Sorry it's so short but it gets what I wanted to happen, happen. Epilogue after this and then this little story will be done. Thank you for reading this, without you guys I'd just be some crazy chick writing in the dark for no reason but you all give me a reason so that doesn't make me crazy...or does it? Anyways, on with the show!

That Evening

Will lounged on the stiff hotel comforter as he combed his hair with a fine toothed comb the hotel had provided and watched the news. He had just gotten out of the shower, Rachel insisted on him going first, and was finally able to relax his sore muscles. He rolled over on his side and dropped his hand off the bed to reach into the Target bag on the floor and pulled out a travel-sized can of mousse, sprayed a quarter sized amount onto the palm of his hand and worked it into his hair. Will had just set the comb down when he heard the bathtub begin to drain. Pictures and videos began to come up on the television screen as a reporter talked of the devastation that had struck Lima, Ohio.

A few minutes passed and soon the images that were being displayed were of familiar wreckage. "Reports on the town of Lima, Ohio can not touch the true severity of the situation. Hospitals have been flooded with tornado victims, whole neighborhoods have been wiped out and businesses have been destroyed." Just then the bathroom door opened and a very tired looking Rachel and a very clean Evan emerged, wrapped in a white towel.

"Behind me is what used to be Al's Grocery Store, a local independently owned business that until today served the community of Lima. Forty two people perished within the walls of this business and only four that were pulled from the ruble survived sustaining major injuries..." The reporter kept talking as the camera panned over the store. Will looked up and saw that Rachel had stopped in the doorway, eyes glued to the TV. Will switched the channel to TBS where a friendly sitcom was playing with a laugh track and Rachel came to sit on the foot of the bed where she unwrapped Evan and began to towel dry his hair.

Will took notice of this, sat up and slid down to them, "Rach, what are you doing to his hair?"

Rachel looked over at him and arched an eyebrow, "I'm drying his hair so his jammies won't get wet. Is there a problem?"

Will smiled and looked down at the naked toddler sitting on half the over sized towel. "No, not at all it's just..."

"Just what?" She stopped the rubbing on Evan's head.

"His hair, it's going to get frizzy and unmanageable in the morning if you create friction like that," he said gently.

"Oh. That explains a lot actually. What should I do?" Rachel smoothed down the portion of her son's hair that she had semi-dried.

"I think you should go shower and try to relax. I've got him." She smiled and kissed the bump on Evan's forehead softly.

"Alright. Here's his pull-up," she dug into one of the Target sacks. "And his jammies. Don't zip it up all the way to the top because he doesn't like that and-"

"Rachel," he cut in. "I've got this, you don't have to do this alone anymore." A moment passed through them and she murmured an okay as she retreated and Will could have sworn he saw her eyes begin to water.

He watched the door close and looked at the freshly bathed Evan. "Alright, Champ. Let's get your hair under control." Before he could tackle the youngster's hair he needed to put on his Cars pull-up. This was something Will had never done before so he set Evan in the middle of the bed, "Stay there. Don't move." He held out his hands in a stay gesture and bent down to search through the Target sacks for the package of Pampers.

His eyes were skimming over the directions and he heard the little boy giggle. Will's head jerked up to find his son standing in the center of the bed with a mischievous grin on his face. "Evan, no!"

"No!" Bantered back the toddler as he began to hop on the bed.

"Evan don't-Did, did you just tell me no?" Will let the package drop and reached out to grab the naked boy.

He laughed and shook his head, "Nooo..."

Will sighed, "So it begins." He picked him up and set him on his lap and guided Evan's feet through the leg holes. Will turned him around and double checked that Lightening McQueen was on the front and scooted back to where he was previously and rested his back against the headboard. He repeated the process he did with his own hair earlier and carefully combed, moussed and re-combed the toddler's unruly locks.

"Alright Ev, time to put these on you. You must really like Lightening McQueen, huh?" Will snatched up the footie pajamas and unzipped them.

Evan saw the pajamas and pointed at them, "Mckeen! Evan's?"

