So, I've had this written forever and apparently just never uploaded it. I was about to give you all another chapter but this one might be helpful for it. Yes, that means you'll be getting another chapter very soon.

Alicia was running behind. It was her first week back at work and Will had offered to take the kids to daycare, but she was still struggling with saying goodbye to her babies for a long day at work. She however was not expecting burning Rue's breakfast because Liam was not wanting to eat. Then there was the fact Rue didn't want to eat her burnt eggs (not that Alicia could blame her) and she ended up waiting into Lockhart and Gardner her hair a little astray with Liam in a pumpkin seat and Rue holding her hand.

Will chuckled at the sight of his discontented wife. It was nine in the morning and she was already looking like she was ready to crawl back into bed. She set Rue down on his couch with Liam's pumpkin seat next to it.

"Breakfast was less than a success," his wife explained as she planted a quick kiss to his lips. "Rue needs a muffin, then I'll take her down to daycare."

He gave her a sympathetic look. The sight of the pumpkin seat had earned a lot of attention, all eager to see the newest member of the Gardner family. Diane had visited them in the hospital and had been over several time since Liam was born. Kalinda had even made a somewhat awkward appearance one afternoon. She didn't want to hold the baby, but she did watch them in that Kalinda almost animalistic way.

Sure enough, Kim, one of Will's assistant, appeared in the doorway and knocked on the door. Alicia gave her a gentle look despite her exhaustion. Friends were welcome to come and see her son, but she was not a fan of just anyone inviting themselves into their lives. It shouldn't bother her as much as it did, but Alicia had already received more attention than she wanted in this lifetime.

"I was just hoping to get a peek," she said sweetly, nodding at the pumpkin seat next to the quiet toddler who was patiently awaiting her breakfast.

Will, however, was much better with the attention. "Come on in. Alicia was just going to grab Rue some breakfast."

His smile was kind, but Alicia couldn't help but not appreciate his dismissal of her. The slight glare she shot him was enough to tell him so, but he didn't mean to upset her. Though he wasn't given the chance to fix things before she turned on her heels to go fetch their daughter's quit meal. It was obvious even Kim was put off my Alicia's apparent attitude, but she just gave him a sympathetic look pushing Alicia's reaction off to the exhaustion of a house full of kids and a brand new baby.

Still, she took the few steps into Will's office and looked into the pumpkin seat. "Oh, goodness!" she squealed softly admiring the baby. "He is so handsome!"

Although his wife's behavior was concerning, Will couldn't help but beam with pride. He had told Alicia before that he wasn't proud of a lot of things he did, but the proudest thing he had in life was Danni. That was almost a decade ago, and things were certainly different, but still his pride was in his children.

"His mom and I think so too," Will commented, moving closer to her so he could undo the clasps of the pumpkin seat and gently lift Liam into his arms. Abigail and Karen both were watching with smiles through the glass of the door. He waved them in. He might as well get it all over with in one go.

Rue kicked her feet against the end of the couch as she watched her father's employees swarm her little brother. No one even so much as glanced at her. At least Diane and Owen asked how she liked being a big sister. At the moment though, she was completely invisible.

She wiggled off the couch as her father introduced Liam to everyone. The adults were laughing and cooing at the little face when suddenly Justine, her father's other assistant appeared in the door. She glanced down at Rue, but just moved past her to get a view of the new baby too. Rue was not a child who wanted everyone's attention, but she just discovered she did not appreciate being ignored.

As far as Rue was concerned, she was done in her daddy's office. Justine had made the mistake of leaving the door open and she was free to escape and look for her mommy.

She walked down the hallway, past all the busy men and women talking on phones and looking down at their iPads. "Where are you going?"

Her mommy's voice made her turn around. Alicia had expected a big smile, but she got no such thing. Instead, she just frowned and walked up to her mommy to be held.

"Everyone likes Brodder," Rue bit out bitterly as Alicia shifted her on her hip.

Alicia offered her daughter the muffin in her hand and combed her fingers through baby fine hair. She carried her back to Will's office and was not surprised that half the women in the office were cooing at her son. Across the room, she made eye contact with her husband. She was the office ice queen so she'd allow Will to be the bad guy who sent everyone away so they could take Liam to daycare and get to work.

He nodded and shifted Liam a little closer to himself. "Alright, I'm afraid I've got to take this little guy and Rue down to daycare."

There was a small amount of playful whining before all the ladies cleared out. Alicia gave her husband a glare as she took a seat on the couch and started to pull Rue's hair back into pig tails. Will watched her with some hesitation, but he couldn't figure out what was going on. He was sure that the new case would not help her mood either, especially when he told her who the opposing counsel was.

"Will you please put Liam back in his seat so I can take him to daycare?" Her words were polite but cold. She didn't mean to be so quick tempered, but she was just thinking. There was a lot going on this morning and she hadn't had a chance to properly deal with it.

Will blinked at her as he shifted Liam a bit against his chest before realizing his want to hold Liam a little longer was a pestilent rebellion. "We are on a mediation together. Court ordered mediation. I talked to you about it earlier. The back surgery. There's a lot we need to refresh on and I think we'll have to pull a few paralegals. It's going to be a lot of hours, and-"

When Alicia didn't look up at him, he stopped in midsentence. She was pointedly focused on Rue's hair, not ignoring him, but not properly acknowledging him either.

"And I thought I'd quit my job and spend Danni's college fund on leather and a Harley."

She quirked and eyebrow but didn't raise her head as she continued on Rue's hair. "Be sure to take one of your assistance with you. At least they'll let you know when I call."

