Carter walked in the front door and laid his keys down on the table.  He looked over at Abby; she was sitting on the couch folding laundry absently watching a soap opera.  "Hey Abby."

            She continued to watch TV, refusing to acknowledge his presence or the fact that he had spoken to her.  Well, she picked the wrong day.  Today, her husband was more determined than she was.  He walked over to her and sat down next to her.  He touched her knee gently, "Hey Abby.  Can you get an overnight bag together? I've got a surprise for you."

            "Where's Livy?"

            "Susan is picking her up at school.  She's going to stay with her for a few days."

            "Where are you going?"

            John looked softly at her, "WE are going somewhere just the two of us."

            "Why? I don't want to go anywhere.  I'm not ready to go anywhere."

            "Abby we have some things to work out.  We can't go on like this.  Living together yet apart, pretending to have something we don't.  Lately we haven't even tried hard to pretend and that scares the hell out of me. We have to do something before it's too late."

            Abby wanted to cave.  The way Carter was looking at her made her heart break.  She wanted to throw herself into his arms and sob.  But as was often the case with Abby she took on the stubborn, self-pitying approach.  "Isn't it already too late?" she asked quietly.  "I don't want to get hurt Carter.  I can't take it anymore.  I can't go through that again. I can't start having misery follow me wherever I go again.  I finally had escaped that."

            "Abby," he looked deep into her eyes.  "Say that you will come with me.  Say that you will not give up on us.  Say that you won't give up your happiness because your heart is broken.  Let me in.  Let me help.  You, me, and Olivia we deserve to be happy."

            Abby could feel her self weakening under the pressure.  She knew she couldn't resist when John begged her.  She could see in his eyes how much he still loved her.  How much he still wanted to be with her.  She didn't know if she could bring herself to completely let go again.  To allow herself a glimpse of happiness and love, but she owed to John to at least try.  She swallowed hard and responded to him with only a small nod of her head.  He gave her a grateful smile as she got up to go pack some things.

            Within a few hours they arrived at a modest house on the beachfront.  "John? Where are we?"

            "I thought it would do us good to be on the ocean." He smiled at her.  "We don't have to do anything but sit on the porch and listen to the waves if that's all you want."

            She whispered a thank-you and reached into the back seat to pull out her overnight bag.  The inside of the beachfront cottage was simple, rustic, and beautiful.  There was a large living room with a fireplace, a spacious kitchen with an island, and a master bedroom with a whirlpool tub and a balcony that looked out onto the ocean.  Abby heard John come up behind her, "You can have this room, and I'll take the couch."

            "No, it's okay.  We can share the bed."

            "That would be nice."  They unpacked in silence, both of them had so much to say but they were both too afraid to break the silence.  Later, Carter joined Abby on the balcony.  "The waves are so calming." He offered the first topic of conversation.

            "I need to go call Olivia, and see how's she doing." Abby stood up.

            Carter grabbed her arm gently, "Abby my love, Susan said not to call until bedtime.  Stay here with me." He pulled her down gently so that she was sitting right next to him.  "When was the last time we were all alone on the beach?  It's so romantic, and peaceful."

            "John-"

            "I love you Abby.  I have loved you from the first moment that I laid eyes on you.  Nothing will ever change that.  And when you agreed to marry me, I honestly thought nothing in this life could make me happier.  And then we had Olivia and I thought my heart would burst with pride and love.  I was devastated when we lost our babies," he could see her eyes welling up with tears, "and nothing will ever replace them, but oh my dear sweet Abby Carter, I will always want to be with you. Always.  You are the very air that I breathe you are everything to me.  These last few months I have felt like I am suffocating, not being able to talk to you, to kiss you, to touch you or hold you or comfort you.  I need you so much, Abby, so much." He was crying now "And Olivia needs you.  She wants to try and make everything better, and she can't.  Just like I can't and you can't.  But we can work towards happiness again, we can have more babies or not have more babies.  I will always be happy in the end as long as you are there.  But if you are not, then the end will be devastating, and well who doesn't like happy endings?"

            Abby looked at him, the tears were pooling in her eyes and slowly trickling down her cheeks, "I love you too.  But this is too hard right now.  The pains, the hurt, I just don't know. Part of me wants to go on with life, be happy, try again.  But the other part of me wants to run, to hide, and to wallow in my grief.  Because it hurts so much, John, so, so much."  She was sobbing now. 

            John wrapped his arm around her shoulders and comforted her, "Let it out Abby. Let it all out.  I'm here.  And I'm not going anywhere."  They sat there on the balcony for several hours.  Abby cried, John cried, they held and comforted each other.  They each released all the pent up feelings that had accumulated over the last several months.  Drawing closer to each other, yet at the same time beginning the healing process as individuals and as a couple.