"Yes, Evan. These are your pajamas. It's time for bed." He took Evan's small leg into his hand and attempted to fish his foot through the thick fabric. When Evan kicked his legs in protest and started squirming and Will wondered if he did this often or if he was just doing this for him.

"Evan, stop it. Let me put your pajamas on..." He tried again to get his left foot into it's proper place.

"No jammies!" Whined Evan as he kicked his legs more forcefully. Will picked him up and placed him on his back on the bed and marveled at how strong this little boy could kick at not even two and a small surge of pride rushed through him.

"Ok, Champ. Here's what's going to happen." He laid over his body and took his small hands in his and kept eye contact. "You are going to let me put these jammies on you so your mother won't be mad with either of us. You're not going to kick me anymore and you're not going to tell me 'no.' Are we clear?"

Will's voice was level and calming and Evan's eyes never left his; and after a few seconds he nodded his head. Will let out a sigh, "Good choice." He had no problem after that getting him dressed. Sitting him up he leaned back into the pillows again and stared at his son, his eyes a medium brown that were fastly changing to a forest green and were slowly closing from the events of the day; catching up to him, his hair slightly messy but controlled that smelled of sweet smelling baby shampoo and his small frame rocking back and forth to an unheard song made Will smile. This little boy in front of him was his son and he already loved him by unmeasurable means. Evan smiled at him then crawled up to sit beside him on the pillows, mimicking Will's posture.

The new dad was unsure of what to do now with the tyke; and he looked over to the roll-a-way crib a hotel worker had brought and thought about trying to get him to bed but he didn't get a chance to act on that for Evan decided to scoot over and lay down between Will's arm and his ribcage. He felt the toddler squirm, trying to get comfortable and snuggle into him. Will looked down at the boy and felt his heart skip a beat when he saw his eye lashes flutter closed and felt his tiny fingers play with his soft shirt. Will had never felt more complete until that moment and felt his own eyes close as he wrapped his arms around his son and drifted off into a light, peaceful sleep.

QQQ

Rachel threw her head back, tousled her hair and put the hair dryer back in it's cradle on the wall. Will was right, she felt so much better after massaging her skin with a lightly scented soaped up loofah. She found a few cuts and multiple bruises but thankfully nothing worried her because the doctor that checked her over at the ER said she sustained no serious injuries. She began combing through her hair with her fingers and her thoughts ran off. She thought about the house she grew up in and how it had surely caved in by now, she thought about all those people an hour away in Lima that lost their lives and their families grieving over them.

She thought about how she was one of those people grieving and an overwhelming feeling of loss came over her at the thought that she would never talk to her dad, Leroy, again. How she would never feel his comforting arms surrounding her and how she would never be able to have both dads walk her down the aisle. Tears spilled onto her cheeks and then she thought of her other father sleeping soundly in a hospital bed five miles away in the town she was staying in. She wiped her eyes with a tissue from the box built into the bathroom counter and focused on all she did have left.

The tornado hadn't touched her home in New York, she still had one parent and most of her friends were okay. She had a perfect little boy who loved her and she had Will, to what extent she didn't know but she still had him in her life and that was a great comfort to Rachel- especially now. She put on her cotton sleep shirt they had purchased while at Target and opened the door into the main room.

Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at her little boy nestled against Will's side. Evan looked so small and innocent next to Will with his mouth slightly hung open and his cheeks flushed caused by the body heat given off by his father. They looked so heartbreakingly perfect that if anyone else were to guess they would assume that the two had been falling asleep like that since Evan was an infant; but that wasn't the case and it tore at Rachel's heart. What would happen now? How was this going to work with Rachel being in another state and Will being here? Would he move to New York? Would he want Rachel to move back home?

She didn't have an answer so she just stared at the pair sleeping so soundly and slid across the bed to stroke Evan's cheek with her index finger. Will must have sensed her looking at them for his eyes slowly opened and eventually focused on Rachel.

"Hey," he whispered.

She smiled, "Hi. Sorry to have awoken you."

