Happy Birthday Sabrina! Do you have any idea how much you mean to me and how happy I am to have you in my life? I don't know if you do... but I am and I do. I know this will make you smile and you will love it, because I know you. Also instead of giving you one gift at your birthday you will get at least 12 gifts through the year. ;-) I wish you all the best in your next year, may it be an amazing one!

Okay this story is the prequel to Every Road Leads Back To You. It is mostly a collection of shorter moments through the first years of Catherine Amy Cavanaugh-Loy's life, from when she was born and until the beginning of Every Road Leads Back To You. However what is important to notice is that where that one is an Alicia/Will/Peter fic , this one is ONLY Alicia/Will. As I mentioned above there will be a chapter at least every 16th of the month, if I get special ideas there "might" be added another but it is meant to give Sabrina a special gift every month through her next year.

You can read these stand alone moments and enjoy them even if you are not reading ERLBTY as this is just mostly cute moments though the years. And you can just read the summary I will give now and it should explain it all well enough.

Summery of Every Road:

Instead of leaving L&G at the end of season 4 Alicia ended things with Peter on election night, after kissing Will. She chose herself, telling Will she needed time while separating again and going though the divorce with Peter. She and Peter divorced rather friendly; however on the day they signed the divorce papers they did so at her place, and they ended up having sex one last time on top of the newly signed papers. Three months later Alicia kept feeling ill, thinking it was the flu so she went to the doctor, who told her she was pregnant. She had not learned about it earlier because she kept denying all signs, thinking it couldn't be true, and that she was just stressed out with work. The only possible father was Peter as she still hadn't been dating anyone. However she was scared and didn't want to get dragged back into her marriage. She knew if she told Peter he would want to be there, he would be involved and she had finally moved on and she was starting to think she could be with Will. And how could it all work with a new born? Especially because Peter was by then Governor and would maybe even be President in the future and that was something Alicia felt was his true calling in life. However if he learned she was pregnant with his child, he would want her to come to Springfield, which she wouldn't do... want her to give up her life and moving there...and if she told him no, he would give up the Governorship and move back to Chicago to help her out...

She knew she couldn't let him do that because he would resent her and their child at some point if he did...She knew it would end there, she had been there before... giving up her dreams because of him and her kids and for the last years before everything went down she wasn't happy either and she knew Peter would feel the same if he gave up on his dream and destiny because of their baby.

She knew she couldn't risk Peter resenting her or the innocent life of their child, so she never told him. To Zach and Grace she told that she had gotten pregnant from a bad judgment call aka a one nights stand, right after the divorce, and she didn't know who the father was. And that they had to keep it a secret, that no one could know because if this got out, that she had a drunken one night stand and ended up pregnant so soon after the divorce it would be very harmful to Peter's career. So they couldn't tell anyone of this... not even him... as he would feel a need to help out and that would hurt his career, too.

She later on told Will she was pregnant and he was supportive and helped her out a lot, he was also the one that came up with the idea of how to hide it form the others and got her the needed maternity leave. His idea was to have declared her in need of leave for months because of stress. Something they did from the end of the 6th month.

She also told her mother, who was surprisingly supportive after considering it.

The only other person that knows the full story (regarding who the father is) is Owen.

Okay that is all that is needed to know to read and enjoy these moments. It is also important to know that i am going to try to stick to the a flowing time line. and that these are still just cute, and sweet and maybe some times a little sexy one shots about the life of Alicia, Will and Catherine, also known, in Every Road Leads Back to You, as Cat. Moments that take place in the first four and a half years of Cat's life.

Pictures Of You

This is the clock upon the wall
This is the story of us all
This is the first sound of a newborn child,
Before he starts to crawl
This is the war that's never won
This is a soldier and his gun
This is the mother waiting by the phone,
Praying for her son

Pictures of you, pictures of me
Hung upon your wall for the world to see
Pictures of you, pictures of me
Remind us all of what we used to be

The first sound of a newborn child

Will was pacing back and forward on the gray linoleum floor, every time a door opened he looked up. And every time he let out a heavy sigh when he realized it was not related to him.

