Christmas break wound closer and closer. Lily grew clinger and more nervous. Zach was anxious. Cammie looked worried. I felt determined.

The class before the break let out, I stopped my students. Cammie and Zach clung to one another's hands nervously. The class looked utterly confused, as I had never done this.

"Ladies, I have a mission coming up, and it's vital I go." I began, leaning my butt against the desk. They looked at me. "I don't know how long I'll be, or when I'm coming back." They froze. Cammie clung harder to Zach. "I wanted to let you know that you are the best training spies I've ever seen. You'll do amazing." I looked at Cammie. "Some of you better stay out of trouble." Cammie and Bex laughed. "And I want you guys to show your possible substitute who's boss."

"What if you come back?" I smiled.

"Then I want you to prove to me what I said is true." I said. Cammie nodded.

"We promise, Mr. Solomon." She said.

"I don't doubt it." I replied. "You've got more talent as agents than I've ever seen pass through a school, and I've taught here and at Blackthorne." Zach nodded. Cammie stood up without warning, and hugged me. I was surprised, but squeezed her to me. Several other girls jumped up. Next thing I knew, I was the center of a Gallagher group hug. Zach smirked.

"What about Zach, guys, he's going too." I said. He glared at me. Cammie pulled away.

"You better not." She said to her friends. They laughed. Zach smiled. I laughed. Rachel came in. "Joe?" I looked at her, and caught her beckoning me out. I walked out.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Change of plans, it's going to take a little longer." She said. "Dave got new intel."

"Fabulous." I said. "I want Abby to be my sub."

"Aw, not Edward?" I blanched.

"Gross, he's no spy." She laughed. "No, I want Abby. She'll give them what they need." I said. "I've already informed them of my possibly late return." She nodded. I went back into the room. Zach was lightening the mood with a bunch of really funny stories.

"…So then Joe looks at Jonas and was like 'what, too much research, so you forget to put on some pants again?'" Everyone laughed. "And he's like '…oh'." I grinned. I remembered that. The bell rang.

"Class dismissed." They started gathering their stuff. "Oh, and ladies?" They all turned to me. "Have a good Christmas. And keep this in here. I don't want the entire school to know I'm leaving." They giggled, and left. I packed up, and turned down the hall, and towards my rooms, where my beloved sat on the couch, curled up with her Netbook on her lap, typing away.

"Hi!" She said. I kissed her, then put a hand protectively over her swollen belly. She giggled. Only she would find that ticklish.

"Missed you." I said, kissing her cheek.

"Missed you." She said. We spent the rest of the night, eating dinner, giving toasts (her with a can of Coke, me with actually wine), and being more horrifyingly romantic then I've ever wanted to be. Really, I've got a tough guy image to keep up, don't I?

The next morning was my departure, but all I wanted in that moment was to cherish the extra warmth of my wife and our unborn child. She was convinced it was a boy, one we'd send to a regular school, to lead a regular life. I was convinced it was twins, because, according to her doctor, her midsection was the size it should be had she been carrying twins. No, he wasn't calling her fat. He had hooked up the ultra sound machine and assured us there was one heartbeat, and we just had a huge kid.

Right in the middle of a hot make out session (great, Solomon, way to sound like a horny teenage girl), she pulled away, looking frustrated.

"What? Am I that bad of a kisser?"

"No, I have to pee." I laughed, and helped her up. I picked up the laptop to read what she wrote.

We were in the Student Hall, celebrating out graduation with our teachers, before we left these halls for the rest of our lives. We were hanging on to goodbyes and leaving our friends behind. Sean walked into the room, and slowly sat down. Tears had stained his cheeks. Not even a teacher moved to approach him. Everyone had become instantly concerned.

"Sean, what is it?" Bobby asked, sitting on the arm of a couch. Seth looked at him. I sat a bit straighter.

