Chapter 24

Niles forlornly padded his way down the dimly lit hallway towards his daughter's room. Just like afternoon had turned into evening, Niles's anger had morphed into a deeply-rooted sadness and concern. Amelia's outburst had been… shocking, to say the least. Actually, it was more like it had been distressing. He would have never believed that his own child was capable of being as disrespectful as Amelia was, and the fact that Mia had reacted that way was a major cause for concern.

Now that his anger had faded away and that he had a level head, it was time for him to try and reason with Amelia. There had to be a deeper reason behind her aggressive demeanour, and he was decided to find out what on Earth was disturbing Mia so much that it had completely changed her personality! It wasn't going to be an easy conversation, by any means, but it was necessary.

"Amelia?" Niles said coming to a halt and knocking on the girl's door. She'd been in her room for little over an hour now.

Silence.

Had she fallen asleep?

He knocked again, "Amelia, please, open the door..."

Nothing.

He pressed his ear against the door and listened. The room was far too silent...

"Amelia, I am coming in!" he called out and practically yanked the door open.

What he found behind it, was a messy and daughter-less room.

Immediately, he felt dread coming over him. He dashed towards the en-suite bathroom, and checked if she'd simply left to use it.

No such luck. The door was open and the room was empty.

He went back, and checked under her bed, and in her wardrobe. She wasn't hiding. But her coat was gone, and so were her shoes. And so were her savings, taken from the little box she kept on top of her dresser.

Oh, no.

No, no, no...

"C.C.!" he yelled out, the panic rising inside him already evident in his voice.

"What is it?" her voice was there long before she physically appeared, shuffling with the effort of carrying twins inside her. Her eyes darted around the room as she took in the sight. "...Where's Amelia?"

Niles continued to wade through their daughter's things, hoping for something that would provide a clue, or give an explanation – a note on a scrap of paper, anything!

"I don't know! I don't know," he cried out, devastated and terrified in equal measure. "I came up to talk things out with her, and I found her room like this...!"

He gestured around, and C.C. saw what he'd seen. Her shoes and coat missing, and her savings box raided. He could see C.C. going unnaturally pallid. It was as though all the blood had been drained from her face when the realisation of what had probably happened dawned on her.

She didn't want to believe it... please don't let it be true!

The blonde turned on her heels and waddled back outside the room and into the hallway.

"Amelia!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "AMELIA, PLEASE!"

But the house remained silent – so silent that she could almost hear the echo of her missing daughter's laughter. An echo she knew was only inside her head.

"No... God... please..." C.C. had to support her weight against the wall. Her knees simply couldn't hold her anymore. "Please… Amelia…"

Niles ran to her and wrapped his arms around his wife, trying to hold his tears for her sake. His desperation just as terrible as C.C.'s, but he had to be strong now – both his child and his wife needed him. It was obvious to them that Amelia had left the house, but where had she gone to? And when exactly had she left? For all they knew she could have been in the street for hours now!

"Niles... Niles where is she?! Do something!" C.C. wailed, holding onto him for dear life.

And he was going to do something, God dammit! He was going to find her... he couldn't bear the thought of not finding her.

"Call your parents," he said, his voice cracking. "I'll go out to look for her. Call the Sheffields, your brother, everyone! Ask them all to look!"

C.C. nodded through her tears, and once Niles had walked her back to their room and had helped her get settled on their bed, he grabbed his coat and a picture of Amelia before running outside. There was some snow, and a few meters ahead of the entrance door he found Amelia's bracelet.

She always wore it. She must have dropped it when she left the house.

He picked it up, and put it in his breast pocket, before looking around for footprints, hoping he'd spot some that seemed to fit Amelia's shoe size.

He didn't know why he bothered. They lived on a street in New York, for pity's sake! It wasn't like some country village in England, where a person could leave one trail of footprints in snow for however long their journey took and a person could distinguish the footprints for hours afterwards. The trail had been walked on since however long ago Amelia had been there...

