Hello again! Here is my third story of this series. If you don't want to be confused or lost, I recommend you read the first two stories: Edge of Expendable, and Edge of Expendable 2: Ghosts of Lee's Past (both are in the crossover section now). This story will have a little bit more of Edge of Tomorrow stuff in it, but not that much extra. The Expendable gang is still front and center of this story, and you'll get to see how they handle a toddler! Rita is from Edge of Tomorrow. She was the Angel of Verdun (and Full Metal Bitch) who had the ability to reset the day 24 hours back, and she fought an extra 300 days to try to end the war. Once the story is finished, I will put it in the crossover section. Anyway, happy reading. As always, please leave a review. I love hearing from you!

Lee Christmas never thought he'd be here in his life. At around three a.m., crying woke him up. It took him a moment to realize what was happening (it always did), and he sat up feeling suddenly very exhausted. He looked over at the sleeping form beside him, and he decided to go himself. He wandered down the hallway into the baby's room.

"Hey, you," he said, lifting his son out of the crib. "What's wrong, huh?" The crying immediately stopped, and Lee wondered if it was more of an attention thing. If he was alone in a cage, he'd cry too.

"Dada," the boy hiccupped. Lee couldn't help but smile. Eli was almost two years old, and he was figuring out his speech. Lee still marveled sometimes about the fact that he even had a son.

"Hey," a voice said behind him. He turned to see his wife, Rita Vrataski, standing in the doorway.

"He seems to be all right," Lee said as she came in. "I didn't want to wake you."

"You didn't have to. I just knew."

"Mother's intuition, eh?"

"You got it," Rita nodded. She placed her hand on Eli's head. He swiveled his gaze back and forth between them. Lee knew the kid had them exactly where he wanted them.

"He's dry and he's not hungry. I think he was just lonely," Lee explained. Rita gave a small snort of laughter.

"Aren't we all?" she commented. She took Eli from him then and settled him back under his blanket.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lee asked, knowing there was an underlying statement under her comment.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep," Rita replied. Lee watched her leaning over Eli's crib and wondered if he had made the right choice.

A Little Over Two Years Ago

"You what?" Rita asked, surprised.

"I'm out. I decided to stay here with you and raise our child," Lee repeated.

"You just quit. Just like that? What did Barney say?"

"He understood."

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"Of course. My family comes first."

Now

Rita woke before Lee and looked at him for a moment while he was still sleeping. Ever since Eli was born, things between them had been different. It didn't help that their son had had colic and drove them to insanity most nights for the first while. Thank God for her mother. But somewhere along the way, Lee and Rita had lost a part of their old selves, and she wondered if they'd ever get it back. She slid out of bed so as not to disturb him, and she went downstairs. They had built a new home on their old property in England, and Rita would catch herself looking over her shoulder sometimes. She didn't want any more intruders after the last time. Thankfully, Lee had installed some security and cameras, so that helped a little. She made coffee and stood outside on their front porch, looking at their yard. It was decent. It also represented a yard where a family lived. Rita sometimes felt as though she could walk away from it all, and it made her feel terrible. She wouldn't trade Eli for anything in the world, but she also missed her old life.

...

"Damn, I miss Lee," Toll panted as they came flying out of the bush. Gunner, Doc, and Barney were running with him.

"Yea, me too," Barney replied. Bullets whizzed over their heads as they leaped into the waiting truck. Doc threw knives at the tires of the other trucks. Another mission complete, but Barney never felt the same ever since Lee had left to raise a family. He had even stayed over in Europe. Barney felt a slight sense of betrayal at this, but he also understood. A boy needs his father. The pictures were cute, and Lee looked happy, but Barney knew his friend well. Lee would eventually miss his old job.

Two Years Ago

"You're doing great," Lee told her, gripping her hand tightly. "Almost there. You got this."

"Aaand here we are," the doctor said as the baby came out crying and shrieking. Lee wiped the sweat from Rita's forehead kissed her cheek.

"Oh, dear," she said, tearing up when they put the bundle into her arms. Lee touched it softly. He felt strange, like this was happening to someone else and he was just watching.

