JJ had to call it quits early because the baby was wearing her out, and she would be no fun if she was running on empty. Everyone understood and bade her good night.

A little while later, after everyone else had gone to bed and he had brought all of the presents out of their hiding place, Will retired to his and JJ's room, pleasantly surprised to find his wife wide awake and sitting up on the bed, knitting.

"I thought you would have been asleep, or something, cher." Will said, sitting with her on the bed.

JJ shrugged and put her knitting aside. "I did, too, but the tiredness went away when I started knitting."

"What are you making, anyway?"

"A hat for Ana, since it'll be cooler by the time she comes."

Leaning over, Will gave JJ's middle a few kisses and then sat up, kissing her cheek. "Hopefully, Ana will be our one kid who doesn't shy away from wearing her mama's knitting creations."

It was true—JJ knit so much clothing material that at the ages of eight and one-and-a-half, Henry and Michael turned tail at the sight of a completed knitted hat or sweater, lest they be forced to try them on.

"Yeah, I hope so… I know she can't hear me yet, but I've also been talking to her."

"What about?"

"How you and I met, and how far we've come since that day. Ana's been super jumpy, so I think she's digging it."

"Speaking of digging," Will flopped back onto the bed, unceremoniously. "I'm digging that I moved all of the Christmas presents from the attic to the front of the tree."

"My hero."

Will tugged on his wife's hand. "Come here."

JJ laid with him. "I love you, Will."

"I love you, too." he caressed JJ's cheek lovingly. "Did you ever think our lives would turn out this way?"

JJ knew that Will always got sentimental this time of year because he'd grown up an only child child, his mom had taken off when he was very little, and his father, a detective, had been killed in Hurricane Katrina. Even with her own tragedies and horrors in her own life surrounding her family, JJ still had compassion for Will because he was her husband.

"No." JJ confessed. "I didn't."

"So many crazy and weird things have happened to us over the years, but we're still here, stronger than ever."

"Because we're stronger together. I don't ever want to be without you."

"And you won't ever have to be, cher." Will tapped his wedding band and then his wife's. "You won't ever have to be because of what it says on our wedding bands."

JJ smiled, although it had more to do with the fact that Will had slipped his hand under her tank top and she could feel him palming her baby bump gently.

"They say that the best is yet to come."

Will nodded. "And that's the truth."

Completely relaxed now, JJ closed her eyes and nodded although she quickly scrunched up in a ball, shivering—she was cold, but too exhausted to do anything on her own. Will chuckled and tucked JJ in, making sure she was comfortable before getting ready for bed as crawled under the blankets, too.

He was asleep quickly, and his heart was full.

There was another duo awake in the house that night: Emily and TJ. They were sharing a bed in Emily's room, and were talking quietly as they continued to get to know each other.

"TJ," Emily said after awhile. "Do you have any tattoos?"

He nodded. "I have three—one for my dad, one for Rosaline, and one for Rachel."

"Will you show me?"

"Alright."

TJ sat up and took off his shirt, whereupon Emily promptly gasped: just as she'd suspected, her new beau was very muscular, and not that, but he had a six-pack abdomen. Was this really the body of a forty-seven year old man?

"See something you like?"

"Oh, yes." Emily said as TJ pulled her into a sitting position. "I definitely do."

"Back in Topeka, I went worked every day before work because our office building had an in-house gym, and I would run five miles on the treadmill."

"Really? That's amazing."

TJ kissed Emily and extended his left arm, pointing to his bicep, where an insignia of a ladder company for a fire station could be seen.

"It says 'Fire and Rescue, Engine 12, Knox County.' Is that where you lived?"

"Yep, and my dad was really proud of helping people that it felt right to get this to remember him by."

"On my twenty-first birthday. Mom would have pitched a fit, otherwise."

"Remind me to tell you about my rebellious phase in Rome." Emily laughed and then reached out, tracing the tattoo with the pads of her thumbs. "Tell me about this one."

She was pointing at a depiction of the Eiffel Tower, above the ladder company insignia.

"That's to honor Rosaline—she wanted to go to Paris one day, but she never made it. She was in love with the culture, and fluent in French."

"I lived in Paris for awhile, and I walked past the Eiffel Tower every day."

"What brought to the City Of Lights?"

Emily gave TJ a resounding kiss, mostly to distract herself from the sad memories that Paris brought up.

"Another story for another day." she patted his chest. "Where's your third tattoo?"

TJ twisted around and pointed to his other shoulder, showing her a rose with the name 'Rachel' on a scroll across the stem.

"Rachel really loved roses. I got this the year after she died."

"That's very sweet."

TJ smiled and rubbed Emily's hands. "Let me guess—you have tattoos, too, huh?"

"I have seven." Emily confessed.

"Seven? Show me!"

"I can only show you some right now, so here." she showed TJ her left wrist. "I got these for my kids."

She was talking about two pairs of tiny baby footprints.

"That's a good idea. How old would your kids be now?"

"The oldest would be thirty-one, and younger one would be two."

"Did you ever give them names? I hear some parents do that."

"I did, actually."

Leaning back so that she was supporting herself on her hands, Emily put her feet in TJ's lap. She had the names of her children on her—one on each foot. TJ read the names and then looked back at her.

"Phoenix and Jubilee?"

"I like to imagine that they're up in Heaven together, keeping each other company and chasing butterflies. I decided to give them names that represented freedom and happiness."

"Those names are perfect and beautiful."

Emily smiled. "How did Isobel get her name?"

"It was Rachel's mother's name. Isobel's full name is Isobel Cassandra Jareau. Cassandra is for my mom."

"If I ever get to mother a son and a daughter, I'd give them the middle names of Zachariah and Elizabeth."

"Are those your parents?"

"Yes, and they're so loving and supportive I want to honor my next two kids by naming them after my parents. I'd also want the kids to have their own first names, so we don't have duplicates running around."

TJ was sure that Emily's use of the word 'we' was coincidental, but he still felt his heart flip.

"I'll remember that."

TJ moved Emily's feet on to the bed and kissed his way up her body, delighted to hear soft moans of pleasure emitting from her lips.

"Now—why can't you show me the rest of the ink?"

Because it requires me taking off my shirt and my bra, and this house is not only full, but it's also G-rated."

"Good point."

"And one of them isn't even a tattoo. Saying that it is is just the easy way to explain it because there's a horror story attached."

"Oh," was all TJ could manage, because he suddenly felt awkward.

"All it means, TJ, is that we'll have to find some time and place where we won't run the risk of being interrupted."

"How's this: come stay the night at my house on Boxing Day. I'll even cook dinner."

"Eager, huh?"

"Very," he pointed to Emily's pajama dress. "And I bet that you look hot under that."

"I'd like to think that I am. You were hotter than I imagined." she kissed him and then made a slight pity face. "Why Boxing Day, though?"

"Because Isobel's new friend Ingrid invited her to a production of Peter Pan with her friends, and then a sleep over. We'd be kid-free for quite awhile."

"Okay, then I guess I can wait."

"Then will you at least let me hold you while we sleep?"

Emily loved TJ's touch very much already, so she answered happily. "Yes, please."

Once she turned out the lamp and they made themselves comfortable, she slipped TJ's hand under her shirt. He began rubbing her hip, lulling her to sleep.

"Emily, I love you." TJ said softly, almost wanting to hold his breath.

Emily responded promptly, her voice happy and full of love in the darkness. "I love you, too, TJ."

And she did. TJ was her happy ending, and nothing made her happier.