There were so many footprints, going in so many directions...although...one set did appear smaller than the others...

And it had the brand logo of Amelia's shoe in it! That was a start!

The trail faded off with the snow, but it appeared to head off in the direction of Central Park.

That was a place to get lost. And a place to be found by far too many people...

He dashed off, following the hope the footprint gave him, and praying he wasn't too late.

"That will be $1.95, dear," the smiling street vendor said as she handed Amelia a warm pretzel. The girl looked positively distraught, but she limited herself to searching for the change inside her pocket and paying for her treat.

It was weird, the vendor thought... what was a child – and an extremely well dressed one, at that – doing out there, all alone? Where were her parents?

"Are you okay dear?" the older woman asked. "Are your parents here? Are you lost?"

Amelia pursed her lips and shook her head. "I am not lost. And I... Well... I'm alone."

That set off an alarm inside the vendor. What had happened? She felt the girl needed help, but she didn't want to scare her off by being overly inquisitive...

"Oh... okay, sweetie. Do you want me to call someone? I have a phone with me."

"No, thank you," the girl said, the urge to cry coming back as thoughts of her parents and her house slipped into her mind. "I will have my pretzel now. Thank you."

And so the girl turned around and walked to the staircase of the MET. This all seemed awfully odd to the vendor, so she resolved to keep an eye on the girl until someone picked her up. The girl simply sat there, looking miserable and nibbling on her treat. She barely moved for around half an hour, and eventually, she started to cry.

The vendor was about to intervene when yet another costumer arrived. She supposed she could sell one more thing and then attend to the girl.

"How can I help you, sir?" she asked.

"A pretzel, please," the man with bright-blue eyes and a British accent replied. As he paid for the treat, he glanced at the girl and sighed. "How long has she been there?"

The vendor frowned. Why did he care? She was reluctant to talk about a child – a lost child at that – with a strange man.

"She... uh... maybe half an hour? She seemed distraught," the vendor replied.

"Thank you," he gave the woman a gentle smile. "For taking care of my daughter."

The vendor quirked an eyebrow. Daughter?

And before she could ask anything else, he showed her the picture of the smiling girl being embraced by him and a visibly pregnant blonde woman (his wife and the girl's mother, she supposed).

He was telling the truth!

"No need to thank," the woman said. "Hope everything ends up okay!"

"So do I," Niles replied, walking to Amelia.

The relief he'd felt the moment when he'd seen the red coat in the distance had been heavenly...

As he'd made his way along, searching around and calling as he'd gone, each and every single terrifying scenario either the media or his imagination could come up with had run through his head. He'd been so scared he'd never find her. That no one would ever find her.

But she was right there. She was safe, and someone clearly kind and responsible had been watching out for her.

So, he took his own pretzel, and approached her. He was afraid of what her reaction would be to finding him there. But it was better that he was there and able to talk things through with her than anything else that could have happened.

He needed to clear the air with her. Make her feel more comfortable.

"Excuse me, young stranger," he put on the voice he usually used when trying to amuse her, hoping it would work. "Is this seat next to you taken?"

Amelia looked up at him, using one gloved hand to wipe at her eyes, somewhat furiously. She then returned to her pretzel – not eating it, but glaring at it instead.

"Don't you want to be at home, with your family?" she asked.

That took Niles aback more than a little. What did she mean by that? It was like she was separating herself from everyone else...

"What do you mean by that?" he said softly, crouching before her. "And I could ask you the same thing – wouldn't you like to be at home, with your family?"

The girl's frown deepened and she gave one furious munch to her treat. Why did he have to find her?! She didn't want to see him or her Mommy ever again.

"No," she eventually snarled, looking away as a few tears pooled at the corner of her eyes.

"Why not?" he asked patiently.

"Because I don't want to be with any of you anymore," Amelia replied, sounding just as cold as her mother had sounded when she'd asked him to leave, all those many months ago.

