Hi friends! Here is the next chapter, hopefully something to brighten your Monday! I wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who have been awesome about reviewing. The reviews are much appreciated and make writing much more fun and easier, so triple thank you! Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter! Oh yes, and REVIEW!

At the house, things had calmed down, at least as much as they could. It was nearing 4 in the morning, but not a single woman was asleep. Lila was texting Mary to check on the kids, Tara was on the couch doing paperwork from the hospital, Gemma and Kerrianne were watching a Lifetime movie, and Fiona, unable to stay still, was washing dishes. Though each one of them was occupied with some task, their hearts simply weren't in it. Lila was worrying about Opie, wondering when he would be back. Tara's mind was with Jax, where it often was these days. He was so close to coming home, and she really couldn't wait. Kerrianne was busy with worry, already working on trying to figure out how she was going to help fix the damage she had done. Gemma was trying to figure out who would cover what at the garage tomorrow, because she had a feeling they would be short quite a few people. Fiona just wanted her husband back.

All of the women were caught up with waiting. It had been more than two hours since Filip had stormed out, Opie and the rest of the guys hot on his trail. Kozik had texted not long after that to let them know that Filip had been found and nobody was dead. There hadn't been a single word since then. They could walk in literally any minute, but at the same time, it could be hours or even days before they returned. When it came to men and working out their feelings, there was literally no telling what could happen. There was nothing to do but wait it out.

Fiona was more than a little bit anxious. She had finally gotten sick of lying around crying about an hour ago. After Tara had checked her blood pressure for about the thousandth time, she was allowed to get up. It wasn't that she was a frantic, nervous cleaner, like her husband was, but it always helped her to keep her hands busy with some task, and doing the dishes allowed for that. Though she may have been standing at the sink, elbow deep in soap suds, her mind was miles away.

She had been hugely relieved to hear that Opie and the guys had caught up with Filip and apparently had him under control. She knew that, with the state he had been in when he left the house, things could have ended very, very badly. At least Opie would look after him. She knew, beyond all sense of logic, that Opie would bring him home. He had promised and he would deliver on that promise. What she didn't know, hadn't quite decided on yet, was what she would say to him when he returned.

She had been brutally vicious with her words. She knew how completely and totally invested Filip was in this relationship; in this family. Years and years ago, she had played a part in keeping his daughter away from him, and just a few hours ago, she had threatened to do it all over again with another child. She knew in her heart that that was his worst fear; losing his family all over again. There were times it had kept him up at night, times when she held him close to her, just to reassure him that she was here. She had taken that fear and shamelessly exploited it. In her panic and fear, she had turned into a monster and threatened to take absolutely everything from the man that she loved.

Threatening to steal his family away from him (again) hadn't even been her lowest blow. No, that shining moment had come the very instant she had implied that perhaps Jimmy had been a better father than he was. Anybody with two brain cells to rub together would have, of course, known that it wasn't true. He was obviously an amazing father. The sheer amount of love that he supplied to his daughter was proof enough for that. Anybody could see how amazing he was, but the fact that her words were obvious lies didn't matter. The very fact that the words had left her mouth, hell, the very fact that the thought entered her mind, was enough of a betrayal to utterly devastate her husband, and she would never be sorry enough for that fact.

Her only excuse, the only reason she could use to justify her behavior, was that she was completely and utterly terrified that she was losing her daughter. The changes in Kerrianne's behavior had completely blindsided her. She expected her girl to act like a teenager, but this was just too much to understand. Filip had been right; he had warned her, and Fiona had brushed it off, had refused to believe that Kerrianne could be keeping anything from her, had changed so much in such a short time. She had been angry at her daughter, angry at herself for not seeing what was going on right in front of her. In her haste to make up for her terrible parenting, she had been eager to find somebody else, literally anybody else, to blame, and Filip had been the nearest and easiest target.

None of this made up for what she had said, of course. Nothing she did could erase what she had said. No, as much as she wished for a magic time machine of some sort, to go back and change her words and attitude, she knew it wouldn't happen. She had to apologize to him, find a way to make him understand that it had been fear and anger talking, not her. The best that she could hope for was forgiveness, which her husband usually had in large supply. The very fact that she was here now was proof enough of that. She just hoped that he had enough left in the reserves to cover this.

She was having trouble trying to figure out how all of these completely jumbled thoughts in her head would come out of her mouth. She was not good with words, never had been. She was all for action, quick with a hug or a kiss or a touch or a squeeze to sooth or comfort. Words just didn't always seem adequate, especially in situations like this, but for him, she would try. She was washing the exact same dish for the third time, still trying to sort it out, still trying to figure out the best thing to say, when the front doorknob turned, jolting all of the women from their thoughts. Fiona's heart leapt to her throat. She had run out of time.

