A/N: Don't worry, everyone lol Morris is just a running joke. No babies will be named Morris in the making of these fics.

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THIRTY-ONE

Winter Eden

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Snow fell upon the Boston suburbs that Winter. It was early December and the neighborhoods had rid themselves of withering pumpkins and shriveled skeletons, adorning their homes with Christmas lights and poinsettias. Lana exhaled the crisp winter air as she made her way down the street during her morning walk. She had wanted to clear her head enough to begin writing something on her typewriter but had come to a mind block and opted for some fresh air. She had been keeping busy with her attempts at writing while Oliver was at work. He had returned to his practice about a week after they were married and had remained busy since.

So far Lana had managed to start writing out lists. She began with grocery lists for Oliver to take with him to the store. Then came the list of weekly chores. After that, she started a list of baby names. One for boys and one for girls. When Oliver found the lists he noted that the name "Johnny" was on top of the boy's list and "Ella" was first for the girls. Morris and Estelle had not made it on either list and the thought made Oliver chuckle.

Even though Lana very much enjoyed writing lists, she was running out of lists to write and knew she had to begin something new. So she went out on her morning walk to clear her mind and welcome any new ideas.

She stood at the end of the driveway to their home and looked up at the house. It seemed to be the only one without any Christmas decorations. With the holidays around the corner, Oliver's patients had become a lot more needy and he had been up to his neck with work. He said people often found themselves deeply troubled during the holidays for they felt more alone without their friends or family and so they sought the attention of their therapist to fill the aching void. However, he promised Lana that he would put the Christmas lights up as soon as he was able to.

Lana was making her way up the walkway when she heard a tiny, high pitched sound coming from the street. She turned around, brows furrowed in question but she didn't see anything. She paused, listening and sure enough she heard it again: the tiny mew of a kitten.

Drawn by the kitten's desperate mews, Lana made her way back down the walkway and to a car that was parked on the side of the street. She carefully knelt down and peered under the car but didn't see anything. She could hear it meowing but couldn't see it. She figured it must have climbed up into the car. Lana tried to coax the little thing out but to no avail. She had been at it for a good ten minutes before she returned inside with empty hands.

Not fully wanting to give up on the small creature, Lana went back out and placed a small saucer of tuna at the end of the walkway hoping the kitten would come out eventually to eat. The Boston winter was growing colder and she worried the poor little thing didn't have a home.

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Lana spent the rest of the afternoon in Oliver's study, typing away at her typewriter. At one point she noticed the ring on her finger and a soft smile crossed her lips. However, it slowly faded and a sense of anxiety and worry began to grow. They hadn't even been married a month but Lana worried that she wouldn't be a good wife in the long run. She worried that her past would catch up to her and affect their happiness.

Lana frowned and shook the intrusive thought aside. She was happy with Oliver and he couldn't get enough of her day and night. Nothing else should have mattered.

Lana was distracted from her thoughts when she heard the meowing again. She jumped up to her feet the best she could with her heavy belly and hurried to the window that looked out into the street. She couldn't see the small cat but the saucer was still there, untouched.

She sighed, "You're out there somewhere." And returned to the desk not ready to give up.

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Lana had managed to start writing a short story she had based around one of her memories of Briarcliff. A part of her hated including her memories of that horrid place but Lana found that the little bit she remembered from Briarcliff were the only memories she had. But the memory hadn't been a bad one. In fact, it had been of Pepper.

Lana sat back, softly caressing her stomach. The baby's kicks had grown stronger throughout the month of November and now in December his strength seemed to have doubled. It wouldn't be much longer before he joined them.

"Maybe by the time you're here I'll be good at this." Lana spoke out loud to the baby, "Then I'll be able to write you some decent bedtime stories." She softly patted her side where she felt a little foot stretch out, "Wouldn't that be nice?" Lana smiled sheepishly to herself, "Just pretend to like them for my sake."

Every passing day the fear of motherhood left her. And every passing day she began to realize that the little person growing inside of her was the only family she had in the world along with Oliver.

