Epilogue:

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Martin felt Sam shift in her sleep so he carefully rolled over to look at her. He loved this time of the morning when he could look at her in the early stages of wakefulness. She must have felt him move too because without opening her eyes she smiled and said, "Morning."

He gave her a quick kiss and whispered, "Good morning. How did you sleep?"

She opened her eyes and sighed heavily. "Good, how about you?"

Martin scooted down the bed so he and Sam could face one another and replied, "Fantastic." He folded one arm under his head and draped the other arm across her waist. "So, it's Sunday morning. What do you want to do?"

Sam sunk deep under the covers and dreamily said, "Mmm….we could stay in bed until noon, drink coffee and read The New York Times." She slowly ran a hand over his, sending a tingling sensation up his arm.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea…." he murmured in agreement when their idle morning conversation was suddenly interrupted by a tiny voice on the monitor.

"Out! Out!" a voice cried out. Their eyes met in a silent standoff, each daring the other to see which one of them was going to have to get up. "Out! Dada! Out!"

Sam shot her arms straight up and victoriously shouted, "YES!"

He laughed as he got out of bed. "I don't know how to prove it but I am sure you taught her to ask for me in the morning."

She just laughed and snuggled deeper into the bed as he walked out of the bedroom. He wiped the sleep out of his eyes as he padded down the hall to check up on their progeny.

"Out, Dada, out!" Her tiny voiced shouted with increased determination.

"I'm coming, your highness," he replied. He knew that she was getting closer and closer to figuring out how to climb out of her crib. A few times, when he was slow to respond to her pleas for release he walked into the nursery and found her at the corner of the crib with one leg slung over the rails. He and Sam were going to have to start preparing for a fully mobile toddler.

"Dada, out!" She shouted like a convict behind bars. Only instead of prison issue orange this one wore a purple Onesie. He chuckled as a vision of small chubby fists scraping a tiny tin cup against the crib rails entered his mind.

Martin walked into the colorful bedroom and spotted Milo at his usual post under her crib. Since the day they brought Grace home, Milo took it upon himself to keep watch on his new favorite girl.

"Good morning, Gracie," he said as a pair of big blue eyes looked back at him. Gracie had Martin's hair color and eyes but all of her features were most definitely Sam – right down to her full lips and crooked smile. Not to mention having her mother's demanding attitude and independence.

"Hi." Gracie smiled back, showing off her tiny toothy grin.

"Did you have sweet dreams?" he asked as he picked her up. Gracie nodded and sighed softly before cuddling up against him. He just held her a moment enjoying their little bit of quiet time and walked over to sit on the rocking chair by the window. He and Gracie looked out the window overlooking the small back yard of their brownstone. He pointed to a bird that was perched on the ledge of the window and the early morning sun's rays glittered off his wedding band catching Gracie's attention. As she lay slumped up against him she fiddled with his wedding band in fascination.

After a few minutes of morning chit-chat, he carried Gracie to the changing table to get her a fresh diaper. As she lay down she started to sing a tune in her own non-sensical way. While she knew plenty of words the sentence structure was still a little bit dodgy. As he started to change her, he gave her the baby powder to hold knowing that she's very insistent about being a part of the process. "Okay, shake the baby powder."

Gracie shook the powder and handed it back to Martin. He opened the nozzle and applied a liberal dash knowing that she loved it. He closed the nozzle and quickly handed it back to her and said, "Thank you!"

"We'come." She grinned feeling very self-satisfied at being of use.

As soon as Martin fastened the final tab on the diaper he cheerily announced, "All done!"

She clapped her hands in celebration before she ordered, "Down! Down!"

He just laughed and said, "Okay, Princess, let's go see Mommy now." He put her down on the floor and helped her steady herself by holding her hands. Once she had her bearings she started walking to the door and down the hall.

Gracie was still new to walking, her verbal skills outpacing her physical ones, so she would sometimes sway with each tentative step. Like an itty bitty drunk. Martin was always amused by her determination and walked leisurely behind her in case he would have to move in and catch her before she fell or hit her head. As they walked Milo moved alongside them watching Gracie as carefully as he was.

As they followed closely behind her he couldn't help but laugh at their rag tag parade.

Once they neared the master bedroom though, Gracie's pace accelerated and she ran full speed and lunged right into the bed and Sam's sleepy form.

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As soon as Martin headed to the nursery Sam lounged in bed listening to the baby monitor as he and Gracie shared their early morning conversation. She always knew he would make a great father but his ease with Grace still amazed her sometimes. Even on those rare days when she was fussy, he was patient and tender with her.

There were days when she could not believe this was her life. About six months after Martin and Milo moved in she found herself opening up to the idea of marriage and family more and more. It became more pronounced after Danny and Emma announced that they were expecting. By the time they announced that they were having twins, Martin and Sam had gotten engaged. The funny thing was he wasn't the one who proposed. It was her.

