Abbie sat on the floor as Crane stood watching her. She had remained silent since she sat down on the towel Crane had laid down before. He was right, the floor was heated and despite the small beads of water that dripped down her neck from her damp hair, it wasn't all that bad.

Crane drew circles on the vanity top as he stood observing her, he could see her inner battle reflected in her eyes as she worked through what he had requested of her.

What he hated most was the little frown that appeared every now and again as she twirled the edge of the oversized towel he placed on the floor for them. He was afraid that by the time she would actually begin to speak the floor might be sprawled with terry cloth confetti.

Her voice was raspy when she spoke "So what where the three things again?"

"Tell me something you love about me, a thing that you've kept from me and something that you dislike concerning me"

Crane took his time as he sat down in front of Abbie.

They were face to face when she grasped his hands. Her eyes glancing up into his

"I love that you encourage my devious side, that you pride yourself on knowledge. I love that you never give up on your goal, even if it is a foolish one. You have always been annoyingly brattish and persistent about nearly everything. I love that you challenge me in ways that no one else can. And even though we have had a rough time of things lately, I appreciate you allowing me some space after Elijah was born.

I love that you always wake me up the same way, with a kiss on my collar bone, exactly where I like it whether we are happy or we have just had our own personal Armageddon.

But most of all, I love that when I wake up on Sunday mornings I get to hear you sing to Elijah, you always make him laugh and the smile on your face when you do it is pure and I have never seen you as relaxed and happy as that before. It's the best thing about Sundays"

Ichabod nodded as she bit her lower lip

"Things are different with me and at first I thought it was more physical than emotional, but that isn't the case. It isn't that I don't want to be intimate with you, I do. But after the baby I just became so focused on him."

"After discovering all the problems my mother encountered with me, because of who I am I just wanted to protect him and I started to neglect you. Sure it didn't happen all at once but it's like tunnel vision at times. I just keep thinking what if something happens to us and we're not around. I can't allow him to go through what I went through. I want him to know that he I cherished that he is loved, I need him to know that"

"It's alright Abbie we will face it together. You are a perfect mother and he Elijah does love you. I sing to him in the morning on Sundays because he gets agitated when he wakes up and he doesn't see you. Singing is the only thing that keeps him from his tantrum because he misses you so much"

"Really?"

"Yes. His whole world is you, I just want to be part of it. "

" Leftenant when you said sexual problems what did you mean by that?"

"Come on just look at me, I haven't been able to lose the last of the baby weight. I've got the stretch marks to prove it." For the first time since she began talking to him she looked away from him and saw their reflection in the shower glass door. They both seemed exhausted and weary

"You have to know that I do not care about that because I don't, you know I don't right?"

"Crane just let me finish, please ... Sometimes, when you wrap your arms around my stomach it makes me feel like you notice the extra weight, like you're pointing it out to me. I miss you holding me but I feel so uncomfortable in my own skin right now. When you talk about sex I cringe up, the last time we tried, it really hurt and that was just your fingers we didn't even get to do anything. I was sore for days. I couldn't even use tampons when I got my first post baby period"

His mouth open and he stuttered when he said her name. "Abbie, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that I was hurting you. It is never in my intention to cause you any pain. I did not realize that you were hurting, I would have stopped if I had known. You have to believe that I would have stopped everything"

"I know you would have but I didn't want you to. I'm still me, I wanted to be intimate with you I just couldn't physically do it and I felt ashamed because I couldn't. So I just pretended that I didn't want to and you just accepted it like the biggest inconsiderate asshole in the world and yes, you made me feel bad about myself. So I yelled at you, because I didn't know anything else to do"

"You kicked me out of our room, you told me to go so I wanted to give you your space. I thought I was giving you what you needed, what you wanted"

"Yeah but I didn't actually think you would go," Abbie wipes her tears as the light from the vanity makes the diamonds glisten her hands trembling as they moved "When you left me naked on our bed, I didn't think you desired me sexually anymore because of what happened and because you hurt me. I wanted to hurt you back so the next time I wouldn't have to feel stupid, like that again."

"So, I hurt you and I make you feel bad about yourself " Crane ran his fingers through his hair as the impact of her words finally weighed on him. His eyes welled up with unshed tears. He was inadvertently partially responsible for this because of his ignorance.

He wrapped the robe around her and she was drowned in the puffy white fabric as she tied it around her waist, the embroidered Golden A covering her.

"I did not mean it. Can you forgive me for hurting you Abigail?"

"I'm trying Ichabod. We came to this place to fix things. I want us to be us again."

"I desire that as well"

"I hate that I kept things from you, it just felt easier at the time"

"I'm sorry that I allowed you all this space. I should've fought harder, helped you talk me. But I was too involved in my own fears about becoming a father. I was terrified and I let fear win, but not anymore. We're in this for the long haul, Leftenant."

"Alright, Crane. Now can we get of this damn floor?"

"Good God Yes"