It shouldn't take this long should it?

Of course he knew that Alicia being rushed into an emergency c-section 32 weeks pregnant was not a good thing. But, still, it shouldn't take this long should it? The more time passed the more nervous he got, he feared for her life and her baby's life. He knew that if something happened to the baby Alicia would never forgive herself, she would never get over it.

He heard another door being opened and looked over once again and once more he felt a stab in the heart when he realized it was yet again not for him.

"Here, you look like you need it..."

Grace said beside him making him spin back around. She held up a cup of coffee which he gratefully took, with a smile and nod, trying to give the young girl a brave smile, hoping to push away some of the worry she would have to be facing, since it was after all her mother and baby sibling that were in surgery right now, maybe fighting for their lives. He took a sip of the coffee, and cringed because of the taste, hospital coffee seemed to be of the same standard as their food.

His gaze followed Grace as she moved over to sit down on a blue plush chair, once more pulling her legs up and resting her chin at them, she looked a lot younger than the soon-to-be 18 year-old teenager. He let out a deep sigh, he should be trying to comfort her but right now he didn't know what to say to her. What could he really tell her when he was pacing and panicking himself, getting more and more scared every minute that passed. You could, after all, only tell yourself no news is good news so many times before the words became hollow and empty.

It felt like the time was passing in slow motion, it had really not been as long as it seemed since this whole thing started, not even 6 hours since he had gotten the call form a nervous Grace, asking him if he could get to the hospital because she had just driven her mother there.

He had been out of the door in under five minutes and at the hospital soon after, where an annoyed Alicia had insisted he shouldn't have showed up, that it was unnecessary. She was fine and had only gone in there to be sure because she had an uneasy feeling.

Grace had pulled him aside and told him it hadn't been just an uneasy feeling but a panic attack, that she was sure something was wrong, and was only taking it calmly now because she had been checked out and they had told her everything seemed to be fine, they just would like to keep her over- night because the baby's heart rate was a little on the lower side and Alicia's blood-pressure on the higher end, and she had light signs of uterine infection. They were all things that would probably not be a problem, but added together they preferred to have her stay for observation.

Will hadn't liked the sound of that and had insisted on staying though she had kept arguing that it was unnecessary.

Grace had stayed, too, sleeping on a couch close by a nurse had found for her. Will had called Veronica and told her what had happened, calming her down and promising if anything changed, he'd call her again.

Something he had to do only a few hours later when Alicia woke up in pain, crying and scared her waters had broken, nurses and doctors rushing in. He hadn't understood anything really of what was going on other than it was bad and they needed to do an emergency c-section, that the child needed to come out now.

They had rushed her out of the room and Will had hugged a crying and scared Grace, asking him if her mother and the baby would be okay, an answer he hadn't known back then but said he was sure they would. An answer he grew more and more unsure of being true each second there passed. He had later on called Veronica and told her what had happened. It was almost impossible not to make her rush there as well, but finally he made her agree not to come before the morning, and instead call Zach and tell him what happened.

Will had never been more grateful for Zach's somewhat acceptance of him than he was now, if not for him Grace wouldn't have called him in the first place.

Shortly after learning Alicia was pregnant he had been over to her place for dinner, Zach was home from college for the weekend, and it was the first time he met the two teenagers for real. And though he was clearly anything but their favorite person, they still seemed somewhat accepting.

As he was leaving, Zach had asked if he could follow him down, and Will had accepted, realizing the kid wanted to talk with him about something. Down on the street Zach had looked worried and younger than through the whole dinner, asking Will if he promise to look after Alicia, now she was alone and pregnant and he was the only one beside Grace, Veronica and himself that knew, and Zach worried something would happen with her or the baby and she would be alone. Will had promised he would do whatever he could to help her and look after her, calming Zach a bit.

