Six months earlier.

He walked into his home and sighed. The smell of Alicia's cooking flooded his nostrils. He couldn't remember the last time he had been able to flight home early. But he was grateful of Diane's offer. Things had been hectic between his business lately, new clients were arriving, therefore new associates were being hired, the pressure was on his shoulders, and he often wondered when it was going to end.

He walked into the family room to find Alicia standing at the kitchen island, the lights were on dim, and candles were set around the balcony, ready to accompany their family. Friday nights was his sanctuary, his mother and sisters would arrive for dinner, and Owen would on occasion visit for the long weekend. It was fantastic. Bliss.

He wrapped his arms around his wife from behind and held her tight, breathing her in and allowing the strain from the previous week to slip away. No matter how demanding his professional life had been, nothing could replace the sight of Alicia welcoming him home with open arms each night.

He could feel her smile, and allowed her to turn around in his arms, meeting her green eyes, he felt his heart skip a beat. She was beautiful, he was aware of it more than anyone else, but in this moment, as the dim lights from the outside balcony shone on her porcelain face, as the moon reflected back on her skin, as her smile reached her eyes, he knew that she was the only cause to his heart slowing down, he could already feel the stress loading off his shoulders.

"Hey." She smiled brightly as she wrapped both arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. He smiled, hands on her hips, he pressed his lips against hers, softly and allowed her lips to entwine with his again.

He felt her hand run through his hair, and one down his chest, her fingers crept through his coat like silver magnets, releasing her hand into the warmth of his chest, she managed to undo his coat and pulled it off. Smiling, she pulled away, and slipped out of his arms as she draped the blazer on the coat hanger in the corner. Leaving him breathless and groaning as he watched her walk off into the living room.

"Where are the kids?"

"Lenora's gone with your mom to get desert, and Zach and Grace are doing their homework."

"How was your day?"

She smiled, he knew it was a smile in which she appreciated moments like these where they were able to talk about anything and everything. "It was great. My boss is heading on vacation soon so he wants me to manage the office for the next couple of weeks. He told me to take a week off, can you believe it? In the state of our economy. You would think vacations would be the last thing one would do."

Alicia worked for a small corporate law firm, famous for representing a large amount of probono cases. He often wondered why she chose to remain there after all these years, she could have her pick off the litter, everyone in Chicago was after her, they knew who she was, who her husband was, who her father was, and they also knew the marks she received from Georgetown. She was the best, he may be participating in club bias, but it wasn't something worth questioning. She simply was the best. He still couldn't understand why she preferred to remain under the radar.

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out onto the balcony and into his arms. "Will" she giggled. "What are you doing?"

"Dance with me."

"God. Not this again."

"Just this once. We have the house to ourselves."

She laughed in response. He took her hand, and rested the other on her hip. "I have to check on the potatoes."

"No, you don't."

She smiled, and then released a sigh of defeat, grinning, she pulled him into her embrace and wrapped both arms around his waist as she rested her chin on his shoulder and swayed in circles.

"I miss this." She murmured. As much as he understood her reference, there was nothing he could do to reduce his schedule, he felt guilty for taking so much time away from the family, but it was necessary they make it work, under all the demand his business held over him, it was vital that it all came hand in hand.

"I know. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid the hours at work are going to increase." He watched as the brows on her forehead thickened. "What?"

He sighed, "I know. It's tough. But Diane keeps going on about expanding, and as much as it's doing my head in, now is the time to commit more than ever."

"Expand though?" she questioned. "Why now? You should of done it when dad died."

"And wait for the economy to crash? Hell no. See, it's a good thing this is happening now. Were ready for it, I'm ready for it."

"You're ready for it?" she questioned. "Are you sure?"

"Are you doubting me?"

"Of course not." She stared at him as if he were being irrational. "I just, I don't understand the interest in it. I mean, why now? The beginning of the year?"

