A Second Act- Part 9
Author's Note: Here's the last chapter everyone. Thank you for following along—I have really loved this fic! Anything in italics is a flashback. This one is a little shorter than the rest but hoepfully it works nicely as a conclusion.
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"Oh my god, I am so glad we hired movers," Liz said as she sat down next to him on the sofa and placed her legs up on a box.
"Yeah, but we still need to unpack it all," Ressler chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"And that's why we have children," Liz chuckled as they watched Cara run up the stairs with a bunch of teddy bears under her arms.
"You think they're going to unpack anything but their own rooms?" He chuckled.
"True, and possibly not even that," she said as she slapped his leg and started to sit forward and get up. He pulled her back against him and she laughed.
"Not yet," he said as she settled into him and sighed.
"They don't unpack themselves," she reminded him.
He reached behind them and handed her another kind of box.
"No pressure, but if you want to unpack this one..." Ressler said as he handed her a jewelry box.
She gasped and turned to look at him as she held the box in her hands.
He smiled broadly and her eyes got teary.
"Are you kidding me?" She asked.
"No, I'd never kid about this," he said as he sat up a little more and looked at her. "You know one year ago..."
She leaned in and kissed him. "God, I love you for remembering that today was one year ago."
"Is that a yes?" Ressler smirked as they pulled apart.
"That's a 'hell yes'," Liz laughed as she looked at the box. "Which may have been something close to what I said that night."
He laughed. "All I remember was how beautiful you were in the moonlight."
"In my sweats with unwashed hair?" Liz chuckled, disbelieving.
"You were beautiful, and I was a fool for running away like that...but I came back to you," he said softly.
"You did," she smiled back at him.
She opened the box. Inside was a gold ring with three diamond stones, one larger in the middle and two slightly smaller ones on either side. She leaned in and kissed him as she took it from the box and he helped her place it on her finger.
"The middle for Agnes, and the sides for Carolina and Erin," Ressler said as he fingers brushed over the top of the ring.
"And what about you?" Liz asked as she leaned forward and peppered him with kisses.
He chuckled and pulled the band off her finger and showed her the inside.
Inside was the words he said to her that night when he pulled her from her house out into the snow in her sweats after two weeks of not answering her calls, her texts, or telling her where he went with his girls. He flew from Detroit to DC to only turn around and fly back to Detroit in 2 hours. He'd flown in to tell her one thing:
You are always my friend and I want to love you forever
"I'm the band that wraps around you and the girls," he said softly as his eyes welled up and he leaned into kiss her as she started to cry.
He was in Detroit with his kids having run away from everything he'd learned; Cooper had given him a leave with few questions. And he thought he was doing a good job of hiding his upset, his constantly swirling mind, and his inability to rest. They had been to the zoo, parks, his cousins, and museums. His mom had been thrilled about their surprise visit and his girls had loved spending more time with their grandma. He had not slept much, didn't feel like eating, and everywhere he went he had Liz on his mind. He had re-thought almost every interaction he could remember over their history, looked for nuances and hidden meaning in some of their conversations. And the more he thought the more his stomach tied in knots and the more he got wrapped up in his own checklist of reasons they shouldn't be involved. Logically, they shouldn't be involved.
"So, are you finally going to tell me what you're running away from? Memories of Audrey? Work? Loneliness?" his mom asked as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him mid-afternoon.
Ressler sighed and reached for the coffee.
"You were always a runner until you worked it out in your own head as a kid Donnie," she said as she sat down with him. "I thought you got past that as an adult."
"Ma, it's...complicated..." Ressler said.
"Anything worth anything isn't son," Lisa Ressler laughed. She looked over her shoulder at the girls repairing their kite in the yard. "Enlighten me."
Ressler looked at her and took a deep breath and gave her the short version of what had happened, what had been going through his head, and his plan to fix their friendship and move forward as friends.
She listened patiently and nodded, asking questions when unclear, but mainly letting him talk. When he was done, she got up and took some Oreos from the cupboard and placed the pack in front of him.