C.C. and Amelia were similar in ways the two of them didn't seem to realise, and one of these ways was their compulsion to push people away when they were sad or distraught. So, what was hurting Amelia so much that she'd wanted to push everyone in her life away?

"Why?" he insisted. "What did we do? Maybe if you tell us what is bothering you, we can make things better together."

That seemed to touch a sore spot. And the girl crossed her arms and hid her face in them. It was almost as she was shielding herself from him.

"Go away!" she cried out. "Go back to the house and to your life! I won't bother you anymore!"

Niles felt like he'd just been slapped. Why would she think that?! Yes, they'd been angry at her for lying to them and for talking back, but they adored her! Where would she get the idea she bothered them?

"You don't bother us..." he said softly, "You are our daughter."

"Yes I do! And no I am not!" she sniffed, keeping her face hidden from his view. "You lied to me when you said you weren't stuck with me – you always say that lying is not okay, and you say that lying has consequences. Well, you told me Sophia had said something that wasn't true – a lie – and she got away with it and I had to say sorry! So that means that what she said wasn't a lie! You lied to me, you don't love me, and you are not my Daddy and now you have two new babies to love instead of me!"

She crossed her arms over and buried her face in them, starting to sob. Saying it all out loud had to be done, but it hurt so badly... It shouldn't have done. If she was gonna make it by herself, she had to be tough. And that started with cutting off all the people she didn't need anymore. The people who didn't love her.

But it hurt...

And it was hurting Niles, too. More than words could say. Was that why she'd been acting strangely? Because of what Sophia had said, which had lingered in her mind, even after their conversation?

She must have taken it the wrong way, when they'd told her she still had to apologise. Having to say sorry for hitting someone had nothing to do with what the other girl had said! Besides, Sophia had been punished – not just through being hit, but also via her parents. Niles and C.C. had had words with them, and the girl hadn't gotten away with it, even if Amelia thought she had.

She thought Sophia hadn't been punished, so she must have been telling the truth...

Amelia must have been so scared – so worried that everything that had happened meant that they didn't love her any more. That he had never loved her in the first place! That couldn't be further from the truth. He adored her with all his heart. She was his eldest child, and nothing – not even this – was going to change that. If biology didn't, a misunderstanding and some emotional turmoil wasn't going to, either.

Trying to prevent himself from crying in his own pain, he took in a breath, and began to speak.

"If I was just stuck with you, would I be out here, looking for you?" he asked gently. "Would I have been dreading what could have happened, if I didn't love you? And would I still call you my daughter, and be proud and thankful to be able to do so, if I weren't your Daddy?"

Amelia didn't reply, but her crying did stop a little. He wished he could see her eyes, but her little face was still hidden in her arms.

Tentatively, he sat by her side and wrapped an arm around her. It almost felt like a déjà vu of the afternoon he'd been called in by Mrs Jensen. This time, however, Amelia tried to elbow his arm away, but after a few moments of tension, she relaxed and allowed him to hold her. She still was curled up in a ball, but this was a start.

"I don't know..." she eventually whimpered, her voice thick with tears.

"What is it that you don't know?" he said gently.

"If... if what you said it's true! Because you said that before and it wasn't true..."

He tightened his grip on her, and she actually allowed him to pull her closer. "Of course it's true! I love you, sweetie, and every day I wake up I thank God that you chose me to be your Daddy," he began stroking her hair. "I am proud of you and you are my daughter, no matter what anyone says or even if now there are two more babies on the way. I love you just as much as I love them!"

"But you didn't put me in my Mommy's belly! And Sophia-"

"Sophia was wrong, sweetheart," he reassured her. "And she was punished, she just didn't tell you."

That seemed to appease the girl somewhat. She didn't exactly lift her head from her arms, but she shifted it so she could look at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Really?"