The second shock regarding Alicia's kids had come a week later where a nervous Grace showed up in his office, asking him pretty much the same, saying she knew Zach had talked with him, and if he held back because of her he shouldn't. Will had quickly realized that both kids at that point suspected that he might be the father to the child, none of them knowing the full story. He had made sure to explain that part to Grace but also promised her he would help in any way he could and Alicia would allow him to, calming Grace a little. In the end they had made a deal that she could and should call him day or night whenever she thought something was wrong, or she worried about something regarding Alicia.

She hadn't used it many times, and that night it was the first time where it was really serious.

Nevertheless, the deal he had made with both kids back then had made the last few months easier, when Alicia went on leave he had still dropped by regularly, becoming more and more accepted by Grace, something he had laughed to himself about more than once; if Alicia had allowed them the chance to get to know him sooner it maybe wouldn't have been her children that were the issue between them. But you couldn't change the past, only learn from it, and that was what he was doing in these hours.

He loved Alicia, he had never doubted that, and he now got along with her older kids, so he could learn to care for her baby too, he knew he could. He regretted not being more persistent in his offer in taking her to birthing class and help her with that but she had stood her ground there. Veronica had been the one to take her to those. However, he had been the first one other than herself to feel the baby's kick, something that had also made him feel strangely warm watching the same emotions in her eyes: The beaming light and glimmering mist of happiness in her eyes had made his heart skip a beat and given him a deep desire to kiss her, something he hadn't done back then, but he wouldn't let the chance pass by again.

He would kiss her and tell her how he felt when she woke from the anesthetic, because she would wake up, he was sure she would wake up.

Sure this wasn't ideal and he was still confused on what he felt towards the fact that it was Peter's baby but he loved Alicia, and the thoughts and fear that ran though him right now of how he might never get to tell her just that. That scared him, no, it terrified him, so he would tell her once and for all when all of this was over. He wouldn't let another chance pass him by.

"Family for Alicia Cavanaugh?"

A female voice behind him said, making him spin around, and Grace get up from her chair and move over to him.

"Is she okay?" Will asked nervously, and the nurse gave him a kind smile.

"She will be fine, they are finishing up taking her to a room now, but I came to ask if you wanted to see your daughter sir?"

Will let out a heavy sigh of relief, hearing the news of Alicia.

"It's a girl?"

Grace asked nervously, he could hear she was relieved and happy, too.

"Yes it is, would you like to see her?"

Grace looked up at him and he nodded, he knew they should go see her before going to Alicia, because if Alicia woke the first thing she would want to know would be if her baby was ok. The nurse smiled at them and guided them a floor up to the NICU.

They were told they had to disinfect their hands and put on scrubs before they were allowed in, one at the time. He had offered Grace that she should go in first, it was after all her baby sister, but she argued against him and said he should, and she wanted to call both Zach and Veronica, and she wanted to talk with her grandmother.

So in the end Will had nervously gone in there and over to where the little girl was in the incubator, reading what it said on the side, 3 lbs. 9,5 ozs, 18 inches girl-Cavanaugh, born the 12/16. He looked at the little girl through glass, she was so tiny, but at the same time the sight of her made his heart skip a beat, he had never before found babies particularly beautiful or pretty, nevertheless that was exactly the word he would use to describe Alicia's newborn, beautiful.

"You are allowed to touch her, she is with relatively good health, just make sure to not touch the tube, it is for air, though she only needs it to help, her lungs are not bad for a 32 weeks preemie, and otherwise she is fine. We expect your wife might even be able to nurse her then she wakes up, though she will still need tube feeding too."

A nurse told him, and Will nodded nervously.

"What if I hurt her, she is so tiny?" He asked and looked up at the smiling nurse.

"You won't, just be careful, and touch her hand."

She answered him with a smile, and he nodded and carefully moved his hand inside the incubator, stroking the tiny hand, something that made the little being jerk a bit. Shocked and scared he pulled his hand away, fearing he had hurt her.

"Is she okay?"

He asked and looked back up at the nurse whose smile had widened a bit, and she nodded.

"She is excellent, that is how preemies move sometimes, don't worry."

