'You're the Change in Me Tonight.'

I held her while she cried, she had managed all this by herself. Oh, I knew why she had, I had been doing other things like putting my profession in front of everything else. I whispered close so she could hear me, “I can't undo what I've done to you, us. I can if you want make sure it never happens again. I'm sorry I went away, but I'm back, here with you. Now.” Through her tears came a little smile, I kissed her face and held it tight against me.

He literally crushed my face into his chest, “Honey you're hurting my nose.”

“Sorry.” He relaxed his hold.

Quietly I spoke, “Are you angry with me about not telling you, that I kept it from you?”

“No, hurt yes, more than angry, justifiably though, you lost faith in me.”

“NO. I didn't, never. I was making the decision, for both of us, you know being proactive, I thought if I could give you our baby it would bring us back together, and you know what? Through all the pain that it brought, I dealt with it and I would've again if it meant that we would get to a corner in the right direction.” I looked at him sternly, “Like we are now. Right?”

I paused, copied her look, “Like we are now.” I continued, “So tell me, we're around the corner, what's the first step for you? What or where do you want to start?”

'OK, good point, where do I want to start? Actually I knew, took a breath, oh boy! “I hate my job I want to leave it have our bubby and make new plans on what I want to do.” I made a point to not grimace at my husband, look calm, act calm, breath. Deep.

“Cool.”

“What.”

“Do it, tomorrow, if you want. No pressure.”

“Just like that.”

“Yep. I'll deal with Carter if you want me to, I'd have pleasure in unbolting him from the inside for mistreating and abusing my beautiful wife.” She giggled and broke out in a big smile, “No Honey. Thank you, but I'll deal with Carter, he-he-he-he, although I'd love to see that conversation.”

For the second time tonight they sat smiling at each other. He had something he wanted to discuss, that she needed to have input too, in a similar vein.

“Honey, I'm not happy in my job, oh, I've corrected a lot of me and the way people react to me and how I treat them but outside of that the culture remains the same so I guess I've outgrown the job to some extent.”

I was nodding my head at him, yes! I love this man, but I need to know imploringly I said, “Soooo...?”

He was seriously conflicted but gently he spoke“Well, Frank and John feel the same, Frank wants to take everything that we three have learnt and start a new partnership.”

She looked at me incredulously, “REALLY. Really....Wow, I mean YES, yes,..... If it means I get my husband more often,Yes.”

I looked deep into my wife's eyes, “I promise you. You get more husband, A lot more often.”

She snuggled into his chest, wrapped her arms around his mid-drift.

Her smooth little hand rubbed my chest up and down, I could feel her excitement. We sat in pleasant silence.

We sat, each with our thoughts, I snuggled closer into him, oh I knew we had a way's to go, I'm sure. But this right here was what I had wanted for so long, so sue me, I'm just gonna soak it up for now and deal with tomorrow, well tomorrow.

I looked down and saw my wife had developed a curious little smile, “Honey? What?”

Looking up I could all but see a question mark over his head. I couldn't help smiling, I whispered, “You know, I'm unemployed, and I suspect that you may have a position for a personal executive secretary opening up shortly and as I don't have to work tomorrow, well darling I was wondering if you would like to come to bed and look over the practical side of my resume.”

The Grandfather clock in the hallway chimed twice as it rang in the half hour.

Epilog.

He pulled the collar of his coat up before he left the warmth to battle his way through the first light snow of the year, God it was getting earlier and earlier each season. He wasn't looking forward to going home to a cold empty house but, ah well. He'd just about taken the offer to stay but he'd have to go home sooner or later and despite Frank and John arguing with him about disappearing and to forget he even had a job, they'd left him in no doubt they could cope with out him he'd wondered whether he should poke his nose into the office tomorrow anyway.

The autumn blast awoke him to the cold. He'd walked halfway across the car park, he stopped, 'Damn it what the hell am I doing.' He turned and walked back towards the shelter of the entrance from where he had come, he walked past the reception area, it was still in a mild state of chaos, he thought that was strange it was still relatively early. He caught the lift punched in the floor number, when he got off he pointed himself in the direction of the corridor he needed to follow, it was a bit of a hike.

He couldn't resist another look. He'd only just left no more than ten minutes previous. He found her cube but she wasn't there. “Oh, you're back, changed your mind then?”

He nodded with a big smile on his face. “Right well little Rose Amelia is with Mummy getting her next feed, I just took her in, so off you go, go and watch your beautiful little one's.”

“Thank you, I will.” Despite the fact he needn't feel that way he felt awkwardly nervous around the staff, just the thought they went out of their way to accommodate him and his family was a new thing for him, he moved along the ward stopping in front of his wife's room. Paring into the room he watched little Rose Amelia nursing on her Mummy. May 3rd 2004, 02:31 would forever be etched into his brain as the completion date of the first part of his little family's new journey.

He realised his wife had seen him standing in the doorway, they smiled at each other, the smiles that meant so much and they were so familiar with now.