He rolls over, and finds the bed empty. He glances at the alarm clock on her bedside stand. He vacates the bed, and exits the room. He heads down the hall to the nursery. He finds her sitting in a chair holding two babies, patting them back to sleep.
"Do you want me to take one of them?"
"My arms are falling asleep," she admits.
He scoops up the little boy in her arms, and pats him back to sleep. He kisses his cheeks, and returns him to his crib. She slowly rises from her seat. She joins him in front of the crib. She places Emerson next to her brother. For several moments they stand in front of the crib, just marveling at them.
"How is this even possible? We barely sleep, and are covered in someone else's bodily fluids most of the time, and I don't know that I have ever felt happier, or more fulfilled," Mac admits.
"It's because they are so sweet, and probably because we are both delirious from lack of sleep."
"It all feels like a dream. Having them here just feels like a dream. Every day when I wake up, I just can't believe that they're here."
"You know tomorrow they'll be eight weeks old."
"They are almost sleeping through the night, now," she adds.
"Are you taking them out in the morning?"
"I am just going to leave them here with you. The three of you will still be asleep when I wake up for the day."
"We should get back to bed," he suggests.
"Harm?"
"Hmm?"
"I was informed that he filed a motion for visitation," she begins.
"I hope that the judge didn't grant it."
"The judge responded by suggesting that he surrender his parental rights."
"What was his response?"
"He didn't get a chance to respond."
Harmon furrows his brow, "Why not?"
"This afternoon they found him stabbed to death in the shower."
"Who stabbed him?"
"Seth."
The following afternoon Mac is sitting on the back porch with one baby sleeping in a bouncy seat on the table, and the other in her arms, wide awake. Harm pulls open the door, and steps outside. He takes a seat next to her. He motions for her to pass Solomon to him. She furrows her brow.
"Seth sent you a letter," he informs her.
She carefully hands Solomon to him. He trades the baby for a letter.
"You don't have to read it," he points out.
She opens the envelope, and begins to read. She chooses to read it aloud.
"Dear Miss McKenzie, I am writing you this letter to apologize. Joe and I made some very unfortunate decisions under the influence of drugs, and alcohol. If it weren't for him I never would have done such a thing. Joe pushed me into doing things that I didn't want to, but ultimately we are both responsible for our actions. He can't seem to come to terms with this fact. He is immature and refuses to take responsibility, or admit wrong-doing. He is still full of anger, and a sense of vengeance. He wants it at any cost. He has never care who he hurts, or whose lives he destroys, even if they are the lives of two innocent children. I feel that it is time I make things right. Sincerely, Seth."
"I think that is a confession," Harm responds.
"He will get the death penalty. It was premeditated," Mac points out.
"He was trying to right the wrong that he made," Harm adds.
"You should represent him," Mac replies, surprisingly.
"Represent him? I couldn't stand to be in the same room with him."
"Argue for a concurrent life sentence, instead of the death penalty."
"Sarah do you want leniency, or are you saying this out of vengeance? Do you want him to suffer for the rest of his life in a prison cell?"
"I cannot condone what he did to Joe, or anyone else. I don't think that I will ever be prepared to forgive him for what he did to me," she blinks away tears, "but he ended the nightmare in a way that I couldn't. He tried to make amends by preventing my children from being victims of circumstances beyond their control. There was a time when that I wished both of them dead."
"But?"
"He certainly does not deserve to die for taking the life of a man who was a monster. He does not deserve to die, when he was trying to protect my children from the clutches of a monster."