He looked worried but nodded and carefully stroked her hand softly again, resting his little finger in it, and that was when he felt it, the tiny grip of her hand or at least a try to grasp his finger, at the same time as the little girl made a soft sound, a mix between a soft whimper and crying, the tube making it harder for her. Will felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of the little girl's whimper.

"She knows who her daddy is."

The nurse told him gently.

"Have you and your wife decided on a name yet?"

Will didn't listen to what she said, he was too focused on the tiny human in front of him. He had thought it could be difficult to love Peter Florrick's baby, the baby that once more was a blocker for his and Alicia's relationship. Looking at her now he knew he already loved her, if for nothing else because she was partly Alicia. She was so little, tiny and innocent, how could he not love her? That was the harder question.

He looked up again at the nurse when he realized she had said something, hoping she would repeat it.

"I just asked if you had settled on a name before hand?"

She asked him and he smiled, he might not have been a part of everything regarding the baby but he did know about the name. Alicia had long ago picked out a name for both a girl and a boy depending of what gender it would be, something she hadn't wanted to know beforehand.

"Catherine... Catherine Amy."

He answered, smiling as he said it, remembering that Alicia had spent some of her leave reading old classics and it was after reading Wuthering Heights she settled on the name Catherine. He had jokingly asked if she would name a boy Heathcliff then, making them both laugh, but she had admitted her paternal grandmother's name had also been Catherine, and she liked the name, and had always done. Amy she had chosen because of the meaning, especially the meaning of the two names together "Pure Love!"

"Her name is Catherine Amy"

He repeated once more to himself as he looked down on the little girl again, carefully stroking her hand.

No, loving her wouldn't be the issue here, he feared not loving the little girl would be far harder.

She fluttered her eyes, the bright light around her was strong and irritating, and she didn't really want to open them, that was until someone seemed to turn off the light darkening her surroundings.

"It's okay I closed the blinds."

Will's gentle voice told her close by coaching her into carefully try to open her eyes once more, finally able to do so without getting blinded by the sharp sunlight. She was disorientated the first few minutes, taking in the hospital room, her mother standing at the end of her bed and Will standing beside her, his eyes filled with worry and care. It took her a few seconds to realize why she was in the hospital and why they were both there, but the moment she did she gasped out loud, making herself cough. Will's hands were immediately on her trying to sooth her, and calm her down. As she caught her breath again she looked up at him, her heart clenching of the fear passing through her already, a fear for the innocent life she had carried, a life she loved more than anything else.

"Will? My baby? Is my baby alright?"

She whispered, her voice laced with the fear creeping up in her like the coldest night, however his warm gentle smile made her a little more at ease as soon as she saw it. He wouldn't be smiling or beaming at her like that if her baby wasn't alright would he? No he wouldn't, she knew he wouldn't.

"She is perfect..."

He smiled at her, filling her heart with joy and pushing away the dread that had tried to take over her soul. She was alright! She?

"It's a girl? I had a daughter?" She whispered as tears started to fill her eyes, but she kept on looking at Will taking in how he smiled and nodded.

"you do... she is beautiful..."

He smiled gently as he sat down in the chair besides her bed. She looked over to where her mother had been earlier only to notice she had left, at an other time she would have wondered where and why, and maybe even have been angry or hurt but right in this moment she couldn't care less.

"You had an emergency c-section Alicia, your water broke... I am not sure how much you can remember..."

Will started to say, and she furrowed her eyebrows. She could remember having gone to the hospital and Will show ing up. And as she tried to remember, memories of waking up in a stabbing pain feeling drenched, and knowing her water had broken, panicking because it was too early, her baby couldn't come yet. She couldn't remember anything else other than being told they needed to take the baby out right away.

"Her heart-beat was a little too low so they had to take right away, plus they admitted that you already seemed to be too far to stop the labor or delay it, and since you were this far along they did the c-section, figuring it was the best for both you and Catherine."

He told her tenderly, making her raise an eyebrow at the last sentence.

"Catherine?"

She asked him with a soft smile, the fact that he remembered the name she had chosen long ago, warmed her heart.

"Yes wasn't that what you had planned to name her? Catherine Amy? It was what I told the nurse down there... but I am sure... we... you can change it if you want to..."

