"Look who's home," Helena exclaims, causing Lizzie to look up from her work of picking dandelions from the lawn. "It's Mama!"

Lizzie stands and toddles towards Myka, Helena besides her daughter in case she loses her balance.

"Hi baby," Myka says as she reaches down and picks Lizzie up, swinging the girl around and making her giggle. "Mama missed you," she says kissing Lizzie's cheek and settling the baby on her hip.

"And you," Myka adds, pulling Helena to her for a kiss.

If Helena didn't spend so much of her time kissing Myka, she never would have noticed. But Myka's touch is more insistent, more possessive, more frightened perhaps, than a mere kiss hello after a too long day at work. "What's wrong?" Helena asks, scrutinizing Myka.

"We can talk about it later."

"Myka," Helena breathes, a little scared.

"I'm fine. I'll tell you once we put little Miss Elizabeth to bed. It's past your bedtime." Myka kisses Lizzie's hair again. "Are you tired?"

"No!" Lizzie says, shaking her head and smiling.

"Is that your favorite word now?"

"No."

Myka can't help but smile at this beautiful, perfect child. Lizzie's eyes shine playfully, a reminder to Myka that what she saw today was made right. She pulls Helena to her anyway.

"Shall we put your pajamas on?" Helena asks Lizzie. "Now that Mama's home, we can have story time." Lizzie smiles brightly at that, so very much her mothers' daughter already.

"I want to hear the next part of Mum's story too," Myka says, her voice shaking slightly. Helena looks at Myka again, face creasing with worry. Myka knows that Helena is imagining the worst and won't be able to relax until she hears the truth. "I saw the day that Artie erased with the astrolabe."

Helena wraps her arm tightly around Myka's waist. Helena can't remember that day, but she's heard from Artie what happened and she knows how difficult that must have been for Myka to see. "I'm right here, my love."

Myka nods and tries not to think of Helena's face as the bomb went off and engulfed her in flames.

"I'm here," Helena repeats. "You're home now with your family, and we will take care of you tonight."

"You always take care of me," Myka says, and she can feel herself losing the battle to keep her tears at bay. She had planned to wait until Lizzie was asleep to deal with how it had felt to watch Helena die for her. A couple of tears slip down Myka's cheeks, but she stops herself before losing control entirely.

"I always will," Helena confirms, "and I can, because I'm alive and well and right here by your side. Ok?"

"Ok," Myka agrees. "What did you and Liz do today?" she asks as they walk through the house to the nursery.

"We took a lovely jog this morning, and then Lizzie had a nap, so I was able to do some of the research that Artie asked me to complete. We spent the afternoon at the park. She just loves being outside so much."

Myka smiles. "She's so much like you already. It's crazy."

"I think she has a lot of her Mama in her too," Helena says, smiling at Lizzie and asking the little girl, "Don't you my darling?"

Myka rolls her eyes. Helena is always trying to convince her that genes don't matter in who their daughter will become, but Myka can see so clearly a child with such remarkable intelligence and curiosity that she obviously has inherited from Helena.

"When she smiles it makes nothing else in the world matter," Helena tells Myka. "It makes me smile so easily, even if I'm feeling cross or sad. You're the only other person alive with that power over me. She has your smile Myka."

"You make it so hard to be angry at you."

"Why are you angry?" Helena asks, slightly taken aback.

"You died Helena. You sacrificed yourself for me."

"You're right, we should talk about this after we put Lizzie to bed."

Helena opens Lizzie's dresser and pulls out a pair of pajamas. "Superheroes tonight?" she asks the little girl, holding them up for inspection.

Myka sets Lizzie down. "Arms up," Myka tells her daughter, pulling off her shirt. "Let's get you into your pajamas, and then Mum can tell us a story."

A half hour of story telling, one reading of Goodnight Moon, and three lullabies later, and Lizzie is settled soundly in her crib.

"I have dinner all ready," Helena says. "Let's talk over food."