There was something in that tone that told Will to proceed with caution, but he didn't do anything wrong. Normally Alicia was not the type to take out unfortunate circumstances on him. Yet, here she was, not even willing to look him but make harsh icy comments that left too much too interpret.

"I'm going to take our children down to daycare. I'll be back in a minute."

And just like that, all three of them were gone. Alicia did not instruct Rue to tell daddy goodbye. She didn't plant a kiss on his lips like she always did. She didn't even ask if he was going to say goodbye to their boy. Nope, she was just out the door, walking so straight it seemed frigid.

He texted Alicia to let her know that she needed to pick up a case file from her assistant and come back to his office. Her reply was two letters and held none of her usual wit.

It pissed him off that he was standing in his office, mentally going through everything he had done in the last twenty-four hours and trying to figure out what on earth he had done. He had known Alicia for almost twenty years and never once had she acted like this toward him.

The entire time he waited for her to return he couldn't even focus on the file he was supposed to be refreshing himself on. By the time she walked in, Will had worked himself into his own frustrated attitude. He shot her a look that slowed her stride toward him. Her brow furrowed and she huffed at him slightly.

"What's up with you?" she asked, suddenly looking a bit flustered. "Are you alright?"

Her concern through him for a loop. A bit ago she wouldn't even look at him and now it was like she was visibly checking him for fever or illness. She moved around the desk and sat on the corner of it like she often did since they were married. At first she used to hesitate showing any personal affection at work, but the ring on her finger kept no secrets. Neither did the announcement of their son. She was a good lawyer, everyone knew it and they were well aware she earned her ranking in the law firm just like everyone else. However, she just got to take the boss home and business trips were a bit more fun.

"Am I alright?" he snapped incredulously.

His outburst startled her and he would have felt guilty if he wasn't so frustrated at the moment. For the last fifteen minutes he had been searching every piece of his mind for a reason for his wife's sudden distance only for her to reappear with all her warmth and concern intact and ready to demand him to bed if he looked even a little feverish.

He stood up and Alicia stood up with him. She placed her hands on his chest as he strode toward her. Instantly his anger faltered at her gentle caress. "Will?" The sarcastic, icy tone was gone and replaced with velvet.

That voice melted away his anger and he looked at her, studying her face. "Fifteen minutes ago you acted like you couldn't get away from me fast enough, now…"

Alicia's cheeks tinged a pink as she turned away from him. Her hands slid away from his chest and dropped to her sides as her eyes studied the bookshelf. "Yes, um, Ron Waller called me on my way here."

The name sounded familiar but then again Will felt like he had heard every name in Chicago at least twice by now. Alicia nodded at his silence. She too needed a reminder on the name. "Ron Waller, Katie's lawyer. The one who had the original paper for Rue's guardianship and adoption."

The mention of his sister's name had Will sitting back down in his chair. "Oh."

Alicia nodded. She didn't have to say it. It wasn't exactly shocking, but it still wasn't easy. Katie was gone. She passed away last night in her sleep after being on hospice for the last two months. Ron had told her that the time since she left had been hard. The tumor had grown and slowly she started losing herself, and she was no longer Katie long before she died. He had given her brief notes on the progression, and it all sounded horribly painful.

For Will, Alicia lied. Alicia told him that Katie's death was peaceful. She lied to her husband and under any other circumstance, she would have told her children that lying was wrong no matter what, especially when it came to family. White lies, tiny lies, kind lies were all still lies and eventually they came back to hurt people. This lie Alicia would never regret.

She took his hand in hers as he watched his face react to news. His eyes were glassy and his free hand covered his mouth as he took a shallow, broken breath. Both knew Katie left to prevent them from suffering alongside her, but now it was like dealing with the mourning all over again. Alicia almost wondered if Katie knew Ron would inform her family of her death, because she highly doubted Katie meant for this to happen.

Alicia hadn't cried yet, but she had a feeling it would soon break her too. Still, her mind couldn't concentrate on her emotions. She had to think about what she was going to say to Danni, if they told her. Rue… she was young, but-no. Alicia wouldn't confuse her. Rue had already come to terms with her mother's death and it would only confuse and upset her if she tried to explain things.

"I should probably call my sisters, tell them. Unless he-"

Alicia shook her head. "He called so he could have our new address to UPS her ashes…"

It seemed so cold, but it was what Katie wanted. She squeezed his hand at the sight of tears. "I'll call them, Will. I'll catch up on the mediation with you, and I'll take care of this, Will." Her free hand wiped the tears from his eyes as she cupped his cheek. "I love you."

Will caught her hand and kissed the inside of her palm. It was too much to ask of her, and he knew she'd just say that this was her family too. They were married, they shared the bad things.

Sensing his hesitation, Alicia searched his eyes. "She gave me Rue. She apparently was the only one of your sisters who actually liked me, and she took great care of Danni any time they were together. Let me do this, for you and her."

Will nodded and stood up. "I'm going to grab some coffee… I'll text you the address of the hotel for the mediation."

Alicia frowned but nodded. They were at work. She understood he didn't want to be seen like this at work, but she still didn't like to see him walk away when he was so obviously upset.

"Will?"

He turned back to look at her when she called his name. Her eyes were just as sad as his. "I love you," she told him.

A small smile appeared on his face despite all the sadness. "And I love you."

She watched as he grabbed his coat off the rack and headed out the door. Life without Katie was already hard, her death being official was strangely hindering as it was freeing.

RIP Katie. Please review.