Chapter 10

1421 Plumtree Road

"I was fine to drive you know…" He protested as they walked through the elevator doors leading up to the Du Pres' loft. "I'm not even numb anymore…at least not in my fingers anyway…" He grinned, placing a hand to her back affectionately. "Besides you're pregnant and…"

"Yeah *pregnant*." She gave him a soft glare. "Not incompetent. I can drive David…"

"Yes I'm very aware of that." He agreed, feeling the elevator car as it started to rise. "I'm also aware of your driving skills and how they seem to…." He searched for the right words. "*Change* as you talk on your cell phone…"

"For your information my driving is perfect." She lightly scolded him. "And how else was I suppose to invite Aidan? If I would have given you the phone, you just would have hung up on the first ring."

"Me?" He placed a palm to his breast pocket in mock surprise. "I would do no such thing."

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes, the doors opening then. "Riight." She stopped them just outside the front door. "Promise me you'll be nice to him? I haven't seen him in what feels like forever and it is Christmas you know…"

He took her hands in his, warming them instantly as he rubbed them together.

"I promise to be a perfect gentleman." He swore to her, genuinely meaning it. After all the trouble she had gone through to be here, the least he could do was be nice to her nephew.

::Besides.:: He thought with a sly smile. ::It could be worse. My mother could be in there instead of wrapped up in a straight jacket. Plus, it'll only be for a couple of hours. Then we can go back to the cabin, get a fire going...::

"David?" She questioned. "Did you hear me?"

"No…sorry." He stammered sheepishly, feeling her take his hand in hers.

"I said are you ready?" She asked again, wondering where his mind had been.

"I think so." He nodded a bit nervously, wondering where the conversations of this evening were going to lead. He hoped they would not focus on his illness too much, that Maggie would still want to speak to him, and that no mention of Maria Grey would escape a single person's lips.

That was about as close to an answer, Anna realized, that she was going to get. She squeezed his hand lightly in return, before tapping on the door.

"Alright guys this is probably them…" Leo said, trying to whisper from the other side of the door. "Remember, just try and make easy conversation ok? Don't ask David about the surgery, or say anything to upset Anna. Everyone clear?" He watched as both his cousin and brother nodded from their places on the couch, his wife giving him a look that said, 'they're not stupid.' He put his hand on the knob of the door, pulling it open.

"Heeey guys." He grinned, enveloping first Anna in a hug, then David. "We weren't sure you guys were going to make it."

"Yeah…" David flustered a little, trying not to think of the majority of the day spent in bed with Anna. He smiled none the less at the look she was sending him, which was equally amused.

"Did you get caught up in all the snow?" His brother asked.

"Yeah…" Anna nodded, giving David a wink. "Snow."

"Well we're just really glad you guys could make it." Greenlee stepped in, greeting them with even more hugs. She took the bag of presents David handed her. "I'll go put these under the tree."

"What do you want to drink?" Leo asked next, over the small crowd gathered around the couple as they both greeted Maggie then Trey. "David you want a beer?"

"No thanks." David patted his stomach. "I'm trying to cut back." He lied, knowing the brew wouldn't mix with the medication he was taking.

"Anna?" Leo smiled. "I hope you're not drinking hard liquor but…" He stopped as they all laughed at him. "How about some water?"

"Water would be great Leo thank you." She replied, her arm still around Maggie as they stood in the living room. Truth be told she had missed her, and didn't want to waste anytime in catching up on medical school, Bianca, and whatever else she had missed while she had been in Paris. "So…Maggie…" She started as they sat on the couch together, Trey and David already talking about some basketball game they had watched together last week. "What's new with you? How's school going?"

Anna waited for her to respond, wondering why she was just starring at her.

"Do I have something on my face?" She teased, her mouth lifting into a smile.

"No." Maggie shook her head, bringing her hands to her own face in embarrassment. "Sorry…Anna…I just…I can't believe you're here."

"I know." Anna nodded in return, propping an elbow to the back of the couch so she could rest her head along her hand. "It's all a bit surreal, isn't it?"

"Maybe a little." She smirked back. "But it's good that you're here. I'm glad that you are." She admitted, her eyes now focusing on Anna's stomach. "Wow you are *really* pregnant." She said without thinking.

Anna let out a laugh then, knowing what she meant, not taking any offense to the comment.

"Sorry…that came out wrong." She blushed. "Has he…or she…has the baby started kicking yet?"

