and helped him put the small creature into his bag carefully.

"I'll call him Gavin."  she said to her partner in crime.  "So I don't forget about tonight after my father marries me off to some terribly responsible upstanding Italian gentleman."  she chuckled.  Will wasn't Italian but she knew she could make her father overlook the fact, with the right prodding.

It was a shame though, Gavin was delightful and easy on the eyes, she could see herself falling in love with a man like him ... unfortunately, the idea of Isabella Byrne was a work of pure & complete fiction.  Gavin would never marry.  He'd never want a family and he'd never aspire to the heights of power which her father would expect a husband of hers to rise.  No.  Gavin Byrne was a non-starter, even if every part of her delighted in those beautiful blue eyes and the way he smiled at her every time he thought she wasn't looking.

Too bad really.  We could set this fucking world on fire...

_______

24 Years Later

"So Gramma Bella bought you the coat and you got her a dinosaur?  A real one?"  Brigitte smiled brightly and gobbled down the last bits of her waffle cone messily.  "That's the best presents ever."

She looked at the coat in a new way.

"When my Mama went to heaven, God sent me a new one.  Do you think I'll get a new Gramma one day too?"  She looked at Gavin, innocent blue eyes curious and awaiting his reply.

Gavin was quiet for a long time as he sat on the bench next his granddaughter. He finished his ice cream as he reflected.

"Sometimes, we lose someone and, even though we never forget them, we're lucky enough to find someone new. They don't replace the first person, but they come into our lives and play a similar role. Other times in your life, you lose someone and..."

Gavin bit his tongue, literally and metaphorically. His granddaughter looked up and stared at him with curiosity. Gavin tried to smile.

"... sometimes, you lose someone and you don't get a New Them. They're just too... unique. Unique means there's only one of them. I don't think there's ever going to be anyone quite like Gramma ever again, Brigitte. Your mother is like her. So is your Uncle Will. But they aren't all the way like her. But that's okay. You just remind yourself of all the other good people that you have in your life. When I miss your Gramma, I try to think a lot about you and Gav. Does that all make sense?"

Brigitte nodded. As Gavin took her hand and walked down the sidewalk, he could almost see the past in front of him: Gavin Byrne and Izzy Luciano strolling out of the museum with a dinosaur in a bag from the gift shop. As they walked, Gavin had slung the coat around Bella. An hour later, it had been the only thing she was wearing. But that was a story that Aurora would probably prefer not to hear, not to mention his granddaughter. No, Gavin imagined the figures from his past strolling away, arms around each other's hips, and he let them go and turned toward home with his eyes cast low to the ground.