AN: I feel the need to stress that this is definitely an AU. And there is a time jump...

Hope you enjoy,

March 7th 2016

Grace rushed into her home and her husband, Harold, looked up. "Hello honey," he greeted. Grace smiled at her husband as he sat on the couch with their daughter, Leila, in his lap while they watched cartoons. Their dog, Bear (given to them from their good friend because he worked too much), was asleep on the floor near his feet. "Would you like help with that?" he murmured as she carried the lone grocery bag in her arms, ready to lift their daughter off his lap.

"No, I'm alright. What did my two favorite people do today?" she asked pushing some of her red hair out of her face, seeing that Leila was fully absorbed in Spongebob Squarepants.

"Leila and I went to the park, then to the library, and then came home to watch some cartoons," Harold said, before growing quiet as his wife disappeared and reappeared minus the bag. Since making his billions he decided to semi-retire from business. He preferred spending his days and nights with his wife and daughter. Harold occasionally had meetings to attend, but as a silent partner in most endeavors he wasn't required to do the meet and greets as often.

"Mommy!" Leila squealed as she climbed off his lap and crawled to go to mommy, who dropped onto the couch beside them, finally managing to tear her gaze off the television screen to greet her mommy.

Grace smiled at their daughter cuddling her close, giving her soft kisses on her small cheek. Her life was complete now that they had Leila. She loved Harold with all of her heart, but she wanted a family with him. She always wanted a child. Money wasn't ever going to be an issue for them to begin a family, conceiving was. She had been warned a long time ago that conceiving a child and carrying the baby to term would be difficult for her. So their options for a child were adoption or surrogacy. And the choice was easy; there were so many children out in the world that needed loving.

They had just decided upon adoption when their friend who was a top FBI agent saved a baby's life, Leila, from some crime syndicate that specialized in buying/selling babies. Their friend had saved the baby's life and knew she was going to fall into the system until he realized they had opted for adoption. Their friend, John, had pulled some strings and called in some favors so they could adopt the baby girl if they wanted. And one look at Leila and both she and Harold were in love.

Grace remembered how awed John had been when they asked him to be Leila's godfather. She giggled now, thinking about it. John surely was an adorable man. He had saved Leila's life and extracted her from horrible people who would have sold her to…Grace wouldn't even dare think of who could have ended up with her daughter. She consciously held Leila tighter. And if anything were to happen to her or Harold, they knew Leila would be in fine hands with him. Not to mention Leila loved Uncle John to pieces and he loved her just the same.

She wondered when John was ever going to settle down and begin a family of his own; he would make a wonderful father. He was going to be forty-six, so he still had time, but the clock was ticking ever so slowly.

Harold glanced at Grace who appeared to be lost in thought. He so did love watching his wife unassumingly. She was stunning. "Did you get the job?" he wondered mildly, having no doubt his wife got it. She was that amazing of an artist and it was something she seriously wanted to do.

Grace nodded. "Yes, Pioneer Books hired me to illustrate their books for them. I am so excited to illustrate children's books that our daughter, Maddie, and countless other little girls and boys will get to read," she said as she cuddled her daughter close, pressing a kiss in the soft blond hair. She looked at her husband. "Speaking of Maddie, when is she and her mother coming over?"

Harold glanced at his watch. "Soon," he answered while Leila had long ago went back to watching her cartoon. Meanwhile the adults fell in line along with her and chuckled at some of the stupid humor meant for adults.

Joss was running late. She hated running late. She blamed the thick traffic during evening rush hour on a Friday. She found a parking spot curbside in front of the luxurious and expensive complex that her friends lived in. "We're here, Maddie," Joss announced gently, which jerked her four year old daughter awake just as she was dozing off.

Madeline 'Maddie' Carter was breathtakingly beautiful with a thick mop of dark curls, light skin-tone due to her bi-racial identity, and gorgeous pale blue eyes she was gifted with from her daddy. Joss had been extremely happy her daughter had been graced by God with John's eyes. Every time she looked into them she saw him in her.

Joss had been stunned when she went to the doctor almost five years earlier, after noting fatigue and feeling nausea for far too long for it to be normal, to learn she was pregnant. At first she had decided her doctor had lost their sanity, because she couldn't possibly have been pregnant. She had been on the pill during her one night with John. It wasn't until she learned that her birth control pill was being placed on recall because the pharmaceutical company had 'accidentally' sent out a batch of birth control pills with a significantly lower dosage than was necessary to prevent conception, and ending up pregnant meant she was one of those recipients of the ineffective pills. Her mother, Felicia, and Taylor all urged her to sue the company which she did for the sake of Maddie, because she didn't know how to get a hold of John. The money she was awarded would pay for Maddie's college education.