He shrugged, "I personally, I think it's a great idea, one of the best decisions we've made in a long time. Your father would agree to that."

He watched as she stared at him almost in shock, before pulling out of his embrace completely and walking back inside. He was left dumbstruck as he stared out at her. What was going on with her? He simply couldn't understand what was traveling through her mind at this point in time, was she stressed? Was it the children? Was she just simply hormonal now that she had less hours of work.

He followed her into the kitchen, he remembered, years ago, when he informed his parents that he planned on marrying her, his father had hinted to him that communication was an important principle to maintaining a marriage. His father's words may be insignificant now that he was dead, but he knew it was still important.

Alicia's focus was on the food, he tried to grasp her attention by speaking loudly, but it hadn't seemed to faze her. She was a blank canvas, completing shutting him out, he knew when his wife was mad, and he also was aware of the elements in which couldn't be passed, but however, he was beginning to reach the point of defeat from her need to ignore him.

He sighed. "Can we just have a moment where everything isn't rated to a high temperature in this household?"

"Can we?" she questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Do you have something to say to me?" He couldn't believe how heated this was getting, ten minutes ago he was holding her, and now, they could barely maintain a normal conversation. Maybe she was right, maybe his hours at work were beginning to interfere inside their marriage? He had to mentally remind himself that he was doing it for the family.

"Just forget it Will."

"No." Grasping the spoon from her hands. He set it above the counter grabbing her attention. "If you have something to say, say it. I'm your husband, not a stranger."

He was sure he heard her mumble something under her breath, but he was too focused on her features to think of anything else. He was determined in following her mind.

The sigh that escaped from her lips spoke volumes, especially when she moved away from his body and faced the window. "Your mother and Nora are back."

He furrowed his brows at her, and watched as she carefully gripped the edge of the counter as she rested and allowed her hair to shadow her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Afraid of what her response would be.

"Fine. I'm just tired. You should help them bring desert in…"

"Alicia.."

She sighed. "Will. Please, we're fine. Seriously."

"I know, but don't you wanna talk about it?"

Her eyes set on the door, and he followed her gaze only to see his mother and daughter walk in, their laughter echoed the house, and he caught a smile spread across his wife's features. Alicia's eyes lit up as Lenora wrapped her arms around her neck and squeezed her tightly.

"We got your favourite mom. Chocolate mud cake."

"Mmm delicious. Thank you baby."

"Grandma was going to get berry for you dad but we weren't sure if you would be home early this time."

He smiled. "That's okay sweetheart."

Alicia and Lenora had always enamoured a close relationship, he knew his wife never showed favouritism between their children, but when it came to relationships, Alicia and Lenora's one stood out the most. He missed listening to their conversations late at night, he missed seeing his wife's smile at night, nowadays he was hardly home to witness anything, but ultimately, he knew there was a reason to it, one day he would be able to arrive home at five if he were lucky, and things would return back to normal.

Before he could tag Alicia into the other room, Sara and her kids arrived through the front door, followed by Liz and Chris grabbing Alicia's full attention.

His house was crowded with women. Woman that he had grown to love and cherish for a part of his life. He observed with curiosity as his wife interacted with them. Grace had the flu and a virus, she could barely eat, so Alicia made sure to boil her veges separately, as well as making her soup and sitting next to her at the table. When she wasn't paying attention to Grace, she was either laughing with Liz, or instructing Zach to eat his greens. His mother sat next to her, and he watched as she would share glances between him Alicia. She could feel the tension, he could sense it, his mother was intimidating when it came to him, she was a humble and sweet old woman, she hardly said a word even when she could distinguish a rough time, but one look from her and he knew she could read right through him. He knew he had to do something to make his wife happy once again.

"Oh, Liz, I forgot to tell you." Alicia was saying, catching his attention. "The case I was working on for the hospital, we recently had to join with the states attorneys' office, they were saying that we have a pretty good format, so you can tell your boss that he can give us a call sometime this week."