Normally Myka would make a teasing comment about how much she loves having a house-soon-to-be-wife, but right now she can't manage a joke. "I'm not hungry. I can't get the image of you dying out of my head." Myka shakes her head, and she appears to Helena as if she's trying to force the memory from her mind.

Helena wraps Myka up in a hug. "It's nothing more than a bad memory."

"It was real Helena. You really sacrificed yourself for me."

"How did you see it?"

"I touched Freud's watch. Apparently time that's been turned back is still in your subconscious. I need you to make me a promise," Myka begins before Helena cuts her off.

"No."

"I didn't even ask yet."

"You're going to ask me not to do it again, but you know that's a promise I can't make."

Myka knows of course that Helena wouldn't give a second thought to dying for Myka, just as Myka would give her life for Helena's in an instant.

Helena cups Myka's cheek with her palm. "I would do anything to protect you and Lizzie. I could never promise otherwise."

"I know," Myka whispers. "I just," Myka shakes her head as tears start to fall. "I watched you die today."

Helena's hands are in Myka's hair, stroking, soothing, caressing. Helena's lips capture Myka's gently but firmly. Myka concentrates on the feeling of Helena surrounding her, warm and soft and loving. Alive and here in Myka's arms.

Helena leads Myka to their bedroom. It's all she can think to do to comfort Myka, to be as close as possible.

Myka is grasping frantically at Helena as they fall into bed, needing to be closer, to feel her partner's skin against her own.

"Shh, shh," Helena says, taking Myka's hands and kissing them before letting Myka continue undressing her.

"I love you," Myka whispers between fevered kisses. "I love you."

Myka lies half on top of Helena, legs intertwined, skin pressed against skin, feeling the soothing rise and fall of Helena's chest.

"Artie always said you sacrificed yourself for the warehouse," Myka says as her fingers absently draw patterns on the smooth skin of Helena's abdomen. "But you did it for me. You protected Artie, Pete, and me from the explosion, and then you just kept smiling at me until the end. I was devastated Helena, but you were so happy that you kept me safe."

This doesn't surprise Helena, and though she likes to think that she would give her life for a noble cause like the warehouse or the world, she knows that the only thing for which she would gladly die is her family. "It's all I want you know, Myka," Helena says seriously. "To keep you and Lizzie safe and happy."

Myka hates how Helena still sounds uncertain as to whether she knows this. "You make me so happy. I didn't know what happiness really felt like before you."

"Myka."

"It's true. How do you still not see who you are?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember the day that Artie erased? Before the part he erased I mean."

"Of course. You almost died by my hands. I'll never be able to forget that."

"You didn't believe that you mattered then. You didn't believe that your death would be a loss to anyone." Myka presses a hand to Helena's cheek, makes sure that Helena is really listening. "You were such an idiot."

Helena smiles. "I love you too," she jokes.

"You are the most amazing woman that I have ever known Helena Bering-Wells. You better never forget that again."

Helena squeezes Myka to her tightly. "Thank you," she whispers with the same reverence that Myka saw when Helena was about to die.

"I hate when you do that."

"Do what?"

"Make it sound like you are the lucky one in this relationship."

"I am the lucky one; I have you. And you know very well where I would be without you, where the whole world would be."

"Yeah, but do you ever think about where I would be without you? I need you as much as you need me. One day I'll make you believe that."

Helena smiles at Myka, keeps her arms wrapped tightly around her. "I'm not going anywhere Myka."

Myka rolls more fully on top of Helena, trapping her lover's body. "Oh I know."

"I'm very happy that you know that my love."

"You asked me to marry you," Myka says with the goofy smile that still overcomes her every time she thinks about marrying Helena.

"Yes I did. And if I recall you said yes."

"I sure did," Myka says, deciding to let the conversation shift to this happy topic. "I'll always say yes to you."

"Is that so?" Helena asks mischievously.

"What do you have in mind?" Myka asks with a grin.

"Chocolate cake."

"You made your chocolate cake? With ganache?"

"Of course."

"You stay here," Myka says smiling at Helena while pulling on her shirt, "I'll be back with cake."