So... it's only been three years since I finished the first part of this story. A lot has happened in the meantime and I've been working on and off on this story, I don't know how often I'll update but the beginning is here! Gaby, I'm listening to you!

Chapter 1:
Dawn

''To greet a lovely morning, we must leave the night behind.'' Tarang Sinha

July 31 2006.

Life was happening in slow-motion, and it made her all the more aware of everything that was happening. Every hair on her body was standing on end. Every part of her body where she could feel him was screaming. The small drop of blood on her forehead was ever so slowly rolling down, mixing with the tears on her cheeks. Her lips were burning. His lips were on hers, his hand on the small of her back moving slowly to just above her right hip, her back pressed up against the wall. Her hands on his shoulders, her mind telling her to use them to push him away but her hands weren't co-operating. He pulled away from her and used one of his hands to push a stray strand of her away from her face, ''I love you.'' He murmured, and she could see in his eyes just how much he meant it. She could see how much he wanted her to say it back. She couldn't say anything. Her body completely frozen and even if she had thought screaming for help would do anything other than piss him off, she couldn't get the simple four-letter word to pass through her lips.

She wanted to push him away; she wanted to remind herself that this wasn't the man she loved. This wasn't the man she had gotten engaged to not even three months before, this wasn't the man whose baby she was carrying. This was the man who had abused her, and whom she had loved anyway. She had stood by him even on the days when he reminded her why he was the worst thing to have ever happened to her. The man whom had left her despite her loyalty. The man who was now mad at her for moving on from him.

She opened her mouth slightly, hoping that she'd be able to get a word out but without the confidence she'd actually be able to. She licked her lips and a half smile appeared on his lips. ''Get out.'' It wasn't much louder than a whisper. His hand moved to her face, cupping her cheeks as he stared deep into her eyes. Her mind was blank, afraid to move, say, or do anything for fear of his reaction. She could feel the blood on her forehead roll down as slowly as the blood on her inner thigh.

His smile fell. ''Andy?'' His voice echoed through her mind. ''Andy?!''

Her eyes snapped open. ''Andy?'' She could see Milo sitting up next to her, looking down at her concerned. ''Are you okay?''

The curtains were softly blowing in the wind, the heat coming in from outside. It was late July, not mid-December. Les was gone. Her hair was still standing on end, she could still feel his lips on hers, her mouth was dry. The small trail of blood on her forehead was as real to her as the actual blood on her inner thigh- the post-partum bleeding still hadn't stopped. She looked over at Milo, but didn't answer him before getting up out of bed. She looked down at the blood stain on the bed, ''dammit.''

August 22 2006.

Andy yawned and stretched as she got up out of bed. They had just had the first night of Daniel sleeping in his own room and it was, not exactly a coincidence, the best sleep she had had since he was born. She had actually managed to sleep in for the first time in a long time, Milo was already up and she could hear Corrina downstairs making breakfast. She was back at work working part-time now, with Dylan West seeing the rest of her patients. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she walked over to the bathroom, the house had thin walls and Jesse and Lizzy still had summer break, meaning they would want to sleep in.

She opened the door to the bathroom but stopped in her tracks when she could see Milo inside. He was taking a shower and the bathroom was filled with steam, hot drops of water were rolling down his back, his head was thrown back and his hand was around his… Andy swallowed hard and stood there in complete silence, they had been together for over three years and sure… he had put on a bit of a show for her before, but she had never walked in on him like this, in a completely private moment. She watched him for a few minutes before pushing the door open further quickly and walked in, ''don't mind me.''

Milo jumped and turned around, nearly breaking the glass shower walls in the process. ''God… you scared me,'' he said as he breathed a sigh of relief.

''I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come in,'' Andy said as she grabbed her moisturizer.

''It's fine,'' Milo said before giving her a small smile, ''care to join me?'' He asked. They hadn't been given the go-ahead by Lu yet that it was safe for Andy to have sex again, and he missed it. It had been six long weeks for both of them.

''You know we can't,'' Andy told him and he groaned. ''But, I have my six week checkup today, so maybe soon.''

''So, he's not the father,'' Andy said as she set up on the exam table. She and Lu hadn't had a lot of time to catch up since Daniel's birth, and her six-week postpartum check-up was the first opportunity she had to fill her partner in on everything that had happened with CPS. Milo's ex had given birth to a baby boy, Samuel Finch Weston, approximately eight months after they had split up. Now that she had passed away, they thought Milo might be the father.

''But he still wants to be involved in the child's life?'' Lu asked, confused by it all. She had known something was up between Andy and Milo when she saw them talk while Andy was in labour.
''For some reason he seems to feel responsible for the boy, I guess,'' Andy said, glad she could finally talk to someone about this. ''Daniel is taking up most of our time, I'm trying to spend as much time with Lizzy as I can since she came back from her grandmother's, I've been trying to get in touch with Jesse but she still isn't talking to me, Milo's been working nonstop and somehow he still thinks we need to bring another child into the house. There are only so many hours in a day, you know.''