"Mh-hm," Niles nodded. "We spoke to her parents and they were really angry at what she said, and she was punished for what she did. We only wanted you to say sorry for hitting her because hitting people is wrong, even if they are being mean and saying things that aren't true."

Amelia remained silent for a few moments but eventually lifted her head. Her eyes were puffy and he could see the trail left by her tears; it killed him to see her this sad...

"So… so you really mean it?" she squeaked. "You love me? Even if you are going to have two new babies?"

"Of course we do," Niles continued stroking her hair, and allowed his thumb to go to her cheek and catch some stray tears still falling. "You're our little girl. And no one and nothing is going to change that."

She stared at him for the longest time. It was just like he'd said before...he really meant it, didn't he? She was loved; he'd come to find her, when he didn't have to. He could have stayed home, with her Mommy and their new babies, and forgotten about her entirely...

But he hadn't. And nothing was going to change the fact that he loved her like she loved him.

Without another word, she threw herself into his arms and buried her face in his shoulder, now crying for a whole new reason.

"I'm sorry, Daddy..." she whimpered. "I'm so sorry..."

Niles hugged her tightly, and kissed at her hair, "It's alright, sweetheart...it's alright..."

Well, it wasn't alright that she'd run away like that, but punishing her wasn't the right way to go about this. She needed reassurance, not harsh words. And being able to hear her say "Daddy" was the best thing he could imagine, after fearing he'd never hear her again.

He held her for what felt like an eternity – he simply couldn't bring himself to let go. The fear of losing her had been so terrible... so heart-breaking... that he could only bask in the glory of having his child safely hidden in his arms.

He'd given C.C. a call when he'd first spotted Amelia on the staircase so she'd know their daughter was fine, but he still felt like he'd better start heading back to their home. They were just twenty blocks away, and seeing as it was twilight already, he thought it would be wiser to go back home. They all needed to rest and Amelia needed a nice warm bath after being out in the cold for so long.

"Let's go home, okay?" he murmured, getting to his feet and picking Amelia up in his arms.

"Okay."

The girl wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder, ready to go back home. She was exhausted, too, so she allowed herself to close her eyes and rest. There was something incredibly relaxing about being in her father's arms again, and that combined with her closed eyes and the even pace of his footsteps, lulled her into a peaceful sleep.

Niles couldn't help but smile when he noticed she was asleep, and he tried not to wake her as he opened the front door. As soon as he put a step inside the house, however, C.C. – who had decided to wait by the door until Niles and Amelia had returned – ran to them.

"My baby girl!" she cried out, a few tears still making their way down her pale cheeks. "My sweetheart..."

The noise woke Amelia from her nap, and she looked towards her mother sleepily.

"Mommy...?" she reached out wearily, and C.C. clutched at her hand, stepping as close as she could with her stomach in the way.

The woman was almost too overcome to say anything, but wrapped her arms around her husband and daughter, and bathed Amelia's face in kisses. Amelia responded by reaching out more, and whilst Niles held her, she put her arms around her mother's neck so that the two could embrace tightly. C.C. began to calm herself more as she breathed in her daughter – she was there; she wasn't hurt. She was fine. She was safe.

She wasn't going to be let out of her sight again for a very long time.

She stroked her daughter's hair, and kissed her again, as the tears started to dry up a little. She had done as Niles had asked and called everyone they knew, and all of them had gone out to look for the little girl.

But she'd had to stay in, obviously, and the guilt of not being able to go out and look for her had been tearing at her. The pain had been unbearable. All she'd been able to do was sit and think about what had made Amelia run away like that, and her mind kept telling her it was all her fault...

There would be time to talk about it, of course, but right then she only wanted to hold her daughter close. The pain was still there – would still be there for a very long time – but she finally could breathe.

"You are freezing," C.C. mumbled, feeling Amelia's skin. "We have to get you to a warm, nice bed... or wait! A hot bath will work better!"

"Okay, Mommy," Amelia said drowsily, resting upon Niles' shoulder once again. "I am just very tired."