"My mum passed away last night." He whispered. We stopped. Not a noise was heard, not a sound. He looked at me. "I spoke to her, yesterday, Remus. She wanted you to know that she loves that you forgave me. All of you." He spoke, his voice cracking horribly. He looked at Bobby. "And she wanted you to know that she loved you, for everything you and your family did for us." His voice grew stronger. "And, Professor Stratford?" He looked at Sean curiously. "Thank you, so much, for not treating me any different. Even when I treated Remus like crap." He stopped, unable to move on. I approached him, and pulled him into an embrace. He accepted it warmly. After I pulled away, he smiled sadly. "She always did say she'd live to see me graduate. I guess she wasn't kidding." Bobby's face was red from struggling so hard not to cry.

"Bobby, just go." I whispered. "If you need to, get out of here." He nodded, before taking off running. Harper hugged Sean, then went after Bobby. Headmaster went with him. After Bobby had engaged Harper at our Graduation Ball, he had been even more compassionate to Bobby, and had given them a blessing of warmth and wellness. Their father wanted nothing to do with her wedding. Heartbroken, Headmaster declared it would be him to walk her down the aisle. I'd never seen her happier. Sean looked at me.

"Remus, could you…" I nodded. Seth stopped him.

"Look, Sean… if there's anything you want us to do…"

"Thank you, Seth." Sean said. "Actually… if you guys wouldn't mind coming to the funeral. You met her." He looked at us all. "She'd have liked that. Besides." He forced out a laugh. "I don't have any family left." That one hurt, because nobody should have to deal with that at eighteen.

"You are very wrong, Sean." Andy said. "You've got us." Sean nodded, and genuinely smiled.

"Your right, Andy." He said his voice stronger than ever, his eyes no longer glassy. "I do have you." I clapped him on the shoulder, and followed him out. We went to his room, and he sat at his desk.

"I have to tell my father. I needed the moral support. And, seeing Bobby's taking this as hard as I am." He said. "I thought I'd ask you." I was flattered.

"I would do anything, Sean. Heck, you want to share my parents?" He laughed, for the first time in a long time (except for at graduation, when he was with his mother).

"No, thank you, Remus. I'll be okay."

"Mum told me, to let you know, they would do anything they could if you needed somebody. She knows your mother's doctor." I said. "It's her brother."

"Ah…" He said quietly. He opened his laptop, and opened Skype. He clicked on his father's user name, and waited. His father was a lawyer from Stratford-upon-Avon. I settled at the edge of his bed. His father accepted the call.

"This is a pleasant surprise, son." What brings you to my screen?" That was extremely, and horribly ironic. Sean looked at me as if he had read my mind.

"Well, actually Dad. It's not so pleasant." He said. Mr. Robinson looked at him worriedly.

"What is it?" Sean took a deep breath, and stared straight into the computer screen, right at his father.

"Last night, in her sleep, Mum passed away." He said it without his voice cracking, or his façade breaking. I applauded him for that. Mr. Robinson went totally silent, in complete shock. "I thought you might want to know, because… well, I'm your son, and she's my mother…" He stopped. "If it makes it easier, and Remus here can vouch for this, at the Graduation Ball you so happened to miss," His voice hardened, so subtly I thought I had missed it. "She was the happiest, most beautiful woman around." Mr. Robinson nodded.

"Son, I swear to you, I wanted to be there. I really did. But…well, here's the thing. Your stepsister, she's been in the hospital too, but with pneumonia. I've been worried about Karen. She's stressing herself out too much over this." He sighed. "I know you adored your mum, son. I really am sorry. I'll be there, help you out with the funeral."

"I want to arrange it. Because mum deserves the best. She dealt with a crappy husband, a loser of a son, and cancer."

"That's where you're blinded, Sean." I said. "You aren't a loser. You were crying out for help, and we failed to notice it." He looked at me, tears in his eyes.

That was intense. She was pretty good. I was surprised. But, that wasn't hard to do, I'd never read any of her work. She wouldn't let me.

"Hey!" She caught me. Oops.

"Sorry, I got curious." I said guiltily. She giggled.

"It's okay." I pulled her into my side.

"Sounds like you almost wrote that from experience." She snuggled against me.

