Revealed
From there things did get a bit more complicated, the crowds were busy, and rude, Annie thought, but Auggie did an amazing job of looking unperturbed. He knew where he was going and instructed Annie perfectly even though he couldn't possibly have had his bearings. He was right though, the building they arrived at wasn't far away, but it also wasn't what Annie was expecting. It was a high rise office building, yet somehow the security guard seemed to be expecting them and waved them through after they flashed their IDs.
"What is this Auggie?" Annie whispered in a hush tone as they boarded the elevator. "Is this a mission?"
"Not the kind you're talking about. I know you wanted to see your sister – and despite what I said earlier I'm glad we did – for one thing it was great to get to know your nieces."
"You like kids, I can tell."
"I like them, they have Danielle's tenacity and your sense of humour."
"Thankyou, for making the effort to get to know my family."
"Don't thank me, once you've met the Andersons you'll realise that this was easy."
"So you want me to meet your family."
"One day soon, when you're ready."
"For what?"
"For three older brothers, their well-meaning but curious wives, and my busy body parents. If I was nervous about seeing Danielle – and I'm not admitting I was, well, even Annie Walker could be a little intimidated by my folks."
"Well they must be good people, because they raised you."
"That they are," Auggie agreed just as the elevator doors opened on the top floor. "Okay left down the corridor, it's the last door."
"What is?"
"You'll see."
The door led to a cramped stairwell which took them up onto the roof.
"Okay now you've got to imagine a blanket and champagne, getting us in was all I could manage at short notice."
"It's beautiful, we don't need anything else," Annie murmured looking up at the stars then turning to kiss the man beside her. "I love it," she promised.
"And we just made it in time," Auggie announced.
"For?" Annie asked, she'd known they'd left the hotel about half an hour before midnight but she'd been so caught up in following his instructions and trying to keep the general public from knocking him over on the way that she'd lost track of time.
"For that," Auggie replied, his arms around her waist, his face turned towards the sky in anticipation as the first bangs went off the golden and red bursts of fire light up the night sky.
"You can smell them can't you?" Annie smiled.
"Yes I can. Happy New Year Annie."
"Happy New Year Auggie," Annie replied her eyes shining. It was the first time she'd brought in the new year with a man who really truly mattered to her and it felt pretty amazing. She leant into his body and let him crush her against him, comfortable in his strong embrace and most of all grateful. She couldn't believe how far she'd come in the past year, all the things she'd been through, but he had gotten her through it and the year ahead seemed so much more full of promise with Auggie no longer by her side but now firmly entrenched within her heart and her life.
A/N: Too corny? Too much? I didn't want to overdo it but I did want to give them something a bit special. We've all seen how much Auggie likes pulling strings when he can!
