Six months later

Todd Manning woke up happy. It wasn't as rare of an occurrence as it had once been, but it still was something he took note of. Blair was already up, which was surprising, since it was a summer Saturday and she'd spent the late hours of the night a Shelter.

He wondered briefly if something was up or if one of the younger children had gotten to her. He decided it was the latter, if something had happened there would have been chaos, and a tiptoeing child he may have been able to sleep through these days, but not chaos.

He stood slowly, stretching in front of the mirror on Blair's side of the bed, examining his rumpled appearance. He looked old, he decided scrubbing at his face with his hands. Old, well rested and happy. He guessed only two of those things were supposed to be surprising, but being old still surprised him some mornings. He pulled on his discarded jeans and a T-shirt and went in search of his wife.

He found her in the kitchen, humming along with whatever was in her headphones as she cut up fruit. Todd watched from the base of the steps, her shoulders swaying lightly. He knew better to approach her while she wielded a weapon. In their years apart she'd become quite touchy, and more than a little steady with a weapon. So he leaned against the wall and waited, letting himself enjoy the show.

He didn't recognize her tune, but he had missed the late almost a decade of popular music. He watched her slide to the sink and wash the knife before sliding it back into the block. Only when she'd moved back to the other side of the room did he approach her, winding one arm around her tiny waist and pressing the other hand against the pantry door. She didn't startle as much as he'd expected, her left hand fluttering to his arm and her right gliding effortlessly to his face pressed tightly against hers.

"I see you waited till I put the knife down this time." She hummed, dropping her head back against his shoulder and kissing the spot where his jaw met his throat. He could feel his pulse quicken against her lips and he sighed.

"I can be taught." He grinned back at her. "Which one of our little bundles of joy got you this morning?" He asked softly.

"Both actually." She huffed as he kissed her temple and pulled away to release her.

"I slept through Sam and Hope?" He scoffed incredulously. "I'm not sure I should be taking those things."

"Todd." She glared at him.

"What if there's a fire?" He pointed at her when he said this, as if it would sway her.

"Three other adults and two teenagers live in this house Todd. On the off chance that the blaring alarms in every room fail to wake you, I think we can handle it."

He snorted, before moving back towards her fresh cut fruit and tossing a bit of pineapple in his mouth.

"Take those to the table." Blair gestured at a plate of bacon and the fruit, before pulling a few more things from the stove and moving towards the dining room. He watched her go, still nursing the idea that he was irrelevant in an emergency, but as the door swung back he could hear the sound of his family's approval of breakfast and it made him smile. He followed her through the door and into the dinning room.

He loved their new house, with its crisp modern walls full of windows and traditional ebony walnut floors. He loved the long walnut table and the brightly colored artwork that his wife had endlessly searched through to find the best ones. He loved the way the morning light flooded in and washed over them and reflected off the glasses on the table.

"You look happy." Starr laughed at him, looking up from where she was cutting Hope's pancakes.

"I'm always happy." He teased handing Sam the bacon and setting the fruit down in front of Danielle, who snorted back at him. He pressed his lips to her hair before settling down in the chair beside her. "Where's your mom?"

His raven haired daughter rolled her eyes and tossed a look at her step mother.

"She went to Philadelphia." Blair said as if she'd said she'd gone to the powder room. "She'll be back in a few days."

"Why would she do that to herself?" He whined immediately.

"I don't know, My Love. She's a grown woman who makes her own choices, so I didn't ask her." Blair huffed, passing him back the plate of bacon.

"Why would she waste her time on him?" Todd growled, spearing a few pieces of meat before handing it across the table to his son.

"So much for always happy." Jack snorted. "But I gotta wonder if she went to ask for mercy or to make sure they throw away the key."

Todd looked at Dani, who shrugged, giving her father a melancholy look. He gave her a half smile. Dani had been the reason Todd had agreed when Blair had carefully broached the subject of Tea living in the small apartment over the garage. Their weird unnatural friendship had in the beginning made Todd uneasy, but as time went by he'd learned to appreciate it in a way.

Her soft plea had reached him when she had told him that even he couldn't expect his daughter to abandon her pregnant mother, no matter how much she wanted to get to know her father. Adding that Tea was pregnant with his nephew had also softened him to the idea. That and the way Dani's eyes had sparkled with unshed tears when he'd floated the idea to her.

No separate families, Blair had whispered. No illegitimate children scattered all over the globe. No keeping kids from their mothers, just his family, together in one home.

He had to admit it had been easier than living with the Cramers or the Buchanans. At times over the last six months he had even found it.. nice.

"I do not want to talk about Tomas Delgado." Blair said firmly, as everyone's eyes turned to her. "Unlike Tea, I don't give a damn about the outcome of his sentencing hearing and I don't feel the need to waste one moment of our time together here as a family on him."

Todd watched her for a second, before reaching for her hand. He gave her fingers a squeeze and he nodded at her.

…..

Manning was floating. His feet idly dipping in and out of the crystal blue water of Key West. He knew he was dreaming; since he hand Blair had eloped again last February he dreamed of Key West often during his hazy medicated sleep.

"Todd?" He slipped one eye open and looked to where his dream wife floated on her own raft, fruity drink in her hand.

"Humm?" He whispered, reaching out as she sat up abruptly, fixing him with her furrowed brow. He wanted to smooth his index finger across the little winkle between them.

"Todd wake up!" She yelled, and Todd Manning's eyes shot open. He rubbed at his face as he sat up, looking towards Blair. She had the receiver of the phone pressed to her blank face and one hand gripping at his arm.

"What?" He said urgently.

"It's Vicki." She swallowed hard. "They've found your brother."