She didn't have his last name and the trail ran cold a long time ago to find John. But since the time her daughter was born on December 20th until now she told Maddie all about her daddy. How he was a hero, that he had been in the Army just like mommy, how he had given her those beautiful blue eyes, that he loved her even though he wasn't there and how he treated her mommy so lovingly when they were together. And Maddie wanted him, asked repeatedly where her daddy was and Joss had to give the same answer: he had to go away and maybe one day he'd come back. She couldn't explain to her baby that she hadn't been thinking with her brain that night, and that she was nothing more than a happy accident. Joss wanted to give her, her daddy but just didn't know where to look.

The moment she left the doctor's office after being told she was pregnant, she had searched for John; finding about thirteen Johns on the flight the morning after Madeline was conceived. Damn him for having a common name. He could have been any one of them. But she searched anyway. She had found out enough about the first four to know that they weren't her John. And then she had begun growing sicker and sicker during her pregnancy, being put on bed rest, and finding John had taken a back seat.

Joss shoved thoughts of John out of her mind. He snuck into her mind every day, all the time, especially at night. John would come to her in her dreams as he would make love to her again, learn about Maddie, and they would become a family. It was a foolish dream. She wasn't ever going to see John again. She wasn't ever going to get to tell him he had a beautiful daughter who yearned for him. She wasn't ever going to get to see out their feelings for each other. And she knew instinctively that he had feelings for her just as she had for him. They shared a connection as well as their bodies that night and she wanted no one else besides John. If that meant she ended up alone for the rest of her life then so be it. She had Maddie to raise, John gave her a beautiful daughter. And she had Taylor. Many women were not as blessed as she was.

She climbed out of her car and opened the backdoor to collect her baby. Joss settled her daughter in her arms when it was clear Maddie had no desire to awaken fully, closing the door firmly before locking the car up tight as Maddie laid her head on her shoulder. She carried her into the complex, smiling at the doorman who knew who they were. Maddie was dozing in her arms having not outgrown falling asleep during car rides just yet. But Leila would wake her baby up, as she walked them to the elevators to go to the top floor where the penthouses were located. Leila and Maddie were two peas in a pod, they loved each other. And meeting Leila and her parents had been just pure dumb luck. Joss and Grace had walked their daughters at the same time in Central Park daily. So Joss nodded or waved at her, then Grace took it one more step and would greet her, and then soon they were striking up conversation, meeting the other's child, and the rest was history. Leila was about ten months older than Maddie. Leila was born in February and Grace and her husband adopted her in June, while Maddie was born in December of the same year.

Joss hurried out of the elevator and walked to their penthouse and knocked on the door. She heard footsteps before the door opened wide and Grace was giving her a giant grin. "Glad you could make it."

Joss gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry for being late."

Grace waved her off. "You're only five minutes late, Joss," she said before her eyes zoned in on Maddie. "Hello Maddie," she said as she ran a hand through the curls. Maddie opened her eyes and looked at Grace.

"Auntie Grace!" Maddie perked up with a large happy grin as she reached out immediately for Grace.

Grace took Maddie into her arms kissing her cheek loudly. "Hi sweetheart," she greeted before setting her on her feet.

"Lee-Lee!" Maddie cried as she found her friend sitting in the corner of the penthouse playing with her doll house.

Leila's head popped up, tiny pigtails flying, and a wide toothy smile emerged. "MADDIE!" Joss and Grace smiled as Maddie ran to go play with Leila and the two little girls began playing instantly, lost in their own shared imagination. The two were thick as thieves. Leila was a beautiful blue eyed, blond hair girl. She could have rivaled Shirley Temple except she didn't have the curls.

Grace turned to look at Joss. "Happy Birthday!" she said as she hugged her.

Joss accepted it warmly. "Thank you, you and Harold shouldn't have gone to the trouble of making me dinner."

"We wanted to. You are our friend, we care about you and Maddie, and you only celebrate your birthday only once a year," Grace said as they parted.

