A/N: Thanks so much for your lovely reviews. I'm pushing hard to the finish, and they are so helpful!

Chapter 10

When the sun came up on Tuesday, it was already 10 degrees warmer than Monday had been at noon. Maybe it was the heat, but Auggie found himself in a foul mood already. He wished they could sleep longer, Annie's body next to his, but she'd offered their services to relieve Leah while she headed to see her doctor. Annie slipped into a pair of shorts and threw a t-shirt at Auggie while he lingered again in the bed.

"This one was all you," he reminded her as she climbed back on the bed to impel him physically into moving.

"Right, like we're going to tell her we can't help out after I told her the exact opposite." She wrapped her legs around his waist and he stood from the bed, Annie still attached. She draped herself over his shoulder. "This one's not all day, though. We're only on the hook until noon. Leah's sister is going to meet her at the doctor's office and then they're going to and early lunch afterward." He still didn't answer; she nibbled on his ear. "And we have Maeve to help us out. How horrible can it be?"

He leaned back, pulling away from her as much as he could in their current intertwined state. "We have to go there. I'm going to break my neck on a Barbie car."

Annie kissed him again, having already thought about this objection he was bound to have. "We'll park you in the nursery with the baby, and I'll handle the bigger girls."

He rolled his eyes and plopped his hands on her bottom. "Okay. Let's get this over with."

She let her legs drop to the floor. "That's the spirit!" She patted his chest before she disengaged with him to find her own shirt. "We gotta be on the road in 15 minutes. I'll go get us some coffee."

"I'll be on my game."

"You'd better just bring some ear plugs in case your Callista whispering magic has worn off," Annie called from the hall. Auggie mumbled something back that she couldn't quite make out, but she just shook her head and continued down the steps. He joined her about 10 minutes later, his hair damp but still with a day's worth of scruff. She handed him his travel mug, her finger finding its way to his jaw. "Hmm."

"Choices, Walker. Life is all about choices." His free hand found her ponytail. "I see I'm not the only one making them this morning."

"Get in the car, Scruffy!" she called over her shoulder as she skipped down the front steps.

He grabbed his cane from the credenza by the front door and joined Annie in the driveway, climbing in the front seat of the Pathfinder beside her.

"We should sell this thing," he mused as he pulled at a loose piece of plastic on the passenger side door.

"It's paid for. Might as well run it until it dies."

"Some kid could have a lot of fun with it, though." Auggie rested his head against the warm glass.

He seemed hell bent on being disagreeable, but she wasn't biting. "It's your car. If you want to sell it, sell it."

He moved again, leaning back in the seat this time. "I don't know. I'll think about it."

"You're grumpy this morning." She reached for his hand between shifting.

He let her hand rest on his for a few seconds before he pulled it back into his lap. "Just got up on the wrong side of the bed, I guess."

"I'm sorry we've not had three seconds to ourselves."

He turned in his seat to face her, lips pursed. "It's not your fault my family is crazy."

"Your family isn't crazy, Auggie. They're just a family. This stuff happens, and in the recent past it's been them taking care of you or us. It's kind of nice to return the favor for once."

He fidgeted again in the seat and ended up facing forward. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Please don't say anything that will make Leah feel like she's putting us out." Annie implored. "This is already a rough time for her."

"No. I know. I'll rally."

"Thanks."

His voice softened a bit. "You really love them, don't you?"

"Who?"

"My family. Or, our family, I guess."

She blinked a couple of times before she answered. "Well, yeah. They kind of make it easy, even when it isn't."

"It kind of makes me love you even more than I already do."

Annie's eyes narrowed as she glanced over toward him again. "That's really sweet, Auggie, but you're still changing the diapers."

When they arrived and entered the house, Auggie stuck close to Annie. He'd been in the place a couple of times but not nearly enough to know where he was going, and he'd be willing to bet that nothing was still in the same place it had been the last time he'd come through the door. Once Leah gave the instructions, they found the baby sling and snuggled Callista to Auggie's chest, leaving his hands free. As the baby was quiet, Annie parked him in a rocker in the nursery with his headphones and music while she finished cleaning up breakfast with the older girls.

