A/N: You know, your reviews, emails, and passionate hope never ceases to AMAZE me. Thank you!
/
"Sit in with us" Will whispered, squeezing her hand in his lap. Pointing to the conference room, she looked out into the hall and gaped slightly. They were sitting in the quiet of his homely office, Will had told the remaining associates on the floor to go home so that the rest of her men could crowd the area.
"We just have to go through a few more things before we call it a night. You could see what it's like to be a lawyer again" he looked so hopeful, so excited to have her in their old life again, she didn't feel it was fair to turn him down, but she didn't want to be a lawyer, nor did she want to welcome the old feeling again.
She shook her head gently, "I'm not up to it, sorry, I fear I may say something… embarrassing" she admitted, her worries clearly belonging to Zach and Grace. If having your mom dating your boss wasn't embarrassing enough, sitting through fifteen excruciating minutes of their daily colleagues gawk at her was simply wrong. "Mind if I check my emails on your laptop?"
"Of course you can, is everything alright?"
"Yes, just tired" she reached out to stroke the soft skin on his cheek.
"When's Macey gonna be here?" she whispered.
He laughed, "I knew you came here for a reason. I'm not good enough for you, am i right?"
"Don't be silly" she mused. "I can't help the fact that I love her more than you." She leaned forward and planted a brisk kiss against his lips.
"The nanny is dropping her off soon"
"Okay" she felt guilty for having his child be removed from bed just to see her, but at the same time she was giddy with excitement. "Go and finish off your work, I feel bad for intruding"
"And so you should. We were getting somewhere before you arrived." She rolled her eyes and watched as he walked out. His new office was much more secluded than his old one. The windows swore off the spoiled street lights from below, and a generous view of the Chicago horizon replaced the fear of being watched. Unless a flying reporter came close, she wouldn't be found here, it worried her how her life often came to this point; paranoia was the unwanted friend that followed her every step.
She sat down in his chair and logged into her email account, she opened the attachment that Brad had sent her. It was a picture of his progress at rehab, she immediately noticed Callie in the background and sighed.
No matter how hard she tried to suppress the reality; that woman's shadow refused to leave her alone.
Will's office chair was much more comfortable then her one at home, she liked the term 'home', and found the natural irony funny as she didn't even have one right now. Her office was somewhere between the white house, an unseen hotel suite in DC, and a few fields in Africa. Will's one was better than any of them, maybe it was the stress of his scent everywhere that attracted her to it.
She had managed to respond to the days emails, drop in a few letters, and hopefully satisfy the new builders in Ethiopia. Cary walked in, clearly ready and tired enough to be on his way home.
"You suit sitting here" he commented,
She smiled, "Don't get any ideas," yawning, she pressed back into the chair and crossed her arms, it was an unusual chilly night here in the city, and soon enough she would have to throw on that ugly big coat she was forced to wear.
"You belong here Alicia, this is where you have to be. You must come back." Cary said without a doubt, and with an absolute lack of consideration for her current job. She laughed,
"You know that's not an option"
"Why not?"
"Cary, my days in court are over, that is one thing I truly believe. I liked being a lawyer, but I love my job, I love the things I do. I don't see myself sitting here in eighteen months and looking over trials. I don't want to see myself doing that. I never want to be a lawyer again."
"So you'd rather travel the world and explore humanity?"
"A fair trade isn't?"
"I envy you" he glared half-heartedly, "but you can't blame a man for trying. There is a thing called a magnet for attraction, and you seem to be it" he laughed. "Imagine all the clients we would get!"
"So you just wanna use me for my status huh?"
"Damn right, but I beg to differ, you're welcome to stay away, far far away." He reminded her of the distance that she would have to share with her promising small colony.
"What's this all about status and far far away?" Will spoke up, declaring his presence. She stood up just in time to see that they had finally finished for the night, Grace and Zach weren't far away either.
"Cary and I were just reminiscing"
"About the old times" he reminded, "She used to be a great lawyer if I remember"
"Used to be?" both she and Will questioned simultaneously.
"I'm off" Cary waved out, she reached up to hug him tightly, not knowing when the next time would be.
"Take care okay?" he whispered in her ear. "Stay away from those terrorists Alicia." She nodded and watched as he walked away.
"Can I have you to myself now?" Will breathed, pulling her gently so he could feel the warmth of her body.
He pressed a gentle kiss on her cheek, "I miss you everyday"
"I'm here now"
"Come home with us, tonight"
"I can't" she whispered, her eyes cautious for anyone behind him, "But I need a favour, stay at my hotel suite tonight?"
"You know, when I brought the house two years ago, I brought it thinking of you, I would at least like to see you in it at some point" he mused
"I can't stay there tonight because the agents haven't had enough time to examine the property, it would be like going into a tunnel without a torch. I'm sorry"
"Does the Hotel suite have bubble baths?" he whispered
Flattening the fabric of his creased coat, she smiled "As much bubble bath's as you want."
"Hmm" he laughed, "tempting"
"Sorry to interrupt"
Alicia flinched away when his secretary interjected, walking toward his desk, Alicia folded her arms across her chest and smoothed out the false hairline on her forehead.
"Macey is downstairs with the nanny" she announced, her gaze resting closely on Alicia's back.
"Thanks Laurel, for everything. You can go home now." he waited for her to leave when he took Alicia's hand again.
"I thought you told all your associates to go home"
"Relax, she won't tell anybody"
"You say that now. But then in the morning yours and Macey's face will be plastered on every news station and it'll be just like before"
"Stop torturing your mind. I can't live knowing that this is the way you think. Macey is downstairs, should I go get her or leave her alone?"
Alicia couldn't help the huge smile that spread across her face, just picturing that little girl was enough to forget about her own paranoia for now. "What do you think?"