            Later Carter and Abby took a moonlight walk down the beachfront.  They held hands and remained silent for a while, each absorbed in their own thoughts.  Abby was the first to speak, "Thank you for bringing me here John.  It's beautiful and peaceful."

            "Thank you for coming here with me.  I was hoping that being alone together, away from the house and jobs and the business of life would be good for both of us."

            Abby smiled a small smile at him, "It is good for us."   John kissed her gently on the lips.  They walked, arms around each other, back to the beach house.  There was a fire blazing in the fireplace, and the room was filled with light from the soft glow of the fire.  Abby sat down on the rug in front of the fire. 

            A few minutes later John came and sat down next to her.  He handed her a cup of coffee.  "Thanks." She offered him a smile and took a sip.  "John, do you think that we will ever be really happy again, after everything?" She asked hesitating.  She hated to be this upfront with her feelings with anyone, even her husband.  But she knew that she could trust him.  He had never let her down, never ran, and never tried to hide from their problems.  That was her area of expertise.  She waited for his response, already playing it out in her mind.

            "Yes, Abby, I think that we will be happy again.  I really do.  I don't think that we will ever forget what has happened.  Nor should we be expected to.  But I think that in time, we will be able to come to a place where we can dwell on the happy things in life.  On each other, on Olivia, on our health, on our good fortune, on us." He lifted her chin with his fingertip so that he could look deep into her eyes, "You make me happy Abby."  He leaned into kiss her.  He was a bit hesitant because over the last few months she had been so resistive to his touch.  But this time, she welcomed his lips and pulled him closer to her.  Their kissing got more intense as they both realized how very much they had missed this intimacy.  John slid his hand gently down her back, and she was now running her fingers through his hair.  They both had this overwhelming need to be close to each other, to be physically connected.  John broke the kiss and smiled cheekily at her, "Should we take this to the other room?"

            "I think that would be nice." She smiled back at him.  And with that said, John kissed her again before they made their way into the bedroom.

            Later that night, Abby lay snuggled up next to her husband.  Her head was resting on his chest and he was stroking her hair, "My God I missed you." He said.

            "I missed you too.  I'm so sorry that I shut you out John.  I was just so afraid of being hurt again.  But more than that, I was afraid of disappointing you, of not giving you the life that you want.  And I couldn't live with myself if I knew I failed at making you happy."

            "You could never fail me Abby," he said.  "Never." With that said, he rolled her over and rested on top of her.  He kissed her deeply, "I love you so much."

            "I love you too."  She kissed him again.  She was happy to show him how much.

            They returned from their getaway with their relationship renewed and their bodies refreshed.  They drove to Susan's place to pick up Olivia.  Olivia rushed to greet them and threw her arms around both of them at the same time, "Oh Mommy! Oh Daddy! I was so afraid you wouldn't come back."

            "Of course we came back sweetie.  We love you Olivia Carter." Abby said reassuringly.

            "Can we go home? Not that I don't love Auntie Susan but I want to go home."

            "Sure we can go get your stuff." Olivia ran into the other room to collect her things. 

            Susan looked at her two friends.  Their arms were draped around each other and they both looked happy.  As happy as she had seen them for a while, as happy as they could be considering the circumstances.  She smiled at them, "So I take it you two are good?"

            "Yes," Carter beamed at her, "We are good. We are going to be okay."

            Susan hugged both of them. "I am so glad.  You two deserve it."

            "And me." Olivia chimed in.  "I deserve it too."  Everyone laughed.

            That night Abby and Carter tucked Olivia into bed together.  "I had so much fun with Auntie Susan.  She let me have two Twinkies for dessert.  And she let me watch all my favorite movies, and stay up late.  And you know what else? She let me draw in the bathtub with these special crayons.  It was so much fun!  I missed you though Daddy.  I missed your funny stories.  And Mommy I missed your smile, and your hugs, and your cookies."

            "We missed you too munchkin. Now it's time for bed." Abby pulled the covers up to her daughter's chin.  "Get some sleep.  You can tell us all about the rest of your visit with Auntie Susan tomorrow."

            "Will you both be here in the morning when I wake up?"

            "Yes, Daddy doesn't work tomorrow and Mommy doesn't go in until tomorrow night."

            "Goodie!" Abby turned off the light, "oh and Mommy?"

            "Yes sweetie?"

            "Welcome home." 

            "Thank you Livy, it's good to be home." Abby smiled as she shut the door.