"I lost my grandpa when I was fourteen. He was the nicest, coolest, funniest guy I knew." She said, sounding sad. "He's the whole reason I have a slight monkey obsession. He used to call me a monkey, trying to tease me, when I was little." She smiled sadly. "He died of two different types of cancer."

"That's…" I was never good at sympathy. Even when I was trying to comfort myself.

"It was." She read me like an open book. It was scary, how much she could gather from me, without knowing my past. She looked me in the eye. "Be careful tomorrow, okay?" I nodded. "Be safe. I trust you, and I know your abilities. I heard the way you teach those girls." She smiled sadly again. "Just don't forget to come home, alive or not, I want you home." We'd always talked about that; if I died, she wanted a body left to prove I really was gone. She wanted to honestly be able to say "Your Daddy's buried right here, and he wanted you to be in a safer world." I leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Don't forget to worry about me." I whispered, my lips pressed to her forehead. She half laughed.

"I won't." She whispered. We sat there, unmoving, for a long time.

~_~_~_Break~_~_~_Line~_~_~_

The next morning was brutal. I packed, and tried really hard not to cave in, and stay behind. No, Solomon. You can't let Zach down. I swear. I'll personally kill you if you do. Scary, how much my conscience sounded like Dave at that moment.

I'll make sure you aren't around to see that kid if you don't. Weird, now it was sounding like Rachel. I need more friends. I snorted at that thought. Yeah right. Like I'm willing to let more people in…

The school was calm, cold, and quiet. The kids, still asleep, were to leave later. Lily, Rachel, the faculty, Cammie, Bex, Liz, Macey, Zach, and Abby stood waiting for me. Zach was geared up, and ready to go. He was holding Cammie tightly. Goode. I refrained from snorting at the poor joke I made. Note to self: Stop making bad jokes with Zach's name. Lily looked at me, reading the thoughts in my eyes. She looked confused. I shook my head. I hugged Rachel first, then shook hands with some of the staff. Finally, I turned to my students.

"Be careful, you hear?" Bex asked, using her full out British accent. I nodded.

"Always am." I said. Zach smiled. I was suddenly covered in four Gallagher girls. Cammie hugged me the longest. Zach pulled her away, and kissed her. I rolled my eyes. Typical man. Hey, I have a reason. I'm married. I'm not in an "unofficial relationship" as Zach words it. I turned to Lily.

"Be careful." I said to her. "Don't want you to harm that baby." She nodded. Tears filled her eyes. I pulled her into a tender hug, then pulled her away from me, and pulled her mouth to mine, kissing her full on. Abby wolf whistled. I ignored her. Lily had tears running down her face when I stopped kissing her. "How was that for a goodbye kiss?" I whispered.

"Horrible." That hurt… "Cause you won't kiss me again." She whispered. I grinned and laughed, kissing her again. I broke apart.

"I'll see you soon." I said.

"Be careful."

"Always am."

"Don't get too beat up." She said, mopping up her face.

"No guarantees, love." I said. Lily laughed through fresh tears. "Don't cry." I whispered again. "And this isn't goodbye. Not till the very end." She nodded. "Did I mention…?" She looked confused. "You look gorgeous when you're all worried about me." She blushed and smiled. "There's that smile I was looking for." I said, louder this time. I turned to find three very surprised Gallagher girls, and a handful of staff that seemed equally shocked.

"What, a guy can't flirt with his wife to make her smile? You guys act like you've never seen your parents do it or something." Cammie giggled. Lily smiled. Rachel hugged me again.

"Look, Joe, Lily's going to be fine. I'll keep an eye on her, go." Zach picked up his bag. I picked mine back up.

"Let's go, Joe." He said. "We've got to get out of here." I nodded, and turned to look at her for the last time.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." I said back. "Till death do us part."

"For as long as we both shall live." She smiled. We'd agreed on saying both at our wedding. We liked the sound to both, one phrase after the other. We're weird people.

"For better and worse, sickness and health, blah, blah, blah, come on, Joe!" Zach said. We burst out laughing, even Lily. I followed him out, and got into the car. We drove away.

I hated not knowing when I'd see any of them again.