He disappeared quickly and she waited by the window. She didn't hear Diane approach until she knocked on the wall.
"Just me" she smiled. "I wanted to say hello before I leave"
"It's good to see you again" she smiled warmly.
"Like wise, though I would like to understand why you're really here"
"Sorry?"
Diane slowly walked in, her hands resting behind her back and her demeanour slightly reserved. "I know you have good intentions, with Will, and I understand your connection, but I have never seen him so involved before, so if you plan on hurting him.."
"If I plan on hurting him?"
"Not plan, but if so, it won't be fair to either of you." The hidden meaning behind her reserved approach didn't go unnoticed, If-you-break-his-heart-you'll-hurt-my-goddaughter, Diane could have said it without hesitation and it still wouldn't make a difference.
"Diane" she said gently, "I know your looking out for him, I appreciate that you'll always have his best interest, but I love Will, I've given everything over to live a life with him, and I don't plan on ruining that."
The tension was as thick as syrup in the room, but she refused to unlock eyesight with the older woman. Diane finally nodded, and offered a timid smile. "I'm glad you and Will are together, you both deserve to be happy."
"Thank you, and for everything. The divorce… I don't know if I could've handled a stranger.." she shrugged her shoulders, Diane was her protection against the mountain of concerns that plagued for divorcing the most famous man in the world. "so thank you."
"You're welcome" she smiled, genuinely, with a trace of hope for the future, whatever that was.
She heard Will's footsteps long before he reached the office, when he turned the corner she saw him holding Macey on his hip. The little girl was still in her nightware, wearing the slippers that Alicia had sent her a week ago.
"See? I told you she was here" Will placed her on the floor, and Alicia couldn't help the smile that spread across her face when Macey ran toward her.
Alicia picked her up easily with an ease found by her own child, hugging her tight when Macey wrapped her body around her.
Macey let out a giggle that pierced the quiet and made Alicia's entire being raise, that smile was the definition of happiness thought Alicia. It could have very well been the best thing in the world. She pulled back to take a look at her face, "Missed you"
"Miss you too Leesh" she patted her hair, Alicia had removed the not long ago, Macey dug her face into Alicia's shoulder.
"Daddy said wee gon stay with you tnight"
"That's right sweet pea. You must be tired huh?"
Macey shrugged her shoulders, "I'ma always tired."
Alicia laughed. "Zahara is here"
"I see her?" her little head popped up.
"Of course" murmured Alicia as she looked into Will's eyes. "Let's go home."
She pressed her lips against his for the last time before looking into his eyes. They suddenly laughed for no particular reason, consumed in bliss after an electrifying orgasm. He rubbed her hips with his hands and rested against the headboard, completely absorbed in her eyes.
"I miss doing that"
"You're telling me" she grinned.
"Longest three weeks of my life" he teased
"How are we going to manage this in the future? I mean, there are going to be times when I'll have to travel, possibly for months, what are we gonna do about us, when we can't even last three weeks?"
He smiled at her, trying to suppress a laugh. "It'll work out" was all he said, and she decided to let it go.
He looked down again before looking into her eyes. "I have to tell you something"
There was a thick and heavy kind of concern in his gaze, the loving smile was no longer there and she suddenly felt caged with doubt.
"What?" he asked when she pulled away and wrapped the sheet around her body.
"Nothing… just the last time you said that…" she shook her head. "What is it?"
He moved forward and pulled her close. "It's not anything bad, not yet anyway.. Macey's heart problem has come back. Just minor symptoms are showing in the scans"
"What symptoms?!"
"Fatigue, she's tired more than usual. Dizziness sometimes, she looks as though she may faint after lying down for too long, and she won't eat her food."
"Are you feeding her greens?"
"I'm feeding her everything, she's just not herself you know, she doesn't run around as much,"
Alicia felt sick for not having noticed it earlier, even though she had only spent an hour with her before the child fell asleep again. She was going to be this child's mother one day, she was hopelessly in love with her, how was she going to be a good parent if she couldn't even noticed her own daughter's health status?
"You're telling me this now?" she gawked.
"I didn't want to worry you. It's not as severe as before"
"What did the doctors say?"
"Her red blood cells are not functioning, she's surviving off half of the existing red blood cells in her body, which isn't foreign, but it's also not good for a toddler"
"So she has anemia?"
"Yes"
"What do we do?"
"Monitor her diet, monitor her heart rate, keep her active. If she has no red blood cells her heart won't be able to communicate with the rest of her body, she might end up needing a transplant in the future."
"That's the worst and last possible outcome for her. I know this, Grace was anaemic when she was four and she grew out of it.."
"But Grace wasn't born with a heart defect Alicia"
She sighed and pulled her hair back, "So what do you wanna do? Force her to live off red meat for the rest of her life? See a specialist every week?"
"No and no. Blood transfusion, she needs regular blood transfusions, it's what the doctor suggested"
"You really want to do that? Stick a needle into her arm every month?"
"It would begin as every three months" he clarified
"Will…" she stopped, unable to continue.
He rubbed her bare arms and kissed her forehead, "It'll be fine Alicia"
"She's only two"
"Nearly three" he argued
She looked at him like a parent scowling their child for acting immaturely, and then her eyes lingered a while with understanding. "If you think it'll be okay then I will try my best to think the same thing."
"You know your opinion matters right? It's the only opinion that I will ever care about."
She nodded and dropped her forehead so he could kiss it again. Now would be an appropriate time to tell him about her encounter with Callie, Alicia thought, but then his warm hands moved to her bare back, pulling her closer, and before she could even gather what number this round was, wrapped firmly into his embrace, she was holding his face in her hands, with her long legs straddling his hips once more, and Callie long forgotten.