Harold appeared out of their kitchen. "Happy Birthday, Jocelyn," he said as he limped over to give her a hug and kiss on the cheek. During one of their walks with the kids Grace had explained when and where Harold had received his permanent limp. He and his best friend had been in a horrific car accident which left Nathan DOA and Harold in bad shape. He had months of extensive physical rehab that had postponed their wedding until just nearly five years ago. In fact her friends were going to be celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary soon. And right about that time, was the night she met John and conceived Madeline.

"Thank you Harold," Joss murmured as she parted from the small but genuine man. He had money coming out of his pockets but you would never know that because he was so sweet and gentle.

"For the girls we have chicken nuggets and applesauce and for us: filet mignon," he said with a warm smile.

They chatted for a little while near the door watching the girls in the corner. Leila and Maddie were lost in their own little world, not paying the adults in the room any attention, which gave them a chance to catch up. It wasn't until dinner when the girls had realized the adults existed. Conversation flowed evenly and it was so nice to finally have an adult conversation. Although it wasn't that she didn't love explaining why Big Bird was big to her daughter, because she did, but it was nice having someone her age to talk too. Her son was in college and he was in Stanford which was so far away, but he loved it. He called and texted daily and Skyped his little sister all the time. For her birthday Taylor sent her flowers and chocolate along with a giftcard for dinner at her favorite restaurant.

They ate dessert after dinner, which left her feeling extremely full. But the girls were bouncing in their booster seats at singing Happy Birthday and getting cake. The cake was just delicious and afterwards they took the girls back into the living room so they could resume playing when Grace and Harold handed her a card.

Joss frowned as she took the pink envelope. "What is this?"

"Your birthday present," Grace supplied patiently, already having figured this was going to be a fight to get Joss to take it.

"Dinner and dessert was my gift," Joss argued.

"No, dinner and dessert was not your gift, it was a precursor to give you the gift," Harold said equally patient. "Jocelyn, you are a valued and dear friend. Our daughters are going to be growing up together nearly inseparable, so we wanted to give you a gift."

She narrowed her eyes on them. They hadn't done this last year. Joss side-eyed them as she began opening the envelope and tugged the pink and white card free of the envelope. She read the sweet card's front before she opened it and blinked as something slid free. She grabbed it but finished reading the card first, before eyeing what was gifted to her.

"No." Joss stated firmly, seeing exactly what it was.

"Yes…"

She shook her head as she looked up. "No! You are not giving me a Caribbean Cruise for my birthday! Nope, no way, no how are you doing that!"

Grace smiled. "But you admitted to not having a vacation in years and you deserve one, Joss. You and Maddie will have so much fun."

"We would if we were going, but we aren't because I can't accept this extravagant of a gift!" Joss said, circling back to the fact that she wasn't accepting this.

Harold tilted his head. "Why not?—it's all paid for. I donate over a million dollars to your precinct and others around the city every year so when I asked your captain and friend, Felicia Moreno, about your vacation time, she said you would have more than enough time for the seven day cruise. You have more than three weeks of un-used paid days off."

Joss glared at her friends. "You had this all set up!" she kept her voice low so her baby didn't know she was upset. Maddie would get upset if she knew mommy was angry.

"We did because we wanted to take your mind off things," Harold said, irritatingly reasonable. Joss wanted to smack the man for backing her into a corner. "This isn't pride that is keeping you from accepting our gift is it?" he wondered.

Joss thinned her lips. It sure the hell was. Because there was no way in hell she could give them anything nearly as extravagant as they got her for their birthday. Her money went to bills, helping Taylor with some additional college expenses, putting food on the table, and buying Maddie the things she needed. Things for herself were dead last on the list if they even made it.

Grace sat down beside her on the couch, reaching out and grabbing her hand in hers. "We love you, Joss. We see how much you do for Maddie, how much you sacrifice for your children. Rightfully so, your children are your life, just as Leila is Harold's and mine. But we want to give you this vacation; we even contacted your son who wishes he could go with you but he's busy with school."

"I can't repay you."

"We're not asking to be, this is a gift," Harold said. "Please accept it; it would hurt Grace and my feelings if you do not."

Joss exhaled. "Oh now, that's just not fair!" she complained. How dare he pull that guilt trip on her?—now how was she supposed to decline the gift. She looked down at the boarding pass and airline tickets seeing they left on Sunday, which meant she already was approved for the time off by Felicia. Joss looked up and smiled softly seeing she was defeated. "Alright, I accept your truly wonderful gift and I can't thank you enough for this. I really do appreciate it," she said before hugging Grace warmly, standing up to go hug Harold. She didn't know how she became blessed with such nice and sweet friends but she was, and maybe someday she'll figure out a way to repay them for their generosity.