Lu smiled, ''sometimes you just feel a connection with someone. You know how parents who've adopted children say they felt like a parent to their child the moment they met them, maybe this is like that.''
Andy sighed, ''in those cases both parents usually want to adopt.''
''And you don't want to.''

''I'm not opposed to it. I just don't want to risk neglecting the kids we have because we have too many,'' Andy said. ''I mean, Jesse is pretty much moved out but Lizzy is just becoming a teenager. If she is anything like Jesse I'm going to have my hands full with her.''

''Jesse? Come on, pick up the phone.'' Andy closed the door behind her; she couldn't believe she got the answering machine, again. Jesse had visited a few times to see DJ but they hadn't had a real conversation since the night Andy had told her what had happened between her and Les back in December.

''I know you're there, I want to talk to you,'' she put the bag of groceries down on the kitchen counter, flashing Corrina a quick smile. ''We're all having dinner together on Friday night and I want you to be here-''

''I can't make it,'' Jesse answered the phone with her curt answer. ''I already have plans.''
''Jesse, I haven't seen you in weeks I'm sure you can make a little time to see your family,'' Andy said, annoyed that her daughter was as stubborn as she was.

''I can't make it,'' Jesse repeated.
''How about Saturday morning? Lizzy has a soccer match, we can go together if you want.'' Andy suggested. She was pacing back and forth through the living room, trying to be patient with her elder daughter.

''Mom, this isn't about Friday or Saturday or whatever day you pick; I don't want to see you. I don't want to talk to you. Why is that so hard to understand?''

''Jesse-''
''I have to go.''

''I can't believe that girl,'' Andy muttered to herself as she walked up the stairs to her bedroom. ''All's clear,'' Andy said as she closed the bedroom door softly behind her. Milo was half asleep on the bed while watching TV, he had the day off and, though Corrina had been a big help, he'd been watching Daniel by himself most of the day. Andy sat down next to him on the bed and rubbed his back in small circles, ''you okay?''

''So tired.'' Milo responded, ''how did the appointment go?''

''Delgado said everything is fine. The bleeding has stopped, normal blood-pressure, normal everything,'' Andy told him with a smile as she looked into the basinet next to the bed where Daniel was- finally- sleeping peacefully.

''How about I take you out for dinner tonight?'' He suggested.
''And leave Daniel home?''
''Corrina can watch him, Lizzy will be home, nothing to worry about.''

Being away from the newborn for a few minutes already made her miss him. She had just left the house without him for almost two hours and had been looking forward to spending the rest of the day with him.

It was like he could read her mind, ''we won't go out for long, I just think it would be good to dress up a little, pretend that our life doesn't just consist of changing dirty nappies and 2 AM feedings, 4 AM feedings, 6 AM feedings… I could go on.'' Milo smiled up at her.

''I barely have the energy to look for a clean shirt, now you're talking about dressing up?'' Andy laughed.
He rested his head on her shoulder; he couldn't stop staring at the baby either. ''Wasn't it you who said that it's healthy for parents to have a life of their own- their own hobbies, friends, not just having their entire life revolve around their kids?''

''When I said that he hadn't been born yet.''
''The message is the same.''
She sighed, ''fine. I'll go ask Corrina to stay late tonight. And look through my closet for a dress that still fits.''

''Perfect.'' Milo was about to lean up and kiss her went his pager went off. ''Damned thing,'' he muttered under his breath as he grabbed it off the nightstand.
''I didn't know you were on call,'' Andy said as she stretched out on the bed.
''It was the only way I could get the day off,'' Milo told her. He softly brushed his lips against hers before getting up, ''duty calls.''

''Male, three years old, hypo plastic left heart syndrome, underwent a transplant eleven months ago, passed out of the playground.'' The EMT informed the doctors waiting in the ER bay.

''Sammy,'' a soft voice could be heard, ''his name is Sammy.''
Milo looked over at the woman, limp red hair, a face full of freckles, and dark bags from exhaustion under her bright eyes. ''Are you his mother?'' Milo asked, looking back and forth between the toddler and the woman, seeing that they looked nothing alike.

''His foster mom, Bridget,'' she said. ''He hasn't been in our care very long but we were told he had a bad heart… I shouldn't have let him run around all that time, he's supposed to take it easy. The boy never listens.''

Milo gave her a quick nod before giving one of the nurses orders for all the tests he wanted done. ''And can we get a medical history on…-'' he turned to look at Bridget, ''Sammy?''

''Yeah,'' she didn't even look at him, her eyes glued to the boy on the gurney, ''Samuel Weston.''

''Samuel Weston?''