…The room seemed to spin around me, but his face stayed centered through the clear glass pane. It was dark out, and shadows fell over his nose and mouth. But those eyes…I'd know them anywhere…

            "Danny?" I gasped, my mouth ajar.

            He nodded slowly and placed his hand up against the window. I raised my own and put it palm to palm with his, the cold glass stinging my skin. It really was him.

            "Danny!" I screamed, bolting through the screen door and out onto the porch where he stood, smiling. I stopped before I reached his tall body and took a deep breath. How could I be sure he was real?

            He looked different, but at the same time…entirely the same. His beautiful hair was the same as it had always been, swept down across his forehead and into his beautiful eyes. Those eyes were as deep and engaging as ever, but they looked tired. It had to be him; it just had to be.

            I reached up and ran my fingers along his cheek, hesitating at first to touch him for fear my hand would slip through and this glorious apparition would fade away. It didn't. My fingers slid smoothly over his flawless jaw line, the slight build of stubble itching my knuckles. He grasped my hand in his and squeezed it soothingly.

            "I'm home, Susie," he whispered. "I came home."

            "Are you real, Danny? Are you?" Tears sprang to my eyes as he leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine.

            "I am. I told you I'd come home to you, didn't I? It just took longer than I thought it would. Gawd, Suze, I missed you." Cold, wet tears ran down his cheeks as he began to sob.

            "Oh, Danny Boy…you're here…" My shoulders shook as his arms pulled me closer and I buried my face in his warm, musky neck. "I don't know how, but you're here…"

            "I'm goin' to tell you everything. But first I just wanna look at you, just for a little while." His eyes bore into mine, and his fingers ran gently through my hair. "Jesus, you're so grown up now. You look so…mature. And tired."

            "I am," I said softly, holding the side of his neck with my hand. "Ever since you…died…well, I've been so tired. I-I got married."

            He backed away, eyes wide with shock.

            "Married?"

            "Yes, but only because I wanted you to be happy, wherever you were, by thinking that I was happy. But I wasn't. And he died soon after we got married."

            "You weren't happy?"

            I moved slowly to the banister and leaned forward against it, staring out into the dark, open fields.

            "No," I replied with a soft sigh. "I was pregnant when he died, and it wasn't his…it-it couldn't have been. But you and he were the only…the only…"

            "But I had been gone for much too long, right?"

            "Yea, but it still makes no sense, Danny, he couldn't make anyone pregnant. It was this problem he had."

            "What's the baby's name?"

            "Matthew…he's three now. You'd love him; he looks just like you. That's what kept me alive for so long. Seeing him everyday was like havin' you alive again. Without him, I'd have been buried years ago."

            "You missed me that much?" he asked shyly, standing next to me and spinning me around so that we stood face to face.

            "More than you will ever know," I whispered, gazing into his eyes. Having him back seemed so surreal. "There was not one night that I didn't go to bed and think of you. Not one day that I didn't sit outside and pray that you'd come walking down that road, waving and smiling. And it never happened…until now. I've waited so long to see your face, to hear your voice…"

            "To kiss you…"he murmured, leaning forward and brushing my lips tenderly with his. We embraced, kissing for what seemed like hours.

            "You need to know what happened," he panted, breaking away. "I need to tell you."

            "Alright," I said, smiling. "Come on inside."

A/N: So, what do you guys think of this? I'm kind of pleased with it. Next chapter is going to be up later tonight, so review review review!