Harold glanced at Grace as she entered their bedroom as he sat on their bed with Bear lying at the foot of the bed later that night. "I just checked in on Leila and she's fast asleep." She had changed into her nightgown while he had been sitting and reading one of his prized first edition books. She climbed in beside him, grabbing her sketchpad but didn't open it, instead she looked at him. "Honey, can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Of course, my love," he assured as he set the book down, shifting awkwardly to give her his sole focus.

"I thought we were going to send Joss on the Alaskan Cruise because it had two extra days, I thought you were going to ask Captain Moreno to give Joss a couple extra days off." she said. Being a single mom was difficult so much so that Grace had no idea how Joss handled it, so when her brilliant husband explained to her about the gift he wanted to give Joss and her family, she knew it would be perfect.

"We did," he murmured. That had been until his lovely wife told him about a conversation she had with Joss this past week, which brought an old but peculiar conversation he had with his very dear friend John back to the forefront of his mind. Then everything began falling into place, like a jigsaw puzzle, leaving him astounded:

"Harold?" John murmured questioningly as they stood outside on the balcony together, grilling the hamburgers.

"Yes John?" Harold answered as he looked to his friend and Godfather to his daughter. John was back in town for dinner that Grace practically twisted his arm to come to. Perhaps his darling wife was trying to match-make Jocelyn and John together but unfortunately Jocelyn wasn't able to make it since Maddie was sick and she had to work.

"Do you believe in soul-mates, Harold?"

Harold eyed John more fully as John grilled the burgers, noting that he looked thoughtful. "Yes, why do you?"

John looked up. "If we had this conversation a few years ago I would have said no."

"So you never believed Jessica was your soul-mate?"

"No. I loved Jessica but we weren't meant to be together," John muttered taking a swig from his beer bottle.

Harold felt a smile warm his face. He was so glad to hear that. John had suffered from immense guilt and pain over her death, wanting to save her so badly. It took a while for John to come to terms with Jessica's role in her own death, but it happened and he was glad John finally healed enough to see that.

"So what changed your mind, John?" Harold asked after John didn't add anything further. Or better yet he should ask: who changed his mind. John seemed to stare off into space with a small smile on his face, as if he was reliving something, before he cleared his throat and shook his head as if trying to shake the memory of whatever or whoever it was away.

"Time, that's all."

"Then why did you get Joss the Caribbean cruise instead?" Grace asked perplexed, drawing Harold out of his thoughts on his peculiar conversation with John about two and a half years ago that had made little sense then. But now it made complete sense to him.

Harold smiled. "It's all because of you, Grace," he admitted and she furrowed her brows. "The story you told me about Madeline's father. I never asked Joss about the father of her child because I didn't want to impose."

Grace nodded. "That's why I didn't ask either. But Joss finally felt comfortable enough to tell me about him."

He nodded. "I know and I am happy you told me about the conversation that you had with Jocelyn. Because I believe I know who the father of her child is," Harold proclaimed proudly. He knew that sometimes women discussed things and kept quiet about it. But luckily his wife had told him distractedly about it while she was doing laundry.

Grace's brows rose high, startled at the announcement. "You do?—who, how?" she asked as she turned her body more fully towards her wonderful and thoughtful husband.

Harold smiled at his wife. "I believe Madeline Carter's father is our dear friend, John Reese," he said as if he was not dropping a bombshell. Grace felt like her jaw dropped open as she waited for Harold to continue. "John was in town for our wedding right about the time Madeline was conceived."

Grace knew there had to be more to it than just that for her husband to think that John was the father of Joss's child. It was just so out of the blue to jump to that sort of conclusion without more than just that. "How do you know she was conceived during the time John was in town for our wedding?" she questioned.

"Jocelyn, she said that Maddie was born about right on time for her expected due date by a C-Section. So, doing the math, that is in the two week window Mr. Reese was here for the wedding. We also know the father was Caucasian because of Madeline's bi-racial identity," Harold stated the facts that they knew of so far.