"I know, sweetie, I know," C.C. stroked her cheek. "Your Daddy and I will prepare you a bath and then we can go lie down, okay?"

The girl nodded as they all made their way upstairs. Seeing as the master bedroom's en-suite bathroom was a lot more comfortable and bigger than Amelia's, C.C. asked Niles to prepare the bath as she helped Amelia out of her clothes.

The relaxing bath did help to warm the girl up, but it also made her even sleepier, so after her mother had dried her hair and she had changed into her pyjamas, the former producer took Amelia to her and Niles's bed and tucked her in before slipping into bed next to her.

Niles joined them, making sure to hold both of them tightly.

It didn't take long for the three of them to drift off into a dreamless sleep, but it was interrupted a few hours later. Amelia was moaning in her sleep, and she seemed to be... sweating?

Damn...

She had surely caught a cold. It figures, C.C. thought; she'd gone out in the cold and now she was sick. It was unfortunate, of course, but it would be nice to have her home with her for a few days.

After what had happened, C.C. was certain they needed some family time.

"Niles," C.C. said, shaking her husband's shoulder. "Niles, wake up! I think Amelia has a fever."

"Hm?" Niles shook himself awake, blinking over towards his wife. As the words she had spoken registered, he looked down towards their little one, and used the back of his hand to feel her forehead.

She did feel terribly warm, and he pulled a face.

"We should get her to cool down," he said, knowing what to do from years of experience with the Sheffield children. "If we put her on top of the covers, that might help. And then I'll get a cloth to dab her forehead."

Between them, they managed to slip the little girl, still moaning in her half-sleep, out from underneath the covers, and gently placed her on top. Niles then hurried into the bathroom, found a flannel, and ran it under the water, before wringing it out so it was only damp, and bringing it back to the bedroom.

Mia was still feverish, but both parents were hoping that being out from underneath the covers would help, and Niles climbed onto the bed next to her, pressing the little flannel to his daughter's forehead gingerly.

The cold cloth was a brief relief for Amelia, and she instinctively tilted her head towards Niles.

"Daddy..." she whimpered, reaching out for his free hand, "I don't feel well..."

"I know, sweetie, I know..." Niles crooned, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. "You are a bit feverish, that's all."

"I'll go get the thermometer," C.C. said, struggling to get out of bed. "And a clean set of pyjamas, too."

Niles agreed. The girl's pyjamas were drenched in sweat, so it would be best if they got her into fresh and clean clothes. They had to get her comfortable, especially after what had happened earlier that day.

Soon enough, C.C. returned with the clean set of clothes and the thermometer and laid them on her side of the bed.

"Alright, sweetheart, let's get you out of those sweaty clothes," C.C. said and carefully peeled Amelia's pyjamas off her body. Niles helped their daughter stay sitting up as her mother changed her and he then cradled her in his arms as C.C. prepared the thermometer.

"Raise your arm, sweetie," C.C. said and Amelia did so, letting C.C. set it properly in her armpit. "Now lower it and keep it tightly pressed against your body. Don't move until I tell you to."

Amelia nodded weakly and complied with her mother's orders. When the time was up and the digital thermometer beeped to signal it had finished measuring the girl's temperature, C.C. removed it from underneath Amelia's armpit and read the numbed displayed on the little screen on its side.

"102°," C.C. read, frowning. "Looks like I'll be giving you an Advil and you'll be spending your time in bed until you get better, missy."

Amelia groaned quietly, but neither parent could tell if it was because she needed to sleep more, if she was hurting from her illness, or if she was annoyed at the idea of having to stay in bed until she got better.

If it was the last one, she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She was going to have to rest, and that was final.

"It's alright, sweetheart," Niles rubbed her arm as he held her. "Just try to take it easy..."

She nodded a little – as much as she could with the ache that was coming over her. Her Mommy had often said that she should wear a coat so she didn't catch a chill, but this felt so much worse than a chill. It hurt her all over...