"No, not yet, but it should be soon." She felt a tap on her arm, Leo handing her a glass of water. "Thank you."

With Leo and Greenlee now sitting amongst them, they all sat, starring at each other, waiting for someone to pick a topic to discuss. As if on cue, they all started a conversation at once.

"So…"

"When are you due Anna?"

"David do you get tomorrow off?"

"Is it suppose to snow later on tonight?"

Anna snuck David a look as they became bombarded with questions they couldn't possibly answer.

"Alright you guys…" David was the first to speak. "What's going on?"

"Nothing…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just trying to make conversation…."

He shook his head at the response, not able to tell who said what.

"Subtle." He smirked, clasping his hands together. " And almost convincing but I know you all…" He pointed to Leo. "Especially you. So why don't you just say whatever it is that's on your mind."

The family paused, looking to Leo for direction, wondering how they should handle this delicate situation. A feeling of relief passed through Maggie as he watched Leo clear his throat. They became silent.

"Well David the thing is…" He started, looking down to his feet first. "We were all sort of wondering if…" He looked up. "If you've decided on what you wanted to do? About the surgery…?"

::Well that didn't take long.:: David took a breath. ::As if I didn't already know where this was going.::

"Do you want to tell them?" He turned to Anna, sitting next to him, seeming to be equally as entertained by his family's behavior as he was.

"I think you should tell them." She looped a hand under his arm.

"Well Leo…" He started off. "Even though I have no idea what went through your thick skull. To book a flight to Paris, the night before Christmas Eve, then spend another six hour flight back here to just to help me….for once I am speechless." He smiled, wrapping an arm around Anna. "But I will say, you do pick good people."

"What can I say?" Leo smiled back, liking what he was hearing so far.

"So?" Trey asked, wishing David would just end their curiosity and tell them already.

"So, after some good convincing…which I desperately needed…." He took another breath. "I've changed my mind. I'm going to go through with it. I'm going to have the surgery."

It sounded like a mini explosion within the loft as the family erupted in laughter and cheers, some clapping, and then of course, more hugging. When Leo reached Anna, she smiled as he whispered in her ear.

"Thanks Anna. I'll never forget this. Ever." He pulled away, his look grateful before turning to the rest of the crowd. "I think this calls for some champagne eh?"

They cheered again at the suggestion of more alcohol, and again Leo went back into the kitchen for the glasses and bottle.

"Listen David…" Greenlee finally chimed in once everyone was seated again. "I just wanted to…I can't believe I'm saying this…I just wanted to apologize for, well, outing you last night." She told him earnestly. "I had no right to do that. And Maggie, I'm sorry for the fact that you had to find out that way…in front of everyone…"

"I think it's safe to say we all made some mistakes here." David replied back, his eyes first on Greenlee then Maggie, in his gaze there was also an apology, for not telling his cousin sooner. "So I think we can all move past it and start over. Right?"

They all nodded in response, as Leo came back out with the champagne.

"So…" Trey looked up from his spot on the floor in front of the coffee table. "At the risk of prying into your personal life…" He pointed towards David and Anna. "What about you two? Does this mean you're back together?"

"You can answer this one." David eyed her, sharing the highlight of the evening now with a grin at not having to answer this himself.

"Thanks." She shot back.

"Well are you?" Greenlee asked, not letting Anna get away without answering. "I'm not going to let this go." She warned, smiling.

"Yes." Anna nodded, wondering if her smile gave away just how truly happy she was. "We're back together."

Amongst another round of cheers and laughter, she turned toward David, accepting a loving kiss from him in return, a small smile still pinned to her face as she look into his eyes, not at all surprise by the joy she found in his gaze as well.

The Cabin, a few hours later

"I love your brother but between the turkey and all the rest of the food he tried to feed us I thought I was going to gain an extra ten pounds." She sighed as they made their way in from the cold, Anna already taking her shoes off as she sat on the couch. "And Trey cheats at scrabble...." She points back to him, smiling. "I don't care what he said, bazinga is not a word."

"He got fourteen points with that one…" He reminded her, laughing along the way. "And without a dictionary it's hard to argue with the lawyer in the family. I'll go put these in the fridge." He held up the leftovers he had in his hands.

In truth he had enjoyed himself at his brothers, even with Aidan's glaring looks after dessert and during the rest of the evening. For the first time he felt a sense of normalcy as it crept back into his life. Having Anna with him had made it easier but then again it seemed she was making his life a lot easier to deal with these days.