"You're working with the states attorney's office?" he interrupted from across the table.

"Yes."

"Which part?"

"What do you mean?"

"Who are you working with?"

"The states attorney." She stated, obviously.

"As in Peter Florrick?"

"Yes." She shrugged nostalgically.

"You never told me?"

"You never asked."

The silence was cut from the sound of Liz's throat clearing. She placed her hand on Alicia's forearm. "You know, I would be lying if I haven't been thinking of your apple pie all day Leesh. I could kill a dear in exchange for it right now."

"Aunt Liz!" Grace shrieked. "You're supposed to love animals!"

"Oh, no, sorry honey. It was a metaphor, you know? It's not real."

Alicia smiled at her daughter's innocence, but it wasn't hard for Will to dismiss the fact that she avoided his gaze for the remainder of the night.

He watched her from a far at the sink with Liz, he stood outside on the patio talking with Chris, but his attention was on her. For some reason, curiosity had gotten the best of him, Liz was talking to her, and Alicia seemed to be paying attention, however, whatever they were discussing, from a distance, he could see it was personal. Liz hugged her tightly, patted her shoulder and kissed her cheek followed by waving out to him and signalling for Chris to head out with her.

He sat next to Sara beside the outdoor table, she sat back relaxed as she sipped a glass of red wine. Alicia's favourite. The familiar sound of the lake washing up against the shore and rough stones gave him a sense of comfort. He hadn't felt this way in months, he yearned for this feeling daily, there was only enough massages Alicia could do on his shoulders in order to get him out of bed the next morning, but nothing could compare to this. Home. Family. And Alicia. He considered himself a lucky man.

"God, I swear, if I could kidnap Alicia for a week and make her cook for me. I would, totally." Sara commented, causing him to smile.

"Don't even think about it."

"Aubrey is probably kicking herself right now. Apple pie is her favourite."

"We should all visit her for Christmas. A holiday on the beach in New York city would be perfect."

"Christmas is ten months away Will."

"All the more reason to do it."

"Okay. Your idea Einstein."

He planned on informing Alicia about it, but not long after he kissed his kids goodnight, he walked into the master bedroom to see her laying on her side, reading a book. Switching his lamp off, he shifted under the sheets next to her body, spooning her, he pressed his lips against her neck, and allowed his tongue to press against the sensitive spot behind her ear causing her to moan.

He felt her hand run through his hair as she turned to gain better access to his lips and immediately, wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him to her.

He was stunned, he couldn't deny it, was this what one would call make up sex? He couldn't decide, not with her feverish lips herding against his. Running her hands through his hair, she moaned into his ear as he entered her. He felt her breathing quicken, and her arms tug at his shoulders. "Oh god." She moaned as he brought them closer and closer to the edge.

Looking into her eyes, the desire wasn't there, the hunger was, but the passion had vanished. He felt a chill roam down his spine. He suddenly wondered if she was doing this to please him only, but when she cupped his face and brought his lips down to hers, he was reminded of how much they loved each other. Maybe he was over-exaggerating everything?

Still, that did not exclude his wonder as he noticed that she was the first to fall asleep, they usually talked for what seemed like hours after making love. He'd listen to her giggle at his jokes, they would tell each other embarrassing stories followed by the previous day's events, he would tease cook county's judges and she would name all of them by heart, they would talk about their future aspirations, he would tell her how much he loved her, and then eventually, they would fall asleep in each other's arms.

As he watched her sleep on her side, head faced towards the wall, hair spread out in its brunette curls, arms spread above her pillow, eyes twitching from her dreams, he allowed his eyes to overtake her once more for the upneath time that night. Losing the passion of their marriage wasn't an option. But he was beginning to think that this was only the beginning of the bumpy road they seemed to be heading.


A.N: So i hope you all understand. Rewinding back to six months earlier, the story takes off from here so you can all get a better understanding to the plot of the first chapter. Thanks for the reviews!