The door swung open slowly as first Filip and then Opie entered the house. As much as he had been through in the past day, Filip looked remarkably unchanged. His eyes immediately locked with Fiona's, and he stood stock still for a moment, just staring at her. The stare was interrupted abruptly when Kerrianne's arms wrapped around his middle. He finally looked away from his wife and down at his daughter long enough to hug her and offer her a small smile, before gently moving her from his path. There were many conversations that he needed to have with his teenage daughter, but right this moment, there was a much more pressing issue that needed addressing.

Fiona's breath caught in her chest when she saw him start to make his way towards her. She felt completely overwhelmed by the emotions racing through her right now, from shock to relief to embarrassment to fear. She felt dizzy at the sight of him, and for a moment, she was afraid she would pass out again. She also wasn't sure when her tears had started again, and she briefly wondered if they had ever really stopped. She turned away from him and gripped the counter, hard, in a desperate attempt to control and calm herself. It really didn't work. By the time he reached her, stopping just inches away, she was crying harder than ever and was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with her. At least the kitchen counter was the only witness to her tears; at least she wasn't looking at him.

Any residual anger or ill will Filip had been holding on to flew directly out the window the instant he saw her shoulders shaking with sobs. It was then that he knew how absolutely right Opie had been when he had insisted that Fiona didn't mean anything she had said to him before. In some ways, it took a huge burden off of his shoulders; he was, at last, certain that she didn't want to leave him and return to Ireland. There would be plenty of time, later, to hash out everything that had happened. Right now, he did the only thing that made sense to him; he reached out and touched her shoulder softly, before sliding his arms around her.

That was all it took. Fiona immediately turned herself around in his arms and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She clung to him for dear life, overwhelmed with the task of trying to breath, hug him, apologize, and stay standing all at one time. She was absolutely sure that most of the words coming out of her mouth were completely unintelligible, but judging from the soothing sounds he was whispering in her ear, the tight grip of his own arms around her, and his lips that couldn't stop pressing themselves against her temple, the message had gotten across.

Filip leaned away from her so that he could rest his forehead against her. "You can't leave me Fiona, okay? You can't leave," he said softly.

"I'm not going one another for a long time, making clear to everybody in the room exactly how stupidly in love with each other they were. It was obvious that they weren't going to be finished anytime soon, so the bystanders made to leave. Kerrianne had almost made it past them, towards her room, when she was stopped by her father and pulled full force into the hug. He couldn't see it, but her smile was bigger than it had any right to be.

Filip heard engines starting just outside, and was very surprised to see that they were alone in the house. Those noises seemed to jolt Fiona and Kerrianne, too.

"I am so glad that you are back, Da, but I thought you were going to yell at me, not hug me," Kerrianne muttered, wiping her eyes with her palms.

"Trust me, Love, that's coming," Filip promised her. "But not tonight. I think enough has happened, tonight. Right now, let's just go to bed, yeah? I think some sleep would do all of us a world of good. We can revisit the issue when we wake."

Kerrianne nodded in agreement, before standing on her toes and kissing her Da's cheek, and then tightly hugging her Ma, whispering something to her that made both women smile. Kerrianne told them both goodnight, before heading off to her own bedroom for the night, eager to fall into a hopefully dreamless sleep.

Her parents waited until she was securely in her room before saying anything else. Filip looked at his wife. If he was honest with himself, she was a complete mess. She had red, swollen eyes and blotchy cheeks. Her hair had pretty much exploded and was completely out of control. He was pretty sure that he must really and truly be in love with her, because in spite of all of these things, he still thought she was beautiful. He dug a relatively clean handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her without saying anything.

She gratefully took it and dried her eyes, silently vowing to herself that she was done crying, for tonight anyway. For the first time in hours and hours, she realized exactly how tired she was. It was unbelievable, really, that she was still on her feet. Being pregnant was really no walk in the park, and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for about 12 hours straight. She couldn't do that, though, until she knew whether or not her husband would be sleeping right next to her.

"Are we okay, Filip?" she asked him, not quite sure of what his answer would be. At the very least, he had come back, and that was good enough for now, but before she went to bed, she wanted to know exactly where they stood.

He sighed, and looked at her, a small smile forming on his face. "Yeah, I think we're fine. There are a lot of thing to be said, but nothing is broken that can't be fixed."

"You want me to sleep on the couch tonight?" she asked, and was surprised to hear him laugh.

"Not even a little bit, Darlin. There is no chance whatsoever that I would make my pregnant wife sleep on the couch, no matter how mad I am," he told her, moving closer and sliding an arm around her. "No, I want you next to me, as close as I can possibly get you. I fucking love you, Fiona."

She came very close to breaking her own resolution to not cry. Instead, she smiled and nodded. "I know. And I love you, Filip. Now take me to bed, please."