Her mother, meanwhile, had managed to up again and gone to the bathroom, and Amelia watched from her position in her father's arms as C.C. came back with a little box of Advil and a glass of water.

"Here we are, sweetie," her mother murmured, settling the contents of her hands on the nightstand so she could open the box and take out a pill.

She held it out towards Amelia's mouth, and picked up the water to let her take a mouthful before helping her put the pill in. Amelia swallowed it down, and Niles rubbed her back.

"There," he said. "We'd better wait for that to take effect. And you can have the next dosage in the morning. We'll wrap you up nice and tight, and we'll watch some movies. And maybe Grandmamma and Grandpa can stop by-"

"Niles!" his wife's voice suddenly cut through his words, sounding panicked.

His head snapped up towards her, "What's wrong, love?"

"My parents!" C.C. hastened to explain. "And the Sheffields! We didn't tell them Amelia was back!"

Niles' eyes widened. Bloody Hell! They all were still worried for her when there was no reason to fear – at least not any more.

It wasn't right to leave them all to worry until the next morning.

"Then we have to call them all and tell them Mia is fine," Niles said, allowing Amelia to shift in his embrace and get comfortable on his chest. "Do you want me to do it?"

C.C. shook her head. "No, don't worry. You stay with her and I'll do it," she smiled as she saw their daughter snuggle even closer to Niles; she was fading fast, and his presence was comforting. "I'll be right back."

C.C. left her bed once again and waddled to the office, giving Amelia some silence so she could rest. She admonished herself as she went, not being able to believe that she'd been so thoughtless! Her parents had been worried sick, and she'd promised to call them as soon as Amelia had reappeared.

She plopped herself down on her chair as soon as she got to her study. Even the shortest trips exhausted her, but she didn't have the heart to ask Niles to move when he and Amelia had been cuddled up together so nicely.

She quickly grabbed the phone and dialled in her father's number. She knew for a fact he and B.B. had agreed to look for Amelia together, so she hoped they were still together. It would save her from having to call her mother's house too.

It didn't take long for her father to pick up.

"Kitten!" Stewart exclaimed, "Is she back? Is she okay?!"

"She's fine, Daddy," C.C. silently thanked God for it, too. Again. "I'm sorry we didn't call earlier; everything just..."

She trailed off with a sigh.

"It's alright, C.C., I understand," Stewart said. "It's completely natural to let some things slip when more important matters present themselves."

"Yeah," she wiped her eyes. "Yeah, I know. And to answer your other question, we think she caught a cold, from being outside for too long. We've given her some Advil and we're going to make sure she rests until she's better."

"Good, good," C.C. could almost imagine her father nodding, down the other end of the line. "Hey, Kitten, what would you say if your mother and I came to visit tomorrow? We wouldn't try to wake her if she was sleeping or anything like that, but, well, after this..."

It was Stewart's turn to trail off, and C.C. understood exactly why. She also understood why they would want to come over. They wanted to see their granddaughter, and probably to talk in private about why she had run away in the first place.

Niles knew all the details, so they'd get their wish.

"I think you coming over might be a good idea," she replied. "Amelia would like it."

"That's great!" the happiness had returned to her father's voice. "I'll let your mother know, and we'll be over tomorrow."

"Great, we'll be here," C.C. smiled. "Goodnight, Daddy."

"Goodnight, Kitten."

She hung up the phone, and took a few minutes to brace herself and prepare for the next call: the Sheffields.

The Sheffields had been just as worried as them, and knowing Fran and what her moods could do to the people around her, they'd all be on edge and sat near a phone, waiting to hear good news. It was a blessing that she had good news to give them. C.C. was painfully aware that they had been lucky, for in a city like New York anything could have happened to Amelia while she'd been out on her own.

She sighed. She and Niles hadn't had the time to sit down and discuss why Amelia had escaped, and she couldn't help but wonder. Was it because they had snapped at her? C.C. simply couldn't bear if she had been the reason behind her daughter being angry enough to escape...

