As the door closed behind an excited Katie who ran off to show her mum the flowers that she found by magic, Atlantis lay back on the pillows, closing her eyes. Her head was hurting and she knew that she had to rest. Too much excitement. The smile she saw on her son's face a few minutes ago brought happy tears to her eyes. Biting her lower lip, Atlantis opened her eyes and looked at the sky through the window, her tears now rolling freely down her cheeks.
~*~
Matthew glanced down at the little boy sitting on the blanket beside him and hid his smile. The kid surely couldn't sit still, he was fidgeting impatiently, his brown eyes set on the water in front of them, barely blinking. He couldn't wait for a fish to bite.
«You know, if you don't settle down, the fishes will run away,» said Matthew, trying to keep a serious face, earning himself a frustrated huff in a response from Atlantis' son.
«How can they run if they don't have legs?» asked little Matthew.
«Well, they can swim very fast. Sure, they don't have legs, but they do have fins, you know,» replied Matthew with a smile on his face.
«Are there many fishes out here?» asked the little boy looking up at Matthew. As he received a nod in a response, he turned his gaze back to the water, and after a few moments of silence, he whispered, «I wanna surprise Mummy with catching the biggest fish ever.»
Matthew glanced down at the boy.
«You know, your mum will be happy with a small fish, too.»
«I know,» nodded the child. «But I really wanna catch a big fish. She deserves the best.»
That sentence touched Matthew's heart deeply; the little boy was obviously very attached to Atlantis and already wanted to give her the world. It pained Matthew to even think what the two of them must have been through. He was tempted to ask the child about that, but he didn't want to upset him. This little one needed to heal, and Matthew was determined to help him in that.
Therefore, he just nodded, «I agree.»
In that moment, little Matthew's fishing stick started to move. The child gasped in surprise, his whole face lit up with a smile, «Matthew! Matthew, look! I caught a fish!»
Matthew got up from the blanket and stood beside the child, helping him to pull the fish out of the water. They stepped in the water and little Matthew giggled as the fish splashed water on them. As they finally made it to pull the fish out, the child gasped in surprise and then laughed happily. The fish was quite big and the little boy jumped up and down with joy.
Matthew smiled; it felt so right to see this little boy smile and jump happily. He started to relax more and more each day, and he was quickly becoming what he should be; a happy child. Such a small boy shouldn't have to carry so much on his shoulders, and Matthew was determined to lift that burden up, no matter what the costs.
~*~
«Wow, this is all yours?,» little Matthew took in the home and the barn. Not even waiting for Matthew to reply, he ran toward the chicken coop and tried to glance over the fence to see the chickens. Matthew lifted him in his arms, and the child looked down at the sight before him, the big smile never leaving his face.
«They sure eat a lot,» he giggled, making Matthew smile as well.
«Yep, they do. Come on, lets see the horses and the cow.»
The child happily agreed, and when they entered the barn, he caressed all the animals there, calling their names after Matthew told them. He gave some food to the horses and giggled when they took it from his hand.
After they took a look on all the animals, they went inside the house. Matthew set a fire to warm the place up, while little Matthew ran around the house, peeking into every corner.
«Hungry?» asked Matthew. As the child nodded, Matthew added, «Come on. Let's eat and then we will go to see your mum. It's getting late alreday, she must have started to worry.»
~*~
Atlantis took the blanket off and slowly got up. Her ribs still hurt, but she was desperate for some fresh air. Reaching the window, she opened it and took a deep breath, then looked down at the street.
The sun started to descend as people began to finish their working day and got ready to go home. There was Loren, locking up the store and waving for Jake to join him for a drink in the saloon. Katie and Samantha were sitting on the clinic porch, playing with their dolls. Grace passed by, carrying a basket full of food and heading toward the livery.
Atlantis watched them all, an aching feeling settling in her heart. Would she ever be able to have a normal life like all these nice people? Would she ever start to look forward to the new day instead of fearing every sound she heard?
It was then when she noticed a horse approaching. She could hear a child's giggling and as she looked better, her heart skipped a beat.
It was her son's laughter she heard. Her eyes set on the face of the man who was riding the horse, his arms safely holding the child in front of him.
Matthew.
In such a short time he'd managed to win her son's trust, and it was obvious that little Matthew adored him. Atlantis pressed her lips tightly together, allowing herself to get lost in the moment, at least for a bit. How wonderful would it be if they could stay…if they were a family…
Shaking her head slowly, Atlantis closed the window. NO. She couldn't drag Matthew into her mess. He deserved a chance to be happy, to love again, to have a wife. He didn't need all the problems she carried with herself.
No. She couldn't make his life a living hell.
«MUMMY!!» Her son burst into her room, carrying a big fish, «Look, Mummy! Look what I caught!»
Atlantis smiled, trying to hide her feelings, «Wow, that's quite a fish you caught, darling!» She kneeled down slowly and kissed her son's cheek as the child beamed with pride and happiness.
Matthew stopped at the doorway, watching this heart-warming scene. Still, he was worried.
«Atlantis, you're up?» he asked.
She looked up at him and nodded, «Needed a bit of fresh air. Dr. Mike said that it's all right, as long as I take it easy.»
«Okay. But make sure you do take it easy,» Matthew was still concerned.
«I'm gonna show the fish to Katie!» little Matthew stated and ran off. Atlantis smiled, watching her son leaving.
«Thanks for taking him fishing,» she said, trying to get up. A gasp escaped her as she tried to straighten up, and she put her palm on her ribs, closing her eyes in pain.
Instinctively, Matthew held her upper arms to steady her, and she leaned onto his hand, trying to catch a breath.
«You all right?» asked Matthew, growing even more concerned.
Atlantis nodded, «Yeah. It was just too much excitement today.» As the pain calmed down, she opened her eyes.
«You should lay down, come on,» said Matthew, but Atlantis protested.
«No, I'm fine, just a bit sore. My ribs hurt,» she breathed.
Seeing that she wouldn't comply, Matthew picked her in his arms, ever so slowly, and carried her toward the bed. As he gently placed her down, his eyes caught hers and for a moment, he couldn't move. In that moment it felt like everything fell into place. There wasn't emptyness in his heart anymore.
Swallowing hard, Atlantis took her hand away from his neck. «Thank you,» she whispered, not being able to look away from his blue eys. It felt like he could reach into her soul and heal every wound. Her heart was pounding as she watched him so close.
Matthew could feel his heart quickening and he knew right at that moment what was happening to him. For the last few days, he'd tried to deny it, to assure himself that he only wanted to help Atlantis and her son… But he wanted so much more, he knew that. Being with Atlantis made him feel complete. And he hadn't felt that way ever since Ingrid died…not even with Emma.
And that was a feeling that he didn't want to throw away that easily.
He knew it was too early now to do anything. She still needed to recover completely, and he could still read the fear in her eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was to frighten her.
Therefore, he leaned down and while his fingers took away one brown lock that fell in her face, he gently kissed her forehead.
As his lips lingered on her brow for a while, Atlantis closed her eyes, not being able to hold back her tears.
«Matthew…» A whisper escaped her mouth. As his palm cupped her left cheek, she opened her eyes and looked at him, forgetting all the thoughts she had before about leaving.
«Get some rest,» he silently said. As she held onto his hand like for dear life, he added, «I'll be here when you wake up.»
She closed her eyes, never letting go of his hand. As their joined hands rested on the bed, Atlantis drifted off to a peaceful sleep.