His family spoke little about David's illness, which he appreciated, and focused more on Anna's return and the baby more than anything else, making it all the more real that in a few moths they…*she* would be holding their son or daughter in her arms. He had so wanted to be apart of his child's life, but he might not ever understand why it would never come to be.

He made his way back into the living room and after starting a hearty fire in the hearth finally gazed up at her, wanting to curse himself mentally as soon as he did.

The divorce papers.

David had forgotten to put them away, put them in a drawer, anywhere other than where he had left them. He watched in semi horror as she leafed through them, one by one.

"Anna…" He got up from the floor, his hand out stretched, wishing she hadn't seen them again. He didn't want anything to ruin what had been such a perfect day. "I had forgotten…"

"When did they come?" She asked, the papers still in her hands as she looked up. He could tell she felt guilty and could see it in her eyes.

"A few days ago." He shrugged. "Here…" He tried again to reach them.

"I…" She looked down sheepishly. "I felt awful, filing for them…" She looked up. "I still do. Feel awful…I mean, here you've been, trying to live with an illness that could potentially kill you and then you get these in the mail…"

"Anna." He sighed, finally taking her hand in his. He led her towards the fire he had just made for them before sitting next to her on the floor. "I don't blame you…for divorcing me, for leaving…for anything." He told her honestly, wanting to erase the apologetic look in her eyes. "What exactly were you suppose to do? At that point, all the plans we had made for a future were gone once…once I lied to you about Maria…" He finished, looking down to the wooden floor.

The name hung between them for a few seconds before she finally spoke up.

"I know. I know all of that I just…" She shrugged. "It just felt like I was giving up… when those paper were finally drawn up." She eyed him slyly. "And you know that I *never* give up."

"I know." He laughed softly. "But you didn't…give up." He took a piece of her hair that clung to her cheek, letting his fingers slide down the strand slowly before tucking it back. "You wouldn't be here if you had."

"It doesn't change the fact that these are real." She held up the papers in her right hand. "It doesn't change the past."

He let her words sink in.

"Does it really matter Anna? They're just pieces of paper aren't they?" He leaned in, allowing himself a moment to inhale the soft scent of her perfume before his lips found her neck. He trailed a few kisses down to her shoulder, smiling only when her faced revealed a smile first. "And it's all just a label, those papers…they don't encompass touch, or taste, or love, or forgiveness…they don't change anything." He reaffirmed, his cheek brushing up against hers softly. "What I feel for you. What we feel for each other. What's between us." He whispers. "And this feeling, right here, right now, it's as real to me as those same papers in your hand, and nothing will ever convince me otherwise." He smiled again. "It doesn't matter. Does it?"

He waited another several seconds for her answer.

"No." She replied, her voice equally soft. "It doesn't. It…it didn't replace the ache in my heart from missing you. It didn't mean I loved you any less." She shook her head. "It didn't fix anything. It just tore more holes into a relationship that was already hurting. Already broken…"

"Broken." He nodded, agreeing with her. "But not destroyed. It can be fixed, can change…can mold into something better than what it was before." He pulled away to look at her. "You showed me that last night. That there is a chance to heal, for *me* to heal. We have that same chance Anna. We can heal too."

She smiled at him.

"I think we already are."

"I *know* we are." He smiled at her in return, grateful for the fact that the issue of divorce wasn't going to obliterate the progress that they had already made. "So I guess there's just one more thing left to do…"

"Like what?" She eyed him suspiciously, her tone playful.

"Like getting rid of these." He pulled the paper from her hands. "Care to do the honors?" He held half of the stack in her direction, implying that she be the one to rip them apart.

"I think it should be a joint effort don't you?" She challenged, amused at the suggestion.

"On three then."

"Alright."

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three."

David watched with a sense of relief as the stack split crookedly in two. Even though he knew technically, *legally*, they still weren't married, it also meant that the subject of their divorce wouldn't be at the forefront of both their minds for the rest of the time he did have left. The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of the pain, all the hurt he caused her, which resulted in the divorce in the first place.

He smiled when she threw her half in the fire, her face a reflection of flames dancing around in the hearth as they soaked up the newly added energy, allowing the shadows to flicker along her features.

He followed her, throwing the remaining pieces in as well, watching them burn. For several seconds they sat in silence, mesmerized by the fire before he felt her form inch closer to his, her head finally hitting his shoulder.

David wrapped his arm around her as they both starred back at the wood burning, cleansing the room of their past mistakes, and in the morning would leave nothing but the remaining ash behind.