"I think cookies are in order," she chuckled softly as she sat back down. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the girls were probably close to finishing so she knew she only had a minute or two to talk some sense into her son.
"You have feelings for this woman?" Lisa asked.
"Ma, it's..."
"Just yes or no, son," Lisa said. "You are complicating a situation that doesn't need to be. Yes, or no?"
"Yes," he sighed, admitting it out loud for the first time.
"And she has feelings for you?"
"Yes," he nodded.
"And up until discovering that she was likely in love with you...you two got along well, were great friends, supported each other, loved each other's kids, and worked well together?" Lisa asked.
He sighed.
"So, son, I think this is only as complicated as you need it to be, because all of that sounds like the start of a great relationship," Lisa said. "You loved Audrey with all of your heart and it sounds like, despite Liz's feelings for you, she respected that, and would have still wanted you to be in the dark, and, had that co-worker not said anything, you would have been. She sounds like a thoughtful, upstanding, self-sacrificing person who has your best interests at heart. That's a heart I can appreciate. So, if you feel what you feel for this woman, you need to do something about it before someone else gets her beautiful heart. You've never been one to let fear make any of your decisions, so don't start now."
Ressler felt tears start to form in his eyes. She had spoken directly to his heart and he had stopped trying to figure this out with his head.
"Thanks mom," he said as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "You..."
"I am going to take your girls to fly a kite, and you are going to get a flight to DC to not lose this woman," she said as she rose from her seat.
"We're driving back Sunday..." he said, confused.
"And today you are going to do a grand romantic gesture because after almost two weeks of worrying, hiding, not eating and not sleeping, I imagine her two weeks have been just as bad or even worse, and you need to not wait until Sunday," she said. "We'll see you when you get back."
Ressler watched his mom leave the kitchen and he looked down at his hands and took a deep breath. He swallowed hard, slid off his wedding ring and placed it in his wallet. He felt his heart hammering in his chest as he walked outside to tell his girls he needed to go back to DC quick but would be back by morning, got in his car and drove to the airport to catch the first flight back to her.
One week, one small wedding, and one mainly unpacked home later, they sat on Christmas morning and watched their girls open their presents. He sat drinking his coffee and she her tea as they talking with the girls about the things in their stockings, and the presents they got. Everyone was beyond believing in Santa at this point so Liz and Ressler were able to say why they bought things, or show the girls the cool thing about something they unwrapped.
Their wedding had been in this very living room 3 days after he proposed with a few friends, his mom and brother, Audrey's parents, and their kids. They had gone to a restaurant and had dinner with everyone in a private room after the ceremony and went back home with the kids on their wedding night. They had lived together for months; there was no need to a honeymoon when they had their own bedroom and bed that they already shared. The kids had surprised them the next morning with waffles, fruit, and juice that they all ate together on their bed.
Ressler nodded to Liz and she walked around the back of a chair and pulled out another very large box.
"Huh, this one is addressed to all three of you..." she played the part.
They girls smiled and ran toward the box, pulling it open to find cross country ski equipment for them all.
Liz sat back down with Ressler and watched the joy on their kids faces as they discovered what was inside.
Baffled by the equipment, Erin, Carolina and Agnes looked at their parents.
"Mom and I are taking you girls to the cabin for a few days in January to cross country ski and we figured you needed some equipment," Ressler smiled at them. "And those envelopes with your names? They're for lessons that start in a couple of days."
The girls jumped and cheered and landed in a heap on their parents. The giggles were contagious and Ressler and Liz found themselves laughing with their kids in a tangle of arms, legs, hair, and giggles.
When they all settled down, he leaned sideways and kissed his wife.
"Merry Christmas babe," Ressler said to Liz as the girls started to shift and climb off their parents. "And Merry Christmas to all of your horrible children."
The girls voiced their objections and he and Liz laughed. Years ago, when his life fell apart with Audrey's diagnosis, her treatment, and her loss Ressler wasn't sure he'd ever feel true joy again. But day after day he had found happiness since Liz and the girls had been in his life. He looked down at his new gold band and knew, instinctively, that the second act of his life was going to be just as wonderful as the first.
The end. Let me know what you think!