Will slowly sat up and adjusted Evan in his arms so he was cradling him against his chest. "No, it's fine. He needs to go in the crib anyways." He carefully got up, as to not disturb the boy, and crossed over to his tiny bed. "You were right," he said as he laid Evan down in the bed. "He is perfect."

Rachel came over to stand by him and adjust the blue and red blanket, "Yeah, he is." A hushed silence fell over the room and the only sound was little Evan breathing heavily; Will and Rachel watched their son as he slept.

Will laced his fingers with hers, "We should talk about this."

Rachel knew what he was referring to, "We should." They both went back to sit on the edge of the bed and paused for a moment gathering themselves for a very serious talk.

"I want to be there for you and Evan."

Rachel knew this already but needed clarification. "I know, but to what extent? We live in New York and we have a life there, I can't ask you to uproot your whole life for us."

Will touched the side of her face and tucked a wavy strand of hair behind her ear. "Rachel, you and Even, you are my whole life. After today, I-so much has changed. This morning I woke up with no purpose but now-now I have a son. When I almost lost you two on quite a few occasions today I knew that I couldn't live without either one of you. I love Evan, and I think I could love you, too. So, if you'll have me; I'd like to try to make this work. To give Evan a real shot at a family."

Rachel could barely believe what she just heard; maybe she didn't hear right. "I-what? Will, are you serious? But how?"

"It's simple. The school here needs to be rebuilt and there's no telling when I'd be able to go back to work. I'd have to find another job anyways so it may as well be in New York with my family." Will hoped she would go for this and couldn't think of a reason she would say no but there was always that chance.

"You'd move to New York so you could live near us?" She was smiling and he could see that she was holding back tears.

"Not exactly. I was thinking, if you wanted, that we could get an apartment together. I've already missed so much with Evan and-and I want to be there, be his Dad." He had looked away from Rachel and his gaze went to the crib pushed up against the wall.

"I-I'd love that. But, what about us? Won't it be strange for us to be living together raising a child when we're not together?" Her heart was beating as fast as a humming bird's as she urged with her own eyes for Will to look at her.

When he did, he took her hands in his. "Rach, when I said family I meant the three of us." His grip on her hands loosened, "but if you don't want to try I completely understand..."

"No, no I want to. I'd love to be...be with you, or at least try to be." Her hands held onto his, not wanting him to let go.

"I'd love that, too." Their eyes locked and Will drew her hands to his lips where he kissed each one. "I'm glad that's settled. Once things are settled here we'll go to New York and start looking for an apartment immediately. No family of mine is going to be forced to share a home with someone else, no matter how sweet she may be. And I don't want you working forty hours a week anymore, fifteen hours if you feel you really have to but I'd rather the mother of my child be able to focus on what matters, and not be stressed all the time."

Rachel leaned into Will and rested her head on his shoulder and let a tear slip onto his shirt, "You are the best thing that had ever happened to me, to us." She could feel weight being lifted up off her shoulders at the thought that she would have time to sleep, to be a mother to Evan. She lifted her head to look into Will's perfect green eyes, "I don't know what to say."

He pressed his forehead against hers, "Say you'll let me take care of you. Say that you'll let me try to make you happy, and say you'll let me be Evan's dad."

She felt his hands come to the sides of her face, "I'll let you. I'll let you do anything."

Will smiled and whispered, "Good choice," before he brushed his lips against hers. "Sweetheart, don't cry. I'm here for you."

She smiled and gave a small laugh, "I know. That's why I'm crying. You're amazing, Will."

"You're more amazing, Rach." He kissed her again, this time with such strong emotion he thought he might cry. Then as he lowered her down onto the bed he realized he was. Despite the tragic events of the day, despite their pasts and despite all odds this was the happiest that Will had ever been in his entire life. After Rachel's lips were red and swollen from being thoroughly kissed, Will turned down the blankets, flicked off the lamp and let Rachel fall into his arms. As they lay there listening to Evan softly snore both of them knew that this is what they wanted; that this is where they were supposed to be and they couldn't be happier.