Grace nodded as she felt cautiously excited. Joss was hung up on the man that fathered Madeline and she could understand why if it was John. He was classically handsome, sweet, shy, and extremely intelligent. And she had hoped to set John up with Joss ever since meeting Jocelyn believing they would be perfect for each other, hoping he'd settle down, and move to New York if he had a ready-made family here. Plus it was a little selfish too, since Leila missed Uncle John when he was gone for long periods of time. But now the possibility that John was the man that fathered Madeline made her ridiculously happy.

"Then there are those blue eyes that Madeline has," she added. Now thinking about them, they did look like John's piercing blues.

Harold nodded. "What truly makes me believe that John is Madeline's father is the story Joss told you."

"The story?—oh, you mean about the woman that Madeline's unknown father had lost. She was murdered," Grace repeated the small key part of it. Joss had explained everything to her. And it was what led Joss to believe that 'John,' the father of her child, was scared to move on from a ghost. It had just recently happened when they met and fell into bed with one another for a long blistering night of lovemaking. But it wasn't only lovemaking. Joss had said they stayed up talking and connecting that they shared more than just their bodies during that night. Grace had admittedly been a tad jealous of the tale. She wished her and Harold had such a passionate beginning, of falling in love at first sight but her own issues failed her on that one.

"Yes, that one," Harold agreed. "John and my friendship goes way back into the days of my bachelor-hood," he said with a twitch of his lips. "And into the days when John left Jessica because being with a soldier was not the life for her, while it sounds erroneous and arrogant of him to decide what was in her best interests; it truly was for the best. I met Jessica once and she would not have been able to handle being home while John was deployed. They loved each other but weren't compatible. John did what was best for them both. Jessica married another man which left John hurt but not surprised, however the man she chose to marry was not a good man at all. Peter was abusive and murdered Jessica in a fit of rage."

"I didn't know John's ex, who he apparently loved, was murdered." Grace spoke thoughtfully.

"That's because John doesn't like to bring Jessica up. He has healed since then and grieved over her death the only way John knows how and that is to bury himself in his work," Harold continued.

Grace sat thinking and contemplating what her husband said. It all made a lot of sense. Just as a criminal case in law, all the evidence was circumstantial but it was a heaping pile that made total sense. Joss had said the man's name that she slept with was John, he was the sexiest man she had ever seen, and had pretty blue eyes and a body to kill for. John was athletic, keeping well in shape for his career in the FBI, not to mention John was absolutely gorgeous. Joss had said he was shy and reserved and that was John in a nutshell. Then everything that Harold just told her about Jessica fit in line with what Joss told her about the dead woman the father of Madeline had talked about, right down to the same name: Jessica.

She looked at her husband. "I think you're right. I think our friends had a one night stand that resulted in Madeline. It's just one more thing to be thankful for from John," she said.

Harold furrowed his brows this time. "What do you mean?"

"If John never met and slept with Joss then Joss never would have become pregnant with Madeline and we would never have met her during our daily walks of our children."

"Ah, yes, you're very right, Grace, John gave us the gift of Jocelyn and Madeline in our lives," he said softly, nodding his head in agreement. Well, if everything worked out maybe he could repay John. He believed John wanted to find Joss and pick up where they left off but something was holding John back. John was stuck in a routine that if he continued in then his life would pass him by. Harold had no intention of letting his friend, best friend in fact, live his life alone. Mr. Reese always wanted a child, a family, and he had one; he just didn't know he had one.

"There's just one last thing I'm unclear on, Harold," Grace admitted after a moment.

"What's that, my love?"

"Why that specific cruise that you chose to send Joss on?—what do you know that I don't?" she wondered. Maybe she wasn't the only one that had their eyes on match-making John with Jocelyn.

Harold smiled and explained.

AN: *peeks out from hiding spot* So I know you guys were hoping he wouldn't leave couldn't leave her after that night...but John is very much a stubborn man. Though he left Joss with a parting gift, so those who had said about pregnancy, you guys were spot on ;D And Maddie is actually based off my cousin's daughter because she's bi-racial and has big gorgeous blue eyes. So now as you have seen chapter one of this; this is decidedly AU since there is no machine, no numbers, John is in the FBI not the CIA, and Harold/Grace got married. I kept lots of things of our characters we do know but tweaked them to fit this A/U so I hope you guys will still continue on this journey with me *puppy eyes* And while I know 'Reese' is not John's real surname for this it is because it's the most identifiable last name we have for him from the show. Leila is the first character from POIverse that you'll recognize and a few more coming your way. Coming your way next is the very fun:

Chapter 2: All Aboard!

Thanks for reading!