"Calm down, you two," she murmured, rubbing her stomach – the twins had been restless the last past hours. She supposed it had to do with her own nervousness, but she truly wasn't in the mood to constantly be kicked in the ribs.

When the twins decided they had moved enough for the night, C.C. finally grabbed the phone and dialled the Sheffield's number.

After the tone had buzzed for a few seconds, the phone was picked up (thankfully) by Maxwell.

"Hello, Maxwell," C.C. said, the tiredness through from her words.

"C.C.! Oh my God, is everything alright?" the man asked. "Is Amelia back home?"

"Yes, yes she is..." C.C. stifled a yawn, actually eager to finish the conversation already and get back to bed. "Niles found her. We should have called earlier, but-"

"Is she alright? Where was she? Did she eat? Was she hurt?!"

C.C. held the phone away from her ear whilst Fran got the questions out of her system, and returned it when the former nanny had calmed down some.

"She is fine, for the most part. She caught a cold, being outside for so long, but we're going to make sure she gets all the rest she needs."

"Good," Maxwell was back at the phone again. "I'm...sure that the three of you have a lot to talk about, after this..."

C.C. pulled a face, holding off her frown. She did have to ask Niles what had happened when he'd found her, but she didn't know if she wanted to do it right away, or wait until the morning...

She needed to sleep, but she wasn't sure if she'd be able to with her wondering. And at least one of them would probably have to stay awake to check on Amelia... So maybe she could speak with Niles when Amelia was asleep. In her state, it wouldn't do her any good to stress over this, so perhaps discussing it with Niles would help her have some peace of mind.

After such a tiring day, she knew she could bear one last hard conversation.

Especially if that conversation helped her understand what had gone on inside Amelia's mind.

"Yeah... Niles actually spoke to Amelia when he found her, but we are certainly going to discuss what happened once she gets better," C.C. said, rubbing her eyes.

She was so tired... she was almost regretting not asking Niles to deal with the Sheffields!

"Oh... okay," Maxwell replied, his tone cautious. "I think that's a good course of action," Maxwell cleared his throat and silence lingered for some seconds.

There was nothing more to say and it was already quite late. Honestly, the only thing both of them wanted to do was go to bed to their respective spouses.

"Well..." the British producer said, "It's late and I think we should all rest after such a stressful day."

C.C. silently thanked her lucky stars – for once Maxwell wasn't as thoughtless as he usually was.

"Indeed. Thank you all for your help... it truly means a lot to us."

"Don't mention it, you know you are family," Maxwell said softly, "Goodnight, C.C.."

"Night, Maxwell."

The producer hung the phone, ready to dash back to bed. It took her a few tries to get out of the chair by herself, but eventually she found herself on her feet and walking – waddling – to her bed.

And there she found a most welcoming sight, even if it was because their daughter was sick: Niles cradling Amelia in his arms, rocking her a little so that she could fall easily back to sleep. C.C. eased herself back onto the bed, and slipped back under the covers, relaxing against her pillows.

She watched in silence, just allowing Niles and Amelia to have some peace. Their little girl was nearly fully out of it, anyway; her eyes were nearly all the way shut, and her breathing was becoming slow, and deep.

She needed it, after her ordeal.

And C.C. and Niles needed to have this talk, but she wasn't quite sure where to begin, or how to start...

She felt a certain amount of dread, thinking that maybe her husband would tell her that she was the reason their little girl had run away. That she had been a bad mother, who hadn't done her absolute best to make sure that her child was protected, loved, and taken care of...

Of course, she knew he wouldn't put it like that. He'd find some way to soften the blow. But the words would be implied; they'd have to be.

"I can tell there's something on your mind," her husband's soft words brought her out of her panicked thoughts. "It might help if you said them out loud, you know."