She had been sitting on the stoop waiting for Milo and Martin to get home from their early morning run and it struck her that she was waiting for her family. That's who they all were. So by the time they came up the sidewalk she had made up her mind. He sat down next to her, gave her a kiss and she asked him to marry her. He looked at her and said, "Yes."

Four months later they were husband and wife.

As for Grace, well, that was a bit of a surprise. They had just begun talking about starting a family over dinner one night when two bottles of wine and several slow dances later, poof Gracie was on her way. To her surprise, Sam loved being pregnant. Everyday she woke up to find her body growing and changing. It was an amazing process.

Martin, however, was a nervous wreck.

He would have wrapped her in bubble wrap if she would have let him. It was understandable given all that happened with Ruby so she tried to be patient but some days were harder than others. But he was also incredibly sweet. He would give her foot rubs and back massages without being asked and he would make midnight runs to fetch whatever she was craving.

The day Grace was born was long and painful but the moment they saw her little face they both cried with joy. It was the most amazing moment of both their lives.

She loved being a mother. To see this little person who was the perfect combination of her and Martin. She had his tenderness mixed with her determination. But she also had both their stubborn streaks which her mom and his parents absolutely loved about her. They would proclaim that it was the grandparent's revenge. Finally, Martin and Sam would appreciate what they went through. Each new day Sam was blown away as she watched Gracie's personality grow and change. To see who this newly formed person was becoming.

She had stayed home with Gracie for the first three months but the urge to go back to work was really strong. She was worried that Martin might disagree but he told her that every important woman in his life was a working mom. His own mom, his sisters, his aunt Bonnie, Jamie, even Viv. Sam asked every mom she knew for their opinion. While there were some who said that they would rather stay home with the kids, there were just as many who felt that they could offer more to their kids by keeping their mind stimulated outside of the home. It was a tough choice but in the end she and Martin decided that it was better for Gracie to have a working mom who was happy than a stay at home one who wasn't.

Thankfully they found a great nanny named Frances, who Gracie adored. She was forty eight, heavy set and had short curly hair. Sam was no fool. She knew that her husband was a good looking man and there was no way she would hire some perky twenty-year old to stay in her home.

A few minutes later she could hear her little family coming back down the hall when suddenly a tiny bundle dressed in purple came running towards her. "Mama!" Gracie squealed with delight. "Up!"

"Good morning, sweetie." She helped Gracie climb onto the bed and Sam covered in good morning kisses.

Milo, satisfied that his girl was in good hands, walked around in circles until finally settling on a spot on the floor near the end of the bed and promptly went back to sleep.

"I'm going to go make some breakfast. Who wants waffles?" Martin asked.

"ME!" Sam and Gracie replied in unison. They both knew that she loved waffles.

"Okey dokey." He leaned over and gave quick kisses to his two favorite girls before turning to head down the hall to the kitchen.

"Need any help?" Sam asked, knowing full well he would say no but she still felt better for asking anyway.

"Nah, I got it," he replied as he exited.

Sam and Gracie stayed in bed as the little girl proceeded to tell her all about her dreams. While she didn't understand everything Gracie said she did manage to understand most of it. It seemed her dream involved Milo, her stuffed bunny, and the park; three of Gracie's most favorite things.

As she watched her daughters expressions as she talked she wondered what their next child was going to be like.

Sam smiled to herself thinking about her secret: she was pregnant. It was completely unplanned and unexpected but she knew exactly which night it happened. They had made a deal with Danny and Emma to do a switch off night once a month. They would watch Diego and Michael one Saturday night a month and the next weekend they would take Gracie. Martin argued that they should get two nights since they only had the one kid while they had two. Danny told him that they should have another kid and they'd be even. Sam was almost positive that it was that night they tied the score.

She moved her hand to her belly. Everything about this pregnancy felt different and something inside of her said it was going to be a little boy. She wanted to tell Martin right away but then thought it would be fun to tell him as a part of his birthday present. So in a few more days she would tell Martin that he was going to be the proud father of two. She just prayed that by the time this one came along Gracie would be potty trained.

"Mama waffles," Gracie said pointing to the door where the smell of blueberry waffles drifted in.

"Okay, sweetie, let's go eat." She got out of bed and held Gracie's hand as they headed down the hall with Milo trotting behind them.

As they walked Sam thought about how her life was a million miles from the way she envisioned it. She had a beautiful daughter, a new baby growing in her belly, a loyal dog and a husband she loved in the kitchen making them all breakfast. While it was completely different from what she thought she wanted for herself, there was no place else in the entire world she would rather be.

End Epilogue

End 'Til the Sky Turned Blue