After she'd corralled them into the playroom and was fairly certain that that they'd stay close to there, Annie stole away to check on Auggie. She found him napping along with the baby. Feeling safe about that situation for the moment, Annie returned to the girls. She passed the next few hours playing dolls until their mother returned.

"Is the baby still asleep?" Leah asked as she surveyed the braided hair of every doll in the playroom.

"She's with Auggie. I've checked on them a couple of times – both out as recently as 20 minutes ago."

Leah chuckled. "Can we just keep him? Or you can keep her for a couple of months?"

"Sure. Whatever you think will work best," Annie smiled back. "How'd it go?"

"My doctor wants to check in with me a little more often, but things overall have been a bit better in the past few days. The formula change has made a difference. Maybe it was Cal's little tummy that was causing the trouble, but she's been consolable. That helps tremendously."

"I'm glad."

"Thanks for coming up this morning. I know you guys have been spread a little thin since you've gotten here. We're gonna try to give you a little bit of vacation before you have to go back!"

Annie hugged her sister-in-law's shoulders. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine. We are fine."

"Still, why don't you guys get out of here? We may be down to swim a little later."

"They've had sandwiches and grapes," Annie recapped lunch for Leah as they headed down the hall to the nursery. Auggie had unplugged the headphones, and the two women found him and the baby listening to Mingus while Callista munched on a bottle. Annie noted a carefully wrapped dirty diaper on the changing table.

"You guys look all set," Leah decided as she approached her brother-in-law. "I can finish feeding her, though."

Auggie relinquished the baby. "We kind of understand each other, I think."

"I think you do, too," Leah gushed as she kissed his cheek.

Auggie stood. "Everything go okay?"

"It did." She cradled the baby against her chest for a burp. "I'm gonna put the others down for a rest and then we'll be down. Thanks again for this, Auggie."

"It's no problem. We'll see you guys later."

They said goodbye to the girls before he and Annie headed back to the car. They were halfway to the house when Auggie turned to her. "We've got to do something today other than feed and hold children."

"It looked like you were enjoying yourself just fine."

Auggie ignored her. "Let's go out on the boat this evening. Max can sail. Let's see if he and Sam are up for that."

"You're still feeling grumpy."

He rubbed his jawline with his left hand. "I need to shave."

"Okay. We're almost to the house."

"I'll call Max." He rested his head back on the window.

This conversation was falling short of linear. "Do you have a headache?"

He didn't turn toward her, but instead spoke to the passing landscape he couldn't see. "What?"

She reached across and touched his shoulder. "Do you feel okay?"

He sat back in his seat but still didn't turn to face her. "I don't know. I guess. I'm just in a bad mood."

"Okay."

"I need to do something. Some physical activity."

She sighed. That could be remedied. "We can run. We haven't done anything but hold babies and eat for the past four days. I could use a little elevation of my heart rate, too."

"Yeah, maybe that will help."

Annie turned down the street toward the house and pulled into the drive. When she circled around in front of the house, he jumped out. "I'll get ready."

She parked and followed him inside. Gwen stood in the kitchen with a glass of water, gardening implements hanging off her belt. "Where's he off to?"

"We're going for a run."

"Ah."

"He mentioned going out on the boat tonight. I think he's getting cabin fever. Are Max and Sam here?"

Gwen motioned over her shoulder. "Out back playing tennis."

"Okay. Great." She crossed through the kitchen and traversed the yard to find the other couple. She stood by the edge of the court while they played a point.

Max retrieved the ball from the corner before he turned to her. "Hey, Annie. What's up?"

"We were wondering if you guys had plans tonight."

"Nothing so far," Max confirmed with a quick shake of the head.

"Auggie mentioned taking the boat out this evening. Only we need a captain. Any interest?" She crossed her fingers behind her back.

"Yeah!" Max tuned to Sam. "Sound okay to you? Sunset cruise with these two?"

Sam smiled. "Sound wonderful."

"Great," Annie sighed. "We're gonna run, but maybe 6 or 6:30?"

"That's perfect. We'll meet you then."

