Was skim reading chapter 3 as I posted it and just had an urge to add this in, so sorry for the slight disjointedness I just wanted an 'aww bless him I want one' moment, didn't come out quite as I was aiming but nm.

Please review and let me know you're still reading.

As he slowly made his way back to the sofa, still fighting tears he paused to look at the photos she had about, there weren't many, she never had been one for keeping many pictures on display.

He smiled down on them as he saw her smiling with her friends and with Maddie.

He was still in shock that she had a daughter, now he knew kind of how she had felt when he had first mentioned Sam to her, although probably more confused that she was then, how had she suddenly gained an 11 year old daughter. He carried on looking at the pictures, smiling as she saw one of her and Renee together, and one of everybody at the firm before she had gone.

He peered closely at it, noticing something in the background, 'Cage, Fish & McBeal'. Clearly a lot had happened in his absence, why had she come to New York then and left Boston if she had made partner. It was probably to do with Maddie.

He put it down and looked at the last frame, a single picture of her, looking just as he remembered her with a hint of a smile on her lips.

His heart swelled and ached as he looked at it.

He had forgotten how much he truly loved her while he had been gone. He'd forgotten it was possible to love someone that much, to love another person that much that even looking at a photo of them made you feel this much happiness and pain. He loved Sam greatly and he knew that nothing could ever touch that or replaced it, but it was a simple love, he loved Sam because he was his son, he loved him unconditionally but right now it was still a nice easy simple love, no pain involved other that the guilt of not seeing him often enough which had slowly reduced during the time he had spent with him. Whereas his love for Ally was more complex, it involved pain and confusion but it had as much depth as his love for his son, and it was more love than he had ever felt for a woman, he didn't care how complicated it was, he knew he was still head-over-heels in love with her.

He also knew he had to go back soon, he had only got 2 weeks off work and it had taken him nearly a week to track her down, and he was already missing Sam, he'd called him every night before he went to bed and a few mornings before he had left for school, but it didn't make up for being with him, and he suddenly knew that he would be faced with the same choice as before, he could either see Sam or Ally, but not both at the same time, and he couldn't cross the country ever few days but he couldn't bear to be separated from either of them.

He hadn't realised until that moment how hard it would be to give Ally up again now that he had seen her. He didn't even know what had driven him to search her out in the first place but he knew with certainty that he couldn't walk away again.

As he sat on the sofa and started getting under the blankets his thoughts returned to her and it took all his will not to walk into her room and tell her he loved her, to open the windows and scream it to the world that they had found each other again, to make love to her like they used to, to speak to her and share his thoughts or to simply lie there with her in his arms, feeling like everything would be right with the world if they could just stay that way forever.