He stuttered nervously, making her smile widen a little it really was sweet how he had remembered and already taken care of naming her daughter that.

"No Will it was what I wanted to call her, if it was a girl... I just... I am just surprised you remember..."

She admitted gently, while wondering why he remembered, how he could remember such a thing.

"Of course I do... of course I remember!"

He stated, his eyes sparkling a little making her heart skip a beat while it filled her with warmth, at another time she would perhaps have stopped to consider what that might mean and why it might be, but right now she couldn't really care about that. All she wanted right now was to hear about her daughter.

"And she is alright? The low heart-rate? Is her heart alright?"

She asked nervously, and scared, worrying over her baby girl already.

"She is perfect, her heart is fine now. She is a fighter and a force to be reckoned with... she is small and tiny because she was born early and she is a little underweight, but Alicia she is perfect. She can even mostly breath on her own. She is a true miracle. Your mother says she looks exactly like you as a newborn."

He paused for a few seconds and she was about to say something then he continued:

"She is the most beautiful new born I have ever seen..."

A comment that brought tears to Alicia's eyes, both because of the words, and because of the weird overwhelming wave of emotions she felt wash her with those words.

"She is?"

Was all she could manage to say and he nodded his head smiling softly at her.

"Yes she is!" He said again.

"Who is with her? Is she alone? Can I see her?"

Alicia asked as she felt scared and sad once more fearing her little daughter, who might be alone right now, and that because of how all of this had happened would be alone a lot.

"Don't worry... she is not alone, Grace is down there looking after her right now... and it has after all only been a few hours... why don't you rest a bit while I go and check if there are any chance you can see her... it might be possible... as they did mention thinking you could nurse her then you woke up."

He explained to her just as her mother came back in.

"That sounds like a good plan … I can stay here with Alicia meanwhile."

Veronica offered, and Alicia looked over at her mother, a part of her didn't really want Will to leave her side, but she also really wanted to see her daughter, so she nodded softly.

"Thank you that would be amazing."

She smiled up at him, and took in a weird wave of emotions that passed through his gaze, some of those that scared her, and made her heart-rate spike, something that the monitor showed too, as it started to sound a little faster and louder, in a few minutes if she didn't calm down a nurse would probably be rushing in. It also made her feel an intense warmth build up in her stomach and chest, making her feel flushed, and she was pretty sure she was blushing. Unable to look into those emotions anymore she broke eye-contact and looked down. His gaze didn't move of her for another minute, so she nervously glanced up at him again through her thick dark eyelashes. His eyes still held those intense emotions that made her blush further, until he finally looked away and moved away from the bed saying he would be right back.

She didn't look back up before her mother sat down beside her instead.

"You don't have to worry. If Will wasn't in here while you slept he was in the NICU with Catherine."

Her mother told her, making Alicia's heart skip another beat.

"He was?"

She whispered, a bit surprised by the sound of that, she had expected he would see her daughter and that she had gotten confirmed but that he actually spent time down there, that he had been doing that a lot, now that surprised her. Well surprised and pleased her at the same time.

"Yes he was. He was the first one to see her of us all."

Veronica told her, making Alicia blush again.

"Really?"

She asked unable to formulate any coherent thought. All of those spinning through her head were ones she was not yet ready to voice. Was it possible her and Will could actually work as a couple now? even though she just had another man's child.

She had given up on the idea of them together then she decided to have Peter's child once more, because even if she kept it hidden and Will was one of the only few that knew. It also made for an impossible situation. She shook her head, it still made for complicated and impossible and she couldn't focus on it right now. Right now all the focus she had should go to her baby girl. And yet there were a strange fluttering in her stomach at the thought of Will actually spending time with Catherine that wouldn't go away.

A feeling strangely resembling love.

okay i hope you enjoyed chapter one! let me know the thoughts, and again happy birthday Sab!

(AN: Cat's birthday is in december but you won't get a christmas chapter next i am gonna save that for X-mas;-) but her birthday is then because of a time line already etablished in Every Road!)