Lana looked up when she heard the all too familiar sound of Oliver's car coming up the driveway. She carefully stood herself up and made her way to the window. A smile crossed her lips when she saw Oliver exit the car and open the trunk. Her smile slowly faded when she saw a woman approach him.

It was their neighbor from two houses down. Lana had seen her once or twice coming home from work as she parked her car in the driveway and went inside. The dark haired woman walked over to Oliver and began to chat him up. Lana looked from them to the saucer on the walkway to find it empty. Perhaps the little kitten had come out from under the car after all.

Lana's attention went back to Oliver and the woman. She seemed awfully chatty while Oliver maintained that polite and short smile that he gave to all of his neighbors. He nodded at the things she said while he continued to take shopping bags out of the trunk. Lana frowned when the woman tilted her head back and laughed. Oliver's expression turned a bit confused but he seemed to clear his throat and bid her a good evening.

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When Oliver stepped inside the house, he shivered from the freezing air outside and relaxed when he felt the warmth of their home. Lana had started the fireplace and now stood in front of the study with arms crossed, watching him with serious eyes. Her eyes went to the bags in his arms and she relaxed her stance.

She walked over to him, placed her hands on his arms and stepped on her tiptoes to plant a soft kiss on his lips. "What took you so long to come home?" Her voice was low and filled with longing.

Oliver felt his heart jolt and his knees go weak. He kissed her forehead, "I'm not that late, am I?"

"A little" Lana stepped back, tilting her head slightly at the bags. In one hand he held the groceries and in the other he held what appeared to be Christmas decorations. She smiled, "What in the world did you buy?"

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Lana stood out in the yard, bundled up in one of Oliver's jackets while she watched him from the safety of the ground. Oliver was perched on top of a ladder, putting up the new christmas lights he had purchased. He had checked the old ones from the year before but they seemed to have stopped working at some point. Alas, Oliver had wanted everything new for their first Christmas together.

"Oliver, please be careful." Lana bit her bottom lip nervously.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Oliver reassured her.

Lana sighed, knowing how stubborn he could be and looked over her shoulder. "I think there's a little baby cat out here somewhere."

"Oh, yeah?" Oliver asked, keeping his attention on his task.

"Yes. I heard it meowing this morning but I couldn't find it."

"That poor little creature. Hope it stays warm during the night."

His comment made Lana worry. "Do you think it'll be okay out here?"

Oliver paused and looked down to where Lana stood. He smiled lovingly at her, "Cats are very smart. I'm sure it'll keep warm somehow."

His words calmed her nerves and she smiled. "Okay."

When Oliver came down from the roof, he connected the lights to the main power source at the side of the house and they watched as their home lit up in multiple brilliant colors.

"Oh my goodness." Lana brought her hands to her face, completely amazed by the Christmas lights that made their home shine like a constellation of stars.

Oliver wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head, "Do you like it?"

Lana beamed, "I love it. It's so beautiful."

He chuckled, pleased that a simple action made Lana's entire night. She was truly too sweet to behold. "Tomorrow we can go pick out the Christmas tree and decorate it. How does that sound?"

Lana leaned her head on his shoulder, "Sounds good to me."

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Lana seemed restless for the remainder of the night. Oliver tried to calm her worries over the little cat but she seemed to be determined to find it and filled the saucer with another helping of canned tuna. Oliver had heard it meow a couple of times but had stopped Lana from going out in the rigid cold to fetch it herself. Instead, he put on his shoes and his jacket and went out in the dark with a flashlight to find the tiny cat but after almost thirty minutes of looking, he returned back inside without any luck. Lana seemed disappointed but understanding and opted to get some rest.

At six months, Lana was extremely restless and often hungry. It was past midnight and she had been tossing and turning for the past hour. Her belly had grown into a definite and nicely round bump that she was finding a bit hard to get into a comfortable position. Her belly was to the point where others could finally tell she was pregnant at first sight. Her tiny little four month bump had doubled in size by the mere feel of it. Or so it felt that way to Lana.