"Our son," she whispered.

"Eli," Lee said, touching the baby's cheek. They'd agreed on that one a week earlier. Eli Brady Ross Hendricks. Barney had been touched. He hadn't blamed Lee at all for going with his last name instead of his first name.

"Don't want kids thinking he's like that purple dinosaur," Barney had joked.

"He's perfect. How did we get such a perfect baby?" Rita asked, looking at Lee then.

"Because you are," Lee smiled at her.

Now

Lee opened his eyes and immediately knew that Rita was not beside him. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, debating on whether he would get up or just stay down for a while longer.

"Ah, shit!"

His decision was made. He got up quickly and headed down to where Rita was bent over wincing in pain.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Knife slipped," she muttered. She was clutching her one hand with the other. Lee saw drops of blood on the floor leading from the door.

"Let me see," he ordered. She straightened and turned to face him; he took her hand gently in his. She had sliced down the inside of her hand from her thumb to her wrist pretty good. He wondered how she had done that.

"What were you cutting?" he asked, looking around. There wasn't anything in sight.

"I wasn't cooking," she answered, not looking at him. Truth be told, she had been practising throwing knives. Her reminiscing had gotten the best of her. The tip of the blade had sliced her right after she had thrown it.

"I see," Lee said, pressing his lips together to stop from saying anything further. They walked to the bathroom together, Lee still holding her hand. He reached around for gauze and peroxide.

"This'll hurt," he warned, opening the cap.

"It's not my first time," she sighed. Then she grunted in pain as he poured it on her wound. She pressed her face into his bare chest, and Lee was startled for a moment. It was the first physical contact they'd had in a while now. He wondered if she realized it.

"There we go," he said softly, wrapping it up. When he was finished, she lifted her head and looked at it.

"That was stupid of me," she muttered. Lee moved to put everything away as she stood there staring at her hand.

"You wanna tell me why you were knife tossing?" he finally asked, shutting the drawer and staring at her. He wasn't a complete idiot. If she wasn't cooking with a knife, then she was throwing them.

"For old times," she answered sarcastically.

"Old times?"

"I dunno, for fun? It just happened."

"Rita..."

"Don't start," she warned. She went to move away from him when he grabbed her arms and pushed her against the door. Without saying anything, he kissed her hard. Rita was taken aback, and for a moment, she let him. It almost felt like before. Almost.

"Rita," he said when she pulled away.

"I'm sorry." She walked back to the kitchen.

"Do you still love me?" he called after her, making her stop in her tracks. She felt tears threatening to fall. Did she?

One Year Ago

"I can't do this," Rita said, trying not to cry. "I can't do this anymore."

"I know it's hard. He'll grow out of it. They promised," Lee said while Eli screamed his head off in the background. Of course their child would be colic.

"I can't sleep. I can't eat. Even when he's not here, I can't do those things," Rita said, gripping her head.

"It's a phase. We'll get through. We always do," Lee promised, trying to hold her. She turned away. For some reason, she was angry at Lee, and she knew he had done nothing wrong. She felt as though she had lost herself.

"Make him stop," she begged.

"He senses you're upset. It's not helping," Lee started.

"MAKE HIM STOP!" she shrieked. For a second, both Lee and Eli were startled into silence. Then Eli started wailing again.

"Rita..."

"I gotta get out of here," she said, pushing past him.

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here!"

The panic squeezed her lungs tight, and she couldn't breathe. She burst out the door and into the darkness.

Now

That feeling of needing to get away was suddenly right there again like before. Rita didn't want to say that she resented Lee or Eli. She didn't. She just lost a part of herself and never managed to find it again.

"Do you still love me?" Lee repeated, looking at her intently.

"I, um, have to get groceries," she lied, grabbing her bag and heading for the door.

"Why can't you answer me?" Lee asked, chasing after her. "You're avoiding me."

"I'm just...I'm not in a great place right now..." she trailed off. She hurried to her car.

"Rita!"

"I'll be back later," she promised, getting in and starting the engine. She was crying now, wiping at her eyes furiously as she sped away. She wasn't even sure what was wrong with her. She just knew she had to get away.