C.C. grimaced. Part of her knew she needed (and wanted) to talk about this, but at the same time she was dreading the answers she'd her. She simply didn't know if she'd be able to bear the burden of having failed Amelia, but at the same time she knew she needed to hear this.

She needed to know...

The woman sighed and snuggled closer to her husband, taking care not to wake Amelia in the process. She took a moment to touch her forehead – still warm... but it was getting better.

"I was just thinking..." she sighed forlornly.

"I think I figured that part already," Niles gently teased her as he stroked Amelia's hair. "Thinking about what?"

"About... about Mia running away," C.C. said, her voice cracking as she spoke and a few tears pooling at the corner of her eyes. "I... I... I can't understand why she did what she did!" she looked up at him, almost pleadingly. "Why did she do it?"

In her eyes he could see two pleas – a plea to tell her the truth, and a plea to soften the blow if he knew it would be too hard on her.

The blow was hard, to be fair, but it wasn't her fault.

It was no one's fault, really. Amelia was going through a bit of a hard time, that was all. Nothing that proper care, love and reassurance couldn't cure.

"Love, it wasn't anyone's fault," he began, resting his head against hers. "Amelia was a bit sensitive, that's all."

"Sensitive about what?"

Niles heaved yet another incredibly tired-sounding sigh. Time to try and explain this in the gentlest way possible.

"About... about the whole issue with Sophia. It seems Amelia misinterpreted a few things," he began, trying to sound less affected than he really was. "We always tell her that lies have consequences, and in her view us making her apologise to Sophia meant that what she'd said was true because she hadn't been punished. That combined with the twins, she believed that we'd lied to her the other day and that in truth we didn't love her anymore and that Sophia had been right. Don't worry too much, love, she is only a bit sensitive, that's all."

Oh...well, the things Amelia had been worrying about couldn't be further from the truth!

It killed her to think that her own daughter had thought she didn't love her, and had replaced her by having the twins. She wouldn't ever dream of not loving any of her children, especially not her little Mia...the girl had given her a reason to exist, in her mind.

In a roundabout way, she had brought Niles to her, as well. If Mia hadn't been enrolled at the same school as the Sheffield children, they never would have met again. She would have stayed away and alone, a free woman but an unhappy one.

But now...now, she had a family. And it was all thanks to the little one sleeping more comfortably now between her parents. C.C. was determined to make it up to her. She was going to prove to Amelia just how much she was loved, and that was going to happen over the next few days, as the girl recovered from her cold.

They were going to show her that neither of them would ever leave her.

She smiled sadly at her husband, and then down at Amelia, "That's easier said than done...being told your daughter thinks you don't love her..."

She sighed, trying not to cry. Niles tilted his head to kiss her cheek.

"I know, I know..." he assured her, "But we both know that's not true. And I don't know about you, but I'm going to use all the time possible to show it, as well."

"That was my plan as well," she said, brushing her fingers against her daughter's cheek.

Rationally, C.C. knew how hard it could be for children to adapt to the arrival of new siblings; especially is they had been an only child for long, like Amelia had been. She knew children had a logic of their own and sometimes succumbed to irrational fears – such as being unloved or forgotten.

But at the same time she simply felt guilty. Amelia was young and she didn't deserve to feel that way, and she was going to show her how much she loved her.

Actually, they were going to show her how much they loved her...

It was a blessing to have Niles by her side.

"Then it's settled," Niles said and kissed C.C.. "And seeing as we have a plan, we should follow our daughter's steps and go to bed. It won't do us any good to be tired when she needs us."

Sleep truly sounded like the best thing in the world right then, C.C. thought. They'd had a long and stressing day, so they had earned their peace.

"When you are right," she started, snuggling underneath the covers and edging as close to Niles as her belly would allow. "You are right. Goodnight, lover."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

Niles draped an arm around his two girls, and soon the family was once again lost in a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

AN: And there you have it! She is back :) Hope you liked the chapter and please let us know your opinion! Until the next one!

H&L