And it was during the night where the little one was the most active. She could feel him in there wiggling about. Feeling him move so much was a great sense of relief but she also wished he'd calm down enough to let her doze off. Nonetheless, Lana found that she enjoyed those quiet moments to themselves in the depth of the night.

She was about to doze off when she heard it again. The meowing of the kitten.

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Oliver rolled onto his back and outstretched his hand. When his fingers felt Lana's absence he shot up in bed, alarmed and still heavy with sleep. He blinked multiple times to get his vision accustomed to the dark when he noted that Lana was no longer in bed with him. She made multiple trips to the bathroom during the night and often to the living room to walk around for her growing stomach often kept her from sleeping.

Oliver stood from the bed and knocked on the bathroom door. The bathroom light was off but he wanted to be sure anyway. When he opened the door and switched the light on, he found it empty.

"Lana?" Oliver wandered out into the living room but Lana was nowhere to be seen. His heart skipped a beat and he felt a heavy feeling drop to the pit of his stomach when he saw that the front door was ajar. "Lana!" Oliver hurried to the door and pulled it wide open. He came to a complete halt when he saw Lana standing on the porch, about to go back inside.

She was wearing his jacket once more and her eyes looked surprised, as if his presence had caught her completely off guard. Oliver sighed with huge relief upon seeing that she was safe and sound. The fear within him had him thinking the worst.

"Lana, what in heaven's name are y-" He cut himself short when he noted the small bundle in Lana's hands, secured to her chest.

It was the kitten.

The little black and white tuxedo ball was trembling all over. "Look who I found." Lana said, hugging the kitten closer to her chest.

Oliver chuckled and brought her in for a hug. "You went out in the dead of night for a cat?"

"It was all alone. Are you mad?" Lana asked, leaning her head against his chest.

"No." He assured her.

Lana pulled away, "So can I keep it?"

Oliver looked down at the little scruff of a cat. It mewed and he did not have the heart to turn down those big doe eyes of his loving wife. Oliver already knew he'd give Lana the world. He'd forgive every single thing she had done wrong in her past or could do wrong long before she even had. He could be her puppet, tied with tight strings and he would welcome the dance.

How could he ever say no?

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The December days felt like a sweet dream, one passing after the other. The little tuxedo kitten Lana had named "Judy" after the actress, Judy Garland, had become a very interesting but welcomed part of their little family. Oliver knew Lana was listless while he was at work, but it wasn't until Judy came into their home that he truly realized how alone she was during the day. Her writing and the baby in utero were comforting but Judy seemed to tie it all in and for that, Oliver put up with her shenanigans.

Lana had brought her typewriter to the living room and set it upon the coffee table. Judy was wrecking havoc beneath the Christmas tree that Lana and Oliver had chosen together. They had gone the day after he put up the Christmas lights just like he had promised. They had decorated it together while listening to Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald records. It had been such a lovely night; it was like a dream Lana wanted to live in forever.

Judy had already managed to knock down multiple low hanging spheres and had made a mess of the shedding needles. Lana looked up from her typewriter and frowned, "Hey, you get away from there." She scolded the kitten and returned to her work. She had continued to small stories based on pleasant memories from Briarcliff. There weren't many and the few that there were weren't exactly pleasant.

But they were simple and Lana remembered them without pain or dread. They were plain moments like watching Pepper dance or play with the garden cats. Sister Mary Eunice combing her hair or softly humming to her. The day Oliver took her out to the garden and told her stories about Hades and Persephone. She wrote about them, recalling things she had felt or thought in those moments. She filled in the blanks the best she could for her mind fought hard to erase every inch of Briarcliff.

Still, Lana wanted to hold onto anything she could. It made her feel sane.

Judy came over, a spring to her step. Lana had been sure to keep her warm and well fed. She and Oliver had gone to a pet store downtown to purchase things for her and thus far the kitten had remained well fed and spoiled. She jumped on the coffee table with a bit of effort and pawed at the typewriter. Lana smiled; Judy was such a curious little thing. Always wanting to paw at everything. She had been so shy and scared at first but after a couple of days she had truly made herself at home. Just like Lana had.