"Thanks, guys!" Annie jogged back to the house where Auggie was sitting at the kitchen counter eating a banana. "You ready?" He held up the tether. She looked down at her ensemble. It was less than optimal. "Okay, give me five minutes." She jogged up the stairs, catching her breath for a second as she stood over the bathroom sink. While she wanted nothing more than to climb back in the tub or relax by the pool, she instead pulled on her jog bra and tennis shoes before tugging a tank top back over her head, adjusting her ponytail and heading back down to Auggie.

He was standing by the stairs, tether still in his hand, reminding her very much of a puppy. He made it impossible to remain perturbed with him. She chuckled, shaking her head.

"What?" he inquired.

She placed her hand on his upper arm, her fingers hanging up on the indentation created by the insertion of his triceps, possibly her favorite part of him.

He knew by now this equated to "bedroom eyes" or what would have been a longing look from across the room. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I really need to do this, Annie."

"I know," she whispered, her head resting against his shoulder for a second more. "Let's go."

"I'll make it up to you later," he vowed, his hands migrating down to her bum.

She said nothing more but headed toward the door, for she had it on excellent authority that he could and would.

Once they returned, they both headed to the pool. Auggie bowed out early, though, and headed up for a shower and a nap. Annie spent her afternoon alternating between swimming and sunning herself. She'd been asleep for about half an hour when she heard Auggie on the patio, looking for her. She raised on her elbow, the sight of him hitching her breath even now. She stood to meet him.

"Don't you clean up nicely," she remarked, as she took him in. He'd showered and shaved and had chosen a white linen shirt and relaxed linen khaki pants with boat shoes.

"The guys are downstairs getting ready. I told them I'd hurry you along." His thumb hooked the strap of her suit, sliding it down on her shoulder. He reached and kissed her salty skin. "Or not."

She exhaled her pleasure through her nose. "Delayed gratification is the definition of adulthood."

"Adulthood is overrated."

"This one was your idea," she pointed out. She placed her hand on his chest. "It'll be fun. And I'll be ready in just a few minutes." She extricated herself from him, not without longing, and found her way to the shower for the first time today. After standing under the spray long enough to saturate her hair then lather and rinse the soap away, she hopped out. She found a sun dress at the bottom of her bag and gave it a good shake to try to reduce the wrinkles. She chose a pair of wedge sandals right before she fashioned her hair into two French braids. In less than half an hour since she left Auggie, she was applying lip gloss on her way back down the steps to meet him.

He was waiting in the front sitting room with Sam and Max, all three of them similarly attired. They stood as she entered the room, Max giving Auggie the most subtle tactile signal. She smiled at the ease of the interaction between the two brothers after so many years of estrangement.

"You guys look amazing," Annie gushed as she took her place beside Auggie after hugs for her brothers-in-law.

"We should say the same about you," Sam pointed out.

"Thank you," she decided with a contented grin as Auggie's hand found its place securely at the small of her back.

Auggie nodded toward the door. "Shall we?" The others agreed that they definitely should.

Later, thanks to Max, he sat at the bow of his father's boat, the wind in his hair, a beautiful woman who loved him fiercely wrapped in his arms, on what he could only assume based on every memory he could conjure of a night like this could only be described as a gorgeous night.

Annie sensed a change in his embrace and shifted slightly in his arms. "Hey. What's up?"

"I dreamed of this place so many times, of nights like this."

"In Iraq?"

"And Turkey, and Colombia, and Bosnia." People tended to forget that Iraq was just the end of his field career. "But, yeah."

"But you can be here with me now." It wasn't a question. She was telling him it was true, willing it to be so.

"And I am."

"Oh, Auggie. I know you better than that."

"It wasn't that I didn't want to want this, Troy's life, I just didn't."

She sighed as she turned toward him, placing her palm on the side of his face. "I never would have found you here. I never would have even known where to look."

Auggie smiled as he kissed her hair and she relaxed back against him. "That's an excellent point," he decided as his arms enveloped her, and she wove her fingers between his. For the first time in a long time he felt something other than animosity towards the Agency. He guessed that was a start.

TBC