Spoilers/Notes: This is a fan fiction about what would have happened (mid-Season 5) if Violet and Pete had had a happy marriage and hadn't separated.
Characters/Pairings: Violet/Pete, Cooper/Charlotte
Summary: Violet and Pete are happily married and focused on their careers and raising Lucas. Erica has just passed away and Cooper is trying to help Mason deal with his feelings.
Chapter One
"Mmm." Pete rolls over to see Violet's smile waiting for him. She leans over and kisses him, then runs her hand across his chest.
"You were great last night." She tells him. She knows they both feel so lucky to have a relationship like this.
Pete gazes at his wife. "Yeah," he replies, then quickly sits up to put his hand behind her neck and kiss her back.
Violet pulls away sweetly to put her robe on. "I'm going to check on Lucas." She exits the bedroom as a smile grows on Pete's face.
It has been almost two months since Pete's heart attack. Pete remembers Violet finding him, tears streaming down her face, his mind feeling numb and far away. After they arrived at St. Ambrose, he could breathe again, but Violet wouldn't look at him the same way. It took time and patience to get to where they were now, able to love each other freely without the drama.
"I don't know where to start." Cooper says to Charlotte, trying to pull guidance from her eyes.
Mason sits on the sofa of Cooper and Charlotte's apartment, seemingly content with his video game. It's the morning after his mother has passed away due to a brain tumor at St. Ambrose, and he hasn't shown grief or sadness yet.
"He's a kid, Coop," Charlotte says, "He's probably trying to figure a couple things out for himself, and he doesn't want to talk about it until he's sure. Just let him come to us."
Cooper cannot get a good grasp on what was happening. Struck by the impact of Erica's death himself, he has no idea what his son must be thinking, and won't know how to approach it when Mason comes to him.
Charlotte puts her arms around Cooper as they watch Mason from behind for a moment. She goes over the day Cooper told her Erica had shown up with Mason, and how he knew that Mason was his. Charlotte remembers Erica's fierceness in refusing treatment, and how she demanded she take her time left to find a way to prepare Mason for what would happen to her. Charlotte is slowly beginning to understand why Erica made the decisions she made. She doesn't think she can agree with them, but she feels peace and understanding.
"I love you." Violet kisses Pete goodbye. He walks out the door to go to the ER early.
Lucas babbles and eats cereal off of his tray. Violet is glad she can spend time with her son and support him.
"Mommy loves you, you know that?" she asks him. He replies with a cute laugh.
Violet looks at the clock. "Ooh and Mommy has to get ready, too." She takes Lucas out of his seat and takes him upstairs.
As she carries him to play in his room while she gets dressed, Violet recounts the time Pete held their son as Violet left for her book tour. It hadn't felt selfish at the time, it had felt like she was moving forward and finding a new place for herself. But the issues it had caused her and Pete turned out to be too much; Violet did not want to risk losing Pete. She reminds herself that it's the things she and Pete have gone through and come out alive from that make them so great together.